My mom's birthday was in November and I made her this cowl. The yarn came from a local Alpaca farm. Its baby alpaca and I wasn't sure how it would work up... If not for the expense (which my mom is worth) I'd crochet with it all the time!
I finally lined the hobo style bag. I think it turned out nice.
I especially love that I made the strap adjustable. I'm pretty sure its going to stretch when the bag is loaded up. I love the size of it, too. I crocheted another one in black, ecru, and cranberry but I ran out of black yarn which made the strap too short. I'm going to frog it and add more ecru and cranberry. (Well, sometime over the winter I will.)
I visited a friend a few weeks ago and we made little boxes from greeting cards. Here's the video tutorial we used.
I made some more that weekend from old Christmas cards. They are so cute! I did modify how I folded them though. I used a ruler to draw lines from corner to corner, instead of folding, so the tops and bottoms don't have creases in them.
In one of the boxes are a pair of Christmas ear rings that Noelle made for me. Aren't they sweet?
And I finally got my netbook =D
It even has a crochet cover, with a zipper, that I made for it.
Its taking a little getting use to, size wise, but I love it!
Here's an update on the baby cocoon and hat that I made for a friend's little boy. She posted this picture on Facebook and tagged me so that I could see how little Brock is enjoying it. Isn't he a cutie?!!
I really didn't want to make it this big but Noelle did. She has room for all her dance gear plus much much more, lol. I did learn a lot from making this pattern though. I don't really like working with too many colors. Yes, it looks so pretty. Weaving in all those ends? Ugh. Oh, well. She's happy and that makes me happy. Now she wants a matching water bottle carrier. Yeah, I know. More ends to weave in, but its a much smaller project :)
I still haven't finished the lining for my purse design. With all the remodeling and moving around of things in this house, I can't get to my sewing machine right now.
I've spent a lot of time crocheting though and have another purse that needs lined. I've also crocheted a baby hat/sleep sack set for a friend. I had some TLC Cotton Plus yarn in my stash that was perfect for it! I got the hat pattern here but looked at how sleep sacks were constructed and came up with my own pattern using half double crochet (the pattern used in the hat).
And now I'm working on the circle dance bag pattern for Noelle. She started dance classes this year and needs a way to carry all her gear.
I know, I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that. We're in the middle of renovating wood floors and repainting and new wood work and the house is a mess and dh is very busy work wise so hasn't gotten much done around here and...........you get the picture ;)
I have been playing around with designing my own handbags. I took an informal poll of friends online asking them what they liked best in a purse. Wow, talk about a lot of differences! My first attempt is at a hobo-style bag with an adjustable shoulder strap. I need a buckle to finish so I can't post a pic yet. Oh, and it needs lined, too. One friend suggested I also make a coordinating cell phone holder (I made myself one and she loved it, wants one of her own).
Noelle has also been busy crafting. We just happen to live near train tracks so she's been making flattened penny earrings. She loves to make jewelry and her friends want a pair. Some have requested necklaces since their ears aren't pierced.
Her and I are tossing around the idea of renting a table at the local craft fair for Christmas. You see, I'm still saving for that netbook I mentioned a while back.
Here's one I made for my neighbor (its like mine, in between a small and a medium), and the first one I put a liner in. I definitely need to put liners in these as they hold their shape so much better. I really like the way it turned out and I know Sue was really happy with it (she picked the great colors, btw).
The liner was stitched on my machine but it had to be hand sewn in.
The next one is for me but it will be my first large one. I love little handbags but sometimes you just need a bigger one, ya know?
If you haven't checked it out already the pattern can be found at the futuregirl.com blog. As well as some great tutorials and pictures of other crocheters' designs. I especially like the sock monkey diaper bag!
I've been doing research on netbooks and I think I'm going to get the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1201N-PU17-SL. They have a newer, and supposedly better, one debuting on May 13th. So, I'll wait and see what price range its in before my final decision. I'm so excited!
I really like this novelty yarn but can only seem to knit it with a knitting loom. I wanted something for over my shoulders when I'm wearing a dressier sleeveless shirt/dress. I'm not sure if I like it or not but here it is.
Noelle and I found the book Hello, Cupcake! at the library and are making the slumber party ones for her birthday party. I'll share pictures later. There is also a website that goes along with this http://www.hellocupcakebook.com/
I've been involved with choreographing an Easter Worship Arts Celebration for Easter Sunday. Lots of work to be done there. We've been practicing Saturday mornings and Sundays after services. A few Tuesday nights thrown in as well. I'm hoping to have it recorded so I can share it here. We'll see how that goes.
I was in the dollar store a few days ago and got bit by the gardening bug. I proceeded to check out some organic gardening books from the library and have been learning about composting. Who knew dirt could be so fascinating? So, hopefully this weekend I can get my organic seeds and potting soil from Wal-mart to get started on my seedlings.
I've also been kicking around the idea of crocheting some baskets, but baskets with some substance to them. I saw one example online where clothes line was crocheted over for sturdiness. I've also thought wire would be an interesting insertion between stitches. No, not Easter baskets. Just baskets.
This morning I finally got our all-in-one hooked up to our home network. It was a little frustrating but I managed to figure it out. Our Internet Explorer kept freezing/locking up so I did some digging online to fix it. I declared to my son that I loved the internet but was not terribly fond of the intricacies of computers themselves ;-P
We've had some nice weather the last couple weeks and I've been out walking in it. Being in the sun has been marvelous! However, it looks like March this year will be declared in like a lamb, out like a lion. Oh well, I have a couple good books I can curl up with.
Okay, now I really want one of these handy little devices. I'm sitting her thinking of all the time, ink, and paper I could save if I had one. What am I talking about? Lion Brand Yarn has a handy little counter on their website for keeping track of where you are in a pattern. You just click and drag it to where you are. How great is that?
Last night I spent some time unraveling some crochet and knit items for the yarn. I came upon this idea one day a couple of years ago. A lady from church went through her closet and ended up giving me a bunch of sweaters she no longer wore. They were all very pretty and good quality but so out of style that I knew I would never wear them. (There was one sweater that was a classic and it now hangs in my closet.) We have a charity store in town that I could have donated them to but they had so many ladies' sweaters that they didn't need any more. What to do with all these sweaters? Recycle! I've since seen this idea all over the internet but when I was given the sweaters, I didn't have the internet. Must have been some frugal vibe in me. :-) Anyway, its a great way to get the expensive yarns for little money. Other resources, besides hand me downs, are yard sales and thrift stores. Here is a blog post that tells you the best way and types of sweaters/yarn to look for.
Here's the modified version of the slipper pattern for Kyle
I'm planning on combining some red and white yarn to make some for myself, even contemplating some white fluffy yarn for a fur cuff.
We finally got around to finishing our from scratch gingerbread house this past week, just in time for Epiphany (Matthew 2:9-11). I thought it was fitting anyway ;-)
