Baby Santa Hats

I have made two of these for other people, so far.

They are super cute for baby's first Christmas ;)

Dinosaur Hat!

A couple years ago, I made DS a balaclava. It was red, and tied in the front, and had a mohawk, and was awesome. He loved it. So did lots of other people.

Anyways, I made the pattern available for free, but I'm really super glad that I wrote everything down, because it has come in handy again.

After two winters, and many washes, the mohawk portion of his old hat went from being a fluffy adorable mess to a matted nasty dead animal on top of his head. Not cool.

So, I decided to make him a new one!

I asked him which colours he wanted, as well as how he wanted it decorated. Not a mohawk this time, but a dinosaur.

I set to work with some blue yarn, and an idea. I worked the balaclava first, then crocheted 8 triangles & sewed them together, turned them inside out, stuffed them, and attached them along the top center. Two semi-domes, stuffed & attached, and lastly, two random trapezoid shapes attached for eyelids.

He loves it :)

Gnome Hat & Tawashis

I was recently part of the Givers & Needers swap round 10 on craftster.

I sent supplies to two lovely folks who both handcrafted me thank you gifts.

I also received supplies from two very generous women, and I made thank you gifts for them. For the amazing rlynn, I crocheted her young daughter a gnome hat, inspired by the amazing April Draven, and some Tawashis.

Here are a coupld shots of her daughter wearing the hat - how cute!

Forgotten

I finished off my good friend Rebekah's starghan a couple weeks ago, but I completely forgot to take pictures & ship it!

It has been sitting in my pile of FOs. I went through that pile tonight & found it sitting there neatly folded, patiently waiting...for something.

I think I was waiting to get my labels made up so I could attach one, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon, so here are some pics of the custom starghan she won in the benefit auction:

On Another Note...

I neglected to mention my other projects.

I have put more time into my Rainbow Patchwork Skirt, bringing the grand total up to 65.5hrs and nearly completed. I am not at all happy with the waistband, so I will be re doing that, I think.

Rainbow Patchwork Skirt

Using 4"x4" squares, construct a 10-tier skirt with 1.5x increases, using the following colour scheme:

Colour # Squares Progress

• White 13 squares cut, sewn together, serged, attached
• White 20 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Orange 30 squares cut, sewn together, serged, rufffled, attached
• Yellow 45 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Green 68 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Teal 102 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Blue 153 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Purple 230 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Red 345 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached
• Pink 690 squares cut, sewn together, serged, ruffled, attached, rolled hem completed
• Waistband cut, sewn, attached, serged, elastic inserted

*Total sewing time: ~8.5hrs*
*Total serging time: ~3.5hrs*
**Total time invested: ~65.5hrs**

I have also been working on the custom starghan for Rebekah, my good friend, & winner of the "In Loving Memory of Scarlette Adora" auction that was held a while back. I have one row to complete, then finish the trim & I can ship it out. Hopefully next week.

And it looks like my project list isn't going to get any shorter any time soon. A couple pre-orders in for Halloween already, a Christmas afghan to make, a couple little girls dresses to be sewn. I also have to conjure up some gifts for friends & family for Christmas.

Get your orders in soon for winter, or I simply won't have time to make them all!

Slippers Are Done!

I posted yesterday about a pair of slippers I was making. Well, I was up to my arch in the first of this toe-up pattern. I didn't realize that it was almost done. I whipped through that one, then started the other a couple hours after.
Today, while waiting to pick up DS from a visit with his grandma, I finished it off, and now have two fully functional slippers ready to be given away! I have pictures of them on my feet, and they look good, but the heels are really loose on me (which is perfect, since hers aren't normal shape or size anymore) I added a couple sc's between the fpdc's and a couple extra rows after the arch to allow more room. Before the arch, I had to add two rows to take this pattern from a 8 to a 10.
Now I just have to decide if I should embellish them some way, or gift them as is? Any suggestions on ways to make these plain slippers a little prettier?

More slippers?

Another WIP :)
A few of my close family friends are diabetic. One of them has requested a pair of slippers to help keep her feet warm when she's sitting at home. She has had multiple surgeries on her feet due to infections & poor circulation, and can't get out much anymore because her calcaneus has been debrided to the point that her calcaneal tendon no longer has an attachment site (this means that her calf muscles don't work because her heel bone is all but gone).
With the loss of the bulk of her calcaneus, the shape of her foot has also changed drastically. I am starting with this pattern for unisex slippers, then altering the heel slightly to allow more room for the scar tissue that has formed. Her feet are the same size as mine, so these are fitted on me for now.
Here's the first one up to where I have to start the heel:

(Please excuse my messy floors & callused heel)

I have left the top a little shorter to make it easier to take on and off for her.

