Quickie Projects

This kitty has really started my wheels turning.  I think it would be the perfect project to teach a crochet class, as opposed to the traditional boring scarf.    Its made from 3 pieces.   The body is a straight flat, single crochet rectangle.   Teaches chaining and SC.    The next is a flat piece with simple shaping.  Teaches increasing and decreasing.   The tail is crochet in the round, laying the foundation for hats and amugurumi.  And the final step is sewing it all together.   Voila - a complete intro to crochet in a simple, easy to make kitten that is much more fun to show off than a scarf.  Plus it can be made with any size yarn and hook.  I used a thin mercerized cotton and a tiny D hook.  I'm going to try another with woolease yarn and a larger F or G hook.   Now i just need to figure out where to teach this imaginary class.

The easter egg is a super quick stash buster.   I plan to make little people-eggs with the pattern to represent the 5 crazies in our famly.   Pics to follow.  But this tiny blue-speckled robins egg was done with baby sport yarn.  

The loofah was the perfect airline project.  Very, very simple.  You just increase by 3 each row.   I made it on the way to visit my friend in CA and left it with her as a "thanks for letting me use your house a hotel" gift.   Havent heard the review on its effectiveness as a bath poof yet, but its pretty!  

Otherwise I am still trucking along in square-land.   Going to assemble squares 7, 8 and 9 of my daughters blanket this weekend.  Then I need to make 3 more big squares (or 12 little squares) and I am ready to assemble and border it.  Wow.  Could I...me....actually complete a blanket some day?

Squares, Squares...Everywhere Squares!

I'm totally digging these "granny" squares.  Who knew? 

After seeing this Daisy Fourpatch, I had to make it.  After making it, I decided I needed to make a blanket out of it.  Me?  Make a blanket?  What's gotten into me?   Luckily it's going to be for my child, so I can justify making it out of 12 12" squares, as opposed to 20 of them.   And after completing the first 3, I can proudly say I am 25% of the way there.  This blanket may actually get done! 

Apparently, they also perform well in battle, as evidenced by Queen Amidala's use of weaponized yarn to battle the Dark Side (her brother).

And of course, because I cannot stay on task (see Blog Title), I stumbled upon Waldo's Puzzle and had to make it.  I love the colors and how it looks, but I am not sure I want to create a whole blanket of Waldo's squares.   Too much weaving in ends.   I might just keep going with the alternating white/variegated stripes and turn it into a baby blanket.

Speaking of end weaving...as I was making the daisy squares, I stumbled into a valuable technique - weaving in the end of one color as you begin the next color.  OK, so it may be obvious to you veteran yarn crafters, but it was like divine inspiration to me!   On the daisy patches, I was able to effectively go from 26 loose ends to 2 per 12" square!    Unfortunately, Waldo's square didn't lend itself to that technique as well. 

My one year crochet anniversary!

One year into my crochet journey and I celebrate my making my first "Granny Square".   Do I get to learn the supah-sekrit crochet handshake now?  I always said I was not a granny square type, but this pattern just called to me.  I have no idea what I will do with it.  I dont love the yarn I used, but I actually enjoyed making it.   Figuring out the rounds was like solving a math word problem.  I noodled over Round 4 for the longest time, trying to visualize what she wanted me to do and then just dove in and got it!   It went very quick too.  It's a 12 in square, so it wouldn't take too many of these to make a kid blanket.   

So there's this app you should check out...

A little late, but I finally discovered Angry Birds.   It was fun.  I thought my husband would enjoy it, so I told him to check it out when he got back in town on Friday.   By Sunday afternoon, I was ready to shove his iPhone where the birds don't fly.  He was officially obsessed. 

So before I left town myself, I decided to leave him a gift.  His very own Angry Cardinal, staring malevolently from his computer desk.   Nicely stuffed with poly pellets, for added "heft" (hey at least it's not a tennis ball!).   Not saying I will, but its the perfect size to throw at a distracted husband who says "just one more level and I will [feed the children/take out the trash/rejoin the land of the living]".

Penguin Bowling!

A sweet little baby girl was turning 1.  I was there when she was born, during one of Atlanta's rare ice/snow storms that render the roads impassable.   When I got the wee early morning call, my sleepy husband rolled over and said "Can't she wait for the roads to clear?"  UH....

So of course I had to make something snowy and icy for this sweet dear's 1st Birthday.   The pattern called for 6 penguins.  I ran out of time and the ability to create more than 3 copies of the same thing, so my version has 3 penguins.   Much less clutter for the house, I told my friend. 

But overall, this is a super cute, super fun, fairly fast gift idea for kiddies of all ages. 

 The ball isnt as wonky as it looks above, but it does have a tennis ball inside for more "heft."

Nothing makes a toddler happier than wanton destruction.   "Do it again! Do it again!"

The "Just Add a Horn" Unicorn Purse

I think the most fun of this Horse Purse project was keeping my daughter guessing until the last minute as to what I was making.  Now if I was smart, I would save cute stuff like this for Bdays or holidays, but I am terrible at secrets and just cant wait to hand off the project as soon as it's done.

I think it turned out adorable, but the stuffing bulges a bit on the inside.  I did end up tying it off inside some, but I think if I made another, I would mess with the design a bit.   My older has requested her own pony/unicorn, but not a purse, which is fine because that's less steps for me.  

The view inside.  Not a ton of room, but just enough for a 2 yr old and her collection of trinkets!

I need minions!

So I made my own Minion ala Despicable Me.   Love him!   Except, I think the cat's getting some ideas on assembling her own Minion Army.

(He is supposed to have 2 arms, but I ran out of yellow cotton yarn.   I will be getting more so I can make a couple more of these cuties!)