snapdragon crafts

skirting the issue

2012-02-17T06:17:00.001-06:00

I just finished the bed skirt for bambino #2's crib ... one more nursery prep item done! I am totally into a good zig-zag stripe right now, can you tell? I used the Vogue 7245 pattern (lots of great nursery items on that one!), and approximately 3 yards of fabric (more than called for since I wanted to match up the zig zag). My only quibble with this pattern is that if you followed the given dimensions, your crib skirt will end up too big. Instead, I lay out my "base" fabric on the actual mattress to ensure my dimensions are correct. Other than that, super easy and fast project!

five-year blogiversary

2012-02-16T06:34:00.013-06:00

It all started with a felted flamingo ... what a crazy way to start my foray into the crafting blogosphere, huh? I can hardly believe it's been five years. I thought I'd take a look back over the years to celebrate.

It's interesting to see how my crafting techniques and interests have progressed over the years. In the early years, my knitting obsession was felted bags and baby blankets. Not surprising, given that was my comfort zone at the time. My very first knitted project was the classic newbie project--a garter stitch scarf. My first "real" project after that was baby blankets for my friends and co-workers. Felting was my first venture into more complicated knitting techniques, like decreasing and increasing and knitting in the round. I definitely had plenty of hits and misses!

the pink dottie tote, one of my successes

This blog's early years are also dominated by another one of my favorite crafts, beading and jewelry making. I still make jewelry, but with a curious toddler around, beading is much more difficult (I can already envision someone dumping millions of tiny sead beeds on the floor) and my jewelry making has diminished a bit in the past two years.

simple beaded necklace

I've knitted my first cardigan, cables, colorwork, socks, mittens, and lace ... and had plenty of flops as I struggled to learn about ease and fit in my first few knitted garments.

coronet, my first cable project

Sewed my first quilt, and then went on to make another and another and another and another...

my first (and so far only!) king-sized quilt

Thanks to a great sewing class at my local (but now closed) fabric shop, my sewing confidence grew by leaps and bounds ... starting with simple tote bags and progressing to placemats, tablecloths, and making my own laundry hamper liners ...

Documented our cross-country move from the Washington state to Mississippi ...

Published a simple garter-stitch scarf pattern and my first felted tote pattern ...

the Tapered Tote pattern

Made jewelry out of pop cans ...

Participated in my first craft fair ...

Kid's lion scarf.

Earned a reader's choice Blue Ribbon Blogger award from Country Living magazine ...

And took lots of pretty flower pictures ... apparently my favorites are dahlias, daffodils, lilies, and tulips ...

It's been a wild, fun ride ... I'm so excited to see what the next five years will bring!

getting cross-eyed

2012-02-15T09:19:00.004-06:00

Remember my dilemma? Well, as you can see, I ended up going with crosses ... these are just a few of the blocks I've created so far with my jelly roll. My jelly roll has a bunch of greens, blues, oranges, and pinks. I'm trying to mix more "solids" with the crazy patterns to ensure there is enough contrast for the crosses to show up. Unfortunately that doesn't make for that many color combos, so I might end up getting a few more fabrics to add to the mix. It will definitely make for a scrappy, cheerful quilt, that's for sure!

Note: I apologize for the slight blur in these photos ... this is my first time experimenting with blogging with my fancy-shmancy new smartphone. I'm a late adopter. :)

Don't forget to check out the rest of the great works-in-progress at TamisAmis!

easy felt heart garland

2012-02-14T20:29:00.008-06:00

Happy Valentine's day! I have to admit, I got used to having garlands decorating my kitchen windows over Christmas, and they've felt bare ever since ... Valentine's day was the perfect excuse to create a new garland! This is a very easy, low-key hand-sewing project. The most work intensive part is cutting out all your hearts! If you'd like to make your own garland, here are my project notes:

I traced two heart-shaped cookie cutters to make my "pattern." (the large one was approximately 4.5" wide, the small one was approximately 2" wide)
I added a rectangular "tab" to the left side of the large heart pattern for attaching each heart to each other (see photos below).
To make one garland, I ended up needing 11 large hearts to stretch across the length of my windows. (note: leave the "tab" off your first heart in the chain. So you'll need 10 hearts with tabs, one heart without). You'll also need 11 small hearts.
I alternated red and white hearts with contrasting color small hearts, but this would look great in other patterns (two red, one white). This would look really cute in bright pinks, oranges, and lime colors!
I ended up using five sheets of 9x11 felt per color to create TWO garlands.

Here's how I fit my patterns on each sheet, for minimal waste.

Now, how to connect each heart ... basically, I made my "tabs" long enough that the stitches I used to sew two hearts together would be covered up by the contrasting color small heart on top. So you'll want to sew as close to the end of the "tab" as possible to make that happen. Use embroidery thread that matches the color of the heart that is on top (the red heart in the pictures below), and then even if your small heart doesn't cover all of your stitches, it won't matter since they'll blend in.

Now, place your small contrasting color heart on top, and hand-stitch it to the large heart using a contrasting color embroidery thread! I wasn't too picky about alignment, I just eyeballed it, using the "points" of the heart as my guide for lining things up.

Finally, cut two skinny (approximately 1/2 inch wide) strips of felt that are approximately 8 inches long. Fold in half, and sew to the ends of your garland to use for hanging!

So cute, huh? I think I'll be keeping this up all week!

cable crazy

2012-02-10T06:57:00.005-06:00

Here's my latest project ... remember how I mentioned that you'd start to see some cute, tiny baby knitting projects on my blog? Well, here's one of the first ... a big, chunky cabled baby blanket using the aptly named Bernat Baby Blanket (colorway: baby blue). How can I describe this yarn? It's ultra bulky weight (knits up fast!), super soft, and squishy. Very chenille-like. It basically feels like yarn made out of a fluffy robe. But it doesn't have much give/stretch, so it does make my hands tired (similar to knitting with cotton). But given how fast it knits up and how soooooft it feels, I am pretty much in love with it.

The pattern? The "Shadow Cable Baby Blanket," a free pattern from Bernat (Ravelry link). It's a super simple, easy pattern. You basically knit stockinette for three rows, then have a cable row, and repeat. So far I've been able to cable without a cable needle (a first for me!) which has sped things up. The pattern calls for size 11 needles, which also ups the speed factor. The texture the cables are adding is awesome ...

So far I've knit up three balls. The pattern calls for six, but that would be kind of a wimpy blanket size to me, so I'll probably knit up seven. We'll see ...

pinwheels or crosses?

2012-02-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

There's something about getting my sewing machine out that is addictive. After making one quilt, I immediately want to begin another. Luckily, I have a twin bed in need of a quilt and some cute jelly rolls patiently waiting for me to put them to use ... so now the question is, what pattern to make? I've never made a "jelly roll" quilt before, so I started with a quick Google search and quickly discovered that a lot of the eye candy I was finding all came from the same source: the Moda Bake Shop. OMG .... if you sew, this is your fair warning ... do not visit this site!!! Not unless you want to add a ton of projects to your must-make-now list ... soo many cute tutorials, sooo many cute free patterns!

These quilts are the top contenders in my search for a great pattern ... the difficulty level increases as the list progresses, and considering my pregnancy fatigue I'll most likely stick with something that is as simple as possible. So I'm pretty sure I'll be deciding between pinwheels (the Cartwheels Quilt) or crosses (the Positively Perfect Nap Quilt), but I really love all the beauties in this list ...

Positively Perfect Nap Quilt, by April Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns.

Cartwheels Quilt, by Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts.

Avignon Picnic, by Andrea of Millions of Thoughts.

Cross Terrain, by Lee from Freshly Pieced.

Eli's Wheels, by Mary at the Tulip Patch.

Which would you choose?

baby boy fat quarter quilt

2012-02-03T05:28:00.000-06:00

One nursery project done! I am so glad I used flannel ... it's soooo soft. Between two layers of flannel and a nice cotton quilt batting, this sucker will be toasty too. A few things I want to remember in case I replicate this quilt again:

This project used eight fat quarters of flannel fabric. I ended up cutting 5" by 5" squares, which produced 12 squares out of each fat quarter. I used a 1/4" seam allowance, so the final size of each square was 4.75 x 4.75 inches (96 total squares).

I ended up adding a 3.5 inch border around all sides of the top (3.25 inches after seam allowance). With this size, I was able to fit the quilt top onto my flannel backing without sewing any additional width onto the backing, and it also fit onto a standard crib quilt batting with no problem. I probably could have gotten away with a 4 inch border with no problems, but it would have been a tighter squeeze.

I really needed less than three yards of material for the backing AND the border.

I really needed less than 1.5 yards of material for the binding.

12 Socks in 2012: Pair #2

2012-02-01T05:15:00.000-06:00

Moving on to pair number two ... this is the beginning of "Devon" from Cookie A's Sock Innovations book (I'm soo excited to finally be knitting a pattern out of this book!). The yarn? The lovely Miss Babs in the "Dahlia" colorway ... it appears more peach in this picture, and is a more pinky-peach in real-life. Very springy!

pair numero uno!

2012-01-31T20:27:00.006-06:00

Done just in time for the end of the month, my first pair of socks for my 12 Socks in 2012 challenge is complete! These are Knit Picks Felici self-striping sock yarn in the Moonlit Path colorway. As you can see, I definitely have a "fraternal twin" thing going on. I like to call one sock the "evil twin" since it is decidedly darker than the other, thanks to a few more strategically placed navy stripes. But I don't mind--I like the variation! On to pair number two!

sock progress

2012-01-27T07:20:00.002-06:00

One down, one to go!

baby brain

2012-01-25T14:12:00.004-06:00

I have a confession to make. My relative drop in posting and productivity over the past few months? Well ... let's just say that I was working on a pretty darn big project behind the scenes here that has been consuming a lot of my energy ... we're expecting a new addition this May! We just found out it's a boy, so I'm finally letting myself buy things like these stinking adorable sneakers. And starting some non-neutral baby craft projects!

I've had a super-cute set of eight fat quarters of coordinating car-themed flannel fabrics in my stash seemingly forever now, that I was keeping just in case. It felt so good to finally have a reason to break it out! This will be the top of a crib-sized quilt. I just tracked down some matching brown and turquoise flannel for a border, binding, and the backing so with any luck I can finish constructing the quilt this weekend. I considered a more complex quilting pattern, but ended up deciding that large squares showed off the cute prints the best. I love how it's turning out so far!

so-simple wash cloth recipe

2012-01-06T07:33:00.001-06:00

I always like to have one super, super easy project going for the times when I want to knit, but am too tired to knit anything that requires any form of brain power. Lately? I've been churning out these wash cloths like crazy. They knit up so fast it's the closest I can come to instant gratification knitting!

I cannot claim this as an original design--it is one of those so easy, so frequently shared patterns that it would be almost impossible to trace its true origin (I think it's frequently referred to as "Grandma's Favorite Washcloth"). It was passed on to me from one of my knitting guild friends, Jane. It's the perfect project for the beginning knitter: the materials are cheap, it requires little counting, and you never purl. And it's the perfect brainless project for the advanced knitter who wants a fun project that doesn't require thinking!

Cast on 3 stitches.
Knit 2 rows.
K2, yarnover (yo), knit across.
Repeat until you have reached the desired width of your wash cloth.
Now begin decreasing:
K1, K2tog, yo, K2tog, knit across
Repeat until 6 stitches remain.
K2tog, K2tog, K2tog.
Bind off.

