Knitting & Crochet – Page 3

{ta-da!} finished crochet bunny set

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Oh boy, I sure hope the rest of these hats & diaper covers hook up easier than this one. This was a project wrought with frustration. The original pattern I purchased was not very good. I’m working with a yarn I don’t love (Lion Brand Homespun). And I feel stressed to get this whole order done.

With that said, I am pleased with the final product. I might need to make a Cabbage-Patch sized set for Laura’s baby 🙂 I really love the diaper cover. The shape came out just right (in my opinion) and I made it one-size-fits-all. All you need to do is tighten the cord around the baby’s waist to get it to fit. Remember — these are photo props, so it just has to stay on for a little while. But I do think this would hold on well unless it’s an especially squirmy baby!

I feel like the hat is a little on the big side (even though I followed the pattern — see this is what I get! Should have just hooked up the beanie I’m comfortable with). But I’m sending this to my friend today and he can let me know.

For now, I am taking the day off from crochet! I need to tidy up the house and I’d really like to quickly sew a new camera strap cover for myself. Happy Friday!

bunny hat sneak peek

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

I’m so close to finishing up my bunny set! I just have to crochet the inset for the ears and then sew everything up. This has been a really frustrating project to get right. I read and combined and changed around so many different patterns that at this point I feel like it’s my own design. (I mean, let’s get real here – how unique is a basic hat and diaper cover?) Since I have to make 9 more of these, by the time I’m done I just may write up the pattern to share with you all. (Unless I’m totally sick of them by that point, LOL!)

You may notice my book in the background. Today I’m linking up with the Yarn Along hosted by Ginny at Small Things. She invites her readers to share a project and their current read. Drew gave me a copy of A Flight of Angels for Christmas after we met Rebecca Guay (the artist behind this beautiful work) at NY ComicCon in the fall. She is an amazing fantasy artist and we had no idea who she was until then, but when we started looking through our Magic cards, we found a few that she illustrated!

Hopefully I’ll finish up both of these tonight!

“shrugging” on this project

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Earlier this week I cast on for the “Midwest Moonlight” scarf from Scarf Style. It’s a pattern I’ve had flagged literally for years. However, when I picked up the knitting needles again, I soon remembered why I haven’t knit in a while: it takes forever compared to crochet. So… what to do?

Do I keep plugging along at this? Earlier this morning I stopped by Old Navy because they have a super-duper sale going on and I bought this adorable tank for under $4. I love the picot detail!

It looks great as-is, but I think it would be sweet with a little crocheted shrug or sweater. They actually were selling crochet shrugs right next to it, but the smallest size they had was still too big, plus it was in awful shade of olive. But I think this blue would look great as a little cardi, don’t you? I have quite a bit of this yarn, so I am thinking of starting a shrug using another skein. (Just in case I don’t like that either and want to go back to this scarf at some point — you can see how fickle I am when it comes to this stuff.) Good thing I’m not into making jewelry. I’d probably spend all my time on wire management because I’d change my mind on projects so often!

I need to just commit to one project and finish it. Right now I have so many unfinished blankets and garments in my closet that it’s embarrassing! Please tell me I am not the only one, LOL!

afghan update

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

This is one sad looking little afghan, isn’t it? Sigh… so much for my goal of one square a month! I really need to get back on track. Honestly, now I’m not even sure I like the blue so much. But I’m just going to keep on going. I can always redo a square if I need too later on. My mom is crocheting the same pattern, but in just one color and she is so far along and it looks so pretty! She didn’t like a few of the squares in the sampler, so she substituted other squares that fit. I might end up doing the same. A couple sets of instructions are very confusing. I’ll either save those for last, or not do them at all. Well, I’d better get hooking!

counting down to spring break

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Happy Friday! I can’t believe that it’s finally spring vacation! The boys have not had a break since Christmas (unless you count snow days), so they’re looking forward to their break, which starts as soon as school ends today. I have some fun activities planned, but they have to remain top-secret. Sometimes I leave my blog up on my laptop and since they both can read… well, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

Yesterday my parents came down for the day. The boys didn’t expect to see them so that was another surprise. I got so much done while my mom played with Laura! Of course, as you look upon my dirty countertops in the above photo you wouldn’t think so 😉 I picked a few daffodils yesterday to brighten up the kitchen. I figure that if I don’t pick them, the deer will eat them so I might as well enjoy them! And I snipped a few forsythia stems, as well. I love yellow!

Speaking of yellow, here’s the Clapochet I’m working on right now. I don’t know… I think it just seems a little boring. Some of the other projects on Ravelry seem to mimic the original Clapotis a lot closer. What do you think?

