KroshayKel

Crochet wire bracelets

2010-08-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

Agate chip brown wire crochet bracelet.

Glass seed bead spiral brown wire crochet bracelet with magnetic closure.

Blue, black and white chip black wire crochet bracelet with magnetic closure.

Projects - June 27, 2010

2010-06-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I've uploaded projects... here are some of the latest!

Crochet baby cap and matching blanket for my friend, K.

Wire crochet agate stone bracelet.

Wire crochet white stone bracelet

Wire crochet sparkle purple stone bracelet.

Caps I forgot about

2010-02-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

Here are some caps I made in the last few months, but forgot about and just now got around to photographing.

This cap started out as one for a guy, but I thought it looked too feminine and decided to keep it for myself :) The edging of the cap was my first try at the "crab stitch" aka "reverse single crochet". I think it makes a really nice edging... kind of a rolled look if you will.

USA! USA! USA!
This cap I made for myself, and then Chris saw it and liked it, so I made him a matching one :) Tess models mine first, and then I have it on. Chris' is made from the same yarn, but is larger than mine. On both, I put a really floppy pom-pom. I refer to these caps as our "patriotic hats". Chris calls them his "Buffalo Bills cap" :)

Chris' standard beanie

So, after I made the "standard" beanie for Chris, he wanted to see if I could modify the pattern to make it so that the cap was longer in the back and shorter in the front. The "mullet", if you will, of caps. I guess a more flattering way of saying it would be that it is a "helmet" style :) I made a standard cap until he was happy with the length of it in the front, and then I started adding on to the back only, starting just before the ears so that his ears/neck would be covered, but he wouldn't have to flip up the front of the hat to see.

Another round of baby caps...

2010-02-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

These were made for Chris' friend "J" at work who was just blessed with the arrival of his baby boy.

Double pom-pom blue and white v-stitch cap

Two strand (iridescent blue and white) beanie with pom-pom top

Powder green tapered top-knot elfin cap

"Granny" shells cap in Ducky (yellow), Angel White and Sweet Pea (green) in my favorite, Vanna's Choice Baby yarn.

Lime green gathered-top hat with white draw string

Crocheting with... WIRE?!

2010-02-03T18:00:00.001-08:00

24 gague green wire that I loaded with beads and crocheted. Yes, CROCHETED!

Aerial view of crocheted green bracelet.

I'll Have My People Call Your People

2010-01-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, I was at my desk at work writing some documentation and listening to the Lion Brand Yarn's podcast that I love so much… I wrote in on the blog a while back a suggestion for crocheters regarding hook letter versus millimeter number size. You have to check that the millimeter size is the right one for the pattern you are working on, not just checking the letter on the hook as there is not a standardization of letter values to millimeters across various brands of hooks. THEY USED MY TIP on Episode 53 (at 4:33 in) on the PodCast! They mentioned me by name! I’m officially a celebrity!! :)

Meet Tess + New Projects

2010-01-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

Meet Tess! Tess was a Christmas present from Chris... just what I asked for! I'm such a lucky girl :) Tess will be my model for hats, earrings and scarves... maybe some other stuff too if I make something else new. Her name pays homage to the name that Mrka had when I adopted her. "Tess" is the name that the rescue group gave Mrka, but since she was a stray and didn't respond to that name, I changed it. But, I think it is a great name for my new model!

I got a new winter coat this year, and obviously it needed new accessories to go with it! I decided to make some felted hats...

Here are the brown and white hats, prior to felting.

Here they are on me for perspective... huge, right?

Buttons and baubles prior to felting... I wasn't sure what I was going to want to put on the hats, so I made both!

Tess, modeling the hats, felting and button/bauble adding complete!

After wearing the coat for the first time, I noticed that my makeup was getting on the collar. So, I decided to make a cowl to "protect" the coat. Of course, with the cowl, I needed a matching hat, right? :) So, I made a cloche and added a cute flower to the side.

Close-up of the hat and flower

Close-up of the cowl

Here are some hats I made for my brother's friend's daughter in PA... one of the cutest toddlers ever!

Pink hat with large flower

Close-up of the flower

Double-tassle shell hat

More Baby Caps

2009-11-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

Made for my friend K at work :)

Crochet Earrings

2009-11-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

I have a larger project I'm working on again that isn't quite finished. But, in the meantime, I was able to crank out a few thread crochet earrings. Unfortunately, many of the pictures are blurry, but you'll get the idea.

Recent projects

2009-09-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in a while, but that doesn't mean that my fingers have been yarn free! I've just been lazy and haven't gotten the pictures off our camera in a while. Anyway, here are some of my latest projects.

This is my latest baby blanket I've made... currently, the recipient has not yet received the blanket, so if you know who I was making this for, please do not comment about the recipient in blog comments just yet :) This is a crochet version of a "log cabin" quilt. The yarn is Lion Brand yarn Vanna's Choice. This really has been my "go to" yarn lately. I really love it. It is very soft, and all of the colors have been created so that you can put ANY of them together and they are hues that will just work together.

