Archive for ‘crafting’

May 2nd, 2012

Knitted Bunting

by Christina

Hello friends!

It’s a rather rainy day here… perfect for a bit of knitting. I have forgotten to share with you some lovely bunting I made for Easter… well, spring in general.

Inspired by Lori’s lovely bunting I decided it was about time I made some for myself.

I found that this was a simple and easy project to carry around with me while John played outside. It tucked easily into my purse and well, was generally addictive so I think I’m going to have to knit another.

knitted pendants

Pattern:
1 skein Plymouth Kudo (worsted weight yarn, approx.  198 yds)
US #7 needles (I used 2 dpns since they were short and easy to carry around)
Size H crochet hook

Cast on 20 stitches using the long-tail cast on method.
Rows 1 – 6: K
Row 7: K2, ssk, k to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2
Row 8 – 10: K
Repeat rows 7 – 10, seven times
Row 11: k2, k2tog, k2
Row 12: K
Row 13: k1, slip 1 st k2tog pass slip st over, k1
Row 14: k
Row 15: slip 1 st k2tog pass slip st over
cut the yarn and bring it through the last loop to bind off.
Weave in ends

To create the cord, using the US Size H crochet hook, chain 14, *chain across the top of a pendant, chain 6*, repeat from * until you have desired length, chain 16, turn and single crochet into each of the chains to the end. Pull yarn through last loop and weave in ends.

I didn’t block  my bunting, but I suppose you could.

For my fireplace bunting which measures 70 inches I made 8 pendants.

Currently I’m reading “Below Stairs”. I love “Upstairs Downstairs” and Gosford Park - this is right in the same genre.

Joining with Ginny - Happy Knitting!

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April 25th, 2012

Birthday Weekend

by Christina

fiber fair

While Little John spent the night at his grandparent’s house, JK and I headed into a relaxing weekend.

Friday night we drove in the rain down to The Fiber Event in Greencastle. It was fun to reminisce about the first time I had gone to this event 9 years ago and how JK had teased me to death about going. This time he was driving me… =) 9 years go we were just getting to know each other. Just goes to show you what you will do for the one you love! Thanks, dear!

I browsed and browsed and reminisced about how big it used to be. I can’t believe how small it has become. Oh, what a pity. I think I’m going to be checking out some other fiber fairs from now on.

I always like to go to these events with a bit of a goal in mind. Otherwise I’m overwhelmed. But if I have something to hunt for it makes it fun. I found what I was looking for when I first walked in… made me laugh at myself!

What was I on a hunt for? A knitting dolly – do you remember those? I remember using one when I was a little girl in Africa. After reading Lori’s lovely post on them I thought that knitting dollies would be a fun thing to hunt for at fiber fairs.

And despite my promise to myself not to walk out with any fiber… I did buy a half a pound of fiber from Hidden Valley Farms

Which I promptly put to use the next morning.

I had been promising myself some spinning time for months and months. This was the one birthday thing I really wanted to do… have a morning to spin and spin.

JK poured me a glass of champagne (nothing like champagne in the morning) and went to town. It was bliss….

and managed to finish one big skein from fiber I purchased last year! =)

Today I’m off to be the knitting model for “Knitting for Dummies.” Yep… you can laugh.  You can see the ones I did 3 years ago here. We’ll see how it goes… it’s usually a lot of work… big sigh… back to work…

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March 28th, 2012

Spring Napkin Rings

by Christina

The family Easter dinner will be celebrated at my house this year. It’s always something fun to plan. Really it’s the first dinner party of the summer season.

This year I decided to have some “crafty” decorations. Well, to be honest, I am still finding inspiration from the original flower I made for the Mom’s Beads pattern. 

spring knitted decoration

This time I decided to use the basic flower to decorate napkin rings. They are so easy to make. I’ve been making them while I watch Lil John play outside. 

Here’s the pattern:

You will need
US #7 needles – you can use straight, 2 dpns, circ – whatever you desire
US #1 needles – again you can use whatever you deisre, straight, circ, dpns
Worsted weight green cotton or wool 
Sock yarn in bright colors – pink, blue, white, yellow
Assorted small buttons
tapestry needle

 For the ring:
With the US #7 needle and the worsted weight green, co 6 stitches, knit 34 rows, bo leaving a long tail.

