more crochet, more recycled sweater yarn

recycled sweater yarn granny square scarf

I know it seems like I crochet all the time now. I haven’t abandoned knitting or sewing. My daughter is going through what I call a “grabbie” phase. She’s always been very interested in my crafting, but now she’s all about touching everything. I joke that it’s like living with an octopus. There seem to be way more than two little hands trying to get at my projects.

Sewing is hard because of all of the shiny, pointy tools: pins, needles, scissors. She loves the heavy click the sewing machine on-switch makes and how the light turns on. Knitting and crochet are both difficult, too. She LOVES to pull out my needle or hook and try to do it herself. Pulling out a crochet hook isn’t that bad, but pulling out a knitting needle makes an unraveled yarny mess.

Sometimes I’m lucky to get a stretch of time when she’s playing with playdoh or concentrating hard on her letters and numbers. And there’s always that hour during Sesame Street. Until this phase is over, I’ll just grab a stack of books, sit on the floor next to her and crochet while we read.

recycle: Yes, I’m still working from my stash of recycled sweater yarn. I’m thinking about another granny square scarf. It’s snowing today, so I’m guessing I’ll get a lot of time to work on it!

handmade valentine’s day cards

handmade valentine's day card

My daughter’s preschool is having a valentine exchange tomorrow. Usually the rule for school treats is no candy, but this time they’ve made an exception: one small piece is allowed. I found this cute valentine flower on Martha’s website.

The first thing I did was trace and cut out some leaves. I gave them to my daughter to sign while I traced and cut out the hearts. After she went to bed, I added the “from:” to her leaves and glued the flowers. The next day, she helped me put in the lollipops.

Even though she’s too young to use scissors, I think my daughter had fun with this project. Signing her name to all of those leaves made her feel really involved.

stash: Paper from my never-ending stash of graphic design paper samples. Lollipops are always on hand around here. You never know when you need an emergency “treat.”

valentine’s day heart bunting

Last year I made a paper heart bunting for our kitchen window. When I went to hang it this year, it was gone. Maybe I stored it in a safe place? Maybe I recycled it? I wish I could remember. Anyway, it was a good excuse to make a new one. I forgot to take a before picture of the tea towel I used, but you can see part of it in this creative space.

valentine heart garland

It was basically a grid of small and big hearts. I cut along the small hearts and then serged the side and bottom raw edges, trimming the small hearts off as I went along. I folded over some bias tape and stitched in the top edges.

valentine heart garland

I managed to create this from start to finish during my daughter’s “quiet time.” I don’t remember the last time I completed a sewing project so fast. Plus, I think I’m finally figuring out how to master the tension on my serger!

recycle: Garage sale tea towel: 25 cents. Bias tape part of a Goodwill grab bag.

wardrobe refashion: denim skirt makeover

denim skirt refashion

This is the original skirt I was going to wear last weekend. It turned out a little too casual for the event. I was planning on wearing it with black tights and boots. Now I’m wondering if it might look better with a t-shirt and sandals.

I really hacked this poor thing up. I cut off the bottom two ruffles and took it in on either side, trying to make it more a-line and less Holly Hobby. (Not that there is anything wrong with HH. It’s just not a good look on me.)

denim skirt refashion

It’s been a long time since I’ve refashioned something. I can’t wait to dive into the stack of clothes that have been waiting patiently by my sewing machine.

refashion: This was an impulse buy at a garage sale last summer. I think it cost 75 cents. I’m hoping to use the leftover ruffles to lengthen some of my daughter’s jeans.

my first skirt from measurements

embroidered eyelet baby quilt

A few months ago I checked out Sew What! Skirts from the library. The book just clicked with me. The instructions made sense and seemed really easy. I decided to buy the book and spent months reading and looking at the pictures even though I didn’t have time to make anything.

