Good grief! May is almost half over! You wouldn’t know it by the weather. It feels more like Fall than Spring. Yesterday I realized I’ve got some gift making to do this month. I can’t give too much detail right now, but I’m combining this with some handmade goodies from etsy.com. I’ll do a full reveal after they’ve been gifted.
Check out more creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.
Toward the end of last week, I wasn’t feeling very inspired. Maybe it was the high pollen count? Maybe it was the non-stop conversation with my three-year-old? Maybe I just needed a little creative break? I decided a few days on crafty autopilot would be good for me, so I grabbed a sweater and started unraveling.
Since I only unravel when my “helpful” daughter isn’t around, I still have some of the original sweater to show you. This is one of my trade sweaters. I usually don’t mess with acrylic, but this sweater was so pretty and soft. Plus, it’s super bulky weight yarn and it’s working up fast.
I’m crocheting a petite afghan with a simple granny square pattern. The yarn is even more lovely after being unraveled. The kinks are falling out as I crochet, so I’ve eliminated that whole soaking and drying step. I’m curious to see just how big it will get.
Has anyone ever gone from sweater to blanket? How did it work up for you?
recycle: I wonder how many people we could keep warm if we turned all of the sweaters destined for the landfill into comfy blankets?
In my creative space today, I’ve been trading work for materials. Last week, a friend saw my happy little airplane and asked if I would make one for her son. “I’ve got sweaters to trade!” She even checked the seams to make sure they weren’t serged.
The original airplane was really big. Much bigger than I thought it would be. Would it be ok if I made a smaller version? “Deal!”
I find this happens a lot in my circle of crafty friends. We’ve all got items we’re ready to pass along and services to use for trade. It’s a never ending re-cycle.
The list of creative spaces keeps growing! Visit Kirsty’s blog to see them all.
My daughter doesn’t really like wearing hats, unless it’s her Nebraska Husker hat. I bought this little bucket hat at Neat Repeatz, long before it would ever fit her. I just fell in love with the denim and unfinished edges. It finally fits, but I knew I’d have to come up with something special to get her to wear it.
I asked her if she’d like me to crochet a flower for it. Yes! What colors would she like? Red and white! (Husker colors, of course.) Would she like to pick out the flower pattern? Yes! Yes!
I whipped this up Sunday morning and she wore it to the zoo on Monday. I’d say she had it on about 95% of the time — a definite success!
wardrobe refashion, stash and pattern: Cotton yarn from my stash, left over from knitting baby bibs. Pattern from Crochet Adorned, which I received via Swaptree.com.
In my creative space today (and tomorrow and the next day…) are granny squares. I had no idea how relaxing these were until I stopped making them. Then I felt a hole, like something was missing, and I realized it was clusters of double crochet!
I’m using my recycled sweater yarn for this one simply because it’s so soft and nice to work with. Whenever I start to feel stressed, I take a deep breath and grab a square.
What’s in your creative space today? Why don’t you pop on over to Kirsty’s blog and join the fun!
I attended a Baby Sprinkle over the weekend for Baby D2. It was like a Baby Shower, except when mom has a lot of what she needs from her first baby, you’re supposed to give things like diapers, lotion, baby shampoo, etc.
I didn’t follow directions very well. I believe every baby should have something new, especially when so much is being handed down from his big brother. Better yet, he should have something handmade especially for him.
Isn’t this little guy the cutest thing ever? I especially love his smile.
I also sewed him a lightweight blanket that coordinates with the quilt I made for his brother. I forgot to take a picture of that, but it’s a single layer of the same fleece trimmed with the Snoopy fabric. Maybe I’ll get a photo in a few weeks with a cute baby bundled inside? (Hint, hint, Lauren.)
stash: Everything came from my stash of thrifted yarn. The pattern is Happy Little Airplane from Amigurumi Two! by Ana Paula Rimoli.
The surprise eggs were finished with a few days to spare. I even had time to whip up a little basket for them. I just started with no plan in mind. The end result was a little flimsy, but a quick soak in some water followed by liberal amounts of spray starch got it right into shape.
My daughter loved the eggs. This was the first time she ever played along with one of our stories, though. She came running out of her room saying, “Mom crocheted me some yarn eggs!” We told her they were from Peter Cottontail and she’s all, yeah, sure, right, ok. If you ask her, she’ll tell you they’re from him, but she doesn’t sound convinced!
. . . . .
We don’t do a lot of candy at Easter, and this year I didn’t put any in her basket. Instead, I made candy part of our egg hunt. I filled little plastic bags (from the candy section of the craft store) with two chocolate kisses and ten jelly beans. Each bag was tied and labeled with a day of the week and hidden in a plastic egg. She found those special eggs along with the others.
So far this has worked great! She eats the whole bag at once, usually after breakfast, but when they’re gone, she has to wait until the next day for more. I can’t tell you how wonderful the holiday was without a sugar-crashing three-year old. Hope this works next year, too!
stash: Basket yarn and candy bags both from my stash.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Country Living’s Crafting Vintage Style and have fallen in love with the thick and thin stripes of vintage tea towels.
Usually I see them with red stripes, but this book has a lot of blue inside its pages. I grabbed some navy and natural wool and started crocheting around some small plastic bottles destined for our recycling bin. This is the result.
I like that the bottles are plastic. I’m hoping to put some of these in my shop, and shipping will be less expensive than glass. I’m also hoping to get a picture with a real flower soon. Right now our garden is just starting to poke through the surface. I had to improvise for the photo.
Kirsty is rocking the blue and natural colors this week, too. Visit her blog for more creative spaces.
So here it is! After many eggs, I finally found the right hook/yarn combination that feels right. My first egg used a larger hook and Red Heart yarn. It was too big and looked a little lumpy. I finally settled on Plymouth Galway wool with a smaller hook. Both are labeled worsted weight, but the wool eggs seem less lumpy. Also, I decided on hdc instead of sc because I liked the width of the stripe better. I’m posting this in Ravelry. I can’t wait to see everyone’s eggs!
Tiny Striped Egg
worsted weight yarn
size D/3 (3.25mm) crochet hook
polyfil for stuffing
tapestry needle for weaving ends
ch: chain
hdc: half double crochet
hdcIncrease: half double crochet increase
hdcDecrease: half double crochet decrease
sl st: slip stitch
half double crochet increase: hdc twice in same stitch
half double crochet decrease: yarn over, hook through stitch, yarn over, pull through stitch, yarn over again, hook through next stitch, yarn over, pull through stitch, yarn over one more time, pull through all five loops
I carry the yarn up the inside with out breaking it for each stripe. Change colors at the slip stitch: hook through stitch, yarn over with new color, pull new yarn through stitch.
gauge: not important, but mine are about 1 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches finished
P=purple stripe, Y=yellow stripe
The appliqué experiment worked! My daughter wore her grandmother’s hand knit sweater this week. She loves it. She even asked her friend to feel how soft it is. Then she told me that it was too hot. Oh, well. I got a picture at least!
