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handmade gift: branching out scarf

branching out scarf

Remember this scarf? It’s finally finished! I gave it to my mom for her birthday and she loves it. It’s my first lace project and I’m very pleased with it.

lace knitting with acrylic yarn

I wanted to knit a lace scarf for my mom, but she can’t wear wool. It took awhile (and a lot of ripping and re-knitting) to find an appropriate acrylic yarn and a pattern that didn’t rely too heavily on blocking. Actually, this blocked better than I thought it would. The leaves opened up nicely.

blocking acrylic yarn

Eventually I’d like to try this pattern with some wool, but I need a little break from all these tiny leaves.

details: Pattern is Branching Out from Knitty. Yarn is Red Heart Luster Sheen. Bow tied with a re-purposed Nordstrom ribbon, which probably came on a gift from my mom.

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granny square scarf almost finished

granny square scarf

You’d think that with all of this gift making I wouldn’t have any time to make something for myself. These granny squares are perfect for fleeting moments of “me time” and I can’t believe the progress I have made! I’m going until I’m out of yarn, which will probably be two more squares. I’m loving the atypical, monochromatic look.

Even though these are fun and working up quickly, I can’t imagine doing enough for a blanket. I’m not even looking forward to seaming these together for a scarf. Any future granny projects will probably be small ones for me!

project notes: Granny pattern from Attic24. Yarn from Freecycle.

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my creative space

my creative space

I can’t tell you how hard it was to get a picture of this scarf. My family watched as I walked from room to room trying to capture the leaves. I started this scarf on retreat last weekend. It’s my first lace project and I love it. Tonight we’re going to see the Saltdogs at Haymarket Park and I’ll be taking this as my stadium knitting. Isn’t it pretty?

my creative space

You can find more pretty things over at Kirsty’s blog. Take a pic and play along!

details: Pattern is Branching Out from Knitty. Yarn is Red Heart Luster Sheen. Yes, really.

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valentine’s crafting

After looking over this post, it seems like I was in full Valentine’s Day mode for the past week, but I really wasn’t. All of these were really fast and easy to put together. I had a pretty busy week, so fast and easy was just what I needed!

Last year we colored and put stickers on blank cards. This year we made cards out of M’s existing artwork. She’s been drawing with her magic markers on a stack of make ready sheets T brought home from work and one looked particularly valentine-y.

valentines

You can download my heart template here and if you print it at 100%, the cards will fit in standard invitation size envelopes. I also used the template to cut out some hearts for a garland. I always try to hang something in this window for holidays and birthdays. You can see it from both the living room and kitchen and it’s right behind our table. That little touch always makes our house feel festive.

garland

I also made some quick gifts for T and M. After falling in love with the ball I made for Brady, I felt like M needed one of her own. I made it with leftover fabric from her bibs.

bella ball

I also whipped up a quick sweater sleeve scarf for T, complete with a roundel. I’m not sure if he really likes it or was being polite. There is a fine line between cool and too crafty for T. I think the scarf is sitting on that line! (I really like it, though!)

bmw scarf

We had a really nice day. M played in the snow, I did some sewing, and T cooked up some awesome Valentine’s chili for dinner. The best part of the day was watching M open her gifts and give her dad his Valentine.

valentine

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custom wool felted bag :: maroon

I had hoped to sell a lot of items on etsy during the holidays, but I didn’t have a lot of time to make things to stock my store. Fortunately, it was because I had custom orders! One of my favorites was a matching messenger bag and scarf. The sweater was huge and superwash wool. It didn’t felt at all, so I had a lot of fabric, but I had to be careful it didn’t unravel while sewing.

maroon wool felted bag

Most of my bags are one of a kinds, depending on the shape and design of the sweater. I’m thinking of writing up a standard pattern, though. I really like how this one turned out.

maroon wool felted bag

I’m also loving my scarves. I made a bunch for Christmas presents this year. I hope to have a tutorial for these up on the blog soon. They are so warm!

maroon wool felted bag

Soon to follow, all of my handmade holiday gifts!

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patchwork scarves :: wool and denim

Last summer I bought a cute little patchwork quilt that I’ve been planning to make into a tote bag. When I started deconstructing it, I realized it was made up of long, skinny rectangles. Perfect for scarves! Two scarves, actually: one backed with wool, the other backed with denim.

I think I am officially addicted to making scarves this season. If you are on my holiday gift list, you should probably expect to receive one!

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felted wool scarf :: gray and red

So I’ve been trying come up with an idea that makes use of the felted sweater sleeves from my totes and I figured it out. Scarves!

The beauty of these is that they give you all the warmth of wool without having to wear it next to your skin. (I know at least one person for whom this would be perfect.) I am going to make a bunch of these for my etsy shop and will try to keep some of them in neutral color schemes. Dads, brothers and husbands need hand-sewn crafty goodness in their lives, too! More photos over at etsy.