Handmade Gift Exchange

Wow, the month of June has flown by in the blink of an eye. And that means the deadline for the Handmade Gift Exchange going on over at Craftaholics Anonymous is just about upon us. Well, for me it was today since the post office isn't open this long weekend.
Add my usual procrastination to orders to rest after I had bleeding and contractions at 25 weeks, and it's a miracle I finished at all, but my exchange partner will be getting this summery market tote. The second shot is truer to the real colour. I had, literally, only 15 minutes to get to the post office, so photography was not on top of the priority list!

Since I was home, I sent hubby to the store for yarn. He didn't come back with the green I had in mind, but I added a strand of cream from my stash, and it didn't turn out badly. This wasn't the project I originally wanted to make, but under the circumstances, it was something I could do easily from the couch, so I hope by exchange partner likes it anyway.

On that note, the baby seems to be staying put after our scare, and I'm starting to feel more like getting out of the house. I spent a couple hours at Ikea with my boys today, and, it turns out, that was too much, so I'll be taking it easy for a while longer.

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends, both bloggy and real!

Crochet Hook Case Fail

Every once in a while, a friend asks if I will teach her how to sew. Of course! So, in anticipation of my next lesson, I found a cute pattern for a simple crochet hook case. I thought it would be a great beginner project, and would help my friend how to work from a pattern. I wanted to have a sample -- and let's face it, my crochet hook collection is a mess! -- so I made one of the cases this morning, using some cheap fabric I picked up at Walmart a while back. I cut the pattern pieces, and thought they looked a little small, so I grabbed a crochet hook and held it against the fabric. Sure enough, it fit with room to spare. So on I went. Here's the finished case:

See that crochet hook on top? I wasn't trying to be artsy-fartsy with my photo...it just doesn't fit in my case. In fact, none of my hooks, aside from the short one I initially grabbed as a tester, fit. Bad luck, but the good news is that this project whips up in a snap and I will definitely be making a larger one soon.

Giveaway WINNER!

Wow, this has been a tough week for my family. We’ve all been flattened by a doozy of a cold (maybe flu? I can’t tell the difference) for the past week, my sewing machine broke down for the umpteenth time, and I’ve gained two pounds from boredom and frustration snacking! On the bright side of things, a kind neighbour used his snowblower to clear our driveway of the mountain of snow that came down in the past few days. I’m baking some muffins to show my gratitude, since we were all far too ill to tackle the job with shovels.

Since my sewing machine is out of whack and my kids are extra needy, I’ve been crocheting. Such a portable craft. Here’s a little cloche beanie I made for my husband’s boss’s family and the new baby girl they just welcomed.

It’s soft and sweet and took me only a few hours working with a child tucked under each arm. I didn’t use a pattern this time, so I hope it fits.

And now for the winner of my scarf giveaway! There were only 11 valid comments, but I’m so thankful to everyone who takes a moment to read about what I’m doing or who makes a comment or suggestion.

Da-duh-da-da!

Congratulations to Jacqueline, who is the cooking, baking, candy-making, decorating and styling genius behind Purple Chocolat Home . I’ve been following Jacqueline’s blog for some time now, and she never fails to wow me with her whimsical stories, amazing tablescapes, breathtaking home, and decadent recipes. Go take a peek at her blog, and prepare to be dazzled.

As for me, I finally unfolded and cut out some of the patterns from Amy Butler’s Style Stitches, which was one of the thoughtful Christmas gifts hubby chose for me this year. There are several bags in the book that I would love to do, starting with the Teardrop Bag and the Perfectly Pleated Clutch.

Now I just have to wait for my sewing machine to be repaired, or depending on how bad her prognosis is, I may did out my straight stitch machine and get moving.

Linked to:

More Christmas gift goodies!

While Christmas is technically over for another year, I'm still relishing the peacefulness and good spirit that always comes with the season, and hoping the feeling lasts for at least a few days longer.

My family of four enjoyed a quiet day to ourselves and it was really great. This is the first year that my oldest son 'gets' the idea of Santa, so he was pretty excited this morning. I loved it! I'm also in love with the image of my little boys dressed in matching jammies. Too cute!

On the topic of gifts, this cute crocheted hat was another of the handmade goodies I made for gift giving to friends. It worked up fairly quickly and I liked how it turned out. The pattern was from Lion. Do read the reviews first if you try this one, since most of the reviewers found it a bit large if the directions are followed as presented.

