Timewarp

I hope everyone had a nice weekend, and a happy Easter if you celebrate. Mine involved eating two servings of baby food: prunes and peas. (The prunes were easily one of the most disgusting things I've ever had, the peas were actually quite nice by comparison!) I kind of had a crazy weekend in terms of bloggables, starting with a shopping trip on Saturday. My original plan was to get this:

Hmm, that's not the picture I thought it was, but it does show some useful things. I got size 5 DPNs, not realizing I had already done so a few weeks ago, a charm I picked up on a whim, and some safety eyes. I also got that K hook, which will be explained momentarily.

Before you look at the next picture, explanations are in order. Remember how I made four ruffly scarves a while ago? And how I said I didn't want to make any more? Yeah, that's not going to work out:

My mom wants me to make a total of seventeen scarves for the members of a committee she runs. They're all going to be that white and blue ruffle yarn, except that black and white one, and a regular striped one using that blue yarn and white I already have. I totally would have said no, except she offered to pay me, and then I had this really great idea. (Well, I thought it was great....) A few days ago, I found this pattern for an Avatar blanket. And I really wanted to make it. Except the yarn for it would have cost about $40, taking into account I already have a few of the skeins I needed. Can you guess where I'm going with this? I asked my mom to buy the rest of the yarn I needed in exchange for making the scarves:

We had a pretty good coupon, so she agreed! Yay! I'm super excited to start working on it, and even more excited to have the finished product :). Right now, I'm going to focus on getting the scarves done. There was only enough yarn in that color for about half of the scarves, so I'm going to use up what I have right now, then start on my blanket! Speaking of which:

I'm already done with two of them, and I've also done a few inches on the third. 

I also bought a few other things: floss for the next segment of my HP cross stitch, and this frame:

Boy, am I glad to have this done! My aunt's birthday is this weekend, so it was perfect timing. Although the back is sort of ugly (yeah, I don't know why I used shiny duct tape either) I hope she'll like it!

I put one set of safety eyes to good use:

After finishing the head, making a new hair roll, and stitching down the collar and chest piece, all she needs is a crown! (And no, I have no idea how I'm going to pull that off.)

Just one more thing, I promise. I finally finished off the HP charm bracelet I've been collecting for for a while:

After messing around with spacing for a while, I decided not to use all the charms. In the end, I've kept the owl, crystal ball, dragon, "hippogriff," goblet/cup, tiara/diadem, and key. Basically, I left off the ones that take more interpretation. (Hey, they made sense to me!)

I'm pretty sure I warped time to get all this done. Seriously! Anyway, this is probably one of my longest posts, so I'm going to stop here. See you tomorrow!

Watches and Frogs

Hi guys! I hope you had an awesome week and as even better weekend! Sorry for not posting last week; my real life was sort of insane! But I did get some things done this weekend, so let's do this!

First, I need to tell you that I'm sort of obsessive about knowing what time it is. If I don't have an easy way to find out (a watch) I kind of freak out. It's not normal! So when this happened, I was predictably upset:

I honestly have no idea how this happened, but a chunk of it just fell off. I didn't do anything that was rougher than normal, so it's sort of a mystery to me, but I did know I had to do something. Enter weird crafty stuff! First, I cut off most of the strap with all the holes on it, which left me with this:

 Then, I marked and cut a little hole to put a slip ring through:

which was way harder than it should have been. For some reason, the slip ring requires a hole that's much bigger than it is to go through. Then, I took another slip ring, and did a basic friendship bracelet to create a little strap. I used a lobster closure and one of the original holes to have a way to take it on and off.

This definitely isn't a perfect solution, but at least I know what time it is!

I also made knitting happen:

You are looking at almost 16 inches of TTT front. For those of you keeping track, this means I have less than two inches to go until my next round of shaping. I would probably already be there, but I had a little issue yesterday. I think I've mentioned that I split each skein into smaller balls before I started using it, and yesterday I got to the point where I needed to join another ball. I tried it sort of in the middle of the row by knitting a few stitches with both strands of yarn, except somehow I ended up with three, so I had some awkward bunching and loops. By the next row, I had an unidentifiable loops, two hanging strands, and a major headache. I tried just dropping the offending stitches, but I sort of screwed it up, so I ended up frogging to about 1.5 inches back. I was smart about it, though, and I put a sort of lifeline through it before trying to rip. It wasn't perfect, and I went through the wrong stitches a few times, but it was definitely easier than trying to do a whole bunch at once! The whole thing wasted about an hour, but the second time I tried to join the new ball, I just started on with the new yarn and loosely knotted the ends. I'll make it pretty later!

Keys and Teapots

Despite my utter lack of posting last week, I've gotten some more done on my cross stitching:

I'm chugging along with it, and I'm still hoping for a finish by next Friday. And I mean done done, because I went to Michaels yesterday! I picked up a few things, including the last color I need for the center, and these charms:

Can you figure out the theme for these? Maybe this will help:

Yeah. I managed to find five completely unrelated charms at Michaels, and connect them all to Harry Potter. It's a talent. 

(I feel like I should explain those: the owl, the crystal ball, and the dragon are pretty obvious, and the key and the teapot are just weird. The key reminded me of the flying keys from the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, and the teapot made me think of reading tea leaves. I know, I'm crazy.)

Have a great evening! :)

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!

Charm Necklaces

I have two necklaces today, made two different ways:

They both are just pieces of chain with a crab claw closure (I think) and two charms on it, but I did the charms differently for each one. I put the T and the Eiffel Tower on the chain before I put on the two closure pieces, and they can't come off without taking the whole thing apart. For the other one, I put a new slip ring on the charms, instead of the one they came with, and they can slide over one of the ends. I'm not really sure which one I like better; the first is good because you can't just lose the charms, but the second is nice because you can switch them out. I think I'll ask the recipients, after I give them their necklaces!

I have been working on the mohawk hat a bit, but nothing picture worthy yet. Have a great day!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• finish the mohawk hat
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament

Gingerbread Factory

Can you imagine how good that would smell? Anyway, on Thursday afternoon I made these:

I am seriously considering redoing this one's face. It's kind of ugly.

Then on Friday I made this:

Well, I actually finished some of the knitting on Saturday morning, and I still have to put in the mohawk. But still. I did most of it on Friday.

When I was helping my friend move, we found a plastic container filled with little erasers. She didn't want them, so I took a bunch:

I took all the whales and parrots! Plus some fish. I'm thinking jewelry.....

Yesterday I went to Michaels (again) and got these things:

Charms, pliers, mohawk yarn, and glass things. I now have everything I need to finish Christmas. I honestly can't believe it! (OK, so right after I typed that sentence I had a little panic attack about masking tape. I seriously thought that I didn't have any, and because of that sentence I would be unable to find any anywhere. But it's OK. I found some under the knife drawer.) Now all I have to do is make it all. Speaking of which:

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• put the mohawk on the mohawk hat
• make two charm necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament

I'm getting to the end. I'm super excited. On Saturday I spent a lot of time making a list of things I was going to make, just for me. For fun. After the Christmas stuff is done. I can't wait.

My First Blogiversary

In honor of my first blogiversary, I finally did something I have been meaning to do for ages. I went back through all my archives, and made sure they all had the correct labels. A lot of my earlier posts were missing labels that I made after I made that post, so I am glad to have that all sorted out. I also fixed some of the fonts that were wonky, and corrected some typos. But I'm sure there's a bunch more!

(OK, so I know most people probably don't care, but I am obsessed with being organized, so it makes me very happy.)

Anyway...... I had originally put all of this stuff with yesterday's post, but it was kind of super long, so I split it up.

I've been working on the catnip ornament:

And I made this little pouch:

which clips on to things. I actually just took a zippered pouch I had, and shortened it, but still. I like it!

And I played with the hot glue gun:

All done! But I still want to make two new ones. It's not pretty enough to give away! :)

Yesterday afternoon I was a gingerbread ornament machine! I made three little guys in about two hours. I have a set of two that are going together, and one that will be going with a necklace. I could have sworn I took pictures of them, but I'm not going to aggravate myself trying to get that organized now. That can wait until Monday!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament

I hope you're having a great day!

I Went Shopping!

I am super happy, because I went to Michaels and AC Moore on Monday, and I got almost everything on my list! Here it is:

• a bunch of black 10/0 seed beads
• size 10 16" circular needle
• chain for bag handle
• assorted jewelry items (chain, music charms, jump rings, crab closures)
• glass etching kit

The only thing I couldn't find was the cord for the globe knot necklaces. I'm not really sure where to get that!

I've also been messing around with my Christmas list, and I think I have the final copy here:

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more globe knot necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament
• make both ornaments from this pattern

New and improved! (improved because there's less cross stitch!) What I'm going to do for the ornaments is pretty simple. I'm going to make them like I did last time, with worsted weight and beads. Then I'll join them together, to make one ornament. I might also be making two more girls to go with the globe knot necklaces. (Or instead of, if I can't find the cord I need.) It mostly depends on time, and how bored I am! :)

Have a great afternoon!

Where to Now?

Hi guys! I had an awesome vacation, and I'm sure you're all sick of lists, but I have a few more for you.


First, just a few updates regarding things I mentioned last week:

• I threw away the wrap bracelet. It was ugly, and annoying, and it wasn't working right, so I set it up on a blind date with my trash can.
• I did a little bit on the bird bag, and I'll have a picture of that tomorrow. Most likely.
• I made a tiny globe knot necklace! (Confused? Go look here.)

I used a drawstring from a pair of shorts, and a random white marble I dug around for. Three problems: the cord is too thin, the marble is to big, and the obvious one involving cord length. The video didn't specify where in the cord to start, nor did it show it's full length, so I just started in the center and hoped for the best. It didn't work out so well, so I had to glue the two ends together:

OK, I swear I took a picture of it glued. Just take that picture, and imagine the two ends glued and twisted. That's right, twisted. I wore heavy garden gloves, and I actually didn't burn myself! (I was surprised too!) I am planning on putting a flower or other doodad over the spot I glued, and I'll be all done.

Now here is a project that is so crazy I should be locked up for even considering doing it:

It looks innocent enough, doesn't it? Doesn't really look like a project either.... How about some back story?

 This comes from me doing something I have never done before. This weekend my family stayed in a house owned by my aunt and uncle, along with many other assorted family members. My uncle took a few of my cousins and I garage-saling. It was quite the experience, but I did pick up this skirt. Let's take a closer look:

Do you see the project yet? I'm re-sewing all the sequins back on. Yes, I am completely insane. Here's why (about the sequins, not my insanity):

Can you see?

How about now? All the sequins are strung together! (Well not all of them; there is more than one piece of thread.) This means if one sequin goes, they all go. In fact, a whole bunch already have. So I'm going through and painstakingly unthreading and re-sewing Every. Single. Sequin. And there's a whole bunch. This will be one of the only things I will do, once I really get into it, so I'm thinking about keeping it packed away until I finish with Christmas. Speaking of which....

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• buy supplies for, and make, two etching projects
• buy yarn for, and make, a mohawk hat (I have a pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• finish the embroidered bag
• find a pattern and yarn for an M&M dishcloth, then make it. I had a pattern I liked, but the blog disappeared! There's another one I have seen, but I don't like it. Hmmm, how hard would it be to make my own?
• make two more (better) globe knot necklaces
• come up with two more really great ideas, because there are two more people on my list!

That's it! Just a hat, a dishcloth, two fifteen minute necklaces, some etching, and some mysteries!