12 Socks in 2012: Pair #1

2012-01-04T07:48:00.003-06:00

Before I lose any steam, I cast on right away on New Year's day for one of my resolutions--knitting 12 socks in 2012! This is Knit Picks self-striping yarn, Felici, in the Moonlit colorway. I love self-striping yarns ... they seem to knit up so quickly!

resolutions

2012-01-01T07:05:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year! We packed up all the Christmas decor yesterday, which always makes me a little sad. Suddenly the house feels so sparse! But it always feels good to have such a big chore done and out of the way ... which leaves more guilt-free time for crafting! I have several major crafting goals for 2012:

Priority #1: stashbusting! My yarn and fabric stash has seemingly multiplied exponentially in the past couple of years. Being realistic, I am not going to commit myself to a drastic yarn/supply diet in which I make no new purchases whatsoever. Instead, I have made some knitting goals that I can complete using my current stash.

Goal #1: Knit 12 socks in 2012. This is a biggie for me, but doable. I'm going to keep my patterns simple to keep this even more doable. I have joined this group in Ravelry for inspiration and motivation. My self-striping sock yarn stash in particular has grown wildly out of control, so I'm excited to finally knit it up!

Goal #2: Finish at least one sweater in 2012. I have one WIP that is thisclose to being finished (a little more length on the body, plus arms and a neckband) so this is doable as well. I have enough yarn for at least three sweaters in my stash, but I'm going to be realistic here.

Priority #2: utilizing my craft/yarn book stash more frequently. I have a bad tendency of purchasing/receiving amazing craft books, admiring the projects for a week or two, then storing the books on a bookshelf and promptly forgetting about them forever. Not good.

Goal #3: Make one project a month out of one of my current stash of craft books. I have an amazing mitten book by Charlene Schurch to tackle, and tons of adorable knitted toy books I'd like to finally make projects from this year.

Priority #3: get back to needlework and embroidery! I have several projects brewing over the past few months that just haven't quite made it to the start phase.

Goal #4: Make needlepoint pillows for my couch in my sitting room. I have canvas, I have some yarn, I have ideas ... just need to start!

Goal #5: Finish a paper-doll cross-stitch kit for my daughter's room. This will be a long-term project. I purchased the most adorable paper-doll themed cross-stitch kit years ago, thinking I'd make it for one of my kids "someday." Every time I see it in my stash of kits and supplies, I get all excited about it again. I think this is the year to finally make it!

Priority #4: do more design work! Let's face it, the tapered tote is kind of lonely ... I have more than enough ideas, I just haven't committed to getting them down on paper.

Goal #6: Publish at least one new knitting pattern in 2012.

What are your crafting goals for 2012?

holiday wrap-up: scrap happy

2011-12-30T05:36:00.000-06:00

I finished the placemats! I may have been hand-stitching the two-inch hole I used to turn them right-side-out the night before our first holiday gathering, but that's done in plenty of time, right? I ended up not top-stitching them because I wasn't super careful about squaring them up prior to sewing them together, and a few are a tiny bit wonky. I thought top-stitching would only draw attention to the minor imperfections. So voila! I love how cheerful they are ... it'll be hard to put these away for next year!

holiday wrap-up: wreath crazy

2011-12-28T15:06:00.001-06:00

Remember my original in-progress ornament wreath? Well, I ended up having to change course a little bit. Turns out that if you wait until approximately 2.5 weeks before Christmas, red glass ornaments are completely sold out in my town. (I honestly was shocked to make this discovery--especially considering red is one of the elemental Christmas colors!) I had previously purchased a bunch of red and green plastic ornaments from the dollar store, but the hole at the top of the plastic ornaments was too small to fit onto my plant-support form. So I ended up abandoning my half-finished wreath, packing those ornaments away to add to my collection for my Christmas tree. I wasn't too sad, since not long after starting that wreath I kept having visions of it falling from above the fireplace mantel and shattering to pieces in my family room. I would have been really really nervous to hang it in the spot it was intended for anyway!

While the plastic ornaments wouldn't fit on my plant-support form, they fit perfectly on wire hangers. So I scoured my closets for the few wire hangers I owned, and set to work making wreaths using them and my stash of ornaments from the dollar store. The verdict? Great success! I was so happy with how the first one turned out, I got a little obsessed and made two more. As I mentioned before, I followed Eddie Ross's instructions with a few exceptions:

I didn't hot glue gun the tops to the ornaments (I did do this for my real glass ornaments, but skipped it with the plastic. I have had a couple ornaments come off, but not enough to make me regret this decision).

Shaping the wire hanger into a circle was simple enough, but untwisting the top of the hanger to get it apart was difficult. Not impossible, but definitely a major pain. If you don't have some heavy duty pliers for leverage and/or hands and forearms of steel, you might want to grab your husband to get the task started. Human hands attempting to undo machine twisting of unflexible wire = difficulty. The hardest part is getting it started, after that it's not a big deal.

Similarly, re-twisting the top of the hanger together to make a complete circle was not so easy. You'll have a bunch of ornaments flopping around, and you're trying to twist together wire that is really inflexible and hard to work with.

One thing I noticed after hanging the first finished wreath was that if you leave the top of the wire hanger in its original position (pointed straight up, vertically), your wreath won't lay flat against the wall/window. So I started bending it back, not at a full 45-degree angle, but far enough so that my wreath hung flat against the wall when hung.

While there were a few points of annoyance along the way, I love love love the end results! The final cost of the red and green wreaths amounted to $7 each. You will need approximately 75 small ornaments, so hitting the dollar store is definitely the way to go. I also found that having some smaller ornaments was helpful to "fill in" along the way, so definitely look for a couple of different sizes.
I'm keeping this silver wreath up on the window of my kitchen door for the rest of the "snow" season (more like gray season here in Mississippi, since snow is a rarity here!) so I can enjoy it a little longer. My favorite part of these wreaths is that they are basically double-sided (see below). That makes them perfect for hanging on windows, as they look pretty on both sides (that way you can enjoy them inside and outside!).

I still needed a wreath/decor of some sort to spruce up the fireplace mantel, so luckily I found an old artificial one in our holiday stash and added some ornaments with floral wire to spruce it up a bit. Worked like a charm!

before

after

merry wishes to you!

2011-12-25T06:58:00.001-06:00

Wishing you a warm, cozy, and fun-filled Christmas holiday!

glass ornament wreath (no styrofoam!)

2011-12-07T05:02:00.002-06:00

Here's the latest of my projects in progress ... a glass ornament wreath! I fully intended to finish this one when I started it, but ran out of shiny red ornaments (of course). I have lusted after ornament wreaths for years, but this is the first year I've gotten around to making one. I originally intended to use a styrofoam wreath form as my base, and use my hot glue gun to attach the ornaments ... but then a quick Google search introduced me to Eddie Ross's brilliant idea to use a wire hanger instead. Given my impatience to get started on the project, and given that acquiring a styrofoam wreath form would require a one-hour drive to my nearest Hobby Lobby, I decided to give Eddie's version a try (it actually is a lot simpler, really!). I started by scouring my house for wire hangers, but then realized that I wanted a larger wreath than a wire hanger would create (I want to hang this over our fireplace mantel). Then after doing some yard work outside, I realized that my wire plant supports would work perfectly. They are already in a circle shape, and had the scale/dimensions I was looking for. Bingo! I was skeptical when I first started (it looks pretty ugly at first), but eventually it takes shape. I can't wait to track down the remaining ornaments I need at my local discount stores!

advent book calendar

2011-12-06T15:29:00.005-06:00

Old traditions ...

I always pounce on the $5 amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs at Walmart the minute they put the Christmas stuff out. Not sure if I planted them early enough to get blooms by Christmas, though!

This year I lucked out and got a bulb sending up two flower stalks (!!!). That's never happened for me before!

.... and new traditions! I first stumbled upon the idea of using books for an advent calendar at the cute craft/art/family blog, Jupiter Buttons (she discovered the idea on Ohdeedoh). I've always loved advent calendars, but wasn't into the idea of candy and presents everyday. Books? Now that's a tradition I can wholeheartedly support. I tried to keep them all holiday/winter themed, and have displayed them in descending order so you can always see how many days are left until Christmas by looking at the mantle. We started a few days late this year, but here are the books we're using:

A Wish to be a Christmas Tree, by Colleen & Michael G. Monroe

Snowmen at Night, by Caralyn & Mark Buehner

Llama Llama Holiday Drama, by Anna Dewdney

Bear Stays up for Christmas, by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman

Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad, by Mercer Mayer

Cross-Country Cat, by Mary Calhoun

Little Critter: Just a Snowman, by Mercer Mayer

Auntie Claus, by Elise Primavera

Madeline's Christmas, by Ludwig Bemelmans

The Gingerbread Pirates, by Kristin Kladstrup

Olive, the Other Reindeer, by Vivian Walsh

Cajun Night Before Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss

Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree, by Robert Barry

The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher, by Robert Kraus

Snowmastodon! Snow Day Adventure, by Aimee White Beazley

The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Clement C. Moore

Red Sled, by Lita Judge

Jingle Bells, by Kathleen Daly

Mystery of the Missing Red Mitten, by Steven Kellogg

Morris's Disappearing Bag, by Rosemary Wells

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

So far, it's been a great success! We're keeping the books out in a basket in the main living room, and they're getting read over and over and over. I can see this tradition continuing for many years to come!

not so scrappy

2011-11-23T16:15:00.003-06:00

My pile of scraps? Here's what created it ... more placemats! Inspired by my previous placemat success story, I got the bug to make some holiday-themed placemats earlier this week. They'll be double-sided (see the "top" above; "bottom" below ... or vice-versa, depending on my mood!) and this time I'm using a wool batting instead of the double-sided fusible interfacing I used last time. I can't decide which side I like better ... the main fabric on each side is Anna Griffin, from her "Isabelle Christmas" line. Love, love, love!

Have you started Christmas-themed crafting projects yet? We have a strict no-Christmas-decorations-prior-to-Thanksgiving rule in our household, and I feel like I'm cheating a little bit with projects like these. But if I don't start now, Christmas will come and go and my project will only be half-done!

Don't forget to check out the other WIPs at TamisAmis!

in print

2011-11-22T11:23:00.001-06:00

It's here! I finally received my copy of the December/January issue of Country Living ... in which all the Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger Award winners are profiled. So exciting! I'm still in amazement that I am lucky enough to be honored along with these shockingly talented ladies! If you are stumbling across my tiny little piece of the blogosphere for the first time thanks to this issue, welcome! And thanks again to all my wonderful readers! Now on to more crafting misadventures ...

You know it's been a good afternoon ...

2011-11-21T07:15:00.000-06:00

... when you look around yourself and this is what you see! Well, my unplanned, unintentional (but much needed) sabbatical was much longer than I intended. But the joyful prospect of a houseful of holiday guests this December has brought my crafting mojo back in full force ... Expect a slew of holiday-themed projects to come!

WIP Wednesday

2011-09-28T09:58:00.003-05:00

After all the sewing I've done lately, it's back to knitting in full force! Here are my two latest projects ... above, a pair of no-purl monkeys (Ravelry pattern page) I'm starting early for Socktoberfest (a month-long celebration of the sock that happens each October). The yarn is Miss Babs Yummy Sock Yarn, in the colorway Duck, Duck, Quack. The rich reds, golds, and yellows remind me of fall foliage, so these socks are my little celebration of fall.

Below, I've cast on with the gorgeous Malabrigo I snagged in St. Louis to start my Mom's Vest from the Fall 2011 issue of Knit Simple. The back is plain stockinette, but the front will have some great cables. The Malabrigo, as usual, is knitting up like a dream. It feels like a soft cloud! Love, love, love all around.

