The Adventures of a Honeybee

Welcome Back

2010-10-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

It's only been two years since my last post! I wasn't feeling very inspired to write, and just generally busy with life. Oh, and there was a minor little change in life during this year that kind of made me drop everything else:
Emma Marie Adkins Dudding was born on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 5:03 in the morning. She weighed 8 lbs., 2 oz. and measured 20 3/4 inches long. That was five months ago already! Emma is growing up so fast, and I hope to share more here about how she is growing and learning every week. More pictures and videos are forthcoming!

2008-10-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

French Community College Kids Sing Thriller

Lip Dub IUT SRC Rouen 2008
by arcanes-prod

2008-10-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Bathroom Redo

Back in July, when we moved into our house, we started redoing the guest bathroom. As you can see below, this bathroom was decorated with hideous wallpaper, gold fixtures everywhere, and a maroon toilet and sink. !! With the help of our wonderful friends, we started taking down the wallpaper, one shred of paper at a time. We only got maybe 25% of the paper taken down that first day, even with 6 people or so working on it! Unfortunately, there was not one, but four layers of wallpaper to remove. Mike and I continued to work on it for an hour at a time over the next few weeks. We got so frustrated with it that we caved and spent $50 on a wallpaper steamer. Thank goodness we did! I do not recommend trying to remove wallpaper without one!

My dad to visit in mid-August to help us do lots of house projects. We finished removing the wallpaper, installed a new sink, a new toilet, mirror, and new sconces. Dad and I also added texture to the walls and painted at the same time. I am so happy with the final result! Almost two months later, I still go in there and breathe a sigh of joy when I look at it!

Before: During: After:

2008-09-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

Brown Clutch
Finished: September 1, 2008

Pattern: Adapted from My Favorite Sweater Clutch by Julie Holetz

I made this clutch larger than in the pattern, and did not decrease at the top as much. I eliminated the ribbed top from the pattern, and added a small flap. I used a magnetic closure on the flap to hold it together, and I sewed in the lining by hand. I used the crochet stitches as a guide to evenly space the hand sew stitches.

Yarn: 1 skein Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Taupe

This yarn is very easy to work with and sturdy enough for a purse. I used almost exactly one skein--no leftovers!

I think it turned out very cute!

2008-07-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

The Reason I Haven't Been Very Good About Posting Lately....

Mike and I bought a house!! We close tomorrow and we start moving in this weekend. We are so excited!! It has been an all-consuming endeavor, so I haven't been keeping up here like I want to. I hope to be back to normal in the next couple of weeks though. So long for now!

2008-05-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Half-Shell Blanket

I finished this blanket last August 2007 while I was on a blogging hiatus. I love this pattern so much--it is so easy and creates a beautiful texture. I also love the border, which you create by crocheting from left to right instead of right to left. It was awkward at first, but makes such a pretty frame for the blanket.

Pattern: Easy Patterned Throw by Vera Hannaford (from the website Crochet Me)

Yarn Used: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid, 10 skeins in Natural Heather

Bonus Picture!

Here is a picture of Sadie running in the fields around my Dad's house. We went to Arkansas to visit some family there a couple of weekends ago. I think this city dog looks so cute against this back drop of yellow flowers, running wild and free!

2008-05-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Book Review: The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

Jennifer chose The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff for our last book club, and everyone who read it loved it! The book centers around a fictional town named Templeton, based on real-life Cooperstown, NY (of James Fenimore Cooper and baseball fame). The main character is Willie Upton, living in present-day, and her research into the lives of her ancestors, back to the town's founder, Marmaduke Temple. The book goes back and forth between the past and present in each chapter, and all of the ancestors get their turn to tell their story. The author puts handy family tree charts at the end of each of Willie's chapters so you can keep track of who's who.

The book is an interesting mix of magic and reality, as one of the main characters of the book is a monster who lives in the town lake. There are also ghosts, visions, and other mysterious happenings, but the author treats them almost as everyday and accepted occurrences. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book--the cross between the mundane and the fantastic. I also immensely enjoyed all of the characters in Monsters of Templeton. Each character had major flaws, but that made them more true and real. No one is perfect in this book.

Lauren Groff is a great story-teller, and this is one of those books that you don't want to end. My favorite section of the book is the Charlotte and Cinnamon letters--you'll have to read it to find out what these are! I hope Lauren Groff is working on another book--I would like to read it!

2008-05-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

Short and Sweet

I finished this cute bolero at the end of April, and it is the first garment I have crocheted! (Other than a scarf.) I got the pattern from the aptly-named Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. The pattern seems very confusing at first, but once you get the stitch pattern memorized, it is quite easy. I was very satisfied with the results! It fits very well, and the yarn I chose is great. The only problem with the pattern is that you have to weave at least 20 ends in!! I would still highly recommend the pattern, however. It is pretty easy to adapt--I added an additional pattern repeat on the back, left front, and right front so the bolero wouldn't be tight under the arms. I also added some length to bottom of the entire thing because I didn't want it too short.

If you decide to make this, check out the pattern designer's website here for some further instructions. This bolero really gave me some confidence to try to make more garments!

Yarn Used: King Tut cotton yarn in Color #431, 4 skeins

From Shabby Sheep

2008-04-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

YardsToSew

My Mom and my Aunt Debbie recently started their own business together, and I am so proud of them! They are selling some of their great handmade items: on Etsy.

Check it out!

2008-04-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Source of Inspiration

I know it has been a long time since I did anything with this blog (10 months)! To be honest, I just haven't felt inspired to write anything. I've been crocheting, knitting, cooking, and reading still, but I didn't have the energy and wherewithal to write something witty, upload pictures about it, etc.

But I have recently been inspired by Ravelry!
This is such an amazing site! It is still in beta/testing phase, so you can't automatically sign up as a user. You put in your email address to request membership, and then they let you know when you have been added. (I was added less than 2 weeks after my request.)

The site is for all things knit and crochet. You have your own homepage (here is mine) where you can show all of the projects you are currently working on or have completed. You can link the pattern you used, the yarn, and hook size, so others know how to make it too. In your queue, you can keep track of the projects you want to make, but haven't started yet, including the materials you need. You can even print out a shopping list for your queue too! You can also keep track of all of the yarn in your stash. I started adding my yarns to this, but it will take me forever to add all of them! I love the library feature, where you can see all of the crochet/knit books, magazines, and patterns that you own. In addition to your own homepage, you can have friends and groups similar to Myspace or other networking sites. You can search all of the patterns and yarns used by others in Ravelry too.

In short, Ravelry is the coolest website out there for crochet/knit nerds like me! I squealed with delight when I first got my login and started playing with the features. I'm hoping the excitement I feel will keep inspiring me to write here!

