After the hustle and bustle of making things for others during the holiday season, my usual resolution is to make more things for myself.
This year that is going to have to wait. I’ve got a custom order for 12 of these cute coasters in red. Four down and eight to go!
Do you have any crafty resolutions for 2011? Share them in the comments!
I made these wrist warmers for our mail carrier. She is awesome. We ship and receive a lot of mail packages and she always comes to our door, even in below zero temps. I know she has to keep her fingertips exposed, so I thought wrist warmers would be a nice gift.
The pattern as written fits an average size woman’s wrist. If you need it bigger or smaller (for a guy or child), whip out your tape measure and adjust the measurements accordingly. I measured around my knuckles, not including my thumb, and rounded down to 7 inches for a snug fit.
Materials
any yarn (I used bulky yarn to make the project go fast)
corresponding size hook (I used size I)
DC: double crochet
SC: single crochet
tip: I tend to make my first chain really tight no matter how hard I try to keep it loose. To compensate for this, I chain and dc my first row with a hook size larger. That keeps my edges consistent for Step 6.
Step 1
Crochet a gauge swatch in double crochet. I know some people hate making these, but it’s really not that hard, so just do it. Figure out how many stitches you have in an inch, then figure out the following:
A = gauge x 8 1/2
B = gauge x 2
C = gauge x 4
My gauge was 3 1/2 stitches per inch. I’ll put my numbers in parentheses in case you find the letters confusing.
Step 2
Chain A. (30)
Step 3
DC back and forth for six inches.
note: You’ll notice that I don’t chain at the beginning of each row. I use faux double crochets instead. They really make your edges much neater.
Step 4
Make the thumb opening: DC B (7), chain B (7), skip B (7), dc to end of the row.
Step 5
DC across, including chain stitches, and continue back and forth until piece measures 7 inches.
Step 6
SC the last row and your first chain row together to make a tube. Cut yarn, weave ends and turn inside out.
Step 7
Repeat for the other hand, but change Step 4 to the following:
Make the thumb opening: DC until C (14) stitches remain, chain B (7), skip B (7), DC B (7).
stash: I used recycled sweater yarn for these. It’s a soft acrylic that’s machine washable. I may need to make a pair for myself, too!
I’m always amazed how fast Christmas is over. There is such an enormous build up: two months I counted this year with decorations appearing in craft stores before Halloween. Even with all of that time, it’s amazing how busy everyone is right up until Christmas Eve.
Then everything comes to an abrupt end. The lights will stay up until New Year’s Day, but the music is gone from the radio, decorations are on clearance and the craft stores are all focused on Valentine’s Day.
Well, I’m not ready for candy hearts. I’ll be getting back into gear with some handmade gifts that I couldn’t blog about until after they had been given. I also have a couple tutorials. Don’t put away those jingle bells yet!
My daughter is still obsessed with this craft book. She reads it every day, carefully studying the projects and pictures.
This week she insisted we make the Valentine Card box. Our entire stash of construction paper has been cut into colorful snowflakes, so we made a white heart (which is “the color of snow!”). She added a few squiggles and now we have a Christmas Card box.
The cutest part: she takes this little box around the house and “delivers” all of the cards to her stuffed animals. Then she goes around and picks them up like our mail carrier.
recycle: Cereal box from our recycle bin, paper and yarn from my stash.
photo by: refibered
Last night, my friend Kelly and I took our daughters to pajama party storytime at the library. Kelly made these amazing nightshirts for the girls to wear. They had a great time and loved being pajama twins. Don’t they look adorable?
As we were leaving, I thanked Kelly for the pajamas. She thanked me for allowing her to use up some of her yardage. When we got in the car, my daughter asked if I had any yardage I needed to use up. If so, could I make her some more nightshirts? What a cutie.
My favorite part of Bella’s visit with Santa this year:
santa: Did you write this list by yourself?
bella: Yes. I wrote it at home while watching a Santana dvd. Santana is a guitar player.
santa: Yes, I know that. You know what? He told me what he wants for Christmas, too.
The time for holiday crafting is almost up and I’m almost finished. I didn’t have too much to make this year because I bought a lot of gifts off of etsy.com. Still, there are a few things that need to get done. Cal Patch’s book is making it hard to stay on track.
I got this as an early Christmas present and there are so many things I want to try! I haven’t even had a chance to sit down and read it, although I did look at the pictures. The day after Christmas I’ll be all over it!
How are you doing in the final days of gift preparation? Are you braving the malls for last minute gifts? Logging extra hours crafting in the wee hours? Share in the comments!
I’ve wanted to make these ornaments for a long time. The pattern is from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. The inspiration for the Husker “N” came from my friend Christy, who has made a gazillion of these. The pattern suggests making a hanger out of a pipe cleaner and I think it’s absolutely adorable.
I’m having a hard time blogging because a lot of what I’ve been making hasn’t been gifted yet. I don’t think the recipients read my blog, but if you get one of these from me, just act surprised, ok?
stash: Red wool from the 2010 East Campus garage sale. White wool from the 2009 East Campus garage sale. Fabric for gift bag from here. Crazy that I remember all of that!
p.s. Congratulations to giveaway winner Shana Putnam!
In my creative space today I’m making peppermint bark gifts, inspired by Amanda’s “elving” post on Monday. What you see in the pic above are all the little edge bits.
Oh my, do they taste amazing. Just as yummy as the big chunks of bark. I have a little container of them hidden in the back of the fridge — my little secret treat. They taste especially yummy with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
What kinds of yummy treats are you making this holiday?
Last week I got this great book out of the library called Crafts to Make in the Winter. The first one we tried was the Reindeer Puppet. The instructions were clear and it was really simple to make. We’ll definitely be making more projects out of this book and checking out the other seasons, too.
I didn’t anticipate how much love this little guy would get, though, and silk ties are kind of slippery. He kept losing his eyes and once is ears slipped out! I wound up tacking down everything with a few stitches so he would hold up. Now he can join in all the reindeer games at our house and not feel self-conscious.
thrifted: I bought two ties at the thrift store last week so my daughter could make one with her friend. All of the other supplies were from my stash.
Have you been working on any seasonal crafts? Share in the comments!
Don’t forget to check out other finished projects over at the Fave Crafts blog.
