New Craftster Crochet-along

So, Saturday, I posted an idea for another Craftster.org crochetalong. This time it's for people who have the book 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton. We'll be making 24 blocks total--one every two weeks. Everyone is encouraged to participate, but the first 23 people who pm'd me would help me choose which patterns we'd be making for the rest of the year! Well... a BUNCH of people looked at the thread (like 173), but only 7 people responded. However, that's still I nice number; since we can each pick three blocks.

Anyway, I declared myself the first person to pick a pattern, and I chose #64: Sunshine Lace. It's an easy/1-hook pattern.

I initially thought I'd keep up with the blue and green theme I'm doing on the 12" blocks, but I went to Joann's today and found some nice lt. blue, lt. yellow, lt. green and off white that was on sale, and that will make a nice blanket.

My goal is to make FOUR 6" blocks every two weeks and sew them together (somehow--I'll have to figure out how to do that part later) to make a 12" block.

Here's what my two Sunshine Lace blocks look like. I made two of them in blue before I hit Joann's today. And that other one DOES look yellow, doesn't it? The color is called "sandstone" which I think of as a brown-ish color.

Anway, I made the yellow one with TLC Essentials yarn and a 4.5mm hook; it turned out exactly 6" square. The blue ones I made with 4.0mm hook and Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn. It's a little shy of 6" and I had to strecth it out some and block it to get it to size.

February 2009 Two Tone Crochet Square

Oh, yay! I finished my "Two Tone Square" this afternoon. It's by Dayna Audirsch, and I really like how it turned out. This is the February 2009 Ravelry square. This is the first time I've used the recommended hook (an "I") and been able to make the square turn out 12" like it's supposed to! Good for me! I guess I'm getting better at crocheting, huh?!

The only problem I see with this square is that the two colors are SUPPOSED to be the same weight, but they really may not be because where they join is kind of gnarly looking. Maybe when I block it, that will calm down some??? I hope so.

Newest Crochet Books! (YES! MORE BOOKS!)

Okay... yes, I ordered more books, but this is nothing new--I do this every time I have a new obsession. Anyway, three of them got here today:

101 Stitches to Crochet (a card deck by Interweave Press, edited by Erika Knight)
The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs (Linda P. Schapper)
Crochet in No Time (Melody Griffiths)

The card deck is absolutely fabulous. Of course, I love anything by Interweave Press. The set includes a card for each of 62 basic crochet stitches and 39 crochet motifs. The front of the card is a big, very clear picture of what the stitch fabric looks like and then the back of the card has the written pattern and a very clearly drawn diagram. The cards are numbered so they're easy to keep in order--which is nice because there's another card that has a list of all of the stitches and the corresponding card number. Very neat little set. I'm glad I bought it.

The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs: 500 Classic & Original Patterns, Revised Edition is a hard-back book that's about 2.5" thick! Wow! This is a hefty tome of crochet stitches. The inside jacket says the book was first published twenty years ago, and unfortunately, the photos LOOK that old--they really date the book. I guess I'm comparing the book pictures to the beautiful card deck I just bought, and there is no comparison (the card deck is soooooo much better). That said, though, there are 5 times as many stitches in the book as there are in the card deck, and I think the book will be a wonderful reference.

And, last: Crochet in No Time by Melody Griffiths! I bought this book because I also have her other book: 201 Crochet Motifs which is my FAVORITE of all the crochet books I've bought so far. This second book has some BEAUTIFUL crochet pieces in it. I like that each project tells how long it takes to make it. One tank top says it takes 12 hours (which would probably mean about twice as long for me!).

Amugurumi Eyes

I ordered some 6mm and 9mm amigurumi eyes from an Etsy store called "6060". All they sell are plastic safety-backed eyeballs. So... expain that to me: why would they pick "6060" instead of "20/20" (unless that's what his/her vision actually is...???).

Anyway, Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet recommends this specific type of eye for all of the projects, and I couldn't find them locally--thus the internet search. I can't wait for them to get here because my next amigurmi project is an egg carton-full of eggs and chicks in eggshells!

Crocheted Mandala Square

Here's my Mandala square--the January square on Ravelry. It turned out alright. I wish the center medallion was more prominent--it looks kind of like a big blob in the center of the square. I also wish I'd made this square in blue instead of green (or at least blue AND green instead of just solid green). Oh, well... it's finished, and I'm not going to do another one in this pattern.

I don't like the February block on Craftster.org so I need to make the February block on Ravelry. That block is called "Two Tone" and I'll (obviously) do it in blue and green.

Oh, yeah, and I finished sewing on the pink tampon legs on my Amigurumi octopus. Hmmm... that was nowhere near as satisfying as I'd hoped! The silly thing is finished now, and I have no idea what to do with it (except send it to my grandmother and hope she'll appreciate all the hard work that went into making it!).

