My Knitting and Crocheting October 2014

These are the items that I finished this month.  The first item is a knitted pair of socks that I made for my youngest son for Christmas.  His favorite color is red and he has a love for lizards.  The pattern for the sock is just a simple vanilla sock with the "Fish Lip Kiss" heel.  The lizard color work was made using a patter from "Lizard Sock" pattern by Beate Zach.  The yarn used is the Premier Yarns Deborah Norville Collection Serenity Sock Weight in Red and Woodsy Green.

The next item that I completed is a crocheted amigurumi (toy) that I made for my oldest son for Christmas.  He collects dragons and his favorite color is blue.  This is a pattern called "Dirk the Dragon: by Lalylala.  The yarn used is Red Heart Baby TLC in Powder Blue, White and Snooky Blue Brown, and Canan Gloria in Beige.

My last item completed is a knitted item for myself.  It is the "4 Row and Fan Top" by Patons.   The yarn that I used is from Stitch Nation - Bamboo Ewe in the Snapdragon color.

Margaret

Giveaway Time - Closed

I wanted to thank everyone for your support.  I have had so much fun sharing and learning that I wanted to share with you.  I am having two separate give-aways.  One is a Smashbook/Scrapbooking giveaway the other is a Knitting/Crocheting giveaway.  The giveaway will end on November 15th.

The rules are:
           1- Must leave a comment about which giveaway you want to be entered into.
                     2- Must be 18 or older or have a parents permission.
                     3- Must live in the United States

Giveaway #1- Smashbook/Scrapbooking

Giveaway #2- Knitting/Crocheting

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Margaret 

My September 2014 Knitting, Crocheting and Sewing

I am really enjoying myself.  I am not a fast knitter but I do love it.  I have also been having a lot of fun making project bags.  Sewing has always been a love of mine. The "Lizard Socks" are for my youngest son for Christmas, I plan to make socks for everyone for Christmas.  The amigurumi dragon is for my oldest son for Christmas.

Margaret

August 2014 Knitting, Crocheting and Sewing

I only had one finished knitting/crocheting item for this month.  These are my second pair of socks that I made for myself.  They are the Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder using Premier Yarns Deborah Norville Collection in the Indigo colorway.  I did change them to low socks.

Margaret

My July 2014 Knitting, Crocheting and Yarn Haul

Wanted to share with you my knitting and crocheting for the month of July. This is my very first pair of socks that I have made.  It is just a vanilla sock pattern with the after thought heel.  Loved the way they turned out.

This is a stuffed toy that I made for my son for his birthday.  It is called Paul Toadstool by Lalylala.com. He loved it.

This is another stuffed toy that I made for my son.  It is called Nanook the Husky by Lisa Beauchemin.  I did alter it a bit to make it into a wolf cub.  I love how it turned out.

Margaret

Crocheting, Knitting and Yarn for June 2014

This is my June progress in crocheting, knitting and sewing.  I also wanted to share my yarn haul from Joanns along with my new knitting needles.  Project bags can be purchased at my etsy shop and I will soon be adding more bags and  stitch markers.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/margaretscrafts

This is the giraffe that I made for my husband for his birthday, he loved it. We have an inside joke about giraffes.

The wolf cub is made for my youngest sons birthday next month.

This is the scarf that I finished for myself.  My first knitted project ever.

These are the stitch markers that I made to use in a new project.

Margaret

School Days 2-Page Scrapbook Layout

As this school year nears a end I wanted to share this page with you.  This was a very fun page to do. The diecuts were made using the Cricut with the Locker Talk cartridge.  Laying out your page before you glue everything down is great because it allows you to move things around, to add and subtract items before you glue.  The Alpha stickers were purchased from Target.  The notebook paper for the background was purchased from Hobby Lobby in their single paper section.

 

Margaret

What's in my crocheting bag?

I wanted to share with you what I have in my crocheting bag.  I have been trying out different bags to see which one works best for me and this one seems to be it.  I found this bag at Tuesday Morning for $14.99, it is a scrapbooking bag but with all the different pockets and compartments it works great for my take along crocheting bag.


Margaret

Birthday Card

I wanted to share a birthday card that I made for my oldest son.  I wanted it to be more masculine, so I did not want to use ribbon or lace.  I instead tried to use paper to have the same effect. Since I don't put their cards in envelopes I can make items that extend outside of the card.  I usually don't decorate the inside of their cards because my husband and I write a message to them there.  I also had fun using the wobble device.  It was very easy to use and I can't wait to use them again.