Me holding the blanket for sizing perspective:

When we were spreading the blanket out on the floor, Al immediately thought the blanket was for him. Don't worry, I washed it afterwards! But, it was really funny because he just would NOT get off of it!

My first "garment". I put the quotes around it because it isn't like a sweater, but is way more complex than a scarf. This was a cape I made for my grandma for her 90th birthday. It is made with cotton yarn.

Close-up of the clasp and neck...

Baby Cap with matching booties... this was only my second time making booties. This time, I think I really found a good pattern.

More baby caps!

E-I-E-I-O!!!!!!

2009-06-01T19:00:00.001-07:00

Amigurumi time again! The patterns for these can all be found on the Lion Brand Website.

I made these for my sister-in-law by request for a baby shower she's going to.

...and back to our song...

With a Cluck-cluck here:

...and a Quack-quack there:

...here an Oink!:

...there a Baaah!:

Easter Egg Blanket

2009-06-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've affectionately named this blanket the "Easter Egg Blanket". When you see the colors, you'll know why. This was made for a friend who recently had a baby girl. They didn't know what they were having beforehand, so I waited until the baby was born to make the blanket.

The blanket is a square, so I folded it into fourths. You can imagine what the hole thing would look like :)

Close-up of the corner and stitch detail.

And, as always, I made a little hat to match!

Extreme KNITTING

2009-05-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is a crochet blog. And KroshayKel doesn't knit. Well, technically, I did once. I took a class at Joann's and made a purse and found knitting to be frustrating (I think because I've been crocheting for so long). Anyway, that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate the art.

I came across this video on YouTube... this is of a woman, Rachel John. She shows how she preps and then knits with 1,000 strands of yarn at once! She uses what looks to be stripped, pointed and varnished logs as her "needles". It is simply amazing.

Even if you are not a yarn crafter or a fan of fiber arts, you probably can appreciate the mechanics/engineering/preparation involved in this whole setup. Simply amazing to me.

Sun Hats - Adult Sized

2009-05-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

As part of my Mother's Day gifts, I made some sun hats... 100% cotton, perfect for the summer!

Beige with brim and green detail:

Aerial view:

Me modeling the hat... not quite ready yet ;)

"Posed"

Pot style hat in warm variegated colors:

Me modeling:

"Derby" style rolled brim hat in variegated purples/tans:

Me modeling:

Sun hats for a special 1 year old...

2009-05-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

... our friends, A&D's daughter, M, will be celebrating her first birthday this week! Her bday party was on Saturday and part of our gift was a number of sun hats. All caps were made with 100% cotton yarn to make them summer weight.

Since A&D are Greek, I modified the cherries hat from before. This one was made with a darker green yarn, and I made a little grape cluster with a vine coil to hang instead of cherries.

Yellow sun hat with top detail and ruffle edge:

Variegated "derby" style sun hat with "butterfly" stitch detail:

"Girly" pink cap with open stitch band and frilly edge:

Blue "bucket" style sun hat with variegated flower detail:

Sock monkey hat (this is the only one that is acrylic). However, M loves monkeys. So, even if she doesn't really wear it, I still wanted to make it since it was so darn cute!

More baby hats

2009-04-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a trio of additional baby hats I made... the varigated pink/purple/white/green one is one I've made before, as is the yellow.

Here is a close-up of the new kid on the block:

Baby Stuff

2009-04-24T03:28:00.001-07:00

Yes, another friend and co-worker is ready to have her baby soon, and this past Monday we had her shower. Below are my gifts.

For the new baby, I made hats (see below), but first I wanted to share the "big sister" gifts for J's "one on the outside" :) Her daughter, C, LOVES frogs, so I made her a stuffed amigurumi froggy toy:

Here the froggy is in my hand for sizing comparison:

I also made C a summer (100% cotton) Sun Hat:

Hats (J doesn't know what she's having, so I made the hats in gender-neutral colors/styles):

It is good for my health!!

2009-04-13T19:05:00.001-07:00

Here is an article on the Lion Brand website that CBS News did about knit, crochet, and the benefits from yarn craft!

A tisket, a tasket...

2009-04-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

...I made EASTER BASKETS!

These were made by request from my co-worker, C. She wanted one for her daughter and one for her husband who went to Kentucky University.

Here is the one for her daughter:

The basket is my own design. I took a hat pattern that I have as a start to the basket, but then morphed it drastically. The handle is a four-part braid that is then twisted over itself to make it stronger. At the fasten points to the basket, I made some flowers to cover the stitched spaces. The handle, basket and attached flowers have all been felted. I then also needle felted a few additional flowers on the side to make the basket extra fancy :) I filled the baskets with yarn for the photographs.

Side view:

Aerial view:

Here, I'm holding the basket for sizing perspective:

Close-up of needle felted flower:

This is the basket for my friend's husband in Kansas University colors:

Side view:

Aerial view:

Me, holding the basket again for sizing perspective. This basket turned out to be a bit smaller than the other.

