Bunny Bun Cover: Viking Club

I bought a Viking sewing machine at my local Joann's just this past January. The company offers monthly skills classes that if you bought a machine, you can sign up for.

I was fortunate enough to attend the April class this past week. The projects were for basket liners.

Check out my handiwork! The bunny bun cover (typically seen as a hen whose wing you would lift to access the warm rolls inside the basked underneath) is too cute. I was really pleased with how it came out. The wonderful ladies at Viking were very patient. I appreciate all the extra time they gave me and my questions.


I am getting better at using my machine, which is exciting. This weekend, I will be making some baby items for my sister and a co-worker. More on that later!

Baby Blanket - Minor Progress

As promised, here are the two squares I made and had mentioned earlier this month. The green above is my next square. I am having a hard time working out a crochet cable stitch.

Anyone have a pattern they can recommend with great texture for my new niece or nephew?

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

... on a one week trip to San Fransisco!

See you in a week, friends!

My First Attempt at Quilting...

I am trying to sew a wallet!


I found a tutorial at That Darn Kat for a project that looked fairly simple.

Altogether, it took me around 5 hours to complete, which I think was pretty good considering it was my first independent (non classroom) sewing project ever. It you are a total beginner, like me, it may not be the easiest tutorial to follow. I got a little tripped up at the section that made the credit card pockets as well as the simple direction to "assemble the pieced top". Lol. I had to make some guesses on that one. Great project, though. I definitely recommend!

It turned out pretty cute-- take a look!

A Pop of Primary

Well,I finished the Pomp-a-Doodle square last night. That yarn was a ton of fun to work with. I will be keeping my eye out for a sale on Red Heart yarn again so I can get some more colors. I would love to have the Berries and Cream (pink tones) and Shoreline (blue tones) too. Very pretty. Very plush. I am sure Baby D will love the square once (s)he makes his/her appearance.


On to my next square! I choose Lion Brand Lion Suede in Scarlet for the next piece-- It's nice when you can do a little stash busting for a project, isn't it? I have never worked with this yarn either but I bought it on clearance ($1 a skein!) so I'm excited to see how it works up.
I decided to do a popcorn stitch with this block. I am hoping that it will mimic the fabric you typically see in baby blankets.

Hopefully I can find my camera charger soon so I can upload a picture of the two squares so far.


POPCORN SQUARE (7x7 inches)
Popcorn (PC): Work 4 dc in next sc, drop loop from hook, insert hook in first dc of 4-dc group, pickup dropped loop, and draw through st, pull tight; ch 1 to secure.

Using a K Hook Ch 19.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across
Row 2 (Popcorn Row): Ch 3, turn, skip first sc, PC in next sc, dc in next 3 sc, (PC in next sc, dc in next 3 sc) 3 times --- Row has 4 total Popcorn stitches
Row 3: Ch 1, turn, sc in first 3 dc, sc in next PC, (sc in next 3 dc, sc in next PC)
Row 4: Ch 1, Sc in each sc across
Row 5-?: Repeat Rows 2-4 until your square measures 7 inches. Fasten off.

A Different Sort of Baby Afghan

So one of my sisters is pregnant. This will be my third niece or nephew. Colleen and Ron do not what to know the sex of the baby -- and it is killing me! I want to make a pink pretty princess blanket for someone. So far I have two very sweet, handsome nephews that do not wear pink at all. Boo.

Anyway, so Colleen is rather particular about her likes and dislikes. She does not like all neutral colors, yellow, primary colors, or farm/zoo animals. This puts me in an odd position. She hasn't chosen a bedding set yet or registered for anything at all... and I need to get cracking on my baby projects.



So here is what I decided to do. Using the first picture as an inspiration for design and the yarn (Premier Yarns Serenity Garden - Gems) as my color inspiration, I am going to make a blanket Col can use as a play mat for the baby once they learn to push up and start to crawl. I am collecting together different tactile yarns and textured patterns.

Any suggestions? Tonight I am starting with making a single crochet square with Red Heart's Pomp-a-Doodle Plush Plum to pull out that lavender tone in the inspiration yarn.

I Just Gotta Rock...

Surprise! My boyfriend actually gave me two days notice that we were going to see our friend to celebrate his birthday this weekend! I think that things are improving.

