And now I can knit!

Last fall, I learned how to crochet, but the extent of my knitting abilities was the time in college I tried to learn how to knit from a youtube video… and got really bored with garter stitch. At the time, I thought that’s all there was to knitting, and wasn’t really interested in learning more. However, I was recently in Atlanta for work and my friend who taught me how to crochet determined that I need to learn how to knit next. (Logically, I agreed: this will open up a whole new world of tiny adorable things to be created,  including tiny gnomes).

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After learning the basics of knitting, it was time for me to head back home. Conveniently, a five-hour plane ride is ideal for knitting – no on/off switch, so you can knit straight through take off and landing. My friend suggested my first project be wrist warmers, which is perfect since I wear wrist warmers a lot in the mornings while it’s chilly inside and I’m working at the computer.

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I made up the pattern based on what I had learned: about 8 rows of rib stitch, then a pattern of knit 3, purl 1 (shifting the start by one each row) to create the diagonal lines, followed by 8 more rows of rib knit.

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I knit these flat (so when I was finished knitting, they were rectangles), then I crocheted the sides together and around the thumb hole.

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These… could have been better. If I were to make them again, I’d make them an inch or two longer to warm more of my arm. I also bound off too tightly on the first one, so it’s a bit of a challenge to get on of them on over my hand. But, that’s why you practice, right? (stegosaurus here)

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Stegosaurus… ROAR!

I started this project back in January when we were moving cross-country, and finally finished all the pieces and sewed this little guy together!

crochet stegosaurus

I am really pleased with how he turned out. I’m still debating on whether or not I should add eyes… for now he’s a blind stegosaurus.

crochet stegosaurus

That doesn’t prevent him from climbing all over the house, though.

crochet stegosaurus

This yarn is hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn by my friend and crafting buddy. =) The pattern is from Planet June. This was my first attempt at following a crochet pattern for something more complicated than a scarf, and although it took a while to make all the pieces, I really like how it came together. I already have my eye on some other patterns from Planet June for equally cute little animals. Since I now live in California, the idea of crocheting cozy hats and scarves has lost its appeal, and instead I see a lot of amigurumi in my future…

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“C is for Chloe” quilt

My dear sister lives in the tundra (as Ryder fondly calls Michigan), so I figured she would appreciate a cozy lap quilt for her birthday.

C is for Chloe quilt

This quilt is made out of upcycled t-shirts, so it’s super soft and cuddly for the cold Michigan winter.

C is for Chloe quilt

The C is reverse-appliqued to the purple front. I echo quilted once around the inside of the C, and the rest is simple diagonal quilting lines. The finished quilt measures about 44″x44″, I think.

C is for Chloe quilt  C is for Chloe quilt

The back is more patchwork t-shirts, these in gray. In total, I used 8 shirts for this (3 purple, 1 gray for the C, 3 more gray for the back, and one black to make the binding).

C is for Chloe quilt

Folded up & ready to go to its new home!

C is for Chloe quilt

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Cotton rug, take 2

cotton rag rug

Months ago, I started braiding a rug with strips torn from old sheets. I liked how it looked, but it was taking fooooorever. I would braid a foot or so of strips together, then hand-stitch them to the rest of the rug, and repeat over and over. I hadn’t worked on it in a few months, mostly in the busyness of Christmas and then moving, and also because it was so slow-going.

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That was before I learned how to crochet, however. We just moved into a new place that has all hardwood floors, so we’re in need of some rugs. I realized that crocheting a rug would probably be much faster and more enjoyable than the braiding process, so last weekend I purchased the biggest crochet hook I could find, unpicked all the braids, and started over. In one evening, I had undone hours and hours of work, and crocheted all the strips back into a rug.

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I’ve been adding more colors from my stash of thrifted sheets, and am amazed at just how fast this rug is growing! I’ve got a few more sheets in similar blue/green/white colors, but I think I may have to start scouring the thrift stores near me to find more material – it goes fast.

Interested in making your own? I’m using 2″ wide strips of cotton, torn from old sheets. I sew the ends together at a 45 degree angle (like this), and then use that as “yarn” to crochet with. My crochet hook is a size Q, and I’m crocheting in the round. I started with a chain of about 20 single crochets, and am putting three single crochets into each corner stitch of each round to create the rectangular shape. You can see that it was ending up a bit parallelogram-esque at the beginning (the white/green rounds), but by shifting which stitch you put the 3 single crochets in, you can move the bulk to one side or the other.

Hopefully this attempt at the rug won’t take 6 months to get past this point!

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Ruffled scarf + pretty blue apron

My craft buddy from work convinced me to make this ruffled scarf as one of my first crochet projects (I’ve found that scarves take a lot longer to complete than cacti).

ruffled purple scarf, crochet

This ruffly beauty ended up being quite long, but perfect for neck-wrapping in cold, snowy Michigan, where my sister lives (it’s currently 19 degrees there).

ruffled purple scarf, crochet

For my mom, I stitched up a new apron in her favorite color. This one is so cheery that I am contemplating making myself one.

pretty blue swirled apron

Our new place in California has a Jo-Ann’s nearby (the source of this fabric) which is much happier than the Hancock near my old place (it was sad and dingy). And this Jo-Ann’s is big, has a good selection of home-dec fabrics, plus a big craft section! It’s the little things of living in the suburbs that make me happy.

