Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Do you know how to count? I'm pretty sure it goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, blah blah blah. But apparently I wasn't so sure when I was marking out the stitches for the different pictures on my cross stitch project. I made the center square four stitches too short, and now I'm not totally sure what to do about it. I 'm seriously considering just ignoring it. Really. I will honestly just move everything up four stitches, and I'm totally okay with it.

If you're doing something special tonight, have a spooktacular night! I'm just going to relax an have fun tonight, so tomorrow's post is going to be an easy tutorial.

I know you're out there. Don't deny it. There is at least one person scouring the Internet today, looking for something quick to knit for Halloween. (That's today, if you didn't notice.) I have a link to that little thing. Simple Bats. 45 short rows. (I don't mean short rows like for shaping, I mean 45 rows that have less than 15 stitches!) Stop reading this post, and go make some. They're super cute! (And more importantly, small.)

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Eye'm Just Joking

Eye will be making lots of eyeball puns in this post. Because eye want to. (It really goes against the grain to make all these intentional grammar errors, though....) Anyway, I'm super happy with my progress on the Gryffindor crest:

Yay! All done, but that's mostly all I've been working on. I did do a little bit on the sequin skirt (yeah, I'm kind of epically failing on the 10-a-day thing) but that would be a really boring picture.

There was just a gust of wind that sounded like a train. Except it wasn't a tornado. It was just really loud wind.

Yesterday I made some butterbeer based off of number nine on this page. I was making it for two people, so I put two big scoops of vanilla ice cream and 1 1/2 cans of root beer in the blender. For the butterscotch sauce, I was originally going to melt down some butterscotch chips, but they did not want to melt, so I just put them in whole. Like that page says, it was like a butterscotch root beer float, and it was really good!

Eye can see you! (Get it? Because eyes see? Oh, never mind.) Anyway, go check out this Gruesome Knitted Eyeball Pattern by Mary Jane Mucklestone.

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Pumpkins and Lions

I have two FOs for you today!!! (OK, so they're two of the same thing, but that still counts, right?)

I had a little bit of a dumb moment with the ribbon. When I was cutting it, I just held it around the pumpkin and guesstimated how long it needed to be. I figured I needed eight pieces of ribbon for each pumpkin, so when I did the math, I would have run out of ribbon. I really only needed four per pumpkin, because each piece covered two grooves. Whoops! I'm really happy with how these turned out, and I got them delivered on Saturday, with plenty of time to spare.

I also worked on the Harry Potter cross stitch:

I might be able to finish this one today. But no promises.

Come on. You know you want to . Go make a Hallowig. You can probably even do it by Wednesday. Go!

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things 

Tutzle Jr.

I made it! Even though I really had to push it, I managed to finish this little guy:

That is definitely not the right color.

That's better!

before I needed him this morning. My friend was thrilled, so, mission accomplished! His name is Tutzle Jr., after the original mascot I modeled him after. I might actually put up a pattern for him, because he is cuddly and I'm probably going to make one for myself anyway. (Tutzle III, of course.)

This weekend, I'll probably be able to actually work on things that I actually should be working on. (See the list.) That would make me sooooo happy. Seriously.

I'm just going to say it. This Jack O'Lantern is the cutest one I have ever seen in my entire life! (The ones I carve always look a little more on the grotesque side. I'm not super artistic like that.) But this one? Super cute. If I had orange wool, I would definitely make one. But I don't. So I probably won't.

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Pink Pumpkins

Which shall be made with this stuff:

and some ribbon I already have. I'm sort of taking my inspiration from this, but I'm just going to go with it.

I'm also trying to throw together a little present for one of my friends. I've known him since sixth grade, and now he's moving across the world. I wanted to put together a little memory of middle school for him, so I'm recreating the class mascot I made in sixth grade. Yes, we're crazy. I need it tomorrow morning, so I'll have FO pictures tomorrow afternoon. (Hopefully. After that I may have a little trouble giving it to him.)

I love Ravelry. (And I'm not even on it!) Go check out this Spooky Shawl by Darlene Swaim. At first glance, you appear to be wearing a lovely, mature shawl. Then you look closer, and you see all the little pumpkin faces! So cute!

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Lameness Version 2.0

These Haunted House and Candy Corn Pillows are for people with a lot of patience. Just looking at the picture, I can tell that they are worked in a very fine gauge. (Then I checked the needle sizes and it's 6 and 8, and I started thinking that the camera is always a liar.) Still, if you have the patience for the fine, fine, gauge (ahem) of this project, they would be a neat addition to your house. Or mine. But mostly yours.

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Thoughts About Creativity

I've been doing some thinking the last few days, and I wanted to share it with you. (Mostly it's a coverup, but don't let that dissuade you from reading this.)