Foufy Poufy White and Black Scarf

2009-03-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is a scarf I whipped up for my cousin, M, for her birthday. She's been complaining that she's wanted me to make her a scarf for YEARS and I hadn't done that yet. Funny thing, is that just a few hours before I gave it to her, she said that again! :) I hope you like your scarf, M! XOXOXO!!

Yes, that is the scarf on the tailgate of our truck. We're like that. HA!

Detail:

Meet Leila!

2009-03-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Leila is a Rhinoceros. Isn't she fancy with her collar and flower accent? This is my first attempt at a toy. I made it for a friend of mine's baby who tuned 1 on St. Patty's Day - Happy Birthday again, Princess C! Anyway, the rhino is in honor of her mom, my friend B who has a special place in her heart for rhinos.

I got the pattern for Leila from Roxycraft (patterns that don't suck).

Leila, playing with some yarn:

Leila in my arm for sizing perspective. As you can see, she's bigger than traditional amigurumi.

Head on view:

Aerial view:

Underbelly:

Bum & tail:

Latest Creation!

2009-03-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

I cannot WAIT to share my latest creation here on my blog. I just finished it, and it turned out GREAT! The only catch is that it is a gift for someone who may read this blog before I'm able to give it to them, and I don't want to ruin the surprise. So, check back later on Saturday, Sunday at the latest!!!

Trail of Blossoms Scarf

2009-03-18T17:37:00.001-07:00

On our cruise, I started this scarf, and over the weekend I finally finished it. This is a pattern I got from Lion Brand's website for a Trail of Blossoms Scarf. The join-as-you-go pattern was super easy and really fun to make! This pattern I made using yarn by Classic Elite Yarns. It is their Summer Set yarn, a cotton/alpaca/polyester/lyocel blend in 2146/Awning color.

Close-up of motifs:

First Needle Felt Embellishment!

2009-03-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

Terry, you're going to be so proud! :)

When Joann's had their Sensations PacaBoo yarn on sale, I picked up two skeins in light gray. This is a natural yarn, made of 54% Wool, 23% Alpaca and 23% Rayon from Bamboo. Super soft! The packaging said it was perfect for felting, so I figured I'd try that.

I made my standard hat. Here it is before I felted it in the washing machine (btw, this was my first project that I felted in our new FRONT LOADER washing machine... worked great :) The green yarn is to mark this as the outside of the hat, just in case it were to have flipped around while in the washer.

Here is the hat, after felting with a little bit of needle felting embellishment (my first try). I just looked at the picture with me, and I really look goofy. I'm trying in this picture to not look like I'm sick (which I am, with bronchitis)... ha!

Close-up of the needle felting embellishment:

Bauble Pirate Necklace

2009-03-08T06:08:00.001-07:00

Ahoy, me swashbucklers and wenches. Out there on the high seas, we had a pirate themed night. Chris, er... I mean, Captain Critter Badboots and myself decided to dress the part. I needed me gold and other jewels to be the envy of all the other pirates, so I dashed off this bauble necklace. Doesn't it look like real pirate treasure of rubies? Little did the other pirates know, it was just Vanna's Choice yarn in Scarlet! If someone were to be so bold as to take this lovely from me, I would have been able to make another in about 15 minutes flat! ARRRRR!

Cherry Baby Cap

2009-03-07T20:21:00.000-08:00

Who said crocheting has to stop when you're on a cruise ship? Check out this little ditty I whipped up whilst floating around the Caribbean! I really love it. I think it is my new most favorite-est hat for girls!

Marbled green bamboo fiber yarn scarf

2009-02-27T15:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a scarf that I've been working on as well. I finished this last night. Surprisingly, it is quite heavy!

Full scarf:

Detail:

Birthday afghan for my FIL

2009-02-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

This afghan was a belated birthday present for my father-in-law. I tried my best to get it done by his birthday, but I missed it by like a month. I was able to give him the finished project this past Tuesday. This was a Vanna pattern with Vanna yarn. It was the first afghan I made with an N hook.

Me holding up the full afghan:

Up close detail (I just noticed that you can faintly see my outline through the stitches... hehe):

It is really soft and warm! (please ignore my blotchy face)

Over the chair:

Baby Caps

2009-02-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine has a preemie and not much is fitting him right now. So, I took up my scrap yarn and a size G hook and whipped out a few little beanies :) I took the pictures of each one lying down, and then "puffed up" as it would look on the baby's head.

Now, isn't this just the CUTEST cap EVER? A pumpkin!

Cancer Cap - First Beading Attempt

2009-02-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine's mom has cancer, so I wanted to make a cancer cap for her. I decided to make this cap a little more "fancy" by stringing beads onto the yarn. You can see the beads really well in the detail picture below.

White Baby Ensemble with Blue Accent

2009-01-28T19:12:00.000-08:00

I finished and delivered (excuse the pun) this baby blanket to my friend last night. Note, the subtle blue accent French knots throughout!

