In my creative space today I am blocking little wool stars. Can we talk about the miracle of blocking for a minute? With just a few pins and a spray bottle of water, I can make flowery-looking granny stars all pretty and pointy.
project notes: Yarn from the Big Spool of Wool, pattern from the The Royal Sisters.
I’m sorry my pictures aren’t the greatest for this post. The sun went down too early today. I can’t wait for the winter solstice. I just can’t get my photo-taking act together before dinnertime. I might try and retake the photos over the weekend.
This is the same pattern I used for the tiny baseball bookmarks, without the little top of course. If you want to do baseballs, I recommend marking the curves with a disappearing ink pen before embroidering the red stitches. It really helps!
Tiny Crochet Ornament Bookmark Pattern
worsted weight yarn (I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece)
size F/5 (3.75mm) and D/3 (3.25mm) crochet hooks
tapestry needle for weaving ends
small bead
sl st: slip stitch
sc: single crochet
inc: 2 sc in one stitch
gauge: not important, but mine is about 1 1/2 inches wide
ornament
With larger hook, make a magic ring.
R1: 6 sc into ring
Ornament worked as a spiral. Place marker to keep track of rounds.
R2: inc in each stitch around
R3: *inc, sc* around
R4: *2 sc, inc* around until last two stitches. Sl st in last two stitches.
R5: sc in first stitch, change to smaller hook, chain 55, add bead, chain 5
Finishing: cut yarn, tie knot, thread end back through bead, tie double knot, trim close to knot.
ornament top
R1: pick up stitches at top of ornament as follows: pick up and chain 1, *pick up and sc* three times, turn work
R2: chain 1, sc 3
Finishing: cut yarn, add a little loop between middle two stitches while weaving in ends
These work up really fast and add a nice handmade touch to book gifts this holiday season. I’ve got a lot of books on my list for Santa — better make a few more just for myself. Enjoy!
stash: These only take a tiny bit of yarn. You can definitely go stash diving for this project!
So many little baseballs. Seventeen, in fact. They turned out cuter than I imagined. Don’t you just love when that happens? I first posted about these in my creative space. I haven’t forgotten that I promised a pattern. Maybe by the end of this week? In the form of a Christmas ornament?
recycle: White yarn unraveled from a sweater. Red yarn left over from chromium star blanket.
The second wedding blanket is finished! I decided on brown trim and spent a good part of my time at the craft retreat cutting, pressing and zig zagging everything together. The trim fabric was from my stash. I borrowed some brown thread from a fellow crafter because navy, which I had planned to use, didn’t look as nice as I thought it would.
I’ll be adding a tag like the first one and then it’s off to the happy couple.
pattern info: I finally got a copy of Amanda Soule’s Handmade Home. Thanks, Mom!
Yes. I still knit. It may be hard to believe with all of my crochet posts, but I still do. Nothing compares to knitting in the round on double pointed needles. I LOVE it.
Last weekend I knit up a pair of Golightly Gloves as a bridal shower gift and they were so much fun. The pattern is a simple 2×2 rib in dishcloth cotton. These are totally silly and I really want a pair for myself, too. I might knit a detachable cuff because I always wind up with holes in my glove fingers.
project info: I’m usually not a fan of ombre yarn because the colors tend to pool in weird shapes. I love how these turned out more uniformly striped. Peaches and cream cotton from my stash. Pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines.
Ever since I started knitting socks, I’ve wanted to knit a pair for everyone in my family. There’s something about giving a gift of warmth, especially when it’s handmade, that I really like. I just don’t have time to make it happen, so I started to think of alternatives.
One day I was looking through Linen, Wool, Cotton and saw a pattern for socks using angora wool and I got an idea. I’ve got plenty of wool sweaters in my stash. Why not make a pair of socks out of that?
These are basically a tube with one rounded end. I didn’t felt the wool, but used my serger to enclose the raw edges. The cuff has a casing for elastic to help them stay up. The button is just for decoration.
I see more of these in my future. I’ll be looking for superwash or wool blend sweaters so they can be machine washed. I’m also thinking about stripes, fair isle and cables. The possibilities are endless!
alternatives: If you don’t have a serger, you could felt the sweaters first so the edges don’t unravel or try the zig zag stitch on your machine. Felted socks may be too thick to wear with shoes, but would make great slipper socks for lounging around.
Thanks to Sister Diane, I spent more time cleaning than crafting this weekend. She wrote a post about how we crafters just don’t seem to put things away and I looked around my room and thought, “Yep, that’s me!” I figured if I wasn’t brave enough to take a picture of my to-do piles then they needed to go.
I did get a little bit of sewing done, though. I was inspired by a denim tote my daughter received as a gift and decided to make a few for upcoming birthdays. I found this denim in my stash and it was already hemmed at the top (yes!) so all I had to do was serge the sides and make some handles. I used Heat n Bond Ultra Hold for the initials. I made a total of three small and one big, which I think is destined to become a project tote for myself.
font: I used the House Industries Haulnhouse font for the initial caps. You can find a similar, free download of the “Austin Powers” font from about.com. By the way, House Industries occasionally gives away free fonts. You should check them out because they are all pretty awesome.
It took a few tries until I was satisfied with this pattern. At first, they were coming out too hexagon shaped, so I decided to alternate the increase/decrease placement every other row. That gives the ball a more round shape.
I also wasn’t happy with the gaps that the decreases made, especially on the navy ball. You could see the white stuffing! Then I remembered this invisible decrease from Planet June. Problem solved!
Have fun with this one. On Friday I’ll show you a little variation. Stay tuned!
Tiny Crochet Ball Pattern
worsted weight yarn (I used Aunt Lydia’s cotton)
size G/6 (4.25mm) crochet hook
polyfil for stuffing
tapestry needle for weaving ends
sc: single crochet
inc: 2 sc in one stitch
dec: 1 sc over two stitches through the front loops only
gauge: not important, but mine are about 2 1/2 inches wide
Make a magic ring.
R1: 6 sc into ring
Ball worked as a spiral. Place marker to keep track of rounds.
R2: inc in each stitch around
R3: *inc, sc* around
R4: *2 sc, inc* around
R5: *inc, 3 sc* around
R6: *4 sc, inc* around
R7-11: sc around
R12: *dec, 4 sc* around
R13: *3 sc, dec* around
R14: *dec, 2 sc* around
R15: *1 sc, dec* around
Stuff with polyfil
R16: dec around
In my creative space today, I spent the last day of my vacation crocheting squares at the beach. I’m cruising along on these, although it took way too long for me to memorize the pattern. Of course, now that I’m all relaxed and on a roll, it’s time to go home.
Make sure you pop on over to Kirsty’s blog for more creative spaces.
I started this little guy one day when I needed to cleanse my crochet palette. It’s just a simple ball. Something that will fit in a little hand and is safe for chewing. I blame this project on all of the cute little babies in my life. Maybe I’ll make a whack of them to give as holiday gifts.
stash: aunt lydia’s cotton that’s super soft and machine washable.
