Together Time in the Craft Room

My daughter just finished her first year of grad school.  Woot!  And, she came home to visit as soon as it was over.  Double woot!  :-D  We spent a wonderful week together...talking, shopping, cooking, walking, rock climbing, and crafting.  It was awesome!

I thought I'd share one of our craft projects with you.  We decided to make dream catchers.  So, we went through my doily collection, did a little doily shopping at an antique store, gathered supplies, and got started.

We crocheted the doilies to the metal rings.  Then, we hung them from the chandelier over the craft table to decorate the bottoms.  We had so much fun and they turned out so pretty.

The sun was streaming through the window and onto our pretty creations the next morning when we went to get them for photos...

I found a doily at the antique store that made me think of a starfish.  So, I made mine with a beach theme.

I added shells to the bottom with torn and twisty fabric, ribbons, lace, yarn, and thread.

My daughter made a larger one with a crisp white doily.  I love the openness around the edges.  She used white fabric, lace, ribbons, yarn, and beads on the bottom.  Then, she made some fabric flowers to finish it off.  So pretty!

My daughter loves to sew and hasn't had time to do so in a long time.  She made sure to get some sewing time in last week while she was home.  She made a top, re-made a dress, and started whipping up another dress.  She amazes me with her confidence and courage to just dive in and try things.  And, the results are impressive!

We did a little yard sale shopping on day before she left.  She got a couple yards of red, floral fabric for just 50 cents.  She wanted to make a certain dress with it but was several yards short of what she needed.  That didn't stop her!  She adjusted the pattern and made it work.  She still has some work to do on it....sew the top to the bottom, sew in a zipper, and hemming.  It's looking fantastic!

Yeah, I'm a proud mama!  :-)

Tea Kettle Doily

While I was wiping down the counters in my kitchen yesterday, I got an idea!  I thought my tea kettle would look really cute with a doily underneath that had little petals or points sticking out.  So, I crocheted one!  It turned out just like I had imagined.  I love it!

I used some leftover Handicrafter Cotton in the Paprika colorway and a size "H" crochet hook.  I made it with a free pattern I found on Ravelry called, "Star Flower Coaster".  However, I made a couple of changes to the pattern.  On row four - instead of chaining four in between groupings, I only chained three.  It seems to lay a little nicer.  And, I needed mine to be a big bigger and I love picots.  So, instead of the row six that's in the pattern, I crocheted the row as follows:  *4 dc, ch 3, slip stitch in third chain from hook, 4 dc, ch 1, sc in sc between previous points, ch 1.  Repeat from * all the way around and slip stitch in the top of the first dc.  My finished doily is nine inches across.

That was fun!  I love quick little projects like this!

Lovely Leftovers

My recent weaving project left me with lots of left over yarn.  When I realized how badly I'd calculated and how much was left, my mind quickly started brainstorming about what I could do with it.  The idea of a doily popped up and it seemed like the perfect use for this yarn.

I started crocheting one this morning and I'm loving the results...

I'm using a size "E" crochet hook and the "Summer Splendor" pattern that's free on Ravelry.

I love it when I find a project/pattern that's a perfect match for stash yarn!

Summer Splendor

My Summer Splendor doily is done!

I crocheted it with a size "H" hook and about 1.25 skeins / 800+ yards of Handicrafter Cotton.

I enlarged it a bit by repeating rounds 18-22 several more times and using some treble crochets

and improvisation on the final rows.  It helped.  However, if I were to make it again,

I'd start enlarging it earlier on in the project to make the larger size I wanted.  

The warm temps this week are perfect for blocking.  I blocked it outside so it would dry quickly.  

Our round patio table helped me to keep it even as I stretched it out to the size I wanted.  However,
I had no way of fastening it down to the table and it dried to a smaller size.  I had wanted it to be big enough to reach the edges of our kitchen table.  Oh well.  I love it anyway.

It looks great over our solid red table cloth.

I've been wanting to make a chunky, cotton, lacy doily for our table for a while now.

I can't believe it's moved from my imagination to my table!

Fun and Funky

I've had a couple huge skeins (710 yards each) of natural color Handicrafter Cotton

in my stash for a few months.  I've been thinking of several project ideas for it

...weaving and/or a chunky doily/tablecloth.

I started a couple doily patterns but ruled them out because they didn't look good with

thicker yarn.  Then, I found the "Summer Splendor" pattern that seemed like a good match.

And, so far, so good.  I'm liking how it looks with worsted yarn and an "H" hook.

The pattern is well written and there are sections that make it easy to enlarge, if needed, to

make it fit my table.  I like how it's looking and a little blocking will make it even better.

