Early Spring Yarn Inspiration

Last weekend, Steve and I spent the weekend in Manhattan and Brooklyn with my brother.  Being a nice brother as he is, we walked to a beautiful store (and a place my mom loves as equally), Purl Soho. While I always know how to pick out the best, softest, most beautiful yarn, I always have the knack to pick out the most expensive item in the store.  Although I would treat myself to an expensive skein every once in a while, I could only afford one at $22.50 and you can't do much with one skein of yarn!

Have you seen these new Liberty prints?! My imagination is running wild!

A picture I took of the Easter / Spring display in the Purl Soho window.

Such a beautiful window display!

While wandering Manhattan, by coincidence (I didn't even know this place existed!) we stumbled upon the Lion Brand Yarn Store one minute before it opened for the day. As I have a lot of Lion Brand yarn, it was nice to see it all together in one place. They had a lovely window display, too. All the flowers were made out of yarn (even that wine bottle!). Steve bought me a skein of pink yarn I wouldn't normally buy on my own. The pink yarn is to fix missing parts of his mom's wedding quilt, made by Mom mom.

  

And finally, a skein of Lion Brand yarn from Steve's brother this past Christmas. I've decided I'm going to try to knit (even though it looks incredibly difficult. Steve keeps reminding me "remember when you thought crocheting was horribly hard to do and you were going to give up?" Yeah yeah yeah. But look at those lovely vintage wooden knitting needles from my mom. I just can't resist their beauty with the navy blue yarn :)

I'm about to make myself an iced soy latte and knit. Hope you are feeling inspired today and the rest of this week!

For Christmas, I crocheted a winter item for all the females in my family. I couldn't think of what to make my mom since I've made her almost everything you can think of- so as I was online shopping (which is 9 times out of 10 what I'm doing on the internet) I came across this very pretty cowl scarf from Anthropologie: Tawny Knit Collar, hand knit (in India) from wool. I love the look of it, the chunky, soft appeal of wearing it around your neck in the wintertime. But $78? Even on sale for $40, that is an outrageous price for a simple item which was made abroad.

So I decided to try to make this on my own, crocheted not knitted.  I used one skein of chunky yarn, a crochet hook, yarn needle to stitch in the ends, and one snap: totaling the project at $3.20. Sure beats $78!

I studied the photos as best as I could and came up with a very simple pattern of half double crochets and a simple chain stitch around the outside to create a braided border. This was the first time I put a snap on a crochet project and I hope it stands up to the test of time - I found the largest snap I could (which isn't all too big) and put it towards the top 1/3rd of the cowl so the bottom 2/3rd could be folded over the shoulders (unlike the Anthropologie cowl). It's a bit bigger, but I like how it can be worn under a coat to create a protection layer from the cold. Also, the fold over top part can be unfolded and it covers your mouth, nose and cheeks - great for the windy winter chill. If anyone is interested in the pattern, I could post the pattern, please let me know!

Grunge Autumn - Fashion Post #2

Following with my last post, here's another outfit I absolutely love, and follows the grunge style basics.

Floral Tank Dress: Handmade, thrifted- $3.90

Black Cardigan: Given to by mom- free

Suede Tan Vintage Purse: thrifted- $4

Tan Crochet Circle Scarf: made by me, yarn as a gift- free

Studded Tan Boots: from Urban Outfitters sale - $24.00

(Same tan socks and necklace from last post)
Socks: Marshall's - $3.99

Necklace: Urban Outfitters sale - $24.99

TOTAL: $60.88
(the necklace was the most expensive item!, so without this necklace, the outfit totals $35.89!)

I love these studded boots. I bought them after they went on sale at Urban Outfitters in 2010. Surprisingly, they are still holding up after two winters, and the weathering on the front of the shoe looks great.

 I made this scarf from yarn my brother bought me from Purl Soho in Manhattan this past May. I've been wanting to make a super soft circle scarf that would match most my clothing. This alpaca yarn is SO soft and was quick to make up, I made up this pattern and it turned out great.

