Yarn Mountain

About a week ago, I came home happily clutching my bag full of yarn from my last trip to... wherever it was, there was a deal I just couldn't pass it up....I realized that I actually had no where put it.  Yarn Mountain appeared to be above capacity!  What a mess!  I did not take a before picture, it was just too scary to commemorate with a photograph. I did spend around and hour and a half cutting off WIP's, balling yarn and generally organizing.   Yarn Mountain is now all neat-ish and not quite embarrassing (aside from the messy bookshelf beside it!)

When I took the photo I realized I may have a problem.  Especially when there was still another pic to be taken:

For honesty's sake, I'll admit that there are still a few bags/cubbies that have yarn stashed in them, but I won't bore you with those.  My yarn stash is ridiculous, and I have been inspired.
Took a walk through the city with the family and found a construction site that had crochet flowers lining the surrounding fence.  Yay! Yarn Bombing!  Love it.

I made a mini pledge to myself that I will spend the summer getting better at crocheting.  I want to feel confident that I can do a difficult pattern, and be able to "whip things up" without stress.  Further inspiration came when I read this article over on Crochet Spot.  Perfect!  I love the idea of making small projects throughout the summer and storing them up, I have a lot of extended family  out of state and I would love to be able to send Xmas gifts to them.  So, I have been crocheting like crazy!
Two top secret small projects off on an adventure, elusive too, they haven't even been photographed!  I got the new Ana Paula Rimoli book Amigurumi Toy Box and have completed two projects from it, my favorite, for my little buddy way up North, who has named him Mr. Fock:

He's wonky, but I love him.

And a teeny cake for Shorty's BFF's birthday:

Sunday I sat on my mom's patio with a big skein of sorta ugly cotton yarn and made her a pair of slippers.

Came home and made a coaster for my desk, with same sorta ugly yarn.  Seems not as ugly on the coaster, don't you think?  Or maybe I'm just getting used to it and getting attached....

I'm going to work my way through Yarn Mountain and make something, even if its a coaster, every single day.  By the time I make that pile of yarn smaller I hope to be able to feel justified in buying that higher end yarn, for now, I've got a lot of cotton and acrylic to work with.  I see a lot of Amigurumi and potholders in my future....

I'm Baaaack!

Spring is a hectic time in Mommyville.  Band concerts, field days, and picnics abound!  I have a mixed feeling of dread and relief when it comes to the summertime approaching, love the lazy days but hard to keep the wee little monsters occupied for two and a half months!  Amid all the chaotic days I have been crafting like crazy but too busy to share.  So here we go, catching up on all you've missed while I've been in hiding.

I have an awesome cyber-buddy/penpal/friend that recently had a birthday.  I've had a list of ideas for birthday gifts running for months prior, so it was hard to whittle down the list due to time constraints, with her living in another country and all!  A while back I scored a stack of vintage iron on embroidery transfers and in that stack was an adorable set of Days of the Week patterns, that are, well, lets just say a little politically incorrect.  I've been unable to figure out exactly when they were made, but my mom said probably 1960's at the earliest due to something about the printer having an address with a zip code. At any rate, I just love them to death and really had a hard time sending the first two days of the week off, but I knew they would be appreciated, especially for one who has just purchased a new home.

I intend for this lovely lady to have the whole weeks worth of international tea towels by the end of summer :)

Among the list of things I wanted to make was this lovely little bookmark, the great, easy to follow tutorial found on How About Orange.  This was a quick, fun project and I intend to make lots more.

Of course I couldn't send a package without making a little something out of yarn.  This headband was a pattern from Ravelry that I altered a bit to accommodate the fine yarn, and I dumped a huge jar of vintage buttons to find the lovely one I used in the center of the flower.  Bonita wears it well, but I'm willing to bet the recipient looks even cuter in it!

All in all, I hope she had a fantastic birthday!  Many more projects to share, check back soon!

P.S.  If you aren't reading Ruby Murrays Musings you are really missing out!

Busy Busy But Nothing to Show For It!

The monsters are on Spring Break.  For mommies like me, that means a steady stream of playing referee and entertainment director, and slave driver, since I am on a (mini) mission to get some spring cleaning done. Ha!  One day of trying to motivate them to help and I caved... so much for that grand plan!

Spent a lot of time making stuff this week, stuff I love, stuff I'm proud of and would definitely love to share.  However, this stuff will soon be on its way to Canada to greet my homegirl for her birthday, so it will have to be shared later!

In the meantime, I made a tiny bit of progress on my giant granny square blanket.  I still haven't decided exactly how "giant" it will be; as it is now it is still too small for a good two-person snuggle couch blankie so I've still got some work to do.  I'm loving the colors together...reminds me of a Monet.

Happy Thursday!

A Teen and A Toddler

Whew!   Finally sitting down after a chaotic start to March!  Babygirl was born 10 years and 1 day after Shorty so we have our own little version of March Madness going on around here the first part of March.  The fortunate thing about the craziness of celebrating two birthdays is that it has disallowed me the agony of coping with the fact that Shorty is now officially a teenager!  Lucky for me, she’s a great kid so thus far I am not concerned about “teenage drama”, but boy, it is amazing how quickly the time has passed!

ERL used his Cake Boss skills and made this fabulous cake for the fairy obsessed Babygirl! 