I'm so excited to finish it and use it over fabric table cloths.  I think it'll be pretty.

The thickness will work nice as a hot pad for our plates to protect the table underneath.

I love the natural/off-white color cotton, the frill of the lace, and that the

thick yarn makes it a little different.  It's doily with a twist or attitude.
It's fun and kind of funky!  :-)

Blog Party Prize

Vicki's "Grow Your Own Blog Party" is so much fun!

I've found many wonderful blogs to follow.  I have a lot of new followers on mine.

I'm making new friends around the world.  And, for me, the party has just begun.  I still have so many more blogs to visit from the list of almost 400 participants.  It's not too late to join in on the fun.  Just stop by Vicki's blog, "2 Bags Full" for a visit, more information and links to participating blogs.

As part of the fun, many of the blogs are having give-aways.  This blog included!

To enter, just leave a comment on at least one January post.  You can receive an entry for each post you comment on.  You can receive an additional entry for being or becoming a follower of my blog.

The winner will be announced on Friday, February 1st, 2013.

I've been trying to figure out a prize that would appeal to anyone.  But, since we're all so different, I decided to provide the winner with some choices.  That way, the winner will receive something they'll truly want and enjoy.  And, the prize will be made especially for the winner.

Here are some ideas I've come up with...the winner will chose one...

A set of hand knit wash/dish cloths in your choice of color.

A ruffled bottle sleeve to catch drips on your wine bottle.  These work great!

 A pretty, needle felted, rose ring.

A sweet little nest ring with tiny blue eggs.

A cozy cowl.  In a color of your choice.  You can see more photos HERE, HERE and HERE.

As you can see, I've made quite a few of these.  They're cozy, warm and pretty.

 

Or a fun and chunky, cotton, crochet doily.  HERE's the original post with another picture.

HERE's another pattern possibility.  The picture of the green one isn't the best but I love this pattern and have made a lot of them.  They work great as place mats and they have a really neat edge on them.

I had planned to have several give-aways this month.  Some for the party and some for my birthday.

This month has been incredibly busy for me though and I haven't even had much time to blog.  

So, I'm planning to have another give-away next month.  The party has just begun!

Thanks for stopping by.  And, as always, thanks for all of your wonderful comments.  I love getting each and every one of them.  I so appreciate you taking time to leave them.  I try to respond to each and every one of them.  However, because there have been so many, it's been a bit confusing knowing which I've responded to and which I haven't.  Plus, many of them come through with a "no-reply" on them and no email to respond to.  For those comments and anonymous ones, I may not be able to contact you if your name is drawn for the give-away.  So, please be sure to leave a way to contact you or check back on Friday to see if your name has been drawn.  Good luck!

Colorful Fun

Just before our summer vacation, I popped into my local Michael's store in hopes of finding and buying a few new colors of Sugar N Cream yarn.  I found a soft, pretty blue, called "Robins Egg", and a happy, buttery yellow.  I packed them with some colors I already had and took them on vacation.  I thought it would be fun to make some chunky doilies for my daughter's new apartment.  I used some patterns I had in a little Leisure Arts booklet with a little improvising and came up with two beauties.  Here's the blue one.  I love how it turned out.  So pretty!  It reminds me of a snowflake...

Here's the buttery yellow one.  I used this pattern last Christmas to make a red one for a gift.  

I think I like it even more in yellow...

Before vacation, I had already started making things for my daughter and her apartment.  We had bought dishes and dishtowels for her one day and were so excited about it all that she decided to crochet some place mats to go with it.  She bought a great big skein of Handicrafter Cotton in a beautiful pinky/watermelon color.  She's made two, so far.  They're adorable!  I wanted to join in on the fun!  So, I made a dishcloth for her.

I used an H hook and made a simple, single crochet square.

I edged it with reverse single crochet.  It made a cute, twisted edge.

That was so much fun that I whipped up another one with a variegated blue skein that I had.

I'll either save this for a gift or use it myself.  

I made this orange one on vacation...

I made up a different edging for it.  I think it's pretty cute!  It's not this bright in person.

It's a softer, prettier, orange.

Sugar N Cream makes great dish cloths and it seemed like two put together would make a nice, thick hot pad.  So, I made one of those too!  I used two different colors, Mango and Tangerine,

to make it reversible and more fun.

I bound the two sides together with little white, triangle scallops.

Now, she has a few more useful and colorful things for her new apartment.   