I also whipped up a version of Georgie Hallam's "Paula's Scarfette" for my FIL...no photo of mine, as I was still knitting literally ten minutes before the post office closed on the last pre-Christmas mailing day and I had to boogie to get there in time. Here is the sample photo from the pattern (another Ravelry freebie):

Georgie Hallam

Super easy, super cute -- and, important in this case -- fast to complete! I made my version with some yarn I had leftover from another project, a sort of smoky blue/grey shade. I'm happy with how it turned out. I also made another pair of fingerless gloves...they were going in the same box as my FIL's scarf, so another photoless project.

I have a family dinner to attend tomorrow, but if I have time in the evening, I'll post about another Christmas gift I gave out this year -- cute little growth charts for boys.

A bit late, but Merry Christmas!

Linked to:

Cloche, corks & cars

I've been feeling scattered this week, and not terribly motivated to craft. I have a lot of to-do items hanging over my head right now, and that always plays into a halt on creativity. One little project did get started and completed, so hopefully I'll get more done the rest of this week.

Several of the moms in my playgroup are about to give birth to second, third and fourth children. I always like to make at least a little something for the new babe, even if it makes me a smidgen sad because I probably won't be having more children of my own. This little cloche hat from Aesthetic Nest came together pretty quickly. I like the flower detail a lot.

This bag of corky goodness was a free find on Kijiji. I admit I didn't think there would be this many corks (that is an industrial size garbage bag, about 30 inches across on the bottom!), so I think I'll be making a cork wreath or two in addition to the trivets I had originally planned on making. So far, my kids haven't spilled the bag. Fingers crossed for that little miracle to continue.

And finally, my ongoing quest to get my kids to eat resulted in this little sloppyjoe race car for lunch. I was browsing a really adorable blog called Making Memories with your Kids, when my son looked over my shoulder and noticed a photo of a similar 'race car sandwich' (as he called it). He was excited and so we made one. He still didn't eat more than a couple very small bites, but it was nice to see him excited by at least the idea of food.

Have a great Tuesday! This evening I'm off to a friend's house to sit and gab while we all work on different lap crafts.

Linked to:

To market I will go...

Well, the local farmers' market is closed for the winter season, but I finally finished the large crochet market bag I started last season, so I'll be ready to go in the spring! The bag is a simple circular design, worked in double crochet with increases and decreases to shape it. I made it mostly while chatting with friends, so I didn't bother counting how many rows and stitches -- if I make another, it won't be exactly the same, but who cares -- the end result is better than using plastic or those awful shedding 'fabric' bags from the grocery store.

Here's a pic...


I'm still working on finishing the baby afghan for my friend's new baby, due to arrive any moment, so no more UFOs to distract me until that's completed and mailed off.

Success!

Taking a hard look at my unfinished projects gave me a little boost the other night, and I've been able to complete the booties for auction, and one of the baby quilts (aside from a bit of thread clipping).

The pattern I used for the booties called for knitted blades, but after three attempts that resulted in floppy blades, I decided to switch to crochet, and that worked much better. The auction winner of these booties is married to a hockey fanatic and the couple is expecting their second little girl next month.



Although the quilt (my first ever) turned out fairly well, I did manage to make a major error when putting together the top; the final round of blocks was only put in on three sides before I ran out of fabric, and had nothing else that matched (the original fabric was a garage sale find). That's what happens when you try to be clever when you're sleep deprived and operating with baby brain!

To correct the problem, I cut down the blocks on the three sides, and sewed one of the cut strips to the side where I was missing that pattern. Then I wrapped that slimmed down block around the edge of the quilt and used it as a binding. The end result isn't what I had originally envisioned, but the quilt's eventual recipient won't know the difference. Hmmm, I should check if she's a fan of crafty blogs.

I decided on machine quilting, in a very simple diagonal pattern with a star in the centre, because it's fast and actually ended in a finished piece. I once tried hand quilting and I'm absolutely terrible -- the baby who is getting this quilt would likely have been in college before I finished hand quilting. I'll practice that on something just for me, when time isn't an issue.

Great news -- my grandmother is coming to visit next week. She's likely to want to spend lots of time with the kids, so I'm hoping that will translate into some unexpected free time for me. Yea!

Linked to: