Craft It Forward 2011: Round 2

Some time ago, I wrote about my Craft it Forward mission that came from a Facebook status which stated:

"Craft it forward 2011. I promise to send something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must repost this status, offering the same thing to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011. Here we go!"

I have finished my projects and they have all been sent to their new homes (except one rogue pair of slippers.) I have also received a couple of gifts in return! (That will be the subject of my next post.) The projects below were made mostly out of materials that I already had.






My first endeavor was for my friend Elizabeth after she was discussing her annoyance with her neighbor's yard light, which shined directly into her window at night. She said she slept with a bandanna over her eyes, and I decided she needed something a bit fancier. I free-handed a stencil for this sleeping mask and layered quilt batting between the fun green fabric and some soft satin for the side that lays against the face. I bound it with some bias tape and added an elastic band in a fabric sleeve. It was super-quick!



Next I made two mug cozies for the ladies who work in the church office where I worked during college. I have made this pattern once before. I think it looks really nice, and is easy to memorize. I could probably whip one of these out in about the duration of a movie. (Note: I don't have a link for this pattern, but there is a free download at Ravelry.com. It is listed under "The Mug Snug" by Erica Jackofsky.)



This last project was made for my friend Jenny. A couple of years ago, I knit Jenny some mittens and I still had some of the yarn left over, so I made her a matching hat. I knit the hat exactly as the pattern was stated and the sizing was PERFECT! This is a pattern that I will probably keep in my tool-box for future use when I need a easy hat pronto. The button on here was a spare that came with a sweater of mine.



I am currently putting the finishing touches on another pair of bunny slippers, but I can't tell you who they're for, or it will ruin the surprise if that person reads this!

Itty Bitty Shoes

My brother-in-law asked me if I would make a baby gift for him to give a friend who just had a little girl. I, of course, very enthusiastically said yes. I really enjoy making projects for babies. They are usually quick and you get the instant gratification of overwhelming cuteness. It's a win-win situation! The problem is, there are not nearly enough babies in my life. So, I jump at any chance to make something when the opportunity arises.



I knit a hat (pattern:Hospital Hat by Annika Barranti on Ravelry.com) for the baby girl, and at first I was going to knit some booties to match, but then I remembered a free pattern for cloth babies shoes that I had come across one day. It was easy to follow and I DEFINITELY will be making more in the future. In fact there is an Old Ladies' Club meeting scheduled for this week. We will be making vodka infusions and sewing baby shoes. (I feel like there may be something slightly irresponsible about that combination.)

PS- Did you recognize the shoe fabric?

Project Success

Remember that time I failed big time on the project I was working on? Well, if at first you don't succeed, try try again.





I made these counting fish for my nephew's second birthday. I was first inspired by this post, which linked me to this blog (which happens to use the same background as I do.) Because of the small buttons that could potentially pose a choking hazards, they may not be quite suited for his age yet. I think he can still have fun with them with adult supervision, though.

Each of the fishies has a specific number of objects on it from 1 to 10. Then, there is a washer in their nose (do fish have noses?) and a magnet on the end of a string attached to a dowel so that the fish can be "caught." I had to do some embroidery for this project, including blanket stitch around the edges. I was a little intimidated by that, so I put off the final step until late the night before they needed to be finished. I then learned, that blanket stitch is disgustingly easy.




Number 8 is my favorite.



But number 4 is pretty great too.

I do what i can to not-so-subtly encourage the little guy to hone the skills that he will need as an engineer. Hence, the counting game for a two-year-old. I also slipped this puzzle into the package. I picked it up in the Target 1 spot, and added my own labels. Engineering school, here he comes!

Craft It Forward 2011: Round 1

I have embarked on a special mission: Craft it Forward 2011!
One of my friend's had a facebook status that read, "Craft it forward 2011. I promise to send something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must repost this status, offering the same thing to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011. Here we go!"

I'm always up for a good challenge, so I signed myself up! However, my list quickly grew longer than 5 people, because I just couldn't say no to anyone. Also, I signed up with a couple of friends who had posted it as their status, so I decided to make them gifts in return. I've finished about half of the projects I decided to do, and I just mailed them off to their new homes.

