Category Archives: Gifts

June 3, 2014 · 4:38 pm

Baby Doll Progress

captured_by_snapseed_3_1

I’m getting there with this project.  Last night I actually skipped doing dishes and instead finished up the basket and started on the little “mattress” while watching The Horse Whisper that my Husband left playing on the TV.  I’ve seen that movie dozens of times.  He often gets frustrated with me for watching movies that I’ve seen over and over again.  But it works well for me. If I’ve seen a movie, I can sit there and crochet, not having to give my undivided attention to following the plot.  (This also works well if he’s watching a move that I’m really not interested in. Shhh!)Baby

Today I finished one side of the mattress and almost got the second side done.  I have the bumper, handles, ties and the doll dress and bonnet left to do.  I also have to put stuffing in the pillow and mattress and do some assembly.

The pattern doesn’t call for it, but I think I’m going to tack the mattress into the bottom of the basket.  I might even do the same with the pillow.  Otherwise I know that Sephy will be taking pieces out and leaving them all over the house.  As it is I’m going to find the blanket, the doll and the basket all in different places at one time or another.

I think I am still on track for getting done this week.  It will be so fun to see Sephy’s reaction when I give this to her!

Leave a comment

Filed under 30 Days of Blog - 2014, Baby, Gifts

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

February 24, 2014 · 11:44 pm

Christmas Presents 2013 – One More!

Gift Card Holder

I almost forgot! For the nieces and nephews this year we were lazy and gave them gift cards.  But I dressed them up a little bit and crocheted gift card holders.

I made these holding two strands of size 10 thread and added a sparkly red button.

They turned out even cuter than I expected and I thought about making these to sell on Etsy.  What do you think? Would you pay $5 for one of these?

Leave a comment

Filed under Gifts

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 18, 2014 · 10:46 pm

Christmas Presents 2013

SnowflakesFinally, here are the Christmas presents that I made for the family this past year.  I’ve been wanting to make these as Christmas gifts for several years now.

I made a set of 5 starched snowflake ornaments for each of my and my Husband’s Parents and each of our siblings’ families.  I made the same snowflake for everyone rather than using a different pattern for each set.  I had it memorized very shortly and was turning them out in 30 minutes each by the time I got them all done.

I used different thread from size 5 to 20, including one set of gold thread and two different sets of red thread – all of which I already had on hand.  I did have to buy some ribbon for the hangers and I also sprayed each set with glitter spray once they were starched to add a little sparkle.  (That was a lot of fun in the freezing cold temperatures we had this December.)

I picked up old Christmas tins at the thrift store to put these in instead of boxing and wrapping.  I lined the tins with tissue paper to which I added a few drops of scented oil so that you got a nice whiff of Christmas when you opened the them.  In the end it took me a lot of time to make, starch and finish these, but everyone seemed to enjoy them.

Starching and pinning to shape.

Starching and pinning to shape.

This is scented oil from Bath and Bodyworks. I added just a few drops to the tissue paper before putting the ornaments in their tins.

One of the tins I picked up at the thrift store.

One of the tins I picked up at the thrift store.

This is the gold snowflake which I gave to my Mom.

This is the gold snowflake which I gave to my Mom.

This is my favorite. I love how delicate it came out using the smaller thread. My Mother-in-law got this one.

This is my favorite. I love how delicate it came out using the smaller thread. My Mother-in-law got this one.

I plan to make a bunch of snowflakes for myself to put on a second tree in our home eventually.  I’m talking about making a few dozen different snowflakes.  That sure will be a project!

4 Comments

Filed under Doilies, Gifts

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 6, 2011 · 9:55 am

Sage Lattice Prayer Shawl

I’ve been working on several different prayer shawls and the patterns for them lately, both because we’re in need of them in the Prayer Shawl group we have at church, and because I’ve got a lot of different yarn left over from other projects that I need to get used up.  I figured this was the perfect way!

Being the middle of summer I wanted to design something that could be used to keep warm in the air conditioning, but still be delicate and light to match the time of year.  This yarn is very light weight and would work perfect for that.  I combined it with the very simple, open lattice-work stitching which is just double crochets and chains, and it turned out very nicely.

To add just a little bit of weight and definition to the piece I did a reverse single crochet, otherwise known as the lobster claw, edging.  It put a nice rolled-hem like finish on the shawl and really defined the edges.  I’ve used the revers single crochet on some dishcloths before, but I’ve never used it on a full sized project and I really like it.

So this shawl is ready to go to our Prayer Shawl Group’s monthly meeting on Thursday to be prayed over and then given to someone in our congregation in need of it.  I can’t wait!

2 Comments

Filed under Designs, Gifts, Prayer Shawls

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

July 29, 2011 · 4:36 pm

Birthday Skirt

I made this skirt as a present for my Niece Abbi’s 4th Birthday this month.  I wanted to make her something fun for summer so I went looking for a pattern on Ravelry.