What is creativity? According to this dictionary, it's ...... the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns,relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality,progressiveness, or imagination...... But what does all that really mean? I don't like breaking or bending rules, so does that mean I'm not creative? There are a lot of people that can't knit or crochet much without a pattern. Does that mean we aren't creative? I love creative writing (and I'm pretty good at it, I think), so does that automatically mean I'm creative? Do people that sit and daydream all day qualify as creative? (Because a lot of people would call them lazy.) Was Einstein's work creative? He came up with new ideas, so were his scientific discoveries creative?

What do you think? Am I putting too much thought into this? (There's always the possibility that I am stark raving mad. You know that might be it.)

Today, you all have to click on this link. It leads to pictures of very cute babies!!!! Oh, and a knitting pattern. But mostly the babies!! I'm not even going to put a picture, so you all have to go look. So there. (Seriously, though, go look at the pattern for HarVest and Pumpkin HarVest from Unfurled.)

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Glow-In-The-Dark Photoshoot

I'm going to start today's post with a little insight into how I get my photos. (Note: I don't normally put this much effort in. This project just didn't want to be photographed.)

Step 1: Take the picture with the lights on.

Mission accomplished. Now, let's show how cool it looks with the lights off!

Step 2: Turn the lights off, turn the tea light on, and take the picture again.

Ehh. That didn't go so well.

Step 3: Move the box near your open door, so a little light from the hallway will spill in.

Oops. Caught the laundry basket in that one.

Step 4: Zoom way in and flip the camera to cut out the laundry basket (rather then just cropping Step 3 later).

Argh! Never mind!

This one did like having its picture taken, though:

I like how you can see how shiny it is. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Just because I feel like telling you, the box has a tree on all four sides, and the opposite sides are the same color, either red or green. There's a white stripe in between each colored section, and the top is a mix of all three colors. I love it!

Since these are done, I have a very important announcement to make.

I have officially finished all of the projects I am making as Christmas gifts this year.

That'll be all.

I also made the circle scarf I was talking about.. um.. sometime last week? I might put up a little tutorial next week, because it didn't go exactly as planned, but I do like it.

This choker is a great way to show some spirit (get it? spirit? like a ghost?) without going all out, or you could make it the focal point of an entire costume.

Picture from Crocheting with Cannon 

cotton threads.

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Lame-O Post

I love this Halloween Party Banner! I've actually never had a Halloween party, but if I did, I would definitely make this!

Picture from Red Heart.

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• do the decoupage
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Tips for... yeah, I forgot.

Last night, while working on my decoupage projects, I found out a few more things that are good to know when you are doing this sort of project:

1. While glue is your friend, don't use it excessively. Try to only apply more glue once the entire area is totally dry, or the tissue paper will rip.
2. The tissue paper makes friends easily, so be sure you like the angle of it before you put it down. If you do need to take if off, you're probably going to have to scrape at it with your nail, and that's no fun!
3. (This one is probably obvious to everyone but me!) Don't try to put a light color (say, white) over darker colors (red and green) unless you're prepared to do some serious layering.
4. Try to avoid using big pieces. It looks a lot neater with little pieces, and it's definitely worth the extra time!
5. I forgot all the really intelligent things I thought of this morning. This is why I have to write stuff down right away.

I have been doing little bits and pieces of things, but nothing very substantial. I may have picture-worthy things tomorrow, but no promises. 

I'm going to spend the rest of tonight cross-stitching and trying to remember my other decoupage tips. It's not going to happen! :)

I really like this Boo Bunting because it's so versatile (wow! I used an adjective!) and can be made into bunting for lots of different holidays.

Picture from Prairie Yarn.

You could even make them green, hang them from the tips, and have Christmas trees. Seriously.

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• finish the decoupage
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

I Heart Glue. You Should Too.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to talk about decoupage today, so here you go:

For those of you that don't know, decoupage is "the technique of decorating a surface with cutouts, as with paper." At least, that's what the dictionary says. I think of it as dunking ripped up tissue paper in Modge Podge and slapping them on something, but that's a little less scientific. I've actually only done it once, but it's not exactly something that takes a lot of practice. You kind of just have to do it!

The one thing you really need to remember is this: What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything? Glue. That's what. The tissue paper ripped when you were putting it on? Wait a little while, then use glue and add more. The tissue paper won't stay flat on the object? Once it's dry, lightly spread some glue in the offending area. Glue is your new best friend! You must take it on walks in the park, and eat a romantic dinner while it watches! (OK, so maybe you're dating the glue?) Anyway, learn to love the glue.

I'm going to be making something a little bit like this, but I'm going to have a striped background, and I'm going to use a Christmas tree, not a Jack O'Lantern. I am about halfway done right now, and I'm waiting for it to dry so I can touch it up.

I'm running out of adjectives to describe the October things. So I'm giving up. Here is an Autumn Leaves Fridgie:

Picture from Crochet Memories.