Don't forget to check out the other works-in-progress at TamisAmis!

leap of faith

2011-09-26T16:57:00.004-05:00

I've been working on another Tapered Tote behind the scenes here over the past few weeks. This time I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn for the first time (colorway: Fairy Tale, a really pretty trendy purple). The verdict? Excellent felting yarn! It felt up much more quickly than Cascade 220, which means you should pay closer attention to your project while it's in the machine (but also means you waste less water and electricity repeatedly running your machine!). I'll definitely be using Wool of the Andes again!

Felting was one of the things that really got me into knitting, so it will always hold a fond place in my heart. No matter how many times I successfully felt a project though, I always have a moment of doubt--a moment of, "will this really work out?" Felting is always a leap of faith for me. Take the above picture, for example. This is my "before felting." What do you have before felting? A massive, misshapen, floppy bag. Frankly, a god awful, ugly bag! No matter how many times I do this, I always have a fleeting moment of fear when I see how unattractive the project is before felting.

(this project used four skeins of Wool of the Andes: here's what was left of the fourth skein when I was finished)

But somehow, like magic, it all turns out. I think that's what I love best about felting, the feeling of magic around it. That, and how felting makes all your mistakes and imperfections disappear. (for that reason alone, I will always argue that felting is a great "beginning knitter" project: no one will see your uneven tension or dropped stitches!). Here's what my project looked like after one full "whites" cycle in the washer (no other clothes/towels, in a high efficiency, no agitator machine). The bag on the left is a finished Tapered Tote made with Cascade 220 yarn. As you can see, it was almost there, but not quite complete yet. The proportions were still off after only one wash cycle.

But all it took was a "quick cycle" (approx. 30 minutes) to get it finished! Here you can see the bags now are almost identical in size.

It will never cease to amaze me that the difference of 30 minutes in a hot wash cycle will take a bag from fugly to adorable!

happy day

2011-09-18T15:52:00.003-05:00

Friday was a happy day for me because ... drum roll ... I found out that I won the Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger Reader's Choice Award for the "Crafts" category! Frankly, I'm still flabbergasted by it all! I can't thank you all enough for recognizing my crafty little corner of the web. Seriously. You are awesome. And for those of you dropping by for the first time, welcome!

Remember the happy day flag banner I was admiring in Doodle Stitching? This is my version ... I'm using felt instead of cotton, and went for a different font than the cute cursive script provided in the book's templates (I thought the cursive was cute, but wasn't quite bold enough for this project). This is the "Huxtable" font from Microsoft Word, at size 200 font. I love how preppy and "varsity" this is feeling! I plan to stitch up some balloons or another festive, celabratory motif from Doodle Stitching on another flag to separate the two words.

coasting

2011-09-15T16:17:00.008-05:00

Thought I'd practice some free-motion quilting with some super-fast coasters. I forgot how rusty I am! Here are a couple of my favorites ...

roar! lion scarf

2011-09-09T11:11:00.004-05:00

This is the lion scarf from 60 Quick Knits, a great book full of super-fast projects featuring Cascade 220 yarn. This was the project that convinced me to buy the book--and it didn't disappoint! How stinkin' cute is this? My favorite part are the ears, which were much easier than I expected (you knit four rows in seed stitch, then pull your yarn through the stitches to "gather" the yarn and make the curved shape of the ear--then embroider along the edge to make it look neat. That's it!). I ended up using Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn for the "body" and face of the lion, since it is super-soft, and since this is a kid's scarf, will need to be machine washed. The brown mane is some of Vanna's Choice Lion Brand (which I did find slightly ironic, to be making a lion using Lion Brand Yarn). My little munchkin is already running around the house with it draped around her, telling me "roar." I love it.

Don't forget to check out the other FOs this week at TamisAmis!

pop can jewelry

2011-09-05T21:26:00.005-05:00

Would you believe that this ...

was once this?

When I first heard about making jewelry out of pop cans using paper punches (the kind used for scrapbooking and card crafting), I was a little skeptical. But the idea was so crazy and ingenious I just had to try it during my last big chunk of time over the three-day weekend.

Consider this a quick and dirty tutorial on my process:

1. Rinse and dry your pop cans. (I ended up using a lot of non-brand "fruity" flavors--they provide a variety of colors, and have larger sections of color without logos. However, I did have some fun creatively cutting into the logo portions of the "big brand" cans.)

2. Cut off the top and bottom of the can. I started one side with an exacto knife, then switched to sharp kitchen shears and cut across the can through the nutrition label to reach the other side. Then I was able to cut off the other end using the kitchen shears. Make sure you cut off any rounded edges, as they won't fit under your punch.

3. Slip your now flat-sheet of colored aluminum into your punch. This is the apple punch from Martha Stewart's line (in the picture below, I've flipped it over to be able to see how I've lined up the image). Once you've lined things up, flip your punch back over (otherwise your apple will shoot up towards you!).

4. Punch out an assortment of colors for your project.

5. Using a 2mm hole punch, I punched one hole in the corner of each apple to attach a jump ring.

Here you can see how I positioned the hole. I thought about punching it in the stem/leaf, but that seemed too narrow. I liked how the apple dangled at an angle by doing this, and it had the added benefit of positioning the stem in a way that would keep it from tangling in the bracelet's chain.

6. Attach your cute new apple charms to your pre-made bracelet chain, and then enjoy!

Other notes:

You do need to be careful about sharp edges with this project. I found that the cleaner line you cut, there weren't any issues. Small jagged edges can be filed with a nail file.

The charms ended up being really lightweight. Which is great if you don't like heavy jewelry! I think I'll try this method again for funky earrings/necklace pendants. My only worry about bracelets is that you may easily end up bending your charms during your daily activities (the aluminum bends really easily).

an apple a day tablecloth

2011-09-03T23:23:00.004-05:00

Having grown up on a five-acre apple orchard, apples have a fond place in my heart. When I stumbled across this fabric in the bargain section at Hancock Fabrics, I knew I had to make something using it. Have you seen a cuter apple print? (unfortunately, the selvedge has no labeling, so I have no idea who makes it if I want to track more down ...) But what to make? My first thought was kitchen. My Mom's been on the hunt for a bright, cheerful tablecloth for the better part of a year now with no luck. Bright and cheerful? Check. Tablecloth it is!

My plan was to feature the apple print, and then make up for the lack of width with some piecing around the perimeter (my sisters got me the dimensions of Mom's table, and then I added 9 inches to each side to give it a good "overhang"). With so many colors in this print, there were a lot of different ways I could go in terms of picking a color scheme. Since I wanted to keep it bright and cheerful, I decided to stick with orangey yellows and throw in some classic apple red. I ended up doing long horizontal strips of the yellows and oranges, with smaller pieces of red in between each strip (just enough to keep it interesting, but not so much that the red took over). I staggered my strips (see below), a method I love for a couple of reasons: it looks interesting, and I don't have to obssess over making sure things line up perfectly.

And here's the finished "top." I am so happy with how it turned out! My plan is to attach a backing (a red flat sheet purchased from Wal-Mart) and finish the edges with binding. I'll do some simple quilting to hold the front and back together, but nothing too elaborate.

With any luck, I'll have this finished by the end of this long weekend! (fingers crossed)

Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards

2011-09-02T11:28:00.006-05:00

I can't believe I am typing this ... I just found out that out of 700 submissions, I am one of the finalists in Country Living Magazine's Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards! Seriously? This isn't a joke, right? My little blog? For real? I am so humbled, and so excited to be recognized. Country Living has assembled a celebrity panel to choose the winning blogs in each category, but you have a chance to vote for your favorites in the Reader's Choice awards. So this is my humble appeal for your vote. I appreciate your readership over the nearly five (!) years I have posted my crafting ramblings on this little space.

To vote, visit Country Living Magazine's website and vote for me, Snapdragon Crafts, in the "Crafts" category. You can vote once per day until voting concludes on September 15. Thanks for your readership and support!

smile: it's friday!

2011-09-02T10:49:00.002-05:00

My finished object this week makes me smile every time I look at it ... it's the happiness wash cloth (free pattern!) by Heather Mountain (Rav link). Our knitting guild is knitting up a bunch of these using Hobby Lobby's uber-soft I Love This Cotton, and then will sew them together to make a blanket we'll donate to a local charity. I haven't knit many "picture" dish cloths like this one before, but now I'm hooked! There are soooo many funny and cute patterns out there.

Here are some that have caught my eye ... the next time I need some easy knitting, I'm casting on for one of these:

Be My Dishcloth, by KrisKnits (another freebie!)

Pig Out! by Elaine Fitzpatrick (free!)

Happy Penguin by Alli Barrett

Little Miss Happy Flower by Rachel Van Schie

Don't forget to check out the other FOs at TamisAmis!

st. louis stash

2011-09-01T22:27:00.004-05:00

While exploring St. Louis, Missouri last August, I discovered two amazing local shops... a local yarn shop called Knitorious and a quilting shop, The Quilted Fox.

The Knitorious staff were friendly and welcomed me the minute I walked in the door ... and their selection? Two words: overwhelmingly good. Their shop was jam-packed with the perennial knitter's favorites: Noro, Malabrigo, Rowan, SWTC, Blue Sky Alpaca, Lorna's Laces ... I could go on and on ...

You know I didn't leave that store empty-handed!

Malabrigo Worsted in Jewel Blue

(destined to become this vest from the Fall 2011 issue of Knit Simple)

Colinette Jitterbug in Summer Berries

(destined to become a light-weight cardigan of some sort)

Claudia Hand Painted Yarns in Turquoise Jeans

(destined to become socks)

I was equally impressed with The Quilted Fox. The staff was also very friendly, and after giving you an introduction to the layout of the store, gave you plenty of room to browse without pressure. The store was bright and cheerful, and well organized. They had a great selection of contemporary designers, Japanese and Australian fabrics, and batiks.

I couldn't resist this modern, graphic "floral" (Herman Miller, above), nor this dramatic Kaffe Fassett floral (below).

If you are in the St. Louis area, I definitely recommend visiting Knitorious (directions, hours) and the Quilted Fox (directions, hours)!

FO Friday: Cotton Candy Socks

2011-08-26T10:34:00.004-05:00

The cotton candy socks are done! What a relief. I'd like to say that knitting these has been all sweetness, like their name, but that was not the case. The blame is all on me, however. I have a bad habit of stealing needles from old WIP for whatever new project has caught my fancy ... sometimes I hold the stitches on the abandoned project on stitch holders, but usually I hold the stitches with another set of needles in a different size. Well, that burned me big time on this project. This project had sat idle for more than two years, and of course I'd forgotten that the needles weren't the correct size. And did I double check my project details on Ravelry? No. So when I picked up this project I just started knitting away with the size 3 needles left in it with great gusto. I did notice a funny spot where I had picked things up, but it looked more like twisted stitches instead of the change in gauge I had created ... I knitted away merrily, finishing the entire sock. I even wove in my ends and grafted the toe, and it wasn't until I tried both socks on that I realized something was very very wrong about the second sock. Groan. Start over!

Details: 7 Stitches Per Inch Sock by Ann Budd
Yarn: 1 skein Lion Brand Sock-Ease (Colorway: Cotton Candy)
Size 2 needles.

Don't forget to visit the other FOs at TamisAmis!

WIP Wednesday

2011-08-24T13:46:00.005-05:00

Remember the war I declared on some old WIP? Slow, but steady progress over the past month. I finished another knotted openwork scarf (Yarn:Rowan Kidsilk Night), so that makes two of the five WIP finito! In contrast to regular Kidsilk Haze, Kidsilk Night has a little shimmer with silver filaments throughout. It turned out stunning, but is so hard to photograph!