2007-12-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

2007 Books Read

1. Missing Mom by Joyce Carol Oates

2. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

3. Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro

4. The Eight by Katherine Neville

5. Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy

6. Isolde: Queen of the Western Isle by Rosalind Miles

7. The World to Come by Dara Horn

8. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

9. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

10. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

11. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

12. Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George

13. London by Edward Rutherfurd

14. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

15. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

16. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (reread) by J.K. Rowling

17. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (reread) by J.K. Rowling

18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

19. Black Unicorn by Tanith Lee

20. You're Not You by Michelle Wildgen

21. I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

22. Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos

23. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

24. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

25. The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

26. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

27. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

28. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

29. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

30. Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser

31. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

32. Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

33. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

2007-06-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Back from my blogging break

Four months since my last post! It's been a crazy spring, and I was so busy at work that I didn't feel like writing very much. I've been saving lots of pictures to share though!

Here is a baby blanket I made for my friend Callie who had her baby back in May. I didn't want to make her something that was totally pink. Not only was she having a baby girl, but her favorite color is pink! So I incorporated all of the baby colors into this blanket--stripes of yellow, seafoam green, and blue with pink accents. I made the two pink flowers and attached them to the bottom right corner just to jazz it up a little bit. I think the flowers soften the stripes too. I finished it just in time, the night before the baby shower at work. I think Callie really liked the blanket, and I hope she enjoys it!

I'm at that age where it seems like everyone I know is having a baby, so there will be more baby items in the future!

2007-02-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

My First Quilt Project

I have officially started making my first quilt!! I've wanted to learn how to quilt basically since I started sewing a couple of years ago, but was waiting until I was "ready." I was recently inspired by the new line of Freschcut Fabric by Heather Bailey. She has a great blog called Hello My Name is Heather, which I started reading last summer. She has wonderful taste, cute projects, and takes truly beautiful photographs.

So when I heard that she was coming out with her own line of fabric, I was excited! Her fabrics came out earlier this year through the Free Spirit Fabric company. I was browsing through the Fat Quarter Shop, and found this: a "Jolly Pack" of all 40 of her fabrics in 5 inch squares! The stars had aligned--this is how I would make my first quilt! This idea was very appealing to me, in that I didn't have to worry about choosing colors or cutting fabric. All 40 of the fabrics go together very well without being too matchy, and they are pre-cut with pinking shears.

Last weekend, I went to my mom's house, and she helped me come up with a design for the squares. I needed some solid colors to integrate into all of the patterns, so she gave me some yellow and green fabric squares to sprinkle in there. I know it's difficult to see in the pictures, but the yellow fabrics has light, faded polka dots on it, and the green fabric has tiny moons and stars on it. Perfect!

The design we came up with features this fabric, my favorite of all of the prints:

This is actually my mom's favorite too! (Click here for a bigger picture) We placed four squares of this fabric in each of the shades in the center, and surrounded it with a green and yellow border. Then we put four green squares in each outside corner, evenly distributed some yellow squares and the rest of the printed fabrics. Mom gave me a quick lesson and showed me how to iron and pin the squares so that they line up correctly. Arranging the squares and cutting the yellow and green fabric squares took most of the afternoon, so we stopped before any actual sewing.

The next morning, armed with coffee and lots of excitement, I started piecing the strips together. I sewed one row together, and then sewed two strips together (eight strips total). It was so fun! After each strip was added, I ran upstairs to show Mike, who was deep in computer-playing mode. He was a good cheerleader though!

My next step is to add a 6-inch border around the edges, which will make it about 52" square (lap blanket size). I was thinking about edging it in the yellow fabric, and then backing the whole quilt with green fabric. I also like all of the pinks in the fabrics--I could back it with pink. What do you think?

Then, I'll be off for a trip to my Granny's house, where she can help get me started on the actual quilting part! I plan to quilt it by hand for this first one--wish me luck!

2007-02-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

2 Weeks of Baking
I don't know about the rest of you out there, but I have had the busiest couple of weeks at work! I have barely had a chance to breathe! I worked late three out of five nights last week, and I had a huge project to work on all week long. I'm finally slowing down enough to post here.

Despite my busy-ness, I have continued my once a week baking adventures! Last week, I made banana bread on Valentine's Day. I got the recipe from the Creating Comfort Cookbook again. I realize that it looks pretty similar to my zucchini bread! Here is the inside--yum!

For this week, I made Baby Carrot Bars on Monday night. I had the day off for President's Day, which gave plenty of time to piddle--I went shopping for books in the morning, and cooked in the afternoon. These carrot cake bars are very delicious! If you follow the link, you'll see that you use 2 small jars of baby food in the dough to keep it moist. When I went grocery shopping, I didn't even know where the baby food was! You'll also notice that the recipe called for raisins and walnuts. I didn't put these in because Mike doesn't like walnuts for some reason, and raisins just sounded weird to me.

But the most fun part of the carrot cake bars was making the cream cheese icing. I LOVE cream cheese icing! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I'd rather have cream cheese icing than chocolate or buttercream or anything else. It's fairly simple really, you just mix the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla with a mixer.

Stay tuned for more baking ...I now own a springform pan, so there should be some cheesecake soon. And my mom gave me this baking cookbook with over 350 recipes in it, so I should be set for a while!

2007-02-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

Zucchini Bread
I may not be very quick in posting, but I have continued my baking adventures! Last Monday, I made a wonderful zucchini bread as my weekly baked good. The recipe was in my Creating Comfort cookbook, which I bought to benefit Genesis Women's Shelter here in Dallas. (You can get one here.)

This version of zucchini bread is pretty sweet, with lots of brown sugar and maple extract in it. These ingredients gave it a rich, dark brown color, and a slightly crunchy texture around the outside. Oooh, it was yummy!

There were 2 full zucchinis in the bread, grated with my cheese grater. I couldn't really taste the zucchini though, with all of the sugar and maple flavoring. I guess the zucchini is just there so you could feel good about eating it!

The recipe made quite a bit of dough--even to fill 2 loaf pans. Mike and I were eating it all last week!

Next baking adventure on the menu is.....

Banana bread!

2007-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Popcorn in the Bathroom

Well, not actual popcorn. Popcorn stitches! Here is the bathmat I recently finished from a pattern in First Crochet by Lesley Stanfield. This is a great book with lots of easy-to-understand and very cute patterns. The pictures in the book are great, and the directions are very clear.

The popcorn stitches form that raised star pattern on the mat. I used a white cotton yarn, which created a soft cushy feel--perfect for toes getting out of the shower! This was my first time to do popcorn stitches, and they were quite fun to make.

Now there is only problem--I don't want to use it as a bathmat and get it dirty! The white yarn is so pristine! The thought of water or hair or dirt getting on it makes me shudder! So, for now, it's hanging out on my sewing cabinet.