Go make it. I like it. (There will be no more discussion on this topic.)

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• do the decoupage
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

An Illusion

I haven't actually worked on the Gryffindor crest since Sunday, but I have been doing some other administrative/planning type stuff.

First, I made a final judgement on a skirt I made a while ago. It started like this:

But it had a few problems:

'

So I decided to chop it up and make it shorter. That did not work out very well. Mostly because the hem wasn't straight to begin with, so cutting in a straight line just made it short and crooked, instead of long and crooked. Anyway, I took the elastic off last night, and after messing around with it, I decided to make an infinity scarf. Just one problem: it's a trapezoid. That can be easily fixed with some scissors, so once I make it rectangular, I can stitch this baby up and take it out of the time out bag once and for all! I'm hoping to cut and pin it sometime this week, so I have something mindless to do on Saturday afternoon. I have a feeling I'm going to be pretty braindead! :) (And no, I do not feel guilty for working on this. This was already in the timeout bag, and the only reason it wasn't on my list was because I wasn't sure what was going to happen to it. So there.)

Next up, I was looking for a good thing to do with this pretty green velvet I found in the box, and I kind of wanted to make a skirt for myself (because that always goes really well), but I thought it might be really ugly. Google to the rescue! I searched "green velvet skirt" and I found a lot of cute skirts, but I'm not sure that I'm going to do that yet. I also saw a few cute tops I think I might be able to replicate, so I'm on the fence a little with that.

While I had the green velvet out, I cut off a little strip that was sticking off the edge and bothering me. I'm gong to use it to make something like this. I'm not really going to follow that tutorial, and I already have the pieces ready. That might be a quickie sewing project for tonight, or I might save it for Saturday.

See that? I managed to make a little ripping and cutting into a coherent post that makes it look like I did so much. It's all an illusion!

Tomorrow I will explain what I'm doing for the decoupage projects, because I feel like I'm rambling. 

This little Witch Doll is very cute:

Picture from Crochet Sal.

as is the rest of the stuff on her site. Go check it out!

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• handsew a zipper to the brown skirt
• do the decoupage
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Uncooperative

I hate it when the Internet throws a temper tantrum. (Mostly because I have no idea what to do when it does. Sometimes I consider sacrificing an SD card down by the river under a full moon. I'm that desperate.) Anyway..... Oh right! The whole point of that was the Internet was down on Friday, hence the lack of real posts. Here's the picture I was going to post:

I have successfully concluded my set of experiments, and determined that things get done when you work on them. My evidence?

Yeah. That's right. I worked on it a little. It got a little bit more done. Magic!

I also tried the etching, but it didn't really work, and I have a new plan that I'll tell you about tomorrow.

This Pumpkin Mini Quilt is absolutely adorable. What if you made a bunch, and made a whole quilt?

Picture from Phyllis Dobbs Art and Design.

Candy Corn!

I have a friend who would wear this Candy Corn Beaded t-shirt year-round:

Picture from Craftbits

I would probably switch the beaded sleeves for a beaded hem, though.

A New Experiment

I'm branching out from my experiment this weekend, and I'm seeing what happens when you don't work on stuff. So far, nothing has happened, and I don't think that's going to change. How about some links, instead?

As a fan of The Wizard of Oz, I would definitely use black and white tights for this:

Picture from HGTV

I really want to make this Witch Candy Cauldron from HGTV! When I was looking at the picture, I thought it would be a t-shirt and tights, and that's probably how I would do this.

I love little ghosts like this one:

Picture from Knitted Toy Box.

It's Boo! from Knitted Toy Box.

Finally, a skeleton banner from Sugar'n Cream:

Picture from Sugar'n Cream.

Kind of cute, kind of creepy. I'm not sure I'm going to make this one!

I'm crossing my fingers that my current experiment will be over soon. Ciao!

In and Out

Just a quickie today, because (although I could have made this a really nice post) I put it off and now I'm running out of time. Here's what I have:

A finished Ravenclaw!

One row of Gryffindor!

I think today's October thing is really cool:

Picture from Gleeful Things.

A Glowing Bat Silhouette from Gleeful Things! (Can you tell I've been spending a lot of time on her site lately?)

Have a great day!

A Continuing Theme

Today, I am continuing along the theme of, "Working on things makes them get done faster." Here is what I have:

I just need to fill in the bird, which is a solid color and will therefore be quite mindless, and the curlicues around the edges, also just one color. After that, I have to backstitch the word "Ravenclaw" over the coral area, and I'll be done! (Just with this part. Not the whole thing.)

Today's October thing is a little Candy Clops from Gleeful Things:

Picture from Gleeful Things.

Super cute!