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Crochet Bonsai Tree

Well, somehow three months have elapsed since my last post! A lot has happened between then and now: my husband graduated, we traveled a bunch for Christmas, we moved to California (!) and we traveled more for a belated Christmas with my family.

Now that all our Christmases are over, I can share a few of this years’ handmade gifts.

crochet bonsai tree

This charming, quirky bonsai tree is a pattern of my own invention. I wasn’t sure about the leaves until the very end, but I am now quite enamored of this little guy.

crochet bonsai tree

The leaves are loops of green yarn, stitched through the crocheted limbs of the tree. Most of the limbs have pieces of thin copper wire inside them, to give the tree the characteristic bendy-ness of a bonsai tree. I wrapped some additional wire around some branches as well, since this is a young bonsai tree, still in training.

crochet bonsai tree with gnome

A tiny knitted gnome took up residence under the bonsai tree for a few days, until it was time for the bonsai to go home with my brother’s girlfriend, and the gnome to come home with me!

 

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Friendship Bracelet Cuff

Ooh, this one was fun. Remember friendship bracelets? There were several elementary and middle-school years where every road trip, summer camp, or family vacation resulted in several new friendship bracelets. I really liked the fancy-looking chevron pattern, so when I saw this pattern on the purl bee’s website, I knew I had to try it.

friendship bracelet cuff - green & gray yarn

Using yarn instead of embroidery floss gives the bulky width and enough structure to wear as a cuff bracelet.

yarn friendship bracelet cuff

This took longer than I remembered to make – probably because I’m out of practice. =) I also struggled a bit on how to finish the ends. I didn’t like how huge the knot was in the purl bee’s example, so in the end I tied around the bundle of yarn a bunch of times, fray checked around the last knot, and trimmed the ends short. So far, so good!

yarn friendship bracelet cuff

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Happy Halloween!

My crochet habit continues… this time with crocheted candy corn!

giant crochet candy corn

I got the idea from the purl bee, but their pattern called for knitting, which my lovely crafting coworker has not yet convinced me to learn (and I’ve been having too much fun crocheting anyway). I figured it’d be easy enough to crochet one.

giant crochet candy corn

My first attempt looked more like a missile (according to Ryder), but I quickly resolved that by making two more. I started at the top with white yarn, crocheting in the round. The key to make them candy-corn-shaped is to make a one-stitch increase at each of the two sides on each round. This gives them the classic slightly flattened shape while still having some dimension. Happy Halloween!

giant candy corn in crochet

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Fall Wardrobe: just-past-the-knees wool skirt

Item 1 on my fall wardrobe list was a just-past-the-knees wool skirt.

easy elastic waist fall wool skirt

I have another knee-length skirt with an elastic waist that I figured would be a good “pattern” for this skirt. Well, I apparently didn’t do a good job of tracing the outline of the original skirt, and was unfortunately too lazy to cut out a muslin, so… it was interesting. Fortunately, I had cut into the lining first, and realized after cutting the front skirt piece that with an elastic waist (and therefore no zipper), there was no way this was going to fit over my hips. So I cut the back lining piece 2″ wider, figuring I would just deal with off-center side seams. That still barely fit… but it did fit. But it was also much more flared than the straight-line skirt I was envisioning. So I redrafted the pattern piece before I cut into the wool, which gave me an outer skirt that fit fine, but wasn’t quite the same diameter as the lining. Eesh. And I was determined that this skirt would be “quick” so I plowed ahead and sewed the two together, gathering the outer fabric into the folded-over casing for the elastic waistband.

easy elastic waist wool skirt

The waist is a bit more gathered than I would like, but I don’t really want to unpick the whole thing and do it again.

brown wool skirt

The other problem with this skirt: the skirt is a couple of inches past my knees, and is very straight. I like how it looks, but it does make walking a *teensy* bit difficult since it impedes my normal stride length. Not to the point where I’m taking ridiculously tiny steps, but it’s just enough that I have to alter my stride slightly.

fall brown wool skirt

Who would have thought a simple, elastic-waist skirt would be so difficult? Here’s hoping item 2 on my fall wardrobe list (a duo-tone upcycled shirt) goes a bit better!

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A Crocheted Cactus Quintet

crocheted cactus

I’m having tons of fun crocheting these little cacti. They come together in an hour or two, so it’s a great project for an evening when you want to have something to show at the end of it! It’s also a good way for me to experiment with various crochet stitches and techniques to figure out how to get the look I want. Don’t worry, there will be more to come!

Update!
I’ve written up patterns for two of the cacti:
Saguaro cactus crochet pattern
Barrel cactus crochet pattern

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