More baking adventures coming soon!

2007-02-01T13:53:00.001-08:00

Adventures in Baking

The proverbial "they" say that your tastes change every 7 years. I don't know if the number is right, but I have noticed that now I like cantaloupe and beans when I hated them for years. Do you think the same is true for the rest of your life? That every few years you like some activity that you used to hate?

I have found this true for me. Any of you that have known for a while know that I used to HATE to cook. I avoided it whenever possible. During college, everything I consumed was pretty much previously frozen, out of a box, or from a restaurant. The kitchen was then a foreign place for me. Chopping vegetables (or anything related to using a knife) was a cruel and esoteric task that I didn't understand or have time for. Baking something was even more foreign to me, as far away from my daily life as could be.

I wonder now why I had this aversion to cooking during this time. Maybe it was a fear of the unknown. I had no idea, for instance, what ratio of ingredients would go into tomato sauce or how to properly hold a knife. Maybe it was a resistance to change. I had been heating up frozen dinners since my Mom had slowly decided that she had been cooking 3 meals a day for me and my sister for 15 years, and we could operate microwaves, so she was tired of cooking! I hadn't paid much attention to her cooking back then, and I didn't have much experience to draw on. Maybe it was something else. Maybe it was the fact that Mike would just cook for me. I admit that I got a little bit of smug satisfaction when people exclaimed, "What! Mike cooks for you?! " Like it is so hard to fathom a man cooking.

Well, the 7 year mark passed, and with the influence of Mike, and my sister and my brother-in-law attending cooking school, I slowly began to see the art of cooking. Hey, it was sort of like crafting! I get to work with my hands. I could put the different parts of a recipe together, and come out with a finished product. And you instantly had feedback on how good or bad something tasted. It was rewarding!

I have also decided to try my hand at baking. Call it a New Year's resolution. Baking is quite a different prospect than cooking. You can be less exact with cooking, you can improvise. Baking requires exact measurement and timing. The recipes say, "Don't mix it too much!" or "Mix only to combine and no more!" It is quite frightening! But, what the hell--I'll never learn if I don't try.

So, on Martin Luther King Day I was off work, and I decided to make Irish Soda Bread from my Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. I asked my brother-in-law, the culinary school graduate, to supervise me and make sure I didn't mess it up. He showed me how to incorporate the butter into the flour by using my hands instead of a mixer. Oh, and by "showed me how," I really mean, he completely took over! He likes to do things his way. I told him how was I ever going to learn if I couldn't do it myself? He reluctantly relinquished some of the control. I have to say, the bread was DELICIOUS! It has orange zest and buttermilk in it, and currants too--you can see the currants in these pictures. We had the bread with asiago-cheese crusted chicken (Mike's original recipe), Cheddar Corn Chowder also from Barefoot Contessa, and broccoli. Yum!

The following week, I made Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread from the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. I was extra proud of this one because I made it all by myself! I mixed the dry and wet ingredients separately, chopped and seeded jalapenos, shredded cheese, and mixed everything just to incorporate. It was quite an accomplishment! A delicious one too.

And this past Sunday, I made Easy Cheese Danishes from guess which cookbook. These were a daunting task in that they use puff pastry. Is there anything more intimidating to the beginner baker than the elusive, persnickety puff pastry? I have watched shows on Food Network about it, and the host invariably cautions you to be careful, don't screw it up, or it won't puff! But cheese danishes are irrestible to me, so I decided to go for it. I started making them while Mike was at the grocery store, and he came home in time for a minor freak-out. My puff pastry anxiety was taking over! I had decided to make smaller-sized danishes, which means I cut 6 out of a sheet of puff pastry instead of 4. When Mike was helping me assemble them, the filling was threatening to spill off the sides and they wouldn't fold over right. They looked pretty ugly, to tell you the truth. I told Mike we just needed to get the damn things in the oven! I just wanted it to be over! I waited nervously for the next 20 minutes, asking Mike every couple of minutes, "Do you think they'll be good? I know they are ugly, but will they tasted good?" Out of the oven they came, looking puffy (yes!) but ugly (oh well). They tasted so good, so creamy, with strong vanilla and lemon flavors. We breathed a collective sigh of relief as we scarfed them down. I completely forgot to take a picture of them in my hurry to gobble them up, so you will just have to use your imagination.

My plan is to bake something new at least once a week. Bread, muffins, cake--something in the oven from scratch every week. (Frozen puff pastry from a box still counts as from scratch, even my brother-in-law says so). I will post my creations here and keep you informed of my baking adventures!

2007-01-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

Behold my new Sewing Cabinet!

My mom gave me this beautiful new sewing cabinet for Christmas--definitely my favorite gift this holiday season! It is a Koala Sew Mate II, and an absolute dream come true.

Up until this past Christmas, I did my sewing where most young people living in apartments with no extra space do--on the dining room table. And I use dining room loosely, as our dining room/living room is just one long space. It's not so easy to sew when you are trying not to knock over pepper grinders and cups of coffee. I found it hard to get into a groove when I kept having to hunt for scissors, bobbins, and other paraphernalia when there is no designated place to set them down.

I have been wanting a sewing cabinet for quite a while, but couldn't find what I wanted out there. All of the ones I found were either white or light oak in color--too "country" for me. I wanted something a little more modern. I had complained about it to my mom, and she hatched a plan to find me one for Christmas. She enlisted Mike's help, getting him to measure spaces, and figure out what I needed. Whenever I brought up my desperate need for a sewing cabinet, and how we should go look for one immediately, Mike sneakily would say, "Why don't we look after Christmas when most furniture places have big sales?" So, I huffed and puffed, but eventually agreed.

Then, lo and behold, I received this beautiful cabinet for Christmas! And it is everything a girl could want! It fits perfectly into this goofy little corner we have in our living room, which I like to call a nook. It used to have a swivel chair in it, but nobody really sat there because it is too far removed from the couch and conversation. The cabinet feels just right there, and gives me a special, designated spot for crafting.

Oh, and the features! I know it's hard to see in the pictures, but it has a pull out cabinet with two drawers and a shelf on the left hand side. One of the drawers has a built-in notions organizer--my life is complete! The other door of the cabinet reveals the spot for the sewing machine, which raises and lowers, as well as more built-in storage on the door. It also has a fold-out table leaf on the back, which doubles the surface area again.

My first time to sew using the cabinet was a dream. I had a spot for everything, and had plenty of surface area to work on. I repurposed my dining room table for a cutting table (still don't have room for one of those). I made a checkbook cover and two out of a set of four place mats. I will post pictures of those soon.

To further cement my craft corner, I want to make some wall hangings for the empty space above my desk. Like the ones made by Sally here. And here. Aren't they cute?