Close-up of the stitch work:

Matching hat:

...and (a first attempt!) booties!:

Some More Hats

2009-01-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

Chris' friend at work had a new baby boy over the holidays and he asked me to make a few hats to give them when the dad returned to work. I went to my baby yarn scrap bin and found some "boy" yarn and made a few... they were a hit! I'm really lovin' this v-stitch. Seriously, it works up so fast, I can hardly believe it! I took pictures of each of the three baby hats sitting up and lying down :)

I also had a teensy bit of the green cammo left over and really liked the cammo + pink idea. So, I made myself a hat... finally!

Me in my new hat... oh, and new glasses to! Just got them today :)

Baby Beanies + one other :)

2009-01-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

So, I've had a number of baby (newborn and toddler) caps that I wanted to make for various lucky pee-wees that we visited with over the holidays. Here are the results!

Neutral color dual pom-pom hat:

Patriotic dual pom-pom hat:

"Girly" neutral dual pom-pom hat:

Pink dual pom-pom hat (as you can see, I really liked this style. It looks really cute on the kiddos too!):

Shell stitch variegated pastel hat:

V-stitch hat with open scalloped edging and floral embellishment (I'm very fond of the v-stitch... it works up really fast!):

V-stitch hat with floral embellishment:

Close-up of floral embellishment:

Curly yarn V-stitch hat with open scallop edge and loopy embellishment on the top:

Larger hat made from the same yarn above. This hat has a shell stitch edge and bow like embellishment on the top.

I also made an adult v-stitch hat with some leftover cammo yarn that I had. I also put a floral embellishment on this one:

Close-up of the floral embellishment:

Christmas Presents, Revealed!

2008-12-27T04:54:00.000-08:00

So, now that my Christmas presents have been to their respective recipients, I can now post pictures of what this little elf has been working on for over the past month or so.

Non-Felted Hats

Men's Green/Tan Cammo Beanie:

Women's Green/Tan Cammo V-Stitch Beanie with Pink Accent and Floral Embellishment:

Close-up of floral embellishment:

Men's Desert Sand Cammo Beanie:

Men's Gray Beanie with Ribbed Band Accent:

Men's Ribbed Gray Beanie:

Women's Blue Chenille Open-work Beanie:

Women's Pink Variegated Shell Pattern Beanie with Matching Shell Pattern Mini-Scarf:

Women's "Curly" Yarn Beanie with Shell Edging and Corkscrew Embellishment:

Women's "Curly" Yarn Beanie with Shell Edging and Corkscrew Embellishment and Matching Corkscrew Scarf:

I really liked the "Corkscrew" set :)

Felted Hats

Women's Derby Style Pink Variegated Felted Hat with Flower Embellishment:

Women's Hunter Green Bell Style Hat with Bauble Embellishment:

Women's Turquoise Bell Style Hat with Yarn Button Embellishment:

Women's Chili Pepper Bell Style Hat with Yarn Button Embellishment:

Women's Bluebell Bell Style Hat with Bauble Embellishment:

Women's Blue and Brown Variegated Bell Style Hat with Yarn Button Embellishment:

Women's Celery Bell Style Hat with Bauble Embellishment:

Women's Heather Gray Bell Style Hat with Yarn Button Embellishment:

Stay Tuned...

2008-12-20T19:02:00.001-08:00

...when Christmas is over, I'll post pictures of all the projects I've completed and given as gifts. But, I'm obviously not going to post those before the 25th and ruin the surprise for everyone! :)

Pittsburgh Beanies

2008-12-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

I made these two hats as birthday gifts. The first was for my mom's youngest brother turning the big 5-0 this year and the second was for my cousin turning the big 2-1! :) They were in FL last week, so I whipped these up as special tokens for their "big" birthdays!

Like me, they are from Pittsburgh. Unlike me, they are mostly Penguins fans (whereas I, of course, am a STEELERS fan - clinching the AFC North today - woot! woot!)

Felted Hat with Crocheted Flower

2008-11-23T17:22:00.000-08:00

I've felted another hat! This one was made of Palette Collection yarn that I bought at Pat Catans craft store when I was recently up in Pittsbugh. This scarf was made in series Palate Collection 006/219 (Merlot) color.

Here is the hat before I felted it in the washing machine:

Post-felting; I put the little crocheted flower on the side, with a bauble with extra stitching as the center:

Aaahhhh...Waikiki

2008-11-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

This is my latest scarf I finished last weekend. The yarn is a fine Italian brand that I found in Tuesday Morning of all places! The maker of the yarn is Laines Du Nord and the line is called Cashsilk, a 50% Merino extrafine unshrinkable wool, 25% silk and 25% cashmere (Color/Lot 656/597). It is sooo soft and yummy. I wasn't able to find their company site. The best I could do is on SkeinsScene.com where they call it "pink". I really got a bargain on the yarn... I only paid $3 per ball!

I found some really great patterns on the Naturally Caron site, and this scarf I used the Wikiki pattern.