I have had plenty of crafty failures and successes for birthday gifts.  First, I attempted an ambitious (for me, anyway) project of making Babygirl a sweater from this pattern here, which I have had in my Lion Brand favorites for forever but have been too chicken to attempt.  This is the first time I’ve made any real apparel, and it was much easier that I thought it would be!  The flowers are of my own design after several failed attempts at motifs found around the Web.

Now if I could just get her to wear it….

Shorty decided she wanted an afghan, and since A. I have never made an afghan before and B. she knows how bad I am at finishing big projects, she was very sweet and understanding in accepting that there was no way it would be completed in time for her actual birthday.  So I spent a fair amount of time on Ravelry trying to find the perfect pattern, and she and I decided on this one, which is just lovely and 12” squares seemed much more manageable to me than 6”.  However, it appears that this pattern may be more above my skill level than I’m willing to manage.  Or it requires much more attention to detail than I can manage.  Either way, with three kids running around it’s pretty hard to get quiet time before I’m deliriously tired.  I’ve completed three squares.   The first I knew right away was wrong, and is not pictured because Babygirl has snatched it up for her baby doll’s blankie. 

One of these things is definitely not like the other.

I say “uncle!” and Shorty has confessed that she prefers the look of a giant granny square blanket (relief!)  I’ve decided to use the rest of the yarn I had picked for this to make myself a giant granny square blankie for the couch, and will let her pick her yarn for her very self.

I’ve got a couple of other WIP’s going on right now, and will (hopefully) be sharing soon!

Treasure Hunting

I've been in a bit of a funk, craft-wise.  I have no excuses for not making anything, seeing as my house is starting to be taken over by craft books, magazines, patterns, supplies, etc!  I have a "to do" list, but none of those items seem like much fun right now...finally, yesterday, found some inspiration at a thrift store and I'm back on track!

On the subject of thrift stores, I have long avoided them, due to those dreaded blood-sucking sensations that have swept the nation (and beyond!)...BED BUGS.  I'm terrified of them, and unfortunately, thrift stores are a great way for them to make their way into your home.  I set it aside yesterday, and found a little hole in the wall store a few miles from my house.  Unfortunately, this store did not give a great first impression.  Stinky.  Very stinky, like way worse than the normal dead peoples stuff and unwashed clothes smell.  Smelled like dead people and the armpits of a hundred unwashed fourth graders.

 I was in search of interesting frames to alter for all the embroidery and cross stitch I've been planning to do, and had almost given up, when out of the corner of my eye, there was a huge bookshelf.  A huge bookshelf full of crafty stuff!  All kinds of yarn, hundreds of sewing patterns, and these fabulous finds:

Not only are they absolutely charming designs, the packages are unopened and the patterns are uncut!  Yippee!  Now the only problem is having too many to choose from.....

All You Need Is Love

ERL always gives me roses for Valentine's Day.  I, in turn, resist the urge to take the easy route and purchase junk food and a card with a cheesy poem on it and give him a homemade valentine.  This year, he was the recipient of my very first embroidery project.

The adorable pattern can be found here:  http://www.themodernladyblog.com/index.php/2011/02/02/heart-tree-carving-embroidery-pattern-tutorial/

Being a mommy, Valentine's Day is also an important day for me to show my other sweethearts just how much I love them.  Knowing that the sweet little things all hoard their valentine's from me every year, I decided to give them something in addition to their paper cards....

For NinjaBoy:

For Shorty:

For BabyGirl:

This year's Valentine's Day projects proved to me that its not so hard be heartfelt and thrifty...the felt bags were purchased for $1 a piece and I used fabric remnants for the backgrounds.  The patterns for the dog, swallow and kitty were all from the fabulous book Sublime Stitching.  I'd say the total cost to make all four gifts was around $10, not including the treats that will be stuffed inside for the kiddos.

Valentine's Day isn't really about roses or cards or gifts or candy, but I sure do love giving them to the ones I love.

Tiny Boxes

I recently had the pleasure of participating in a unique and extremely fun swap over on Craftster.  The challenge?  Altered matchboxes.  The verdict?  One of the most fun challenges I've ever had, and one of my favorite projects I have ever made.  On to the photo:

I started with a bargain brand matchbox, wrapped in this strange textured paper I found.  My partner for this swap was quite the quilter and seamstress, and indicated she liked sewing themed things.  This was a rare occasion for me, I usually fuss and fret with things for a really long time before I have my "Thats it!" moment...no such thing with this one, it all just seemed to fall together.  The next thing I did (which is barely noticeable in the photo but I thought looked so cool in person) was cover the paper with Distress crackle paint, which is probably one of my favorite products on the market right now.  It created this lovely look of worn out leather...well I just piled all the other elements on after that, really trying to use things that are common and wonderful in fashion.  Vintage button, black lace, rusty chain and what every girl needs (besides diamonds of course) pearls!

I opted in the swap to have two different partners, and this was what I made for her, inspired by her mentioning liking several different kinds of birds.  More strange paper, ribbon, fun fur (for that feathery look), the sheet music and charm just fell together in such a fun way!

 The other fun part was that we also filled the boxes with tiny trinkets and things, and who doesn't love tiny things?  The swap is almost over,I've received one of two matchboxes and my first was awesome (thanks Jennie!!!) but I still have tons of matchbox altering ideas...might have to make some "just because".