Temperature Blanket - The Beginning

I have a new project in the works!

I know many of you may have seen information floating around about creating temperature blankets.  I looked into it, and decided that it would be a great project for 2017.  :)

For those who aren't familiar with the concept, a temperature blanket is based off of the daily high temperatures for the year.  In my case, each row will correspond to the recorded high temperature of the day in my hometown.  Since I'm running with the recorded temperatures for 2017, this will end up being a year-long project.  I think I can handle crocheting a row a day!

Anyway, here's the color chart I have set up for the project:

• 0-10*F - White (Caron Simply Soft)
• 11-20*F - Soft Blue (Caron Simply Soft)
• 21-30*F - Mid Blue (Red Heart Soft)
• 31-40*F - Turquoise (Red Heart Soft)
• 41-50*F - Deep Sea (Red Heart Soft)
• 51-60*F - Guacamole (Red Heart Soft)
• 61-70*F - Sunshine (Caron Simply Soft)
• 71-80*F - Tangerine (Red Heart Soft)
• 81-90*F - Really Red (Red Heart Soft)
• 91-100*F - Berry (Red Heart Soft)

I'm looking forward to seeing how things end up turning out!

Adventures in Drop-Spinning

I've taken a small break from crochet work to do some more drop-spinning.  I'm actually really excited about it, partially because I have a new drop-spindle that I ordered from a great local business!  I first learned of them (Shepherd's Custom Woodworking) when I went to the Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair back in August.  If you want to check out what they offer (they have a lot of great knitting and crochet accessories) check out their Etsy shop, or their Facebook page.

Anyway, I'm back to playing with my fiber stash, and it's great!  Once I get things spun up and plyed appropriately, I'll share photos.

*If you're looking to order/buy fiber, check out these businesses.  I love what they have to offer.
Dyed in the Wool Biz - They offer lots of great rovings and a fiber of the month club.  They're also a great learning resource for spinning and weaving.  One of the owners was actually the one who taught me how to drop-spin!  

Unplanned Peacock Studio - So much to offer, and it's all gorgeous!  They have hand-dyed, hand-spun yarns available, as well as hand-dyed fiber that you can spin yourself.  There are tons of great colorways available!

Christi's Just for Ewe - This lovely lady is located in Marblehead, Ohio.  She has a great little yarn shop, art retreat, a gift shop, and a few resident sheep that provide the fiber she sells.  She has a great variety of product, from hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns to some of the higher end offerings like Noro.  If you ever happen to be up on the lakeshore, she's definitely a great place to check out!

Commission in Progress!

Time flies when you're having fun!  I've been keeping myself busy this winter with commission work.  I have a lovely afghan in progress for a friend, and I think it's going to be awesome when finished.

The first steps - 1/18/15

She said she wanted neon pink and black, so I went out yarn shopping and got her okay on this color combination.  As I started work on the afghan for her, I realized that if I stuck to just the above 3 colors, I would have to get more yarn.  I'm a bit lazy, so I wanted to avoid that.

There's almost a full color pattern established! - 1/25/15

I found the purple and blue colors buried in my yarn stash.  They were leftovers from another project, and as luck would have it, they matched the variegated yarn!

It's getting there - 2/11/15

I was hoping to have things completed by Valentine's Day, but I just started working full-time again at the beginning of February.  I'm hoping that working on this in the evenings and over the weekend will mean it gets finished before March hits.  We'll see.  ^_^

Winter Projects

I can't believe it's already almost the end of January!  Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.  To anyone who follows my postings, I'm terribly sorry for the lack of updates since the fall.  Life has been hectic, and the crafting and blogging managed to fall by the wayside in the process.  I'm renewing my efforts to post more regularly with updates and photos of projects, so please don't give up on me!

I have a couple of fun projects in the works right now.  I have two friends who requested scarves, so I have two different scarf projects in process.  It's fun for me, because I get to work with two vastly different yarn types for two special people.  I'm hoping both finished projects are a huge hit!

I will definitely update with photos and progress as soon as I can.  Thank you all for your patience and support!  Happyn crafting!

Suncatcher Dishcloths

I found a great pattern for dishcloths via Craftsy.com!  They are so pretty!  I will post more photos soon.

 

My first two suncatcher dishcloths

Current Projects

It's been entirely too long since I last updated!  There are still several projects that are ongoing.  I've been terrible about working on anything lately, partly due to being busy with a new job.

Anyway, here's a list of what I have in progress!

- Crochet -
Garden shawl
Card bag
Sparkle mitts
Hexagon throw

- Knit -
Cool tone scarf

- Sewing -
Drawstring bag

I have a lot to do!  My goal is to finish as many of these as possible before Labor Day.   We shall see how I do.

