crochet scarf

Late last month I gave my sister a fall themed birthday gift that included two homemade projects. Last week I shared the first part of the gift which was a small polymer clay pumpkin container. It's a cute little keepsake that will hold her tiny treasures and remind her that it's fall. 

The next part of the gift I made her is a crochet infinity (or not) scarf to keep her warm on chilly fall days. The pattern for the scarf came from this lovely book on crochet. 

I highly recommend The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stroller if you want to learn crochet. When I was starting out my nose was constantly in this book. The instructions are very straightforward and easy to follow. 

The pattern I used is actually for a bolero jacket called short 'n sweet. It is a popular pattern among crocheters. I've used the pattern to crochet a few different projects so I'm pretty familiar with the stitches. I made the jacket as a Christmas gift for my mom a couple of years ago and then used the same stitches to start this ginormous blanket that I'm pretty sure I'm going to take apart. 

I didn't mean to make it this monstrously long but after working on this blanket I had the intricate lace pattern completely memorized.

Although the scarf I made for my sister is much smaller than the blanket above, it brought on a new batch of challenges. It was the first project I had completed with very thin yarn and a tiny hook.

It took some getting used to but I really love how it came out.

Once I got the body of the scarf to the right length I added a finishing border of single crochet. My original plan was to attach the edges making it an infinity scarf but after some consideration I decided to crochet a spot at the ends for functioning buttons. This way my sister can choose to wear it as a traditional scarf or as an infinity scarf. Plus I thought the buttons would be a nice finishing detail.

But before I could sew the buttons on I had other ideas for this scarf. I love the yellow thread, and it is appropriate for fall, but because my sister is blonde I figured a darker color might suit her better.

And just like that it was dark brown! The buttons I picked out are covered in a white fabric. I wanted them to stay that way so I had to wait until I was finished dying the scarf before I could sew the on.

Once they were attached I was finished! It's so satisfying to finish a project and have it come out pretty closely to how I imagined. I hope she loves it as much as I loved making it!

making stuff

So, as usual, I've been busying myself with a bunch of craft projects and I wanted to share a few photos of what I've been doing. Most of these are works in progress.

This is the start of a top secret project that I will be sharing later next month. You'd think making a small pinch pot out of polymer clay would be no big deal but getting the surface even and smooth is a challenge! 

 

I made this tiny polymer clay skull for no reason in particular. After a coat or two of white paint he'll be a cute halloween accent on one of our bookshelves. 

I also made a few tiny polymer pumpkins that are about the same size as the skull above. I've got five of them made so far and I have plans for more. I love these!

I've been playing around with paper mache too. I've wanted to make a small deer head for soooooooooooooo long. I'm talking years and years. I finally started a few weeks ago. I can't wait until it's done!

This colorful piece will one day be a pillow cover. It kind of reminds me of these painted chevron candle holders I painted awhile ago.   

Oh! I finally finished one of the crochet flags I've been working on! One down, one to go.

What kind of things have you been working on??

blanket update

So I haven't worked on my crochet chevron blanket in awhile, unfortunately. Its been a few months. I was head over heals excited with this project back in February when I started it. But, as I've mentioned before, I have a bad case of creative ADHD. I can't help it, I go from one project to the next.

This is what it looked like last time.

 And this is what it looks like now.

I'm just over half way done.

Once the weather starts getting colder I'll be more inspired to work on it.

crocheting the American flag part two

I've been working on crocheting two flags during all my spare time (which wasn't much) with the hopes of having them both finished by the 4th of July... yeah, tomorrow. This morning as I was working on the stars I realized that it wasn't going to happen.

I have ten out of a hundred done. Crap.

It wasn't until this morning that I finally came up with a star solution that I was happy with. I told myself that I wouldn't get too hung up on exact measurements and I didn't when it came to the crochet parts. To my surprise they turned out better than expected. The stars on the other hand needed to be exact if I wanted to fit 50 in a small space without them looking like a mess. It took a lot of trial and error to come up with something that I was happy with and I really like how the stars are turning out. 

I could have rushed and settled with something else just to get the flags finished in time... but I realized that these flags will last a lot longer than the holiday tomorrow. 

There will be plenty of opportunities to hang these flags in my windows once they are finished. And that is something to celebrate.

crocheting the American flag

Last year, on July 3rd, I decided I would crochet a flag to celebrate our nation's independence. I looked through my stash and realized that the red, white and blue yarn I had would be enough for a flag the size of an index card. Because of that - and the fact that I didn't have much time - I wisely decided to not start this new project but to work on one of the zillions of projects that I had abandoned in the middle of production.

This year I did a bit more pre-planning. I got some yarn last weekend and went to work Monday night. My goal was to have one done by Flag Day and two by the 4th of July. Well today is Flag Day and I'm not done so I amended my goal to finish just the crochet parts. Goal completed. Not bad for less than three days of work, but my wrists are mad at me.

Now all I need to do is sew it together between the blue part and the top stripes and sew in the stars. I thought about crocheting each star one by one and then sew them on, but that would have been a lot of work. I want both flags to be finished on both sides... 200 stars... no way.

I'm making these flags not only to be festive, but because I like the idea of having them around for awhile. I'd like to put them up every year and then pass them down to the next generation of my family.

I'll make updates when this flag is done and then again after they're both finished. I didn't use a pattern so I'll write it out and post it with one of the updates. And in case you were interested, I used a 5.5mm hook and Red Heart Super Saver yarn in soft navy, soft white and burgundy. The whole thing is done in single crochet.

Happy Flag Day!

I dream of chevron

Don't you love the chevron pattern? It's simple, bold, classic.

{ 1 } - { 2 } - { 3 } - { 4 } - { 5 } - { 6 } - { 7 } - { 8 }

This pattern has recently inspired tons of projects that I want to make. At this point it's a challenge to design something that isn't zigzag. The first project that I couldn't wait to start is a crochet chevron blanket.

When starting a new project google is always the first place I go. Naturally. I began by looking at all the different crochet chevron blankets out there -trust, theres a ton- so I could get an idea of where to start. I knew it would be black and tan... because I already had a ton of black and tan yarn. It was just a happy coincidence that the two colors go lovely together.

I decided to create my own pattern. I chose to do it in single crochet and a small hook to create a very defined pattern and a dense piece of fabric. Plus I wanted the points of the chevron to be... well, pointy.

I'm falling more and more in love with this blanket with every stitch.