Thursday, December 30, 2010

Christmas Elf

I have enjoyed making gifts for my friends and family at Christmas. However, I always tend to start to late in the year and am not able to finish all of my projects. This year I started in May with Iris and Ivan's toddler blankets but quickly realized that I couldn't keep them a secret that long. :) As you know I went ahead and gave them their blankets and decided to continue making blankets for all of my family at my own pace.

This year in order to save money my family drew names. I had my sister's name! So from November 17th to December 17th I was a Christmas Elf and worked so hard on her blanket in hopes that I would have it finished in time. I finished it on time and made the presentation of her gift beautiful!! I have to say, I am very proud of the presentation.





If you are like me seeing someone open your gift is the best part. I didn't get to see Natalie's face but this picture says a thousand words! I am so thankful for my sister! She is such a loving person and a wonderful friend. I can never repay her for every thing she has done for me.

I am now working on a chic blanket for my niece, Lili. I can't wait to see how it turns out!!

Monday, December 6, 2010

27 Candles

There is nothing better then having a crafty birthday!


My wonderful husband took me to Three Black Sheep Yarn Shoppe and let me pick out some yarn! He was so sweet to even go in with me and watch me look at every single skein. Poor guy, I know he had to have been bored.

After much debate I decided I finally picked out the yarn I wanted. The gray yarn is 100% lama and it is so soft!! The black is similar to a lacy ribbon. It is soft as well. I can not decide if I want to crochet or knit it together into one scarf or make two scarfs... decisions... decisions.



George also gave me two knitting books! Yes, I prefer crocheting but after looking at patterns for knitted sweaters I want to learn how to knit as well. I know how to knit and pearl but I always get frustrated... I hope to learn enough that I enjoy knitting as much as crocheting.




When I am not crafting you will find me with my nose in a book... just thought you'd like to know.

Merry Crafting... Happy Reading!

Friday, December 3, 2010

The joy of giving

Every Christmas season I watch the streets and stores get busy. It is like watching someone step on an ant hill and seeing millions of ants run in circles. By the way people act sometimes I wonder if they are truly enjoying the joy they can have from giving a gift to someone. Or is it all about keeping up with the Joneses?

Since I started crocheting I have found true joy in giving a gift to a friend or family!There is nothing like taking time and making something that you know your friend will love. Even better is seeing their face when they open your gift. In saying this, I want to clarify that there is nothing wrong in giving a store bought gift! I find joy in gifts that are given me that are not home-made just as much as I enjoy home-made gifts.

I am working on a Christmas gift right now and I can hardly wait to wrap it up and send it to the person I am making it for. I won't be there to see it opened but I know that there is a lot of love put into this gift.

I wish there were more home-made Christmases. I wish our society would slow down and enjoy the stress reliever that can be found in crafts. Just sayin... ;)

Happy Holidays... Merry Crafting!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Pickles





To make up for my lack in blogging skills I thought I would share with you some cute crochet comics from "Pickles".

I have a prize for the person who can make the most interesting jockstrap! :) haha!
Happy Crafting!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Happy Fall, Yall!

I just love the fall season! This year I have felt very crafty. In honor of the season my husband and I decided to carve pumpkins. I just thought I would share a few pictures.



Step One... Draw a face
My pumpkin


George's pumpkin




Step Two... have fun!




Step Three... cut the top off




Step Four... get rid of the eww and goo...




Step Five... show off

My pumpkin

George's pumpkin

The family


Step Six... Display


As George and I go into our third year together we want to create new memories and carry on old ones from when we grew up. We have enjoyed the craft fairs, pumpkin patches, and corn mazes. I hope to have many more memories before the season is over. What memories are you making?

What memories do you have of your childhood? My favorite memory is when my family would go to the pumpkin patch and ride on a hay ride with Mr. Pumpkin Head. We always picked out our own small pumpkin and drew colorful faces on them. I can hardly wait to share that memory with our kids.

Happy Fall, Yall!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Hexagon Stash Buster



I am on round three of my hexagon blanket!

Normally, when I make a blanket I plan ahead on where I will place what color or square. For instance the circle in a square blanket that I made for my nephew, I took paper and drew a blanket and planned how it would be laid out. On this blanket I am having to plan as I go. Each hexagon is being joined as I crochet them and the goal is to not repeat the same hexagon twice. I feel like I am stretching my mind thinking about placement and what colors to use next. I am having so much fun!



Louie loves it too! After I finished round three, I laid the blanket on him and he prrr'ed away! I almost tied it off and gave it to him! Doesn't he look so cute!?



While my husband is napping on the couch I tip-toed into his office and took a picture of my birthday present. ;) Last weekend George and I went to Ketner's Mill Fair. It was full of booths with hand made crafts. The first booth we stopped at was a booth with beautiful furniture.

They had quilt rack that sat on the floor and then this one that hung on the wall. I know that with the kitten the quilt rack that sat on the floor would be useless because Madi would pull everything off. I told George how cool it would be to have the one that hung on the wall to put my hexagon blanket on in the bedroom. I will still be able to display my blanket but it will be out of reach from Madi. I can hardly wait to hang it up on the wall. I can hardly wait to see what my blanket looks like on it.

I sit and laugh at myself sometimes because I never would have dreamed that I would ever get excited about a quilt rack. It is funny how things change!

(In case you are wondering, the red, white and blue blanket is one that George's grandmother made for George. She is very talented!)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Ashley's baby shower

There is nothing like watching your friends get married and start having babies! Today was Ashley's baby shower. It is always so much fun to get together with friends and family and celebrate. We had yummy food, played fun games and had great fellowship.

