Thursday, September 30, 2010

Wedding on the Brain

Ever since my BFF told me she was officially engaged, my brain has been swimming with wedding ideas...things I could make, suggestions and tips, things that need to be arranged...I really wish I was there in person right now, so I could truly be in the midst of all the excitement and be able to have a faster reaction time to everything! LOL Anyway, when I asked her what I could make for her, she liked the idea of handmade earrings (for herself and bridal party) and a necklace. So I've been happily up to my elbows in beads, throwing myself into making this jewelry to try and compensate for my absence. (Yeah, the compensating thing isn't really working...LOL) Anyway, here's a look at her earrings, designed to fit her color scheme (red & white):



That picture was deliberately taken with the sun shining right on it to show that the small beads are, in fact, red and not black. LOL Here is her necklace (using the exact same colors):


And here are the bridal party earrings (the pair that's got the extra strand on them are mine, as I'm the maid/matron of honor):


Side note: I'm not sure why the pictures are coming up so blurry...

Anyway, I made the bridal party earrings and just kept going (I have a tendency to get a little carried away...LOL)....


And in so making the bracelets, I had to go fetch more beads from the craft store (horror of horrors, right? LOL) and came up with a cute little sentimental idea for the bride and bridal party (to be secret until presented at the wedding! LOL) which I needed to know everyone's favorite colors for. When I asked the other girls about it (with mentioning the earrings), one of them says "I don't have pierced ears." I must say I find that endlessly amusing...not that her ears aren't pierced, but that I have a pair of earrings for her non-pierced ears! LOL I'm now on a mission to see if I can find some clip-on variation for her.

So even through the insanity that is preparing to move to Germany and all the appointments and paperwork before me, yes, I still make time to craft. Why? Because I'll lose it if I don't...lol I'm serious. I'm not entirely sure why my thing lately has been beading, though. I've lost nearly all desire for yarn crafts at the moment...I'm not sure why...Hmmm But at least the crafting has continued!



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Now playing: Glee Cast - Toxic (Glee Cast Version)
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Thank Heaven for Little Boys...

As I have previously mentioned, a lot of my friends (and friends of friends) have been having a lot of babies lately. Between that (and the fact that the boys have been a lot more fun now that they're 4 and 5 years old), the husband has really been heavily "hinting" at wanting to try for having a little girl. I'm not yet sure how I feel about that. I like being the only female in my house. lol We'll see, though...

Lately, the boys have been having those priceless moments...the ones you wish you could record the second they do something humorous so you can watch and re-watch it, giggling and laughing uncontrollably. Today, for instance, when C and I went to the bus stop to wait for A, C was so intrigued by every little thing around him; the flowers, the sunshine, the leaves on the ground...and today he started finding lizards! (Ah, little boy-dom!) He was trying to follow it and keep up with the little bugger (which is not an easy feat, considering how fast those little guys are!), and I was just enjoying watching him run back and forth on one side of the fence while he watched the lizard on the other side, trying to evade the imminent danger of the pre-schooler that would not leave him be. Then, for whatever reason, the lizard darted straight at C for a moment, which totally took the poor boy off guard, causing him to jump sideways and shriek! It was hilarious! I wish I had taken the camera to the bus stop! I don't even know how he managed to land on his feet, since 95% of the time he shows to have gotten my coordination. But land on his feet (and not his bum!), he did!

A, since having started school, has slowly been transforming and growing in new areas that astound me. he is very quickly grasping the concept of time, in the sense of days of the week and months of the year and where the holidays fall. Right now (given the time of the year, obviously), A is all about Halloween. I ordered their costumes off of the Internet the other day...they both want to be pirate captains! So any time they hear "Halloween" and /or "pirate," they begin this elaborate role play of being pirates! A gets very excited (and carried away!) , and while being a pirate captain, knocked over a puzzle box, spilling 100 pieces all over the floor. I asked him to please pick them up, and without missing a beat, he grabs the box, gets down on the floor, and says "Arrrrrrrr!!!! Me treasure!!!!", frantically scooping the pieces back into the "treasure chest."

I am thankful for my boys and the joy that they bring me, regardless of (and perhaps it is brought out more because of) the long, hard road I've traveled to get to where we are with them. I look forward to all the precious moments ahead....



