on hooks & needles: May

knit:


I've been saving the small bits that are leftover after I knit a square into my Scrappy Hue blanket to make a pair of scrappy socks. We went to see the new Avengers movie over the weekend, really good by the way, and since it was opening weekend, I wanted to get there early enough to get a good seat, so I needed socks to knit on during the wait. The scrappy socks are what I decided to cast on. They were all I worked on over the weekend, I am loving adding new yarns to them. I finished the first sock yesterday and have cast on the second already, they'll be a pair that's finished pretty fast.

I'm also using the first pair of needles I bought for sock knitting, Knitters Pride. I forgot how great they are for not making even a bit of a ladder on the sides of socks. Although, I do remember why I stopped using them, my finger is bruised and hurting pretty bad from pushing the needle. I'm trying to get out of the habit of doing that so that I love these needles again.


Since those socks are going to be such a quick knit, I decided to still pick out a paper bag for the Personal Mystery Sock Yarn Club 2015. The bag contained Poems sock yarn, which was a gift from Andi. I am going to be knitting from both ends of the yarn for the Noro Stripey Socks pattern.

cross stitch:


I found this pattern while browsing pinterest and wanted to stitch it right away, so that's what I did. It was super quick to stitch up and I love how it looks. I have never washed a cross stitch project before but recently I have been hearing about how great it really makes your finished project look, so I'm going to be giving it a try today. The pattern for the teapot can be found here.

There are no immediate crochet plans for the month, so the post probably could have just been called "on needles". There are a couple things I would like to start crocheting this month but I don't have the yarn for any of it right now.

on hooks & needles

cross stitch


I finally started my greetings cross stitch last week. The pattern can be purchased here. I am loving stitching this project, it's been very hard to put down! I had to take a break from it yesterday after my finger became really swollen and painful, I think I had been holding my q-snap frame wrong. It's feeling a bit better today though, so I'm back at it. I'm excited to have this finished soon! I really like the designs from Satsuma Street, I will definitely be stitching more of them.

knit


I chose my sock yarn for my March socks, it's Malabrigo Sock in the Indiecita colorway. I haven't quite decided what pattern I will be knitting yet but I probably won't be casting on until I finish my greetings cross stitch. If you have any suggestions, I'd really love to hear them!

crochet

I have done very little crochet recently but my scrap v-stitch blanket will be getting worked on again, hopefully by next week. I really want to get that done before the end of the KAL/CAL in My Sister's Knitter's ravelry group, it ends April 30th, so I have enough time!

I've also been thinking of crocheting toys again. There are a couple designs that I've been thinking about, I've even started crocheting one a little but I don't think I'll have it finished any time soon. I am really excited about the construction though, I think maybe I need to try a different yarn so that I won't want to set it aside. I have a lot of toy ideas sketched out, I really want to get a couple of them off the paper and in toy form this year.

Anyway, that's all for today. Is there anything exciting that you've been working on recently?

right now on hooks & needles (& upcoming)

crochet

Sometime last year I figured out that I really don't enjoy the feel of acrylic blankets anymore. I don't hate them but they're just not so nice on my hands. My kids still love them and use them, so all the blankets I've crocheted in the past have nothing to fear! I'm also thinking of crocheting toys using something else soon too, so I have a big stash of acrylic just sitting in the closet that I need to do something about.


So, of course, I started a blanket! It was really the only thing I could think of to quickly use the stash up, although it doesn't seem like it's made a huge dent yet. I'm crocheting a V-Stitch blanket, using Le Monde De Sucrette's pattern. I'm crocheting different width sections and will be joining them up, either while crocheting or after... I haven't gotten that far yet. I have lots of white and off white yarn, so I'm alternating rows with those colors. So far, I'm liking the look of it. I've finished one section, it's going to be a big blanket, it measures from my feet to my shoulders.

knit

I'm knitting a cover for a hot water bottle, something I've wanted to have for quite a long time. I'm knitting it using some Woolike yarn I had bought last year, I'm holding three strands of yarn. It's making a really nice fabric. The pattern I'm using is free and can be found here. Since I don't have a lot of needles yet, I'm only using one needle size, so I upped the stitch count a little.