I'm nearing the finish line on my second cotton candy sock, as well ...
Don't forget to check out the other WIPs at Tamis Amis!

yarn crawl across mississippi: oxford

2011-08-22T22:47:00.012-05:00

I'm a person who likes to know my surroundings. So after living in Mississippi for almost four years, the fact that I still haven't fully explored the major cities and regions of my new state--that bothers me. Granted, two of those years were fully occupied by pregnancy--a baby and a dissertation, which is a baby all on its own--so I give myself a little slack, but still! It bugs me. That, combined with the shock of having Yarns Downtown (a wonderful yarn shop in my neighboring city of Columbus) recently close its doors, has put me on a mission. I'm beginning a yarn crawl across Mississippi--part to support the few local yarn shops Mississippi is lucky enough to have, and part to better get to know my state. First up? Oxford, Mississippi.

Oxford is located in the north-central part of the state, and is the home of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Oxford is a beautiful city, full of gorgeous old antebellum houses. Before moving to Mississippi, if you asked me to envision a classic Southern small town, Oxford is what I would picture. In addition to being the home of Ole Miss, Oxford is famous for being the home of William Faulkner's residence, Rowan Oak, (John Grisham reportedly owns a residence in the area, as well) and great shopping around "The Square," a literally square-shaped town square that circles around the Lafayette County Courthouse. It's one of the most picturesque city center's I've ever seen.

Just off the Square is where you'll find Knit1 Oxford, my primary destination on this trip (location, hours, and directions). Once you've reached the yarn-bombed bicycle outside the front door, you know you've found the place!

I can't say enough good things about Knit1 Oxford. The staff was so friendly and welcoming! The minute I walked into the door I was greeted with a smile and given a quick tour. The shop is small, but well organized and filled with a wide selection of yarny goodness. Tons of different sock yarns, plenty of cotton (for our Mississippi heat), and a wide selection of wool as well. And novelty yarn, too. A group of five or so ladies were working on projects around a table, and it definitely was the kind of yarn shop that you would find yourself hanging out and knitting in.

What yarny goodness did I succumb to on my visit? Let's take a peek ...

The shop sells kits with all the novelty yarn necessary to make the adorable baby hat shown on the cover of the book, Welcoming Home Baby. I've admired the hat, but never had a desire to buy a full skein of the Cha Cha yarn it calls for, so I snapped up the kit.

Pretty purples, huh?

I also succumbed to the lure of trying out another novelty yarn, Trendsetter's Flamenco. They had it knit up as a scarf, and I loved the lacy ruffles it makes. Clearly, I fell for the purples on this trip!

If you make the trip to Oxford, I recommend:

Definitely make a visit to Rowan Oak. It's really close to the city center, and the grounds are beautiful and so peaceful.

Visit Square Books while shopping on the Square. Awesome independent bookstore. Around the square, they have a separate shop for kids books called Square Books Jr. Amazing selection of great books!

The Square has numerous great pizza shops. If you're a foodie, try City Grocery on the Square. It's won several James Beard awards and I had an amazing corned beef sandwhich there. Yum.

Take a drive through the Ole Miss campus.

More information about Oxford, Mississippi.

catching up

2011-08-21T22:48:00.002-05:00

It's been a whirlwind month! A daytrip to Oxford, Mississippi, two conferences (St. Louis, MO and San Antonio, TX) and the start of a new academic year! So please forgive the momentary silence while I catch my breath! I uncovered plenty of yarny goodness in my travels, which I will be sharing with you ... soon!

FO Friday: Snug

2011-07-29T17:33:00.005-05:00

One project defeated in my war against my WIPs ... Snug is complete! I used Lion Brand Homespun in the Ambrosia colorway, and size 10.5 needles. With the larger needles and longer sleeves than the pattern called for (9 inches), this fits my 2-year-old despite the fact the pattern size is "6 months"! Hopefully it will still fit her when fall hits us here in the south, which is usually around November. I really enjoyed the unique construction method this pattern calls for. This pattern will definitely be added to my baby shower queue!

And making good progress on my next WIP to defeat, my cotton candy socks ...

Don't forget to check out the other FOs at Tami's Amis!

declaring war ...

2011-07-27T17:23:00.004-05:00

... on my works-in-progress! I'm going through my annual summer-is-ending-soon-so-I'd-better-get-going reality check, which means cleaning and organizing and getting myself ready for the fall. Today I sorted through the miscellaneous bags of yarn and unfinished objects that have accumulated around the house, and realized I have a bunch of projects that are thisclose to being finished. So for the next couple of weeks, my knitting time is going to be devoted to moving these projects into the finished object category.

Snug only needs a second sleeve, seaming and buttons ...

My Cotton Candy Socks are victims of second-sock-syndrome ...

The adorable lion scarf from 60 Quick Knits ...

Yet another knotted openwork scarf ...

And the butin collar (this one really just needs weaving in ends and attaching the necklace finding!) ...

create your own laundry hamper liner

2011-07-26T16:22:00.011-05:00

This is another long overdue sewing project. There simply isn't a good, hidden place for a hamper in our master bedroom/bath. The closet is a little too narrow, and real estate is already at a premium in the bathroom. That means that our hamper is forced to hang out in relative "public" place next to one of our dressers in the actual bedroom. Until now, the "hamper" has really been a large laundry basket, which really didn't add any aesthetic value to the room. When I spotted this MainStays Folding Laundry Sorter (link is to the most similar product I could find) at my local Wal-Mart, I was excited by 1) its large size, and 2) its wheels. But the plastic-y plain white actual liner? Not so much. So here are the steps I followed to replace the hamper liner with something I found more appealing:

First you need to measure the size of the liner you are replacing. Mine was 17.5 inches tall (not including straps), 15 inches deep, and 24.5 inches wide.

To construct the liner, you are basically using a large "T" shape. You need to divide the depth in half and add that amount plus a 1/2 inch seam allowance to each side, and add the same amount to the bottom. My final dimensions were 40.5 inches wide and 26 inches tall (at the tallest part).

Now cut two T-shaped pieces from your fabric. I used this cute giraffe print by Premier. At 58" wide, I only used 1.5 yards for this project (and had plenty of scraps left over). You'll also need to cut six 4 in. x 2 3/4 in. straps.

Fold and iron the top edge of the "T" down 1/4 inch and topstitch in place. Repeat for your second "T."

Take both pieces, holding right sides together, and sew together along the right, left, and bottom edges using a 1/2 inch seam allowance (the edges highlighted in red in the diagram below). Do NOT sew together the "corners" of the bottom edge.

Iron your seams open.

Now for the trickiest part: match your left-edge seam to the bottom-edge seam to form the square bottom of the bag. Pin together and sew (you'll still be working with the bag inside-out). Repeat on the other side.

Move on to your straps. Fold down and iron 1/4 inch on each 4-inch-long side and topstitch in place.

Space three straps evenly across each side. Pin and then sew into place.

Turn your liner right-side out and then construct your hamper following your model's instructions. Sooo much prettier than the old laundry basket!

easy almost no-sew placemat tutorial

2011-07-25T09:24:00.008-05:00

When I dug out my embroidery supplies to do my doodle stitching, I rediscovered supplies for some sewing projects I had long ago planned on making. This resulted in a little sewing binge over the weekend, which means you'll be seeing some sewing tutorials this week! First up? Easy-peasy, almost no-sew placemats.

Placemats are one of those things that frustrate me. When I am intent on purchasing some, it feels like the options are so blah and boring. I never seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. Why settle for ho-hum when you can make exactly what you want? I have a black table, so I wanted a black and white graphic print that I just couldn't seem to find anywhere among store-bought placemats. Hobby Lobby has started carrying a great selection of cotton duck fabric in some cute prints, so after some deliberating I settled on the Black Swan colorway. I made six double-sided place mats, which required 2 7/8 yards of fabric (45" wide) --or you could play it safe and just get three yards. :0)

I had fabric I loved, but then I was faced with deciding how to construct my place mats. Most tutorials you'll find instruct you to sew both sides together, right sides facing, and then turn your placemat right side out and top stitch the edges and quilt to finish (sandwhiching in some batting at some point in the process). Although I love the look of quilting, I just couldn't come up with a quilting pattern that wouldn't (in my mind) mar the look of this fabric. So, quilting was out. But I still wanted a thick, sturdy placemat--which requires some sort of batting or interfacing. My solution? Double-sided stiff fusible interfacing! I ended up using Dritz InnerFuse, since that's what I had on hand (hooray, stashbusting!). Each package contains two 18" x 14" rectangles, which are the perfect size for placemats.

Ready to make your own almost no-sew placemats? Here are the steps:

Cut twelve rectangles from your fabric that are 19" x 15" in size.

Using an iron, fold down and iron 1/4 inch strip along each edge (this step allows you to avoid having a raw edge that could unravel around the perimeter of your placemat).

This is what your rectangle will look like when done ironing down each edge.

Make a "sandwhich" of two placemat sides with the double-sided fusible interfacing in the middle (obviously, make sure your right sides are facing out).

Follow instructions for fusing your interfacing. In my case, it was iron slowly across the fabric allowing for five seconds of constant heat in each position. Allow to cool. Flip over the project and repeat. Allow to cool, then permanently fuse the project by pressing both sides again. This is the trickiest step, since you'll be tucking in and finessing your folded down edges to line things up as you fuse it all together.

After project has cooled, top-stitch around the edges to add extra security to the bonding of your edges and to add a little professional polish.

Enjoy your new placemats!

Additional notes:

According to the InnerFuse instructions, these placemats should be machine washable (on gentle with cold) and tumble dry on low heat. I will have to update you when I test that!

The finished placemat has a really good sturdiness and weight. The texture of the cotton duck makes it feel like it will be really durable, as well. I'm sure this project would work well with quilting cotton, but I really recommend the cotton duck.

Let me know if you make any placemats using this tutorial! Happy sewing!

doodle stitching project #1: pillowcase

2011-07-22T12:43:00.004-05:00

My first project using Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching book is complete! My little munchkin is obsessed with puppies and kitties right now, so to celebrate her transition to a big girl bed I embellished a pillowcase with the cats and dogs from the "Farm Animals" section of the book. Super fast, and super cute! I love how each animal has its own character, due to the natural variation that comes with hand embroidery.

good mail day

2011-07-19T21:51:00.003-05:00

Look at all the goodies that came in the mail for me today! I am the lucky winner of the first month of Project Yarnway, a year-long design competition group on Ravelry. I won for my Tapered Tote, and Ruth from Sheep Dip Cottage generously donated these stunning vintage buttons for my prize! I feel so lucky--I knit with these colors all the time, so they'll go to good use! Thanks so much, Ruth!

FO Friday: Gulf Shores Socks

2011-07-15T09:01:00.002-05:00

My Gulf Shores Socks are done (Rav project page)! The pattern: the infinitely popular Monkey by Cookie A. The yarn: Knitting Knotions Classic Merino Superwash Sock in Mediterranean (think subtle greens, turquoise blues, and periwinkle). Love all around! When I wear these, they'll forever remind me of the beach. I'm thinking a pair of no-purl Monkeys is next!

