Starburst Afghan and Snow

This is what I woke up to this morning.  We got a few inches.

I finished my starburst afghan on the 28th.  It is incredibly comfy.  Here is the free pattern for it.  Mine used 13 skeins of Bernat's mosaic strange magic yarn, and it is 75 inches from point to point.  It took 3 months to make.

Nerd Wars Tournament 6

Tournament 6 of Nerd Wars on ravelry ran from October - December.  Here are the projects that I made for it.  I also donated money to 2 different charities during it as well.  I'll start at the top left and work from left to right.

1. Blue Angry Bird: For one of my nephews for Christmas.  Here is the free pattern for it.
2. Purple Bat: For a friend on ravelry who hasn't been feeling well.  Here is the pattern for it.
3. A Blue Dragonfly: I pattern tested this, and then gave it to my 2nd cousin who is 5 for Christmas. Here is the pattern for it.
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar: I pattern tested it, and gave it to ds2 for Christmas. Here is the pattern for it.
5. Two Headed Bear: I gave it to my husband for Christmas.  Here is the pattern for it.
6. A Monster High Witch hat and dress: Here are the patterns for the hat and the dress.  I modified the dress pattern for a better fit.
7. Tardis Ornament: I gave this to a friend for Christmas.  Here is the pattern for it.
8. Snowflake ornament: I made this for a swap.  Here is the pattern for it.
9. Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Dishcloth: Here is the pattern for it.
10. 3 Birds Dishcloth: Here is the pattern for it.  It is in German, but you can see my ravelry notes for translation help.
11.  Chevron Log Cabin dishcloth: I kind of made this one up, based on other log cabin block patterns.
12. Tarn Hobo Bag: Here is the pattern for it.
13. Ruffle Scarf: This was a Christmas present for my mom.  Here is the pattern for it, however it is better to watch the you tube video on how to make it.
14. Woven Scarf: I made this for my husband for Christmas.
15. Knitted Scarf: I made this for my mom for Christmas.  It is garter stitch on the ends and stockinette stitch in the center.
16. Ikat Weavings: I dyed and wove these wall hangings for my living room.
17. Crochet slouchy hat: I donated this hat to Hats Off For Cancer. Here is the pattern for it.

Web Site Updated

I just updated my website.  There are new photos and class schedules.  I will try to be better about keeping my class schedule current on there.

Changes to my blog

With Instagram's new policy taking place on January 16th (allowing advertisers to use people's photos without direct consent or payment) , I will be removing myself and my photos from there.  For the last year and a half I have been using the photos that I have uploaded through there for this blog.  That means that many photos will just disappear from my blog.  It totally sucks.

Lately I have not been blogging on here like I use to.  I do blog daily, but through my Nerd Wars Club 33 group.  I started this blog as a kind of craft journal for myself.  Now I'm debating if I even need to do that anymore.

I don't want to get rid of the blog, because there are a lot of helpful tutorials on it that pre-dates my use of Instagram.  However you might see a major clean up of my blog due to the lack of photos.  I don't want to go back and replace every single photo with one that I have to resize through photoshop and then go through this other program just to put on an invisible section of my husband's website, which has a limited amount of space.  That is a lot to have to do.  Maybe I'll just update my website with more recent photos instead.  I'm not sure.  Its a big debate.  What I am sure of is that I will be leaving Instagram in January, and that means many of my photos here will disappear.

So this is a little heads up.

As a result you probably will see even less blog posts from me than you have recently.  Maybe I'll just do more you tube videos... Ones that are just a series of photos of what I've been making recently.

I also want to apologize again for my lack of videos.  My 5 year old is very energetic, and he demands a lot of attention.  As a result I can not have 1 minute of quiet time where I can do voice overs for the videos.  I also have a lot of other responsibilities in my life which makes doing many things very difficult.  For instance I have not recorded anything for my local t.v. show in a year due to my lack of time.  I'm actually hoping to work in 1 day a month where I can go back into the studio and start recording new episodes again.

