Friendship Bracelet

I love stacking bracelets around my watch for an arm party, and I've jumped hard on the friendship bracelet trend!  Here's a little how-to guide to make your own.

Step 1:  Find a chain jewelry item.  I happened to be going through my grandmother's unending stash of jewelry and got to come home with this bracelet.

Step 2:  Pick out fresh new colors of yarn or embroidery floss and tie it to one end of the chain.  I chose yarn because my chain bracelet was on the large side and I liked the thickness of the yarn with it.  (PS.  Cut long pieces.  To do this bracelet I used about 2.5 yards of yarn!)

Step 3:  Start wrapping!  If you know anything about the blanket stitch, that's basically what I did.  Just wrap the yarn around the chain and stick the yarn end through the wrapped part to create that line of twisted yarn. (In the picture just pull the loop until the end comes through.)

Step 4:  Wrap and Wrap and Wrap until your are done.  Ta-Da!

new project

I've been crocheting a little here are there.

I'm really trying to figure out a way to use my surplus of yarn and fabric.  So I decided to crochet a bunch of flowers out of the left over white and off white yarns that I have.

I'll let you see the final project whenever I get around to finishing it.  

Here is the pattern that I'm using if you are interested.

Ch 2

sc 12 in first ch

slip stitch to join

*ch3, skip one stitch, sc next st* repeat 5 times

in loop made by chain stitches *1sc, 1hdc, 1dc, 1hdc, 1sc* repeat in next 5 loops.

*sc around post ch4* repeat 5 times

in loop made by chain stitches *1sc, 1hdc, 3dc, 1hdc, 1sc* repeat 5 times.

Joyful Monday

Everyone needs some joy on Monday.

My joy came from when I got to spend the evening crocheting for a little favorite person of mine using some of my favorite colors

In the mean time my lovely husband was doing husband things.  He put up a shelf and even hung up my picture, mittens and apron even though he doesn't like them.

My heart was filled with joy all night!

Yarn

Can I decorate my house in yarn?

here

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maybe I get all of that AARP stuff in the mail because I blog about wanting to cover my home in yarn.  yeesh.

a little more

I still want to crochet!  Here are some free patterns that I found that I want to make... you know, if I ever have time again.

I want to make a vest like this.  Don't make fun of me.  I feel like I would only wear it at home until I was brave enough to wear it to the grocery store.  I would make it in one neutral color and that would help.  It just looks so cozy!  I found it here.

I like the colors in this.  I like it just the way it is and I think it would be super cute on me.  I found it here.

I like this one too.  It's a little different and unique.  I think it would be fun to crochet the bubbles.  The color is beautiful and would look great with my brown coat.  I found it here.

I miss it...

With all of the wedding stuff going on, I miss crafting for crafting sakes and for other people.  I miss crocheting.  We all know that crocheting decreases immensely in the summer in general.  This happens because who wants to tote a lot of yarn around and have half of a wool blanket on you while your at the pool.  The nights are finally starting to cool down and I would love for crocheting to come back in my life.

Here is a blanket that I made earlier this year for this special guy, Oliver Feltes.  I love making blankets but I don't own any myself because I always give them away!

I would love to make a blanket for Brian and I like the one from Parks and Recreation.  It looks like one Urban Outfitters used to sell.  I can tell that the hook and yarn used are smaller than I like to do blankets.  That means it will take more yarn and more time!  I think it would be worth it to make something special for my home.  I like all of the colors too.

I'm constantly inspired to make beautiful things like the ones Attic24 makes.  Her blog is amazing and she takes pictures of the English countryside that are very inspiring.  Her colors are not my taste but they sure are pretty.

Check out this yarn collection!  I'm drooling a little bit.  I never think to use so many colors in something that I've crocheted.  When I make a blanket for myself I will!

Soulard Market Park Arts and Craft Fair

So I've been getting ready for the Soulard Market Park Arts and Craft Fair (I'll be there July 17th with this awesome chica).  So I'm making these headband kits.  They're really cute!  Thanks to my new mac book pro, I was able to make some crappy how to videos.  I'm mostly just really proud of myself for making the videos.

Topographical Map Blanket

I finished these blankets a few weeks before Christmas. I made one for my nephew that is 3 months old, and one for my fiance that is 24 years old.