The cardigan was given to me by my mom. Seriously, don't under estimate your loved one's closets. My mom bought this from Marshall's several years ago, and it didn't fit her. Marshall's has great designer brands for cheap prices (especially on clearance). Sometimes, you have to go more than once or twice if you're looking for something in particular, but sometimes that's the fun of it :)

And, this dress! I actually posted about it in June, find that post here. It's a handmade dress in a floral print that I luckily found at a thrift store! It's big, so it needs to be belted when worn, but it's worth it! Nicely, the dress is midi length and conservative tank sleeves, great for work!
Floral prints are a grunge staple - scavenge your local thrift stores, you will definitely find something!

Lastly, this suede purse - oh it's so soft and has cute gold tabs on the side. It's a nice hobo that fits across one shoulder, and it is big enough for me to bring to work. Plus, it was only $4 at a thrift store for quality suede.

Popcorn Stitch Striped Baby Blanket

My nephew's first birthday just came and went, and for his birthday, I made him another blanket. I think the gifts we make for one another are the gifts everyone remember and hold dear to their hearts. I can see my nephew growing up with his blankets, knowing his aunt made them for him when he was little.

I decided to do a whole blanket of popcorn stitches. I picked the popcorn stitch because I thought it would be fun for a one year old to run his hands through the blanket and grab the little popcorns because they will almost never come out. I finally taught myself how to do a proper popcorn stitch. Then I realized how long of a project this blanket would be. Also, I'm still trying to learn when to stitch in the turning chain, or when not to. So the two sides of this blanket came out really (really really) wonky. I tried to fix it with the borders, but it was not really going to fix all my mistakes after mistakes. My theory is if my nephew uses the blanket enough and it gets dirty and it has to be washed, it will just blend in as an aged, old treasure.

I made up the pattern, starting with about 120 chains, then double crochet in the next row, then the next would be the popcorn stitches. I used single crochet until I was ready for the popcorn stitch, which is 5 double crochets all together in one stitch. Then three single crochet between each popcorn. After the popcorn row, I switched colors then started over (with the double crochet row). The I just alternated where the popcorn stitch would fall, so they weren't in row, but more a scattered pattern.

Lastly, as I said before, I tried to fix the wonky edges by adding a border. I used a white double crochet, blue single crochet, then a white slip stitch for the final edge.

It took me about 50 minutes to do one row of colors - I did 36 rows of colors - meaning just the stripes of the blanket took me about 30 hours. Add on the border, I probably spent 5 hours. Not to mention the about 3 hours I spent weaving and tying all those loose ends. Okay, so a 38 hour blanket! I always think these projects take much less time than they do!

Hopefully my nephew loves this blanket and will remember his auntie every time he hugs it.

note the strange edges, especially on the right... don't tell anyone!

In the making of my Etsy store

Like I said in my last post, I finally have a spot to permanently set up and photograph my Etsy items. Before, I'd have to set up the living room for when I set aside time to photograph items, but now I have I spot where I can keep everything organized and I don't have to set specific times to photograph!

Etsy photo area to the left, craft area to the right

And, I'm just too excited about my craft area and guest bedroom... It's really a beautiful room and fun place to spend my late afternoons.

Craft area and guest bedroom! Lots of green, aqua and mint.

Craft room!

Our roommate moved out last weekend. Which means I now have a craft space back! No more cramping in the living room, making a mess and getting mad at myself that I hate to clean it up. The craft space doubles (or quadruples) as a guest bedroom, extra closet space for me, and music room. Most importantly, my craft space! I also have a new area to take Etsy store photos and store my goods for sale (I'll add photos later).

I haven't felt this inspired in a while... I want to run home and paint with my watercolors and listen to my records!

Also, I better get typing on those wedding invites. 4 months and 6 days!
 

I love my new paper lantern.

Close up of my desk.. I leveled and screwed in those shelves my myself. Do you know how hard that was? My arms are super sore today!

Katerina's First Birthday

A woman I work with recently told me how much she loves Etsy and buying homemade goods. Somehow, we got to the topic of how my mom is crafty and she wore the crafty-ness off on me. I showed her some handmade greeting cards I made, and it lead to her asking me to do a commission piece for her daughter's first birthday (Katerina). The theme in Katerina's room is elephants, hot air balloons, and the colors pink and brown. She really liked the idea of a girl wearing a patchwork dress.


