Crafting craziness!!!

I have been on a roll, so to speak, of crocheting and knitting. I find myself drifting more and more back to the crochet world, mainly because knitting takes me soooooooo long. I wish I could knit as fast as I crochet. I absolutely love the drape of knit items over crocheted ones. The speed with which I can crochet satisfies my need to finish projects at the last minute. Yes, alas, I am one of the worst procrastinators in the world when it comes to finishing my projects. Of the 111 or 112 projects I have on Ravelry, 20 of them are unfinished. I have about 15 more in various bags and closets in my house. I have to find them, photo them, and post them up there.
I don't have any photos to post at the moment, but will get some up this weekend of what I have in progress. This weekend is also the Rolex 24 hour race at the Daytona International Speedway.....Yes, folks, it's Race time once again. I can already feel the thunder of cars racing around the 2.5 mile oval at speeds of 200 mph.....ooooohhh, how I love it!
Bob and I are going to do the Daytona 5k and Fun Walk at 7am. We walk....at least until we get into better shape. I would love to run the 5k. One day. Hopefully, my two friends, Lori and Jonna, will be there running. We also hope to meet up with a co-worker of mine, Nathan. It will be fun to be there with other folks I know that enjoy racing as much, if not more, than I do!
Will I wait in line to meet Mr. McDreamy again this year? Perhaps, as last year I TOTALLY forgot to have him sign "The Art of Racing in the Rain"......Patrick Dempsey is supposed to star in the film version of this cute book about a dog that is fanatical about car racing. But it was soooo worth standing in line for 3 1/2 hours just to say I was first! He's such a sweet man and appreciative of all his fans. Swoon.....
Ok, back to racing. Daytona ought to be interesting this year, as the surface was torn up and repaved. During testing at the Roar before the 24, I had read where Tony Stewart (my perfect man....younger, single, rich and best of all.....NOT HOME ON THE WEEKENDS!!) hit greater than 197 mph......WOW! Can't wait for the Daytona 500 THIS year! We weren't going to go, maybe to the Gatorade duels the Thursday before the race. Bob's brother, Tom, and his girlfriend Susie, go and we meet up with them for dinner while waiting for traffic to dissapate. Another sister--in-law, Teresa, has expressed an interest in going to the Big Race. I may just have to go, just to accompany her....I hope I can sit on the Party Porch!
As for crocheting and knitting, I have been crocheting scarves, fingerless mitts and hats furiously! Am trying my hand at ETSY (BethsCraftCabin) and friends have requested some things. So I've been busy. I will post photos later this weekend.
Ok, blogland! Enough for now. Will def be back soon, since things are heatin' up here in Florida! Til next time, stay warm, stay dry, and happy hooking!!!!!

New Year, New Design

Happy New Year, Blog land! This past holiday season was a whirlwind of work, frantic crocheting of last minute gifts (mainly scarves....oh what fun I had!!!), family and food. I really did have a blast frantically crocheting the scarves...versions of the Champlain New Warmer from the Caron site:

http://www.naturallycaron.com/projects/champlain/champlain_1.html

Here's a couple of my scarves:

The blue one was actually the first. I still have it and love it! Made with a half skein of Red Heart Shimmer. The lilac scarf was the third....made with Red Heart Symphony. The girls love them~!
The second one was also made with Red Heart Symphony, in a blue shade.

I am now on a scarf kick, making one for Bob for the cool winters here in Florida:

about half way through it, Bob told me he likes the varigated and multicolored scarves. Thus, the two stripes of various browns from my stash.
The scarf kick started when I saw Kim Guzman'a Poinsettia scarf pattern:

http://www.caron.com/projects/ss/ss8_poinsettia_scarf.html

I made it and sent it to my friend Donna in NY:
I then found a pattern for a braided crochet scarf pattern, but do not want to pay $3.50 for the single pattern:

http://www.e-patternscentral.com/detail.html?prod_id=8141&cat_id=&criteria=braided+crochet+scarf

It's beautiful! So, I decided to design one, only in knit, for me:


So yes, dear friends, I have in fact DESIGNED my own pattern! It's a stockinette knit scarf in three sections, then braided together. I only started this last night, but will post the pattern here:

Using size 9 (6.0mm) knitting needles:

Using a 30 stitch co, Stockinette stitch 4 rows, then do stockinette stitch on first 10 stitches for 50”, bo; Stockinette next 10 stitches for 50”, bo; Stockinette last 10 stitches for 50”. bo. Braid the three strips. Pick up 30 stitches along bottom edge, stockinette for 4 rows. BO.

I will post pics as I progress. With the boucle, I cannot see the stitches so well, so I will make another when this is done. This one is for Jamie, my favorite (and only, LOL) grand niece's mom in NY. Jamie happens to be Donna's daughter. I hope anyone who tries this pattern will send me photos of it!

I have also opened an ETSY store to sell my crocheting, at the urging of my sil, Kim. The site is BethsCraftCabin on Etsy. We shall see how that goes! I also decided to become an AVON representative. I like the products, so I figured I may as well buy it at a discount and sell it! My website is
www.youravon.com/bdibiasio
check it out and use me as your Avon Representative! Questions can be e-mailed to me at
framptonforever1976@yahoo.com.
Well, am working OT this weekend in Blood Bank on 3-11 shift. That means 3-11 today and a double tomorrow. I am signing off for now, but will make the great effort to post more often on my blog. Perhaps even design a few more patterns throughout 2011!!!!

Well