Making the best of what's on hand.
I have been wanting to make gauntlets for a long time now and, guess what? I did! And then I made another one! Haha. One is knit and one is crocheted, so a little something for everyone (well, unless you are a sewer only, in which case, I might make a sewn one soon).
all those ends because of the felting, it’s the perfect thing to use up all those scraps. Support the Craft Leftovers pattern archive restoration project by purchasing the PDF on Ravelry or Etsy.
I know that this stitch pattern must exist out there somewhere in the knitland. Pretty much any stitch pattern is, but I came to this on my own. I love woven basket stitch for it’s simple texture, it also lays nice and flat. For a face cloth though, I wanted something a little more bumpy, so I added in a couple rows of a little something something to make it nice and gently scrubby. I love the way it turned out. I am hoping to make a bunch more for Jason and I. I recycled a whole sweater of 100% cotton yarn and it’s just perfect for this project. I also learned a little trick about weaving in ends on a 100% cotton face cloth, something that has always evaded me before, so I’ll show that too you in this pattern too.
I finally came up with a good idea for the pin cushion. So for me, my problem is storage. I really can’t have little cushions cluttering up my work space and at the same time, I don’t want to have to go hunting for it when I need it. I saw one of Trixy’s little quilt squares and it was like “that’s it!” I’m going to make a little cube with a loop so it can hang on my tool rack. I’m going to put a little lavender in it too so it will make my studio area smell nice every time I stab it. If I had emery sand I would put that in there too, but I don’t so rice and stuffing it is.
This apron sure is a walk in the park to make. It’s so fast and easy to whip up in an evening or morning, or afternoon for that matter. Use a pattered fabric for your main piece. Something kind of darker and kind of “filled” works well to hide stains and smudges from cooking. I’m always wiping my hands on the sides of my pants because I’m used to wearing my studio apron just about all the time. I made this apron a bit more wrap aroundish for that reason.
While working at the yarn shop I mostly came into “knitting” questions and troubleshooting so that increased my progress exponentially when compared to crochet. So I make little swatches. Sometimes from a stitch dictionary, sometimes from my head. Then I put a border around it. I try to do a different stitch and a different border each time. Or if I have a hard time with a particular technique, I do it again and again until I get it right. It has helped so much and I highly recommend this practice for anyone trying to get comfortable with new techniques. Mix and match crochet and knit borders to get an idea on how to work with the two techniques. My knit/crochet version of a sampler.
Hi ya folks! Success! Well, haha, kind of. No embroidery still, but some stitchy goodness all the same. This clutch was originally inspired by a few different sources. I wanted to create a light weight, thin, lovely gift to feature in Kro Postal for starters. I had a need to use of scraps of fabric that I had laying around. I wanted to try my hand at machine appliqué as well as using the sewing machine to draw. It was so fun to make and even better to give as a gift to a friend who is far away and could use a package of goodies.
So you all know of my delay by wii fit? Well, I changed plans that day for a regular tote type bag to a Wii Fit carry all. For all your wii fit on the go needs. I had a two fold motivation for making this bag carry all for my newly acquired wii fit. The primary reason was that I needed something to protect it from ferret teeth when it was not in use. They reallllly liked the little cup feet on the bottom of the board as well as all the rubber fittings anywhere else on it. Secondly I was heading on vacation and my friend had a wii and she wanted to try it out, so I wanted to have something to carry it all in along with my mario kart wheel and wiimote. Are you nerded out yet? Haha. So this was the end result of those two needs.
Oh the seedy diners, I do love them. Late at night. All the characters that you see there. The greasy hash browns and coffee late at night to keep the creative juices flowing. I remember eating plate of hash browns with katsup and about 8 cups of coffee, then going back to the studio and working until of 4am or so. Anyway, so I was making a place mat, a smaller one for just a bowl and cup because I don’t have enough room for a full place mat on my desk where I keep my laptop, but kind of like having a place mat, not sure why, just do. So I needed a smaller bowl/cup sized one.
I have been wanting to make a new summer head wrap for myself for quite some time. Something that buttoned up, something a little lacy, something red and crocheted. This turned out just right and I am so happy to finally get it written up for you. It’s the perfect compliment to any summer outfit, whether your hair is long or short, up or down it will look just great and keep those wispy hairs out of your eye when running around outside.
Over Chirstmas break I went into a bag making frenzy. I made myself a market bag, my sister 2, and had plans for another for my friend. When she came over to pick out her fabric her daughter came along too. I told her that I would make her a market bag just for her. You know, kid’s sized. She picked out some awesome fabric and buttons for it. I whipped it right up and dropped it off at her house. I never did finish her mom’s bag. Her birthday in April for sure.
I really enjoyed knitting up this little guy. At only a half a skein of yarn or less, he knits up fast and is really super cute. His feet and the beans in his bottom allow him to sit up all on his own. This little quail has very intelligent beady eyes and you never quite know what he will be up to. I found him in red, but I have a feeling he has quite a few colorful cousins.
I showed this to my boyfriend and he said “is it a llama?” and I said, “well, I suppose it could be, but I was thinking more like a dog godzilla deal.” I guess, take from it what you will, his species is up to you. I think of him as my crafting guardian and he resides in my too cluttered craft room (aka breakfast nook/my whole apartment).
Over the past several months, pretty much since I posted the fall knit head wrap, I have received emails and comments asking for a crochet version. One season later, here we go, a head wrap that is toasty warm and crocheted!
I saw a new book on Temari at the public library. Dang it. I just had to bring it home. Then I just had to read it. And you see where this is going, I just had to try it! I collected up all my temari ball making supplies and soon realized that I would need something to put them in. I’m normally okay with zip lock bags, but for whatever reason, I wanted a temari ball bag that would have all my essentials for the ball I was working on. The other driving factor is that a temari ball is just the kind of favorite thing that my ferrets love to steal and hide and re-hide until they have really done a number on it. So a zipper was needed too.
I have never really been a fan of decorating for holidays though, so I wanted something that could be used for a season. Winter Season. I like decorating for the season instead of the holiday. I guess I feel like it allows me to enjoy what I’ve done a little longer.
This project calls for felt and just about any will work great, but I really like using recycled sweaters and hence the name. I have a stash of old felted sweaters and this just seemed to call for soft white and red cabled felt.
I usually start the summer to fall to winter layering with fingerless glove, a light scarf, and a jacket or thick sweater. Then it goes to a hat, thicker scarf, full gloves, and a medium coat. Now I’m moving into the winter coat, thick wool hat, long warm scarf, and […]
I really enjoy this scarf. It was fun and fast to make, under 3 hours. It’s colorful. And it’s super long! I can wrap it around my neck about 3 times. Love it!
It is actually called “Pain in the Neck.” It came to me after my post about my neck going out. Once I was able to sew again I made myself a heatable neck wrap that is filled with lavender and rice.
I have all of my grandma’s knitting needles, and let me tell you, for a woman who said “oh I don’t really knit” she had a ton. I guess I’m just like her. I don’t tat, but I have 3 shuttles! I don’t really silk screen, but have a print gocco, photo emulsion, screens, filler, and like 5 things of silk screen inks. Geeze. I knit all the time, but honestly, I can’t use aluminum needles because they make my hands cramp up. I really want to use them for something more than just a bouquet of needles on my craft table that they are right now, something to remember her by. My friend mentioned using my needles as handles for a tote, I took it just a little further and bent them into a handle shape and volia and presto chango! Knitting needles into perfect handles from my grandma’s perfect stash!
