Archive for the ‘knitting’ Category

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handmade holidays

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

I’ve been trying to write this post for awhile and figured I’d better get it up before Valentine’s Day! I took the Handmade Pledge last year and have to say that all of my birthday/baby/holiday gifts were handmade. I’ve been posting them throughout the year and here’s the final gifts of the holiday season.

holiday gifts

Sweater Scarves from my own pattern.

holiday gifts

Coasters from Joelle Hoverson’s sewing book. Bar towel from my own pattern.

holiday gifts

Zipper pouches from 24 Hour Sewing Projects.

holiday gifts

Mason Dixon Warshrags.

I also made lots of loaves of friendship bread (with mini chocolate chips and chopped craisins. YUM!) and tree ornaments.

holiday gifts

Tiny stockings from Joelle Hoverson’s knitting book.

holiday gifts

Tiny stars from Shh, I’m counting!

I plan on posting a tutorial for the sweater scarves. I also have fiddled with the friendship bread recipe (when do I not fiddle with a recipe?) trying to make it a bit healthier for every day snacking. I’ll try and post that, too. Right now I’m working on baby gifts. They’ll be revealed soon!

Posted in knitting, life in lincoln, sewing | 2 Comments »

felted wool sweater coffee sleeves

Friday, January 16th, 2009

I think I have officially made use of all of the sweater parts I recycle into felted wool accessories. Here’s my latest, made from the leftover cuffs of my sweater sleeve scarves. More photos in my shop. I have a few more I’ll be posting over the next few days. These were fun, small projects to do after finishing up M’s blanket. I also have one more project idea up my sleeve (ha, ha) that uses the neck ribbing of the sweater. Stay tuned!

felted coffee sleeves

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the candy corn winner is…

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

…comment number five! Congrats, Joanne!

bella

Posted in knitting, life in lincoln, mirabella | 2 Comments »

glow in the dark ghost pattern

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

A few weeks ago I totally got sucked in by Halloween marketing. “We’ve got glow in the dark yarn!” screamed the ad. “Wow! That would make a cool amigurumi ghost!” I thought. I marched off with my 40% of coupon, got my yarn, and then came home to look for a pattern. But I couldn’t find any I really liked, so I just improvised. You’ve already seen the first one.* I like this one a little better, especially with the picot ruffles at the base. This little ghost is for sale in my etsy shop, but if you know how to crochet, don’t buy it from me unless you’re really busy saving lives or something because it takes no time at all to whip one up. Heck, crochet a whole pile of them and string them together to make a Halloween garland!

*By the way, when T turned out the light and the little ghost started to glow, M handed it right back to him. It’s sitting on my windowsill now keeping my pumpkin and apple company.

glow in the dark ghost

Glow in the Dark Ghost with Picot Ruffles

materials:
glow in the dark yarn or any worsted weight white yarn
size G/6 (4mm) crochet hook
two black beads for eyes
black yarn for smile
tapestry needle for beads and weaving ends
optional: polyester fiberfil

sc: single crochet
sl st: slip stitch

R1: chain 2, sc 6 in second chain from hook
mark the beginning of your row, move your marker up on each completed row
R2: 2 sc in each stitch around (12 stitches)
R3: *sc 1, sc 2 in next stitch* around (18 stitches)
R4: *sc 2, sc 2 in next stitch* around (24 stitches)
R5-7: sc around
R8 : sc 9, sc with bead, sc 3, sc with bead, sc 10
R9-15: sc around
R16: *[sl st, chain 3, sl into same st] sc* around for picot edging

Tie off, sew on a little smile, and weave in your ends.

I didn’t crochet a base because of the picot ruffle. Not to say that it couldn’t be done. This is more decoration than a toy, so I stuffed it with fiberfil to give it shape, but it’s open on the bottom.

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Posted in knitting, life in lincoln, patterns | 1 Comment »

overheard around our house

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

me: Bella, do you want to go to the library?
m: New books to read! Yay!

If I sneeze, cough, clear my throat or just sniffle…
m: Bless you, Mama! Bless you, bless you, bless you!

As she is clearly getting ready to make something in her diaper…
me: Bella, do you want to go do that on the potty?
m: No thank you, Mama.

During the past few days we’ve had colds and runny noses around here…
m: Booger squeezer, where ARE you?
and
m: I blow my nose by myself.

