meet stu
While I was trying to wrap up my holiday knitting, I thought it would be cool to teach my daughter how to crochet. We tried finger knitting in the past with no success, but she loves my crochet hooks. I figured if I could get her busy making chains or something, I would have better luck getting my projects finished.
I checked out Kids Learn to Crochet from the library. Have you seen this book? The instructions are labeled with big numbers in circles. My daughter loves numbers almost as much as she loves letters. She sat and counted off the steps for each pattern in the book. Then she asked me to make her a blue Stripey Stu.
What can you do? I made her a Stu for her stocking and took the book back to the library. We’ll try again in a few months.
stash: Thrifted tapestry wool, felt and vintage buttons. Oh, and if you get technical, this is really Big Bert. My daughter just likes the name Stu better.
holiday knitting revealed!
So it seems like everyone likes their knitted gifts. I’m so glad! I started last January and made good progress up until summer. I finished up after it got cold again. Everything was in the mail and delivered on time. I think this is a record for me!
These are wrist warmers from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts: ladies’ version. I made a cowl to match using the same spiral rib pattern. The yarn is Patons SWS, which I really love! Michael’s put this on clearance last year right after Christmas and I bought a ton. I have no idea why they stopped carrying it. The colors are so beautiful.
These are wrist warmers from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts: men’s version with matching cowl in Patons SWS. My brother-in-law asked me if I realized that these were really “in” right now. I told him I had my finger on the pulse of the latest knitting trends!
Another set of wrist warmers, but I didn’t have enough to make a circular cowl. I had to knit this one flat and add a button. The purple wool was from my stash, so there was no getting more! Luckily it blocked nicely. The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted, the only wool that doesn’t itch its recipient.
Finally, a new hat for my brother — in Virginia Tech colors, of course — and a matching cowl. The hat is Hot Head from Stitch ‘N Bitch and the cowl is a matching 2×2 rib. The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky.
project notes: Everything went as planned with these. Next year I’ll be sewing gifts, instead. Guess I better get started soon!
christmas 2009
christmas pajamas
I was planning to make two pairs of pajamas. Only one pair got finished. When I showed them to my daughter, she said they were very cool, but she didn’t want to wear them to bed. I was a little crushed. Fast forward to today: they’ve been on for over 24 hours and she doesn’t want to take them off. Success?
The flannel was thrifted from somewhere—I’m starting to lose track of where I get these things! I was planning to use a Simplicity pattern, but didn’t have enough fabric. Instead, I used a pillow case pajama pants tutorial, and it worked out perfectly.
The top is just a plain t-shirt from Target. I added a little appliqué to help it coordinate with the pants.
I’m very happy with how these turned out. I’ll be making the other pair this weekend.
project notes: Making a pattern from measurements tutorial from Brandy over at Minivan Life. Very easy to follow. I highly recommend it!
christmas eve crafting with dad
I bought this little gingerbread house for my daughter to put together with her dad this afternoon while I do a little bit of sewing. It’s just a little crafty thing with some sticky appliqués and glitter, but they seem to really be enjoying themselves.
I’m planning to make some Christmas Eve pajamas for her to wear tonight. Better get off the computer and get sewing!
cheery flower brooch
Yep, I’m still crafting over here. Now that the holiday pressure is off, I’m doing some fun small projects. Last Spring I became a little obsessed with crochet flowers and I’m at it again. They are so quick to whip up and are a great way to use up odd bits of yarn. I’m thinking these would be nice to send to someone instead of sending actual flowers. They’d last longer and can be pinned to almost anything. They definitely bring good cheer!
stash: Thrifted yarn from my amigurumi stash. Brooch pattern from Attic24.
my first crochet scarf
Do you ever have an empty feeling after the big holiday gift/package/mail rush is over? Everything got done in time, but who knows with the weather if it will arrive on time. Now I don’t know what to do with myself. I should be doing all of the laundry I’ve neglected for crafting the past few weeks.
Instead, I crocheted a scarf for my daughter. It’s not a Christmas present. It’s just because I was gifted some yarn and it was fuzzy and cute and she needed a scarf that matched her brown hat and mittens.
The yarn is Lily Chin’s Nolita* and from my friend Amy. She destashed a lot of her fuzzy fibers and brought them to our last knitting guild meeting. It’s the perfect amount for a toddler sized scarf. It’s soft and cuddly, but a pain to rip if you make a mistake. I have another ball in green that I think would make a perfect cowl for me.
pattern: 16 double crochets across with a J hook. Final size was 4 x 30 inches after steam blocking.
*Don’t judge this yarn based on the awful photo on the website. It’s actually very pretty.
what’s better than giving handmade gifts?
Receiving them!
When I pick up my daughter from preschool I always ask about her day. Did you learn a new song? Did you paint? Color? Draw? Did you sit still for story time? For the past few weeks she’s been telling me about her tree. “Today we painted our tree.” “Today we put ornaments on our tree.” “Today we put sparkles on our tree.”
I honestly thought she was making some kind of giant tree painting the way she described it. Imagine my surprise when she came home with this little tree ornament! It was wrapped in a paper bag (or sack as they say in Nebraska)* decorated with holiday stickers. I waited for my husband to come home so we could open it together. It is the most beautiful ornament on our tree.
*When I called it a paper bag, my daughter said, “NO MOM! Mrs. Tisdale said it’s a SACK!”
how to: recycled holiday card gift tags
Last year I saved a few of my favorite holiday cards for crafting. I planned to reuse the artwork to make new cards, but when I realized I didn’t have any cute gift tags in my stash, I started cutting! I began with 5 cards and ended with almost 30 gift tags in all shapes and sizes.
You’ll need:
-paper cutter
-embossing stylus, crochet hook or knitting needle for scoring
-ruler
-small hole punch
I just started slicing away without thinking too hard about the end result. Then I went back and sorted all of the bits.
- Large rectangles were scored for fold-over tags. (boy pulling sled)
- Borders made great matching flat tags. (red and cream stripes)
- Images were cut in half to make coordinating card sets. (snow scene)
- Die cuts made really fancy cards. (poinsettia)
Most cards are made out of heavy paper stock and need to be scored before you fold them or they will crack on the fold. If the surface is glittery, cover with a thin piece of paper before scoring.
The final step was to punch holes in the corners so they can easily be tied on to gift packages.
reuse and recycle: This little project didn’t take long and was so much fun. If you sent me a really cute card last year, thanks! You just might be getting it back on a gift this year.