I love this scarf! The pattern is suppposed to be small "pineapple" stitches, which they call "strawberries". I think my favorite thing about it is the fringe... just loops of chains. I think this is a great take on the idea of fringe. I'll have to use it on other projects!

Full Scarf (I just had my hair "did" :)

Close-up of one of the "strawberries". If you see up towards the top, there are the "leaves" and then the points that come down from there to form the strawberry.

Rolled brim felted hat complete!

2008-11-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

The felted hat that was drying with pins in the rolled brim from my last post is now dry. Whatdaya think?

Bauble Felting Fun!

2008-11-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

I've finished two other kits that are similar to the change purses. The first was a hat kit. The kit is another "One Stick|Two Stick" kit in Lichen color scheme. The yarn was all made of bamboo wool and was totally soft!

First I made the hat... doesn't look abnormal, right?

But, you can see how big it is when I put it on! Don't worry, it will shrink when I throw it in the washing machine :)

Here it is after it is out of the washing machine, with some bauble embellishments:

On me:

The kit came with enough yarn to make a second (non-felted) hat. Cute, Huh?

I'm a dork :)

So, "baubles"... what are those? Well, the hat kit, and a second kit for making "Girlfriend Bracelets" had these. Basically, you make a little ball that is filled with wool yarn and then throw them into the wash to "felt" them. Here are all the baubles I made prior to felting. Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Two hands full!

I then threaded yarn through the center a number of times, quartering the bauble and securing it with a French knot. These made the little "flower" shapes that I attached to the greenish hat above, as well as making the bracelets!

So, I tried another felted hat pattern that I found online. I made this hat with Vision yarn by Moda Dea in Sedona color. I wasn't sure if it would felt like the other hat since the yarn was a wool blend (65% wool, 35% acrylic). What I learned is that it will felt, but I now need to buy a sweater "trimmer" thingy to de-fuzz the hat :) I think it will look pretty cute when it is finished though.

Here is the hat beforehand, laid out on the table. Again, it doesn't look so crazy.

But, as you can see, it is HUGE when I put it on!!

Here is the hat, post-felting. I've pinned the brim up so that it will roll like a derby. The pins will come out when the hat is dry.

Finally, I made more of my new favorite little baubles out of the leftover yarn, so it didn't go to waste :)

Wine Bottle Cover

2008-11-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

I made this little ditty for a friend as a "hostess gift" when going to her house for a party. It is made with Moda Dea brand yarn, out of their Beadnik style, a yarn that has pre-strung beads attached. This one is made out of the color "Chocodelic".

The only thing I would do differently when I make this again would be to put a bottom on the wine bottle cover. The pattern I followed didn't have me make one for this, and I think it could have used it. Nonetheless, I think it turned out pretty cute!

First Completed Felting Project

2008-10-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, so have you ever put a sweater made of 100% into the washer and it comes out about 1/4th the size it had originally been? Not to mention it is all fuzzy and, well, felt-like? THAT is what "felting" is. There are a lot of crochet (and knit) projects where you do this INTENTIONALLY, by making an item bigger than it needs to be and then throwing it into the washing machine (with very HOT water) and then squeezing the excess water out and laying flat to dry. I've always wanted to try this technique but was worried I wouldn't do it right.

We went to our local AC Moore store last Saturday (it is like a Joann's or Michaels) to see what was on sale for the liquidation "going out of business" sale. I found these little felting kits by One Stitch Two Stitch (they have a website on the box, but it doesn't seem to work, but it looks like a Coats & Clark product because the Coats logo is on the bottom of the box. I bought three kits, one to make little change purses, one to make bracelets and one to make hats. The great thing about these kits is that there is enough materials in each to make more than one project! The yarn used is a bamboo/wool blend.

I started off with the change purses. The first thing you do is crochet the pieces normally (no new technique here). Here is what the first change purse looked like before I sewed it in half:

I then finished crocheting the other two purses and seamed them up, as well as the embellishments.

Then, they went into a pillowcase that was tied off at the end (so the pieces didn't get stuck under the agitator of the washing machine:

Here are the pieces after they came out of the washing machine, "felted":

Close-up of one of the purses... this is what the "felted" stitches look like... quite fuzzy (note, the picture is actually in FOCUS, it is the material that is fuzzy!):

Close-up of the felted embellishments:

Change purse #1 all felted and put together:

Change purse #2 all felted and put together:

Change purse #3 all felted and put together:

Inside one of the change purses:

I'm, like, totally felting!

2008-10-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've made my first few felting projects. I'm so proud! Well, they aren't 100% completed just yet. The first few have been felted and are still drying. Once they are dry I'll be able to put them together. At that point, I'll take pictures and post. I've got before and after photos of the felting... it is just too cool!

A few scarves...

2008-10-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

After finishing the very large afghan, I wanted to make some quick projects before really getting into Chris' blanket (which will be another large project).

I had sonme yummy yarn that I've been dying to use, so here are two scarves I made that used up all that yarn.