Hat and Glove Set

This is an older project of mine, but one I'm fond of.  Last winter, I crocheted a set of fingerless gloves and a matching hat for myself.  Here are photos of the finished set!

Fingerless Gloves

Double crocheted Hat

Finished Hat and Glove set

More Card Bag Progress

The first of the two card bags is finished!  I'm happy to share a photo of the finished product, and the friend who commissioned the entire project is extremely happy with the first of the two crocheted bags.

Finished bag, complete with a button to keep it closed!

The bag itself is a modification of another pattern I found online awhile ago.  I will share the original pattern when I complete the entire project.  As for this bag, all I did was alternate single and double crochet stitches to create the pattern/texture of the bag.  It creates a tight enough pattern that the bag doesn't really need to have a lining, which is awesome.

I'm also happy to report that the second bag is coming along nicely.  I believe I'll have a finished product by the end of the week, as long as I don't slack off at all!

Front panel of the second bag

Overall, I think things are going well with my crochet projects.  With a new job starting on April 1st, keeping up with things may end up being a bit difficult.  I hope to keep updating and sharing crafted goodness with everyone despite the job and its demands.

 

Crochet Card Bag - In Progress

Once again, I have a lovely project in progress.  This time, it's a commission for a good friend of mine!

A while back, I experimented with a scaled down version of a crochet tote pattern I found online.  The result ended up being a nice little clutch style bag that I use to hold playing cards.  I showed this little bag off to a friend of mine who fell in love with it and asked if I would make a couple of them for her.  So, we made a trip to our local JoAnn Fabrics for supplies, and here we are!

It's really a simple project and I'm quite happy with how it's turning out.  I've included some progress pictures below.

Front and Back panels of the card bag

Close up of stitching for the body of the bag and the decorative border

Pre-assembly of the finished product

 This is actually getting pretty close to being finished already!  There's just the gusset, assembly, and finishing touches to go on this first bag.  Photos of both crochet bags and a bonus sewing project will be added when I'm done with them.  ^_^  Happy crafting!

Crochet Shawl

Finally!  After all of this time I remembered to take pictures and post the finished result of the shawl I was working on!  I'm happy to report that it was a smashing success.  ^_^

Full view of the finished product

The only difficult part for me with this project was remembering to keep stitch markers handy so I could keep track of my stitches.  Stitch count really is important for this piece, so don't be silly like I was in the beginning.  You can only recount your stitches so many times before it drives you crazy.

Closer view of stitching and border

The border was a little bit difficult as well, but only on the edges where I couldn't match up stitch for stitch.  Again, patience and stitch markers are your friends here.  Overall, I give this pattern high marks for the finished product.  Now I just need an outfit to wear it with!

 

Crochet Shawl - In Progress

Good morning, world!  I'm taking the time to let you all know that I have a lovely crocheted shawl in progress.  I found a lovely pattern on LionBrand.com that I decided to give a try.  It's a half-moon/half-circle pattern, which I'm finding to be both interesting and a bit of a challenge as the shawl nears completion.  Expect pictures and a link to the pattern when I'm finished!

(As a teaser, you can go to Lion Brand's website and search for "Emily Shawl" to find the pattern.  Just click here!)

Projects in Progress

So much to do and so little time!  It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was working diligently on another knitted scarf, a crochet tote, an afghan, and goodness knows what else!  I've hit a bit of a slump with my work as of late; mostly because I've been moving around and under a lot of stress the past few months.  The good news is that I'm starting to settle back in and create again.

As of right now, I have three projects in process.  The first is my ongoing battle with the motif-based hexagon throw I've been working on.  I'm at a bit of a standstill with it again because I managed to lose most of my crochet hooks (including the hook I was using on the project) in one of my recent moves.  The second is another knit scarf that I started months ago and just never got back to.  The third is another dishcloth collection that I've started.

Pictures of completed projects will be posted as soon as I can get decent photos to upload.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring!

SOPA Strike

Hello all!  I just wanted to give fair warning that I will be participating in tomorrow's SOPA Strike in order to tell our lovely government to stop trying to censor our internet.  Please consider boycotting the internet for the day in support of this movement.

Thank you.

Crochet Cotton Tote - In Progress

I'm making significant progress on the crocheted tote bag I've been working on.  I don't have much more to go with making the gusset, and then I have two side pockets and the straps to crochet. Then, it's time to play with the sewing machine to finish things off!

I figure I'll have this finished before the end of the week.  ^_^  I will definitely post pictures when I have it finished.  Look forward to it!