They're all in softer, prettier colors than what they appear in pictures.  They go great with her white dish towels that have watermelon, pink and orange stripes in them.  And, it all looks great with the cute, watermelon place mats that she's making.  It also ties in with some of the colors in the quilt we're making...especially, the yellow, the blue, and the pinkish hues.  It's all so bright and cheery!  :-)

While I was having so much fun with Sugar N Cream, I decided to make a little case for my "peepers".  I call them that because I feel like I'm not old enough to need "readers" and "peepers" is more fun to say.  Although, I'm finding myself needing to use them more and more.  Sheesh!

I made a chain, single crocheted one row, and crocheted in the round so I wouldn't

have a seam to sew on the bottom or the sides.  I made a little button hole and stitched a

button on the inside so I could close it up and keep the "peepers" from falling out.

I topped it off with a row of reverse single crochet for a cute, twisty edge.

My "Peeper Pouch" is soft and thick enough to protect my glasses.  

The pouch makes it easier to find them too!  I love this turquoise color!

I still have a few skeins of Sugar N Cream, Handicrafter Cotton, and some other cotton worsted yarns in my stash.  But, these projects sure helped in de-stashing.  They also eliminated a lot of bright, cheery colors from my stash.  I'm kind of feeling some withdrawals.  I might "need" to buy some more!  Wink!

Delightful Doilies

I'm happy to share that all of the gifts I made and gave this Christmas were hits. Everyone seems to love them. That always feels great! I enjoyed making them and I like that some of them helped me do a little de-stashing of fabric and yarn.

These three doilies were no exception. I used yarn from my stash for all of them.


I used patterns from booklets I had for thread crochet doilies. They worked great with larger yarn and larger hooks. I made a few modifications to this one to eliminate some of the bulky texture of clusters and to make it so I could complete it with one, 120 yard ball of yarn. If I make this one again, I'll use an "H" hook instead of an "I" so it will be a little tighter. But, it turned out pretty. Not sure what happened to this photo. It looks a little squashed. I don't remember it looking like that. Maybe I goofed a little in my blocking. Ooops! But, the recipient loved it and had plans right away of where she was going to put it.


I forgot to measure them but I think they all turned out to be about 12"-14" wide/across. I like the pattern I used on the next two. It's a little more frilly and didn't need much modification. This white one was made with about 107 yards of KoolSpun Cotton. I liked working with this yarn. It was softer than Sugar N Cream.


This red one was made with a 120 yard ball of Sugar N Cream. The person I'm giving this one to hasn't gotten it yet. But, I have a feeling she'll love it because red is her favorite color. I can picture it in her kitchen that has so many other red things in it.


That makes three happy people...plus me. And, that's three less balls of yarn in my stash.

Tea Time for Tammi

One of my long time friends, Tammi, had a birthday recently and I wanted to send a little something to her. I'd been thinking about it for a while and decided to send her some tea and maybe a teapot. Deciding on some yummy tea was easy but I never found just the right teapot. So, I decided to make a little something. I went through some patterns and pulled one of my favorite kinds of yarn from my stash, Sugar N Cream, and got started.

I made two doilies. One is big enough for a teapot and the other is coaster size for her teacup.


I started with the larger one and used the "8. Vanity Fair" pattern I used about a year ago as inspiration for another doily. I altered it a bit more on this one because I had less yarn and wanted to be sure I had enough.


I ended up with enough yarn left over to make a coaster. I used the "Kimberly's Flower Coaster" pattern that I've used in the past but I modified it so it would go with the larger one. I love the little points on both of them. And, I love their chunkiness.


I also sent her a little scrubber that I had made. It even matched the tea boxes! Maybe she'll use it to wash her teacups.


It wasn't a lot but it was made and sent with love. She called after she recieved it and said she really liked it. She lives a few states away and we've been talking about having tea together over some of our phone conversations. Oh...and, since her doilies are green, they'll also work for Christmas (they're a prettier, sage kind of green in person)! :-)

A Little Sugar, A Little Cream, A Little Fun.

I love Sugar N Cream yarn! I love the colors. I love that it's cotton. I love that it's cheap. I love it so much that I have lots of colors of it in my stash. There's one color I didn't have that I've been watching for and I finally found a ball of it a couple of weeks ago. It's not bright and cheerful or very colorful...it's natural ecru and it's beautiful because of that.

I also found a little Leisure Arts doily pattern booklet and decided to try one of the patterns, "Vanity Fair", with this yarn and a large "H" hook. I loved the designs and shapes in this pattern but it turned out to have a lot more texture than I liked, especially with bulky yarn. So, I did a lot of modification to get the same design but in a flatter, smoother version.


I changed out the popcorns and clusters with half doubles or trebles pulled together at the top, and front post stitches with regular stitches.


I think it looks nice on the craft studio table where it can be used as a placemat for snacks or a coaster for a drink, a pad for my laptop, or just to look pretty.