Scraps for Dinos!

Over the course of the three or four years that I have been "playing with yarn", as some like to call it, I have accumulated many scraps of yarn that are too small to use in a full project. For a long time, probably about a year, I have thought about using these scraps for granny squares, but never got around to it and didn't know what to make with granny squares.

I have been watching some of my friend, Vivi's projects developing over the past couple of months. She has been making these African Flower Motif softies/toys and they look so beautiful and cuddly. The pattern calls for various colors of scrap yarn, which I thought would be an amazing way to get rid of some of my scraps in my yarn stash.

We have a niece and nephew in Texas. Our nephew just turned two and our niece is going to be four years old, this summer. I am not sure how long making these softies will take me so I'm planning on making one for each of them, as their Christmas gifts.

Right now, you may be saying, "Uhm, Cassie, it is only January, you have eleven months still." and to that I say "yeah, and?". I am trying my best to plan out my projects for the year. So far, that means me taking on five projects at once and making my rounds when I get bored with one. I wasn't able to make anything for Rebeckha and Ken, this past Christmas and I feel bad about that.

Today, I started working on the Puff the Magic Stegosaurus for Ken and I'm still trying to figure out which one to make for Rebeckha.

So far, this is all I have:

Thankfully, the motifs are quick work ups. I have finished all of the squares, triangles and Octagons. I'm working on the Heptagons and then all I would have left would be the hexagons and pentagons. Whee!

What projects are you working on? 

How do you use your scrap yarns?

Feel free to leave a comments below, I love hearing from you!
Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Afghan Swap 2015: The Final Box

As some of you know, I have been taking part in a year round, afghan swap. In this swap, there are three packages: two smaller and the final on has the afghan. The first one was sent out in April, then August and finally December. I have throurghly enjoyed participating and hope to take part in the next years.

My final package left me spoiled:

 I received two, beautiful circle blankets!

 Many goodies: Two bags of butterscotch candies (my favorite), hot chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup Tea (yum!), Sherlock Holmes book (My CSI hero), an engraving art kit, dry erase board, X-men DVD (Not sure how she knew of my secret Marvel love or my love for Hugh Jackman...) and not pictured a set of beautiful blue coasters.

 There were four blanket patterns, a recipie for pie and one for ham.

 Four skeins of yarn. They are so soft and I have many ideas for these I just have to pick the right ones.

 A clever, reversible hat.

 Beautiful, beaded stitch markers

 And two crochet magazines! One is Crochet Accessories (which I will be making several thing in the near future) and the other is a Crochet magazine, which teaches the enterlac crochet which I have been so curious about. I am excited and forever thankful!

Thank you, Bonnie for spoiling me, all year. It has been such a blessing to get to know you and find things for you as well. Your patience with me was unimaginable. I know I have a history of unending questions and this was my first swap. Thank you, for being part of such a wonderful year.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved

Merry Christmas 2015!

This year has been a wonderful and exciting year. In some ways I am sad to see it go but in others I enjoy looking back and seeing how far everyone has come from January 1. My sister-in-law has grown a lot in her attitude and has learned to accept some things that she cannot change. I am proud of her, even though it has taken some time and different routes to get to her. We were able to see her, this Christmas, for a couple of days.

Corban has grown a lot this year, as well. He has had a few growth spurts but he has grown in character as well. I am proud of him for sticking up for himself and others. He has made some great choices in friends and in life. Although, being a teenage boy, he still has some growing to do.

This Christmas was wonderful. Being able to spend time with family, without having to worry about when I have to be at work, customers, etc. It was nice. My only worry was "did I do enough, for Christmas" and the resounding echo from everyone has been "yes". I still have my doubts but that is me. I am a giver and even if I gave someone the clothes off of my back, I would still want to give more.

Jc enjoys his Boston blanket and everyone else seems to enjoy the things they recieved. Jc gave me a yarn pendant for Christmas! I have been wanting one for a long time but never got around to getting one. Now, I dont' have to worry about where my scissors are and whether or not I'm going to cut myself, or the pets by sitting on them. He also wants to give me a "Crochet Mystery novel". It sounds interesting, for sure.

I made out with some yarn, patterns, a Starwars Crochet Kit, stitch markers, pjs....it has been a truly blessed year. Even more than the things I have recieved, I will always treasure the relationships of those family and friends. There is nothing more valuable than time and memories.

Today, I go back to work and Jc goes to see the new Star Wars with his family before his sister goes back. It has been a great year and I look forward to the future
Remember that you are beautiful and well loved

Let's Go, Red Sox! Finally!