So, the idea was shuffeled around, and turned into an elephant wearing a patchwork dress. Then, it looked way too odd for such a small elephant (the piece has to fit in a 8" x 10" frame), so now the patchwork is in the puddle - it's raining and the elephant is stomping through the puddled (Katerina is an April baby, after all!). I also embroidered rain drops with a blue gradient embroidery floss, added embroidered touches on the elephant and the umbrella, and water colored the background of the picture.



And, as an extra for Katerina's birthday, I decided to crochet her bow clips for her strawberry blonde hair :) since my nephew won't be wearing these anytime soon, I need to give them to someone!

Happy Valentines day, part 1

Happy Valentine's Day! I never really celebrated or cared to celebrate, but this year, it's been fun! I made some Valentines for special people.. my mom (valentine not pictured) and Steve and my nephew Adam. and one leftover valentine cause I like it too much :)

I used images from magazines, pasted them on thick cardstock, punched some holes along the edges, and double crochet & chain 3 along the edges. they were super simple and really fun to make.

Chevron baby blanket

Many times, I look up a pattern with full anticipation that my finished product will turn out so much better with a real pattern with real results. Wrong. Usually after round 2 of crocheting a project, I realize the pattern is not right (or I'm not right) and I have to alter it to suit what I need it to be. Take this blanket I made for my nephew, Adam. I looked up a basic chevron blanket pattern from lion brand. While the general pattern worked well, the gauge was not right (when I was using the proper hook size) and the blanket was to be the width of half my arm. Good for a baby doll maybe, not a human. Anywho, I altered it to suit my needs, and it worked well (I think).
The yarn is Caron's super soft yarn (and it is super soft!) and the colors go so well together. It took me a lot longer than I anticipated, probably 16-18 hours total. I was working on it on the 5 hour car ride home for Christmas (until the sun set and I couldn't see anymore) and I worked on it for about 30 minutes on Christmas eve night seconds before I wrapped it. SO MUCH CROCHETING TO DO! (I'm now taking a bit of a break...)

I made this blanket with full intentions of this being Adam's security blankie.. who didn't have one?? Since we live so far apart I wanted Adam to know that every time he hugs his blanket, he is hugging his Auntie :)

keeping secrets!

I couldn't post about the progression of this afghan because it was a Christmas present for my mom! (and she's the only one who reads my blog!).


I started this afghan in november and decided to piece it together like an assembly line. I made 30 squares of the pattern "Willow" from 200 Crochet Blocks for blankets, throws, and afghans by Jan Eaton. So, I made 30 of the first round of colors (5 different colors, six of each), 30 of the second round of colors, and so on and so forth. It made the squares piece together quicker (since I only had to reference the pattern for the first two of each round, I could remember it from memory for the last 28. I set a goal of doing at least 3 parts a day (ie. the first round i would do 3 a day). But I would slack off, or be too tired (or be working on crocheted coasters since my mom asked for those for Christmas - little did she know I was making this beast!). I brought it to my 3 day trip to Atlanta in November, brought it for small road trips, and worked almost non-stop until I went to bed each night. When I finally attached all the squares together, I didn't finish til the border was on! It was so much fun to make, but I'm happy to take a break and read for a bit (5 books for Christmas!!!)




















the squares finished, sans border.




















squares attached, without border





and finally, my mom enjoying her new afghan! it's not a full blanket, but more of a lap blanket!

Christmas happenings...

I've been baking and making the last few weeks, preparing for Christmas goodies. Crocheting items for family and friends has been a must, and I will admit, I will be crocheting until I pull into the driveway of my parents house (I'm not driving, don't worry. don't crochet and drive, people).



I decided to make these for my dad and his infamous mustache: I had a pattern I was using, but it didn't work out (at all), so I made up this pattern. If anyone is interested, I could write out this pattern, it's super easy (and probably not technically correct, but it works!).. (I could not get this image to upload properly, hence why it is on it's side... you get the idea).