Here's what I have made:

I've already shown you one of my projects. For Aunt B, I made the bumblebees from this post.

For my sister Megan, I made pink bunny slippers. The foot of the slipper is based on a traditional "Aunt Maggie" slipper, and then the ears, face, and tail are added to make the bunny. This could be adapted to become any animal, but I thought that that a nice pair of bunny slippers seemed right up Megan's alley! Instead of using two strands of worsted weight yarn like the pattern calls for, I used a single strand of bulky yarn (Lion brand Homespun in "Mixed Berries.") The little pom-pom tails are my favorite part.



I made another pair of slippers for my friend Cathy. I used the bunny pattern again, but I left off the "bunny" parts. For this pair, I used two strands; one was Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight and the other was a soft fluffy yarn I had in my stash. I honestly have no idea what brand it is, or why I bought it. It really softened up the plain-ol' red heart yarn and gave it a unique and fun look! I almost kept them for myself. :)



For my friend Megan, I made two dishcloths. I just love making dishcloths. They're quick, easy, and the perfect way to try out new styles and patterns. I've never made two alike! Years ago, I bought a big bag of cotton yarn at a garage sale, and I've been working my way through it ever since. For Megan, I made one as a diagonal knit (tan) and one in grid pattern (blue).




Shelly got a fuzzy scarf. Since it’s knit in stockinette, it curls up along the edges, which I think makes it look like a snake. The colors and the broad stripes remind me of something that might be worn at Hogwarts, if there was a fifth house with silver and purple as their colors. I started this scarf to use up some excess yarn I had from another project. It was on the needles for over 3 years until I got really motivated and finally finished it this winter. It’s kind of narrow, but super long so that it can be wrapped around the neck several times.



Evan was the only one who didn't get a knit item. Instead, I sewed a retro potholder following this tutorial. I used some fabric crafts from a quilt I made and from little a's tent. This is a really quick sewing project. It took me about an hour and a half, but most of that time was spent cutting out the circles and pressing them into quarters. This project leaves a lot of room for personalization with different fabric and quilting styles. I choose this fabric from my stash for Evan, because they are the colors of our Alma Mater, Iowa State University.

Little a's Tent

This post is long overdue, as it is about a Christmas present that I made for my nephew. Little a will be turning 2 this weekend. Time sure flies! When I was thinking about what I could make him as a Christmas present, I was reminded of a tent that my babysitter had in the playroom. I loved that tent. I would play in it for hours. It was one of several of my regular forts. I don't know what it is about forts, but the small, dark, and secret space does wonders for the imagination. My husband as well had fond memories of a denim tent that his grandfather had made him. We joined forces on this project. I did the sewing, and Sam did the woodworking.



I couldn't find any free plans online that I really liked for this project, and I couldn't bring myself to pay for any, so I free-handed the whole thing. I looked at a lot of pictures on Etsy to see all of the different ways that people make tents like this. I drew out some dimensions, and set off for the fabric store. I'm going to try to dig up my scrap paper with my notes, and put together a formal tutorial for this. I will likely make more in the future, when I have more nieces, nephews, or children of my own.



The tent body is made from red and blue denim. Denim is a little more difficult to work with than cotton, but I liked how it made the tent nice and dark inside. Either would work though. Next time I make one, I will spend more time scrounging thrift stores. Perhaps I can find some flannel sheets to upcycle.





The most time-consuming part about this project was the detail work, but I think that is what makes it really special. I put in a window, in case it was too dark inside. The windows rolls up or down and is held in place with Velcro. I also decided that I needed to use my newly-discovered skills in applique, so I added little a's name down the side.






BONUS: We got to buy a staple gun to make it! Woo new tools!