The first one was made with two balls of Plymouth Yarn's #9 Royal Bamboo. As you can see, it made up beautifully and is quite perfect for fall! The scarf is quite long, so I can probably wear it "scooped" around my neck. The yarn is VERY soft, and the weave is quite dainty, enough so that I could wear it IN the office at work when it gets a little colder.

Details:

The next scarf I made out of yarn by Filatura Di Crosa. Since the company website isn't in English, I'm linking to Yarnmarket to show the type of yarn, Dusk, in #4 Tropical Paradise. I love how this yarn self-striped. It also has some "shimmer" to it. So yummy!

Detail:

Presenting... my brother's afghan! (FINALLY)

2008-10-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

I've now finished my brother's afghan. I'm so proud! It is HUGE! Probably the biggest one I've ever made. I made it using Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Soft Navy, Gold and Soft White in honor of Pitt's school colors (my brother's college alma mater). It was made to look like "pinwheels" (see the white and blue pinwheels? Kinda looks like an optical illusion). It was super easy to make, 9" squares of three colors, made with half double crochet stitches. The squares were all made the same, and I just turned them as I went to make the "pinwheel" shape.

Full afghan (Chris had to hold it up for me because it is too big for me to hold). As you can see, Chris, as tall as he is, cannot see over the top of the afghan, and it is almost to the floor as he is holding it!

A more "artsy" pic of the blanket:

The blanket folded, closeup of the boarder and one square.

Honest!! I swear!!

2008-10-08T20:23:00.001-07:00

Ok, so since I've now given the big project as a(n almost complete) gift, I can tell you what it was. My brother has been bugging me for almost 10 years now for an afghan made of his college (Pitt) colors. So, for his 30th birthday, I bit the bullet and knocked that bugger out (the afghan, I mean)! Well, with the exception of the boarder. It is made of squares that I sewed together to give it to my bro, but I didn't put on the boarder until I got some input from him. He left FL to go back to PA before I was able to finish the border completely, but he didn't have room in his suitcase anyway. So, I don't feel so bad about not being complete yet.

But, honest, I swear, I'm close! I have 2 and 1/2 rounds of the boarder to go, and to give you an idea, at my crochet group tonight, I was able to finish almost that much just in this evening. The goal is to have it in the mail by early next week at the latest, maybe by Saturday...? Once it is complete, I'll be SURE to post some pictures!

No update in a while...

2008-09-21T20:28:00.001-07:00

So, does that mean I haven't had a crochet hook in my hand every free minute I have available? NO! :)

I'm still working on the project cutting up t-shirts and making them into t-shirt "yarn". Additionally, I'm working on a personal project that I will share when it is complete. That said, it is bigger than the dish cloths, scarves and hats that I've been making lately. Stay tuned!!!

What have I been up to?

2008-08-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

Apparently about 30+ dishcloths. Seriously, I have a problem. Well, I should say that I had a problem. I was in LOVE with the self-striping yarn and the other varigated kinds. My goal initially was to use up what I had left and be done with it, but then I went berzerk and bought more yarn. These are the full-size dishcloths:

These little dealiebobbers I made from the leftover yarn from the ones above. I think I'm going to use them as little hot pads. The good news is that this is IT for the yarn colors you see here. I don't have any more! The bad news is that I have to find storage to put them :)

This is another project I'm working on. It is kind of a crochet project. My company has changed our company logo volunteer t-shirts from yellow to white. They weren't able to donate the leftover yellow t-shirts to a charity as is because they had our company logo on them. The logo needed to be destroyed. Someone came up with this great idea of shredding the t-shirts into strips, and then making those strips into a giant ball of t-shirt "yarn". That "yarn" could then be used to crochet pet mats/beds that are then going to be donated to local animal shelters in my area. Here are some of the strips I've been cutting:

Here is the beginning of a t-shirt ball of "yarn":

Our shredding method was found on Laughing Purple Goldfish Designs. She also has a way of joining the fabric strips without sewing. These two little tips have saved us so much time!

Crochet. Pray. Love.

2008-07-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

I've completed another group of charity projects. I was contacted by a UCF student to make some "prayer shawls" (or "good vibe shawls", depending on your religious persuasion) for a students' class project. The shawls would then be given to a battered women's shelter in Orlando. I decided this would be the perfect project to use up my Grandma P's yarn that my parents gave to me when they were cleaning out her house. Here are the results!

Shawl #1:

Shawl #2:

Shawl #3:

Shawl #4:

I also received a number of knitted squares in sport weight yarn from a friend at work. She was given the squares by a friend who wanted to have the squares donated to some charity. I took the squares, sewed them together and crocheted a boarder around the edge.

Guess what? More DISHCLOTHS!!

2008-07-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm totally working on another project. This other "project" has consisted of three separate projects which are currently completed, and one that I just started the other day, and I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of this weekend. I'll post more on that project when the fourth piece is complete.