It is finally finished! I have been working on designing a Boston Red Sox blanket for my husband who is a huge fan of the team. I started designing it in February and just finished the complete pattern and blanket, today.

It started out as just an idea. I had only designed a couple of hats and scarves at that point and I was just playing around with ideas. I bought some graph paper and made multiple sketches of the logo's. I decided on this one, a larger version of it and started actually writing the pattern from the graph paper.

The digital download will not have the graph, mostly because I'm not super great with technology to make 146 boxes on a page. But all of the directions will be written out.

I don't know how I feel about the border. It is a puff stitch, which I thought of because it looked kind of like balls and this is a baseball team. Jerad has only put the blanket down (because I can't wait until Christmas to give people their gifts), to fix some delicious food.

What do you think of the blanket? Be honest, please.
What is your design process?

Feel free to let me know in the comments below, and check out my other posts!

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved

So...About those Elves...

I am so sorry that it has been a while since I last wrote. Things have gotten super busy the last couple weeks and our internet keeps cutting in and out, since the internet we shared with a neighbor was shut off. So, there will be a couple new posts.

I feel like I didn't acomplish much in the way of Christmas stuff but here is what I have:

Blankets:  1/2 are finished
Hats: 2/5 are finished
Earwarmers: 0/4 are finished
Shawls: 2/3 are finished
Scarves: 5/5 are finished (YAY!)
Potholders: 1/6 are finished
Washcloths: 0/6 are fnished

 

Here is the blanket that I finished. The lighting isn't that great, it has been super cloudy around here. The color is a frost green/light sage. I do love the pattern though. It was a quick work up, once I sat down and did it. I used a pattern from Crochet World Magazine April 2015 Issue

 

This is the other shawl that I finished. It is a dark purple, cascading shells pattern. I really like this one too. I was able to sit and visit with people and not have to worry about losing count or reading a pattern. 

 The last scarf I needed to make! I restarted this one I don't know how many times. I tried to come up with something new, but felt rushed so I tore it out. Then I was going to do the Turtle Shuffle but I couldn't decide how I wanted to stripe it. So, I went with this basic, double crochet striped scarf. I'm not sure if I'm going to add tassels on it or not. I'm not sure the recipient is a fan of tassels

.

Finaly, a pot holder that I finished yesterday. It is supposed to be a diamond overlay but my diamonds look weird. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong but I still like it. Again, the lighting does not do the color justice. This one is a Frost Green color. I got this pattern from Crochet World Magazine August 2010 Issue.

Please remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Fans, Fences and Lace

 This week, I have been doing a lot of work on a couple of shawls since I left my pattern notebook and my swap blanket in the back of a friend's vehicle from our road trip. The above picture is from a dark purple "Cascading Lace Shawl". I downloaded this pattern for $2USD and I must say that I absolutely love the way it works up. Although the pattern is written completely out, row by row, it is a repeating pattern. I found that I like who complete the pattern is because I don't have to go back and count my rows, and how many times I have completed rows 1-9. I can simply continue on through the pattern and know that I'm at row 32. I don't feel as lost as I sometimes do with repeated patterns.

This next shawl that I'm working on is another experiment of mine. I like how open it is and it is an easy work up, as well. I'm using Red Heart's Super Saver Solids "Frosty Green" for this shawl.

Both shawls are going to become rectangular shawls.

Also, I have been looking up on a new ambition, somewhat related to crochet but doesn't have much to do with yarn. I've been looking on Etsy and E-bay at the beaded crochet stitch markers and admiring them. Some of the prices seem a bit high but I love how unique they are. My husband used to dabble in beading jewelry and I do believe that he still has some beads I might be able to use. I think I'm going to invest in some "Lobster Claws" (clippy things), some beading pins and a pair of needle nosed plier and try my hand at making some of these beauties! Of course, when I do start, I will post my adventures with beading on here as well.

What are you working on right now?  Any new ambitions?
Feel free to check out my other posts and leave a comment below. I always love hearing from you.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved!

Corban's Winter Hat (Free Pattern)

 

I must have been hit by the inspiration arrow, lately. Here is another free pattern download!

I don't have a very creative title for this one but the person I designed this for is one crafty dude so his name may be just the ticket, even though most of you do not know him. My brother-in-law wears hats often. For Christmas, I usually make him a couple of winter hats so that he can wear them to school and when one gets dirty, he still has another one. 

Last year I made him a replica of one that he lost in the mall when we were trying to find him a suit for our wedding. He was so distraught over losing the hat and so happy when he received the replica. Corban is very quick to say what is on his mind and often times it is funny and I try not to laugh when I shouldn't. 