Oh, and they aren't quite as neon red as they look, but just a nice primary red.

If these work for her, I have a feeling I am going to have to make a set of cappies in the same style for her brother (my stepfather) since he lost both of his legs due to complications with diabetes this past January.

If you know where I can find a good cappy pattern, please share! Sewn or crocheted will work :)

Fishing, Anyone? revised

If anyone has attempted my "Little Fisherman's Toy Net" pattern, they may have found the last couple steps to be confusing (eg. after row 39)

Today, I was asked to clarify the last couple steps in the pattern, and I realized that they were written completely wrong! I have edited it to correct the error, and there should be much less confusion when making one of these now.

If you haven't tried the pattern yet, why not give it a go? It's super easy, works up quick, and great for getting some of those stuffed animals up off the bed/floor/bins/chairs/wherever you keep them :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks, Theresa for pointing this out!

Quick one

I haven't done a lot of crafting lately, but I did whip up this pair of Fun Folded Toddler Slippers last night over two episodes of American Dad.

DS has been complaining that the floors are cold in our new place (basement apartment) and asking for slippers, so I finally made him a pair.

Sarah recommends worsted weight yarn & a 4mm hook to make for a 2-year old. I used chunky yarn and a 6.5mm hook to make them fit a 3.5-year old.

On to the pics!

DS showing me how happy he was by putting them on right away & saying "Thank you, mommy!"

"Take a picture of my feet, mommy!"

Oh, Hai!

After a huge amount of BS, I am back in the world of internetland.

To be honest, I feel like a total piece of crap about a lot of happenings since my last post. I flaked on a Craftster swap (the onesie one) and received negative feedback. First, I was sending late, but then I never sent. I have the projects sitting in my craft space, completed, but now I don't know if it's just too late. That's really not like me. Health issues intervened with sending on time...

My "wonderful" boyfriend is no long my boyfriend, and not so wonderful either. I left him on what I hoped could have been amicable terms, but he decided to take my money as well as personal belongings, ditch on paying his portion of the rent while he was still there....yeah...

DS & I have since moved into a smaller, more affordable place. It's just us, and it is WONDERFUL!

With moving, comes the challenges of re-organizing. There is also a lot less storage room here. On the up side, my room is all my own, and I have been able to set up a fully-functional crafting area. I still have a couple things left to do, but all is organized, labelled, and easy to find.

Here's some in-progress pics:

A large 2-man desk, plus sewing table at far end. Dolly standing proud, but with no bra. Shelves up on wall & full.

Those desk drawers are full of patterns, paper crafts, DS's craft supplies. All organized for easy access.

Stacks and boxes of yarn, fabric, partially completed projects, & miscellaneous sewing supplies that have yet to be sorted.

A large ziplock bag of embroidery floss was given to me ages ago. It's all sorted out and ready to be carded and put in it's own container (finally)

On the bottom shelf: miscellaneous knick-knacks & craft supplies.

On the second shelf up: adhesives, carving tools, paints, more miscellaneous craft supplies.

On the third shelf up:buttons, beads, embroidery floss, beading wire, velcro, zippers, badanas, and more miscellaneous sewing supplies. All are organized into separate containers and labelled for easy finding.

On the top shelf: my Wuzzles, Rainbow Brite, ribbons, bindings, laces & trims with ribbon tulle on top.

Scissors & ruler on wall hooks.

A pile of completed hats that do not have homes. I'm considering making papier mache heads for them and mounting them on the wall. It would also supply me with a place to store some of my costume wigs.

What do you think?

Strike one off the to do list

Well, the hanging planter pattern was quite easy to follow, and worked up very quickly.

She did a fantastic job on writing it up, and it works quite well.

I altered the hanging part; I made a loop instead of tying the three strings at the top. I thought it might be more secure...

I will get better pictures eventually, but for now, here are the cel phone pics that I took quickly once I got my poor angel wing into the hanger:

To do list

There is always room to be more crafty. And to put those crafts to use.

I personally enjoy giving my handmade creations as gifts, but I also really like making useful items for around my home.

I keep meaning to buy a plant hanger for my angel wing (see second plant), but have not gotten around to it in over a year. Instead, I am going to crochet one from this pattern that was shared on Craftster by user swtater123.