It is a topographical map blanket.
I sewed the grading yarn onto the blanket with a zig-zag stitch. I sewed the yarn in organic shapes. (I couldn't really control the way the shapes came out completely because I was shoving half a blanket through the arm of the sewing machine.) I think they turned out great.

Christmas Project #4: Dish Cloths

November 22, 2009 is when I completed these towels (also the day I got engaged!)

So I wanted to screen print on towels something that matched my friends and families kitchens or something that at least matched their personalities.

This is the first one I made, it is for my almost in-laws (!) I wanted this to have a traditional feel like their kitchen, so I did their monogram and some curls behind it. But I think my mistake was using black and grey paint. It has a modern feel now.
The next two are for my sisters. I just mixed some paints and got a color I liked and made something really simple with their addresses on it.

This one is for the BFF. It has her colors in it and a simple modern design. This was my fiance's favorite.
This next one is for my friend who has a black and pink kitchen and loves vintage kitschy things and cats. So I hope she likes this too.


For my brother, the graphic artist, nothing seemed cool enough. So I put it off and put it off. I remembered this technique of sewing yarn on fabric that I am planning on using on another Christmas Gift later on...(Found in The Big Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano) and thought it would be awesome to do on the tea towel. So I pulled out my 100% cotton yarn and made this...


Here is the close up.
You just zigzag over it. I did the 3 stitch zigzag and it looks awesome if I do say so myself.

It's beginning to look a lot like

I went to Anthropologie the other day and started to admire their awesome Christmas stuff, so handmade looking!


So I thought, gee I can have my own awesome homemade looking Christmas too!


First I crocheted these snowflakes. I saw them on one of my favorite blogs. I made them into ornaments by adding loops with red yarn.


Then I got an idea for my gift tags this year. I sewed on buttons to tags and tied red yarn in a bow at the end.

When I looked at my little Christmas tree in my room, it needed a topper. So This morning I crocheted a long piece of fabric and tied a bow topper for my tree.

This afternoon I sought my embroidery thread and felt and made this cute little bird ornament. I want to make more of these, so who knows if I will.

I'm kind of thinking of giving my Christmas ornaments away as Christmas gifts too. I haven't decided yet.

I started a new job last week and have been working a little more than I'm used to... but that's good. Work is really good.

I've had my fair share of play too, don't worry.

Here is what I've been up to.

I made this scarf for a swap and mailed it off yesterday.... bye bye tree green beauty. It was going to a Canadian so I thought it was still applicable.

I also sent this flowering tree pillow along with the swap package yesterday.

This is the big item I sent to Canada... it is a market bag. It's huge! You could fit all of the days groceries in there and leave plenty of room for some fresh flowers to go on you dining room table. The fabric is from urban outfitters! I love it.

I made this headband in about 2 minutes, probably less. I made it after working 2 days at my new job and realizing I had to step up my trendiness factor...so i started to go the hipster route. My boyfriend thinks I'm ridiculous but I thought it was cute. What do boys now about headbands anyway?

Projects Galore!

Okay so last week I had a funny dream...

If you know me at all this would not surprise you. I have the oddest most vivid dreams every night.

Anyway this one was about me not getting my books in time to go to class, and basically the usual stressful dream about trying to get to a class but never really getting there because there are always obstacles in the way. Anyways I fitfully tried to wake myself up with the reassurance that it was a just a dream but I remembered that I hadn't ordered my books yet! and classes must be starting soon! The truth of the matter was that classes were in fact starting the very next day but I am not signed up for any of them, because I graduated a month ago. I had to tell myself that I was never taking classes again...and I started to panic a little bit...What?!?!?! what will I do with my life?

So I started a few projects...So now I have crafting supplies strewn about my room and partially started projects thrown about as well.

I think I went into project over load. But the idea of them is really fun. So here is the inspiration for a few of the projects I had started...
This comes from an awesome blog by called Attic24 by Lucy.


This comes from an amazing blog that I've been reading for a long time, Wee Wonderfuls written by Hillary.

I found a pattern to make these hats, i plan to omit the bill... at this website that I have used since I started to crochet and is a great resource for people wanting free patterns...Crochet Pattern Central.

Project Runway's most famous challenges of creating garments out of unconventional items....


These are the inspirations for what I have lying on my floor right now... Stay tuned to see finished projects.