The possibilities are endless with my new sewing cabinet!!

2007-01-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

Last of my handmade Christmas gifts!

Here are the twenty journal covers that I made for my friends for Christmas gifts! I used a stretchy cotton fabric, which made it easy to create a snug fit on the journal. I embroidered them using my mom's Janome embroidery machine, which took quite a while! Once we got the design figured it out, it took about 15 minutes to embroider each one (15 minutes X 20 journal covers = 5 hours!). I used a different color embroidery thread for each one too, and tried to use each person's favorite color. On a different day, I sewed them together. Actually on two different days. I think they turned out really well! (By the way, this picture shows the covers before I sewed them together and put journals in them.)

Now, here are some gratuitous dog pictures! Here is a sleepy Sadie:

And here is another sleepy Sadie on Christmas Eve:

And here is Sadie in her most prissy pose!

2007-01-12T12:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas Gift-Giving with Granny

For Christmas this year, my Granny gave me this beautiful needlepoint of irises in varying shades of blue and white. My Granny is one the two major creative and crafty influences in my life (the other is my Mom). She taught me how to crochet, paint, scrapbook, hot glue, sew--basically anything and everything she knew how to do. Except knitting--I actually showed her how to knit on Christmas!! It was definite role reversal.

The needlepoint work measures about 15" X 15", and she had it framed for me. This is a pretty large size for needlepointing, so I know it took her quite a while. That detail is just amazing!

Here is my Granny wearing the red shawl that I made this past summer. It was a perfect Christmas gift for her!

2007-01-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

More Handmade Gifts and Holiday Goodies

I realize that the holidays are but a distant memory now, but I still have more gifts and pictures to share. This is a scarf that I made for my cousin, who is living in Paris right now. She is there for six months teaching English, and as far as I know, this is the first time she hasn't been home for Christmas. I sent her a box of goodies, including the scarf. I thought the yarn was such an interesting combination of colors: gray, pink, orange, yellow, and blue.

This is a purse that I made for my sister-in-law. I used a linen fabric that I bought at Ikea for the outside, and cute frog fabric that I got on Superbuzzy. It is a linen/cotton mix of a similar color, with green frogs and brown numbers printed all over it.

Can you see the little frogs?

Finally, here is another gro cery bag dispenser that I made for my mother-in-law. (The free pattern is here, written by the Crochet Dude.) It ended up being quite a bit fatter than the other one I made--I think I added lots of extra stitches when I wasn't paying enough attention! I think this is a good thing though, because she will have more room for grocery bags.

Right after Christmas, I made the Bisquick Applesauce Muffins recipe shared by Alicia from Posie Gets Cozy. I have to say, they were absolutely delicious! You dip the tops of the muffins in butter and cinnamon sugar once they get out of the oven--mmmm! Mike and I kept dipping them as we ate them too!

I'll leave you with a picture of the Christmas tree at my mom's house--it was just beautiful!!

2007-01-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

This year has started with me being very busy, but also with me having hope and looking forward to the changes that the year will bring. At work, I am currently swamped with new projects and changes to old ones, but they are all for the better. I think 2007 is promising so far!

I have been holding back on posting--I have been busy as a bee with crafting projects, but I had to wait until I gave them all away to show them to you! I'll start with my fleece blankets. I got the idea for these from Crochet Today, which is my new favorite magazine. I highly recommend it--the issues so far have been stocked with good ideas. In the October/November 2006 issue, the magazine was full of gift ideas, but I especially liked the Ruffled Fleece Blanket. It is shown as a baby blanket, but can be made any size.

I made these 3 blankets for some of the babies in my life--Riley, Logan, and Grant. To make these blankets, you do a blanket stitch by hand around the perimeter first. This gives you a place to crochet into. The Crochet Today magazine had a nice pattern for the crochet part, but I just did 1 row of single crochet and 2 rows of double crochet. I cut the fleece to 36" by 45" for the baby blankets, so they ended up a little larger with the edging. The yarn that I used around the blue and green blankets has the cutest name--Baby Bubbles! I couldn't get over that!

I also made 3 more blankets for adults. This is a great project because you can drastically change the look by changing the fleece and yarn, and still use the same method. I made these slightly larger, about 40" by 50" for a small lap blanket size. The two red ones were for some of my family member in wheel chairs, so they needed blankets that were a little smaller than a standard 50" by 50" lap blanket, so that it wouldn't get caught up in the chair.

The last one is one that I made for my dad and stepmom. They live out in the country in a log cabin, which is decorated in maroons and forest greens. I made them this maroon fleece blanket with a brown edging. It's difficult to see in this picture, but that yarn actually has maroons and greens mixed in with the brown.

2006-12-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Learn How to Knit: Check!

Two weeks ago, I finally learned how to knit. I have been saying that I need to learn how for quite a while, but never managed to schedule it in. I have picked up a couple of knitting books, but I knew that I needed a live human to teach me. I would look at those books and at online magazines like Knitty--K2, p2, BO--and I would go sort of cross-eyed. Certain things you just need to be shown how to do.

My friend Marcy signed me, Monica, and Christina up for a knitting class, and then informed us later. That's the type of gal she is. She is also the type of gal to interrupt you while you're talking and comment on your eyelashes!! We love her! Anyway, she signed us up for a class at Passion Knit, which is located in Snider Plaza here in Dallas. We arrived at Passion Knit after eating lunch and gossiping for a while. First we had to pick out our yarns. I chose the Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran in Ruby. After we chose our yarns, we got to see how those yarn winder twirly things worked--I need one of those!

We had a lovely teacher who showed us how to do the garter stitch, or basic knitting stitch. I wasn't sure if my knowledge of crochet was going to help or hinder me in this knitting process. I think it helped in the end. It was very strange to use 2 needles, but I already had a concept of how to hold yarn and work with my hands. I kept exclaiming "This is weird to use 2 needles!" or "Oh my god, this is so weird!" I'm sure they were sick of it by the end of the class. We all had our quirks though: Marcy was planning increasingly elaborate knitting projects, Monica got angry when things weren't ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, Christina somehow kept tangling her yarn, and I kept repeating, "This is weird!" and my inner know-it-all kept rearing its ugly head. We had a great time though!! We will definitely be taking another class together.

Now that I know how to knit, I want to make these slippers, and this bear, and this Harry Potter Dark Mark bag, and basically everything from Knitty, and .... uh-oh. I probably need practice and need to learn some more stitches first!

Our teacher did show us how to purl too. For some reason, purling was a great big enigma to me--"what on earth could a purl be?" It was really bothering me! I come to find out that it's just the mirror image of knitting (Instead of putting your needle in one side of the stitch, you put it in the other side. It's the same motions though). The mystery of purling is finally solved!

