More crocheted can and bottle koozies

New can and bottle koozies.  All for sale in my etsy shop!

More koozies for Plaid Peacock

Here are the latest koozies to be sold on consignment at Plaid Peacock. I just stocked up on yarn so I'm planning to make a bunch more to sell on etsy and maybe at a craft fair in March!

Iowa Koozy - Hayden Fry

Another koozy. These are some of my favorite projects - someone made a joke about wanting a koozy with Hayden Fry on one side, thinking that would not be possible. I surprised him with this koozy and he was adequately surprised and excited!

My present

Now that we are well into January, I am finally ready to share what I got for Christmas from my Dad...

Yes, that IS a spinning wheel. And before you even ask, yes, like Rumpelstiltskin and yes, like Sleeping Beauty. That is the first thing I have heard from almost everyone I tell. It's either that or "did you ask for that?". The answer to that is...well, sort of. I think it all started with this post. For some reason, the idea of dyeing yarn with something you grew seemed cool to me. Then, I thought it would be even cooler if you spun the yarn yourself too. Although I thought this was an amazing thought, I didn't really ever imagine making the effort or the investment (time or money) to learn this craft. But, nonetheless, I called my dad and asked him if he would raise me a sheep so I could have wool to spin. Of course, he laughed at me and told me he would get me some discarded wool from a nearby farm and asked incredulously if I even knew how to spin. I told him that I didn't, but of course I would figure that all out when I got the sheep. So we laughed and joked about this for several months...until he stumbled across a spinning wheel at an antique shop. He went to a nearby sheep farm and got me two fleeces for the price of the shearing ($5 a piece). So, I am now deep into a new craft. I have been researching on the internet, at local yarn shops, listening to podcasts, and mostly just trying it out. Here's what I've done so far:

Washing: Turns out when they shear sheep they don't give them a bath first. At least not when the wool isn't the reason they are raising sheep. This picture doesn't really do justice to the amount of sheep poop (or the smell) that was on the fleece.

This is after one round of washing 1/2 of the first fleece:

And round 2. Most of the dirt is gone, but still grass, sticks etc. You have to comb or brush that out essentially.

Here is my first attempt at spinning yarn. It was very uneven.

I made a little coaster/pot holder (crochet):

Then, I plied two of my spun yarns together:

Finally, knitted something. It didn't start out to be an iPod case, but that is what it ended up to be. I find it ironic that I got a spinning wheel (very primitive machine) and an iPod touch (pretty high tech) for Christmas and I am equally impressed with each for completely different reasons. This picture just makes me smile because it puts the two together!

Mom's blanket

I know it is the new year now, but I'm not done sharing about Christmas! I finally finished my mom's crochet blanket and I gave it to her for a Christmas gift. Here it is on her king sized bed.

Christmas time means finishing old projects and starting new ones

I took this week off and am spending it at my parents' house. My sister is here too and brought her cat. Between her cat and my dog, I think you will see an animal in almost every picture! I have had lots of time to work on crafting and have finished up several projects and started a couple new ones. My next few posts will show of some Christmas presents I made for others and some that I got! Here is another koozy with a new type of embellishment - the hand-stitched patch!

PS: I didn't try to get the cat in the picture - he just jumped into it and posed!

Texas Tech Koozies

A set of 4 koozies special request from Andrea are complete and going to the mail! Enjoy!

Thanksgiveaway winner!

Thanks to RANDOM.ORG a winner has been selected. The crocheted bag will be going to lucky number 3, Laura! At first, I thought, "what are the odds my very own sister would win?!?!". But then I realized...1 in 4 :) So, Laura, you can expect to get this at Christmas!

Thanksgiveaway!

Crochet Grocery (or Anything) Bag Giveaway!

Due to the small response to this giveaway on the first time around (i.e. the only comments were from my two close friends), I have decided to extend the deadline for comments until December 2. Of course, Andrea and Jenni will still be in the running to win the bag. Plus, for being so patient, they will both get a special gift (yet to be determined :))! So, if you want this bag to be your own, just leave a comment and let me know how you will use it!

As you can see, I decided to fill my bag with yarn, but you could use it for groceries, or anything else you can fill it with. It doesn't take up much space, so is easy to carry around and use instead of plastic when shopping. If you want this bag for your own leave a comment saying how you will use it. On November 22, I will draw a random number and announce the winner!

I made this bag following this tutorial from the Purl Bee. Instead of linen, I used cotton. The best part is that it was from thread I already had! My husband's grandmother got me an entire bag of crochet thread from an auction. When she gave it to me a couple of years ago I wasn't really doing any crocheting with thread, but have since done a few things. I found one skein of this thread and started the bag, soon to find out that the one skein would not be enough. Shortly thereafter, I found out that this exact line of thread is not made any more! How lucky was it that I dug down in the stash and found another skein of the exact same thread!?! It worked out perfectly!

Another funny coincidence - I decided to put some smaller skeins of yarn in the bag for picture taking purposes, only to see that one of those had a label with a pattern for a very similar bag!