Also, as I was cleaning up my work last night I found one huge, glaring mistake. I don’t think I can just come to peace with it and move on (because it looks incredibly sloppy). So, if I’m going to rip it out anyway, maybe I should just try another pattern. I think that the One Skein Summer Wrap might work (and it should hook up quickly). I think I might have to try the Clapochet in a different yarn. I like the pattern, but… the weight just doesn’t seem right.

Well, there are certainly worse problems to have. Maybe this afternoon I can give the Summer Wrap a go and get back with my decision.

feeling rosey

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

Last night I had great success with the alternate rose pattern I was crocheting! Here it is on one of the hats bound for my friend. I hope she loves it as much as I do.

The rose isn’t directly attached to the hat, this way she can mix-and-match. But rose and brown is one of my favorite color combinations and I wonder if I’d look goofy if I made this hat in my size 🙂

I’m going to make a cream rose to send along, as well. Who doesn’t need more oversized flowers in their life?

sure, now the sun comes out

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

It was a long, gray, rainy day. It poured. It got humid. It poured some more. And then it cooled off. And then it rained a little bit more. And then, after dinner, after the long, gray, rainy day, the sun finally came out.

Too bad it came out too late to do anything, LOL!

So yes, it was one of those days where we were cooped up inside. I didn’t go to the consignment shop as planned, nor did I go to the grocery store. But I managed to get some cleaning done so all was not lost 🙂 I also looked at some ideas for birthday presents for fathers since Drew’s birthday is later this month. I always like to have the kids give their daddy a little something.

Well, now that the munchkins are all in bed, I think I’m going to treat myself to a scoop (well… maybe two) of some mint chocolate chip ice cream, pour myself a cup of tea, and crochet some roses. I spent all last night trying to figure out this pattern and finally gave up in frustration. I must be missing something, because after four attempts, my flower did not look anything that even vaguely resembled a rose. Luckily, I have another pattern that isn’t as confusing for me! With any luck, there will be photos tomorrow.

hats off

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Although you can probably crochet anything (well, maybe not hot tub spa covers), I’ve been busy on the basics lately. Namely: hats. One of my best friends recently started her own photography business and asked if I’d crochet some baby hats for her photo shoots. I was honored that she thought my skills were that good! Of course, I said yes and I set to finding two patterns: a feminine pattern and one that could be used for either little boys or little girls.

The hat in the photo at the top of this post was crocheted using The Dainty Daisy’s Shell Stitch Beanie pattern. I have since made several other hats using this pattern and I love them all! The pattern is easy, hooks up quickly, and is pretty true to size. This is a 6-12 month hat and you can see that it is too small on Laura (who loves wearing this test hat anyway!)

The other hat is just a basic HDC stitch. It’s a little more boring and a little slower, but I still love the results:

I’m also making some embellishments for the hats (crochet flowers, loopy bows, and buttons) on clips so she can use them in any of the hats. With a little luck I’ll be finished up by the end of the week. I hope she likes what I’ve come up with!

knit night

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

So last night I actually made it to Common Threads, which is the monthly knit/crochet night at my local library. Since my mom was visiting, she came along and we had a great time! I haven’t been crocheting much lately because I’ve been busy working on bows. Let me tell you — it was so relaxing picking up the hook again! The other day I was looking at the beading supplies at the craft shop and thinking about incorporating some pretty beads into a scarf design. Maybe I’ll start on that soon.

In the meantime, I am still plugging away on my afghan. I have three squares done, which isn’t a lot, but I’m meeting my goal of one per month. So at least there’s that! I think I’m going to be working on some hats for a friend who is a photographer. She’s been doing a lot of baby photography lately and wants some fun props. That will be a nice change of pace. I just have to find the right patterns. I’ll be sure to post pictures when I’ve finished them up!

sampler afghan progress: january

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Last month I was really motivated to start this project and I completed the first two squares. Both were very quick and easy. The shell square is especially pretty, I think. The only thing that concerns me is that they are very clearly not the same size, even though I used the same type of yarn and the same hook. Since I’m not working on any other knitting or crochet projects, I really don’t think my tension was that different. I mean, I hooked them both up maybe just a couple days apart. Hopefully it will all work out in the end. I suppose if all else fails I can just work up a different square. We’ll see how the next one shapes up in terms of size.

Here’s a close-up of each of the patterns:

Square 1: Checkerboard

Square 2: Shells

I loved working up the Shells square and I think it would make a great scarf! Hopefully I can stay on track for February.