This design, I almost did not write out because it is a basic hat pattern with an addition. I don't remember the last time that I looked at a basic winter hat pattern but I've been making winter hats for a couple of years. I know that I misplaced the one I used for my first couple of hats and I just started doing my own thing. It is a basic double stitch hat with a band running across the front and a button.

I decided to add the band because I didn't want it to seem too plain with just the one color of yarn I was using. For this hat, I used Lion Brand's Homespun "Gothic" yarn. It is dark purple with a touch of black. Purple happens to be Corban's favorite color and since he is now entering high school, I decided to make him a hat that is more adult but still had a touch of flavor. I found a few black buttons that didn't have a flower design and chose the one in the picture.

I must say that I am quite proud of this design, no matter how simple.

I hope that you are able to enjoy it as much as I do and as much as Corban will, come Christmas. Now, to make him a "Creeper" hat to go with the scarf that I made him last year.

What do you think of the added flavor to the hat? Does it look like something a teenage boy would wear? 

Remember, you are beautiful and well loved.

To Make A Hole, You Must Start Digging

After a couple of slight panic attacks over Christmas, which isn't for another couple of months, and writing a list of gifts to make (which can be found in my earlier post, Dear Santa, May I Borrow Some Elves?) I have begun to make somewhat of a dent.

So far I have made 2/10 Scarves. I am in the middle of designing a third.

I used a basic Double Crochet stitch for one scarf:

and I used the "Strawberry Wine Cable Scarf" Pattern for the second:

I also made a couple of colorful headbands with some yarn gifted to me by Nina:

The yarn is 50% Soy Silk and 50% wool. South West Trading Company, Karaoke-299
 I also used the Double Shell Headband Pattern, which is a free pattern, for these two.
I absolutely loved the yarn for this and I'm going to look into getting more yarn. The Soy Silk tones down the wool's scratchiness. Wool doesn't usually make me itch but some wools do seem a little rough. This one is so soft and smooth, I wish you could feel it through the screen!

I am about 40 rows away from being finished with a blanket that I have been working on for a while. My goal is to have that finished by the end of this month. To do that, I want to try to crochet at least 5 rows a day (starting tomorrow because I work all day today). If I kept to this, I should have it finished by the 25th of September. Then I could concentrate on finishing the design for the hubby's blanket and the rest of the smaller projects.

The scarves will only take me a couple hours each, if I use patterns that I already have, and stop designing new ones. The shawls will take a little longer. Which, I started on one shawl and I'm really loving the pattern. I will make a new post about that, since this one is already stuffed with pictures. 

So, right now, I am working on  a new scarf design, a shawl, and a blanket. I want to finish this scarf and another scarf before I switch over to hats. 

Please remember that you are beautiful and well loved. 

Dear Santa, May I Borrow Some Elves?

I finally sat down (during a lunch break) and wrote down a list of projects that I need to start and complete before Christmas comes around. Yes, it is only September but I'm sure all you crafters know just how long it takes to make something special for someone. I glanced at my list, today and I'm starting to wish that I hadn't written everything out.

So far (I usually end up adding things) I have:

Two afghans- one is for a swap and needs to be finished by December 1st, I'm about halfway finished; the other is still in the process of having the pattern written. Eighty rows are written, still have about 108 rows more.

A "Stitch" hat for my neice.

Ten winter hats

Three Earwarmers

Three Shawls

Six ornaments

Ten scarves

Nine potholders

Four dishcloths

and possibly a third blanket but I'm not sure I'll have that much time.

Since I have started crocheting, one person has received a blanket each year. The first year it was my dad and step mom, the second was my mother in law, this year it will be my husband and I'm thinking next year will be my brother in law, once I figure out what he likes. Now that he is in high school, I don't know if he still wants the Star Wars things or if he wants things to be  a little more grown up.

Which makes it difficult for this Christmas, for him. Last year I made him a "Creeper" scarf from Minecraft. Last year he was in middle school. This year, he is in high school and I'm not sure what he wants.

Out of all the projects that I need to do, I have the blanket for my afghan swap started and...yeah, just that. Well, I may have one scarf and an earwarmer finished...depending on if I want to give away my prototypes of the Strawberry Wine patterns.

Every year, my list gets longer. I'm just going to have to start crocheting for Christmas 365 days ahead of time.

In all of the chaos, remember: You are beautiful and well loved.
 

Christmas is Just Around the Corner...

I was on Ravelry.com, today, and sifting through the groups that I am in. I ventured into this new Christmas Crochet group that I recently joined and had a sudden realization that we are in the middle of August. Yep! That is right we are in the middle of the eighth month and December is only four months away. I am working on two blankets, one I keep frogging (ripping the stitches) and the other I'm thinking about it. The thing is, it takes me about 6 months to make one with as busy as I get with work.

Part of the freak out began when I realized I have four months to make two blankets. That is two less months than what I have for one. I can see every waking moment from here on out going to Christmas presents. Which is sad because Halloween and Thanksgiving are also coming up and I wanted to make things for those holidays as well.

The freak out didn't take full effect until I realized that for the past two Christmases (which are the two that I actually knew how to crochet), most people recieved a scarf and hat set; if they did not recieve a blanket. Now, my family/friends are loving people but I'm sure that I might get a little bit of an eye roll or fake excitement over, yet, another scarf.

This realization and complete understanding of the possible reaction leaves me in a more than slight panic that goes something like this:

"I have four months until Christmas! I have to make two blankets (which I don't mind and love doing), and I have absolutely no ideas for anyone on the Christmas list because they all have at least one scarf and hat!"

Now, imagine me running around in circles in my tiny living room with Sasha, our dog, wondering if her paws would be able to actually push the buttons on the phone to dial some sort of crochet anonymous hotline.

So, here is my question to you:

What are some gifts that you make for people on your Christmas list? Please leave your ideas in the comments below.

Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

White Peppermint Bark

It is the season for baking and making the house smell so wonderful that you stomach growls. I love the feeling of baking, the warmth and the togetherness. I think that is why I like Thanksgiving so much. Today, I'm going to share with you, a very simple recipe that I only learned to make in the past couple of years.

White Peppermint Bark

What you need:
2 cups white chips (I use Hershey's, when it is on sale)
1/4 to 1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy (I usually use the mini candy canes because you can get a lot of them for much cheaper, and they are great for stirring hot chocolate!)
A cookie sheet
Wax paper

1. Crush up those peppermints!
2. Line the cookie sheet with wax paper (learned that the hard way.)
3. Place the white chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave them for 1 minute. Stir. Continue microwaving at 15 second incriments and stir after each, until chips are melted smooth when stirred.
4.Set aside about 1 Tablespoon of the crushed peppermint candies. Stir the rest into the melted chips and pour the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet. Spread to about 1/2 inch thickness. Gently tap out the cookie sheet on the counter to even out the thickness. Sprinkle the 1 Tablespoon of crushed candies over the surface.
5. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the bark is firm. Break it into pieces and store in a cool, dry place.

This makes about 3/4 pound of candy.


I know that it isn't exactly baking, but it still makes the house smell good and then you can put mint candies on your hot chocolate and marshmallows, while you wait.

I loved making this while I studied for finals because I would put several mini pepermint candy canes into a ziploc bag and just have at them with a rolling pin, hammer, whatever I could find. It took out some of the stress and if you do this with kids, they will love it!

As I go through my recipe box, I will share more of them.

I hope that you enjoy, if you try this.
Stay warm and remember that you are beautiful!

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes...

I don't know what it is, but I have been on a, rather ambitious, crochet kick. I first started to crochet about two years ago. The process of learning was more frustrating than I would like to admit, because I had no one to show me and I am one of those 'see and do' learners. My first project was a scarf, which I gave to my husband. Then, I made a couple afghans, which I gave to my step mom and mother-in-law as gifts for Christmas.

More recently, I made a Santa pillow. I was bored. I had yarn. It was the middle of July and I was feeling a bit ambitious. I saw the pattern and decided to make it. It took me three days to make, which isn't bad for over 48 pieces for his beard alone.

Here is a picture of the finished Pillow.

I am selling it on Etsy.com because I have this terrible knack for making things and having no idea what to do with them, afterwards. I also have a ton of ruffle scarves and other things that I will be putting in my shop, soon. The moment it stops raining on a day I have off and I can get my husband to help take pictures.

My birthday just passed and I have been yearning to make something with crochet thread. Little did I realize just how difficult and frustrating the process of being able to, would be. The hooks are almost as tiny as a sewing needle and the thread is...well, thread.

Still I have been able to create a snowflake each day, for the past three days. Here are the ones I have created, so far:

 

I found the pattern for the first snowflake at the Snowcatcher Snowflake Directory.

The person who runs the directory and blog has created all of the designs for the snowflakes and has amazing stories to tell for each design. I love her snowflakes and I think I'm going to try several of her patterns.  

These last two snowflakes, I found the pattern for in the December 2010 issue of Crochet World Magazine. I love being a subscriber and trying new patterns. I am going to make a few more snowflakes and then stiffen them so they keep their shape while they are hanging on our tree. I will probably make more than our poor tree can handle, and end up selling them in my Etsy shop.

What are some ornament ideas you have?