Not too long ago, I added to my Scrappy Hue Shift blanket. I still see this as a very long term project, I'm out of sock yarn to use again. I think I'll let it sit for a couple months, so I can get at least more than 2 squares added before stashing it again.


upcoming

I gathered up supplies to cross stitch this design from Satsuma Street. I'm hoping to find some time to start soon, it's been on my list for quite some time!


Besides the cross stitch, I have my February socks to get started on next week. I'm surprised I made it all the way to now without just ripping a brown bag open to knit some socks, I've been craving some sock knitting. Over the weekend, I'll be picking my bag out.

I hope you have a great weekend!

November Socks

It's been awhile since I last posted, didn't mean for that to happen again! Instagram really is too easy to get caught up in I think, I post there pretty often. I don't want to stop with the blog though, I just need to figure out a way to make it a priority again, next year it's something I'll work on.


There's been plenty of things keeping me busy lately, my daughter's both turned a year older! I now have 10 year old and 8 year old girls. That's just crazy to me, every year I think the same thing. The picture on the left is my 10 year old and the right, my 8 year old. Once you're finished with the baby stages, kids seem to grow up incredibly fast, no matter how much you wish they wouldn't. Their birthdays were on the 6th and 8th of this month, we kept those days just for us to celebrate this year but they'll be having a fun bowling party with friends this weekend. I plan to keep advil in my pocket as I'm the only adult with them all.

Anyway, on to my November socks! I finished them on the last day of November, just in time! Getting them off the needles was incredibly exciting to me, they felt like a huge accomplishment. They're a Christmas present for my boyfriend, I'm pretty sure he still has no idea I knit him a pair. It was hard to keep them a secret, I love showing off my socks! I already stuffed them away so I won't be tempted to give them to him early.


I knit these socks at 72 stitches on size 2.25mm needles and did a basic ribbing pattern. I decided to knit the leg to the same length as the foot, I think that's probably a good length for men, I hope? The yarn that I used is Opal in the Wacholder colorway. I'll definitely use this yarn brand again, it's not the most soft yarn but it feels like it will hold up well.

I have a pair of socks that I'm knitting two at a time that I thought would be my December socks but I think I'm going to take a small break from sock knitting this month. I still have a few Christams ornaments to finish crocheting and I want to finish my Once Upon a Time cross stitch sampler before the 2015 sampler starts. I stopped stitching by June, so I have a lot to catch up on!


I'm linking up to Liesl's Monthly Sock Challenge today.

Christmas is coming!

Last year, I crocheted a snowman to send as a swap gift and I really wanted one for my own home but I never seemed to find time to crochet it. This year, I have one! I finished my own extra early and I'm so happy with him! The pattern is by FreshStitches, it's a build your own snowman pattern, so you can custom crochet him to your liking. It's a great pattern!


For his scarf, I thought it would be fun to knit it since I am much more comfortable with knitting now. I also knit the band around his top hat. All the yarn I used is Loops & Threads Impeccable, my go to for amigurumi! He stands at 11 inches with his top hat on.


I put up a listing for a Made to Order Snowman in my etsy shop, so I crocheted a toque to show as another option. I love a top hat on a snowman, so that's what I sewed onto mine!

Now that I have this cutie finished up, I am in a Christmas mood! All I want to crochet is Christmas fun! Too early??

latest happenings

Happy March! At the beginning of every month I wonder how it's gotten here so quickly, days fly by so quickly now that I'm older. I swear they didn't move this fast ten years ago! Anyway, I've got a bunch of random things to share today. Hope you're having a nice weekend!


After I crocheted the first flower doll, my daughter wanted me to make another so she could give it as a birthday present this weekend. I used different shades of green and pink with this one, I think she turned out as cute as the first. I think it's really awesome that my kids want to give my toys as gifts to their friends, it makes me so happy!


Speaking of birthday presents, my mom's birthday was this week and I crocheted her a pair of fingerless Tardis gloves. She's a Doctor Who fan, so I thought she'd like them. The pattern makes a much longer pair than what I made, I left out a few rows.


I had a really great mail day this week! I bought myself a sock bag from Chubby Cloud, the fabric was just too cute to pass up! Both sides are so cute. I also bought a little triangle bag, I'm planning on using it more in the summer for quick trips to the park with the kids, I don't always want to lug a big bag with me.


I also bought some yarn from SpunRightRound after Amanda posted a link in the My Sister's Knitter KAL/CAL group on ravelry. I couldn't resist it, it was screaming at me to buy it! The colorway is called Graffiti, I can't wait to knit up another pair of socks with this yarn!


