Latch Hook Rugs

This is Winnie the Pooh. In latch hook form! He's a present for my Pooh obsessed aunt. All I need to do is find a frame for him (we're going to take out the glass so she can touch the rug part) and he'll be done! Hurray!

This is a butterfly. It took slightly less forever, but I don't have anything to do with it. I did tape the edges down. That ought to count for something, right?

Early Amigurumi

(I think I already posted these, but they're so cute I don't care!) I made these two adorable boogers about a year ago. They were easy to make, and my first amigurumi project. I think they were also the first real crochet project I did. The green one is going to be a Christmas present for my little cousin, because he would totally get a kick out of this kind of thing. Anyway, here's the link: http://a-crochet-ninja.blogspot.com/2009/12/bogies.html

Another early amigurumi was this kitty. I just found this link randomly, and it was so cute I decided to make him! He is super easy even for a beginner, and pretty fast. Here's the link: http://nimoe.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/miuku-the-cat-pattern/

Fingerless Glove Tutorial

Materials:

Sewing Machine and Needle and Thread

Scissors and Thread Scissors

Pins

A Stretchy Pant Leg

1. Cut the pant leg so it is about two inches longer then the inner joint of your thumb to mid fore-arm. Put an arm into the piece.

2. Cut the piece in half, so you have two pieces of fabric with a seam in the middle when you flatten them.

3. Turn these pieces inside out, then pin them together so they are in a loop again. (See the gloves yet?)

4. Stitch up the side of each glove so it can be worn as one.

5. Turn up the raw edge, and sew it down like a hem, except you don't have to be fancy if you don't want to. I'm not going to tell anyone! (And mine was a fail, so I can't really talk...)

6. Cut a slit for your thumb in the factory seam, then hand stitch around it to make it neat.

7. Wear your beautiful gloves and feel very cool. (A zebra ring never hurts.)

Breast Cancer Ribbon Pillows

This is my first try at scheduled posting. It's pretty important that this is posted today... If it doesn't work tomorrow is alright too. Anyway, my mom and her best friend are walking the 3-Day for the third time, so I made these pillows to commemorate that wonderful achievement. Here they are:

They're made from the same fabric, it's a pre-quilted fabric that has a different pattern on each side. This one is for my mom, because butterflies have a special meaning to her:

And this one is for her friend, because I didn't want them to look the same:

Good luck! Have a great walk and try to stay dry!

Fuzzy Cowl Pattern

This is a fuzzy cowl-earmuff-thing. It was originally going to be a scarf, but when I was folding it for in-progress storage, I saw a cowl and sewed the short ends. It's for another aunt. (doesn't it look like the scarf I posted earlier?) The white one was also destined to be a scarf, but I didn't have the ball band or yarn name to find the yardage, so I ran out. I had to rush to the store to get new white yarn, but I couldn't find this kind so I had to start over. Luckily, it led to the discovery of wonderful yarn, and a super-soft cowl! The -ahem- pattern is below.

Materials:

One skein of Bernat Boa yarn (or other fuzzy bulky weight yarn)

Size 10 or 11 knitting needles (or needles suggested on the yarn)

Scissors

Yarn needle

1. Cast on 15 stitches.

2. Knit each row until it is a little shorter than you want it to be.

3. Bind of with at least a 12 inch tail.

4. Stretch the strip you just made, so it is how long it can be.

5. Sew the short ends together with the bind off tail, then weave in all ends.

That's it! Super simple!

Amigurumi-Designed By Me!!!!!!

No, don't get excited. There isn't a cool free pattern (or a buyable one), there's just a picture. They aren't great, but this was my first two tries designing amigurumi, so it's alright, right?

It's a lion, OK? Get it now? Okay, it's awful, let's move on:

Progress! My second pattern. It almost looks like a cupcake, with the ruffle at the bottom of the shirt. Hmm, that gives me an interesting idea. If it comes out to anything I'll post a picture! She doesn't have a face or hair, and the limbs aren't even. The color change between the neck and shirt didn't go so well either. But it's a lot better than the lion!

Patchwork Pillow

I had lots of scraps, so I decided to do some patchwork to use them up. (Click here for the other patchwork post I did-it's a tutorial!!) This is a pillow, and it is very squishy and lumpy. I slept on it for a while, until I realized that my tossing and turning was tearing some of the seams. Now I just use it for decoration!

Coin Purses and DPN Experiment

I knit little stuff too! This was an experiment with DPNs. I was looking at knitted toy patterns, and they are almost all knit in the round on DPNs! So I figured I probably ought to learn how to do it....... Using them, however, is like wrestling with a porcupine. I need to practice, because I want to try hats, socks, and mittens soon!