Our friend, Andrew, has two hobbies-- making beer with his fiancee Lauren and making music with his friends. Well, I already made Lauren a birthday beer, so I thought that I would take on making a guitar to gift to him. I tried to mimic his favorite guitar-- a custom made one that you see in the picture there. I didn't get the shape exactly right but I like to think of it as "stylized" and homemade.

I found a pattern that was close to what I was looking for at Crochet & Craft - The Thinkable and the Unthinkable. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the pattern with enough time to get the present made for Andrew's party. I used the picture she has posted as a general model and worked out from there. I did go ahead and buy the pattern on Etsy. It's so cute and I know that I'll want to make one for my nephews. Besides, I am interested to see where the differences are in our designs.

I Always Wanted to Knit!

I am really so excited. I think I might have the skills to start searching the internet for beginner's knitting patterns.

I took a class at my local A. C. Moore this past Monday not quite sure what to expect. You see, I had already attended a beginner's knitting class earlier in 2009 at my local JoAnn's Fabrics and had left that class feeling dejected and lost. Unfortunately, I think the class size was too large and the teacher to inexperienced with actually teaching true beginners for the class to have been effective.

My teacher at A. C. Moore was Beth from Beth's Creative Notions on Etsy. We had a class of three-- a young girl of 10 years old, my mother, and myself. I definately prefer the smaller class sizes. That way I get individual attention and get to ask my questions without feeling like I am annoying anyone.

You can't really see it here but those are even stitches. I learned to cast on, knit, and purl. We talked about ribbing and how combining the basic stitches could make ribbing and things like that. She showed me how to change colors (just like crochet, really) and how to pick up a dropped stitch. I also saw casting off but i am definately going to need to Google that one again when it comes time.

I will be making a pink square for my pink breast cancer awareness afghan as soon as I am done experimenting with this one.

Happy Birthday, Ian

Tomorrow (2/10) is my sweetheart's birthday. He is turning 27...

Have you ever noticed that all too often you make crafts and things for people but never for yourself? I always find that I am giving away my creations. Poor Ian gets the short end of this stick as well. All too often, he mentions that he likes this or that while I am making it for someone else and he never gets a handmade present.


Well, tomorrow I am going to right that wrong. I made a cute penguin in blue shades for my godson Aiden when he was born. I used a I hook to make it big enough for him to grasp and play with. Ian had mentioned that he thought the penguin was cute. He wanted one in black and white, though. He is a traditionalist-- not really one for outlandish color schemes. While he was in the mountians with his friends this weekend, I whiped him up one. The pattern is free from Lion Brand's site. He's a little shy but oh so cute. I think he will look great on Ian's desk at work. I hope he likes him.

And speaking of presents, I have a debt of gratitude to pay to my little brother. I had a doctor's appointment at Temple Hospital in Philadelphia. I hate to drive into the city but my brother, Devin, is quite comfortable. He goes to school there-- Drexel. Devin drove me to my appointment and waited for 3 hours while I waited to be seen and go thru a bunch of paper work. I really appreciated it. In thanks, I thought I would make him an orange crown, his favorite color. I made it similar to the one that I made for a baby but I made the crown wider. Unfortunately, it is a little too wide for me. Hopefully, it is not too wide on Devin-- his head is a little bit bigger than mine. Well, we shall see.

For a Little Prince

So this week, I went to visit my sister at the restaurant where she works. She mentioned to me that there was a young lady there that doesn't have any family that is due in July. My heart goes out to her. I know how much my two sisters were depending on us (even if they didn't want to admit it) when they were single and pregnant. Imagine how scary it must be to think that you have a little one to provide for and no one to depend on for support.

The next morning, I went shopping for her friend's new baby boy. I love baby shopping. I fear that I may never be doing it for myself so every opportunity I get, I like to wander thru aisles of cute tiny outfits and toys. I bought 15 Carter's onsies in three sizes, three books (of course, one is bunny themed), infant toys, and a Bumbo in blue. The sweet girl hasn't even registered (possibly because she doesn't expect someone to throw a shower? How sad) so I guessed on the colors.


In addition to making a fun gift basket for my sister to surprise her with at work, I also wanted to make something little with my hands. I decided on this super cute baby crown. It only took an hour to whip up. I made it to be 16 inches around, the size of my 5 month old nephew (pictured here modeling the present for fit purposes).
I got the pattern here. Too cute! I am making one now for my nephew as his mama looked a little disappointed when I told her the crown was for her friend, not her. I'm thinking chocolate brown and baby blue?