In the meanwhile, I've made more dishcloths when I needed a break from the other project. Here are the latest:

The interesting thing about these dishcloths is that they were made by using only one skein of kitchen yarn. It is Lily's Sugar 'n Cream Stripes, a self-striping yarn. The top left is "21420 Baby Stripes" color. The top right is "21317 Violet Stripes" color. The bottom is "21705 American Stripes" color.

More Dishcloths

2008-06-22T14:45:00.001-07:00

So, I thought I was using up all of my leftover cotton kitchen yarn, but I came to find out that I had another small bin of NEW balls of the cotton kitchen yarn. So, I'm trying to use this up too. Expect to see more dishcloths! :)

Dishcloths - NEW Dishcloths ;)

2008-06-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

With my folks in town this weekend, we did a lot of driving... two trips to St. Augustine from Orlando at 2 hours each way and one trip to Disney from East Orlando (about 45 minutes). I wanted to work on smaller projects. So, I found my old cotton kitchen yarn and whipped up a bunch of dishcloths... wouldn't these make great housewarming gifts?? :)

Looking at that picture, I have to say, I'm impressed with myself! I only started the first dishcloth maybe on Monday of last week (June 2nd)!

Pink hat and SKINNY scarf set

2008-06-01T17:24:00.001-07:00

Here is a pink hat and SKINNY scarf set I finished last night. This was made with Moda Dea Bamboo Wool in Boysenberry.

Full shot:

Close-up (I added some extra detail on the hat with the little "flower"):

Super-quick Baby Afghan for Our Nephew!

2008-05-27T16:57:00.001-07:00

So, I've been working on another baby afghan for our new nephew, but I have to re-work part of it and I knew I wasn't going to finish it in time to give it to him for his Christening this past weekend. So, I searched for a different baby afghan that would work up quickly. Fortunately, I had the gift of time in the form of our drive from Orlando, FL to Raleigh, NC.

I found this pattern for "Little Victory" baby blanket on Lion Brand's website (it is free to sign up and become a member where you then have access to loads of free patterns!). The "V" stitch worked up so quickly! I was able to finish the blanket with time to spare to make a hat to match... (although I put the final stitches in the hat in the parking lot of the restaurant that we went to following the Christening service at the church ;)

What was great about this pattern is that it is a smaller blanket, perfect for car seats and/or strollers!

Anyway, here is the blanket and hat (honest, the blanket really IS rectangular and NOT uneven, but I guess I didn't do a good job of laying it out!):

Here is a close-up of the detail and edging of the blanket:

Here is a close-up of the hat:

Here is Saki wearing the hat (it is a little big for him now, but he'll grow into it!):

The yarn I used is Phentex Fashion Six in 905 4/06.

Fun and Interesting Yarns!

2008-05-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't put my hooks down ;) I'm just working on a project that will be taking me a little while. But, I wanted to share some new yarns... many are "green" yarns!

This first one is called Beadnik by Moda Dea (in Blue Beat). It is great novelty yarn because you don't have to deal with a bunch of fluffy, shreadding yarn that gets clogged if you have to frog it. I used the tan (Daddy-O Tan) color to make the tan "star" shawl in a previous post.

The next one is a green-ish yarn. It too is Moda Dea and is Bamboo Wool (in Bamboo). What makes it "green" is being 55% Rayon from Bamboo, 45% Wool. The part that is bamboo is friendlier to the environment.

This yarn is truly green in that it is made from factory scraps. It is made from the cuttings of saris in India. The cuttings are collected, shredded, and spun into yarn. It is VERY pretty and so unique! The company I got this yarn from is called Darn Good Yarn. The owner, Nicole, gives GREAT customer service with emails and personalized messages in your shipment! The great part is that the yarn is pretty inexpensive as far as "green" yarns go at $37 (which includes shipping!!) for 5-100g skeins of yarn!

This yarn is green in that it comes from alpacas. So very soft, I can't wait until I make this up into something for myself. If you read my earlier post about my mom's scarf, this is the yarn I mentioned that was pretty expensive ;) It is made by Misti Alpaca and is their hand paint Baby Suri Silk yarn in color 21.

This next yarn is not really "green" but I bought it in Pittsburgh when I got the above yarn. It is made by Suss Yarn Suss Crunch Skyline in Papaya. I think this yarn may be discontinued, because I got it on sale :)

This amazing purple-ish yarn is made from Camel Hair and is impossibly soft! Al, our pug, likes it too. Everytime he sees a ball of it, he tries to bite it. Weirdo. Anyway, the yarn is by Buton d'Or. It is their Ksar yarn. I can't read much more than that as it is in French ;)

Back to the "green" yarns, I bought a number of Vickie Howell yarns. This first one is from her LOVE line of yarns in Andi & Blaine. What makes this yarn "green" is that it is made of 70% bamboo and 30% silk. This is probably the softest of the three Vickie Howell yarns I'm trying.

The next of Vickie's yarns I bought is from her ROCK collection in Siouxsie. What makes this yarn "green" is that it is made from 40% soysilk, 30% fine wool and 30% hemp. It is probably the roughest of all the Vickie Howell yarns, but it is stilly lovely.

