Crochet Therapy

So with the crazy summer we have had so far there hasn't been much time for anything crafty. I have been able to squeeze in some crochet here and there. Just wanted to share some pics and sites. My friend Sarah at The Spicy Pinecone reminded me of the Lion Brand Site . FYI: You have to sign up for their newsletter to see their patterns. I had forgotten all about it until Sarah said something about it. And i am so glad she did....I found a ton of cute projects. My first was a market/beach tote. I will be using it as a beach tote. I wanted something that wouldn't hold all the sand but would stretch well with all of our goodies. Here is the link, just remember you will have to sign up to view the patterns, so keep that in mind.. pattern link

This bag is SO roomy! I was able to get 16 of K & E's books in there with plenty of room left. The bag snapped right back to it's shape after I took the bags out.

 I wanted to see what amount of clothing I could get into it.  Eight! Six pair of jeans, one pair of sweat pants, and one pair of dress pants. Can you believe I still had room left. I am so happy with this bag. I was very easy and quick. It took me about three days and I was only working on it here and there.

So do you know how to Crochet? Or any other craft that is very easy and relaxing? Oh and anyone who doesn't know how to crochet...it is very easy to learn. Youtube has dozens of tutorials and there are some great teaching books out there. I have this one...Stitch Bitch Crochet Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. Awesome book with great photos. I am a visual learner so this really helped. Plus the book is full of cute patters. So if you were thinking of trying crochet....Do It! It is very easy to learn and once you start you will not want to stop.:)

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** I in no way represent Lion Brand nor Debbie Stoller. I do not work for either of them and I am not paid by either of them. They are simply a book and site that I like.**

~Crochet Slippers and Headbands~

I am in LOVE with these slippers! To bad they aren't for me. ;( These were a gift for my mother in law. She loves little slippers. I found this site for slipper making and used the base of the pattern and grew from there.Good Knits

I wear in between a 6.5 and a 7 in a women's shoe. In the pattern where she does 24 stitches in the round and then increases to 32, I stayed at 24 stitches and continued the pattern. When I came to creating the sides 17 stitches was the magic number for me.  With this sole it is all about fit. You really need a good measurement if you are making these as a gift.

After I finished the sole I did 1 round of single crochet and then did a reverse single crochet with decreases in the corners to size. Sorry I am not sure if reverse single crochet is a real crochet stitch or the correct name but I simply did a single crochet just entering under the loop from the back. I am very new to crochet and learning through books and YouTube so forgive  me all you veteran crocheters. Oh and I also recommend using some really nice, soft, fluffy yarn for these. I love silky smooth yarn but it made it slightly uncomfortable walking around of the stiff double crochet stitches.

I whipped these up one night for my mom. This is her foot modeling them for me on Christmas.

This is a set of Ear warmers I did for two sisters. One has a flower and the other a snowflake. I took measurements of their heads exactly where I wanted the headband to rest and took off an inch. I did a chain getting my length and then a small section of single crochet right until the band meets the ear and then I changed the stitch to a double crochet all the way across until I reached the point where it came past the ear again and I went back down to the single crochet. The next 3 or 4 rows were all single crochet. I wanted a solid section covering the ear so they would be functioning ear warmers.

After that I did the reverse of the first two rows. I did a slip stitch all the way around the warmer to finish the edges and them made a couple flowers. One was really large for the front and then a small one to act as a button attached to the back. I stitched a small loop opposite of the small flower and Viola I had a cute little ear warmer.

This is the back side of the snowflake warmer. There is a small loop around the snowflake that is attached to the other side to hold it nicely in place.

The last one is a little headband for a friends little girl. She is about 6 months old. Again I took her measurements and subtracted an inch. For hers I did a single chain to get my length and then a slip stitch to join the two ends. The next row I did a single crochet, then a double, then another single, and finished off the with a simple slip stitch all the way around for a nice finished edge. I gave her a nice big snowflake atop to where for the holidays. Thinking about it now I should have put the snowflake on a clip. I think the next time I go to visit I will do that so she can where the flake as just a bow. To do that you simply cover an alligator clip with some ribbon and hot glue the snowflake to the covered clip.

