Happy Birthday

After years of getting less than perfect birthday gifts from my husband, I have finally mastered how to get exactly what I want. I showed him something on Etsy, told him that is what I want and I will order it if he would like to too.  It was a win win for both of us, he did nothing and I got just what I wanted.

Aren't they just gorgeous? They are super light weight and fit perfectly in my hand to make crocheting easier and even more fun that it already is. They come sets or you can order just one in any size hook you need.  I got a set of the hooks that I use the most.
If you want to check it out you can find the set I ordered here.

Crocheting

Here are a few crocheting projects I've been working on. And just as you would expect from me, I never start a project, finish it and start another, I start one, then another and yet another. Eventually I may or may not get any or all of them done.

This baby afghan is going to my nephew and his wife for their baby girl being born in August.

Here are a couple of prototype hats that I will be selling in the fall.

I also have a cat and panda bear started.  :)

Crochet

When my daughter was home I was going to have her model a couple of scarves for my blog, but I totally forgot so I had to use my standby model.  You know which one I'm talking about.

The one that's isn't very cooperative.  I told her to look at me and this is what she did. I'm sorry Lucy but this is the price to have to pay for being in this family.

These are two different scarves, they are just the exact same color. This one you can pull up over your head so it acts as a hat as well, but Lucy would have no part of that. 
I have a very good reason for have two scarves the same color, (actually I three) as some of you know we went to Florida for two weeks last winter and I brought  along a little crocheting to do, just in case. Well it was so cold down there I spent the evenings inside crocheting so I ran out of yarn. I went to JoAnn's and bought the wrong yarn, do you know they have at least three different weights of yarn all in the same color?  Well this is what I did with the left over yarn. You can find the original scarf here.
And as long as I'm in the scarf mode I don't think I ever posted a picture of the other Rapunzel scarf I made so here it is.

 

This last one was supposed to be a knitting project.

It was one of those when you buy the yarn you get the pattern for free. My friend that was with me convinced me I could handle it. She bought some yarn as well and whipped hers out in no time.  After struggling with mine she helped me get started but as soon as she wasn't by my side it all went down hill and after ripping it out four times I hinted that she should make it for me and I would pay her, but nope, she told me I could do it.  Well I did it alright, I ripped it out one more time and crocheted it instead.

Back from vacation

I'm back from vacation and decided it was high time I post to my blog.  I didn't get much crafting done but I did manage to crochet two more Rapunzel scarfs.  I got the pattern over on Ravelry. 
 I didn't have a real person model so this cutie pie will have to do. She usually like to model but I may have taken it too far this time.

 


Here are a few pictures from our trip to Florida.

Slippers

Here is one more pair of slippers.  These I made for my daughter, I messed up a little on one of them but I'm hoping she won't notice. I'm off to warmer weather for a couple of weeks.  Cheers!

Happy New Year

This is how old people that have no life spend New Year's Eve.  They sit in their rocking chair and crochet a pair of slippers. In the past I have made attempts to make a pair I really like and just ended up ripping them out.  So I finally broke down and purchased a pattern from Mamacjee Patterns.  These are called the Oma House Slippers and they are wonderful. These are my practice pair that I made with leftover yarn the next pair I make I will try a smaller hook  'cause I like my slippers nice and snug.
Have a warm, wonderful and blessed New Year.

Fingerless gloves

While going through my yarn stash I cam across a few projects that needed to be finished.  This is one of those projects.

 

 

 I've tried a couple of different patterns and these are the easiest I've found. It's a free pattern over on Ravery they are called fingerless gloves by Eleven Handmade. This is not the true color.

Here is another picture and they aren't this color either. They are dark red but I don't know how to take pictures so that I can get the true colors.

Crocheting

With the cold and snow comes my yarn.  Since I complain and get totally stressed and whatever I'm working on ends in disaster when it comes to knitting I've decided to stick with what I know and that's crocheting. I made this little bracelet a while back and don't think I've ever posted it.

It was one of those super quick and easy projects fun little funky projects that I like to do. I added some Stampin' Up vintage looking buttons.

I also found a cute little rustic looking star over on Rivalry.

I like to decorate one of my tress with an old fashion feel to it so I'm thinking some of these stars and a few hearts might just be the ticket. I used Sugar and Cream cotton yarn and a size  F hook.  It came out to be about 3.5 inches.

Rapunzel Scarf

This is a super easy crochet scarf that I found on Ravery.  It's called the Rapunzel scarf and it's just five crochet strips that are braided together. It's made using the double crochet foundation stitch. You can see the you tube video here if you want a little peek at how to go about learning how to go about it.

A Ring to go with Bracelet

After having so much fun crocheting my beaded bracelet I decided to whip of a little ring to go with it.

I think I might have to take on a bigger project if I want to use up some of the massive amount of crochet cotton.

Old Suit Cases

I just love old suitcases.  I love the look of them and I love to store things in them. I have a few in my basement that don't have nearly as much character as these but they do serve to be useful just the same. Every once in awhile I decide to open one just to remind myself what is inside.

I knew this one had crochet cotton in it but had forgotten how much I had.  It was acquired at an auction a few years ago along with some other stuff. After a quick look at this I decided I needed to do something so I decided to crochet a bracelet using some beads from an old necklace.

 It's not perfect but I still think it's kind of cute.

A Great Find

This weekend we went to the play, Church Basement Ladies, A Second Helping at the Plymouth Playhouse. While we were in the cities I got a tip on a great place to go and find deals on fabric. It's called S R Harris in Brooklyn Park and it's insane. It is a 30,000 square foot warehouse with floor to ceiling fabric. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, all I knew was that there was going to be a lot of fabric and you cut it yourself. After 45 minutes of being somewhat overwhelmed I checked out with my mere 1/2 yard of fabric, 5 yards of trim and 1/2 yard of lace motif. When the check out girl said $8.00 I asked her if she got everything because that didn't seem right, she assured me it was correct and all bolted fabric is always 1/2 price. Well, I wanted to turn right around and check out the wools and silks a little closer but we had other things on the agenda so I just made a mental note that I'm going to have to go back. Unfortunately I had left my camera at home and my cell phone back at the hotel so you will just have to trust me that is something to see.

I didn't manage to get much done in the car this trip. Part of the time I was driving and part of the time a was sleeping but not at the same time of course, so this is all I accomplished.

Pumpkin

before felting

after felting

Getting into the spirit of fall I made a felted pumpkin. It's from the book Felted Crochet.

On the road

I've been spending more time on the road lately than I have been at home. Since I'm not getting much done I decided to take something on the road since my husband was doing the driving. I did a little experimenting with crochet thread to see what I could make for my fabric postcards and crazy quilting. This is what I did, some I'm happy with and can use, and some, well, not so much.