The last of Vickie's yarns I'm trying is from her CRAFT collection in Kelly (of course!). What makes this yarn "green" ist hat it is made from 35% milk fiber and 65% organic cotton. Yes, you read that right. MILK. This yarn is the midground of softness of these three.

Vickie has one other line of yarns is new and is called Vegas and is made of 29% soysilk, 67% wool, and 4% metallic thread. I didn't try this one yet, but I look forward to it!

The last new yarn I'm trying is again green, and is from Kollage Yarns. This particular kind is their Creamy line (in Purple Poem). This yarn is again made from milk, but more milk than the Vickie yarn. This yarn is made from 80% milk and 20% cotton! By far, this is the SOFTEST of the bunch!

Interested in how you make yarn from milk? I was too! Here is a good article.

I ordered these yarn from Yarn Market. There are a number of other kinds of "green: yarn that I'd like to try like banana fiber and corn fiber. I'm just so excited about these yarns!!

Yes... ANOTHER scarf!

2008-05-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

As I told my crochet group last night, I've been experimenting with some new yarns... unfortunately, they are too expensive for me to do much more than a scarf... but, fortunately, they work up lovely to a scarf!

This yarn I bought at AC Moore. It is Moda Dea Bamboo Wool in "blue velvet". This yarn is made of 55% rayon bamboo, 45% wool. I literally just put my hook down and took a picture of the newest creation. I think this is one of the prettiest scarves so far (no offense to anyone I have given a scarf to in the past!).

Stay tuned, I will be posting pictures of new "green" yarn... more to come!

Spumoni, anyone?

2008-05-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

I finished another scarf today... I tried my best to get it done on the way from Orlando to Port Orange, but I still had about 15 minutes of work when we got to my in-law's house ;)

When I was working on this scarf at my crochet group meeting, the one lady said that the colors looked so much like spumoni ice cream that she was going to need to stop at Publix (local grocery store) before going home! :)

I gave the scarf to my mother-in-law as part of her Mother's Day gift.

Found more pics!

2008-05-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

I just found some pictures of two hat and scarf sets that I made for friends of ours who moved from FL to CO.

For the boyfriend half of the couple:

For the girlfriend half of the couple:

I finished this off in the car on Sunday...

2008-05-02T07:12:00.001-07:00

...on our way to meet our friend's new baby, Caroline (she's such a doll!!!). Anyway, I crocheted and Chris drove. I started the hat while getting a pedicure just before we went to our friend's house. It was a super easy pattern. I got a little creative and tried to do a "3D" flower on the side. I made the same flower, just two sizes and put the smaller one on the outside.

(Used) Dish Cloths

2008-05-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a few dish cloths that I made a while back. They've gotten some really good use! I made a bunch a few years ago and gave them to my aunts as Christmas gifts... they said that they were too nice to use as dish cloths... some of them used them as doilies in their bedrooms! :)

4

Just finished one and made another ;)

2008-04-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

This is a scarf I made between yesterday and today... I made it using Moda Dea Bamboo Wool. I LOVE that yarn! It is sooooo soft!

This is a scarf I made for my mom... she bought the yarn at a specialty yarn store in Pittsburgh when we were there last. I told her if she bought the yarn, I'd make her something... I was buying hanks of yarn for $25 for something for myself (I don't often indulge in such expensive yarn), and told her I was too cheap to do that for anyone else. So, Mom found this great nylon-y type yarn that had two textures... a silky and a more "matte" type finish. It worked up VERY pretty!

Close-up of the edges...

Off-White Baby Blanket & Hat

2008-04-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

This baby blanket and hat was made for our friends Anna and Dimitri, for their first baby, due any time now!!

Pink Baby Blanket & Hats

2008-04-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

This baby blanket and hats were made for my friend Becky for her first baby:

This baby hat was made for my boss Jill's daughter:

More past work...

2008-04-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

This work is a bit more recent than the baby blankets from the last post.

Shawl:

Baby Hats:

Another Baby Blanket:

Soldier Caps:

Hat and Scarf Sets:

...I know that last one has a matching scarf... just can't find it right now.

Scarves:

Some of my past work... Baby Blankets!!

2008-04-26T08:38:00.001-07:00

So, I've found some pictures of old projects I did... Of course I want to document them!

This was a baby blanket for my childhood friend Lauren's first baby:

This baby blanket was for my friend Harinder's second baby:

This baby blanket was for my friend Julia's first baby:

This baby blanket was for (I think) my friend Jason's third baby:

This baby blanket was for my friend Terina's first baby:

My Crochet Blog

2008-04-25T22:44:00.000-07:00

I can't sleep, so I thought I'd get started on my crochet blog. I'm hoping to find old pictures of things I've made in the past and post them here as well as more current photos. Maybe I'll look on the computers tomorrow and assemble a photo history of the digital pictures I have... my earliest work is on film, so I'll have to find a scanner........