Finally!

Finally, after a year of crocheting, I have made a hat that I am happy with!  I have tried several times to make a hat and have never been happy with how they come out or I find the pattern too difficult.  I’ve tried in the round, I have tried crocheting flat and then seaming and none have worked or have been easy enough until this one.

Supplies: Caron Simply Soft Paints yarn (Driftwood), size G crochet hook

I got the pattern on the Joann website.  It’s called Swirl Cloche Hat, although I think the Swirl refers to the yarn that they used in the original project.  I found the pattern to be very easy and it only took about 3 hours or so total time to finish.  I will see if I can get one or two more done to add to my craft fair stash.

One Week To Go

There is only one week to go until the craft fair, so I am wrapping up some crochet projects.  I made a couple more of the scarves using the Serenity chunky yarn.  I am still amazed at how great the subtle striping comes out.  I ended up making 5 of these all together. 

Supplies: Serenity Chunky Yarn (Stormy, Chocolate), size N crochet hook

I am trying to figure out what other quick projects I could come up with this week.  Even if I don’t do anything else, I still have plenty of stock for the craft fair, so I am not worried.  I am just still motivated to crochet!

Yarn Love and More Scarves

I haven’t been doing any card making, but I am crocheting up a storm trying to get ready for a craft fair the first weekend in December.  I decided to try out a yarn that I had never used before called Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky yarn.  It happened to be on sale at Joann’s so it was a good enough price to test out. 

Well, let me tell you, I am in love with this yarn!  It is so soft and cozy and crochets up very well.  The prints have a subtle striping effect so you get a bit of a color change, without having to change yarns!  I am so excited about that because I love the look of striped scarves, but hate having to weave in all of the ends from all of the color changes.  You can see it in the two scarves that I made recently.

Supplies: Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky yarn (Seven Seas, Almond), size N crochet hook

I had initially purchased the Almond and Chocolate colorways, but I went back to the store to get the Seven Seas, Stormy and Berry Burst colorways before they were no longer on sale. 

Hopefully these will do well at the craft fair.

Baby Gift

I finished the baby gift for my co-worker and I am thrilled at how it came out!  And it came together so quickly too as I completed it in only 2 evenings.  I used 2 strands of different colors of yarn and a size P hook.  It’s all single crochet, but because of the size of the stitches, it comes out in a very nice pattern.  Finished size is approximately 28 x 24 inches.

Supplies: Vanna's Choice Baby yarn, size P crochet hook

It’s very soft, cuddly and quite warm.  I think it will be a perfect blanket to keep in the car on chilly winter days.

Catching up on Crocheting

I took a little break from card making to get some crochet projects knocked off of my “to do” list.  I started the curly scarf more than a month ago, but had put it aside because it was taking a long time.  Even though the scarf is only 4 rows, each row has increases in it, so by the time I got to the 4th row, the amount of stitches tripled or quadrupled!  I still like the way it came out though.  Just not sure if I will make another one any time soon. LOL

Supplies: Vanna's Choice yarn, size I crochet hook

Originally I was going to use the granny squares to make a small afghan, but I decided to make them into a scarf instead.   I think it looks cute, and I like all the different colors it has.

I just have a few more things on my crochet “to do” list which are:  1.  finishing up the pieces to my son’s Halloween costume (he wants to be Link from Legend of Zelda) and  2.  make some booties for a coworker before she goes on maternity leave.  Other than that, I may just make up some crocheted stuffed animals for the craft fair as time permits.

Hand Stitched Holidays

I got my holiday groove on last night making some stitched cards.  The first one was originally going to be a gift tag, but I thought the image was a perfect size for a tea bag pocket card.

Supplies: Candy Cane image (DRS Designs), Bazzill cardstock, 140 lb watercolor paper, DCWV patterned paper, grosgrain ribbon, DMC Pearl Cotton embroidery thread, paper piercer, embroidery needle

The next card was made using an image from the iron on transfer book as my pattern.  At first I didn’t think I had a rubber stamp that would work for where I wanted to put the greeting.  I thought I only had a couple of holiday greeting stamps, until I realized that I had a holiday greeting background from DRS Designs.  I decided to cut the background apart into seperate greeting stamps and now I have quite a few holiday greeting stamps!

Supplies: Jingle Bells iron on transfer, Bazzill cardstock, 140 lb watercolor paper, DCWV patterned paper, ColorBox Fluid Chalk ink, DMC Pearl Cotton embroidery thread, paper piercer, embroidery needle

Another Tea Bag Pocket Card

I made another Tea Bag Pocket Card today.  I really like these, since they are not only a card, but a little gift as well.  I also like that I am finally using up some of my ribbon.  I bought so much of it a while ago, but I haven’t used any in a long time.  It always feels good to do some stash-busting!

Supplies: Tea stamp and Hello stamp (DRS Designs), ColorBox Fluid Chalk ink, Bazzill cardstock, DMC Pearl Cotton embroidery thread, grosgrain ribbon, Fiskars Border Punch (Effervescence), paper piercer, embroidery needle

Stitched Tea Bag Pocket Card

I have been looking for other ideas for stitching on cards.  My friend Vicki suggested making a cocoa packet holder, but then I thought about maybe making a tea bag holder, which is something I had been wanting to do for a while.  I found a tutorial for the cocoa packet holder here and modified it for a tea bag.  I am very happy with the result!

Supplies: Teacup stamp (Pink Cat Studio), Bazzill cardstock, 140 lb watercolor paper, ColorBox Fluid Chalk ink, DMC Perle Cotton embroidery thread, grosgrain ribbon, paper piercer, embroidery needle

When you pull on the ribbon, the tea bag lifts out of the pocket.

I will definitely be making more of these.  They will make great gifts and craft fair items.

Stitched Tulips

This card has given me the biggest self esteem boost!  Not only did I draw the pattern myself, but the end result after stitching has made me quite proud!   I think this design was a spinoff off the vase of flowers on the bookmark, but something told me that I should make the tulips look droopy.  Anyone who has ever been given a bouquet of tulips knows that is exactly what happens after you put them in a vase.

Bazzill cardstock, DCWV patterned paper, 140 lb. watercolor paper, DMC Perle Cotton embroidery thread, paper piercer, embroidery needle

This card will be going in my Etsy shop soon.  I want to experiment with taking some better photos before I put it in there.

Stitched Tea Cup

After drawing the pattern design for the bookmark, I wasn’t sure if I could do that again.  While I do have confidence in my creativity, I have never been very confident of my drawing abilities.  However, I think that’s changing a little after drawing the pattern design for today’s card.

Supplies: Thinking of You stamp (DRS Designs), ColorBox Fluid chalk ink, Bazzill cardstock, 140 lb. watercolor paper, DCWV patterned cardstock, Prism Craft Thread, paper piercer, embroidery needle

I also have another design drawn out and ready to go for a future card.   I hope to share that one soon.  This card is now in my Etsy shop.