Year Of Projects Update

I actually have something to say in relation to my YOP! But first, I must share my unrelated FO's this week!

First off, thanks to everyone for your helpful comments regarding the ruffle scarf. I figured out the best way to make the prettiest ruffles and was able to finish this up Sunday afternoon. I will gift it to my Grandma soon!


Also on the topic of Grandmas, another one celebrated her birthday last week. I decided to make her a cowl/scarf. I found a pattern I kind of liked, but honestly, I did not want to do seed stitch...idk, felt lazy I guess. So I modified it a bit and I call it the Marvel-ous Cowl, after Grandma :0) See notes here.



I also finished the Munchkin Hat for my sis in law. I know she has read my lil blog a few times, so I better not post the final pic! Sorry E!!! :D

SO--in relation to YOP... I am casting on my first sweater. (insert fear, terror and intimidation) I am joining a friend who I mod the group Keep It Simple Swaps with and we are going to work through the February Lady Sweater! We are both really excited about it! I was hoping to have the yarn in time for this post, but I guess, I will have to wait!

Stay tuned!

$50 Friday--Week 4--

...Week 4's $50 Friday...

This pic includes EVERYTHING from this week's shopping trip!

I was pretty pumped to score some cheap cold medicine as the cold hit our house this week and the thermacare wraps are awesome! Also found a really good deal on crackers!

Total Before Coupons: $92.50
And After: $53.30 (ack!)
$ Saved This Week: $26.74 (remember just keeping track of q's, not RR, giftcards or store discounts)

Last week in January! Let's see if I met my goals:

1. Keep spending at $50\wk
2. Save $20\wk in coupons

GOAL ONE: January Grocery Bill: $220.42 with an average spending of $55.10\wk. I am happy with that. I hope to get better as the year goes on!

GOAL TWO: I saved $112.68 in q's this month, with an average saving of $28.17\wk! YAY!

I think this was a great first month of getting serious about my couponing. I was SO CLOSE to hitting my first goal and exceeded my second! I see alot of things I can work on and change, looking forward to February!!

Year of Projects

This is my first YOP post for 2012 and I haven't done anything off of my list due to knitting oodles of baby gifts!!

I knit an Owlie Sack and the matching Owlie Hat earlier this month for a friend to gift to her daycare provider. I've had a few pics of those sacks on here before so I didn't include a picture.

I am also working on the Munchin Hat for my sister-in-law. She is expecting a little girl the end of February! This is my first attempt at jogless strips too, so far so good, I think. I might make a pair of matching leg warmers too...
Here is where I need some advice. My grandma gifted me this yarn:

Katia

And she wants me to make one of those ruffle scarves. I am following this pattern and this is what I am getting:

For those of you who have made these types of scarves before, is that looking right? To me, the ruffles are looking too uniform and not as "sporadic" as the picture. Any thoughts?

Thanks for checking in!

Lisa's Givts

I wanted to take a moment to help my friend Lisa promote her new business: Lisa's Givt's! (and yes, the V is correct!)

Since I have known her, she has always had some sort of crafty thing going on. Whether it is a floral arrangement or a do-dad or a personalized piggy bank for the kiddos, she has done it. So I was very excited to hear she was starting her own business of personalized gifts and arrangements!

Christmas snuck up on me, as it always does, and I needed a gift for A's "friend" at church (we say they are friends...they are only 7 and 9 months old, but they WILL be best buds!). I had a set of bath toys for him but really wanted to have a cute bucket to put them in. Thank goodness Lisa was still taking orders! She created this custom bucket:

Front

Back

It was ADORABLE! and PERFECT!! And Andrew's mom LOVED it!

If you find yourself stuck for gifts (or time for that matter), I HIGHLY suggest checking out Lisa's Givts at www.lisasgivts.com

$50 Friday!--Week Three--

Time for another attempt at $50 Friday!

Here is my week three shopping trip:

(not pictured: salad dressing, cheese, milk, lunch meat, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, chicken, ground beef, pork ribs, pork chops, french fries, string cheese, pears, zuchini, and another pkg of dog bones, but the puppies already had those!)

I try to include as many of the items I buy every week in the picture, or otherwise list them. I want to make it known that I do not buy just crap but also healthy options for my family! Although, teddy grahams are a great treat for munchin' on while I knit...and what knitter doesn't snack while she\he knits?! AND if I can get them for cheap, then darn it, I am gonna do it!! :o) I think the cereal will make some fun rice crispie bars for our church potluck too!

Total Before Coupons: $96.40
And After: $68.98
$ Saved This Week: $28.88

Total $ Saved: $85.94

$50 Friday!--Week Two--

Wow...it has been a long time since I posted a $50 Friday post!! December really got away from me, I don't know if we were home enough to shop for groceries!

I decided to keep trying the $50\Week Challenge but added a fun element to it! I am going to keep track of every coupon I use (not including Register Rewards, ECB, Giftcards, any other sort of department store coupon or Sale Prices) and once I have used $20 worth of coupons, I am going to move $20 into our savings account. Once June comes, I am going to count and see how much I have saved JUST using coupons in 6 months!

My goal is to save $20 a week on average. I can't wait to see how I do!

Here is my trip from last week:
Not included are several fruits and vegetables, a few meat products and yogurt.

Total before Coupons: ...need to find my receipts...
And After: $51.13
$ Saved This Week: $22.75

I didn't take a picture of week one and do not remember everything I bought, but here are the stats:

Total Before Coupons:...need to find my receipts...
And After: $47.01
$ Saved This Week: 34.51

Total $ Saved: $57.06

Knitting Goals for 2012

I love having the feeling of a fresh start and making new lists. Making lists, if they do nothing else, help me declutter my brain. DH doesn't quite get why I have 7 different lists at any given time...and I probably don't either, but it makes me feel better. :0)

So of course, I had to re-vamp my Year of Projects list. A reader helped me make a YOP page (thanks Christitine at It's A Knitting Thing!) feel free to check it out occasionally as I (crosses fingers) tackle one project at a time...

You may notice another page, 12 for Self, as well. This is another challenge but I am not taking it to the level others are. I just want to have a list (ha, you are laughing at this point aren't you?) of things I would like to knit for myself\our home someday. Hope I can work through half of them this year!

What are your crafting goals for the year? How are you scheduling your crafting time in?