Gulf Shores, Alabama

WIP Wednesday: Butternut Scarf

2011-07-13T09:32:00.003-05:00

I recently picked my Butternut Scarf (Ravelry pattern page) back up. This is one of those projects that has been years in the making--every so often I pick it back up and make some progress, and then get distracted and set it back down again. Despite my lack of commitment, I really love this yarn and the pattern is really fun. Who knows, maybe this summer I'll finally finish it? We'll see ...

tutorial: recycling old floral shop vases

2011-07-12T22:12:00.009-05:00

If you're like me, you just can't throw away those clear glass vases that come with any floral shop bouquet. It's a perfectly good vase that might come in handy someday, right? But then you're stuck with a dilemma: they're functional, but they sure aren't the prettiest looking thing. And since they're not that flashy or pretty, they get tucked away, hidden in the back of a cabinet, and then you basically forget they even exist until you get another bouquet and yet another floral shop vase to add to your collection. Recently, I ordered Sundance Catalog's sunflower bouquet to add some everlasting cheer to my work office and home. The recycled metal and wood flowers are so happy and cheerful, but then I needed a vase I was equally happy about to display them in. Given the recycled nature of the flowers, it only seemed appropriate to recycle one of my many old floral shop vases. While part of me likes the look of the clear glass vase (so modern and industrial!), I found that it receded too much into the background when I placed the vase in the room. The answer? My trusty friend, spraypaint.

Want to transform your old floral shop vases using spraypaint, too? Follow these steps:

1. Clean your vase with glass cleaner and wipe dry.

2. Apply a thin coat of primer.

3. After the primer is dry, check for rough spots and sand them smooth (I used 220 grit sandpaper). This is an important step if you want a smooth, professional looking finished product.

4. Apply your chosen color of spraypaint! Be sure to hold the can 8-10 inches away from your vase, and work in thin coats. Thin coats are important, because if you just blast your object with tons of spraypaint it will start to run and form drip lines that show up when it dries (I learned this the hard way when I spraypainted an old lamp base!). For this project, I used two coats. If you see imperfections you missed when sanding your project at the primer stage, this is your chance to sand it down again and then finish off your project with a final coat of spraypaint.

5. Voila! Enjoy your finished product!

The best part is that you can easily obtain a vase in the exact color you desire, and so inexpensively. I can't imagine how long it would have taken me to find a vase this color, and don't even want to think about what one would have cost me. Enjoy!

feeling stitchy

2011-07-11T06:57:00.003-05:00

Lately, I've been feeling the urge to do some embroidery. This doesn't surprise me, since normally I have about ten different crafting projects of various crafting genres going at one time. It's shocking to me that I've been so relatively monogamous in that I've been only focused on my knitting for the past few months. Embroidery was my very first craft: cross-stitch to be exact. Somewhere I still have the ribbons I earned from entering my work in the county fair as a kid! This book, Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray, isn't cross-stitch, but is still feeding my itch to stitch nonetheless.

The book has 17 different projects, and embroidery motifs in 19 different categories (alphabet, asian chic, baby, celebrations, circus, embellishments, farm animals, flowers, food, fruits & veggies, garden time, space, sweet shoppe, trees & leaves, under the sea, weather, winged wonders, woodland animals, woodland fairytale). What I love about this book is the cute, contemporary aesthetic of the motifs. While I have purchased (and loved!) many of Jenny Hart's great embroidery patterns over at Sublime Stitching, her style sometimes is a little too edgy and punky for me. Doodle Stitching, on the other hand, is more sweet in comparison. Designs that would work better for a contemporary, but still cute, kid's projects.

Here are some the projects that immediately caught my eye:

These would be a perfect baby shower gift ...

So cute! I'd love to use these patterns on kitchen towels ...

Someone has a 2nd birthday coming up that this would be perfect for ...

Needless to say, I think you'll be seeing me make a lot of projects out of this book!

fireworks

2011-07-04T13:36:00.000-05:00

Hope you're having a happy 4th of July!

gulf shores socks

2011-06-30T23:41:00.004-05:00

Last weekend was spent at one of my all time favorite places in the world, the beach! Gulf Shores, Alabama to be precise. We had a grand time lounging in the sun, making and destroying sand castles, and floating in the surf. But for me, relaxation wouldn't be complete without some form of knitting! So I brought along a skein of some gorgeous Knitting Knotions sock yarn I picked up at Stitches South in an appropriately beach-themed colorway (Mediterranean) and set out on attempt number two to make some Monkeys (Rav project link). This time, much more successful than the last attempt! These photos don't do this colorway justice. This yarn is stunning. Subtle greens, and shades of blue ranging from turquoise to periwinkle blue. It really reminds me of the colors of the sky, mixed with the colors of a blue-green sparkling ocean. My favorite colors! Between the pretty yarn and the fun pattern, I predict these socks will be finished in no time!

FO Friday

2011-06-24T06:14:00.003-05:00

My Key Lime Knotted Openwork scarf is finito! Soft, luxurious ... it's total love here.

zucchini love

2011-06-23T14:37:00.007-05:00

Lately, my house has felt like a zucchini bread factory. Over the past two weeks, I have come into possession of not one, not two, but four monster-sized zukes like the one above. These babies were massive. Seriously--after prepping and shredding two of them, I had 12 cups of shredded zucchini. With most recipes averaging one cup of shredded zucchini per loaf, I was reeling at the number of loaves that would translate into. In one of those crazy serendipitous moments, I picked up the summer issue of Knitscene to realize it included a recipe for Selma's Chocolate Zucchini Bread. Since the recipe calls for a ton of zucchini and produces nearly four loaves in one batch, I knew I had found my solution for dealing with my zucchini windfall.

The verdict? Yummmmm .... I highly recommend! Selma's Chocholate Zucchini Bread is definitely going to become one of my regular go-to recipes. I ended up making one batch, which produced two large loaves, one regular-sized loaf, and several mini loaves. The rest of the zucchini is hanging out in the freezer, frozen in two cup increments, ready and waiting for a craving for zucchini bread to strike this winter.

The Tapered Tote Pattern

2011-06-17T13:37:00.007-05:00

I'm proud to announce the release of my first felted bag pattern, the Tapered Tote!

The Tapered Tote is constructed seamlessly, leaving you with no pesky finishing to do at the end of your project! The straps are knit one at a time and then grafted together at the top using a three-needle bind off. Full instructions are provided for felting the bag in your washing machine. This pattern is an excellent beginner’s felting project. Felting is a fun and easy technique that you’ll find quickly becomes addictive!

Yarn: Cascade 220, two skeins (note: you will only use 2/3rds of your second skein)
Needles: Size 10.5 32-inch circulars, one set of 10.5 dpn

Techniques utilized: knit, purl, pick up stitches, decrease, three-needle bind off.

Yarn Recommendations:

Most animal-based fibers will felt. Wool is the most commonly used fiber for felting, but alpaca, angora, and mohair will felt as well. You can weave in decorative yarns (fun fur, etc.) in your projects, as long as you hold them double with an animal-based fiber that will felt.

Cautionary note: AVOID SUPERWASH YARNS (these have been treated so they won’t felt when washed!)

Fiber mixtures (i.e. part wool, part acrylic) have mixed results—if you aren’t sure if it will felt, knit a swatch and test it first!

Any time you mix different types of feltable yarn, knitting a test swatch is a good idea, since different yarns felt at different rates. You’ll have the most success if you combine yarns that felt at the same rate.

ANOTHER CAUTIONARY NOTE: White and off-white colors are notoriously difficult to felt with. The bleaching process to achieve a white color strips the scales on the wool that cause the felting process to occur. Do test swatches for any white colored felting project!

the Tapered Tote, $1.99

WIP Wednesday

2011-06-15T21:56:00.003-05:00

My Monkeys and Jaywalkers may be giving me fits, but my Key Lime Knotted Openwork Scarf is going swimmingly! The photo below doesn't do the color justice, but gives you a better idea of what the pattern looks like. It's easier than it looks!

sock woes, cont.

2011-06-14T16:57:00.003-05:00

This feels slightly heretical to type this, but am I the only one who is not completely in love with Grumperina's Jaywalker socks? If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know I have fallen in love with String Theory's awesome self-striping yarn. I was itching to cast on with this colorway (Galactic Ghoul), but I wanted to try a pattern that manipulated the striping. Jaywalker seemed perfect--who doesn't like huge zig zags of color? And looking at this photograph, I do love the effect. But the feeling in my hands was much different. The fabric the stitch pattern created was so stiff and really had no give. The other thing that bugs me is the look of the two-stitch decrease in the middle of each zag. I'm probably crazy, but it just doesn't look neat to me. So as much as I like the zig zags, I've come to the realization that I'll never wear these socks if I don't like the way they feel. So these socks, along with my Monkeys, have both come to a screeching halt. Has anyone tried Broadripple? They look like a promising alternative ... and tomorrow, on to happier topics with WIP Wednesday!

sock woes (get outta my pool!)

2011-06-13T07:37:00.009-05:00

Let's play a quick little game ... how many differences can you spot between these two pictures?

Excluding the background, the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed two major differences. These are the Monkey socks I gleefully cast on for during Stitches South back in April. I picked these guys back up this summer, knit happily away until I got to the heel flap, and was marveling over how fast these socks knit up until I realized that I was missing a fourth needle's worth of stitches. *smacks forehead* No wonder they were going so fast ... I was only knitting 3/4ths of the sock! I still can't believe I omitted an entire needle from the cast on ... I blame it on the intoxicating fumes of all things fiber that permeated Stitches South. Clearly, I was in some form of fiber-induced coma that temporarily disabled my counting abilities. So that was major difference #1 ... in the second picture I have frogged and re-cast on using the appropriate number of needles. I was happily determined to quickly re-knit the progress I had lost, until I encountered major difference #2 ... the dreaded pooling.

I have to admit, this is my first encounter in which the pooling became dreaded. In the past, I've been lucky enough that I liked or didn't mind any pooling that's occurred. So now I feel a little stuck. I really love this colorway, but I prefer it as it appears in the first picture ... I'm not in love with the khaki color enough to tolerate huge pools of it in my socks. Any suggestions? I've found one pattern, Everyone Outta The Pool that claims to effectively break up unwanted pooling. Any other suggestions? I'm currently using size 2 needles ... the size of the pooling is so large that I'd be surprised if I could break it up by switching to size 1's, but I haven't tried that yet.

Unfortunately, this is only part one of my sock woes ... tune in tomorrow for part two ...

start-itis (WIP Wednesday)

2011-06-08T15:42:00.007-05:00

I've come down with a huge case of start-itis this month. I think it's the realization that it's already June (cringe) and that if I want to get my huge list of crafting to-do's done this summer, I'd better get going! So right now that means a mix of fun, fast and brainless projects to grab when I want a break from the projects that require more mental energy. My favorite pattern for easy, brainless, but stunning? The knotted openwork scarf (free pattern!). It only takes one skein of mohair/silk blend, which makes it a great way to justify those so-pretty-I-must-take-you-home-but-you-are-way-too-expensive-to-justify-purchasing-more-than-one-skein moments we all sucumb to in yarn shops. With purl "rest" rows, it only looks complicated.

And my project that requires some brain power? I'm turning this swatch into a felted bag pattern. Hopefully *fingers crossed* it'll be done by the end of this month!

a slice of summer yum

2011-05-23T16:49:00.003-05:00

From the June 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

Yum, this picture makes me crave a cold, juicy slice of watermelon. Nothing says "summer" better than watermelon! These are crocheted watermelon potholders highlighted in my most recent issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. According to Martha people collect them, but this just makes me more motivated to re-learn crochet! Once upon a time I knew how, but as time progressed my focus switched to knitting, and that knowledge got pushed aside for new techniques. One more thing to add to the never-ending list of crafting "to do somedays." :-D

day five: week of red (and FO Friday)

2011-05-20T15:04:00.004-05:00

And to finish the week of red (and orange), some final glimpses of red from my backyard ...

my bottle "bush"

Poor birds -- they need a refill!

one of my favorites, the dahlia

And here's an old finished object (FO) I realized I never blogged about! The last time you saw these guys was in my post on MacGyver knitting ... These are basic socks, using Ann Budd's simple sock pattern (Rav link), that I started knitting for myself right around Christmas. I had them ready for the kitchener toe graft at New Year's but then they stalled out due to how much I despise kitchener-ing. And then my cat discovered them and I ended up ripping back to fix the damage she inflicted ... grrr ... but now they are ready for this year's holiday season! The yarn is a self-striping colorway called "Kinetic Energy" by String Theory Colorworks. This yarn base, Continuum, has just a touch of cashmere in it. The verdict? Totally addictive yarn!

day four: week of red (and orange)

2011-05-19T14:39:00.004-05:00

day three: week of red (and wip wednesday)

2011-05-18T07:21:00.010-05:00

More from my garden! Serendipitously, it is my red asiatic lilies that are blooming first--perfect timing for Project Spectrum!

