Pink Baby Blankets

Now that I have a lot of my stuff back from storage (where it was living for a couple years), I've been rolling up my sleeves and tackling old half-finished projects from ages ago. So far I've completed 2 pink baby blankets. It might not seem like all that much considering how many projects I have on the go, but I assure you it feels like I've accomplished much! These blankets had been started well over half a decade ago and have been just sitting around waiting to be picked back up and completed. I wouldn't be surprised if the knitted one was nearly a decade old!! Both of them were Dresser Projects (See post: "So Many Projects!!!").

Knitted Pink and Purple Baby Blanket
(nearly a decade in the making!)

Pink ZigZag Baby Blanket

Kitten helped!!

 In conclusion, it feels pretty good to finish up lingering projects. Problem is, I enjoyed working on the knitted blanket so much I decided to start another one! This time, pink and yellow! (Photos and entry to come)

Keep Crafty Everyone!

Dresser Projects Update

You may recall a while back I posted about my over ambition in starting new projects before finishing the last. This resulted in dressers full of half done projects which I have come to call my "dresser projects". (So Many Projects!!! Post).

Now that a couple years have passed and I have pulled out many boxes from storage, I have been reunited with most of my Dresser Projects. Lately I've been relentlessly chipping away at old half done projects and finishing them off rather than starting new ones, however this has not depleted the number of Dresser Projects since the entry. Although I have finished off a few dresser projects, during the past couple years, while the dresser projects were stored away, I started a whole new set of dresser projects. So I am left with still, a whole lot of projects and not nearly as much time as I would like to complete them all.  Eventually they will all be completed... but who knows when that will happen! Here is an update on my Dresser Projects:

Small Afghans and Blocks:

Nice blue/grey/white afghan

Close up of pattern, interesting stitches

Blue/Grey ripple afghan, knitted blue squares

Pink hexagons and chunky pink and purple scraps

Off white aran blanket squares and green pinwheels

 Miscellaneous:

Knitted heart square. Will likely be a throw pillow at some point.

Not really crochet, but a dresser project none-the-less: a braided rug that I have been working on for probably near a decade. Well, to be honest I haven't worked on it in years, but the intention is there!

 Big Blankets:

Green Aran Blanket, still kicking around. No progress on this one.

It's been a little while since I've worked on this one (old Dresser Project) I do hope to get it done within the next year or so. I started this one several years ago, and the squares may pose a challenge once I start assembling due to change in tension/gauge over time. Hopefully it'll turn out alright though.

Settlers of Catan blanket

Settlers of Catan!! My favourite board game! I decided it would be neat to make a blanket of the game. I'm not sure what the finished product is going to look like, every time I think about it I come up with different ideas, but whatever way I chose I know it'll be kick-ass cause, you know, it's Settlers of Catan!!! :)

Soft green light weight blanket

Just a light weight blanket to throw on the couch during the summer months. I've taken this thing apart at LEAST 6 times because I would never right down what size hook I was using and my gauge was always way off. Maybe one day I'll end up finishing this darn thing...

Green wool-eater blanket

I *LOVE* the wool-eater pattern, so no surprise, I've started up a green wool-eater blanket. This one won't be fancy like the large blue one-piece, or the fall coloured wool-eater/babbette ones, but should still look great once finished, not to mention nice and warm :).

Fall coloured wool-eater/babbette blanket

Speaking of which, here is the fall coloured wool-eater/babbette blanket I've been working of for a few years now. I tend to take it out in the fall, work on it a whole bunch, then get discouraged at how wonky the gauge is and how long it's taking, then put it away until I forget how much it upset me (usually about a year) then take it out again next fall, hehe. Significant progress on it from the last time I mentioned it in this blog ("So Many Projects"). The great thing is that every year I find another couple new colours to add to it. I really love the colours :).

Solid blue bedspread

This is another old one that has been sitting around in the "unfinished" category for quite some time. This is the one I'm currently working on. I'm hoping to finish this one before the end of the year and use it on my bed for the colder winter months. I ran into a hiccup with this one. I had been working away on it over the last couple weeks and eventually realized that my gauge was wayyy off. Like an extra 6 inches per side. So I had to take it apart and lower my hook size. So far so good. I'm going to put an edging around it to try and hide the wobbly sides.




So that about sums up my current dresser projects. Well, the crochet/knitted ones anyway. I have a bunch of incomplete sewing and quilting projects kicking around, but that's an entry for another time.

Keep crafty everyone! And stay focused! :)

Wedding Gift

Two great friends of mine have gotten married! Naturally, I got crafty.

Heart blanket: C *heart* S

I've done this pattern once before several years ago and thought it would be great to make as a wedding gift if I personalized some of the middle squares with their initials.  The pattern is originally from Afghans by the Alphabet.  This version turned out nice and I'm definitely going to keep it in my repertoire for future use.