In case you are wondering, the scarf I started in this class measures only 4 inches. I haven't had any time to work on it due to the long list of Christmas presents that I'm making. I will be picking it up again January 1st!

2006-12-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

Decorating for Christmas

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I pulled out all of the the Christmas decorations, turned on some Christmas music, poured a glass of wine, and got in the holiday spirit. Here is a picture of my tree:

It is a four-foot artificial tree that we bought a couple of years ago. It is in two pieces, each with a colored light strand on it. This year (and last year too), the top section's lights were out. Mike went through each light patiently, (patient is the same as annoyed, right?), changing out the bulb to see which one was broken. Well, he went through all of them and it still wasn't working. So we had to replace the whole thing! By the way, all of that stuff in the background to the left is a chair filled with items I am using to make Christmas presents with. Can't wait to show you pictures of those, but I have to wait until they are all given away! Here's a hint though: I made 20 of one something, and I am in the process of making 9 of something else!

Here is one of the crochet ornaments that my mom and my Granny made when I was in middle school or so. They both made zillions of them that year, and I can remember watching my mom sitting on the couch crocheting by lamp light with her glasses on. I credit these two women for all of the creative and crafty talent that I have!

Here is an ornament that I had since I was very young, less than five years old. It is piece of wood with Kermit painted on it, who was my all-time favorite Muppet.

And here is one of my newer ornaments. It is plush Santa that I got at Target (I think) the same year I got the tree. It is perfect for putting on the very top, since I'm not partial to angels.

Happy Holidays everyone!

2006-12-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

A Cold Day in November

Last Thursday, which was also the last day in November, was a cold one here in Texas. It actually snowed all day long. When the temperatures drop and it snows, people start getting anxious and freaking out here. It usually only snows once or twice a year here, although this year seems to be much colder than usual, so we may have more. When it does snow, it will melt, freeze and become ice. The roads and traffic are horrendous when this happens. I remember a few years ago when I was still in college, it took me 4 hours to get from school to home when this happened--a drive that took 20 minutes normally.

So, last Thursday, a bunch of school districts closed for the day, and many people went home early. My work and my husband's work both closed early, so I got to go home at 2:00 pm. We decided to make mulled wine, using Jennifer's recipe, and it was delicious!

Do you see that ball with rubberbands around it in that picture? That was Mike's rather ingenious idea for the mulled wine. He wrapped the mulling spices in two coffee filters, and used the rubber bands to hold it together. Before that, being a little bit of a germ-ophobe, he put the rubberbands in a glass of water, and microwaved it for a minute or two. I laughed at him for that!

My brother-in-law came over, and we cooked a winter vegetable feast for dinner. The menu was:

Winter Vegetable Stew (Rachael Ray's recipe)
Roasted Winter Vegetables (purple potatoes, fingerling potatoes, butternut squash, fennel, and parsnips mixed with rosemary and olive oil)
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Roasted Eggplant with a chipotle-honey marinade
Tofu Stir-fry with a Roasted Chile Pepper sauce
It was a veritable winter vegetable feast! It got us all in the mood for the holidays and colder weather.

2006-12-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

Best Cheese Ball Recipe Ever!

8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Worcestershire sauce
Cholula, Tabasco or other hot sauce
chopped pecans
paprika

Mix the cream cheese, garlic, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce together. (Use the sauces to taste, as hot as you like it!). Scoop out the mixture onto Saran wrap, and roll into a ball. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or longer--the flavors will develop and mix, and the garlic will mellow a little bit. When you are ready to serve, roll the ball in the chopped pecans and paprika. Serve with crackers.

I made this cheese ball at the Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws, and we devoured it! We were hovering by the table, barely pausing between bites to breathe and talk to each other. It's really that good. I served it with two types of crackers: Wheat Thins, which were crunchy and salty, and some new Honey Wheat Ritz cracker stick things, which were sweeter and softer. They were both delicious! This is the sort of recipe that I like--quick, easy, and made up of mostly cheese. Yum!

Thanks to Joel and his family for this recipe!

2006-12-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

Crochet Cozies

Inspired by Simple Sparrow, I made these two cozies in less than an hour. I used single crochet to make them nice and sturdy, and used a row of (double crochet, chain 2) to make space for the ribbon. Both ribbons are from Superbuzzy, one with apples, and one with hedgehogs and acorns. (They are out of these two trims now, but they have lots of other cute ones). The ribbons are fairly thick, made out of a linen/cotton blend, I think. The yarns are both from Shabby Sheep in Uptown Dallas--the black one is Rowan Cotton Rope, and the green is Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran. I am currently using the apple one for my digital camera, and the green for my cell phone.

Speaking of Kathmandu Aran, I finally learned how to knit this past weekend! (I used the Aran yarn in a cranberry color to make the scarf for my class.) I will have a post and pictures soon. I will not, however, have my knitted scarf done soon--I am not quite as fast with the knitting as I am with crochet, which I have over 10 years of practice!!

2006-12-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

Stitch Austin Report

I am playing catch up on my blog recently (I realized I only posted once in November!). A group of friends and I went to Stitch Austin on Saturday, November 11th. Three of us got there right at 5:00, and were able to snag the goodie bags! We got some nice sturdy tote bags, that were navy blue with rainbow trim. Inside the goodie bags were all sorts of items, including a couple of free magazines, some fabric paint, 1 inch buttons, patches, candy, etc, and the usual flyers and coupons.

With our goodie bags taken care of, we did a lap around the Austin Music Hall, looking at all of the booths. There were lots of vendors there, and my favorites were Anne Marie, Supermaggie, and My Imaginary Boyfriend. It was also fun to see Coco Couture and Handmade Julz, who are from my part of Texas.

We left Stitch for awhile to get some drinks and snacks at the Cork & Co. Wine Bar, and came back in time to buy some goodies and watch the fashion show. The fashion show was really long, and my feet and back were killing me by the end of an hour and a half, but the show was very fun. They did a clever parody of corporate America and buying handmade at the beginning, which was hilarious. Click here to see the list of all of the designers in the fashion show and vendors at Stitch.

Thanks again to Andy, whose guest bed is warm and cozy, whose coffee and biscuits were delicious, and whose patience with me about getting those damn goodie bags was neverending!!

2006-12-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

Hiking in Pennsylvania

During October, Mike and I went to Pennsylvania to visit his family and friends for a long weekend. He did some research on the internet, and found out the best weekend for us to go for the fall foliage. So, we were able to go in the peak season for all of the beautiful fall colors.

Our friends Craig and Allison took us for a hike at the Cowan's Gap State Park. We hiked to the top of one of the hiking trails, and saw this beautiful vista:

It was awe-inspiring in person. You could see for miles and miles, throughout the whole valley. It took us about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to hike to this spot, and it was well worth it.

