Latest finish

Here is a quick project I finished recently. It is a baby sweater. It's supposed to be a size 12 months but I think it's more 9 or even 6 months. Whatever, it isn't for any particular baby. I just liked it. It is from an issue of "Crochet Today" magazine.

Using stitch markers made this go a lot faster. I don't know how I worked without them before. The repeat is 3 single crochet rows, plus two rows that make the 'eyelet.' I was having trouble remembering where I was until I got the markers. They come in 3 colors: blue, red and yellow. For me, since I learned the primary colors in this order, blue was row 1, red was 2 and yellow was 3. I just kept at it until I finished it. It also helped that I had the right yarn and hook right from the start. I have a few 'almost finished' projects for which I need to buy new yarn. My biggest one is a vest. I'm up the part where I have to make a border around it (with buttons) but there is enough finished to actually try it on, and I'm happy to say it fits.

Mother's Day was very nice and I wrote about mine in my "Family News" blog. Despite a toothache (I had a root canal done last week and am still hurting) I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I hope all my readers (few of you that there are) did, too!

Buggy Buddies

Here are two little bugs I crocheted for a friend's kids. You've already met the Bee, but now she has a friend. Miss Bee is pretty much an egg shape and Miss Ladybug is a squished ball. They are my own design, which means I pretty much fudged it until I got what I wanted. I think I posted before that Miss Bee's wings are actually a butterfly pattern. For Miss Ladybug's spots, I just used a small hook (G) and made two small circles, then sewed them on. I back-stitched down the middle of her back to delineate for her wings. Their faces are embroidered with floss.

My bugs are small enough for a child's hands and nice and squishy!

Today I'm linking to a new blog I found: "Sugar and Dots"! Isn't that a cute name?

http://www.sugaranddots.com/2011/05/what-i-whipped-up-wednesday-double.html

Monday Mini Project!

I am always misplacing my big-eyed plastic needles and my mini scissors! This is half the reason a lot of my crochet projects sit unfinished. I decided once in a while to do something about it. The solution: a sort of 'chatelaine'!

You need:

Ribbon--18 to 20 inches or so.
A sewing machine, needle and thread or glue
Your big plastic needles and a mini scissors.

This is so easy! Just fold up one end of the ribbon to make a pocket for the needles. Sew or glue it (keep your glue line very thin if you do it that way. I used a machine.) and tuck in the needles.

Tie the other end of the ribbon around the scissors.

I don't have a picture, but I folded the ribbon in half and put a knot a little bit from the top to make a 'loop' for hanging.

All I have to do now is always remember to hang it up.

Editing to link to:
http://www.thegirlcreative.com/2011/04/just-something-i-whipped-up_24.html

Check it out: over 300 creative links!

Easter Grass Cheat

I completely forgot to buy Easter grass. It is not an appreciated thing around here, anyway. The plastic stuff gets caught up in the vacuum cleaner rollers and the paper stuff is expensive.

Tissue paper to the rescue! Not just any green paper, but Christmas tissue! Yeah, you know, the kind that also comes with red and cost 20 cents a package after New Year's.

If I was ambitious (I'm not) I'd cut the edges to look more grassy. You can even fold it up and cut strips. Again, not that ambitious.

Just a quick idea, in case anyone stops by today.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!!!

A little shopping

I met a good friend of mine for lunch today. The restaurant is right next door to Michael's, so we always go there after we eat. I picked up some new sock yarn, mostly because it was on clearance. It might be a while before I use it, though. I'm finishing up my latest pair and would like to work on finishing a few other projects before I start something new. With that in mind I bought myself some of those big-eyed plastic needles. I'm always losing them for some reason! I have a few things I can finish now that I have the means of sewing in the yarn. One is a cute seal pup I started forever ago and the other is a little whale. Pictures soon, I promise! And links, if I still have them.

My other shopping news (a little bragging here) is that today I got $64.11 in groceries for $28.99. Total savings: $35.12! Yep, better than 50%. I love being 'creative' with sales and coupons. My best deal today was my coffee creamer. It's usually 2.99, but after double coupons and sales I got it for 40 cents! (So I bought 4 of them--I go through one a week, I'd say.)

Not only that, but you know that machine that spits out coupons at the register? Someone left a '$2 off your next shopping order' one behind. So I got another $2 off. Cool, huh?

Even though this is pretty much a crafting blog, I feel that we need to be 'creative' with our money in this day and age. So...has anyone seen that show on TLC, "Extreme Couponers"? I'm a little stunned and have asked when stockpiling becomes hoarding. Does anyone really need a ten year supply of toothpaste?????

Bunnies!

A Bunny Couple ready for the Spring Dance.
The Group.
Isn't she pretty? See the flower on her head?
Girls in the works.

These were so much fun to make. I might paint some clothespins white just to have them to play with next year. At this point I have other Easter projects to work on, as well as my 'regular' ones.

I did notice my girls have longer ears than my boys, LOL!

Spring Blouse

Here is my latest sewing project, a new blouse for spring. It is McCall's M6035. Of course I paid about 1.99 for it, not the 17.95 suggested retail price! Who pays almost $18 for a frickin' pattern??????

Oh, and the fabric was on sale, too. I usually go for the quilting cottons. There are so many nice prints to choose!

This is what I've gotten done so far. The sleeves will be the shortest ones, but I might just let them hang loose instead of making them puffed.

I only have the collar half-sewn in and need to iron it up a bit. I had to fudge the neckline just a little bit after increasing the width of the front. I want a blouse that buttons easily and patterns never fit me like that.

I really like the shirred sleeves on the blue blouse and plan to use them in the next incarnation of this pattern.


On the crochet front, I finished a doll blanket today that I started a while back. I also did several more rounds on a new pair of socks and am past the 'turning the heel' part.

The girl clothespin bunnies have skirts and tails, but no ears yet. Soon!

Pics of all to come in future posts.