Ruffin love

So I apparently, I am just not quite motivated enough to draw out that diagram and get it up on the blog for the twirly scarf... I'll do it soon, I promise!!

But until then, here is some (or a lot) Ruffin love from the past few weeks! :D

Our favorite Christmas present (the wagon, from Grandpop)!!
Hat crocheted by Mommy, of course!

Mr. Fix-it.

Taking advantage of our spring-like winter to check out a worm!

No, Mommy, I don't need a nap.

Helping Mommy cook....

...is so much fun!

And eating is too!

Ruffin is the best! Every time I think it can't get any better - it does! We are having a blast!

Twirly Scarf Tutorial

As promised, here is how I made the fun, twirly scarf! I used worsted weight yarn (Vanna's Choice for the Christmas scarf and Wool-Ease for the one in this post) and a size J hook. Any yarn will do - the bulkier the yarn, though, the bulkier your scarf will be and the twirliness (pretty sure I just made that up) kind of bulks it up already, so be careful. A different yarn may also require a different hook size.

• Chain (about) 200 (or however long you want your scarf to be). Turn and single crochet (sc) in 2nd chain from hook and in each remaining chain across. OR Foundation Single Crochet (about) 200 stitches (or however long you want your scarf to be). I used futuregirl's awesome tutorial when I was learning how.

• Chain 2 and turn. Double crochet (dc) in first stitch. 2 dc in each remaining stitch across.

• Chain 2 and turn. Dc in first stitch. 2 dc in each remaining stitch across. Fasten off and weave in ends.

I told you it was easy! There are some variations you could do for fun, like change colors on the rows for some cute stripes, or add a row of sc of a contrasting color. I made this one last night in about 2.5 hours. Have fun making yours!!

pic

Knitting....

I am SO excited. I took a knitting class on Saturday! I have taken one before, but I was a loser and didn't practice any because it was so much FASTER to crochet because I was already good at that (not practicing what I preach to my recorder students....). So needless to say, I forgot it all! The class was at an awesome LYS that I should go to more often, Friends and Fiberworks.

It was so fun!! One of my friends took the class with me and we started a cotton dishcloth. I am still too embarrassed of my shoddy beginning knitting to show it to you yet... maybe later. Our instructor taught us English-style knitting, which I found awkward as a crocheter, but I powered through. I downloaded the KnittingHelp app (SO good, btw) and used the video to try out Continental-style, which is supposed to be better for people who already crochet. The main difference (and if you knit and I am a wrong, please correct this noob) is in which hand you hold the yarn in. For crocheters, we hold the yarn in our left hand, which remains the same for Continental knitting. The English-style holds the yarn in the right hand, which is what make it feel so strange to me.

I found that my stitches from the class with the English-style knitting were much more even and my tension was more consistent than when I worked on the Continental-style at home. This really baffled me since that way felt so much more comfortable. I am going to keep trying out both ways, but I am leaning towards the thought that with the left-hand yarn I was working too fast and not paying enough attention (since it felt so much more comfortable) and I got careless. I am hoping that will remedy itself as I practice more.

I also had a few places where I messed up, either dropped a stitch, added a stitch or didn't follow through all the way to the right needle and didn't quite know how to fix it. I will have to study the knitting more as I practice in order to understand the stitch construction. I feel like it is more complex than the crochet stitch - that may not be true simply because I understand crochet so well (which is a great feeling and makes knitting that much more scary!).

I am so impressed by crochet badass, Alice, (at futuregirl) who recently starting knitting and she is amazing now! I do not think I will improve and expand my skills quite that quickly, but she is such an inspiration for me to continue practicing this time and not give up because it is more work right now than crocheting.

I'll keep you posted and maybe get up enough courage to show you my wonky dishcloth.

ps - I'm still working on those tutorials I promised you from the last post - I didn't forget!!

Stuff I've made...

Well, Christmas was busy as expected, but I did get (most of) the presents done that I wanted to. I would like to tell you all about how I made these things, but I'll link to the tutorial I used instead. (*I just noticed as I was doing the pics that I don't have a tutorial for the crochet projects because I didn't use one. I'll make writing that up the goal for my next couple of posts!)

Sorry that the pictures aren't the best - I just haven't been great about photographing my projects lately, so getting even poor quality pictures is better than none at all! (*just noticed that I didn't edit/crop these pics - oops - maybe I'll go back and fix them later. or not.) I have several projects in the works and I have also found some really cute things on Pinterest that I want to make. I think I was really behind in joining, but I'm glad I did. If nothing else its good for inspiration! Here are some of the things I've made over the last few months.

Twirly scarf
These are so fun to make. I also made one in pink and blue
for my niece with a matching one for her American Girl doll.

Cute Post-it note holders.
Easy and fun!
Here is the tutorial I used.

Earbud (or coin) pockets.
So cute! I did a couple more of these that I didn't get
pics of - sushi print and fishy print.
Here is the tutorial I used.