I am really enjoying the crochet projects I have been learning. The items seems to work up quickly and I find it extremely relaxing. I love that I can take it from room to room and even to doctors offices to kill time while waiting. if you haven't tried it you should. It is pretty simple it just takes practice. YouTube works wonders! I also got a ton of helpful tips from the book Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker  by Debbie Stoller. Plus it has some really cute, fun patterns in it.

If anyone has any helpful crochet tips or crochet corrections(I am still very much a crochet newbie) for me feel free to leave a comment. Happy crocheting!!

~Link Parties~

                                             

                                    

Owl love!

My Owl Barn is offering free, make your own owl  2012 calendars!!! I just made mine. With a great variety of beautiful owl art you are assured to make an awesome calendar. A big thank you to Myowlbarn.com and all the artist for the beautiful artwork!

I am nursing a sore jaw at the moment. I had two wisdom teeth removed earlier this week. I have a few post lined up and a few W.I.P. Hopefully I will get them up here in a day or two. I have some crochet goodness coming and hopefully a tree skirt. Want a sneak peak of the crochet....

Now hopefully I can get them posted in a timely fashion. Wish me luck I am going to need it! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

Fun Christmas Wreath

I am so excited to have finished my Christmas wreath before Christmas! I say before Christmas because sadly my fall wreath is yet to be completed.

:( We have so much at the end of October and during November that the time slipped away from me and I failed to complete my table runner and wreath. Not for Christmas though. ;) I am very happy with how it turned out although it is far from the original drawing. 

I went for a not so traditional look. I used some great blues, warm whites and a dash of red. I wanted a lot of texture with my flowers so there are a variety of them. I did a few crochet and a few fabric. Do you see that red netting? Can you guess what it is? If you said the bag my tangerines came in you are absolutely right! I always save those little bags. I have used them to adorn gifts, decor, gift bags for the doggies Christmas gifts, bows, and so on. There are tons of cool ways to use them.

I covered a straw wreath with masking tape and spray painted it red. Then covered it with some warm white yarn. The wrapping isn't perfect because I wanted a little of that red to peek through. After searching high and low for the perfect ribbon to make my bow I stumbled upon something a little different than what I had in mind. One look and I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. Turns out I wasn't looking for ribbon after all. ;)I found these at Target....

I purchased two of the blue and one white. Using needle nose pliers I shaped the stem around my wreath and trimmed the excess with wire cutters. Then I simply shaped all the little arms to my liking. What do you think? I personally love it!

After putting my new finagled bow and all the flowers on Mr. Wonderful pointed out that it was missing something. Merry Christmas! He said it needs a greeting since it will be at the front door. It is always nice to have a fresh set of eyes when you are working on a project. I knew it need something but I was sure what. He  nailed it. So I got out some craft wire, yarn, needle nose pliers with a wire cutter feature, and I typed up and printed out Merry Christmas as a guide.

Here is the gauge of the wire I used. It was really easy to shape...maybe a little too easy but it held it's shape so I went with it. I used the pliers to get nice, even curves. This takes a little while so maybe sit down to one of your favorite shows to tackle this. I watched Next Iron Chef (GO Zakarian or Guarnaschelli).

Here is the finished Merry Christmas.  I am pretty happy with it. The T gave me fits but the more I worked with it the crazier looking it became so I just left well enough alone. I tacked everything on with some small pin needles. It is holding very well. Oh and on the end of the letters that didn't continue into the word ( IE the M) I used a small piece of double sided tape to ensure that the yarn stayed put.

I love how lovely it looks perched on the front door. The red taffeta ribbon gives it just the right pop, I think.  

Not sure if you can see this but I used an upside down command hook on the inside of the door to secure the ribbon to. My ribbon was wired so tied it with a little curly cue bow. It is pretty on the outside and the inside. The bow also conceals the command hook a little.

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! Tree is up, wreath is on the door, some lights are hung, Christmas music is playing, and now to bring out a few other little things around the house. Did you make a wreath this year? Feel free to leave a link to a post or pics I would love to see them.