 

 

The pattern is very simple and easy to make – done in a spiral of single crochet stitches instead of in rounds.  The lack of joining each round and chaining to take the work up to the next row makes the piece seamless all the way around and I really liked how that turned out.  The ruffles are fairly easy, done with shell stitches.  The first, or lower ruffle is just worked around the bottom edge of the skirt before finishing off.  However the second, or upper ruffle is made separately and then sewn on about an inch and a half above the lower one, gathering in as you go.  If I had that part to do again I would have worked it into the skirt initially instead of making it separately.  Joining the separate ruffle was a bit of a pain.

The top hem is folded over about a half inch and sewn in place to make a pocket for a draw-string.  I really liked that to allow me to make it a little bigger so Abbi can hopefully wear the skirt longer.  (Plus she’s so tiny for her age, I was afraid it was going to be too big to begin with.)

You can view the original pattern and pictures by  clicking on this picture.  In spite of how I personally didn’t like how the second ruffle was done, I did very much like this pattern over all.

 

And here are some pictures of Abbi in her skirt!

Leave a comment

Filed under Gifts

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

March 27, 2011 · 11:12 am

Ripple Baby Afghan

Alright everyone.  Here is a project I have made probably more than a dozen times for so many friends and family when they were expecting a baby.  I’ll of course be making one for myself now – as soon as we figure out if we have a little boy or a little girl.

If I have made one of these for you, PLEASE send me an email with a picture of it.  If you have one with your child using it that’s even better!  I would love to do a post with pictures of several of these gifts!

I taught myself to crochet from this pattern book.  Some of the patterns in this leaflet are rather dated as it was originally published in 1989.  Certainly not new anymore, but it still works for beginners.  I even wore out my first copy and bought another.  You can still order this leaflet on the Leisure Arts website for just $6.95.  Click on the picture for the link to the listing.

The ripple baby afghan was one of the first afghans I’d ever done, and has been one of my favorite patterns for a long  time.  It is made with double crochet stitches and shells, skipping stitches to make the ripple effect.  I like to use Caron Simply Soft yarn to make this, although I have been very disappointed to find that they have discontinued the very pretty Victorian Rose color that I like to use for the pink.

I hope to see many emails here shortly of your pictures!

1 Comment

Filed under Afghans, Baby, Gifts, Pattern Book Recommendations

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 14, 2011 · 5:05 pm

Baby Booties for Grandma


So yesterday I told my Mom she’s going to be a Grandma.  How?  Well I designed and made these cute little baby booties, took them over to her house and told her that I had something new for her to hang from her rear-view mirror in the car.

She just looked at them for a moment and said “Oh those are cute!”

I could see she was thinking “But why would I want to hang these from the rear-view mirror?”

3…

2…

1…

CLICK!

FREAK OUT!

2 Comments

Filed under Gifts

March 13, 2011 · 2:52 pm

Recycled Yarn = Frogging

So I have been corrected.  Recycling yarn is called Frogging.  “Ripp-it, Ripp-it!”

This one is the latest.  This sweater yielded some really great wine-colored chenille yarn which I turned into Berets.  I think I might sell these on Etsy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Comments

Filed under Gifts, Recycled Yarn

Tagged as , , , , ,

March 8, 2011 · 4:55 pm

Idea – Granny “Circle” Seat Covers

This post gave me an idea to make round seat covers in the “granny square” style.  Of course, click on the photo to see the original WP’s (WordPresser’s) post.

I’ve actually never been very fond of making granny squares – not because they are difficult though; they aren’t.  A good granny square however, calls for finishing off and changing colors on every round as seen here.  This isn’t hard either, but I really just enjoy the “mindless” portion of my projects when I can stitch and stitch and stitch each row.  It’s relaxing to me.  But with a good granny, you have to stop after each round and start again.  Anyway, that’s why I don’t do granny squares very often.

The chairs I have in mind for this project have round seats instead of square.  So I will have to do an uneven number of  clusters on the first row.  This should be a pretty quick and easy one to make up.

2 Comments

Filed under Gifts

Tagged as , , , ,

March 8, 2011 · 8:02 am

The First Lacy Afghan

I finally found this picture.  I knew I had it somewhere.  This was the first time I made the “Timeless Lace” afghan mentioned in my previous Lacy Afghan post.

This is my Aunt Becky on the left at Christmas oh…what, 10 or 11 years ago I guess?  Gosh I don’t remember.  Maybe more than that.   The Timeless Lace afghan was her present that year.

This picture was taken in my Grandma and Grandpa Showers’ living room.  I can just feel the bustle of activity at the big family Christmas get-together when I look at this picture.  {Insert warm fuzzy here.}

Grandma is gone now, but see the ribbon goldfish mobile hanging in front of the window in the background?  That was hers, and Grandpa was nice enough to let me have that after she passed.  It’s hanging in front of the window in my livingroom now.  I just love it, and I think of her every time I look at it!

Anyway.  Sorry, I digress.  Back to the afghan.  I remember Aunt Becky being very excited when I gave this to her that year and I hope that she has enjoyed it!

I believe I’ve made two more of these afghans using this pattern.  If you received one of them, please send me a picture and I’ll post it!

Leave a comment

Filed under Afghans, Gifts

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,