So then you are probably wondering how I can get so much crafting done.  The key is on-the-go projects.  If it can not go in my purse or a bag and go with me everywhere, then it is really hard to work on.  I can count on my fingers the number of times I have used my sewing machine this year.  In college I could weave something in 2 days, but now I'm lucky to fit in 2 hours a week on my loom.  But those two items are not portable.  People who know me know that I ALWAYS have a project with me.  In fact when I go over to a friend's house, her daughter will bring me a stuffed animal or hat to repair.  I almost always have the right tools on me to repair her things right then and there.

Since my youngest son is so active, I try to take him places where he can get out all of that energy with other kids his age.  That means that I can actually have time to just work on my current knitting or crochet project while still keeping an eye on him.  Thank goodness for my kindle and my iphone, because all of my patterns can easily travel with me.

Anyway......

Thoughts?  Comments?  Suggestions?


All comments need to be approved of before they are posted, because I get a ton of spam.  Its sad really.  So please don't let that discourage you from leaving a comment.

Thanks,
Kristy

P.S. Remember me saying that I can't even get a minute of uninterrupted time?  My son came in my room to talk to me about 50 times while I was typing this, lol.  I'm not even exaggerating.

Blue Angry Bird

I just finished making this blue angry bird for my nephew.  This will be the 5th Angry Birds character that I have made him so far.  I'm hoping to make him the whole series.  Here is the free ravelry downloadable pattern.  The red is felt and the eyes are black paint.  I put the wrong size safety eyes on him, so I used black puffy paint to make them bigger.

Ikat Weavings

I finished both ikat weavings last month!

The warp was dyed 6 times with kool aid and food coloring in October, and then woven using brown sock yarn in November.  For the warp I used Lion Brand's Fisherman's wool.  They are 9" x 30".  

Here they are next to the painting that inspired them.  I need to mount them properly.

Here is the scrap from the 2nd weaving.  I'm still deciding what to do with it.

Wreaths, owl dishcloth, and penguin ornaments

I made these 12 mini wreaths in 2 days.  I'm going to be glueing pin backs on them this week.  Some will be gifts and others will be donated to my church's holiday fair.  Here is the pattern that I made up for them (using a plastic ring for the center).  

• sc in the ring all the way around
• sl st into first st, then chain 3
• 2 dc in every st.
• sl st in first dc
• You can either end it here, which I do for worsted weight yarns, or you can make 1 more round (which I do with lace weight yarns).
• ch 3, 2 dc in next st, 1 dc in the next 2 to 3 sts (its up to you) repeat around, and join with a sl st in the 1st dc.

I knitted this owl illusion dishcloth last week.  It's my first illusion knit.  I have to make more of these, because everyone's reaction to it is fantastic.  Here is the free pattern for it.

Tonight I worked on these 46 egg carton penguin ornaments.  I still need to add the ribbon hangers.  Some will be gifts, but most of them will be donated to my church's holiday fair.  Their theme this year is penguins, so these are perfect for it.

Log Cabin Dishcloth

I read 2 different knitted log cabin patterns, and then went by instinct and what I read to make this Chevron Log Cabin dishcloth.  I used different shades of blue, and crochet a border around it.

Birds and a Caterpillar

I finished knitting this 3 bluebirds dishcloth last night.  It was from a German pattern.  I don't speak German, but it was very easy to follow.  Someone gave me a translation of the abbreviations, which helped a lot.  

R= Knit L= Purl and all odd numbered rows are knit, small Nupps (from the pattern): kfb (make 2 stitches out of one), turn, purl these 2, turn, k2tog, go on with your row.

I also got to test this very cute caterpillar amigurumi pattern recently.  The last few days have been a struggle to finish it, not because of the pattern but because of life.  It is a Christmas present for my youngest son, so for the last few days I could only work on it after he went to bed.  Now it is safely hidden until I can wrap it up.  He is just so cute!  I used the colors of The Very Hungry Caterpillar when making it.  It is a very easy pattern, and I recommend any of TBoutiqueCritters's patterns. Mine ended up being 19.5 inches long x about 5 inches wide.  I hope my son likes it.

Heart Dishcloth

I started knitting this heart with wings dishcloth on July 1st, but put it down after only a few rows.  I picked back up the other day and finished it last night.  Here is the free pattern for it.