Here are some of the gigantic leaves we found on the ground:

Here is another look-out point that we went to:

Here is Mike standing in front of a place where there was a huge landslide:

And here are some apples at a roadside stand. This is where we bought delicious homemade apple butter from a local farm. Yum! Happy Fall everyone!

2006-11-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

Mulled Wine Recipe

I know it's been forever since I posted, but November has been a very busy month for me!! Huge work projects, 4 family/friend birthdays, a sinus infection lasting over a week....you get the idea.

I wanted to share this recipe for mulled wine, which is from my friend Jennifer. It looks delicious, and we will definitely be making some this Thanksgiving weekend.

1 bottle cheap red wine

1 cup sugar (I use the raw brown kind, but any sugar is OK)

1 cup orange juice (or 1 cup orange flavored liquor, if you are feeling frisky)

2 tbsps whole cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

4 chai tea bags

***Optional***1 cup brandy (some people add brandy to the mix, but I find that I get really way toooooo happy, so I leave it out)

In a large pot, heat orange juice to a rolling boil. Add the sugar, stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn. Mix until sugar is melted, then reduce heat to low. Add the wine, whole spices and tea bags. Stir and then let it gradually heat up until you can see steam rising from the pot. Take off burner and taste. Add more sugar or orange juice if needed. Taste again...and again...and again...until it tastes right, or you get dizzy.

Drink up and party down!

It actually tastes better after it has sat over night in the fridge. You can leave the spices in all night, but I would take the tea bags out because they might add a bitter taste. You could also add sliced oranges with the rind on for extra yumminess.

Thanks Jennifer!

2006-10-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

Here is a picture of the costumes that I made for me and Mike. I am the Greek goddess Artemis, and Mike is a Jedi Knight! I used McCall's pattern M3514 for mine, and Simplicity's pattern 5840 for his. My Granny and I worked on them for 6 hours straight to finish them the weekend before my birthday. Thanks Granny--I couldn't have done it without you!

Speaking of my birthday, here is a picture of the fabulous poached pear tarts that my brother-in-law made for me! He also made a large one, but I think these small ones are too cute.

Trick or Treat!!

2006-10-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

Give and Take

Sometimes you are the giver and sometimes you are the receiver! Here is another baby hat (follow links to free pattern) that I made for our friends' baby Grant. His dad Craig is a baseball fanatic, so I thought he would appreciate this baseball motif.

We visited them in Pennsylvania the weekend before last during the peak time for fall foliage. It was absolutely gorgeous! I have some wonderful pictures to share, and I will try to post some this weekend.

Below is a picture of the beautiful coasters that my friend Christy sent me for my birthday. They are made out of an unfinished stone, and she handpainted them herself. Just in time too, because the cheap coasters I had from Wal-mart just weren't cutting it anymore. I love how the card she made me matches the coasters too! Thanks so much Christy!

I will post some pictures of my Halloween costume tomorrow--stay tuned!

2006-10-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

Green Scalloped Scarf

Here I am modeling my newest scarf. I used the pattern from Stitch'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker, by Debbie Stoller, and I used brushed baby alpaca yarn that I bought from the Shabby Sheep. I modified the pattern slightly, and took out one of the rows of double crochet in the middle. This made the scarf just a little bit skinnier.

Here is a close-up of the scallop detail:

I highly recommend this book, by the way. If someone only wanted to buy one crochet book, this is probably the one I would tell them to get. The first half of this book is a great how-to section with tons of pictures and diagrams on crochet techniques. Now, I generally think you need some in-person instruction to learn crochet, but you could almost learn how to with this book alone! And of course, there are some wonderful patterns. I think about 40 or so. I have also started making a clutch purse from this book--I just need to sew up the sides and put in the lining. Here is an example of what the clutch looks like. This is an adorable pink version from Craftlog.

2006-10-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Stitch Fashion Show and Guerilla Craft Bazaar!

Ooooh, I am so excited about this event! Stitch is on Saturday, November 11 from 5:00 pm to 2:00 am. It will be at the Austin Music Hall in Austin, TX. According to the website, there will be over 75 booths and over 20 independent designers in the fashion show. Here is a list of all of them! I am taking my friend Christina for her birthday, which is the week before. We will be taking a road trip down to Austin from Dallas, and staying the weekend with some friends. Make Dallas will be trekking down there too. Anyone else interested in coming? Andria? Jessica? Jennifer? Monica?

The tickets just went on sale today, and they are only $10!

Hope to see you there!

2006-10-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Trip to the Shabby Sheep

While visiting the Urban Bazaar a couple weekends ago, my mom, Aunt Debbie, and I decided to stop by the Shabby Sheep. This is a great yarn store in Uptown Dallas that also offers knitting classes and activities. Now the three of us are actually crocheters, but we can definitely appreciate yarn! Whenever I have some more time, I will take the beginner class at the Shabby Sheep and learn how to knit finally.

The Shabby Sheep has every kind of yarn you can think of: cashmere, wool, angora, alpaca, cotton, ribbon, chenille, blends--it's enough to hypnotize me for hours!! The shop also has lots of sample projects for you to see, including the pink scarf above. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but those are tiny little pink beads. My mom in particular loved this scarf, and has commanded that I make her one. Okay, Mom, as soon as I make you the scotty dog.....I'll start on this scarf.

My favorite display item was this hedgehog! It has to be one of the cutest stuffed toys I've ever seen. The Shabby Sheep is going to have a class on how to make it, but in knitting!! Curses! This hedgehog will be my motivation to learn as soon as possible.

We also liked this pumpkin baby hat. Here is a free pattern for a crochet version from Bev's Country Cottage. Enjoy!

PS I will have pictures of me and Mike's Halloween costumes up soon!

2006-10-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Early Birthday Present!

Here is my early birthday present from Mike! I love this camera! It's very small, and will easily fit into my purse. Notice the large LCD screen on the back too. I haven't figured out all of the cool features yet, but it has special settings for taking pictures at night, for fireworks, for underwater, etc. It also makes movies, and you can hook it up to your TV to watch them.

Mike also got a 2 GB memory card to go with it, which will hold over 600 pictures. I took about 450 pictures on my trip to Hawaii, so it will be great for traveling. On that trip, we brought the laptop with us, and had to upload pictures each night. And I had to rotate between 3 different memory cards.

Since last Tuesday, I have already taken 107 pictures on it! Mike wanted to give it to me early so I could have it for my birthday party this Friday. Thanks baby!

Friday the 13th--Spooky!

2006-10-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Vintage Halloween

Craftzine's blog had a great link to a group on Flickr that is sharing vintage Halloween cards, images, and costumes. You can check it out here. This will get you in the mood for October and for Halloween of course! Here are a few of my favorite images. Enjoy!