And moving to the darker side of red for my WIP Wednesday ... this is my Making Waves Cardigan (Rav link) in Madelinetosh Sock in Oxblood. There's a lot of black in this colorway. In some light it looks reddish, in other light a little purple. It's progressing quickly despite being sock yarn!

day two: week of red (and orange)

2011-05-17T15:21:00.003-05:00

day one: week of red (and orange)

2011-05-16T13:53:00.006-05:00

It's baaack. Project Spectrum, the awesome celebration of the color spectrum founded and led by Lolly, has commenced! It started as a way to explore the use of color in knitting, but has expanded to so much more. This month starts with two of my favorite colors, red and orange.

May :: Red/Orange
June :: Green
July :: Blue/Indigo
August :: Pink/Purple
September :: Yellow/Metallics
October :: Cyan/Aqua
November :: Black/White/Grey

I'm a little late to the festivities, just getting back from a trip to the west coast. So I'm kicking off my activities with a week of photos celebrating red and orange. I invite you to join me! Post a comment with a link to your blog so everyone can enjoy your photos. For now, please enjoy these gorgeous reddish orange tulips courtesy of my parent's home in Washington.

riches from stitches: part three

2011-04-28T07:32:00.006-05:00

Projects finished during STITCHES, and new projects started!

Featherweight Cardigan

(see Ravelry for project details)

Knitting a cardigan in laceweight? I really thought I needed my head examined when I embarked on this one, and it was a labor of love. The yarn for this project was purchased at the first Stitches South I attended, and I had knit on this on and off for the past two years, so it was particularly sweet for me to cast off for this project on my first night at Stitches South 2011. I love the yarn (Ellen's Half-Pint Farm) and its great dye job! The pattern was easy and uncomplicated, which gives it two thumbs up in my book. My only complaint is that the sweater slides off my shoulders a bit too much for my liking. Not a problem when I wear it around the house, but I especially notice it if I'm wearing a purse over my shoulder or out and about. So I'll probably think twice about making a second Featherweight, or consider some serious modifications if I do.

(this shot is much more color accurate!)

Monkey Socks by Cookie A

I can't believe I haven't knit these uber-popular socks sooner! Now I see why they are soo popular--the pattern just flies off the needles, and is so well-written! These will finish up really fast, once I devote 100% of my knitting time to them!

riches from stitches: part two

2011-04-27T01:00:00.004-05:00

At the last STITCHES I attended, the market completely overwhelmed me. I made tons of great finds, but I also missed a lot of great stuff too. During my classes, I noticed women wearing this cool jewelry made out of recycled metal knitting needles. Alas, at that point I had totally blown my spending budget. So this year I vowed to make Sassafras Creations one of the first booths I visited in the market!

My non-knitting friends would have no clue that these were made from knitting needles!

These, on the other hand, are a bit more obvious!

riches from stitches: part one

2011-04-26T23:38:00.002-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, I was lucky enough to be able to attend STITCHES South, a conference and expo for knitters, crocheters, and fiber enthusiasts. If you love to knit, I highly recommend attending one of these events! It is sooo much fun to be surrounded by people who "get it," not to mention the amazing classes you can take, and the gorgeous yarn to be found in the market. This was my second STITCHES, and since I still haven't knit through all the stash acquisitions I had made at the last STITCHES I attended, I had a lot more restraint in the market this time around. Here's a peek at the goodies I snabbed (as usual, these photographs really don't do these colors justice!):

Miss Babs Yowza - Whatta Skein! (worsted weight) in Scarlet Ibis

Miss Babs Windsor Hand-Painted Sock Yarn in Duck Duck Quack

Ellen's Half-Pint Farm Merino Tencel (fingering weight) in Wild Pansy

Skaska Designs 50% Merino - 50% Silk (fingering weight)

Knitting Notions Classic Merino Superwash Sock in Mediterranean

The fingering weight is destined to become a couple more lightweight sweaters, believe it or not! I finished my Featherweight Cardigan during STITCHES (which I'll post about separately), and I am sooo in love with it. But I'll definitely take a break from knitting in fingering weight with something using my worsted weight Miss Babs first!

easter inspirations ...

2011-04-25T22:06:00.003-05:00

... for next year, that is! I was too busy with creating my "inventory" for the CDAF this year to try these cool Easter crafts, but I'm definitely saving these for next year.

Isn't this wreath adorable? I'd love to make one using jelly beans, an Easter version of the funky Halloween candy corn wreath I made last fall.

I love how these simple patterns (above) create these amazing flower cut-outs (below). It's like snowflake cutting, but for spring! You could use those same patterns for some really cute flower decorations for handmade cards ... hmmm....

Next year I'd love to make my own version of an Easter egg tree. This one is Martha's (below), and it's stunning, of course.

And this just cracks me up! Who wouldn't want a bunny-shaped topiary?

recovering from sugar comas ...

2011-04-24T22:22:00.004-05:00

I hope the Easter bunny made it to your house! A few Easter scenes from this year.

... and festivals

2011-04-24T22:11:00.003-05:00

The Cotton District Arts Festival was exhausting, but fun. When you set up at 6 am and don't leave until after 5 pm, that makes for a pretty darn long day. I have a new level of respect for the people who make a living traveling year-round from one festival to another. Those are some serious road warriors! For my first time out, I was pretty happy with how I did. But I still have plenty of merchandise I'll be selling either on Etsy or this summer at the Starkville Community Market! I thought I'd give everyone a peek ... welcome to my booth!

For all those who made a visit to my booth, thanks for your support!

countdown to the cotton district arts festival

2011-04-20T23:56:00.003-05:00

Remember my little post on experiments in epoxy? Well, that was really a little product development! This Saturday I'll be hosting my own booth at the Cotton District Arts Festival--something I've been dreaming about doing for a long time, but too busy occupied with other major life projects that got in the way. Hope to see you there!

this post brought to you by ...

2011-03-19T23:02:00.004-05:00

Spring cleaning! Finishing out a long, hard day of cleaning out everything. From garden beds to office files! Next up? Organizing all my knitting patterns and magazine clippings in these binders that are pretty enough to be proud to have on display.

dreamy minky

2011-03-15T14:15:00.003-05:00

What started as this ...

Has turned into this! After drooling over the uber-softness of minky (or is it minkee?) fabric at Craft Warehouse last fall, my Mom surprised me with a minky baby blanket kit for Christmas. Happy dance! Fast forward to spring break, and I finally have made time to put it together. I pretty much followed the kit's instructions to a "t" and didn't get too creative here. I honestly didn't feel like cutting fabric, which for me is my least favorite part of any sewing project! I'm finishing up the binding as we speak ... finished project pictures soon!

instant gratification knitting

2011-03-12T07:19:00.002-06:00

Whenever I want instant gratification knitting, my go-to pattern is the Circle Cloth by Hakucho (Ravelry link). I can make one in a couple of days of sporadic knitting here and there. I find myself going through a phase every three months or so when I want something easy and brainless to knit that doesn't require weeks of knitting to finish. This pattern fits the bill perfectly! The circles are created with slipped stitches, my favorite super-easy technique for making colorwork that looks waaay more complicated than it really is! This time, I used Lily'n Cream in a variegated colorway (In Motion) and hot pink or hot orange to contrast.

I like to reverse the colors, but this time the solid color on top just wasn't doing it for me. Shrug.

experiments in epoxy

2011-03-11T07:36:00.003-06:00

I'm a little late to the epoxy/resin jewelry craze. I've had some books on it for over a year now, but hadn't taken the time to search out all the supplies needed to try it. I'll admit, I was a little intimidated since my books recommended the use of a respirator while dealing with the actual chemicals (yikes!). But despite the inhalation risk, all the instructions I'd read for projects using epoxy seemed so straightforward and easy. So when I spotted a box of "EasyCast Resin" at my local Hobby Lobby, that was just the push I needed to actually give it a try. The verdict? It really is that easy! Here are the steps I followed to make the pendant above:

Find a fun image and re-size it to fit your pendant. I printed my image on regular copy paper using my HP Inkjet printer. The pendant above is Hobby Lobby's Square Pendant Bezel. It has a diameter of 23mm (21mm inside the pendant).
Seal the image using Modge Podge on both sides, then secure the image to the pendant using Modge Podge. (this step is what protects your image ... without the Modge Podge your paper will turn clear after reacting to the epoxy)
Mix up your epoxy using the product's instructions.
Carefully pour the epoxy into your pendant.
Remove air bubbles! I used a hair dryer on low, per my epoxy's instructions, but I found that if I wasn't careful I would actually blow the epoxy out of the pendant by making it overflow over the sides ... so next time I'm going to try using a toothpick.
Let your project cure. It'll take at least 24 hours, minimum. A good tip I heard was to fill a bottle cap or something of similar size as your project with epoxy at the same time. That way you can test how cured your epoxy is with your "tester" cap and not risk ruining your actual project!

Based on this initial success, there will definitely be more experiments in epoxy in my future!

macgyver knitting

2011-03-09T17:54:00.001-06:00

What do you do when you are at your in-laws, forgot your stitch holders, and want to start your second sock? (I leave the kitchener for my absolute last step, since I absolutely dread it) Q-tips to the rescue! I removed one of the fuzzy ends, and the remaining "tip" worked surprisingly well at keeping the stitches secure on these impromptu stitch holders.

homespun baby cardi

2011-03-06T11:12:00.002-06:00

Some homespun baby cardigan love using Lion Brand's Homespun yarn. I've had my eye on this colorway (Ambrosia) for some time, since I'm a sucker for vibrant purples and pinks, and I love the look of rustic looking yarns. A baby shower was the perfect excuse to finally give it a try! This is Linda Bohrn's Easy Raglan Sleeve baby sweater, which has become my go-to when in need of a cute, but fast and simple baby cardigan pattern. Visit Ravelry for more of my project specs. The verdict on Homespun? I love the colors ... but knit up, the yarn is splitty and has a halo that bugs me. After comparing the stockinette and purl sides of this project, I've decided I like this yarn best purled. So future projects will be in garter or reverse stockinette!

stockinette side

purl side

spring fever

2011-03-05T21:23:00.004-06:00

Cheerful daffodils ... my favorite time of year! Spring is near, and spring fever gives me yellow fever ....

West Elm's Hive Vases

Fleece Artist Merino in Mellow Yellow

Merona Makana Cutout Wedges

warm wishes of a ...

2010-12-24T00:28:00.001-06:00

hung by the chimney with care: mini-stockings!

2010-12-23T22:55:00.008-06:00

With a little toddler running around this Christmas, I had grand plans of going handmade for the Christmas ornaments this year (they wouldn't break if she pulled them off the tree, no little parts to choke on ... all that good stuff). My mind went immediately to these adorable mini-stocking ornaments I'd seen on Ravelry, and there were plans for some needlework reindeer and santas stitched into ornaments with some cute Christmas fabric borders. As you can see from the picture above, my dream didn't quite materialize as I'd envisioned! I made around 9 different mini-stockings and then realized that, one, I was running out of time, and two, a tree comprised almost entirely of mini-stockings would look a little odd! So instead, I purchased cheap-o (but still pretty!) ornaments at Wal-Mart (that shouldn't shatter, and that I wouldn't be devastated if they were broken) and we strategically positioned them out of little one's reach. Which means that the lower half of the tree is bare. :-D But that's okay. I'd rather have that than to deal with constantly monitoring the little one!

While I did churn out quite of few of these mini-stockings, I can't say that I'm sick of them. They're such instant gratification projects! For links and my commentary on the patterns I used, see my post over at the Golden Triangle Knitting Guild blog. Be warned: they are addictive!

These guys have all the elements of real socks, minus the kitchener at the toe!

Mini fair isle? Soooo adorable.

Now that all my presents are knit and packaged and have long reached their destinations, I've been indulging in a little knitting for me. I just stumbled across this amazing indie sock yarn dyer, String Theory Colorworks. Her stuff is so neat! And apparently, these wide stripes you see below are actually a rare thing to find in sock yarn world. I had no clue. All I can say is, I'm in love! It doesn't hurt that her yarn base has a tiny amount of cashmere in it. Yum.

fabulous feza scarf formula: free knitting pattern!

2010-12-22T23:29:00.004-06:00

Oooo. Pretty colors. Yup, that's what suckered me into buying the Feza "Polo" yarn. That and it is sooooo soft. Double threat. If you're like me, and can't resist this yarn in your local yarn shop, here's a quick and easy pattern that puts it to good use. And best of all, you only need two skeins! ***This is a pattern for a length-wise garter stitch scarf, which I make no claims of being the originator of this idea. But if you're in love with this yarn like I was, I thought other people might find this pattern useful.

Fabulous Feza Scarf Formula

Yarn: 2 skeins of Feza Polo (yarn content: 55% acrylic, 30% mohair, 15% polyamid)
Needles: Size 11

CO 183 stitches
Cut your yarn, leaving a 5 inch or so tail at the end of your cast-on. Re-attach your yarn to your work by tying it to your last stitch (again, leaving a 5 inch tail) and then knit across the stitches for your first row. Repeat this procedure at the beginning and end of each row to create your "tassle."

Continue to knit garter stitch for a total of 28 rows.

Cast off on your 29th row (you should have 14 garter stitch ridges on each side).

Weave in ends, and secure your tassles. You'll notice that the tassles are naturally paired. To secure your tassles, tie each pair in a double knot. If you end up with an uneven number of tassles, tie three together by holding two in one hand. Trim tassles as desired. Wear your fuzzy, soft warm scarf with pride!

My finished scarves were approximately five inches in width. You can easily get a width of six inches if you use a full two skeins. I failed to measure their length before gifting them all, but it was generous enough to wear double-wrapped with plenty of scarf leftover to artfully wrap.

NOTE: I know it would be easier to create the tassles by continuously knitting and then attaching the tassles at the end of the project, but this yarn has gradual color changes, and I wanted the tassles to match these shifts in color. Feel free to create your tassles in whatever manner you prefer (or have none if that suits you best!).

I found that with this formula, each color change happened every three rows or so in this yarn.

2010 in review, fall catch-up

2010-12-22T23:01:00.003-06:00

When this arrived in my mailbox, I just had to make it. Such a simple, but awesome design. So I set out to gather my supplies, and just barely scrounged up enough candy corn. By the time I hit the Halloween candy aisle, the majority of what was left was called "harvest corn" and instead of being white, orange, and yellow, it was white, orange and brown. Not nearly as aesthetically pleasing! Someone told me the brown was supposed be chocolate flavor? Dunno. All in all, it only took me about two hours to hot-glue-gun each candy corn to the wreath form (first you cover the wreath form with black duct tape to create your "background").

I loved the finished wreath! But, yes, I am speaking in the past tense. A couple of problems with candy corn ... first, it's sugar, which meant that it softened up from the heat of the glue gun and from being exposed to the elements outside. I only had one candy corn actually detach itself and fall off the wreath, but you could feel them kind of disintegrating when I took the wreath down after Halloween. So ultimately this one ended up in the trash. (I also had visions of the bugs having a field day eating this in the attic/garage ... no need to give them any more reason to be attracted to my house!) If I make another one next year, I might try spraying it with some sort of sealer or gloss spray. We'll see.

summer follow-up, numero uno

2010-12-21T23:10:00.000-06:00

After reviewing this year's posts (and my embarrassing lack of activity), I just realized that I never posted the king-sized quilt that grew from the quilting bug that was inspired by my baby quilt successes!

Looking back, I was clearly under the influence of extreme pregnancy nesting when I started this quilt. Who starts a king-sized quilt when they are in their third trimester? A crazy pregnant lady, that's who! Despite the obstacles posed by my massively distended belly, I managed to do all my cutting and pieced together the top of the quilt. It actually looked like I might finish the quilt pre-baby arrival until I hit a snag basting the backing to the top + quilt batting to create the "sandwhich." To be economical, I usually use a flat sheet as my backing. Before attaching the binding, I use a loose basting stitch on all four sides of the quilt to make a nice, clean edge for attaching my binding. Well, somehow I managed to not square things up properly (it would have helped if I had properly basted the entire quilt, like you're supposed to ... but all that time on my hands and knees, with 8-month pregancy belly? yeah, right! that wasn't going to happen) and it got all wonky, and I decided not to deal with it. So this massive, so close to being finished, quilt got shoved in the closet and didn't re-emerge until last summer and the then baby-to-come was almost one!

I'm glad I got as far as I did on finishing the quilt though, because it really drove me to finish it last summer. If I hadn't finished the top, I know it would have languished much longer in unfinished-project-limbo. I love the finished quilt! But once I finished the quilt, I realized I had created a new project: pillow sham covers. The old pillow sham covers now just didn't quite fit with the new, cheerful quilt (see below).

The first decision I had to make was color and pattern. Should I make another patchwork design, but using a different pattern? What color? After much debate, I decided I wanted to avoid blues and greens, since I figured it would make the pillows basically blend in with the quilt--and I wanted them to complement the quilt, but stand on their own. Secondly, I opted to stay away from a patchwork pattern--partly for ease (wanting to keep things simple so the project actually got finished!) and to not distract from the pattern in the quilt. In the end, I went for my first mono-chromatic patchwork piece in shades of yellow. I purposefully staggered the seams so I could be lazy and not worry about cutting everything perfectly and matching everything perfectly.

I'm really happy with the end result! I love it so much, it had me dreaming of mono-chromatic future quilts ... e.g. shades of red and green for a winter "Christmas" quilt I could pull out for the holidays, etc. But the awkward fumbling of dealing with such a massive amount of fabric to create a king-sized quilt has staved off the quilting bug for now. That and actively avoiding the awesome quilting books that are slowly but surely joining my library ... we'll see how long I can last out!

Great Knitting Resources

2010-07-14T14:37:00.000-05:00

Throughout this month I've been writing a series of posts about great knitting resources for the Golden Triangle Knitting Guild. I'd thought I'd share these here as well ... these days it's hard to keep up with all the amazing online magazines, newsletters, and other sources of fabulous (and sometimes free!) knitting patterns that can be found online. So this series is my attempt at profiling the best of those resources. You can access all the posts in this series through the "Great Resources & Great Patterns" button on my sidebar!

Coming soon ... more adventures in knitting. I'm experimenting with some colorwork in my felting (a first for me!) and will attempt my first ever steek ... I'm nervous to say the least! Oh, and the cupcakes? Total success! I thought the marshmallows would harden after a few days, but if anything, they got soggy. So definitely eat them up within a day or two!

What's New, Cupcake?

2010-07-09T18:38:00.001-05:00

What's new? Well, a lot, in a year! But mostly just the excitement of preparing for Baby-J's (wow, this time last year she was known only as impending-July-baby) first birthday! Which has inspired some manic (as usual) birthday crafting, of course. And nothing better than a birthday to warrant some fabulously decorated cupcakes! I love eating cupcakes, but honestly hadn't put much effort into decorating them until my sister introduced me to the book, Hello, Cupcake!, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Their awesome cupcakes inspired me to track down their sequel, What's New, Cupcake? and actually put a little more effort into one of my favorite tasty treats.

Soooo many cupcakes caught my eye in this book (more on that later), but this adorable chrysanthemum-imitating decorations just screamed "perfect for little girl's first birthday party" to me. I knew that I wanted to simplify the design though--no pistils, and since these cupcakes will be traveling across the state of Mississippi, no need for the fancy-schmancy presentation on a platter with the pseudo-stems. So here you can see the perfectly styled book presentation, my inspiration ...

And here's row one of my first cupcake. Although the design of the cupcake is pretty simple, and simple enough in concept (the petals are simply mini-marshmallows cut on the diagonal and the revealed sticky part dipped in colored sprinkles--easy, right?), I found working with the mini-marshmallows a little cumbersome at first. Originally, I thought I'd be able to actually use both halves of each mini-marshmallow. Ha! What was I thinking? I found that you basically need one half to hold onto as an anchor while you cut the marshmallow in half. This process invariably mushes the "anchor" half beyond any recognition--certainly not a petal shape! I also quickly learned that it is important to use a sharp knife, specifically one with a sharp tip. And frequently cleaning off the marshmallow "gunk" also helps make sharper cuts and better looking "petals." As I got going, I got into the groove of it though. But I would definitely say that this cupcake design is a little tedious to construct. I would cut enough marshmallows to construct one cupcake before going back to cutting marshmallows. Looking at the pretty finished cupcakes then helped motivate me through cutting some more petals.

And here's a cupcake with row #2 of petals on ... I could totally see a sunflower version of this cupcake with chocolate frosting and yellow petals, but omitting row #2, don't you?

I want to say it took me about two hours for completing the decorating of 14 cupcakes. Like I said, tedious. Can you imagine making enough for a large party? But despite my whining, I LOVE the results. They are sooo neat looking! I would make these again in a heartbeat, and think they would be stunning for a baby or bridal shower. I'm excited to see the reaction they'll create among the party guests tomorrow...

Of course, this minor success already has me thinking ahead to the next holiday/celebration I'd consider making cupcakes for. These snowmen look adorable, and sooo much easier than the flowers I made today!

And these "skeins" would be perfect for my knitting buddies!

just a peek ...

2009-06-18T17:31:00.000-05:00

Of what is now a finished quilt top, that has been quilted, and only has 1/4 of the binding left to sew! Pictures of the finished product soon!

stack 'n whack

2009-05-26T12:49:00.001-05:00

Or, how to turn this fabric (see above) into ....

this ....

and this ....

Saturday, I took another awesome quilting class at the Golden Triangle Fabric Center. We learned Bethany Reynolds' "magic stack 'n whack" technique, and boy did it expand my quilting horizons! Basically, you make "stacks" of fabric, and then "whack" (cut) triangles from them of the same pattern repeat. These triangles then make up hexagons (or squares or octagons, depending on your pattern) that have an amazing kaleidoscope effect. Having no clue about what was an effective fabric for this technique, I showed up to class with this fabric in hand:

Which I quickly learned created pretty lackluster results. See my first hexagon below--it looks just like the original fabric! So much for the kaleidoscope effect.