Crochet Day

Yesterday was a crochet day. That's all I did all day long. I started and finished the Ravelry January square (it's called "Mandala"). I also printed off the pattern for the February square from Ravelry since I don't like the February one on Craftster.org (it's a heart, and I just don't like it for some reason).

The other project I worked on was my little pink octopus. I finally got her head/body finished last night. It looks so cute--just like an octopus head should look! I started on her arms/legs this morning. I have two finished and they look like little pink tampons. I wonder how I'm supposed to sew the legs onto the body? I think don't think the directions are very helpful. They just say "sew the legs onto the body" or something similiarly vague like that. Oh well... I'm sure I'll figure it out.

artsymomma's block

Well! I finished artsymomma's quilt block! I used templates and did a crazy nine-patch. I had a little bit of waste from the angled cuts, but I used almost every last shred of fabric she sent me. The block is 11.5" square.

I don't feel it's a GREAT block, but it's definitely better than I expected considering how little fabric I had to work with.


I was also a little disappointed because I couldn't get one of the seams to align. I picked it out three or four times before I gave up on it. I don't know what the problem is with it (it's the top left seam below).


I kind of like the inner border. I wanted to do a solid green inner border, but I didn't have enough fabric (even a skinny stip like that) to make a solid green border. So, I miter-joined the green with a strip of tan. It's different, but I like it.

New Crochet Books

I am definitely sick in the head. My other two books (Positively Crochet! and Crochet Bouquet) haven't even arrived from Overstock.com, and I've already ordered three more from Amazon! This time I ordered Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet, Crochet Inspiration and Beyond the Square: Crochet Motifs. (See! I told you I'm currently OBSESSED with crochet!).

The Amigurumi book got 5 stars. It's a bunch of crochet toys you can make with scrap/left-over yarn. Funny thing is: I don't have children to crochet toys for, and I don't have a stash of left-over yarn (yet) so I'll have to go buy it to make any of these toys! However, I convinced myself that I HAVE to have this book! The toys are soooo cute! One is a hedgehog that I can't wait to try out. I'm so new to crochet, I hope I can read the patterns and be successful at them. Maybe my grandmother would like some cute little crochet toys?

The other two books got 4-1/2 stars each. Again, I hope I can read the patterns well enough to be successful. One of the reasons I bought the Beyond the Square book is because it's spiral-bound, and I LOVE spiral binding on books for some reason! Besides, it got some rave reviews on Amazon.com. Crochet Inspiration also got rave reviews.

Flower Scarf Photo

Oh, YAY! I got a pretty decent photo of my new flower scarf. I had a hard time taking a picture of it because Annie and Stuart wanted to stand right in the middle of it, silly dogs!


Oh, and I did count how many I made: 14 (2 each of 7 colors). So this scarf "only" took me 8.5 hours to make--well, not true because I made 18, but had to take 4 off... so, back to 10.5 hours altogether.

I'm going to post this as my February clothing craft-along project. Who says I can't work ahead (because I will most certainly be posting some late, too!)?

January Crochet Filler Square

Here's a photo of a "filler" crochet square I made for my 2009 Crochet-along afghan. It's called "Dreamcatcher" and is the January 2008 square. I'm pleased because I used an "I" hook, and it came out to 12" as it should have! Yay, Me! I've already started on another one; this time in green.

Lace Cap for Clothing Craft-along

There's another craft-along on Craftster.org that I'm participating in. This time, it's a New Year's Resolution Handmade Clothing craft-along. These are the themes:

january - hat, touque, etc
february - scarf/shall/wrap
march - bag, clutch, purse, luggage
april - dress
may - skirt (boys - maybe a kilt )
june - shirt
july - undergarments, undies, boxer shorts, corset
august - pants
september - sweater / hoodie
october - costume
november - socks/slippers/shoes (good idea gimmiemoresalad)
december - jewelry

I won't participate every month, but I can for some of them.

Yesterday, I worked on a crochet lace cap for the January theme, and I got it finished. I can't believe I got it #1. to take shape and #2. that all of the holes are in the right places! I had a couple of little hiccups, but overall, it turned out right. I'll never wear it, but I still think it's pretty!

Mom's Cards and Swap Cards

I've already posted these as I made them, but I like playing with Flickr Toys so here's a mosaic of the swap cards I made my swap partner:


And, here's a mosaic of the cards I've made for Mom:

More Cards for my Mom

I'm not sure my mom's going to like the patterned papers on these cards, but I'm going to send them to her anyway:

Two more cards

I'm still busy, busy, busy making cards, cards, cards! Below are the two newest ones. The top one is made using a new stamping technique I read about in the latest Take Ten magazine (at least the technique is new to me). You ink up your stamp then spritz it with water and stamp it on watercolor paper. The first impression was incredibly vibrant and beautiful, but I made a card for my sick grandmother out of it and didn't get a photo before I sent it to her. The photo below shows what the second impression looks like. I still think it's pretty.