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Now playing: Rihanna - Only Girl (In the World)
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Friday, September 3, 2010

Bootie Button Flaps

So in getting to the bootie portion of the set my friend asked me about, I knew right where to turn for the main part of the bootie...the pattern for the crocheted sneaker booties! (I love that pattern! It is so cute!!!) I stopped after doing the 5th row of the body of the slipper, and then added on one row of sc all the way around to make it a smidgen taller and more narrow.


(I'm thinking maybe I should have used a smaller hook for a newborn size...these things'll last a while, unless the kid's got monster feet! LOL) From there I improvised my own little flap that will button on to hold the bootie on those itty-bitty feet. And now all I have to do is go find more buttons! (Here I come, craft store!) Here are the button flap instructions:


ch8, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 5 chs; 2sc in last ch, 2 sc in other side, working around the end of the chain to work in the round. sc in next 5 ch, 3sc in last ch, sl st to join.

round 2: ch1, 2 sc in first st, sc in next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 sts, 2sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, sl st to join

round 3: ch 1, single crochet in same stitch and in each of the next 6 stitches after, 2sc in next st, ch 4, sk next 2 stitches and 2sc in following st, sc in next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st, ch4, sk 2sts, 2 sc in next st, sl st to join, finish off, weave in ends.






The selling of projects resulting in use of this pattern is permitted, but please don't sell the pattern itself, and always provide the link/URL to the pattern where you sell it so others can enjoy crafting as well! 

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Now playing: Thierry Amiel - Je Regarde La-Haut
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Newsie Baby

So I have a lot of friends lately that are getting married and having babies. Yay! I'm so happy for them all! Sadly, though, I cannot keep up with making them all handmade gifts. :( That makes me sad. :( However, one of the expecting said friends showed me a picture of a super cute hat and bootie set, and asked if there was any way I could make something similar. What I found on Ravelry wasn't quite what I was looking for, so I improvised and decontructed it as best I could from a photo, and ended up with this adorable hat!:



Cute, huh?! Want in on my secret? ;) It's really quite simple. Here you go!


Baby Newsie Hat


Size I/5.50mm hook
Worsted/Aran weight yarn (around 28 grams/1 ounce
3/4" button

Round 1: In magic loop, ch2, 12hdc; sl st to join (12 sts)
R 2: ch 2, 2hdc in each hdc around, sl st to join (24 sts)
R 3: ch 2, *hdc in hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc,* repeat from * to * around, sl st to join (36 sts)
R 4-11: ch 2, hdc in each hdc around, sl st to join (36 sts)

Brim:
Row 12: ch2, hdc in same stitch, hdc in next 6 sts, 2hdc in next hdc, hdc in next 7 sts (16 sts), turn
Row 13: ch2, hdc2tog twice (taking the first 4 sts), hdc in next 4 sts, 2hdc in next hdc, hdc in next 3 sts, hdc2tog twice (taking the last 4 sts) (13 sts), turn
Row 14: ch2, hdc2tog, hdc in next 9 hdc, hdc2tog, (11 sts) finish off

Re-attach yarn on any stitch of the hat's body, Sc in each hdc around. When you get to brim, do a sc decrease over last stitch before brim, corner where brim meets hat body, and the first hdc of the brim to form a corner, sc up the side of the brim, 3 sc in first st of on the last row of the brim to form a corner, sc across to the other side of the brim, forming a 3sc corner at the other side, sc down the other side side, dec over the same 3 stitches to form the final corner, and sc in each hdc around to where you attached the yarn. sl st to join and fasten off. Weave in ends.

Button flap:
ch 22, dc in 5th from hook and dc across (18 dcs & ch 4), attach and finish off. The "hole" made by the chain stitches at the end is the buttonhole. Attach the flap at one side of the brim, sew the button on the opposing side, and button down.

Ta-da! Baby Newsie Hat is complete! :D

The selling of projects resulting in use of this pattern is permitted, but please don't sell the pattern itself, and always provide the link/URL to the pattern where you sell it so others can enjoy crafting as well!

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Now playing: Kerli - Walking On Air
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