Also, made my mom's aunt mary's pizzelle cookies for steve's two grandma's... they both loved receiving them and telling us they were not going to share with anyone. ah, the holiday spirit!


















and finally, I made this recipe by martha stewart (no lies, she has the best recipes that ALWAYS work)... they are called chocolate crackle cookies.
I used super, super, dark chocolate (85% cocoa, I don't know why I bought that bar... but when I went to use the package, I noticed it had been opened and someone snuck a piece of chocolate. not to my surprise, it was only a tiny piece. i asked steve why he ate it, and of course he thought it was going to be yummy chocolate which he thought he could sneak from me... well, it was so bitter, he only had a nibble and put it back!). anywho, i mixed half the super strong chocolate with another half of chocolate chips, and it made the cookies really rich and yummy! the kind of cookie you can have one of and be done with (or 3 in steve's case).

oh, did i tell you i'm getting married?

for my wedding next October, I want to make as many items as I can... not only to save money, but it will be something fun to do while waiting for my day.

I saw crochet votives on BHLDN's website, and for $8 each, I don't know who would buy them. But I wanted them! and I knew I could make them cheaper than $1 a piece.

So, I'm saving all my old food jars (small ones, like little pesto jars, etc) and using my leftover yarn from other projects to crochet covers on the jars. I also have a ton of glass tea light holders from my sister's wedding. I think the different sized glasses and colors of our wedding (grey, yellow, red) crocheted on the votive will look better than $8 candle holders. Plus, I'm going to use real candles, not tea lights - will last longer and probably produce better lighting, (25 bucks for 80 real candles? yes!)

Here's the first one I made, and I have two others as well. Just waiting to eat some food and reuse the jars :)I just guessed on the pattern - double crochets with two chain stitches in between. Another one I made is all the scallop stitch - very pretty with the light shining through!

alright, i'll update

my mom started a blog about her crafts and findings and whatnot. her blog is better than mine, only due to her years she has on me (i love you mom). you can check out her blog here! and go to her etsy store, she has some great vintage crafting supplies for super cheap. here's the link to her etsy store, Patalier!


So, I finally finished that granny square blanket. I estimated it took me about 130 hours to complete. Which is a pretty scary amount of hours, start to finish. Each block took me 1.5-2 hours to make, then I used a single crochet to attach all the squares together. The border is a round of double crochet, a round of treble crochet, then I used a scallop stitch to make a cute border. I don't think I will ever make a blanket out of 63 different patterns ever again.

hurricane preparations

Preparing for the hurricane, Steve and I did a few things. First- buying food at the last possible minute. Second- filling the bathtub with water in case we didn't have running water (and needed to flush the toilet, not drink. priorities). and third- clear out the back yard.

Well, nothing happened with the hurricane. Everything is paved and runs away from our house. and our house is shielded by all the other houses, so hardly any wind. I was fine with that. Which is good because first - we only bought stuff for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and I don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. second - our tub must have a small leak in the plug, because we woke up in the morning and all the water had drained out. and third - mr. peabody loves all our items from the backyard which were relocated into our house. not only does he love chewing on all my plants (what am i going to do in winter?!) but he sat on our porch chairs for 5 days (I finally put them back outside tonight). and gave me evil looks (like the one pictured) every time i got near HIS chairs.






























So I got bored and made this cozy for a pint glass (filled with hot coffee!). I couldnt get a great photo, but you get the idea. it's mint green with two white stripes and a white bow. the bow looks overpowering, but it's just the right size.

The granny squares continue...

I've probably made about a dozen granny squares for my big blanket since I last updated. Updates are slowing down because of so much going on - really busy at work and coming home very tired. As well as my sister had a baby (so I've been making things for baby as well as buying things) and I'm going on vacation on Monday for 8 days. YAY!

Here are six granny squares I finished this week. And a photo of my favorite one of the bunch.. It took a long time to block this one and have it set nicely, so it's not perfect. But it was fun and really quick to make (probably an hour, versus the others which generally take me 1.5-2 hours each).

More granny squares....

Here are two of the same (!) granny squares in different color combinations. I love this pattern, it's so easy to read and it turned out perfectly. Great pattern for someone doing their first granny square, as you can't really mess it up unless you don't know the stitches. The pattern is by Adaiha and you can find it here.

Simple Blanket Squares

I started these squares a while ago and they were put on hold while I was teaching myself all the new granny squares. These are simple- in four colors and four stitch combinations. I want a simple blanket for my bedroom that won't over power the pretty quilt my mom made for me. And I also have to make approximately 60 squares, the reason why I started crocheting back in May in hopes to be finished by November when it's blanket layering season.