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*

Shannon's Purse

     A little while back I was out shopping with a new friend when she was about to buy a tote, saying she needed a new purse. Seeing the plain, expensive tote she was about to purchase I quickly halted her and offered to MAKE her a custom purse, with a design, colours and dimensions of her liking.  She quickly put down the tote and became excited at the idea.

     A few days later, Shannon came over to look at some fabrics and chose the colours she's like.  Once chosen we sat down and I began taking down notes and measurements. 

Materials to become a purse

     "How many inside pockets would you like?"

     "Would you like a key clip?"

     "How many pens should fit in the pocket?"

     I took out my measuring tape and measured her bus pass, the length of the straps on a previous purse she liked, the length of her pens... The whole process left her quite impressed as I buzzed about taking measurements, asking questions and taking notes.

     Once all the details were accounted for I began cutting out the lining, the pockets, the straps... I assembled the outside, assembled the inside lining, then sewed them together.  After the large amount of totes I made last year around this time I have become quite proficient at this design and finished up Shannon's new purse in just a couple days.  I also made up a little coin purse with matching lining.  For more photos of Shannon's Purse and it's making, check out HN&S facebook page here (album Shannon's Purse).

Completed Purse (with coin purse)

     When I handed over the new purse to Shannon she was absolutely in love with it! And I must say, there are few things in this life as rewarding as seeing a friend elated over something you created for them. Just one of the many rewards craftiness brings. And in that context, I encourage you all:

To Keep Crafty! And share with a friend!

Second Hand Shop Hop

     Most people cringe a little at the thought of a second hand shop, but the reality is that there are many great items that people don't use anymore and consequently many great finds in such stores. Especially if you are a frugal crafter like myself.  So when I noticed a stretch of road near where I live that had four second hand shops in the span of 3 blocks, I got quite excited. Everytime I'd go past them I'd think to myself: "this would be a great place to do a little shop hop". Although I go past them almost daily, I could never seem to find the time to go. Finally, this Saturday was the day.  I met up with a friend, backpacks and cloth bags at the ready and we went off to see what great things we could find.

     Of the four shops, we visited three. The first one being a little more out of the way and a "for profit organization", we started at the second shop: Bibles For Missions Thrift Store.

Bibles For Missions Thrift Store

     Once we'd finished browsing and purchasing we moved on to the next shop: Salvation Army Thrift Store.  I was a little excited for the Salvation Army Thrift Store since I volunteered at the Fort Frances branch last year, but unfortunately the pricing was different as well as the over "feel" of the shop. I suppose the big city mentality finds it's way into all shops and franchises.

Salvation Army Thrift Store

     The last shop we hopped to was the Goodwill Community Store which neighbored the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We were quite grateful for that considering we had accumulated a bit of a stash at that point.  It was a nice shop, quite spacious, lots of goodies to browse through and well organized.

Goodwill Community Store

     All in all we had a pretty nice afternoon. We found lots of great things: records, great vintage skirts, pretty yarns, knitting needles... The Second Hand Shop Hop was a success and I'm sure it won't be long before we start planning the next one.

Shannon and I with our stash of goodies

     This was a great way to spend my Saturday afternoon and I would suggest this activity for just about everyone.  Second hand shopping is a great way to support your community, be frugal and get really creative and crafty.  The wide variety of materials available at such stores is a real treat and can send you into a creative frenzy!  If you haven't already discovered the joys of second hand shopping, get out and try it! 

Keep Crafty Everyone!

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!

Ken's Jerseys

     After a seemingly long summer without hockey it's time for it to start up again. Yay! Last week when Ken pulled out his hockey equipment for a pick up game he found that a few adjustments were needed for the jerseys to fit better for the upcoming season. What was he to do? Call me of course! So over came Kenny, jerseys in hand and asked me to fix them up and make them a bit bigger.  Since he had a couple of old jerseys about the same colour it would be a relatively easy task.

     He wanted the arms to be same but the sides to be a bit bigger, so my action plan was to take apart the sides, cut out 2 strips from each of the extra jerseys (one white, one black) then sew them into each side of the jerseys he wanted fixed.  I did some measuring, some dismantling, some cutting, a little bit of pinning then some sewing, and voilà! They turned out great! 

A little bit of measuring

Black Jersey: front

Black Jersey: side

White Jersey: sides

White Jersey: side

     This having been my first time working with jerseys as well as my first time with enlarging something as opposed to taking them in (making it bigger rather than smaller) I wasn't too sure on how well it would turn out, but it was super easy and came out really well. I've very happy with how they turned out and being a perfectionist, that's an accomplishment :).

Defense-man Kenny in action

Ken is number 6 (RIGID BODY)

     Ken looked great out on the ice with great fitting jerseys. I for one am glad he's back on the ice (which means I'm back at the rink watching hockey) :D.  Happy season to all the amateur players out there and happy watching to all the fans who like to come out and watch!


Keep Crafty Everyone, and to the avid hockey watchers out there: keep toasty! :)