Picture it, three small children, smitten with half of a life size doll. I finally attached arms to my doll and three of my Kindergarten students couldn’t stop hugging her and dare I mention, one of them couldn’t stop kissing her. The doll is a bit heavy because I stuffed her body with rags but that didn’t stop them from picking her up and squeezing her (and kissing her). Continue reading
For those who read my post on crochet/yarn hacks, you know I wanted to make a crochet caddy. The sad truth is that there are many, many things that I want to make that get forgotten or, due to lack of hours in a day, never get made. But this is a post about what did get made so, YAY!
I guess I really was pumped up about that post because, not one, but two crochet hook caddies was born and are already in use. There was the added desire to have something pretty to store my new Clover Armour crochet hooks I got for my birthday.
At this stage (below), this one was in two pieces, the outer bottom and the snug upper layer. There was no top and it looked pretty nice but I wanted to give the hooks more separation.
Almost done!
Yes, my new slippers are ugly. Yes, they are square, like the ones I made before. Maybe that’s what makes them ugly. Or, maybe, it’s all the hodgepodge yarn I used. Doesn’t matter, I like them. They are comfy and warm and fit my feet really well.
Speaking of my old crochet slippers,I’ve been wearing the heck out of them. They are way too big for my feet and I go slip sliding around in them. Yeah, those. But I love them anyway. However, I wanted to make another pair. A pair that would actually fit, you know, my feet.
So I rummaged through my stash looking for something warm and comfy and found this thick, chunky yarn in a variegated brownish color. I grabbed a matching Tunisian crochet hook (size L) that looked good for the yarn size and I was set.
This is what was left after the soles and tops were done.
How to lose two hours browsing the internet without even knowing it. You start your search with a very straight forward agenda that should only take a few minutes but somehow end up completely off base from where you started. Next thing you know, you’ve lost two hours (or more :-)) looking at things you had no business looking at. I started out innocently enough planning a quick search for items for a birthday wish list. Before I knew what hit me, I had deviated from that plan almost immediately.
I was looking for items I could put on my wish list for my upcoming birthday. I stumbled across these cute jewelry designs for crocheters that I thought were really awesome.
I can make this!
Instead of putting them on my wish list, my first thought was that I could make these. This naturally led to a search of small crochet hooks. I don’t know how much time I wasted on that errand but I found really cool hooks (but not the ones I was looking for).
I fell for this one which sent me on a side search for sterling silver crochet jewelry.
How awesome is this one? I love it.
Now that the frenzy of Christmas is over, I can go back to finishing my projects languishing in craft bags all over my house. My number one priority at home is to finish my two sweaters. I profess that I will not start anything new until I’m done with at least one. I proclaim that I will wear one of those sweaters before winter ends. (Don’t hold me to any of that!!!)
My granny square sweater will NOT be worn this winter. Those plugs are taking for ever!!! I get discouraged more quickly so it gets put down more often. Instead, I’m working on a new sweater that actually has a chance of seeing the light of a cold day.
I’m working this new sweater in a beautiful star stitch with alternating and complementary colors from my yarn stash (I didn’t want to buy anymore yarn). As usual, I jumped in head first, armed with an idea and a plan. I arranged my colors and got to work. I thought I knew what I was doing. I’ve done the star stitch a million times (it’s one of my favorite stitches). I went for it measuring along my body and deciding lengths and widths that way.
As I was crocheting along, after row upon row of star stitches, I noticed a slight lean to my garment. I was supposed to be getting rectangular panels that I would sew together later but I was getting a parallelogram instead! When I first noticed the lean, I didn’t believe it. I convinced myself it was my imagination so I kept working. By the time I noticed it again, it was too late!
Those are some shifty rows there.
I have been crocheting for a long time but I hardly ever make clothing. I’ve made many hats and scarves…that I hardly ever wear, except my holiday hats I pull out once a year. I even made mittens once as a request item but just the once. I mostly give the hats and scarves away. I’ve recently embarked in trying to finish two sweater coats (more posts on the way) that I’m loving but that’s about it. Oh, once I followed a pattern for a lacy top that I wore once and then gave away. But that’s really it! I guess I should count the costumes. I made two mermaid skirts and a dragon cloak. But again, costumes! Not real clothing. Clothing was just never my thing. I like making toys, costumes, whimsical things for the holidays and such.
But…one thing I think about often is making a crochet skirt.I’ve been wanting to make myself a crochet skirt for a long time now. It’s something that bounces around in my brain but hasn’t actually come out. Lately though, the itch to make it has become stronger. I’ve been puttering around the internet more often salivating at dresses and skirts. And now, I feel I’m ready to give a skirt a try. Not sure yet if I’ll make one up or if I’ll copy one already out there but here are some that looked easy to make (so that I might actually try it) and was something pretty that I would actually wear.
I love stripes and this one has the feel of stripes with a nice twist.
