Hackers, Yarn Tangles and Old Eyes...

Hi all -Hey just a quick apology.  Apparently my long neglected little blog got hacked and so there was a bogus post up which also showed up on facebook.  I think all is well now, but am hoping that didn't cause anyone a problem!

And... as long as I am throwing up a post, here is pic of one of my latest projects.  Just finished up this shawl last week.  Believe it or not, it is actually for me! My BFF pointed out I seem to rarely make stuff for myself and you know what?  I realize she is right!  So, that made this extra fun!  I even splurged and bought the "nice" yarn for this one which was a silk and merino wool blend.  Very cool and feels great.  Although... if I plan to do too much of that in the future well then monogirl needs to get herself a yarn ball winder because for whatever reason, the nice stuff comes in hanks, not skeins, and a hank needs to be wound into a ball before you can use it.  This is not a quick easy process.... just ask my husband cause he was the designated yarn ball winder and knot untangler and even though he is quiet talented at both.... a yarn ball winder would make both of our lives easier I am thinking.  I have this one on my Christmas list.   Of course then one also needs a yarn swift... like this...and OK that is getting kinda pricey.  Of course now I am thinking the husband probably wishes I would not get those things which would probably lead to not buying the expensive yarns.... I could see his thinking on that. ha!

Anyway, this was an easy pattern and made a beautiful shawl.  I got both the yarn, and the free pattern from Expression Fiber Arts.  She has nice stuff.  The free pattern is here if you are interested.

I also finished up a blanket project the week prior for a gift.  Loving the blanket and its hard to give away cause I'd be happy to cuddle up in it, but a picture will have to wait until said gift is with said recipient.

After 2 big projects that took some time and effort monogirl's head needed a break and so for a quick easy project she is now doing a little cross stitch Christmas ornament.  Of course these days my 50 year old eyes need a little assistance apparently so I broke out my new lighted magnifier thingy... I saw this on one of the crochet boards and FB and figured it would help when stitching dark yarns (cause it is impossible to see the stitches!).  Who knew it would be necessary for multiple projects, cause I do not remember needing these tools when I last stitched... like um years ago.  Of course it's not a boost to Monogirl's ego that the ornament kit appears to be for children... and says complete in 30 minutes and Monogirl is on her 3rd evening to work on it.... Maybe it's because I need an even better lighted magnifying thingy like this one.... Since I like the wear around your neck version, this would be even better by Monogirl's chair right?

Well I am off for today.  Again - sorry for the bogus post but glad it gave us a reason to visit again!
Blessings!

Mr Unicorn & Miss Elsa

 
Yes... day two of the great crochet pattern post.  Are ya ready? I have to make this a quick one so lets get to it.

Here you have a Miss Elsa hat.  Elsa.... is that right?  I am totally not a "Frozen" expert but I am thinking she was the one with the braid.  ha!  I spotted this pattern on pinterest and fell in love with the cute braid and snowflake.... AND I just happened to have all the materials on hand so I was thinking this would make a great hat for the Handmade 4Him shoe box project.  I'm right right?  Of course.  Was there any doubt?  You can find the pattern here.  I made the 3-6 years size.  The hat was pretty simple.  Snowflake a little more detailed.  Braid was just attaching and braiding.

And here we have Mr. Unicorn.  I keep thinking it should be Miss Unicorn cause of the pink and rainbows... but can only seem to think of him as Mr Unicorn.. so we shall go with it.  Mr. Unicorn seems to be one my most popular projects lately.  A friend from church found this pattern and asked if I'd make it for her daughter's 3rd birthday this month.  How could I refuse a cute unicorn for a cute little girl?  Kylie found the pattern, it's a free pattern here.  The body, arms, legs, horn were all easy enough.  Doing the mane was a bit tedious and work intensive.  I had never made curly q's before so I had to experiment with a few different hooks and number of stitches to get them to curl as tightly as needed.  Sewing .... not my best thing.  So sewing the body together gives me a bit of stress because you want him to sit and look right.  It came out well though and I am hoping the birthday girl will be happy with him.  Pattern is also available on Ravelry here.  Here are a few more pics too!

And that is all we have time for today!  Hope you have a great weekend!  Happy Crocheting.... cause like really... what else is there to do right?

Make Mine Crochet

Hi there!  This year and OK.. I guess last year too I have really gotten back into crocheting.  When we lived in Illinois I used to crochet all the time.  When we moved to Indiana back in 2001 I got into scrapbooking and it was allll consuming and I have the room in my house to prove it.  Ha!  I kind of forget about my crocheting.  How does that happen?  I mean I learned when I was a little girl.  My Mom took a class to learn to crochet and I seem to have come out of the womb wanting to learn and do any craft I see someone else doing!  I'm all oooooo what is that? Can I play too?  Which is why the room I mentioned has supplies for scrapbooking, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, cross stitch, painting, drawing, Bible journaling... You get the idea right?  Well lately as I mentioned yes... Crocheting it is.  And reading.  Always reading too.  Pretty much always am in the middle of one book or another and always have it with me.... Mostly.  Currently reading The Scrapbooking Mystery series  and I have 13 books from the library sitting next to me just waiting their turn.  Currently I am on book 2!

Anyway back to crocheting.... I've been sharing my projects on Facebook and a few of my friends have asked to share the pics with their friends so I told them I'd get them posted on my blog so the friends of friends would have access to them.  So the pic above is my latest completed project and my first attempt at the "graphgan" technique.  Graphgan is done using the corner to corner stitch (which I love) and then following a graph and using yarn bobbins to create the image in your crocheting.  There is not a specific pattern for this pillow.  I just found the IU symbol thru Google and then used Sttich Fiddle to put it into a graph.  Graphgans are NOT easy.  I had 5-6 bobbins going at a time and if you aren't careful flipping your work you get tangles... If you aren't careful following the graph you get the scramble image that makes no sense... And yes I almost gave up twice! Ha. There are graphgan tutorials here.  You can also Google graphgan or check Pinterest and you will find tons of resources.  There is a tutorial here on how to do the corner to corner stitch.  I love this stitch.  Your project starts with a single square rather than a beginning base chain and then grows square by square diagonally.

I made this pillow as an end of year gift for my Kids Hope friend.  She is in 4th grade and says she loves IU and wants to go to college there.  She saw a Unicorn I made and asked if I knew how to crochet IU and this is what I came up with.  She loved it and said she was taking it to college with her.  Too cute!

This project was a hat for my project at our church called Handmade 4Him which is a year long promotion to make handmade items to include when we pack our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes in November.  I used a variegated yarn from Hobby Lobby in their "I Love This Yarn" brand....and I do love that yarn.  It's awesome!  The pattern was linked to me on Facebook when my Niece saw it and hoped I'd make her a hat... Which I of course did.  The pattern can be found here. It's a quick and easy project.  You'll like it.  

So there are two.... I have lots more to share but blogger is giving me stress at the moment... And no one needs that.  I will be back later with more!  Leave a comment if you have questions and I will try to answer next time.  

Blessings!  

P S. A lot of the patterns I've used are from Pinterest. Feel free to follow my knit and crochet board here:  http://pin.it/Mt8BCVD