And speaking of socks, I finished my first pair!! They are not even close to perfect but I love them and don't care! I'll share a big post next week with links to everything I used to make these. After knitting this pair, I really feel like I could be on the verge of sock knitting addiction. A slow moving sock knitting addiction but that's okay! Maybe by the end of the year I can have a few pairs knit.

Once Upon a Time 2014

First, I wanted to say thank you everyone for your kind and supportive comments on my mood blanket post! And for the suggestions on how to go forward with it were helpful, I still need to keep it away from me for awhile but I know I'll go back to it at some point when I won't associate those colors with "moods" anymore.

Today, I'm sharing my year long cross stitch project. It's the newest sampler from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery called Once Upon a Time. I love the patterns that Ashleigh and Amanda come up with, they create such fun and cute patterns! For the past few years, they have been doing year long samplers, I've signed up for the last three years, I haven't managed to get the last two finished but this year will be different! And I will finish those last two at some point! This year's theme is fairy tales, so far we've had Snow White and the Frog Prince.


I almost didn't sign up for this year but my sister talked me into stitching it with her, it's her first cross stitch pattern ever! I'm so glad she talked me into this year, I've been having so much fun stitching these adorable squares. I'm behind on my border but I'm doing mine as I go each month. I can't wait for the March square, I wonder what fairy tale it will be.

You can sign up for the Once Upon a Time sampler here. The price goes up after March 1st, so sign up fast!

cross-stitch bag pattern

Today I'm going to share the pattern to make the cross-stitch bag that I crocheted using the Sharp Crochet Hook. I tried to make this pattern as clear as possible but I'm not an expert pattern writer, so if something doesn't make sense, please let me know so I can try to help! This bag I'm using to hold my cross-stich supplies but you can use this bag to hold anything that will fit!


You will need:
one 14 inch zipper
4mm crochet hook (G) (not pictured)
a sharp crochet hook
thread
worsted weight yarn (any colors, I used about 1 skein in total)


1: Use your sharp crochet hook and thread; *sc, ch1 to the corner, ch3, sc, (ch1, sc)twice, ch3* repeat, join and cut your thread.

Try to space your sc as evenly as you can. A trick you can use to do this is to mark 1/4" with a marker on your sharp hook, measuring from the tip of the hook and then use that mark as your guide.


2: Switch to worsted weight yarn and 4mm hook; sc in each ch1 sp, 3sc in each corner sp, fasten off yarn.
3: Join yarn with an sc to any middle stitch of the 3sc group, sc in each st across, turn
4-38: sc each stitch, turn (35 rows)
39: sc each stitch, front loops only, turn
40-86: sc each stitch, turn (46 rows)
87: sc each stitch, back loops only, turn
88-90: sc in each stitch.

Assembly:
Now you can fold your crochet piece over so your last row lines up with the top row over the zipper. Join together with a whip stitch.

Open your zipper (so you can turn bag right side out); whipstitch the sides together, making sure your wrong side is showing. Turn bag right side out through the zipper. The rows where you crocheted front loops and back loops only will help your bag fold in the right places.

You're finished!

typewriter noticeboard TA-DAH!

I've finally got my typewriter noticeboard finished! I'm so happy with it! I had a lot of fun working on this one, even with all the small back stitching details.

Instead of stitching words on the paper, I decided to cross-stitch a heart. The inspiration for that is from the typewriters in the Ruby Star Shining fabric line. It's a little bit of a wonky heart (on purpose), I love it!

I wrapped my design around a canvas that I bought on sale forever ago and added ribbon that would match the heart. TA-DAH!!


I got my pattern from issue 248 of The CrossStitcher but there is a how-to for this noticeboard and a link for the pattern (you have to buy it) right here.

I changed the colors for my typewriter, I used DMC 3705 for the main color and DMC 353 for the shading. For the heart, I used DMC 964 and DMC 959 to line it.

cross-stitch WIP

I've been making good progress with my noticeboard, my iron is going to have a lot of work to do once I'm finished!

I went with a melon color for my typewriter, I'm using DMC 3705, the lighter color is peach DMC 353. I wasn't sure about the color when I first started it but it's grown on me and I'm happy with how it's looking!

June dessert

Finished June's dessert of the month pattern, still don't even know what bubble tea is! But, it's cute!

