Halloween craftiness

We had another crafty Halloween!

Kira and I went as Unicorns!

I was a more of a My Little Pony Unicorn and Kira was Lady Rainicorn from Adventure Time

For Kira's Costume I sewed the dress on my own.

Now I'm really excited about this because I made her dress WITHOUT a pattern!!!

Now there were some small messups along the way - like not making the neck big enough for her to put her head through!! But we were able to make some adjustments and it was perfect!

I also crocheted her unicorn horn and attached it to a crocheted headband.

back view -- arm warmers were knee high socks we just cut to make them work

Now I found a fun pattern for a unicorn hat that I wanted to use for my costume.

But, it didn't work out so great...

Even Kira agreed it was a pattern fail!!!!

But I was able to use some of the information from the pattern and come up with this awesome unicorn hat.

I really liked being able to tell people that I made it all on my own!!

Homemade Halloween costumes are for sure the best!!

Did you make your costume this year?

Sock Explosion

I finished up the mismatched socks for Kira 2 weeks ago

They turned out pretty cute!!!!

I'm making more and I can't seem to stop!!!

I made an adult sized mismatched socks

These even had a ribbed pattern on the top

Now I've started on some rainbow socks!!!

This is my problem - I tend to fall in love with a craft and go overboard with it! 

Oh well!

There are going to be a lot of happy and well dressed feet when I am done!!!!

I do have to add for my knitting friends that knitting socks from the toe up and two at a time is the way to go!!!  I tried using double pointed needles and doing it the "traditional" way and it was confusing! I finished, but I had to look at videos and stop and restart - I was not a fan.  

I'm glad I saw this method because it makes sense! Plus finishing both socks at the same time, knowing they are the exact same length is perfect!!!  I highly recommend the Toe-up 2-at-a-time sock book!

Knitting socks

I have started a new adventure in sock knitting.

For my Birthday my mom got me another gift certificate for Knitpicks and I decided to buy a bunch of pretty sock yarn! I also got some awesome hand dyed yarn too!! 

Aren't these yarns pretty!!!!!

I'm pretty impatient  inspired so I got started pretty soon after the box arrived.

I decided to try to learn how to knit socks from the toe up.

It feels like I'm knitting with tooth picks!!!!!!!!

About a week into knitting my first sock I found this book and it was on SALE! 

What - 2 at a time? YES! 

I was already dreading going back and knitting the second sock and hoping I get all the measurements correct.

I started over and gave this new book a try

(see little tooth picks!!!)

I'm making these socks for Kira and she choose 2 different yarns to make crazy mismatched socks!

I love it!

Sock knitting sure takes a lot more time to complete - like I said TINY needles.

Plus I'm still working on my custom blanket so I'm just knitting when I want a break from crocheting.

Have you tried knitting 2 socks at a time? How did it work for you?

Blythe Craziness!

In June we got Kira her first Blythe/Basaak Doll.  She was so excited and wanted to get started right away on making outfits for her.  Kira has named her Violet because she thinks she looks like Violet from The Incredibles!

The first thing we did for Violet was give her some new hair.  Kira felt that since her name was Violet, she needed violet hair!!

We got this cute purple wig from Blythsim's Etsy shop.  It turned out PERFECT!  I just need to secure the hair better now so the wig doesn't come off so easily.

Last week Kira and I started our first dress for Violet.  We used the VERY helpful tutorial from Olivia on the OHstrumpets Blythes too! Blog.  Seriously it was VERY helpful!

We've only gotten to the bodice so far, but I'm hoping next week we'll get to the skirt too.

Kira did all the cutting and ironing.  She was a little nervous about sewing so I did this part.  I think she will be able to sew more on the skirt!

Kira picked really cute fabric from my collection!

Finally I knitted two hoodies for her from this pattern

The ROYGBIV came out perfect!  

I made this other one while we were on vacation with my cotton yarn I had.

This picture gives you a better idea of what the hoodie looks like.

Now I understand why gage is important!!!

The ROYGBIV was done with the recommended sock yarn and the green was done with some cotton yarn that was a little thicker, causing the hoodie to be A LOT bigger!!! It's huge on her! But Kira still loves it, so it doesn't really matter to me!!

We are sinking further and further into the Blythe world! Kira saw that you can change the makeup!! So I'll be researching that soon!!! 

My Week in Pictures - Week 8

I can hardly believe we only have one more week left in JUNE!!!

CRAZY!

This week was busy and I somehow didn't stop to take pictures!

I still found some good ones to share though :)

In my weight loss journey I have now lost 15 pounds!

WOOOOOO

My son was having a lot of fun with this bubble blower!