Margaret

April 2014 Crocheting

I have really been enjoying myself with crocheting.  I forgot how addicting it is.  I did my first adult garment, a sweater.  I think it really came out nice, I must admit that it did not turn out like I thought it would.  It came out really big, I did not know about gauging, and that is really important when making a garment.  I now have learned and it is not hard to figure out.  The pattern will tell you what size yarn and hook to use, but be sure to check the gauge.  Some people my crochet tighter than others so the gauge will tell you how many stitches per inch and how many rows per inch.  So if you want to use a different yarn and hook you have to figure out how many stitches per inch and how many rows per inch you need to make match then adjust your measurements.  Also if you stitch tight you may need to adjust your hook size.  I am done with the stitching but I still have a few threads to weave in, and still need to block it again.  This sweater I found in the Spring 2014 Crochet magazine, Page #22 "Uptown Chic Cardigan".  The yarn that I used is from Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller, Full o' Sheep 100% Peruvian Wool in Passionfruit.

The following two items did not require gauging.  Usually that is for garments.
The afghan is from a free tutorial from a blog, "Dada's Place" at dada4you.blogspot.com, and the block is "Primavera Flower Granny Square".  You have to go to her blog she is great.
The yarn that I am using is "Red Heart Shimmer" in Cherries Jubilee and Lime they are 97% Acrylic and 3% Metallic,  the "Caron Simply Soft" in White, Victorian Rose, Passion, Soft Pink and Orchid all are 100% Acrylic.  I'm also using "Bernat Satin" in Banana it is also 100% Acrylic.  I still need to make three more rows then add a border.

The last item that I worked on this month is a Amigurumi Dragon that I made for my oldest son for an upcoming birthday, he collects anything dragon related.  It's from a pattern that I purchased online at amigurumipatterns.net called "Grow, Baby Dragon".  This was my first stuffed animal but it won't be my last.  I had so much fun making it.  I have an ever growing list of the different ones that I want to make.  The yarn that I used for this item was from "Loops & Thread" Snuggly Wuggly in Pee Wee Prints and Fresh Green  both 100% Acrylic.

 

So for May I hope to have the afghan completed and a few more of these cute animals.

Margaret

My Yarn Storage and Organization

I wanted to share how I store and organize my crocheting supplies.  I just began crocheting again after over 25 years and found myself in need of storage and organization.  As I have a dog and a cat I wanted to make sure that I could keep my yarn clean and fur free, so I have to become creative.  I do love to organize on a budget so I had to come up with a few good ideas.  Along with the Sterilite containers I also found these items that could work.

These were Stackable storage containers that I found in several sizes but bought these two.  I had my husband drill a hole in the center for the yarn to pull through.  They work great.  I finally received my ball winder and made the yarn cakes with the center pull and they work great in these.  They were purchased at a local store called Marcs for $.99 and $1.49.

This is a bottle bag that I found at Family Dollar for only $7.00.  I use this for my on the go bag.  It is the perfect size.

This is a larger bag that I found at Tuesday Morning for $9.99.  It is a Singer sewing and craft bag.  I use this for my Work in Progress (WIP) items.  Right now I am working on a sweater.  It is made in 5 pieces so I store the pieces here and use the small bags to take a pieces that I am working on in.

 

Margaret

Haul - Tuesday Morning, Staples & Project Share

I have been watching a lot of youtube channels on people knitting and crocheting lately and decided that I wanted to give it a try again.  Seeing as though it has been over 25 years since I last crocheted, I wanted to start with something easy and I wanted to watch a video that I can watch from start to finish of an item.  So I started with the scarf.  The scarf is from "love4nails" her video is titled - How to make a collar scarf.  I did change the way I wanted to have it wrapped.

There was so much yarn left over after making the scarf that I wanted to make a matching hat.  So off to youtube I went again.  This one was made by 'simplyhookedcrochet" and her video is - Basic Slouchy Beanies.  I loved the look of this hat.  It looks knitted but with the speed of crocheting.  I so love it.

Now I am off play with the yarn that I just purchased.  I wanted to make a shawl with the yarn that I just purchased from Tuesday Morning (went back and got more), but my dear husband has confidence in me and suggested that I try a sweater.  So off I go in search of a sweater pattern.  Wish me luck.