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• figure out and implement the closure for the brown skirt
• etch the etching projects
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Version 1.Oops

I decided I wanted to post today, because I made big progress on my Harry Potter cross stitch:

That's right. Big progress. It tuns out that if you work on things, they get done! This got off to a little bit of a rough start, when I realized that, when making something for the first time, you have to look at the chart! The bottom row of the coral color has tan under it, as do three of the light blue stitches. (I also forgot to do the two tan stitches that surround the bottom light blue stitch, but I can fix that later.) Therefore, I'm calling this Version 1.Oops. Because that's how I roll.

I also started the etching projects. I can't show one of them to you right now, but here is the other:

It's all ready to be etched, and the other one is pretty much in the same place. (Can you tell that I'm going for simple?) I wanted this one to be etched in with negative space (partially because I couldn't find the ExActo knife). The other one is going to be more like the original, with the design being the etched part (I found the ExActo knife.)

Today's October thing is something I definitely want to make:

Picture from Gleeful Things

these adorable Halloween luminaries from Gleeful Things! I also would like to make some for other holidays (I think she made some snowflake ones, I just can't find them to link right now.)

To Do To Start:

• the house emblems on my HP cross stitch
• figure out and implement the closure for the brown skirt
• etch the etching projects
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

This is Halloween!

I love that song, and it seemed an appropriate title for this post. I have decided that since I already owe you yesterday's October thing, and today's, and it's a long weekend, I will post a little extra October spirit today.

First up, I have this adorable I Want My Mummy treat bag from The Crochet Dude:

Picture from The Crochet Dude.

For the sewers, this cute spider web pillow from Crap I've Made:

Picture from Crap I've Made.

Finally, this burlap table runner from Just Sew Sassy is simple but really cool:

Picture from Just Sew Sassy.

Have a great long weekend!

Stick a fork in it!

I have been waiting to say that for soooo long.....

Anyway, as you may have guessed, I am done with the needle roll:

and I really like it. This one came out a little bigger than I expected (umm duh, the tutorial had measurements on it!) so I'm just going to keep straights in the long pockets and circulars in the bottom pockets. I'm thinking of making a smaller one for my DPNs, since they are really the reason I started this whole project.

I looked through the house emblem charts for the HP cross stitch, and I can only do Gryffindor and Ravenclaw right now. I'm going to start with Ravenclaw, and I printed the chart and grabbed all the floss from the pile today.

I'm in a bit of a hurry, so no October thing today. Doubles tomorrow!

To Do To Start:

• the center square of my HP cross stitch (house emblems)
• figure out and implement the closure for the brown skirt
• make the etching projects
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Missed it by that much!

I missed having two finished objets to show off by *that* much. Here's one, to make me feel better:

I know what you're thinking. (Okay, fine. I don't really! Deal with it!) So yes, that locket is store-bought. But I bought all the pieces, then assembled them into a necklace of awesomeness. (That would be chain, slip rings, cool new closures, and pendant. I didn't make the pendant.) I really like it, so I just need a good picture to stick in it. I'm thinking yarn?

Here is my almost-FO:

That is the ribbon, not plastic wrap. I don't just have plastic wrap lying around on my floor. Last night, I had this much, and I just needed to close up the opening:

which I did today, and add the Velcro, which will have to be tomorrow. Next up? I'm starting the Harry Potter cross stitch! (And no, I haven't been doing my ten-a-day on the sequin skirt. How did you guess?)

For the October thing, I have this wee ghost. Make lots and lots, but do yourself a favor, and don't let them into your garden!

It's October?!?!

I did some thinking this weekend, and I figured out that until I go to the store, the only thing I can really work on is the needle roll. That's just fine with me, so I picked out the fabrics I'm going to use for it. Here are all the pieces:

I am going to have to think about the size of the needles carefully, though. Obviously, I won't be putting my long size 10s in here, or my size 50s, and it will probably be all DPNs and a few short straights.

On a different subject, today is the first day of October. (Yeah, I know.) I wanted to do something a little special this month, so I'm going to post a link to something Halloweeny every time I post this month. I might even make some of it! :) Today, I wanted to post this little pumpkin:

Picture from Handmade by Anne Potter.

 I think it's super cute, and this might be one of the ones I make! Her website has some other neat patterns, so go check it out.

I was able to get to the store yesterday, and I got almost everything I needed:

The only thing was, they didn't have thread #451, so I'll have to go back soonish. (Wow, that's a word?) I also got this pendant, and these closures:

which I'm going to make into a necklace for myself. I'm a sucker for Eiffel Tower stuff! (Plus, it opens!)

Now I'm able to start work on the Harry Potter stuff, I have the Velcro for the needle roll, and I have the ExActo knife for the etching projects. Now (and cross your fingers) I think I have everything I need to finish Christmas. Maybe. I don't want to tempt Fate.

Have a great day, and enjoy your October!