My kids went to their grandparents this weekend and got to do a lot of fun things with them.

Kira tested out her new sewing machine she got for her Birthday.

She already has a list of things to make with it!!

I'm aiming for those projects with straight lines like pillows!

My son helped refurbish this doll house.

It was my sister-in-laws and then her daughter used it.

I thought I could use it at work with my kids!

So excited and can't wait for my work kids to hear that my son helped!

Kira got baptized this Sunday!

I love that my husband has gotten to baptize both of our kids.

CRAFTING!!!!!

I'm making some fingerless gloves for our cutie neighbor girls! 

They are always borrowing Kira's when they play rockstar so I need to get them their own pair for when they are rockstars at home!!

I've been knitting away on this blanket and getting caught up on Grey's on the hubby's fancy Kindle Fire.

AND I think I've decided what to make with these bright colored grannies!!

My little sister pointed out that she liked the colors when she saw them, so I thought I'd make something for her!

I'll let you know what I make after its done!

Just in case it doesn't turn out right!!!!

Blythes need Jayne Hats too!!!

I had been admiring Becky and Olivia's Blythes on their instagram feed and also on their Blog Oh Strumpets! Blythe too!  You need to check out their cute blog! Lots of cute pictures and even DIY for making dresses!!!

Recently Olivia asked if anyone could make a Jayne Hat for one of her dolls and I volunteered to give it a try. 

I think this might have been the turning point for me!

HOW STINKIN' CUTE IS THIS????

Ya, I'm a Blythe sell out!!!

I'll have to get my own so she can have a Jayne Hat too!!

A Cozy Give-away!!

With this new skills I learned, I have revisited an old pattern I made for a Mario Star Coffee Cozy.

I think it turned out much better than my old version! 

I wanting to share this cozy with you guys by offering it in a give-away! YEAH!!!!

If you want to win it, just leave me a comment with your email so I can let you know if you won!

For extra entries -

*Follow this blog and leave a comment letting me know

*Like my facebook page and let me know

*visit my etsy shop  and let me know what you like or would like to see in the shop!

I'll draw a winner next Friday - March 30th! Spread the word, or keep it to yourself if you really want to win ;) But sharing is better :)

Something New

I have been doing a lot of crocheting lately and have been itching to do a knitting project.  

I came across a post on Knitting Daily about a color change method called Intarsia.  I was sold on the method when I saw the pattern they were using was for a R2D2 hat! LOVE!  I had tried fair isle before on some earlier projects and never liked how they came out - see the gumba hat I made in 2010.  I had left all my ideas that involved complicated color change behind at the time.

So I had to give this new method a try! I found a great video online with a good beginner's pattern to start!

The pattern was a washcloth with a heart in the middle.  I did change the measurements because I didn't want a HUGE cloth and I was really wanting to focus on this new method.

getting started and looking good!

Intarsia gets a little tricky! Look at all those yarn tails!!!

I have to say that I LOVE this new method of doing color change! 

My daughter has already claimed this washcloth for herself :)

Have you ever tried Intarsia before? What do you think of it?

Be on the lookout for another project post I tried with Intarsia!!!

Taking Advantage of a Long Weekend

I took advantage of this long weekend and crafted away!

The one project I'm really excited about was these lovelies

They look like regular gloves, but they are actually...

GLITTENS!!!!!

They are a nice combination of fingerless gloves and mittens all in one!

All I need to do is add a button so I can keep the flaps down when needed!

You can find the pattern here on Ravelry 

I also finished up a hat for a friend

Made a cowl for a friend's daughter

Started an embroidery project

And finally I cleaned out our hallway -- it's an ackward hallway that leads to nothing and we have just used it to hide the junk we have! SO I have reclaimed it for my crafty storage!  Thanks to Ikea I now have a beautiful space for my yarn, fabric, sewing machine and more!!

What did you do this weekend??

Wrong yarn = cowl for the daughter!

One of my friends asked me to make them a hat they saw in the store. I found the pattern on revelry and was ready to get started. I even found yarn on sale for it!

Well I got started in the project only to discover I had bought the wrong yarn! Urg! I bought super bulky instead of just bulky. Seriously there is a difference for those who are questioning this.

I sat here for awhile messing around with the yarn and finally decided it would be perfect for a cowl and I knew just the little girl to enjoy it!

My daughter even showed me all the different ways to wear a cowl!

"It looks like a necklace mom!"

"Oh my mouth can be warm or I can be a Ninja!"

not sure what she was doing here but her ears are going to be warm!

So I'm glad I made a mistake in the purchase of my yarn! It turned into a super cute prize for my cutie daughter!