just peachy socks

Just peachy socks.

Yarn from here.

Pattern from here.

They are (were??) for my daughter's birthday ... which happened to be March 14.  Okay.  So a month late, but getting these stripes to match up on each sock ?! ... 

a kitty clutch

Our daughter works on a farm with 5 horses & a zillion cats.  The owner loves her kitties like nobody's business.

So when one of those kitties dies, it is truly devastating to her.

And that is exactly what happened.  Tinker died and our daughter wanted to give her employer something to help alleviate the pain.

(this is our cat, Daffy approving the choice of fabric)

So of course, my mind is scrambling ... "what can I make her??!..."

Something from yarn?  Fabric?

Knowing that I needed it yesterday & the for the simple fact that I can sew way faster than I can knit or crochet ~ sewing it is!

A little wallet clutch with applique kitty.

Completely made up from my head ----> read: no pattern.

I love cats & I love how cute this turned out.  And so quickly.

Seriously.  I need to sew more.

a chocolate, blue bird coffee cozy

A chocolate, blue bird coffee cozy.

I needed a new coffee cozy for my french press coffee maker.  

So I made a paper template out of scrap paper just by

- holding the paper up to the carafe - 

- measuring it - 

- folding it - 

- penciling it - 

and then simply just cutting out a basic shape to serve as my pattern.

And then ~ I got out my g hook and started crocheting row after row of simple sc until it matched the height of my paper template.  

I used RedHeart Chocolate Soft Yarn.

Notice the little piece I crocheted to the right ... that's where the buttons will go.

Now to dress this up, I figured a cute little cross-stitch pattern would be adorable.

I found this blue bird pattern here.

Using scrap yarn and a tapestry needle I cross-stitched directly onto each 'square' of each single crochet stitch.

Such a perfect combination ...

coffee, crochet & cross-stitch.

the best easter egg pattern

More crocheted Easter eggs.

I have crocheted Easter eggs before.

But I like this pattern better.

Once crocheted -- they are fuller on the bottom and narrower on top.

More like an actual egg.

And so easy! ~ they whip up  f a s t.

Just think.  A 10 minute crochet egg.

easter marshmallow bunnies

Cutest pattern.  Ever!

If you're looking for marshmallow bunnies.

I found it here.

tulip bucket bag

If you remember these granny squares, I was befuddled as to what I found do with them.

Hmmm.

How 'bout a bucket bag? 

A tulip bucket bag.

When I saw this pattern for the crochet tulips I knew it had to be part of this bucket bag. 

 I can not tell  you how much I love, LOVE,  L O V E this tulip border!

After joining the granny squares, I started using the same color yarn to add height to this bucket bag with just simple double and crochet rounds.

Then single crocheting a simple cord with white yarn, I threaded it between the tulip stems to form a draw cord.

Now something for the inside.  To stabilize it more. 

I started scrounging thru my scraps of fabric, and laid fabric piece after fabric piece next to the crochet bucket bag.  Settling on the blue gingham & red polka-dot fabric, I fashioned a lining.

(Just a tiny note ---> this is just measure, cut and sew as best as I can.  Please don't ask for a pattern -- because honestly! -- there isn't any.  I just eye-balled it; half-way measured it; closed my eyes; cut; sewed; said many a prayer; and viola...a lining!)

It turned out way cuter than I thought it would.

motif #109

This is motif #109 from a favorite book of mine:

This adorable block involves edc(extended double crochet) and a leaning tower stitch and a partial leaning tower stitch ~which I have never done before~ but! it gives the block a unique, stacked stitch that is really quite easy to do (and nope - I will not share the pattern...Seriously! get this book! It is a must-buy-for-your-crochet-shelf!)

I am just using scraps of yarn & a G hook.

And having learned from past granny square making...

....I am weaving the ends of all those color changes as I finish each block.

Because waiting until the end when you stacks & stacks of blocks ...

Um. Not a good thing.

bamboo + balm = beret

Aahh.

Relief in the form of a knitted beret.

Using this delicious pattern:  a fetching ladies beret 

And this yarn:  Petal Effervesce Yarn

I knit this.

I  K N I T  this.    

Y E S.   K  N  I  T    I  T!  

With nary a complaint!  

Thanks to bamboo needles (which I must hold differently than other needles) & applying a thin layer of this soothing balm to my offending elbow.

It has helped!

And now my daughter has a much-wanted, fetching ladies beret.

the tale of 2 dolls

This is doll #1 that I started knitting eons ago.  Read -->long before Christmas.


The pattern is from this book that I found while scrounging at the thrift store.

So cute & so scrappy !  I couldn't wait to get it done and have it sitting on the shelf in the living room looking all festive & lovely during the Christmas season.

There was a just a bit of a teeny problem.

The obvious of course is that Christmas has already come & gone and look! this doll still has no arms attached and is totally faceless.  And doggone it! I am so close to being done.  But I am trying to come to grips with the very real, very cold reality I may never get to finish this doll.

Why?

Scroll back a few stories and I was being very witty about playing tennis.  Not real tennis of course, but I was injecting humor in my very catastrophic inability to knit or crochet because of 'tennis elbow'.  (And please also note ----> I am feeling extremely foolish for being so whiny about this.  I mean!  Seriously!  I know that there are people out there having to deal with waaaaay more serious stuff than this...)

So my bag of knitting sits next to me all silent.  And I wonder if I will ever be able to knit or crochet again.  The possibility stuns me.  Really?  It can't be!  And take it back out & knit a few stitches only to shove it back into the bag because my. elbow. hurts. way. too. much.

What's left?

Feel sorry for myself?  Tried that and my kids & husband were ready to throw my out on my backside.  Seriously, Mom?  It's just knitting! (Plus that gets real old, real fast.)

I started paging through this same COUNTRY DOLLS book and there are lots of cute patterns...oh, look! a pattern to sew a doll...using scraps of fabric and my sewing machine.

Well, it HAS been a bazillion years since I did anything like that...

...but here she is.  Doll #2

I must say, I had forgotten what a treasure it is to sew.  And when she came out looking like this?

...I knew that all is not lost.