Yarn and Coffee: March… One more ball

If we were having coffee I’d be telling you of my trips to the yarn aisle.

Would you like something to nibble with your coffee (or tea) as we chat?

Last month I was consumed with my son’s blanket (the C2C Jack Skellington) I expected to have to purchase more yarn as I went along since I was just following an idea vs a pattern.

In March both my projects took more yarn than the patterns called for. I made what I call the Sherbert and Cream blanket. I followed a pattern but the different yarn/ hook turned a 70cm blanket into a 120 cm long blanket!

The shawl I’m not quite done yet is a similar story. My problem there was I bought the last two balls from the store. When I went back there were Clearance stickers 😦 So off to the internet.

Now I not so patiently wait. I decided I could make a prettier shawl than I could find in the store for an event that I’m attending in a few weeks. Thankfully I was only two rows and the edging short. I’m worried that I’ll be up late the night before furiously crocheting!

I’m using Vanna’s Glamour Yarn (Sapphire) It’s very difficult to take a  photo of!! None of the shots that I took of the balls of yarn worked. I don’t think I’ll be adding this yarn to the weekly Wooly Wednesdays photos. In various light, it appears to be such different shades of blue. The shimmer in this yarn is perfect but oh so hard to do justice when I take a photo.

How was your month? What projects did you finish? Or perhaps you started a few?

 

 

Yarn and Coffee Share… first week of August.

If we were having coffee my cup would be surrounded by yarn scraps, markers, paper and pencils.

This week I finished spirit wear scarves for my daughter and her boyfriend. I’ve been working on that wrap, that’s in the school colours for my son’s football games. {I learned last year football games mysteriously bring about the cold winds and rain even when it was a beautiful Fall day.}

I’ve also decided on the blanket I’m going to make for my son’s 16th birthday. I found a pattern for Jack Skellington that I like. However it is a friendship bracelet pattern. So first I’ve had to scale it up so that it’s blanket size and determine how many stitches per square.

I have a back up plan just in case this didn’t translate well. I can make 2″ granny squares and sew them all together but since the blanket is for a 5′ 11″ boy I rather not sew that many squares !!

I’ve also started to make a few coffee cup cosies. So far just one for my daughter and a halloween-ish one. But I’ve seen a lot of other cute patterns. I like these types of projects. They make great stocking stuffers.

What’s in your basket of yarn art this week? Fall decor? Christmas gifts? Winter warmth?

 

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Special thanks to Part-Time Monster’s #WeekendCoffeeShare for inspiring this Yarn & Coffee Share.

End of January ~ already!!

I’ve done January’s mood squares. I updated the colours a little. I realized I’ll need a colour for worry. sigh.

While pondering some details of my mood blanket I realized what I’m liking the most about my blanket.  I’m enjoying that the vast majority of mood blanket photos focus on one colour; while mine has the variety of emotions from each week.

I’m still not completely happy with it because I haven’t completed the design in my head. I still like the design of the square but now I’m wondering how to join them.

I can’t seem to picture the finished blanket. I’ve looked on Pinterest for some joining ideas but nothing popped out as “the one”. I’ll just have to mull it over and see what strikes my fancy.  At the moment this one seems to be what I’m thinking of.

But it also leads to the other question that I’m just not sure of… WHAT colour do I do boarders / join with??  I could just put that decision off ’til next Fall. I could just leave joining them all ’til the very end. OK In theory, I could. However, I’m more worried about getting the order of the weeks mixed up.

 

Oh well.. maybe February will bring some answers.

 

Squares for my mood blanket.

I am finally going to make a mood blanket. I picked the colours (see my first post) and now for the design.

To find “the” granny square I happily went to Pinterest and started a new board, Granny Squares.  I needed to find a square that was not to fiddly to make, yet not boring. One that was interesting and looked good with multiple colours.

I’m mostly sure that I’m going to use this swirly square. I wasn’t sure about it at first since I needed four colours and I had originally thought I’d only document 3 moods each week.

My next aspect to decide is what size of square? Four rounds or three rounds?

Regardless of which I pick I’ll have to make something to encourage the squares to “square up”.  Maybe it’s because the smaller one isn’t finished; maybe it’s the different yarn but that plus the square being new to me they didn’t square up as well as the ones in the video.

I’m thinking of making (ok..getting my Hubby to make) this, once I decide on the size of my mood blanket’s squares. Not only will it encourage the right shape but it will keep my squares in order over the year.

The instructions can be found at Look What I Made

Only two years behind

I’ve been wanting to make this blanket that I saw at Attic 24’s blog for about two years now!  I had thought about it first in 2014.  However this, that and other projects came up and I didn’t make it. Today while shopping with my sister and Aunt we just happened to go into the craft store when there was a yarn sale.  LOL This wouldn’t be the first time that a yarn sale got me in trouble!

My hubby, while understanding that I rarely make something for myself did find it necessary to mention the rest of my yarn. Not understanding that I didn’t have the right colours!

