Dec 30, 2011

Spreading some Geekyness for Christmas -- Crocheted Yoda

One of my nieces made a request for a crocheted Yoda for Christmas.














I think he turned out SUPER cute!!!!


I used Lucyravenscar's pattern from Etsy and it was super easy to follow.  She has lots of other cute patterns so I would check her out!!!
I was able to make him in one evening! My husband thought he needed a lightsaber and I just kept forgetting to add it! Maybe I'll get it to him later ;)

I loved that I could make something geeky for Christmas and to see the smile on my niece's face was just priceless!









Dec 29, 2011

Nanny Granny

Finally I made a granny square blanket for my mother-in-law, aka Nanny
(The colors are actually grey and a bright teal blue but with my instagram pics they come out looking different!)

I love how simple this one is and yet it still looks awesome!
I made 4 giant granny squares and just joined them together.

For all of the blankets I made I used my favorite yarn from Hobby Lobby - I Love This Yarn!  The yarn is super soft and comes in amazing colors! It really makes finding great color combinations easy.  

And here are some of the pics from the crocheting process:



Dec 27, 2011

Lucy's Granny Square Blanket

 

The blanket I made for my sister-in-law Lucy gave me a new challenge - reading a pattern from just a chart.  Plus this chart was written in Japanese!  Ya, it was hard but I love great challenges!
Here is the pattern from Ravelry if you are interested!

This turned into a rather large blanket of 143 squares, but it's perfect for my SIL and niece snuggle under!

Here are some of the grannies before they were edged and sewn together


And the border up close

Dec 26, 2011

Amy's Granny Striped Blanket

The first blanket I started for Christmas was for my sister-in-law Amy.
(It's the one in the middle)

I saw OliveOh posting some awesome pictures of the Granny Stripe Blanket she was working on and she posted a great explanation for how to do it too! So I thought this would be the perfect blanket for Amy! 
Here is the actual pattern from Attic 24 for those who need patterns!

So here are some of the pictures of the blanket in process.  





I somehow never got one of it by itself -- may have to get my SIL to send me one!

Dec 24, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 
I have been busy making presents for my family so I haven't been able to post my projects here! But here is glimpse at the three blankets I crocheted for my motherinlaw and sisterinlaws.

 I'll post more about each one soon with more pics!  Plus I made a few more gifts too!!
I hope you all are having a great Christmas!!

Nov 29, 2011

Christmas Craftiness

I love Pinterest for all of their inspiration! I saw this picture and knew I had to make this wreath!!

And thank you Target for inexpensive and cute plastic ornaments to make this project happen!!

Here is the blog post that I used for some assistance.  It has other blogs linked to it as well for more help! I didn't take any pictures of the process because my daughter and I were just having too much fun! We used hot glue to make sure those sneaky tops didn't detach from the plastic balls.  Also my wire hanger had a plastic coating on it and I had to strip some of it off for to allow the balls to slip on easier.

And here is our finished product
I just need to get some ribbon to hide the hanger and it will be finished!

Nov 8, 2011

Adventures in Sewing - Bunting

I have always wanted to make my own bunting for my office.
Look how cute this looks in a classroom???


I personally have a small office for me to have individual and family therapy for the kids who live at the facility I work for.  I thought it would be fun to make a bunting that would serve several purposes.  One it would make the space brighter and CUTER and friendly.  I also thought I could include my kids in the process to allow them to have a discharge activity where they get to leave something behind for other kids.

I used this DIY but I know there are tons available on the internet if this one isn't to your liking.
Here are the triangles I made

Really you need some good coffee to make crafting really great!!


I wish I had gotten a picture of me sewing these triangles! I figured out what was messing up on my machine! Yeah and BOO! I somehow can't get the tension right for the top thread, so I have to physically hold the thread in my right hand from the top and then with my left hand hold the fabric! Its a challenge, so I'm glad these triangles look half way decent!!!

Now to get to the kid part - I am letting the kids decorate one side of triangle when they are getting close to discharging from our program.  Here is the first one I have.  I marked out the identifying info.  I love that this kid added a mustache to his picture of himself!

(no matter what I tried I couldn't get this picture to turn the right way! I saved it different ways but blogger always made it back to this... sigh!)

So now I am trying to decide if I sew the bunting all together now or do I just add a flag as the kids decorate them?  Either way I'm taking it down each time.  If I put it all together then I can have it in a nice color pattern and the other way it feels a little more symbolic adding them one at a time... Suggestions??

Nov 7, 2011

Crafting for my Cub Scouts

My son has been in cub scouts for a few years and has moved up to Webelos this year.  Now that they are Webelos the boys get pick their own patrol name and start getting ready to be Boy Scouts.  

My husband is our den leader and he thought it would be fun if the boys had their own flag to show off in the pack.  So here came the crafty momma to help out!

I used my new embroidery skills and loved how it turned out!
Here are some of the pictures from the process 



 I loved getting to do this for the boys and seeing them getting so excited about having something that was made just for them.

