Finally Finished, Danny Boy!

I feel like I started this little pink bunny soooo long ago. He turned out pretty cute. I think I will call him Clever Dan. I made him using the pattern I found on Jilly Flowers. Actually... it is the only thing on the Jilly Flowers site! I think the owner abandoned her blog :-( Well, regardless, I am super happy that she did leave the pattern there. It was the first amigurumi that worked the body and legs in one continuous piece. It, also, was my first expereince making a pompom. The orignal pattern offered the idea of a pompom, but also gave a pattern to make a single crochet ball for the tail. I used the simple tutorial at Bella Dia to work that out. The directions were very easy to follow and turned out a pretty cute, fluffy tail.

well, I hope you like it. Time to finish the OTHER bunny pattern I had started in a brown brindle cotton yarn with a differnt pattern. This one may take a little longer. We'll see...

Protecting My Lobes

So... at work I use headsets and earphones every day. Several months ago, the foam ear guard on my phone headset bit the dust, ripping to the point that it was more annoying to keep it on than to take it off. Since then, I had been dealing with the foamy-pad-less-ness. Just yesterday, I saw that the foam pad on my earphone was ripping. I remembered seeing on a site somewhere that you can crochet replacements that can look pretty cute too. I whipped these up in an evening and I think they turned out pretty great-- nice and comfy and cute. The pattern links are below. Enjoy and go forth to make your own! Circular Earphone Cover

Oval Earphone Cover

P.S. A co-worker saw my new cozies and said she was going to have to make some too. I think I may have started a new trend in my department. We shall see!

Etsy for Me

Yay Etsy purchases!

This is a 50's Silver Spinner Heart. Isn't it charming. I found it at RagTrader's shop. There are some really fantastic metal objects as well as some really charming vintage pieces. I recommend you take some time and look around. I almost also purchased the Love Meter necklace (in English and French) but I managed to contain my shopping fingers... for now.

This fantastic piece is from SpoonerZ's Etsy Shop. There are several really interesting objects made from forks, knives, and spoons available at the shop. Most of the items are made custom to order. I asked for this necklace to have my family name, centered, and the names of my family members surrounding. I am really excited to receive this item in the mail.

I also picked up a number of different eye sets from the 6060 Etsy Shop. These little gems I have been oggling for a few weeks as I don't exactly *need* additional eyes right now but I really liked these. The eyes at 6060 were what had set me on my Esty shoping adventure. I had fun, I have to admit.

There were so many other things I wanted to buy but... I'll wait another week and see how I feel about them after giving more consideration.

Oh, who am I kidding? I am such an impluse shopper it is rediculas. More purchases will be posted soon, I am sure.

What Luck!

I won a giveaway at Shop with me Mama's Blog! I just received The Busy Preschooler's Guide to Learning, available for purchase at IBW Books. One of the really neat things about this guide is that it integrates using the computer (see www.busypreschoolers.com) into everyday lessons that include emotional and intellectual development. Very nice.

Thank you, Mama!

What to do with the Scraps of the Scraps?

Call me a crazy conversationalist but I keep the tails of my yarn from projects after I weave in the ends. Yes, I am my father’s child—never let anything go to waste.

So today I spent some time trying to figure out what I can do with these pieces that have been piling up. When I started holding onto them, I had the vague recollection that they can be used in felting so that is where I started.

Basic Felting Instructions
Felting with Scraps – Appliqué
Creating Felted Balls from Scraps – Jewelry
Felting Balls Without Deconstructing the Yarn

Ideas for Scrap Yarn Uses (assumes you have a small, workable amount like a partial skein)
Embroidery with Scraps

Also, check out this tutorial on making felted soap. I stumbled upon their blog while leafing thru random Etsy shops. Check out what the ladies at Persnickety Pelican have done with this technique. This is fantastic. This weekend, I’m going searching for the tools I need to try this. Yay!

Hooked on Comfort

My little brother is in film school at Drexel University. One of his friends is looking for a house to film her final. She came by this past weekend to take pictures. Of course, my brother thought to ask me as I bought my house a little over a year ago AND remember what it is like to be a struggling art student. So today I made it my mission to organize and clean up my craft room. Believe me-- it needed it. The real problem is that I just let everything pile up until it is a 3 day project to dig out of. Story of my life, people. Lucky for everyone involved, I had the day off. I spent 10 hours cleaning. I'd say it is about halfway put together.

Anyway, all that time spent in the craft room storing my hooks and needles made me remember that I wanted to search for an ergonomic option. I have carpal tunnel and tendonitis in both my wrists. I don't let that stop me from enjoying crafts, trust me. I do, however, try to find a way to make it less impactful on me the day after a marathon of creating.

At first, I came across this tutorial. This site teaches you how to take something that is the right basic size and shape of the handle you desire and modify the hook and the object together. Two more homemade removable solutions were offered on Craft Stylish.com. The site suggests modifying your hooks using tennis racket grip tape or a combination or masking tape and pencil grips like the ones used in grade school.

Polymer Crochet Hooks offers a tutorial with video on baking permanent grips onto your aluminium and steel hooks. The process seems easy enough. The only catch is that you have to make note of the size hook you are covering before wrapping it in the clay. You will want to etch the letter/number in the handle or find some other decorative way to designate the size. Now, I know that there are hook sizers available for purchase at stores like Joann's but really-- it is much more convenient if your hook simply says what size it is without all that hassle.

Instructions on how to carve your own wooden crochet hooks can be found at the Gourmet Crochet. I am going to ask for this book for Christmas as I have been trying to restrain myself considering the recent amount of crochet pattern purchasing I have been doing. If you are so fortunate to pick up this book, I also suggest that you check out the My Work With Crafts blog. Lady Skye Frye offers her own experiences and lessons learned having utilized this book and craft.Terrific insight.