Margaret

"Love is You" Valentine's Day Card

I wanted to share with you a card that I made for my husband for this years Valentine's Day card.  I also wanted to share how to use your Cuttlebug to pop out areas in your images that you do not want to cut using the  Spellbinders dies.  I wanted to make this card with a more masculine feel so I used cork and burlap type papers.  I also used the Sizzix brand Tim Holtz dies to make the die cuts.  I altered some embellishments to make them fit my project.  Once I was done I added a few stickers to soften the look.  I love how it all turned out.

Margaret

2014 New Home Finance Binder

While sitting here preparing my bills one day I saw that it was easy for me to do, because I made it up.  But if something happened and I needed someone to take over that job for me, it would be alittle difficult.  So I decided to make up a new system that would be super easy to follow.  I wanted to keep this process simple but effective so I only used three main sections.  The calendar, the checkbook and the utilities (all bills).  I also included a pocket to all things mailing, another section for reciepts, a flyleaf full of assorted sticky notes, and the final sections for "Bills to be paid", "Bills Paid".  I started using this system this month and can not believe how easy it flows.  I have also showed my husband and sons where I keep the binder and how it works.  I listed the supplies that I used to make this binder below.



Supplies:
Binder - (Walmarts) PlanAhead 11 X 13.25 Binder
Pencil Holder - (Target) I used 2
Sticky Notes - (Staples) Martha Stewart assorted styles
Page Protectors - (Staples) Heavy Duty
Dividers - (Deals) File Folder 3 pack
2 Pocket Folder - (Staples) Oxford
Calendar - www.calendarlabs.com
Check Register - Family Life Credit Services Check Register Template

Margaret

Cuttlebug - Helpful Hints and Tricks

I wanted to share with you all the different ways that I use my Cuttlebug, from cutting the wafer thin dies to cutting the Sizziz Bigz dies.  There are so many different materials that you can cut depending on the dies you are using. There may be slight  differences depending on the weight of the material used.  But here is the general guideline.
Spellbinder Nestabilities (Sizzix Thinlite and QuicKutz to cut):
   Cut - (always cut before embossing)
             A - B - die (ridge side down) - C
   Emboss -
             A - B - die (ridge side up with cardstock (CS)in place) - rubber mat - shim - B

Sizzix:
   Regular or Bigz ( if using the long Bigz you need the long B plates only)-  B - B - CS - die
   Long Sizzlites - (use extended spacer plates) A - B - CS - die - B

Embossing:
   Cuttlebug Folder - A - B - folder with CS - B



Margaret

2014 Easy Valentine's Day Card

I wanted to share with you a really easy Valentine's Day card using only a few items. I started out with a premade card base that I purchased from Michael's last year after Valentine's Day.  I already had the "hugs and kisses" 3D stickers in my stash but you could use a stamp instead.  All that I purchased were the multi heart sticker pack from a local dollar store.  I also used adhesive foam dots to the back of the two small pink hearts before I applied the powder to make them non sticky.  I plan to stamp my sentiment on the inside of the card.

Margaret

How To: Purse Charms

I wanted to share with you how I made my purse charms.  I am in no way an expert, this is just how I made mine.

Tools Needed:

     Chain Nose Pliers

     Round Nose Pliers

     Flush Cutters

     Micro Crimping (you don't need these just another tool to help twist the jump rings open) 

Supplies Needed:
     Jump Rings
     Head Pins
     Eye Pins
     Chain
     Lobster Clasps

This is the way to start off your purse charm.  I use one or three chains.  If you want more chains just add another jump ring with a chain.  Different length chains work best.

This is how I made each charm, then I used jump rings to add them to my chain.

Margaret

My Online Binder 2014

I just wanted to share with you how I am organizing my binder for my online activity.  My new inserts that I am adding are my "Monthly Task Tracker", "Monthly Goals", "Blog Post Planner", and my "Youtube Video Planner".  I am hoping that this will keep me a little more productive.  I got the idea for my Monthly Task Tracker from a sheet that I saw from "DIYfish".  Hers are different and so much more detailed I just used a part of it as a base for mine.  The new calendar pages are different from the ones I had in 2013, these have more space.  Decorating them are so much fun, I just have to remember to use flat embellishments, don't want to add any extra bulk.  Please feel free to use any of my ideas and please share anything exciting you come up with.




Margaret