One more...

Ok, I have a few more projects to blog about, but I'm tired and so I'm only going to do ONE more for now. And this one... is so amazing to me, I can't believe I made it!

A sock.

An amazing, soft and cuddly, black knitted sock. Modeled here by my husband.
















I had never attempted socks before, but decided to give it a try about a month ago. I failed at creating a summer sock because of the yarn (it was way too thick) but it was a nice around the house sock. Really wanting to make "wearable with regular shoes" type socks, I got some actual sock yarn and tried again with great success!

I found a video series on YouTube for toe-up socks (which makes the most sense to me) and got to work. The videos were really well done and I had no trouble following along.

Here is a link to the first video: Video 1

I only have one done so far, but plan on making many many more very soon!

If you decide to give this a try, send me a picture of your project! I'd love to see what you all are doing too!

Happy crafting!

Just in time for the 4th

One of the many things I'm making for friends and family this year for Christmas was an American flag afghan (which is sooooo soft, I love it!)
















This little beauty only took about 10 hours total and the finished size is 6ft by 4ft. The pattern is one that I made myself and is not really anything special in and of itself, but I wanted a little variation to give the strips some depth.

Rows 1-2: DC across all stitches
Rows 3-5: SC across all stitches
Rows 6-7: DC across all stitches
Change colors and repeat rows 1-7

For the stars I followed a pattern that I found online and then sewed them on top of the blue with a quick whip stitch. I can't find the pattern for the stars again, but it was so easy that I still remember it.

Stars -
Row 1: ch 3. 9 dc in 3rd ch from hook, join round with a slip stitch.
Row 2: ch 5. Slip stitch in first ch from hook, SC in next ch, HDC in next chain, DC in next ch. Skip 1 DC and slip stitch in next.
Repeat row 2 until all 5 points are created.

















Like I said, this was a very quick and fun project and I would highly recommend making your own this year! Happy early 4th of July to all! :-D

Baby Blanket

With pretty much everyone I know having babies I've been making a TON of these lately. Generally I make the same one, it's so cute and so easy that it's been my long time favorite. I'll post about that one next time I make it.

But this time I have a new blanket. This one features 'popcorn hearts' offset by granny squares. I used a green and cream colorway (the green isn't really that dark in real life). Never having attempted popcorns before, because I was a little afraid of them, assuming that they were very difficult, I was a little skeptical about how this blanket would turn out. But, I went for it and much to my surprise, popcorn crochet stitch is unbelievably simple!

Look at how fun they are! (Sorry it's so blurry!)

















I'm sure everyone in the world knew how simple this stitch was, but in case there are some like me who had no clue, I'll give you a super quick rundown.

Working on the wrong side - SC in stitch before the stitch where the popcorn will go. *Working in back loop only, YO pull up loop, pull stitch through 2 loops, YO pull up loop, pull stitch through 2 loops leaving 3 loops on needle. Repeat from * until there are 5 loops on hook, pull stitch through all 5 loops. SC in stitch right after popcorn.

Super easy, super cute!

Here is the finished product! I love it!

Success!

Well, I guess the old adage "wash your car and it will start raining" works for blogs too. As soon as I complained about it, I found the cords I was looking for :-)

I was a so annoyed with losing the cords that I started a new project right after posting about it... Molly Weasley's sweater from the 2nd movie. For the release of the 7th movie my mom decided she would be Mrs. Weasley... and for those of you who know of Mrs. Weasley and who know my mom know that this is a perfect fit! I actually made ridiculous headway while fuming about the lost cords. In just an hour I got this much done...

















Here is a picture of the original for those who haven't seen the movie.


















The yarn I have is pretty cheapo stuff, so I'm going to go and grab some nice soft cotton tomorrow so that the piece will flow right. But for now I just wanted to try out my pattern. Since the only ones I could find where either not faithful to the movie or you had to pay for them, I just decided to make up my own. We'll see how it goes, but I like it so far!

Will update on the sweater with a pattern once it's finished!

Frustrated...

Well... I have tons of projects to show you all, but seemly things are set against me at the moment. First, my computer refused flat out to connect to the internet for about four days, and now I can't seem to get the pictures from my camera to my computer. All of the cords have gone missing!

Here is a breakdown of all the exciting things I have to share...

* 6ft x 4ft American Flag Afghan
* Green and white 'Popcorn hearts' baby blanket
* First perfect toe-up sock attempt!
* Harry Potter mini-sweater Christmas tree ornament
* First attempt at crocheted lace - Victorian Dream Square doily
* Progress report on my first portrait crochet project

But alas, they will all have to wait for the cords to be found. If I don't find them tomorrow, I may breakdown and just go buy a new one! We'll see.

I hope you all are having more luck with your projects than I am with getting mine uploaded :-)

Happy Crafting!

First Knitted Sweater

Well, here it is! My first attempt at knitting...















No, one sleeve it not shorter than the other, it just kinda looks that way from the way I folded it!

I used a very loose version of this pattern. I made it with 3/4 length sleeves and with a standard v-neck instead of that in the actual pattern. I also used a garter stitch instead of the stockinette. So basically, I just used this patten to know when to narrow in for the sleeves!

I thought a little crochet edging might look nice as well, so I used this pattern for the edge of the sleeves and around the bottom edge of the sweater and it turned out really well!















The fit is perfect and all I have to do is tuck in all the loose ends. I love how soft this sweater turned out. The I love this cotton! yarn from Hobby Lobby is excellent and very soft!

That's all for now, I'm starting my portrait crochet project this week and will update as soon as it starts to look like anything recognizable! :-)

Happy Crafting!

Dragon!!

Update: Click here for the pattern! I just realized the link was a little too embedded to see well :-)

Hello all!

I know it's been awhile so I thought I would whip up something extra special to try and make up for it.

I saw this adorable pattern about a month ago and have been dying to make it every since. But with one project or another in the works, I didn't want to have too many things going at once and therefore refrained from making one.

However! I finished the sweater I had been working on this Friday and decided to take the weekend off to make something really fun! So here it is... my dragon!












































I know, I know... it's almost too cute for words, but I'll try :-D

I used Little Britches yarn in Baby Camo with a 5.5mm crochet hook which, looking back, was a little too big. I had never made a crochet stuffed animal before so this was a completely new crocheting experience for me!

Much to my surprise however, it was relatively simple and quick! In total the entire project took about 6 hours. Which I think is pretty darn good for a first time dragon maker!

I still need to embroider the eyes and talons onto the finished dragon, but I was just too excited to show everyone that I couldn't wait to post!

Anyway, I love it and I hope you do too! If you would like to try your hand at making your very own dragon, you can find the pattern that I used here.

Next up: The sweater...
As I mentioned above, I finished my first hand knitted sweater this week! Post and pictures soon to follow :-)

Happy Crafting!