Oct 31, 2011

Halloween Sewing Fun

This year my son came up with a costume idea that I was going to have to make!
He wanted to be Ike from Smash Brothers
I'm glad I have a husband who has some engineering skills because I had no idea how I was going to do this one!! He had the idea to make the tunic from a large T-shirt and how to make the "armor" work with just some material and a belt.

I had fun putting it together and working with my husband on it!
So here is the finished product


Oct 26, 2011

I love hats

One thing I have loved making is hats! They are easy, fast and make great gifts!

I had made a bear hat for my nephew when he was born and my sister requested another one since he has gotten just a little bigger now. (why do babies grow so fast????) 
I couldn't say no of course and made two cute hats for him!

He has a new bear hat and a mohawk hat too!! He is so punk rock!!!  
I used this awesome crochet pattern from ravelry and added my own touches with the ears and hawk.  
Isn't he the cutest????

Oct 24, 2011

Hats and Booties for some cuties

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted! I've been making lots of things! Most of the items I am making are gifts for other people so I have to wait to post a picture! Don't want to spoil any surprises!!!
My Cousin had twin baby girls and I had to make them some special things!!!
They of course need the cutest hats and I found a great pattern from The Dainty Daisy.  These hats are much cuter in person!!
And of course every girl needs a pair of booties to match!  These were made from a lovely pattern I purchased on Etsy from Two Girls Patterns

The babies were just born and are only 3 pounds right now! They have some growing to do before they can really enjoy their new things.  

Sep 18, 2011

Blog Blanket Project

Courtney from You will. won't you? is hosting a blogger blanket project!

This is an awesome project where we make 6 granny squares measuring 6"X6" for each of the participants so we end up with enough squares to make a queen sized blanket.  I'm really excited about this idea and have already started working on my squares... I might be a little too excited!! OH WELL!


I'm hoping to use my blanket for my office! I am a therapist for kids and this would be a great comfort my kids could enjoy! Plus what a great picture of people working together! 

This is an awesome project that I think any level of crocheter can get involved with! Even if you have never made a granny square, you can do this! Check out Becky's great tutorials on making granny squares! 

Sep 14, 2011

Finally finished!!!

I finally finished my granny circle blanket!!
I am super super super excited to be done!


I was inspired by Bunny Mummy for my border


She had a great tutorial for the edging too and I thought it was super easy to do

And it looks GREAT on my new couch!!!

I'm so glad to get this blanket done! 

Aug 23, 2011

Cardigan progress!

I have made lots of progress on my Yellow Cardigan!
I'm working on the bottom ribbing and then I'll work on the sleeves! Then a few finishing touches and it'll be done!!! I'm so excited! Now to get cooler weather so I can ENJOY it!!!

Aug 9, 2011

Yellow Cardigan Progress

I'm making progress!!!!
I got a little impatient and tried to see if I was ready to divide the sleeves off but quickly realized it was too small for me.  It was a little harder to go back a row but I was able to make it work! Thankfully the area where there are a little mess ups is at the underarm, so who is going to see that???

Can't wait to finish!!!

Aug 4, 2011

Cardigan Fail...

So remember my cardigan project I started in June?  Well I'm sad to say I had to scrap it.

Can you see what is wrong with this picture?


If you said 2 different colored yarns you would be correct! For some reason I Love This Yarn makes two shades of this green that have similar names and I somehow got the wrong one! I didn't notice until I had been going for a bit and just got so frustrated.  I could just pull out the old color and start over.  But lets me honest, I wasn't wild about the pattern.  It just wasn't working for me when I was seeing it in person.  I think some patterns are like that.

So I've been looking through some other patterns and found this one that I want to try.

I bought some I Love This Wool in Sungold with my Birthday money and I'm ready to go!
I'll post pictures as I make progress! Crossing my fingers for no more failures on this one!

Aug 3, 2011

African Flowers

My friend AJ starting crocheting African Flowers for a blanket she was making and I had to give them a try!  

Aren't they awesome??!!???!!


I used this pattern for making them.


I decided to make them for a craft swap I'm doing on One Artsy Mama's blog.  I figured they could be used as decoration, coasters ... the ideas are endless!!

Jun 30, 2011

Geekery for Charity

Something else I'm working on right now is more Jayne Hats!

I saw a recent tweet from Austin Browncoats asking for knitters to volunteer their time by knitting up some Jayne Hats so they can sell them for charity.  I of course was so up for this!!

I just need to make 3 hats by the end of July and I'm almost done with the main body of two.  I haven't added the earflaps yet because I figured I can just do them last and at the same time! Then of course there is the pom pom on top...

This is my first time to use real wool and I have to admit I'm in love! Combining the good wool with my bamboo needles and it's like knitting a little part of heaven!  

I'm sure they could still use more knitters if you are interested! Look for the volunteer link on their webpage or I can send you the email.