Another little thing! This was made on bigger needles than I normally use, and with two strands. (See how it's two colors?!) The white is super fuzzy and crazy, and the orange isn't. It actually looks pretty cool, I think. The only problem is, it's a little loose, so coins might fall out. But it might work for gift cards. If you like orange.

Another coin purse, but not fuzzy. I actually made this AGES ago, but I found it while I was getting a bag out for a trip, so here it is!  My grandma taught me how to knit when I was six, but this was made a year ago when she taught me to purl, something I had struggled with for a while. You can't really see  the stockinette and ribs I made with my new talent, but they're there, I promise.

Broom Pen!!!!

I am a huge Harry Potter fanatic. I went to the last part of the movies on my birthday, I've read all the books upwards of fifteen times each, and I love the movies. (Yeah, I'm kind of weird... your point?) I was super happy (!!!!!!) when I found this site. This broomstick pen is really easy, and I didn't get the surface crochet so I made up my own technique that is kind of like latch hooking to make the straw. This is the link: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/crochet/broompen 

Patchwork Pouch Tutorial

I made these pouches to hold stuff. The tutorial below shows how I made the one on the right, but depending on how many scraps you use, it can be any size.

Materials

Sewing Machine and Needle and Thread

Scraps

Slightly largish pieces of fabric for lining and the back pieces-I used cotton and fleece

Some kind of string for the drawstring

Scissors and Thread Scissors

Pins

1. Arrange some scraps into a square or rectangle, keeping in mind they will shrink when you sew them. (I wasn't thinking about that, which is why this one was so small.)

2. Stitch all the scraps together, using a liberal amount of pins to make sure all goes well. (I've found it is very helpful when you want to get straightish lines!)

3. Stitch three of sides to the lining piece with right sides together, then turn it right side out and hand stitch the last side with really tiny stitches.

4. Fold an edge down about and inch and stitch it down to make the drawstring casing, then do the same for the back piece.

                                                                                           

5. Sew the three not-folded sides together with right sides facing, then turn the bag right side out. Be careful not to stitch the drawstring casings shut.

6. Feed the drawstring through the casing and knot the ends. I taped the end to a pen, because I couldn't find any safety pins. It works really well!

Voila!

It's Raining.

It's raining. Hard! This is the swamp my backyard has become.

The picture is kinda blurry, but I didn't want to get wet to take the picture, so it's through a window. Not the best conditions. :)

Baby Blankets

These are baby blankets. I am going to make two more in a different color, which is in the variegated purple, and then sew them all together. (See, I plan sometimes!) It might even look good when I'm done. Hopefully. They aren't really different sizes, that's mostly perspective. I hope. One was done on circular needles, the other on straight. I don't know if that makes a difference, because they were the same needle size......   This is the link to the pattern, but I used worsted weight yarn, and only cast on fifty stitches instead of seventy five. http://www.nancyhearne.com/drawingboard/littleblankets.htm

A Rocky Road

Hi guys!

As I mentioned when I first posted, this is my first blog. I know the posts have been a bit awkward, and they don't sound like me at all. Once I have used up the store of posts I wrote from my website, I think it will sound a little more natural because I will be talking about the present, and I will try to make it more interesting and easier to read and enjoy. I also figured out how to make sure the pictures don't show up as blank spaces with blue question marks. If there's anyone reading, thanks for sticking by me!

OK, so thanks for riding the rocky road of my first couple of weeks, but pretty soon it'll be smooth sailing!

Knitting Needle Holder Gone Wrong

I originally planned to make this a cover for an oatmeal can, to hold knitting needles in. It turned out to be a hat that is much too small for me, but fits someone else...

She can keep it!

Butterfly Pillow

You look funny with your head turned sideways like that :) Yes, I know it's sideways, (not really sure how to fix that) and I know the butterfly isn't in the center. This is another "I intended it this way but it didn't happen like that" sewing project. I made a bunch of things similar to this (OK, three) but they all turned out just fine. I made an elephant I gave to my wonderful History teacher, a cat I gave to my friend and a horse for another friend. This one was for my mom. Being wonderful the way she is, she didn't comment on how misshapen it is. To be honest, it had been sitting around for so long I was happy to finish it and get it out of my room! 

All of these projects are really easy. I may post a tutorial at some point, which would be a good reason to make one that I owe to my friend..... We'll see!

Lots of Scarves

I like scarves. The top one is my mother's birthday present (she has seen it and tried it on, so it's OK if she sees this) which is eight feet long and took about a billion years. Never again will I make her a scarf, except for the next one. She doesn't know about this one, so SHH! I told her it's for her best friend, who also loves pink. There's another one for her. I don't have a picture because it is already halfway through the packing process. Finally, a purple scarf for my History teacher's birthday. This is the last time I ever buy more Bernat Boa yarn. Except I bought some black for my grandma, and I have another skein of purple that I need to make another scarf with, and..........