My next big cross stitch project will be this noticeboard! I'm so excited about it, I can't wait to get started! I'm just trying to figure out what color I want the typewriter to be, I'm leaning towards coral or maybe green.

Tomorrow's my birthday (29!), so hopefully I'll be spending the day working on the typewriter! A day of cross stitching and crochet sounds like the perfect present for myself.

May

I feel like May just started, this month has really flown by! I've managed to get a lot of crafting done still though. I'm happy with all the cuteness I managed this month.

I finished knitting my dish towel, I love it with its aqua crochet border. I've even been using it, I more expected it to sit and look pretty since it's so light in color but I like using it.

I tested a pattern called Granny Hoot for Michelle! It turned out so cute, I have her koala one half finished right now also, I should have that finished and ready to share soon I hope, I keep getting side tracked lately.

I made a cute hedgehog pillow for my daughter, it's small but useable for a 5 year old. She definitely likes it, it made it with us on our family trip a couple weekends ago!

The grandma love cushion is another pattern from Michelle, this one sat in my ravelry queue for far too long, I love this pillow!

I finished up a cute cross stitch for my kitchen, it's a leaning tower of macaroons.

I added my Chair Socks pattern to ravelry just this week and it's already gotten over 100 favorites! The pattern was also added to AllFreeCrochet.com this month too.

Now bring on June!

leaning tower of macaroons

I finished stitching this adorable cross stitch awhile ago but just finally finished the framing. I used a wooden oval hoop to finish the piece, I think it looks good.

The pattern came from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, the only color I changed is the plate, I used a light colored aida cloth so I decided a darker plate would look better.

And don't forget about the auction for Liz of Playin Hooky Designs. You can bid on my baby love blanket right here.

dessert of the month catch up

I spent some time this weekend playing catch up with my dessert of the month cross stitch. Every month is just so cute, I'm so glad that I decided to do this project!

weekend stitching

I'm going to attempt to finish up this cute cross stitch I'm working on from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery this weekend.

weekend stitching

I'm doing some cross stitching this weekend. What are you up to?

January truffle

I spent Sunday afternoon stitching up this cute pattern. It's part of the Desert of the Month Club that I joined this year. It's so cute, I can't wait for February's pattern!

I bought some linen to stitch this on but ended up quitting because it was way too frustrating. So, I went back to the store and bought some evenweave in mushroom to use instead. Some of my stitches aren't so nice looking, I tried to use some DMC Pearlescent Effects to add some sparkle and it's kind of a pain to work with.

noel

Another Christmas cross stitch is finished. I used a letter chart in the Christmas 2011 Issue 244 of Cross Stitcher. I used evenweave to stitch on again, I really like the evenweave now.

I was going to paint the hoop red but I kept forgetting to buy some red paint and now I don't want to deal with that Christmas crowd, so I wrapped some red ribbon around the hoop instead.

This is most likely the last cross stitch for the year, I'm so glad that I discovered my love for cross stitch again, I hope to do more next year!

Christmas finishing

I showed you this in progress weeks ago but never got around to sharing it finished. I painted an embroidery hoop white before I put this cross-stitch in and then added some red ribbon. Maybe not the prettiest finish ever but I like it.

I found this pattern in The Cross Stitcher, Issue 244. This magazine is becoming a new favorite of mine, I've got 3 issues so far and I love pretty much every pattern in each issue.

I've got another Christmas cross-stitch in need of being framed, I really like it and will hopefully get it done and shared soon!

my creative space

I have wanted to do a cross stich like this for such a long time! I picked up a copy of The Cross Stitcher and this pattern was in it, so I started it the same night! It only took me about 2 days to finish, I love it! I stitched the pattern on evenweave, it was my first time using evenweave and it will not be my last, I love the stuff. I definitely now prefer it over aida cloth. I just need to frame this picture now.

The cross stitching bug has really bitten me again, I'm hoping I will be able to find the next issue of The Cross Stitcher because there is another pattern in there I want to do. And hopefully I can find some red evenweave or aida cloth, I have had zero luck in any of the stores here so far. You will most definitely be seeing some more cross stitch before Christmas here!

There is still crochet going on here too, still working away on the birthday blanket, 12 more octagons to go!

See more creative spaces right here.

And don't forget to go check out my new facebook page!