Link Parties!!!

Sumo Baby Halloween Costume!

So this year K insisted on being Iron man. I did not feel up to the challenge of making an Iron man outfit so we bought one. E  is too young to choose so Dad had a brilliant idea. Sumo Baby! He is around 23 pounds and quite the chunky little monkey. So it was a go. I did a lot of research on the actual Sumo gear and took notes. It was surprisingly simple to sew and I personally loved it....I will let you be the judge...

I couldn't find a wig in his size so I made a crochet beanie with a folded ponytail in back.

Here is a view of the back. I think it is such a funny costume. All the people handing out candy really got a kick out of the suit.

I am going to try to break down the construction in words. I did this the day before Halloween so no process pics. Sorry...i am a slacker. :) It is a basic T shape. I measured my son's waist and divided by two. With that number I cut a small piece of foam. Then I took the waist measurements and added a little length so I would have enough tail to tie it twice. I decided how wide I wanted it and then doubled the number. So I cut my waist band and folded in half. I sewed the length of the waist band and left the ends open. I slid my foam in, centered it, and then sewed the fabric closed on each end of the fabric to hold my foam in place. I turned and pressed the ends of the waist band and top stitched closed.

For the flap I just eyeballed the length. You want it long enough to come over the waist band and then a few extra inches. I simply cut a rectangle as wide as the front of my sons diaper and hemmed the edges. Turn your waist band right side facing down and attach the flap to the bottom inside of the waist band under the foam. I did gather mine just a tad. You are done. It is that simple. I put it around his waist and made 1 simple knot in the back. Take your flap and come down over the front of the diaper, when you are half way down start twisting the fabric to get the look in the back. Bring your twist up over your knot and use those extra inches of the waist tail to make another knot over the flap.  Tuck the remaining flap around the waist band  and you should be left with two small tail pieces sticking out. That is the look you want. I believe I have it in a pic above. If I have done a horrible job explaining this please email me and I will try to explain better.

For the hat I did a simple beanie and added the flaps in like you would ear flaps just on the crown of the head. I started large and decreased down to the base on the top flap. the bottom flap I left the same size from beginning to end so it would resemble the thickest part of the pony tail.

I also threw together a quick diaper coverTutorial Here @ Danamadeit and  robe. It isn't very cold yet but can get slightly cool at night so I thought the robe was a nice little wind blocker. Although he really didn't need it.

I hope I explained everything ok. Again if I didn't feel free to comment or email me and I will try to give you a better description.

~I hope you all had a Happy Halloween!~

Baby Shower Goodies!

Don't you just love looking at little bitty baby stuff? I do. I also enjoy making it. This little loot of goodies is for a friend expecting a little boy at the end of the year. I hope she likes them. These are all pretty simple items to make but if anyone is interested I can do a tutorial on them or shoot them an email with the instructions. It was late and I had no time to take pictures of the process. ;(

The first item was a car seat canopy. I simple rectangle with cotton on one side and flannel on the other. I used wide, satin ribbon for the ties.

For the next item. I have been brushing up on my crochet skills. When I was little my grandmother taught me the basics. More recently I purchased the book the Happy Hooker and watched tons of tutorials. By the way youtube is awesome!  This is just a simple ear flap hat with braids. I think it took about an hour from start to finish. I love how quickly these work up.

Here is my trusty childhood Ewok modeling for me. It was late and he was the only willing model. LOL! Sorry for the not so great photos....like I said it was late so flash lighting.

Gotta love variegated yarn.

And lastly, burp cloths. These are simply rectangles with a mid line sewn for easy folding and decorative top stitching on the edges. I used a microfiber cloth on one side and flannel on the other. I used the shape and size of the microfiber cloth and just cut my flannel to size.

I hope this gives you some ideas next time you have a shower to attend. Your options are endless. I don't know about you guys but I absolutely love it when someone takes time to make myself or my children something.



P.S. Coming soon Halloween post...with a baby Sumo costume and post about some Mommy goodies I had ordered, received , and tested.