Fingerless gloves/wrist warmers for my sister.
I made her a hat a scarf out of the same yarn last
year and I found another skein - score!

Crochet hook holder for my Secret Santa at school.
I also made a cute one for my sister in that
same gnome fabric from the earbud pouches.
Here is the tutorial I used.

Creating for Christmas

So as much as I love giving handmade gifts, this year it has been really hard to find the time to make them! You get 1 guess as to why...

I have been making a few things, though. Remember my last post? Small projects are getting me through. I have crocheted some wrist warmers (SO quick and easy) and I have nearly finished a scarf. I'd post pics, but they're for (yet to be given) gifts. I made the gift for my secret santa at school (so neat - I'll post that after Friday when it is delivered). I have also sewn some lanyards (you know, those long necklaces to hang your name badge or keys on) at the request of some teachers at school. I made myself one and several people asked about them, so yay for (easy) commissions!

I have several quilting projects that I'd like to do/finish for myself (like my excellent t-shirt quilt) and for others (babies who are nearly a year old, slacker Aunt Nancy). I am hoping to get some time in on my few days off at home over Christmas break.

I may need to finish my quilt first, though, as the fireplace in the basement we watch TV and where I sew has decided it doesn't want to work. Its no fun to sew in the cold, I'll tell you what.

No new Ruffin pictures this time. He and I are both stuffy-headed snotty-faces right now. At least we're getting it out of the way before Christmas, right? :P Instead, how about a few more from the amazing photo session by Brittany at Inspired Life. They are from from the end of October, but still adorable! I'll put up some current ones soon!!

Bloggy vaca??

Hi, everyone (if anyone is still out there!!). So I took a little unannounced bloggy vacation. Wow so many things have happened to me since, when was my last post? July? That seems like three years ago. I took an awesome class this summer (I took the first level last summer and this was even better!!). My sweet little Ruffin had his first birthday and is a walking pro (wow!!).


Yes, that is my child and not a GQ model. Amazing photography by Brittany at Inspired Life.

I started a new school year which is going well. I haven't had much time to make many things, which is so frustrating!! I do really small projects so I can have at least a small feeling of accomplishment. I took an awesome t-shirt quilting class with Michie over at Asheville Cotton, but I haven't finished the quilt yet (but I will!!). I am helping out with a crochet club at one of my schools once a week which is really fun. It is hard to teach 4th and 5th graders how to crochet! I have even more respect for my Grannie teaching me now!! :)

The biggest change in my life over the last five months, however, is something that I am having a hard time typing right now. My mother passed away unexpectedly over Labor Day weekend. I don't know when I will be able to really talk about it here, or if I will. I know that I won't ever be able to fill that space in my life where she is supposed to be. My friends and family have been an amazing support system, as have you, my bloggy friends. I may not have posted many comments lately, but trust me, you have helped. I have been trying to continue my life as best I can, which is all any of us can do.

I hope to be back on bloggy track soon since I need to make some things for Christmas. I think we will not have as much handmade this year, just to be real, but I will do what I can!!

Thanks for hanging in there!

Crochet yay!

I have been working the last few days on some crocheting. I knew that I missed it, but I didn't realize I missed it this much! Sewing is really fun and usually much faster than crochet (to finish a similarly sized project) but I love the construction of crochet. I can change the shape of my creation with every stitch - its thrilling!

Oh man, I just totally geeked out. Those of you reading this will understand, though. :)

I especially love creating my own projects from scratch (sewing and crochet), but given my limited crafting time, it has been faster for me to use patterns lately. In the last few years of my crochet life, I have come to love patten diagrams. They make so much more sense to me than the written pattern directions. I can read a written pattern, but I have to really think about it and picture it in my head. With the diagram, I look at the picture and I automatically know what to do. If you are a crocheter and haven't tried using a diagram, you should! A good place to start would be to pick up and issue of "Crochet, Today!" They have started putting a diagram for every pattern as well as an explaination of how to read the diagrams in the back of each issue. *side note: I am a subscriber, but you'll see that this is obviously not a compensated endorsement. I'll be honest, not all the patterns are winners (in fact, some of them are downright hideous), but they do come up with some cute ones too, and it would be an inexpensive way to try out reading a pattern diagram and if you don't dig it, you still have the written directions.

I have been working on a couple of cute hats for some friends who have baby girls on the way and some amis for another gift (so I can't show you those yet). I need to find some real baby models for the hats because I have tried two different versions using different hook sizes and it still seems big (and mushroom-y). This is odd because my tension usually runs tighter than the pattern calls for. I tried the first hat on Ruffin, but he's older than the baby I'm making it for (since she hasn't been born yet, haha) so it was hard to tell on him. That, and he hates wearing hats, so he pulled it off immediately. :) I'm a little dissapointed because it looks so cute on the little girl in the pattern picture! Maybe I have Ruffin has a stuffed animal that I can try it on...

More to come on this...