Craftzine also had links to How to Make Your Own Bat Costume and How to Make Your Own Devil Horns in case you need some inspiration for your Halloween costume!

2006-09-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Urban Street Bazaar this Weekend!

For all of you DFW people, this weekend is the Urban Street Bazaar sponsored by Make: Your Creative Outlet. There will be over 50 indie designers there! Make has had several of these bazaars, but this by far is the largest one yet. I believe that there will be over double the number of booths that were in the June bazaar. I will be going with on Saturday, and will post some pictures next week! Here are all of the details:

Where:
at 2632 Thomas Avenue @ Boll
Dallas, TX 75204

When:
Friday - Saturday - Sunday 9/29 - 10/1 2006
Friday 5:30 - 9pm
Saturday 10am - 9pm
Sunday 11am - 4pm

How Much?
FREE!!!

The Urban Street Bazaar also got posted on Craft Magazine's blog; check it out here.

2006-09-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Travel Bag on Superbuzzy!

My travel bag is officially on Superbuzzy! Check it out here!

I know these aren't craft related, but I thought I would share some of my pictures from Costa Rica. Mike and I went there for our honeymoon in May, and had an amazing time. I would highly recommend traveling there! We stayed on the Pacific Coast side of the country. Here is a lovely view of the Golfo de Papagayo from our hotel lobby:

This is a picture of the large iguana that was sunning itself just outside our room every morning. I affectionately named him Iggy. There are tons of iguanas in Costa Rica--we saw about 10 of them just walking to breakfast each morning. The morning was the best time to spot them. As the days warmed up, they would hide out in the shade.

Here is a picture of the sunset on the second night of our trip. We took a sunset cruise in the gulf, which was organized by our hotel. We saw lots of dolphins on this trip, and even saw a blowfish floating on top of the water. Enjoy!

2006-09-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

Bon Voyage Travel Bag

Here is my newest bag! I made this on Saturday morning with some fabric from Superbuzzy, which I just can't seem to get enough of. The fabric is a cotton/linen mix (I think), and has a nice slight stretchiness to it. It has these cute little swirly figures printed on it in red, with an aqua airplane every so often.

So I used a sturdy aqua cotton fabric for the lining, and accented the bag with red pockets on the inside and outside. I think the red and aqua color combination is fun, and sort of unusual. I used red thread for the top-stitching and on the handles, to really bring out the contrast.

Superbuzzy is going to post a picture of this bag on their gallery page! The owners Kelly and Mariko are collecting pictures of items made with their fabrics and displaying them on their website. My Bon Voyage Travel Bag should be up soon--how exciting!! By the way, if you are in the market for some cute Japanese fabric and other sewing accessories, please check them out. They have a great independent business, and have been very kind to all of their customers. I can't wait until my next order gets here!

Bon Voyage!

2006-09-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Tropical Print Purse

I made this purse a few weeks ago, and enjoyed photographing it outside! I think it looks quite cute nestled up against this tree.

Here is a close-up view of the other side of the purse:

My bonus picture for this post is of the sunset last weekend. We went to the Addison Oktoberfest just north of Dallas. You can see some of the tents and attractions in the bottom of this picture, along with a lone balloon floating among the clouds. This sunset was just beautiful--even more so in person. Enjoy!

2006-09-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2005 Handmade Presents

Isn't it irritating that stores feel the need to stock their holiday merchandise as soon as Labor Day is over? The holiday season keeps coming earlier each year! Does anyone really have the overwhelming desire to buy tree ornaments or gift wrap in September?! Halloween hasn't even happened yet people!

Well, regardless of how I feel about that, it gets me thinking about what I'm going to make for everyone this year. Here is a picture of the scarves that I made for everyone last year. I made 7 scarves total, for my sister, my stepmom, my sister-in-law, my cousin my brother-in-law, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law (Those are in order from left to right).

I also made potholder sets for just about everyone I know! I sewed about 45 potholders in all! My friend Monica was a wonderful assistant, as she cut the squares for at least half of these. She was in a mode, and wanted to express herself with a rotary cutter. I think cutting perfect squares appeals to her perfectionist nature! It was fine with me--her help allowed me to make enough for all of my family and my good friends. I now have a distinct groove in my cutting mat at 8 1/2 inches. Here are pictures of the potholders:

My sister Tracy also requested some more potholders recently, so here is a picture of the set of four I made for her. She likes neutral colors, so I used cream and linen colored fabrics with very soft prints. I took this picture in my photography class at Make, by the way!

2006-09-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

Crafting Supplies Bring Happiness!

I have purchased or received lots of new crafting supplies in the past couple of weeks, all of which have lightened my mood after stressful days at work. First, the almost infamous hedgehog fabric from Superbuzzy!!:

I checked the Superbuzzy website patiently every day, knowing that the hedgehog fabric was going to be for sale soon. One morning, there it was! I ordered some right then, and it came in the mail last week. I got these cute little hedgehog buttons as well.

I also went on a felt-buying spree at Michael's last week. I was actually there to buy some more yarn for the blanket I am working on, but couldn't resist stocking up on these felt squares. Felt has the lovely advantage of not needing a seam allowance, and I learned to appreciate this when making my scottie dog. I plan on making some more plushies with this felt, and experimenting on some other projects. What could be better than a rainbow of felt!

This item is definitely in the same league as these! My friend Jennifer gave me this yarn keeper yesterday, and it really made my day. Right now, I'm using a big black bucket to hold my yarn while crocheting, but this will be much more compact and cute. It has a hole in the top lid, and a handle for easy carrying! Thanks so much Jennifer!

Bonus picture!
Here's Sadie again, sitting in the kitchen waiting for Mike to come back inside.

2006-09-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

Cute and Easy-to-Make Baby Hats

It seems that I am at the age where everyone I know is having babies! Of course, I like to help new parents out by sending them stuff from their baby registry, but I can't just stop at shopping. I have to give them something handmade too! Hence, these very cute little baby hats! I used a modification of this pattern on the Bev's Country Cottage website. Instead of using single crochet, I used double crochet in both the front and back loops. This website also has a head size chart, where you can adjust the circumference of your hat from preemie size on up to adult size. The basic rule is to make the circumfence 1 to 1 1/2 inches smaller than the person's/child's head.

For the pink hat, I added a row of single crochet in seafoam green yarn for edging, and a flower in the same color. I used the free pattern at this blog, which also includes another type of flower and a butterfly applique. I made this pink hat for a coworker of mine that had a baby over the summer--I made the blue hat below for the son of my cousins-in-law, and the yellow hat for our friends' baby.

There are hundreds of free crochet, knit, and sewing patterns for baby items out there on the internet, and these items are wonderful for giving to charities. Here is a link of charities in the US where you can donate handmade items to. Most of the major hospitals also take newborn and preemie hats for their neonatal units.