One of the games we played was to see who could decorate the best hat. Unfortunately, I forgot my SD card so my picture taking was very limited but I did get a few of our hats.


Jennifer

Ashley T. and Joanna


Waiting to give the blanket to Ashley until today was not easy! I am not good at keeping secrets when it comes to gifts. When I make something I always want to give it to the person I made it for right away. I went yesterday and picked out the gift bag - as silly as it is, I wanted the presentation to be as good as the blanket. However, I ended up being VERY nervous about giving Ashley the blanket. I knew she would like it but it was the first real crocheted gift I had given to anyone who wasn't family. She loves it! I am SO glad! I can hardly wait to meet baby Harper!



Congratulations, Ashley and Jonathon!

Friday, October 15, 2010

A lot of nothing

I am so thankful for lazy weekends!! All week I have been so exhausted that I can't even hold a hook for long periods of time. Despite being tired I have not stopped thinking about projects I want to do or need to finish.

On October 4th I started the "Floaty Fall Scarf". The pattern has been very simple and it looks like it will be cute. It is the first scarf that I have ever made that is in a triangle shape. It is also the first time that I have ever used bamboo yarn. I can hardly wait to see the end result.



My newest project is a blanket for our bedroom. I wasn't planning on making a blanket right now but I realized that I had enough scrap yarn to make a nice hexagon blanket. The "Fireside Throw" pattern is in the Crochet Today magazine with the "Floaty Fall Scarf".

Here is what their blanket looked like:

Picking out colors for upcoming projects is always fun! For my hexagon blanket I found inspiration in the following items in our bedroom:



My husband bought the picture before we met and I have always thought it was a nice picture but it was not my favorite. I have really started liking since I went shopping with mom and bought the pottery wall hanging. It tends to pull out the colors in the picture and brightens the room. So.. after a lot of thought I picked out my yarn and started the blanket...


I hope the end result looks good.

So, as you can see I am up to a lot of nothing. I still have hopes of making a lot of sweaters this winter but I have to buy more yarn for that kind of project. If all else fails Old Navy has some cute sweaters this year!! :) I will have to start sending out hints to the hubby.

Have a happy lazy weekend!!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Starry Night Cowl



Just wanted to share with you some pictures from my latest project. The pattern for this project was fun and interesting. As I made the stars I connected them to the ones beside and above. To me this cowl looks very elegant. Now, I am ready for the winter weather!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Voting Time

I went through all of my crochet magazines and picked out a few sweaters that I would like to make. They might be to hard but I will never know unless I try...

Here is where I need your help... I need you to vote on your favorite sweater. The more votes the easier it will be to choose.

Picture one - Since I have a long waist I would make it longer. I would use bright colors ( lime green, pink, light blue...) at the top too. This would be a good thick sweater for the winter.


Picture two - I am not a huge fan on the neck but I think over all the sweater is cute. It is a lighter weight yarn then the first picture but layers would be key.

Picture three - This sweater is similar to the one I just made. The stitch pattern is different but the over all look is similar. You can't tell very well in this picture but there is a neat design that runs down both sides by the arms.


Picture four - This sweater would be a challenge and I have a feeling it will be one that I will not be able to do just yet. The stitch pattern is a basket weave and I would have to figure out how to follow the pattern.

All of these patterns came from Crochet Today! Magazines. I highly recommend this magazine to anyone who crochets! They have a lot of modern patterns.

Let the voting begin...

All GREAT things must come to an end...



As the saying goes - "All good things must come to an end". I have finished my first sweater!!! To my great surprise it turned out to be a very easy pattern and the finished product looks great! I am sure there are mistakes but for being my first sweater I am very proud of it!

Instead of quarter length sleeves or long sleeves I decided to make short sleeves that way I can wear it in the spring and fall. I am sure it will also look good with a long sleeved shirt under it during the winter.

Because of the weight of the yarn I decided to sew on two set of snaps and use the button as decoration. The pattern is designed to be form fitting so it isn't the kind of sweater that you would button all the way down.

I am so thankful to my new friend, Michelle, for mailing me this wonderful yarn and suggesting that we have a "crochet along". There is not a better gift then a box full of yarn!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Perfect Button


Last weekend I spent a lot of time on the computer looking at buttons. I spent hours on Etsy.com and eBay.com. Although I did see a lot of beautiful buttons, none of them was what I had envisions for my sweater!

Last Tuesday I joined a knit and crochet group and the ladies were telling me about a new yarn shop on Signal Mountain. Three Black Sheep was started in NY and now is re-opened here in Chattanooga! I see a lot of time spent there in the upcoming days and months!

While drooling over the yarn I found the perfect button for my sweater!!! It is exactly what I was looking for! It looks like it is made out of clay and it has more colors in it other then just purple. I can hardly wait to see how it looks when the sweater is completely done!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A New Addition To My Addiction


All year I have admired this statue at Hobby Lobby! I thought it was beautiful but I also thought it would be fun to display my work on it. There were a few different types of statues but this one is as tall as me and I think it is the nicest one.

The best thing about Hobby Lobby is their sales! Almost everything is on sale. If it isn't that week - come back next week and it will be! I am so lucky! I got this statue 30% off!!

In honor of my new addition to my addiction, I am going to show off the yoke of my sweater that I am working on:

In a few more rows I will be adding the arm holes and working on the body from there. I love how this yarn looks! I believe if this sweater turns out good then I will be making more!

Happy Crafting!