This weekend I’ve got a dinner date and decided it was time to try one out. I made an a-line with elastic waist pattern, but didn’t have enough fabric to make it as swoopy as I would have liked. It’s more of a straight skirt with a little flair, but it fits, looks cute, and was super easy! I think 2010 is going to be the year of the skirt.

stash: The fabric came in a bin that I bought from a UNL fashion graduate. He said all of the fabrics were really nice and expensive (from New York!), but how was I to know? They weren’t labeled or anything. It’s got a nice drape, and at $5 for the entire bin, the price was right!

a weekend of sweater unraveling

I’ve been thinking about white lately. Not bright white, but ivory, soft white and ecru. I’ve been keeping my eye out at the thrift stores, but all I could seem to find was that yellowish cream. Yuck. I even strolled down the yarn aisles at craft stores, which I haven’t done in a long time. I couldn’t bring myself to buy new. Not when I had so much at home.

Then one day while I was digging around in my stash closet I saw a beautiful, un-felted Gap sweater. It was the perfect color white and so soft: wool, nylon, angora rabbit and cashmere. And it had perfect seams for unraveling (those Gap sweaters always do!)

Friday evening I used a seam ripper to carefully take apart the front, back and sleeves. Saturday evening I unraveled it with the help of my swift and ball winder. This is what I had Sunday morning.

unraveled wool sweater

Don’t you just love how un-knit yarn looks like ramen noodles? Usually I will just work from noodle-y yarn, but I decided to try and get some of the kinks out. I soaked each bundle in cold water for 15-30 minutes.

unraveled wool sweater

After soaking, I hung them up to dry. I put a few wooden blocks in plastic grocery bags to weight the yarn at the bottom.

unraveled wool sweater

Look at what I have now! Isn’t it beautiful? Goodwill is having their 99 cent sale this weekend. I might have to check out the sweater rack.

unraveled wool sweater

thrifty reuse: I bought this sweater at a garage sale for $1. Can you believe it? Here’s my favorite online tutorial for unraveling a sweater for yarn.

flower pins for haiti, doctors without borders

crochet flower brooch

As soon as I hit “publish” last week on my flower pin post I decided to donate all of the proceeds from my flower pins to Doctors Without Borders. I figured I needed a few more in my shop, though. There are currently four, but I plan to make more. I’ve also created a special section for them in my shop.

recycle: These pins are crocheted from unraveled sweater wool. Remember these balls of yarn?

how to make microwave crayon shapes in 3 easy steps

microwave heart crayons

Maybe I should call these Really Lazy Crayon Shapes. I’d been thinking of making them for awhile, but all of the tutorials I found online suggested baking in the oven, melting over a double boiler or melting into cups and pouring into molds. Those were just too many steps for me.

I found a silicone mold at the thrift shop for only a few bucks, so I wasn’t too concerned if I ruined it. I threw all caution to the wind and microwaved the crayons directly in the mold. It was simple, fast and easy to clean up.

microwave heart crayons

Materials
crayon bits
silicone mold
knife
toothpick

Step 1
Put your crayon bits directly in the mold. Break up any bits that are too big with a knife.

Step 2
Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes. (I’m sure times will vary based on microwaves. Watch your first batch carefully!) Use a toothpick to stir if your bits aren’t melting evenly.

Step 3
Allow to cool and then pop them out of the mold. I put mine outside because we’re having a frigid winter and it didn’t take long, but you could stick them in the freezer, too.

Clean up: Put some water in the mold, microwave it for about a minute and dump it out. The crayon residue wipes out easily with a paper towel.

*After searching, I found that my mold is actually an ice cube tray and shouldn’t be exposed to heat. It held up just fine, but I wouldn’t use it for ice cubes or food after heating just to be safe.

recycle: This is a great way to use all of those crayon bits that are too small for little hands to hold.

garden scarf

birthday garden scarf

Have I mentioned that I’m addicted to crochet flowers? I made this as a gift for a friend’s daughter and it was so much fun. What a perfect pattern for little girls. My daughter loves it! I think I’ll be making a lot of these this year.

handmade crochet flower scarf

I love these colors together, but I think it’s time to add some new colors to my stash of acrylic yarns.

project notes: Pattern is the Garden Scarf from The Happy Hooker. This book is a really great resource for crocheters, especially beginners. Thrifted yarn from my stash.

meet stu

handmade christmas knitting

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.