Wedding Gift

Another great big congratulations to Curtis and Sharon!

The happy couple!

Pink and Yellow ZigZag Afghan

After visiting a friend for a couple weeks, I was sent home with a scrappy crafter's dream gift: a great big mystery bag of craft scraps! It's like Christmas! What will I find? My creativity goes into overdrive! I sorted the yarns to one side and the fabrics to another.

All the yarns from my "mystery bag"

While going through the yarns, I noticed there were enough pinks and yellows to make an afghan. I decided on a simple zigzag pattern. I tried to keep the width of the coloured rows varied while keeping a somewhat symmetrical pink-yellow pattern to keep the afghan visually balanced.

Pink and yellow yarns

This afghan was very quick to finish, only took about a month or so and was made completely out of the random discarded yarns from a friend (yarns are various weights, textures, and compositions). I *love* getting crafty!

Finished product (finished May 2013, pic taken Nov 2013)

Keep crafty everyone!

Mini Crochet Rugs

I love getting crafty scraps from crafty friends. It's always a fun challenge to find materials with no evident use and creatively turning them into something beautiful and useful.

While visiting some crafty friends in Hamilton I got to dive into a bag of scraps and found these small balls of fabric yarns. What to do?  

Left over fabric yarns

I decided to make mini rugs!  I used the largest crochet hook I could find and just used single crochet rows for the two rectangular ones then a long chain plus rounds for the oval one.  The small circular one was made using circular rounds and is great for under a cake tray or under large potted plants.

3 Rugs

Smaller circular rug/placemat

Keep creative and crafty everyone!

*Update*  November 12th 2013:

I'm happy to say that all rugs are currently being used in my new place here in Thunder Bay. :)

Under the rubber tree in the kitchen

In the bathroom

In the living room on the ottoman/chest to keep cat hair contained

*Not shown: pink and green rug in my roommate's bedroom*

Hockey Blanket

     Anyone who spends a lot of time in an arena watching hockey (or other ice sports) knows that it can get pretty chilly, and if you are one of those people who is always cold (like me) you especially need some extra warmth while watching the games. 

     

     Since 2008 I've been attending my good friend Ken's hockey games and I quickly learned methods of keeping warm while watching.  In addition to my tea thermos and sweater I always bring a blanket.  It didn't take long for me to have a designated hockey blanket, however, after so many years of use (and thanks to my nibbly ratties (r.i.p.)) my hockey blanket accumulated a few holes that have been growing. While living in Fort Frances I wasn't too concerned since I had only the Lakers games and as a volunteer I was running around a bit which kept me warm, but now that I'm back in Ottawa with my friend Ken and hockey season is upon us, my hockey blanket needs to be patched up and ready for action.

     Last year I attempted to fix the afghan by sewing it with yarn, but that proved very ineffective.  So this time my plan of action involves patches on both sides of the blanket.  That way it will keep the blanket nice and warm it will keep the holes from ripping and getting bigger.  The patches are crocheted with similar colours and the same pattern as the afghan so it will match.

     It was a little tricky sewing the patches on, and the brown was a slightly different shade, but after the first patch I got the hang of it and managed to come out with something I was proud of. 

     The patches on both sides does make the blanket much bulkier in certain areas, but I feel it adds to it's overall character. I've been using this blanket as my hockey blanket for years now and would have hated to waste such a nice afghan just cause of a few holes.  

     I think this solution turned out really well. My trusty blanket is trusty and toasty once again!  

At Ken's first Snowflakes game of the season September 6th 2012

     For more pics of this project check out HN&S' facebook page here.

Keep Crafty Everyone, and to the avid arena watchers keep toasty!

Week 2: Pretty Headbands

Week 2: Pretty Headbands

     This week I worked on a much smaller project: simple headbands with small flowers.  I'm hoping to get a little more creative with this idea in the future, provided something else doesn't snatch away my volatile attention.  I'd like to make some with different flowers, different colours, lots of flowers, different band pattern, ect... For now, here is what I've got for a pattern.  

     This pattern is 100% HN&S, I browsed photos for ideas then just came up with this.  Feel free to use it as a base then tweak it to make it your own.  I'd love to hear of any projects made and evolved from this simple pattern.  You can leave a comment here on the blog or message me privately at HookNeedleSpindle@gmail.com  Enjoy!

Pattern:

Materials used:

5.00 mm crochet hook (size H/8)

1 skein pink

1 skein light green

1 skein dark green

* any scraps will do, this pattern doesn't require much yarn*

Headband:

Chain 105 bind off.

Count 32 from each end and mark the loop.