So, with the encouragement of my instructor and classmates, I picked out this wild fabric for attempt number two. Definitely not fabric I would normally be drawn to! I was honestly a little nervous making my purchase, thinking "what have I been talked into?" But the results are awesome .... see my favorite blocks above and below. I've made just enough to make another baby quilt ... and a very trippy baby quilt at that! Now I just need to decide how to piece the blocks together. The pattern it's based on suggests piecing the blocks into vertical stripes, with vertical strips of complementary fabric in between. Or I could see making some diamonds in between the blocks ... we'll see.

chasing the knitting mojo

2009-05-23T08:29:00.000-05:00

I've been chasing my knitting mojo for awhile now ... first, I overdid with Christmas knitting (squeezing out three sets of gloves/mittens and two hats in a week ... never a good idea). Then it's been a string of dud projects that have sparked more frustration than exhileration over my knitting lately. What's odd is that I've purchased some amazing yarn this year, at local yarn stores and at my big adventure at STITCHES South. When I look at that yarn, I get excited and want to cast on for something. But then the feeling goes away. I'm hoping these two projects will turn it all around ... for the first time in months they've got my fingers itching to work on them whenever I can.

Butternut Scarf, pattern by Anne Hanson

I found some gorgeous, hand-dyed lace yarn at STITCHES. This is "Clotho" by Spirit Trail Fiberworks, an independent dyer out of California. It is sooo fun to knit with--the color has such depth, and is constantly changing. Some of my favorite hues of blue are in this skein, so knitting with it is a real treat. Technically, this is my third lace knit--I finished a Foliage hat in the Christmas knitting brigade, and Hey, Teach is sitting on my dresser waiting for buttons (one of the dud projects). But this one by far appears to be the most complicated. I was nervous casting on for the pattern, worried I'd picked another pattern that would be a little too difficult for me. But looks are deceiving! This stitch pattern is awesome--very easy to memorize, and doesn't require too much brain power, yet looks much more complicated. Perfect.

Crosshatch Lace Socks, pattern by Charlene Schurch

And this is mojo-busting project numero dos, a pair of lace socks. Another easy to memorize, fun, fast pattern. And gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn! These are a thank you gift, so I have a deadline to keep me knitting and not let my lack of mojo slow my progress.

quilting contemplations

2009-05-21T14:28:00.000-05:00

I've been hit with the quilting bug hard after the success of the baby quilt ... and honestly, I blame it on the satisfaction of hand sewing the binding. That feeling--the satisfaction of completion--gave me this overwhelming urge to dig through some piles of fabric, start cutting, and begin sewing another quilt right now. In doing my research for the baby quilt, I ran into a book that has only fed this urge. And I've been pouring over it, looking for inspiration for my next ambitious project ... making a light-weight, summer quilt for my king-size bed.

The quilts in this book are just simply stunning ... and really opened my eyes to the potential of quilting. I love traditional quilts, but I really don't want to make anything that looks too "grandma." The quilts in this book are anything but grandma!

This last quilt is my personal favorite ... but I realize that piecing circles is waaaay beyond my skill level at this point. Sigh ... someday. But it's led me to realize that I'm really drawn to quilts with diagonal lines ... For example, I've been lusting over Erin's string-x quilt for months now (she finished it last August). She provided a great, detailed explanation of how she constructed hers.

String X Quilt, by Erin at House on Hill Road

And this one, a gorgeous nine-patch and diagonal cross quilt by Wanda Hetrick that Jan at Be*Mused posted earlier this month.

But I'm also considering the zig zag quilt. Anna Maria Horner posted a great free pattern for one earlier this year. It's basically piecing a bunch of triangles, which I feel confident I could handle. But is it too Charlie Brown? Maybe if I went with a more complementary color scheme it would seem less busy to me ... but if I pick colors with little contrast, what's the point of piecing the zig zags?? Not so sure about this one ...

Folk Dance Quilt, by Anna Maria Horner

And pinwheels ... Material Obsession has some really inspiring customer quilts posted on their blog. I love how cheerful and bright these color combinations are.

Like this one ...

and this one ...

But honestly, that amount of fiddly piecing is beyond my skill level (and time and patience) at this point. I need something much more speedy if I'm going to finish a king-size quilt top before the arrival of the little bambino. So I'm seriously contemplating the diagonal cross pattern now ... I stumbled upon this great tutorial online for creating the blocks ... or the string-x quilt. The real question is ... which would be more fiddly and frustrating?

extreme nursery makeover

2009-05-20T18:32:00.001-05:00

My major accomplishment during my absence? Whipping the nursery into shape ... a process that started during spring break in March and was finished in April (with minor tweaks and organizing still in progress, thanks to my nesting stage). Step one, walls painted a cheery yellow and putting together the crib. Step two, spraypaint hubby's old dresser a pastel pink (I skipped all the painting, no noxious fumes for the little bambino!). After that dried, I used wood glue to attach the most adorable painted wood animals my mom found at Michael's. Step three, sew like a madwoman. I successfully sewed the crib bumpers, crib skirt, and quilt (see quilt top below). Binding was my favorite part of the quilt-making process. :-D

I still need to trim the selvedge and add a hem to the cute butterflies and bugs fleece I bought to cover hubby's old recliner. The recliner is sooo comfy, but was an unattractive brown that stuck out like a sore thumb when surrounded by so much pink and yellow. My mom had the ingenious suggestion of covering it with a fleece blanket--not only will it make the recliner "blend in," it'll make for easy mess clean-up (just toss in the washing machine)! Excellent.

to be continued ...

2009-04-09T13:17:00.000-05:00

So much craftiness has happened in the past month, and no posts to show for it! I blame it entirely on the fact that my memory card reader has been on the fritz ... well, that and the fact that I can't stand to post without a photo of some sort. As soon as I can retrieve my images, there will be a parade of posts to document my progress.

Until then, here's a synopsis:
--yummy yarn has been added to my stash
--one baby sweater is near completion, another one is well underway
--baby quilt blocks are under construction
--I've been swooning over some new quilting books
--the nursery has been painted a cheery yellow
--project makeover on the guest bathroom is near completion
--the cross-stitch bug has hit me in full force

cast on ...

2009-02-28T19:29:00.000-06:00

Project Spectrum officially begins tomorrow! Our first cardinal direction? North. The associated color? Green. My first project? The "Classic Silk Open Cardigan" from Classic Elite Yarn's spring pattern booklet, New Harbor. I'm knitting from my stash for once ... some Elann Callista (colorway: peacock) I'd originally purchased for another CEY pattern. I'm hoping for an uber-productive PS4, considering the long laundry lists of sewing, knitting, and general crafting projects I have planned in anticipation of baby. I hope to be a little more consistent this go-round as well--last year I started off strong, but fell off the wagon during the last few months.

... and zipped up

2009-02-28T19:12:00.000-06:00

my first successful zipper

My beginning sewing class ended today with a skill on my "must learn--pronto" list ... the zipper! I can't believe how professional the results are, and with such relative ease! Must replicate procedure ASAP so I don't forget! With this skill learned, I now can seriously consider attempting my latest acquisition ... a summer maternity dress pattern. Specifically, view "B" below. Cute, huh? In my brief searches so far, I've quickly discovered that the availability and selection for maternity patterns is meager at best.

swingy and oh-so-cool, this will get me through that last trimester

I'll have to tackle another "must learn" skill for me to attempt another recent pattern acquisition ... the button hole. Aren't these rompers adorable? Pretty simple, too, other than the pesky button hole.

In a cute, soft cotton gingham, perhaps?

Lots of good stuff in this pattern!

my first smocking

2009-02-26T10:20:00.000-06:00

Here are the results of the smocking class I took last Saturday. The verdict? Sooo much fun! This could be addictive. It combines one of my old, and neglected loves--embroidery--with my new obsession, sewing. Very dangerous. We practiced basic stitches last Saturday, and then we'll combine them to follow an actual smocked panel pattern during this week's class. Now we just need to convince our instructor to offer a second class, teaching us how to insert the smocked panels into actual garments!

it's a zoo

2009-02-25T12:13:00.000-06:00

Alexander Henry's "2D Zoo"

Fueled by my recent sewing successes, I've decided that I want to sew my own crib accessories (bumpers, blanket, etc.). We'll see if I'm being overly-ambitious ... but if my plans backfire, I'll just buy something from the store, no big deal. :-D After making this decision, I had envisioned some cute, modern fabric with lions and animals--totally gender neutral. Then I spotted Alexander Henry's "2D Zoo" and fell in love. Guess who now owns five yards, courtesy of eBay? Now I just need to, ahem, purchase a crib. Oh, and a sewing pattern would be helpful too ...

sweet smocking

2009-02-21T18:57:00.000-06:00

This is what I'll be learning how to do today ... smocking! This sweet dress was mine when I was a little girl. I love embroidery ... I'll just need to get my sewing up to snuff to create some garments to insert the smocked panels into!

yellow week :: day five

2009-02-21T18:55:00.001-06:00

yellow week :: day four

2009-02-19T21:23:00.000-06:00

yellow week :: day three

2009-02-18T07:58:00.000-06:00

I love this contrast ... so white and dreamy with a pop of yellow.

sewing success

2009-02-17T16:14:00.001-06:00

Week two of my beginning sewing class, and look at what I came home with! Sooo exciting. This is by far the cutest and most professional-looking thing I have ever sewed, and I am so inspired to dive into more sewing projects now. My first time using fusible interfacing, and my first time topstitching (see below). I was terrified every second of stitching it, especially since I chose a print that really didn't allow for a forgiving, blend-in-the-background thread choice. But I did pretty well, if I do say so myself!

Look at me, I'm relatively straight!

We even put in a lining and pocket.

The pattern was soo easy, I left the store with material for a second tote, which I whipped out the next day. It turned out even better than the first! Watch out world, I'm going to become a tote-bag making machine.

I love this print on the vertical ...

Cat inspected and approved.

yellow week :: day two

2009-02-17T09:01:00.001-06:00

love that sun shining through

yellow week :: day one

2009-02-16T21:05:00.000-06:00

Play along! To see a list of who's participating, visit Erin's blog.

bambino blankies

2009-02-16T15:57:00.000-06:00

Baby blankets are how I got my start in knitting (well, once I got past the prerequisite beginner's garter stitch scarf!). My first knitting projects were all motivated by the desire to give an expecting friend a sweet, soft, handknit baby gift. So baby blankets have a fond place in my heart. My favorites use wild-colored, variegated yarn, and I've already been working to replenish my stash in that arena. I need to make at least two blankets ... I've listed these in the order of my desire/realistic estimation of whether or not I'll attempt to knit them.

Basketweave. I have an old, tattered copy of a pattern my Mom sent me, and it's my go-to for baby blankies. I'll definitely make my kiddo one. I haven't found the actual pattern I use on Ravelry, but this one is close.

Easy Ripple Baby Blanket. Easy, but not nearly as boring as plain stockinette. Perfect.

Barbara Breiter's Teddy Bear Blanket. What can I say? I really enjoy visual patterns created from simple knitting and purling. Barbara provides a ton of options to choose from on her website.

I love this Estonian lace pattern. I love that it's not too intricate, but still visually interesting--and definitely not too girly, either. With a worsted weight pattern option, this is a definite contender.

The intarsia animals on Nicky Epstein's Animal Antics pattern make my heart skip a beat. And I'm pretty sure my local library actually has a copy of the book the pattern is published in ... my biggest obstacle on this one would be getting over my fear of intarsia.

The Apple Core blanket is sooo awesome, but the thought of all that finishing makes me want to cry.

OpArt by Melissa Dominguez looks very cool--and not nearly as painful in terms of finishing as the Apple Core blanket. if I snag two colors that will combine well for the stripes, this one will get added to the queue.

If the baby is a girl, the Flower Baby Blanket is being knitted FOR SURE.