Bonus Picture!

Here is my dog Sadie looking oh so cute! She is carrying a soft bone toy that I made for her out of fleece. Enjoy!

2006-09-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Bright Crochet Washcloths

Here are a couple of crochet washcloths that I've made recently. Washcloths are a nice project because you can try out a new pattern or technique, and finish a project quickly. This first one is from the Spring Shells washcloth pattern from the online magazine Crochet Me. This link also shows you how to crochet a matching bath fizzy bag, but I haven't tried that out yet. Sorry for the dark pictures, but these were taken before I learned my new tricks from the product photography class at Make!

This washcloth is the Bumped Shells Dishcloth pattern from the JP Fun Crochet Club website.

Both of these patterns were easy to follow and taught me something new!
I hope you all are enjoying the Labor Day weekend! Happy crafting!

2006-08-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

Crochet Grocery Bag Dispenser and Beer Cozy

The only thing better than knowing how to crochet is knowing how to crochet things that are actually useful! There are only so many scarves that one can make before thinking, "What can I make that I can use all year round?" Here are two projects that I finished a couple months ago that fulfill that need to be practical! First, here a grocery bag dispenser that I made on in one evening while watching TV. The pattern is available for free here from The Crochet Dude. He had the ingenious idea of using two ponytail holders: one for the ring at the top, and one at the bottom to pull the bags through. This worked very well. I did add more single crochet stitches around the top ring than he called for in the pattern, just so the ponytail holder wouldn't show through.

Here is a picture of the grocery bag dispenser (aka dog poop pick-up bags) in action! I used Lily Sugar and Cream cotton yarn, and for the beer cozy too.

Here is a picture of the beer cozy that I made, using variegated cotton yarn. I found the pattern at The Midnight Knitter's site here. This pattern worked up very quickly too.

By the way, that is my lovely husband in the background there, holding the beer can!

Happy crocheting!

2006-08-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Coziest Red Shawl...Finished in the Hottest Month of the Year!

I just finished this red shawl last week or so, and I am really happy with it! I used the pattern from Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman (another crafty Melissa!). The pattern was very easy to use--I find her patterns to be well-written and easy to understand. And yes, I am modeling this shawl outside in Texas, and it was about 103 degrees (40 degrees C)! It has been 100 degrees (38 degrees C) or more every day this month except one! Wool yarn + oppressive heat = sweaty Melissa! Mike took these pictures pretty quickly!

Here is a close-up of the diamond pattern:

And here is a close-up of the edging:

Hope you like it!

2006-08-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Lovely Crochet Dolls from the Avocadolite Farm

I found these incredible cute crochet amigurumi dolls from the Avocadolite Farm recently. The owner of this site, Thalia, creates and sells a variety of these small dolls. But I have to say, these two Japanese girl dolls are my favorite!

Flower Dog Arrangements!!

I found these on Merwing's Blog--they are so cute! These would be a great gift someone's birthday in October (hint, hint, Mike!!). Browse Merwing's blog while you are there--she makes amazing stuffed animals and creates wonderful art!

2006-08-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Monica!

My friend Monica is celebrating her birthday today! I made her this lovely sunglasses case that I think she will enjoy! I found a quick tutorial on the Craftster forums here . I hope she likes it! (I also hope she doesn't check my blog in the next hour before I give it to her!!) Best wishes to Monica for another wonderful year!

2006-08-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

Little Pink Purse

Here is a little pink purse that I made last month. It is about 5.5" tall and about 8" wide. The outside fabric is a pink and brown tweed, and the inside is a pink denim. I also put a teeny-tiny pocket on the inside with the tweed fabric!

I took these great pictures of my little pink purse at the Product Photography Class at Make in Dallas
This class went over the basics of taking more professional-looking pictures of your products if you are selling them, as well as how to edit pictures using photo editing software. The class went over lighting techniques, and even showed me how to use features on my own digital camera! I finally found out what that button with the tulip icon is for! (It allows you to put your camera lens extremely close to your item and still focus.)

At this class, I also met a great DIY-er here is Dallas who makes beautiful jewelry. Check out her website!

2006-08-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

Jack Sparrow Doll

I found this great amigurumi doll on the Craftster website here!
It was created by a gal named Amy, whose shop is here,
and whose blog is here.

The details on this doll are what make it amazing! She is so talented! I just ordered some patterns from Roxycraft to make an attempt at my first crocheted doll--we'll see how it goes.

By the way, Mike and I saw Pirates of the Carribean 2 a couple of weeks ago. I'm not a big movie-watcher, so it takes quite a bit to get me to the movie theater! We both enjoyed it, although not quite as much as the first one. The action and special effects definitely overshadowed the characters. Without giving anything away, I will say that when it ends, you know that there will be a third movie!

2006-08-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Scottie Dog

My first plushie! I got this pattern from Jenny at the Allsorts Blog (click here for the pattern and pictures of her scotties).

This is my first real attempt at a stuffed animal, and I am very happy with it. I used felt, two small red buttons, and red embroidery thread. The heart on the scotty bum was my own original creation. All of the sewing was done by hand! My technique could use a little improvement, but I think it's not bad for the first time. The pattern was very easy to use too. If you are interested, check out the Allsorts Blog--she has tons of cute crafts there.

Enjoy!

2006-08-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

My name is Melissa, and this is my first attempt at a blog here in the internet universe. I have been perusing many crafty and artistic blogs for new ideas and tutorials, and thought to myself, "Hey, I should do that!" I then obsessed for a week or two about what to call this blog, since it needed to be something that encompassed my love for sewing, crochet, creativity, and craftiness. And here we are! I am hoping to use this blog as forum for posting my completed projects, sharing ideas, and passing along the great things that other crafty women are doing!

So, for my inaugural post, I would like to share with you some of my favorite websites!

Whip Up: handcraft in a hectic world

There are about 25 or so contributors to this great site that is updated pretty much every day. They post ideas about every craft imaginable, including sewing, jewelry, ceramics, crochet, knitting...the list continues. The site is a great resource for tutorials, as the contributors search them out on the web, and conveniently link them for you. As soon as I figure out all of the features on my blog, I will definitely be linking them!

Crochet Me Magazine

Founded by Kim Piper Werker, this is one of the best crochet sites I have found! The patterns are modern and funky, and are free! The online magazine is updated quarterly, and you can sign up for the free emails.

Savvy Seams

Savvy Seams has free sewing patterns, including bags, headbands, oven mitts and cozies. She also has a great assortment of links and resources.

Craftster

Craftster is one of the best and most well-known craft sites out there. Check out the forums for ideas, tutorials, and pictures of craftiness!

I will be posting lots of pictures soon! Hope you'll stop by again!