Also, I had a goal of making one little Halloween item for my etsy shop each week. Within minutes of finishing this little glow-in-the-dark ghost, I found it in bed with her other friends. I guess we’re keeping it.

glow in the dark ghost

Posted in knitting, life in lincoln, mirabella | 1 Comment »

i made it myself: slip stitch scarf

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Yay! My dad’s scarf is finally finished. He’ll be so happy. I bought him this yarn last year from Liberty in London. It’s Rowan Cashsoft and is super soft and cuddly! He got a hat for his birthday and this scarf was his Father’s Day present. Since it was hot in June, I gave myself until Fall to finish it. It still needs to be blocked—the edges could use a good straightening. You’re probably thinking, oh no, not more Halloween colors! Well, just so you know, they are Orioles colors. Heh.

dad scarf

It’s a simple slip stitch pattern I pulled out of my stitch calendar. I think it’s the same as the Mason Dixon burp cloths (from their first book). Work in multiples of five:

Row 1 (ws): k2, *p1, k4; rep from * to last 3 sts, p1, k2
Row 2 (rs): k2, *sl 1, k4; rep from * to last 3 sts, sl 1, k2

Repeat these two rows.

dad scarf

Other specifics:

I knit both sides at the same time from the stripes up and then grafted them in the middle with the kitchener stitch. I did that because I wanted to use up as much black yarn as possible and I figured it was the easiest way to make sure the stripes matched up at the bottom.

I also practiced weaving in ends as I knit. Kind of tricky, but I think I finally got the hang of it.

Finished size: 8 inches x 1 1/2 Bellas

Did you make something yourself? Post it here!

Posted in knitting, life in lincoln, mirabella, patterns | 1 Comment »

i made it myself: amigurumi pumpkin

Monday, September 15th, 2008

I feel silly posting about this little pumpkin. It looks almost the same as last week’s apple. But, I got all excited yesterday and posted my trick or treat bags and Halloween cards and totally forgot that today was I Made it Myself Day. (I have to support my fellow crafters!) So, here it is.

pumpkin

It will be up for sale on etsy later this week. I was thinking about writing up the pattern and posting it on the blog, but does the Internet really need another How to Crochet a Ball pattern? Aren’t they all the same?

In the meantime, I’m designing some new felted sweater bags for Fall. Hopefully, I’ll have something new to post next week!

Did you make something yourself? Post it here!

Posted in knitting, life in lincoln | 1 Comment »

only 47 more days until halloween

Sunday, September 14th, 2008

Around here on the blog, though, you’d think it was already October! I’ve been busy sewing up some orange and black goodness that I wanted to share with you. It all started with a doodle.

ghost

Then, M and I were sorting through (playing with) fabric, and I got inspired to make her a trick or treat bag.* It turned out so cute, I made a bunch more.

trick or treat bag

Then I sewed up a stack of Halloween cards. I’ve been trying to do more things with my left over stash from paper trade shows. I made these cards out of Fox River Confetti paper. (Love, love, LOVE this paper!)

cards

There’s more coming. Remember how I said I was becoming slightly addicted to amigurumi? I’ve got two little pumpkins on my windowsill looking for a new home. I hope to get a picture posted soon. I also may have possibly bought some glow in the dark yarn for a little amigurumi ghost. Oh, and I was thinking a little black cat might be cute to make, too.

All in good time, my little pretties.

*No, I’m not taking her around this year to collect a bunch of sugar. She’s still too young. She’ll probably just stash her keys, phone and baby Elmo in her bag. What? Like you don’t have a baby Elmo in your bag.

Posted in knitting, life in lincoln, other creative stuff, sewing | No Comments »

undead dolls

Friday, September 12th, 2008

Here are the little dolls that I poured my heart and soul into for my daughter. They sit on her window sill practically untouched. She got a “Thomas the Choo Choo Train Coloring Book” the other day so the dolls’ heyday is officially over. Although she now knows four new words: vampire, ghost, skeleton and zombie.

undead dolls

They are an early Halloween present. I say that because it sounds much more on the ball than calling them a late birthday present.

If you don’t know me all that well, you may think it’s weird that I would make these for my two year old. I’m a pretty big horror fiction freak. My favorites are Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and her Mayfair Witch books. I have watched every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel too many times to count. (When I was in labor with M, I watched almost all of season seven.) I’ve seen most of the Jason, Michael and Freddie movies. I own the Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldam versions of Dracula (love them both!) and my favorite horror film of all time is The Hunger.

Not that I’m going to encourage her to watch or read any of these. I simply fell in love with the pattern and it seemed too self-indulgent to make them for myself.

Occasionally I find find them in her bed after nap time or in her Lego bin. I’d really like to put them on the window sill in my office, but they were a gift. I’ll just sneak in her room and visit them every once and awhile.

Posted in knitting, life in lincoln, mirabella | 4 Comments »

i made it myself: amigurimi apple

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Last Saturday we went over Lauren and Paul’s to watch the game. I have a hard time sitting still while watching television. I always need to be doing something with my hands. I didn’t have any small knitting projects to take with me, so I brought a hook and some red yarn. (Red because it was a Husker game. Aren’t you proud of my Nebraska spirit?) Here’s the result:

apple

I thought M might like to have it, but she’s totally uninterested. I just finished her undead dolls (more on them in another post), and with her birthday presents, she’s got plenty to keep herself busy. So, the little apple is for sale over at etsy. I plan on making a pumpkin next. These little amigurumis are SO addicting. I just can’t stop!

Did you make something yourself this week? Post it here!

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