6 to go

I my postings have been few and far between recently. I was gone to Hawaii for work, then my parents came to visit, and then we went to the in-laws' last weekend, so my crafting time has been limited. However, I did get some crocheting in on the 6 hr car ride. Unfortunately, a lot of it was in the dark, so I didn't get to use all 12 hours for crafting. I am now down to 6 skeins of yarn left for Mom's blanket that I am trying to get done for Christmas. Sadly, that means that I have only gone through 1 1/2 skeins since my last post about it in August. The longest side in this picture is actually the width, so I hope the yarn I have left will be enough!

The good news...I did finish a project over the weekend and I will be posting it soon. I think I will do a giveaway, so be sure to check back soon!

Case for crochet hooks, makeup brushes, etc...

My stylist recently asked if I could make a pouch for her makeup brushes so that they wouldn't get the inside of her purse dirty. She suggested something similar to the sunglasses cases I made previously, but with the flap on the long side. However, after thinking about it, I decided to try it like this instead:

There is an elastic strap across so that makeup brushes (or in my case crochet hooks) can be held in place and can be easily accessed. You just fold it up and close it with the magnetic snap. I like this a lot, but I think I need to add some more stitching on the elastic to make the slots tighter for the smaller hooks. I tried some decorative stitches on the elastic, but had a lot of trouble with skipped stitches. I had the most luck with regular straight stitching. (If anyone knows any suggestions on how to avoid this on elastic, please share!) I would probably also move the elastic nearer to the middle next time. I was worried about getting too close to the snap, but I think I could have gone a little closer and still been okay. I have a few other ideas in mind for the makeup brushes, so I am going to make a few other options and take them in next time I get my hair cut to see which my stylist prefers. I just love getting suggestions of things to make and then figuring out how to make them!

More team spirit

My husband was jealous of the Nebraska koozy I made for my friend so I had to make one for him too. His friend wanted an Iowa koozy so this will be going out in the mail soon. A few more are in the works too.

I learned several lessons from this project:

1) Fusible webbing makes applique so much easier.

2) Related to #1: Even though I often think that I'll just skip a step (like using fusible webbing) to save time, it usually makes it harder, more frustrating, and ends up taking even longer.

3) Hand stitching is not actually the worst thing that I could ever have to do (like I previously thought).

4) Practice makes you better at things (like hand stitching - don't get me wrong, I am no pro, but I am a little less bad now that I have done it a few times).

Nebraska crocheted bottle koozy

Ok, I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of in love with this, my latest creation. An old friend special requested a crocheted bottle koozy with some Nebraska Husker spirit so I hand appliqued this N onto a red bottle koozy. I should have used the fusible webbing to stick the N down before I started stitching because it got a little crooked, but I was lazy and didn't bother. Before I started, I wasn't sure how this would look, and at first I was concerned about my inability to nicely hand stitch and how it was looking kind of tattered and unprofessional. Now that it is done, I think that it just adds to the overall look of the koozy . In fact, it reminds me of a vintage letterman's sweater! I may have to try this again!

Felted coffee cozy

I crocheted this coffee cup cozy from wool yarn and washed and dried it to felt it. Now it works great as a replacement for those cardboard ones that you get at the coffee shop. I need to make a couple more to work out the pattern. This is actually not my first attempt at this. I made one about a year ago that was much too large, thinking it would shrink a lot when I washed it, but it didn't. Then I started making a second one, but made too many increases too early so it was okay at the bottom, but huge at the top. This one is about the right size, so I'll have to see if I can replicate it!

Crocheted blanket for mom

I started this blanket for my mom around the end of May in 2008, so a little over a year ago. I mostly work on it while I am riding in the car on long trips, but I really want to have it done by Christmas time to give to my mom. As you can see here, I have about 7 and a half skeins of yarn left. I hope that is enough! I'll update on my progress periodically.

More crocheted coasters

I had to make some more coasters from this yarn. This time I went for rippled squares. I just love the texture and think it is a nice contrast on a smooth table. They are up for grabs in my Etsy shop!

Crocheted flower coasters

My friend reminded me that I used to crochet these coasters that look kind of like flowers or stars, so I made a set this weekend. These are made out of some really nice cotton yarn that I got at a local yarn shop, Crazy Girl Yarn Shop. The yarn is from Blue Sky Alpacas and I found a link to it here. It is the color Tomato.

These coasters are so easy to make and very quick. Here is a pattern:

ch = chain

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet

Start with a slip knot on your hook, ch2

Round 1: 8 sc in 2nd ch from hook

Round 2: 2 sc in each sc around

Round 3: (sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc) 8 times (end with 24 stitches)

Round 4: (sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc) 8 times (end with 32 stitches)

Round 5: (sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc) 7 times, sc in next 4 sc (end with 39 stitches)

Round 6: (skip next 3 sc, 8 dc in next sc, skip next 3 sc, sc in next sc) 4 times, skip next 3 sc, 8 dc in next sc, skip next 3 sc and join with slip stitch to the next stitch

Tie off and weave the yarn end into the coaster.

Make your own, or buy these in my Etsy shop!