Blanket woes!!!!

The nemesis has beat me!  I reached a moment the other day when I wanted to breakdown and cry.....or vomit!

This blanket is a favor to a friend of a friend, who's mom passed away before finishing it.  It means a lot to her to have it completed, but she doesn't crochet.  She even said she will pay me $100 when it is completed.  I thought if I worked really hard, I could finish it before going on my trip to PA for my grandma's memorial service (she passed away last month).  Well, I haven't laid it out flat since I started working on it.  I do it mostly folded over on my lap as I go row by row.


Each row takes about 1/2 hr to do, since it is back loop single crochet, and it takes a while given the size.  I had just about doubled the blanket, because there wasn't really much done on it when I got it (it was about 1/4 complete).  I laid it out to see if the random pattern was random enough and what do I see?????

RIPPLES!!!!

~*~pausing for sobbing~*~

I am wondering if the only solution is to frog it and start over.  For size reference, my bed is a king, and it goes from edge to edge!!  When it was given to me, it was in the middle of the gray row towards the middle of  it.

grrrr....I'm sick! :(

My little one gave me his cooties, and now my throat feels like I swallowed glass, and my nose is creating colors that should not be possible in humans!

I was working on the blanket I am doing for a friend of a friend, and after working on it ALL DAY Tuesday it was only 5 inches longer than when I started.....I am frustrated.  This blanket is now my nemesis!

So yesterday, I took a break from it, and played around with the fabric that I bought.  I made both of my sons a sleeping mask, and I made another owl.  My son likes it and said it looks like it has googly eyes! LOL

Now off to wally world to buy some mod podge and sealer for my pots I want to decorate.

WOW!!! Serious slacking!

Okay.....so I have not blogged in a LONG time. Not that anyone reads this anyway!

I have become obsessed with hair clips. It all started when my son had a birthday party to go to a few weeks ago. I have made many in the past, but the little girl who's birthday it was, it very "girly" and always looks cute. I decided to make her a few handmades, in addition to her other present.

Since then, I have had dreams, woke up thinking about what I wanted to do, etc.....I mean, really.....OBSESSED!

I have been experimenting with different materials, and right now am on a nylon kick. Those little knee highs at walmart are a cheap thrill for me lately! LOL!!!

I also went to Hancock Fabrics and raided their remnants.......found some cute fabrics that I am playing with for flowers.....

Not sure if they are worthy of sales, but the little girl I made these for seems to love them...she has worn them quite a bit. Yay me! ;)

Here are some pics of what I have done:



those three were given to the birthday girl.

I then had my bestest ask me if I could make some clips for her little princess, and she sent me a picture of what she was looking for. I didn't make them exactly, but these were for Isa:


I also made some baby presents for little baby boys that were born recently.....these were the gifts I sent to the bambinos:

for little Evan...


For little Nolan....


Then I just took to playing around with stuff....making more hair things. These were a couple of my playdates:



ahhhh......now I need to hunker down and work on an afghan for a friend of a friend whose mom passed away and was working on this. I am finishing it for her, and hope to do it justice.

Tomorrow is TGIF....YIPPEE!!!

Who needs legs?

Well, after much procrastinating, I have my first monster almost finished. Here is my crocheted version of the most popular "Where the Wild Things Are" wild thing! I learned a thing or two on this expedition, like how to put hair on the guy.

I found a GREAT tutorial here:
http://needlenoodles.com/home/?q=node/83

for adding fringe hair to dolls, and I used this technique. It took me a little getting started tightly enough so it wouldn't risk unraveling....but I was SOOO glad I found this page.

So...here he is, with no legs....hopefully he'll have them today! LOL

Oh....and I almost forgot to show you guys...

the Teddy bear I made for my friends baby. I hadn't posted it before because she had not received it yet, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise if she saw it here first.

This bear was given to little Cherish Anese...


My daughter loved it so much that she asked me to make her one....this must be where all of my pink fun fur went. LOL!


I used the same pattern on both, but you can see how different they look with the different yarns. I used the Lion Brand "Bear in a Jiff" pattern to make both, and think they are adorable!

September is here already....

2 of my 3 kids are back at school, and to say I have been busy would be an understatement! Aside from all of the back to school hubbub, I have also been working for my father in law, and doing some crafts on the side.

Shortly after school started, another mom at school had a little baby girl. I wasn't sure what she was going to have, as they waited until she was born to find out themselves, I made a few crocheted balls for the baby. The first one was made before the baby was born with a brown yarn and brown fun fur. I thought they baby would enjoy the texture of the ball with the fur. My PLAN was to then wait until the baby was born, and then crochet a matching one in either pink or blue fun fur.....which I thought I already had. BUT...since money was tight with back to school....I made a striped one, in bright "girly" colors to go with it.

The brown furry one would actually be cute as a little "monster" with eyes stitched on it....but I left it as is, since it is for a little babu!


and the striped one....


We also had a birthday party to attend last weekend for my friends daughter who was turning 3. I bought her some super cute dress up items, like a tiara, little high heel shoes, rings, etc....
I saw some cute snap clips that were beaded, and though..."I can totally make those"....so I went home, and did. Plus a matching necklace and bracelet. My daughter did not want to give them up....so I guess they were a success! LOL

Here they are, with another set I made, just for fun.

Past Projects

So, I decided to put a few pictures in here of past crochet projects I have completed. Most of them have come about because I saw a picture of something, and was too cheap (ie: had no money) to pay for the item or a pattern, so I just worked at it, until I was happy with the finished project.

Looking back on some of these, I wish I had written it down as I went....but I think I can figure it out again, if I were to choose so.

Making a Lion out of my little Lambie:

I crocheted this hat with 3 strands of yarn in a loop stitch, and gave it ear flaps that button together under the chin to give a "mane" look. I also crocheted little cuffs to wear around the wrist.
here is a close up of the mane:



"Fur" dice:
I had a friend who had sold his regular car, and was driving an old jalopy that had been given to him for use until he replaced his car. He had a hula girl on the dash, and said the only thing more he wanted while driving the beast was fur dice to hang from the rear view mirror. Here his present is before I gave them to him:



Baby Blanket:

I made this for a friends little baby....made with a puff stitch and ruffled edge.


Beaded Headband with crocheted flower clips:
My daughters friend was having a birthday party, and I made a bunch of hair accessories for her, this included.


numerous other projects, but I don't want to bore anyone.

This may be the beginning...

of a beautiful relationship.

I spend most of my free time (not much with 3 children and work) working on crafts of different sorts. I have seen numerous blogs from other crafters and frequently find inspiration from them, so I decided to track my "crafting" and maybe inspire someone else.

I taught myself how to do many different crafts, but the one I love the most is crochet. I taught myself how about 8 years ago, and started with simple scarfs, etc. I was just asked by a good friend to make a sack boy (Little Big Planet character) for her son, but could not find a pattern to save my life. There were many knitting patterns available, but that is ONE craft I haven't taught myself yet. I worked, and worked, frogging it numerous times, and came up with a prototype. I wrote it all down as I went, and then tweaked it a bit to make the final piece. I was very proud of it, and as far as I know, he is thrilled with it.

Here is the final little guy:

(crocheted sack boy)
I made him with weighted legs so he could stand on his own, and he stands about 8 inches high.  The pattern is for sale at whimsandtrims.etsy.com