Hat and Dragonfly

I just finished crocheting this Galway Slouchy crochet beret today.  It will be sent to Hats Off for Cancer's Mad Hatter Drive.   

I also just finished pattern testing this dragonfly pattern for TBoutiqueCritters.  He is so cute.I learned a new way to make wings that I now want to use for making Monster High doll costumes.

Dishcloths and Cat Toys

Over the last 2 months I have slowly knit these 3 dishcloths.  I've worked on them during movie nights, because I can knit these simple dishcloths with my eyes closed.

We love going to Hershey Park every Summer, so I couldn't wait to make this Hershey Kiss dishcloth in memory of all of the fun that we have had there (including when I was a kid myself).  Here is the free pattern.

I made 2 cat toys that can hang from a door knob.  Inside of the ball part is a plastic jingle ball cat toy.  We just got 2 new kittens this month, and they have had fun playing with their new toy.  Here is the free pattern.  I just added 10 more chain stitches to the blue area to make one of them longer.

Crocodile Stitch Owl

I just finished crocheting this owl container last night.  I used this pattern, but I made her bigger.  Next time I will make a round base instead of sewing it closed flat.  I just love her.  Here eyes are painted on.

Tuesday Tot Craft Time: Frogs

The materials that we were given at the library for this craft were: construction paper, green paper frog finger puppets, pom poms, tissue paper, eye stickers, crayons, glue sticks, and scissors.  There were no instructions given for this craft at the library.  It reminded me of my preschool teaching days.  You just provided the materials and let the children use their imagination and creativity to come up something.

This is what my son made with those materials.  It has been on our mantel with the Spring decorations.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here is the picture that my youngest son made this week at the library.

They gave us some coloring pages, a large blank paper, some clovers, tissue paper, glue, and markers.

I drew and colored a leprechaun for him.

Here is the 2nd picture that he made, because his friend said that rainbows start with red and not purple.  She was right, but its not that big of a deal.

Tuesday Tot Craft Time: Puppets

This is a fun and easy craft for the kids, making paper bag puppets.  The library provided us with white paper bags, construction paper, scissors, glue, crayons, feathers, pom poms, and contact paper cut into different shapes.  Right away my son said that he wanted to make a turkey.

We cut out a large brown heart out of the construction paper, and then cut it in half for the wings.  The hand print contact paper was perfect for the under the beak red thing (whatever it is called).  I also used the contact paper to cut out a smile.  My son used pom poms for the eyes, and he colored the wings.

For the tail we used a hand and flower cut out of the contact paper, and just layered them.  He put the feathers under the finger tips instead of using glue.

Then he colored both sides of the bag / puppet.

He had a lot of fun playing with his new turkey puppet.

Tuesday Tot Craft Time: Weaving

My 4 year old checked out a book all about Textiles for kids today.  Unfortunately he is to young to make most of the crafts in it.  However I thought that he was old enough to learn how to weave.  He recently got new shoes, so I used the shoe box for the loom.  I cut 6 notches on each side, then I strung up some yarn.  Then I made a shuttle (out of a food box) and wrapped yarn around it, and then showed him how to weave with it.  It was to hard for him.  My husband recently weeded out his magazines, so I cut up some pages from one of the magazines.  This was a lot easier for him to learn how to weave with. He really enjoyed it.

Then I made some paper looms and showed him how to weave with them.  A paper loom is just paper with slits cut out from the center but not at the edges.  Now he can go to town with weaving.

Tuesday Tot Craft Time: Picture Frames

This is a super easy craft, and it makes a nice gift.

The library provided the pre-cut frames, tissue paper, and glue.

Tuesday Tot Craft Time: Valentine's Cards

It is easy enough to have a Valentine's card making kit for kids.  Mine is made from die cut hearts from recycled cardboard and colored card stock, toilet paper tubes that have been painted, cut, and folded to look like hearts, and chenille stems.  Then I provide the blank cards, envelopes, some other papers that they can cut and glue, glue sticks, scissors, and markers.  

Here are some cards that some sweet girls made for me from this kit.

Here is the card that my youngest son made for my husband for Valentine's Day.

Also using supplies from the kit, this girl made this origami heart for her mom.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Tuesday Tot Craft Time: Chalk Drawings