But back to the yarn sale… I wasn’t planning on purchasing yarn today but well… it was on sale and I don’t have any other projects to do.  I didn’t have my list of colours that I had planned to use so I just winged it. I matched moods to the colours I purchased.

I decided to use Red Heart SuperSaver yarn because I like it and it fits my budget better. Not as soft as I hoped but soft enough 🙂

Coffee = Angry

Dark Orchid = Happy

Burgundy = Moody

Aran = Sick/Tired

Light Periwinkle = Creative

Soft Navy = Stressed

Tea Leaf = Relaxed/Content

Lemon = Preoccupied

Carrot = Loving/Grateful

Charcoal = Sad

Now to decide which granny square I’m going to use for the blanket!!

 

Can’t love what you’re making? Love who you’re making it for.

A friend asked me to make a hat set for her daughter and her daughters elves. I told her that I have yet to make a hat ‘successfully’. But she had faith that I could create something that she would like.

After many tries with various patterns, I finally ran out of time and had to give her my last attempt.

The hardest part is she had a hat in mind that didn’t have a pattern. So I now had to figure out how to make a hat and find a pattern that was close to what she wanted. I don’t think I succeed but she’s kind and said it was lovely. It was so much bigger than I imagined. My daughter says that because I’m not used to slouch hats.    

This project really hit home for me why I crochet. It’s the creative process that I enjoy. I like the colours and textures. I like figuring out the patterns.  It’s the joy of making it.

Having to make something that was picked by someone else by a specific time was work. I don’t think I could have finished this project if it wasn’t for someone I really liked. ( I was excited to find a project to use these adorable button with!!)

She asked for a slouch hat, a scarf and mittens plus matching hats/scarves for her daughter’s elves.

Elf hat/scarves by CrochetStitchesandButterflyKisses.wordpress.com

Lime Hat, Scarf, Mitts by CrochetStitchesandButterflyKisses.wordpress.com

The rest of her order worked up well. I had fun creating tech covers. And I loved the yarn and pattern for the toddler/infant sets. Overall I was excited to create projects for this friend and was honoured that she asked me to make these for her. I hope her daughter enjoys them!

by CrochetStitchesandButterflyKisses.wordpress.com

The pattern for the slouch hat was easy to follow. You can find it at Cats-rockin-crochet.blogspot.com.au

The infant/toddler set’s patterns can be found in the post linked above.

The pattern that I used to make the scarf can be found at ravelry.com/patterns/library/no-holes-baby-blanket

I made some slight changes to the mitten pattern found at redheart.com/free-patterns/crochet-mittens-all

For the mittens: I shortened the cuff by a few stitches and did 20 rows for the cuff. Which meant 20 stitches for the round that creates the hand part. From their I followed the pattern for child (adjusting for the extra stitches.) I did this because the child’s size is too small and the woman’s is too big for a 10 yrs old girl.

A new stitch learned

I found this beautiful yarn last fall and I just had to bring it home.  I decided that I wanted a more “lacy” stitch for the scarf I wanted to make with this beautiful Lion Brand Yarn ~ Landscapes (Tropics).

I searched through Pinterest and found a link to Amelia is Rabbit  site which has straight forward directions (with photos!!).

In no time I was making my first project with the Celtic knot / Lover’s knot.

 

 

As I’m sure seasoned crochers know, some stitches just are more fun to use. I really enjoyed this stitch and the silky soft yarn.  I’ve seen shawls made with this stitch. Since I have to use this stitch again I think I may just make another shawl.

Here’s my latest scarf.  One good thing about a cold snowy winter… I get to wear all my scarves.

 

 

And a scarf for me!

The holidays are done and packed away. It’s time to make a new scarf or two for me!

When I was Christmas shopping I found two beautiful yarns so I decided to make two scarves for my collection this year! The one that I’m showing in this post is a Red Heart Yarn called Earth & Sky.

I saw a few similar scarves on Pinterest. I really liked the tassel / fun of the design.

I decided to make it two long rows of double stitch for the ‘base’. Then for the tassel part I made the start of each single stitch strand at one stitch (of the base) then ended the strand at the stitch next to it. To finish off the ‘base’ (opposite side to the tassels)  I made a row of puff stitches for texture.

 

 

StormFly Crafts: Doctor Who! – Fourth Doctor’s Scarf Crochet Pattern

StormFly Crafts: Doctor Who! – Fourth Doctor’s Scarf Crochet Pattern.

via StormFly Crafts: Doctor Who! – Fourth Doctor’s Scarf Crochet Pattern.

Hummm… This looks like a good project to add to my 2015 ‘To Do’ list.

Off my hook ~ 2014

One infinity scarf done one to go

baby blanket growing

Spring baby

I feel like I made more projects but it was the TARDIS for my daughter’s birthday… it took almost 4 months!  Now to ponder what 2015 will bring?  I want to buy the yarn for the 2014 Mood Blanket.. perhaps I’ll stop putting that one off?