As well, I have a box under my kitchen sink that holds all of my plastic bags from various purchases awaiting reuse. It is large and takes up a lot of room. So it's time to do something about that as well. I keep meaning to sew up a good old fashioned plastic bag holder like Mom used to make, but my sewing machine is on the fritz. I found this pattern online, so will crochet up one of these as well.

I also have a lamp that I outgrew. It still works well, but the shade is less than savory, so I built a new one from string and Mod Podge (before and after pics)...

Sadly, that one melted from the heat of the light bulb, and I have not made a new one since. I saw these awesome tealight covers somewhere in my browsing of internets, and was inspired. I am going to make a lampshade similar to this one.

Add to this list many other "to do's" and those that do not craft will understand why those of us that do are always busy!

Twirling Pinwheels: Take Two

Back a while ago, I saw an absolutely beautiful afghan created for a baby. The pattern was called "Tirling Pinwheels."

From that point on, I was on a mission to find this beautiful pattern and attempt it, regardless of warnings that I may lose my mind in the effort.

Eventually, I did find that pattern, and made my own beautiful afghan, which I promptly gifted to friends that were expecting a baby girl. They loved it, and really appreciated all the work that went into the making of such a gift.

My biggest regret? Making it with variegated yarn. Although the blanket was quite lovely, the swirly pattern was lost in the confusion of colour.

I have wanted an excuse to revisit that pattern ever since. When my teacher informed our class that she was nearly five months pregnant, I knew this was my chance. One of my classmates is a fellow crafter, so we went yarn shopping: she wanted to make a sweater and I wanted to attempt that blanket again!

Although the original pattern called for a worsted weight yarn that would create 52 individual hexagon motifs that then must be sewn together to create the whole, I opted for a much bulkier yarn and made a meager 22 motifs, to create it on a larger scale.

In my first attempt, I trimmed the entire blanket it reverse hdc; this time I created a dc/ch ladder work trim, which I wove a teal double-faced satin ribbon with a metalic strip up the middle and a opaque teal on the other half, then tied little bows in the corners. I just finished stitching those down so they don't come untied in the wash tonight, took some pictures, packaged it up, and will be handing it to her tomorrow on our last class before she leaves on a year's maternity leave.

Child's/Toddler's Tie-Front Mohawk Balaclava

Last winter, I started making a balaclava for my son that would be adorned with a mohawk.

I couldn't find any patterns that I liked, so I decided to wing it. The first couple attempts were useless.

But, then I made one that was actually wearable!

There were some flaws, of course. Like it was too long above the face, and a bit too narrow, making it a chore to get it onto his head. The shaping in the back was sloppy and pointy, but the mohawk covered most of that; it was too long in the back of the head and neck, making it always ride up. But he wore it, because I was damned proud of it!

He went away for a weekend, and the hat was lost. I was sad, but then I turned it around and realized that it was an opportunity to improve upon the pattern. This one in blues and browns didn't match most of his winter clothes anyways, just the one set.

So, I sat down with some more yarn and worked on making improvements.

A couple days later, I presented him with this:

It is a much better fit, and doesn't have the shaping issues of the previous version. Instead of a buttoned neck, I opted to make this one longer and have it tie-front more like a scarf. The nice thing about the ties is they offer two wearing options: I can fold them up on themselves and tie them like in the pictures, of I can leave them down over his upper back and shoulders to keep snow out of his coat.

This time, I wrote down what I did, and am sharing the pattern.

I'm also in the process of making another one in blues for my friend's 7 year old.

Toddler's/Child's Mohawk Tie-Front Balaclava

Pattern no longer available...sorry!

Fishing, Anyone?

When my son was less than 5 months old, we moved to a basement apartment that would need a bit of work to keep everything organized. His room theme was "under the sea," so we found an old waterbed headboard, sawed off the supports and refinished them, then hung it up on the wall filled with antique toys, a fishtank, sea shells, and pictures. There was a giant stuffed shark hanging from the ceiling, and various other little details that tied in. But my favorite item was the one I made.

As any new parent is aware, you become inundated with stuffed animals. And as your child's life progresses, the collection is ever expanding. We had a rocking chair FULL of stuffed animals, stuffed animals on shelves, in hanging baskets, in bins, and EVERYWHERE!

So, we discussed toy nets that you can purchase in stores, but I didn't like any of them that much.

Instead, I went out and bought a large ball of cotton and started coming up with a net of my own. I used natural, unbleached, undyed cotton so it would better mimic a fisherman's net.

And of course, tried my hand again at writing a cohesive pattern to share.

Little Fisherman's Toy Net

Pattern no longer available...sorry!