As you can see from the pictures, little a was very excited about his new play tent. He even moved his rocking chair inside so he could talk on his phone in privacy. :)

Project Fail

Sometimes my projects turn out better than expected. Sometimes they don't. See exhibit A below:



I'm not going to tell you what this project was supposed to be, but stay tuned, because I intend to try again! I got a little too eager to work on this project, and the results were sadly quite disappointing. I was trying to do too much too quickly, and I ended up botching the whole thing. The picture above is supposed to be a fish. He didn't turn out very fish-like (technical term) so I tried to help him by outlining in zig-zag stitch. It was well intentioned, but it just made matters worse. In the end, I cut the fish open and sewed in a squeaker that was salvaged from another doggie toy, and Oliver got a new little friend to play with. He was so excited that I couldn't get a decent picture of him. The fish lasted all of about 15 minutes. Now, he is swimming with the fishes, so to speak.



After the blue fish, I also destroyed a yellow one. The rainbow-striped fish was the only one that actually turned out pretty well, but then I realized there was a hole in the fabric. Sigh. I hear my fifth grade teacher's voice in my head right about now, "Haste makes waste."

I think I'll call it a night and hope for better luck tomorrow.

Project Saturday

A few weeks ago my husband and I declared it "Project Saturday." We both spent the majority of the day working on our own projects. I dug out my sewing machine and tried my hand at applique. I made pillow covers for the couch throw pillows. I bought these pillow forms awhile back and I've been trying to decide what to do with them. I read some blogs and watched some YouTube videos about applique. It wasn't as difficult as I imagined. I started out making sketches of the designs I wanted. I traced these onto some iron-on transfer. Then, I cut the shapes out of the fabric and transfer. I arranged the design on the background fabric and ironed it all together. It was pretty slick! The hardest part was using my machine to stitch the edges around the shapes. They aren't perfect, but my skill had improved drastically by the end.






While I spent most of the day at the kitchen table, Sam spent it out on the porch.



He was constructing a case from the organ he assembled. He also built a TV antenna. Both endeavors were successful. He has since built a second antenna, which doubled the number of channels that we were getting with the first.

Here are our successes from the day:

Joann Fabric Adventure

This is not intended to be a plug for Joann Fabrics, but my exciting adventure there last night supplied me to start some new projects. I had been to Joann's website and noticed some great deals they were having, including 50% off a single regularly priced item, 50% off pillow forms and home decor fabrics, 70% off summer items, and 15% off anything for college students. Please don't tell them that my University ID is no longer valid. I intend to use that thing as long as I possibly can. Anyway, I came home with a 1/2 price cutting mat and rotary cutter set. I am VERY excited about this. I hope to start a second quilt this fall and I am considering making my own wedding veil. I also got some pillow forms so that I could make some throw pillows for our new couches. My sewing machine has not made the move yet, so I'll have to wait a few weeks to do that. Additionally, I picked up some nice bamboo-fiber sock yarn and some cute kitchen decorations. I bought the matching soap dispenser (below), hand towels, and dishcloths, but I opted not to get the rug. It was adorable, but it was a little too pricey for how cheaply it seemed to be made. My kitchen has become unintentionally bird-themed. I have a toaster cover (really who owns these things? THIS girl!) that is hand-embroidered with lovebirds. I picked it up a couple of years ago from a garage sale for 50 cents (Awesome!). Also, we received some kitchen towels from our registry that have swallows on them. Here is my new soap dispenser!

So, the point of this post is I'M READY TO START SOME NEW PROJECTS! Stay tuned to see them completed.

Hello World!

Welcome to my new blog! I had a travel blog when I was studying abroad in Switzerland, but that kind of fizzled out after awhile. Now that I've graduated from college, I hope to have more time to devote to this. I really enjoy reading knitting and cooking blogs, so I thought I'd start one of my own. Having the brain of an engineer, I find myself needing to have "projects" to do. Some people might call these hobbies, but I think they differ slightly. In my opinion, hobbies are activities you enjoy doing just for the sake of taking part in them. Projects are activities which you do for for the enjoyment that comes with completion. I'm always juggling a few projects at a time, so I will keep this blog pretty general. I will post about training my puppy, reading, knitting, sewing, cooking, gardening, painting, and any other projects which find their way into my life. Enjoy!