Start at chain 32, attach same colour yarn and do slipstich through next stitch (stitch 33). Crochet as follows: slip stitch (in chain 34), single crochet (in 35), single crochet (in 35), half double (in 36), half double (in 36), double crochet (in 37), double crochet (in 37), triple crochet ( in 38), continue to triple crochet in stitches until stitch 59, triple crochet (in 59), double crochet (in 60), double crochet (in 61), half double (in 62), half double (in 63), single crochet (in 64), single crochet (in 65), slip stitch (in 66), slip stitch (in 67), slip stitch and bind off in 68 (same stitch as second marked loop)

Flower:

Chain 5, join to form ring.  In ring fit the following, *Sc, hlfdbl, dc(x3), hlfdbl, sc, repeat from * 3 more times, bind off. You now have a a four petaled flower. in a contrasting colour.  Sew the flower to the headband and you're done!

     This post is a rather quick one as I have to get up early for work tomorrow, but I hope to have a little more detail and some better pics up later in the week.

Thanks for checking in, hope all is well, and of course, Keep Crafty Everyone!

Lakers Afghan

     For the past year and a bit I had been really wanting to make an afghan to donate to the Fort Frances Lakers in order to help them raise money, and finally, after completing my brother's birthday blanket I decided to dive right into it.  Having completed my brother's afghan in record time I felt confident I could keep the streak going and finish up the Lakers Afghan in no time, and though I may not have finished this one in record time, it is completed and I'm glad to see how wonderful it turned out.

I started out with the lettering for the logo

Then worked on the afghan background.... Of course Zija was all over it.

And more work on the lettering

Background finished, lettering almost done

Lettering finished! (no easy task)

Ready to scope out how big to make out the rest of the logo

Kitten just waiting for me to turn my back so she can pounce on a fresh afghan

This is how it starts.... two paws at a time 

Kitten caught!!

Logo placement, still needs to be sewn on

Friday the 16th, in the morning, sewing on the logo

And the afghan makes it to the first pre-season game!

      The Lakers Afghan is part of a Lakers raffle to be drawn on December 19th 2011 at the last Lakers home game before the holidays.  The draw will be for the Afghan and 2 chairs (seen in the above photo).  Tickets are 5$ each and ALL proceeds go directly to the Fort Frances Lakers.  The blanket was 100% donated :)  I am planning on having the Afghan available for custom order sales, however since it took up so much time to make, the price will be adjusted accordingly plus part of the proceeds will go to the Lakers.  Once I've crunched up all those numbers it will be up on my Etsy site and this one as well as the Facebook page.
     When it comes to labours of love, they are always long and arduous but ALWAYS well worth it in the end. :)

Updates

This is what HN&S has been up to this week,    
  

Crochet

    Lakers Afghan

     I've been hard at work focusing mostly on this project for the past week as it needed to be done for today.  The Fort Frances Lakers are the local Junior A hockey team.  They are part of the SIJHL and judging by the exhibition games we've recently had I think they are gonna kick some ass this year! :D.  I'm very glad I finally decided to dedicate myself to making up this blanket to donate in order to raise money for the team.  After over a year of "wanting" to do it, I finally got to it and set a date: it *MUST* be done for the first pre-season game.  Tonight is the first pre-season game and I'm finally done! If you are in the Fort Frances area, stop on by at the Ice For Kids arena to watch a good game of hockey and come see the beautiful afghan! The raffle will be going on until December, the fund-raising comity has decided to do the draw for Christmas.

     I have to say, I am INSANELY happy to be done with this afghan... I was really getting sick of working on it lol, but the satisfaction of seeing it completed and knowing it will raise money to help support our hockey team is well worth the effort.  Tomorrow I will have full post on the Lakers afghan and how it went at it's debut tonight at the arena.

Knitting

     New Slippers. 

     I haven't done much knitting this week. The past couple days I needed brief distractions from the Lakers Aghan so I started working on some slippers.  I've been 'tweaking' an old slipper pattern to make it more comfy and better fitted.  I haven't assembled them yet so I'm not sure how it'll will turn out.  I should know by this weekend and the slippers might be up on my site by the end of next week (assuming the 'tweaking' of the pattern worked).

Sewing

     New Series.

     I've not done too much sewing this week as I was more focused on my crochet project though I did do a little work on my new series and did TONS of computer work for it.  I've set release dates for the new series here, made up the free demo letters and made up the page that will be posted on the public release date.  I never realized just how much work needs to go into launching a new line!  But like the Lakers Afghan, I'm sure it'll be well worth it in the end.

     Now, for those of you who are waiting on the new series: here is a sneak peek! Every week until the public release date I'll post one random pic here in the weekly updates! They may be close ups of an actual product or just of the materials used. Hopefully they won't be too obvious.... or too confusing :) Enjoy!