Ribbed Knit Scarf

Here's the other project I managed to finish in recent history.  This is a ribbed knit scarf I made, which measures about 48 inches long.  I would have made it longer, but I really didn't want to go through the effort of adding a new skein of yarn.  I figure I can make a second scarf from the full skein I have left.  ^_^

Knit 2, Purl 2 ribbed scarf

I've started another scarf in the same knit style, but with pastel ocean-ish colors.  We'll see how long it takes me to finish that one.

Happy crafting!

Crochet Rainbow Beanie

Yet another productive day!  I crocheted this beanie while running laundry at my in-laws this past week.  Overall, I'd say this was about 4 hours worth the crochet work, including the assistance I got from Felicia, the in-law's cat.  XD

Rainbow beanie, modeled by yours truly!

 I really like how this one turned out.  It's all double-crochet, following a very simple hat construction formula I got from a crochet magazine.  (I can't remember which one right now...I'll have to find it!)

Feline Intervention

I love my cats, I really do.  However, they have this wonderful knack of finding and bothering me at the least opportune times.  For example, I was working on a knit scarf last night, and one of my cats (Kai) decided she needed to perch on the arm of my chair to assist me.  She really wanted to place herself squarely on my lap, but I managed to keep her from doing so.

Why in the world they feel that I need their help or their supervision is beyond me.  I just know that I have quite the pair, between her and Jinx.  At least his method of helping me translates to him sitting beside me and yammering away at me to pay attention to him.  I swear, you can hold entire conversations with Jinx, that's how vocal he is.

Anyway, I believe it's time to try and get some more knitting done.  They're both asleep at the moment for their afternoon snooze fest.  ^_^

Rainbow Knit

I'm so happy with how this random project turned out!  I had one ball of rainbow dyed wool yarn that I received for free at a Stitch 'n Bitch session.  I tried crocheting with it, but the yarn was a bit inconsistent; I'm pretty sure this was handspun wool yarn.  I decided that since I was having trouble crocheting with it, I could practice knitting with it, and see what I ended up with.

Well, here's what I ended up with!

Seed Stitched Knitting - My first complete knit project!

I think it turned out very well for it being a first project.  Here are a few more photos of it, just because I feel proud and accomplished.  ^_^

 Happy crafting, everyone!  ^_^

Knitting Project

I'm so excited!  My first knitting project is almost complete!

It wasn't too long ago that a good friend of mine tried teaching me to knit, and I finally understood it.  In exchange, I helped her learn to crochet, which was a lot of fun.  Anyway, I had a ball of wool yarn that I randomly got for free at a local Stitch 'n Bitch session.  I'm seed stitching it, and I'm almost to the end of the ball of yarn.

I'll post pictures when it's complete!

Lacy Dishcloth Pattern

Here is the pattern for the third dishcloth in the sampler.  I used a green self-striping cotton yarn from Lily's Sugar 'n Cream collection.

Materials:  1 ball (2 oz) of cotton yarn; Size 5mm (US H or 8) crochet hook, or size needed to obtain gauge

Gauge:  14 sc and 14 rows = 4 inches (10 cm)

Pattern Instructions:

Ch 41

Base Row:  1 dc in 3rd ch from hook.  1 dc in next 2 ch. *Ch 1, skip next ch, 1 dc in next 3 ch.  Repeat from * to end of row and turn.  (You should have 39 stitches)

1st Row:  Ch 2.  *1 dc in each of next 3 stitches.  Ch 1, skip ch 1 space.  Repeat from * to last 3 stitches.  1 dc in each of last 3 stitches and turn.

2nd Row:  Ch 2.  *1 dc in first stitch.  Ch 1, skip next stitch.  1 dc in next stitch.  1 long dc (insert hook in ch-1 space 2 rows below).  Repeat from * to last 3 stitches.  1 dc in next stitch, ch 1, skip next stitch.  1 dc in last stitch and turn.

3rd Row:  Ch 2.  1 dc in first stitch.  *Ch 1 , skip next ch-1 space, 1 dc in each of next 3 stitches.  Rep from * to last 2 stitches.  Ch 1, skip next space, dc in last stitch.  Turn.

4th Row:  Ch 2.  *1 dc in first stitch.  1 long dc over next ch-1 space.  1 dc in next st.  Ch 1, skip next stitch.  Repeat from * to last 3 stitches.  1 dc in next st, 1 long dc over next ch-1 space, 1 dc in last stitch.  Turn.

Repeat 1st to 4th rows until work from beginning measures approximately 11 inches (28 cm).  Fasten off.

Edging:  Work 1 round sc evenly around outer edge, having 3 sc in the corners.  Slip stitch in 1st stitch.

Next Round:  Ch 2.  1 dc in each stitch around, having 3 dc in the corners.  Sl st in top of turning ch.  Fasten off.

As I stated earlier, I used self-striping yarn for this pattern.  I just like the way it turns out!