I really like this card. It's loosely based on a Poetic Artistry/Mojo Monday sketch. The sketch doesn't have the ribbon or the scallop, but instead has four pieces of paper behind the center image. If I make this card again, I'll use a square or rectangle for the sentiment rather then the circle. The mats are French Roast dark brown (they look black in the photo, but they're not).



I'll either use these two cards for the swap I'm signed up for or to send to my mom. Not sure which yet.

Bookmark Tutorial Update

I've been getting a lot of hits on my bookmark tutorial. Some hits are coming from Craftster.org, but I just found out the tutorial made it to a website called Bookmark Collector. Here's a cut 'n paste:

Make Your Own Bookmark
A tutorial on making a flat paper bookmark - really a base for creating more artistic bookmarks, by Sew Help Me - Link

That's kind of exciting! Maybe I should make some more and finish them with the fibers at the top this time!

Cardboard Card

I made the little cutie below out of the cardboard I recycled from my new Mary Engelbriet calendar. The piece of cardboard behind it is from a fat quarter I got at Joann's. The dove is a K&Company stamp that I embossed white. Also, the cardstock is from PaperAccents. It's recycled, too.

I submitted this card for publication consideration in the June 2009 issue of Cards magazine. The call is for "stamping" and "birds," and this card fits either category.

Bookmark Tutorial

Ibisisis on Craftster.org asked for a bookmark tutorial. I don't know of any so I thought I'd post my own. These are very easy to make, but they look nice. Here goes:

1. What you need for these bookmarks:

• 1 piece of cardboard 1.5 x 6"
• 1 piece of paper 2.0 x 6.5" (the sky's the limit on what kind of paper. Recycled magazines or calendars are cool as is a plain old newspaper; I'm using handmade paper in the example below. You can also use fabric--see the last photo for an example)
• 1 piece of paper 1.25 x 5.75
• White glue (I love Aleene's Tacky Glue, but any kind will work)
• Foam brush
• A hole punch
• Pretty ribbons or fibers (not shown)
• Eyelet (optional)

2. Cover one side of the cardboard with a layer of white glue:

3. Lay the glue side down on the larger piece of paper, trim out the corners like this (I forgot to photograph this step so I used a scrap piece of paper to demonstrate):


4. Cover the opposite side of the cardboard with white glue and fold the edges of the paper up to the top:

5. Next, place the smaller piece of paper on the glue-covered cardboard:

You can see I went a little wild with the white glue, however, Aleene's Tacky Glue dries clear so it won't be noticeable when it dries.


6. Punch a hole at the top. Add an eyelet if you want:



7. Tie fibers and ribbon through the hole, and you're finished!


Below are some bookmarks I made this morning. The orange one is some cool batik fabric.

Card Parts and New Year's Cards

I've been busily piddling around in the garage shop. Rather than full cards, I've been making card parts that I hope to use on cards at a later date (or maybe I should sell them on Etsy: http://www.thelaserbeam.etsy.com/).


Here's what I've come up with so far (there are a couple of others that didn't fit in the picture):



I also worked on some New Year's cards. There were a couple of people who sent me Christmas cards whom I didn't sent a card (and they sent them too late for me to return a card). So, I made New Year's cards that I could send. I worked really hard on a silver glitter card, but I just wasn't very happy with how it turned out so I made a different card out of yellow and red that I laser-cut "Happy New Year" and "2009." I'm much happier with the second card.



Here's my silver glitter 2009:


And here's the red and yellow card: I like that the stars overhang the edges of the card. I popped dotted them off the card, too, to make them stand out.

Hancock's Remnants Quilt

So... yesterday, I started on my Hancock's Remnant quilt (yes, that's what I'm REALLY going to name it).

I'm using a pattern from the book Modern Art with Fabric. Unfortunately, I'm not real thrilled with the Amy Butler fabrics (the two on the left-hand side). Those two are too tame or too symetrical for this quilt. I've already cut out my pieces and started assembling them so there's nothing I can do at this point except chalk it up to inexperience in selecting fabrics.

City Girl Quilt

I partially-finished my City Girl quilt top! I still have the borders to add to it, but I couldn't resist showing it off already!

I have a TON of scrap fabric to use for the backing. I'm debating on a couple of different things to do with it. I'll probably make some 4" or 6" wonky log cabin blocks, and I'm thinking about a full-length strip with just random widths of fabric sewn across it. Actually, that might be cool as a border...? Ummmm... oh, the possibilites!

I'm going to use a very large piece of Kona Cotton for the label--I'll describe the swap and then list all of the user names for the people who made me blocks. That's a good idea!