I just hope that my pay it forward doesn't make the young lady feel weird. I just wanted to do something nice for a new mama.

Calling All Crochet Artists ^_^

Interested in joining a granny square swap? I stumbled upon it while I was checking out the blog Strumpets Crumpets. There are some really cute things there so take a stop by!

I think that for this swap, I will do all of the same style squares. Time to break out the patterns again, people!

More information can be found at Hoot-N-Annie. Come on, sign up! I'd love to send you a square :o)

Share in our excitement!

Nana made me (and herself) soup... and the bunnies recieved their just desserts!

Yummmmm Split pea and Ham is going to be so yummy tommorrow at work.

Q and A Giveaway - Fabrics?!?

For Christmas, I recieved a great present -- two sewing machines! (LOL)
One is a Viking Emerald 203 and the other is the Mini Rex Cordless Sewing Machine. I actually did want them both, though I didn't expect to recieve them both at the same time.
So now I have one burning question-- Where do you buy your fabrics?!?! I want to buy some cute fabrics so I can start putting these puppies to work!

To enter this giveaway, please comment on this post with your favorite stores or sites to buy fabrics. You can increase your chance of winning by blogging or twitting about this giveaway on your own sites. Please post a seperate comment with a link to your post if you do!!
Giveaway is open until midnight on Sunday 2/7/10, EST. Winner will recieve a special suprise present from me. (Who doesn't love something cute in the mail?!?)

*Please include your email address in your comment or profile so I have a way to contact you. If I cannot contact you, I will have to pick a new winner*

Crafts for the People I Love

My boyfriend is starting a new job on Monday. I wanted to make something cute for his desk so he can look at it and think of me while he works. This will be the first job he has had in 8 years that where I am not working too. I miss eating lunch with him and the commuting company, I can tell you that. Anyway, I made him this cute little pink excited, panicking emoticon. It is supposed to remind him of me. When I freak out, I spin in circles like the animated guy on a message board he uses. (<-- Not sure why the animation isn't working on this GIF, but that's the guy.) This one is just the same, except this one is pink-- my favorite color.

Also, my friend Dani is having a birthday this weekend. I wanted to make something little to give her. I used the pattern for a pin cushion that I found at Bitter Sweet Blog. Its a pretty sweet little cupcake. I am giving her the one on the right.
It seemed like a good opportunity to memorize the pattern and crank out a few extra for emergencies at the same time. My boyfriend has a bad habit of telling me we are going to see someone on their birthday with less than 24 hours notice (and I am horrible with remembering those things by myself).

I'm back!

Great 4 day weekend trip!

This was my first S.A.V.E. trip and it was a ton of fun. I set my alarm to wake up early and went to bed at 2 when they kicked us out of the reception hall.

One of the neat things about this trip in particular (aside from all the other crafty people you meet) is the oppertunity to learn new skills. I took a class called Funky Flag Book. In it we learned how to take two pieces of chipboard as the front and back cover and four 12x12 pages, cut down into an awesome book with a ton of movement, excitement, and really neat techniques. (I'll post a picture when I dig out my camera from my luggage!) Here is the class description: "This spin on the flag book is nothing short of funky and fabulous! Using Prima's new Tropic's line and some of their most gorgeous products, you'll create this mini-book filled with flips, folds, pockets, transparencies, and uniquely blinged-up treats. There's 5 different kinds of "bling" just on the front cover!! Be prepared to place with paint, ink, Glimmer Mist, custom dyed fabric, Blond Moments Pearls, Alcohol Inks, Stickles, and more!"

S.A.V.E. Scrapbooking Trip!

I am excited to say that I will be going on another scrapbooker's holiday this weekend!
Scrappin' Away Vacations (S.A.V.E.) is at the Slippery Rock Resort.

I'll let you know how it goes!!

Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas eve, readers.

I just wanted to thank you for a terrific 2009. I have had a lot of fun writing (sporatically) and sharing my crafting adventures with you.

Have a safe holiday and see you in 2010! I have a scrapbook trip on MLK weekend-- can't wait!!

Brrrrr. Chilly!

Check out the scarf I made for my nephew last night. I used a pattern I found in Crochet Scarves! by Candi Jensen, made with Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick in Periwinkle and Caron Jewel Box in Emerald. The original pattern was made using the same weight yarn but I used a 3 and 4 weight for added interest.

It turned out really cute.

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!