More stripes but chevrons make it different, right? You have to register for this one but it’s free and it’s cute so I think it’s worth it.
Have to have a black skirt in the bunch.
This one doesn’t have a pattern and I wouldn’t wear it out in public but this would be great for the Renaissance Fair. I couldn’t resist a costume! I think I can make something similar without a pattern.
I am not affiliated with any websites nor do I make any money from these sites. They are simply patterns I like or would like to try myself.
I mentioned in a previous post that I was crocheting a life size doll of myself at work. Alas, I had to place it on the back burner in lieu of other, more pressing projects. Well, it’s day has come! I will not pick up any other projects until that doll is done. So I in that spirit…
I resumed work on the head. My little minions (Kindergarteners) couldn’t help themselves from helping me work on the doll. I had completed the head and had embroidered the face, using their suggestions of course. It was ready for stuffing.
Before I stuffed, I had to get up for something and left my work on the table. I can see all of you shaking your heads thinking to yourselves that I was asking for it. I see no pity in your eyes. I did indeed ask for it. I came back to a student running around with his hand in the opening of the doll head, using it like a puppet. A long string of yarn was tailing him around the room as it unwound from the ball of yarn. I quickly had him bring it back. Luckily, I had my stitch marker in so it didn’t unravel.
Can someone help me run around the room? I’m bored.
Now that she was rescued, it was time for stuffing. They love helping me stuff so I let them Continue reading
Poop emoji, I can’t get away from it. The kids love it. Lately, it’s the biggest request I get from the students. They think it’s hilarious. I refused to make it for the prize box. I could just hear all the silly poop jokes an inappropriate sounds. Let’s not even mention all the hijinks I’d be subjected to in the name of comedy. I did relent for the craft fair though. Hey, if they wanted to buy it who was I to argue? The parents would have to deal with the shenanigans at home. I just needed to figure out how to make one.
I went online to find other crochet poop emojis and what I found wasn’t exactly what I was Continue reading
At a family gathering during the holidays, my baby girl made an awesome turkey with delicious fixings. In the midst of all the cooking, I had forgotten that I threw away all my pot holders a few days prior. I had every intention of buying new ones but on three subsequent trips to the store, I forgot.
So there we were, up to our elbows with cooking and no pot holders to be seen. I was lamenting that I would probably need to run out and buy some new ones. My sage sis looked at me and asked why I hadn’t whipped some up already. She correctly pointed out that I could probably crochet some really quick. Huh? What? She was absolutely right! I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it. I try to make just about everything out of crochet (even things I really shouldn’t) and I hadn’t even considered making a pot holder. I didn’t try making one in that instant but I did make one the next day.
Leading up to the annual craft fair at the elementary school where I work is always insane, mainly because I usually decide to participate at the last minute (shame on me). This year I did the same thing. I wasn’t sure I had enough pieces to fill up a table and I certainly didn’t have enough time to make a bunch of new pieces. But a week before, I agreed to do it and then it was a frenzy of trying to create items the students would enjoy. In that week, I managed to make four Pokeballs, two poop emojis, eight doll purses, and two smiley emojis. That was it. Luckily, I still had some dolls and hats lying around that could fill up my half of the table. My lovely, artistic, amazing and super talented daughter had the other half filled with her artwork (bad mommy that I am, I didn’t take any pictures).
My booth at the craft fair at Promenade Elementary School
I noticed that there was another booth that was selling crocheted toys and they had a really nice setup with some really nice things. I felt too inadequate to actually go over there. I had a tiny table with a mish-mash of items. My daughter went over and checked out the competition and being the good daughter that she is, told me my stuff was more unique. Well, it was definitely that. None-the-less, I did better than I had in previous years. I only had a few pieces but I focused on things I thought the kids would like and I knew my students would come check out my booth no matter how small it was. Almost all the items I specifically made for the fair sold. I wish I had had more time to make more Pokeballs and emojis. Those sold out fast with the kids wanting more. The poop emojis didn’t last long either. But most exciting of all was that I sold the Elsa doll from Frozen and that red-headed doll in the top right of the picture (above).
Great picture of Elsa taken by a PTO mom.
I always get a little thrill when I sell one of my dolls AND no one tried to talk me down on the prices. One of the hardest parts for me is pricing my items. In previous years, people loved the work but thought they were too expensive. This year, the items just sold! I was so happy.
The making of some of the items on the table were chronicled on previous blog posts. The tooth with the toothbrush (sold), the Pokeballs (sold), the purpliciousdoll in the top row, the Christmas doll with the purple hat, the face emojis, the Elsa (sold) and Anna dolls, and the superman doll.
An added bonus of doing the fair is that I get to see my students, past and present. Lots of hugs were dispensed that day. My favorite part is when they tell me they still have and value something I made that they either got from our prize box or that they purchased from a previous craft fair. How wonderful is that!
yochet 