Sew the piece together using a tapestry needle, (end to end) to form a ring.

Next make a flower:

Small Flower:
Using a US #1 (2.25mm) , leaving a 4″ tail, cast on 3 sts.
Row 1, 3, 5, 7: P
Row 2: K1, yo, k1, yo, k1. (5 sts)
Row 4: K2, yo, k1, yo, k2. (7 sts)
Row 6: K3, yo, k1, yo, k3. (9 sts)
Row 8: K
Row 9: K
Row 10: BO in p.
Make 4 petals. Sew petals together, one over lapping the next, using the yarn tails and a tapestry needle. Wet block and pin into shape. Sew button into the center of the 4 petals.
Make the following number of small flowers: 3 white, 2 pink & 3 yellow.
Using a tapestry needle, weave in ends.

Now all you need to do is sew the flower to the ring. I made sure to sew my flowers to the ring where I had sewed the ring together so the seam did not show.

It get’s rather addicting to make the flowers  - I need to make 17!

happy knitting!

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March 15th, 2012

308 Maple Street

by Christina

 

Hello, Friends!

Today I have a brilliant new online shop to tell you about. It is 308 Maple Street and is a co-op of sorts of (at this point) four different artists selling their handmade items.

One of the things I really miss about shopping online is the personal flavor and feel of a physical brick and mortar shop. You know – how the shop owner sets up the shop and displays various items. How you can pick up the items and look at them a little more closely. The one frustrating thing about a physical shop is you don’t often get to hear how the item came about or what inspiration sparked the flame in the artist to create the item you are looking at.

308 Maple Street combines  the look and feel of a physical shop with the detail and story of the item you often get on handmade sites.

So go ahead, browse through the shop and it’s various rooms. Perhaps you’ll find a bit of beauty for you and your home!

 

Please note that 308 does not take any commission or charge the artists any fee. All proceeds from the sale of the items listed go directly to the individual artists.

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February 22nd, 2012

Rag Bag Cardi Ta-dah

by Christina

sock yarn cardigan tunic

It’s done!
The Rag Bag Cardi is complete and I’ve actually worn it already!

Sock yarn cardigan tunic

It all began not too long ago back on this post, do you remember?

I thought for sure I would use up all my fingering weight scraps. But I have a whole big bag left! I could have made this thing floor length!

sock yarn cardigan tunic

 As these winter days turn into warm wet spring ones I know I will be wearing this out and about as a light weight coat.

But for now, I’m just so happy to have it on Lucinda, my dress form, and look at it. Isn’t it fun what you can do with bits and pieces?

what is making you “yarn happy” right now?

Need some more inspiration? Take a peek at Ginny’s knitting.

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February 15th, 2012

Mom’s Beads

by Christina

knitted necklace pattern

Hello, Knitters.

I’m have a new whimsical little pattern for you to enjoy. It’s a bit silly and fun… but I hope you enjoy it. I certainly enjoyed knitting my own.

Mom’s Beads is a knitted necklace. Yes! Imagine that. It’s simple and fun.

The pattern is written for two different weights of yarn, DK and worsted. I wanted to make it easy for you all to use something you had on hand or affordable if you wanted to splurge on some really fine yarn.

You knit the necklace end to end making little pockets into which you insert glass beads. I love how the glass beads add weight and drape to the necklace so that the piece acts like real jewelry.

Then you make a quick and easy little flower to pin on the side.

Oooo and don’t forget the cute little iCord bow you make for the back.

I used glass beads that are readily available for everyone – and extremely cheap. All you need to do is head to your nearest craft supply shop –  or (gasp) dare I mention it, Walmart – and get decorative glass “stones” for floral arranging.

You can read all the details here

Remember, if you are a newsletter subscriber you have received a coupon for 50% this new pattern making it only $1.50! What fun! The newsletter and coupon code go live today (15th February).

Video tutorials for this pattern can be found here

A big thank you to Heather who tested knitted the pattern for me and to Gina who tech edited the pattern. You guys are the best!

Enjoy!

PS: If you are wondering where in the world I came up with this crazy idea…well, you’ll just have to read about it in the pattern. =)

PPS: stop by Ginny’s blog for more lovely knitting inspiration

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February 13th, 2012

Resting (i.e. Crafting)

by Christina

Handmade wool felt pillow

Hello, friends! How was your weekend? Are you all staying warm? We’ve hit a bit of a cold snap. I’m not going to complain because I’m hoping it will kill off a few of the colds and flus that have been making their rounds.

This weekend I was getting over another cold. So I canceled everything on my schedule for Friday and Saturday and rested (i.e. crafted)

I finished my lovely Union Jack made out of recycled felted wool sweaters. It is not perfect, but I am quite pleased with it and it looks so cheery in the playroom.

hand made wool bunting

And I made some bunting for John’s room.

The paper chain garland John and I made for his room for Christmas came down and was played with (before it was thrown away… shhh… don’t tell).

toddler bedrooms

So his baby room is being transformed into a little boy’s room. Can’t believe it. Time flies.

As you can see from this picture, a few more wall hangings are needed, a quilt is needed and a rug… but that will come.

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February 8th, 2012

Working With Wool

by Christina

Wool Felted Fingerless Gloves

Felted Wool Fingerless Gloves

Embroidered Fingerless Gloves

Hand Embroidered Fingerless Gloves

Hello Knitters,

Behind the scenes I’ve been doing something I rarely do – wool embroidery and crochet.

My first skill was crochet – my mom taught me when I was little. I made all sorts of things for my dolls. And then I made things for my mom and sisters.

It’s funny how life is… you know, I get a happy little feeling when I’m doing a little bit of crochet. I bet it’s childhood lurking in the background.

Anyways… this is what I’ve been up to.

Why? well, have you noticed? I really need a new camera for this blog. The above pictures were taken for me by my lovely sis. They are better than the regular snaps you see around here.

My plan is this: to sell a few of these fingerless gloves I am making on etsy and then to buy my sis’s camera from her…. =)

Yes, believe it or not, I have just set up an Etsy shop!

What have I been reading? Classic Railway Murders by Jonathan Baker

I know – not very intellectual … but honestly, at 9 pm at night I really don’t feel like reading anything very wordy. My brain is fried from talking to a 2-year-old all day long. It’s my turn to be entertained.

The Rag Bag Cardi? Well, it’s currently being blocked. But I can already see I am going to take out the neck edging. It is absolutely ghastly.  The grand “ta-dah” isn’t far away…

Joining with Ginny

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January 17th, 2012

Felted Mittens

by Christina

toddler felted wool mittens handmade

I’m so pleased you all liked the two new shawls. Yesterday was an exciting day when Mama Ruffles drifted up to the 13th most popular knitting pattern on Ravelry. What excitement… and then it drifted down the ranks again… yep, things come and things go.

Last week John and I made these mittens together. I noticed he had done what every child does during the winter… lost a mitten. So it was time to make some more.

He waited, somewhat patiently, while I finished the household chores for the morning. (I had given him the plain cut out pieces to hold while I did the dishes, laundry and mopped the floor.)

toddler felted wool mittens

Then we went down to the basement (i.e. the project room) and began.
“Would you like a car or a funny face on them?” I asked.
“A car.” he said (of course)
“Would you like a red car or a blue car?” I asked again.
“A red car.” (of course)

I could have predicted his answers but it drew him into the process. Then I had him sit on a chair to one side of the sewing machine and he watched, entranced as I sewed the pieces together.

Toddler felted wool mittens handmade

When we were done he was so proud of his new mittens! And it was a fun activity to do with him. The one thing I need to add is a little band of elastic to help them stay on a little better.

As soon as I’m feeling better (have another blasted cold in my nose) I’ll write up a little tutorial.

ta-ta for now!

Christina

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December 14th, 2011

Elving

by Christina

Don’t you love that word, “Elving?” It seems to capture so much of the fun and whimsy in creating gifts.  I adore the word.

I’ve been busy Elving… not as much as I would like, but that’s okay… I have a two year old boy to run after… that keeps you moving!

These are some fingerless gloves I’ve been working on for my for my sister-in-laws. Their mom gave me an old sweater of hers and as she handed it over she said, “John’s (her husband, JK’s dad – there are a lot of John’s in this family) father gave that to me one Christmas early on in our marriage. I really liked the sweater.” I could tell that she really liked it… so… I thought of making something for her two girls as a little keepsake memento. After all, their grandfather had given the sweater to their mother.

Now I have to work on the second pair and them get them in the post! It’s almost Christmas!

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