Bulky Fiber Necklace: Dark Wash Denim

Hey, y'all!

Here's another color variation on my Bulky Fiber Necklace.  This shade of blue goes fabulously with every pair of jeans in my closet.

I used super-bulky yarn and a plastic Q hook to make this.  Pattern coming soon!


'Til next time,
OCB

E's Sunday Swing Coat

Hey, y'all!

My super-sweet little goddaughter recently turned one, and we had a fabulous time at her birthday party.  I wrestled with myself about what to make her...she has so many toys to play with, and I really wanted to do something special.

Enter the Sunday Swing Coat from the March/April 2013 issue of Crochet Today.  It's a super-cute little number that works up quickly.  I finished the whole thing in two evenings after work.

Here's my version of the coat, worked in Red Heart Fiesta yarn.

I absolutely love Crochet Today.  Out of the three major US crochet periodicals, it is far and away the most relevant to younger crochet artists who like to add a modern twist to their work.  I'd totally recommend it to any of you who are considering a print subscription.

And here's hopin' my sis-in-law sees this post and remembers to take a pic of lovely E wearing her Swing Coat.  With her permission, I'd love to share that with all of you.  ;)


'Til next time,
OCB

Bobbles and Cables Bag

Hey, y'all!

Holy poop on toast...Thanksgiving is tomorrow!  I can't believe how the time is flying.

Now, I'm assuming you are familiar with my purse obsession, especially given that about 1/2 of what I've posted on here is purses.  What you may not know is that I love big bags in funky colors.  Oranges, turquoises, hot pinks...for me, no color is taboo when it comes to purses.

Browsing through the local shops earlier this fall, I fell in love with quite a few mustard-colored leather bags.  You know, the ones that feel like butter and cost as much as a car?  Yeah.  Those.

Since I can't exactly justify spending a mortgage payment or two on a bag, I thought I'd raid the ol' stash and buy some new handles.

 

This project also helped me to begin the process of overcoming my fear of sewing.  I've never lined my bags in the past, but I think that's going to change...and soon...based on how well this one turned out.

Whaddaya think?  I may be in love.

Yarn: Caron no-dye-lot one-pound skeins in off-white and mustard yellow (100% acrylic)
Hook: Aluminum M
Handles: Nylon with braided detail from Jo-Ann
Lining: Modified standard pillowcase.  Oh, yes.  I did.
Total Project Cost (if I bought everything full-price and new): about $25-30 plus time



'Til next time,
OCB

Color Block Sweater

Ok, y'all.  This thing has been a work in progress for I-can't-tell-you-how-long.  One night last week, I decided to let it graduate to the next step: a finished project.

I saw the pattern for this sweater in Crochet Me a couple of years back and instantly fell in love.  Parts of it didn't work for me, so I tweaked and full-out changed quite a few things.  The result is this super-cozy, totally-me color block sweater:

For anyone who is interested, I made it with Caron one-pound skeins of no-dye-lot worsted weight acrylic yarn.  All of the stitching is done with an H hook, and there was a hell of a lot of sewing involved...not my favorite.  When I make my next one, I'll be modifying even further to remove that part as much as possible.

But, I gotta say, I had great timing.  The weather here is transitioning into that perfect sweater temperature, so I can see this baby getting a lot of use over the next few months.


'Til next time,
OCB

E's Baptism Prayer Shawl

In January of this year, our family was blessed with a new addition.  My beloved sis-in-law gave birth to our second niece, E.

The cherry on the sundae?  She asked The Hubbs and me to be godparents.  Before taking part in her baptism ceremony back in March, I stitched up a special baptism prayer shawl for my sweet little goddaughter.

It's all acrylic yarn, and - of course - I don't remember the dimensions.  What I do remember is that I really enjoyed making it.  I really do love this little girl.

A special thanks to my mother-in-law for taking these beautiful pictures.

I'm just so glad Jello and her family are back in the area now.  It sure is nice to see them more often.  :)

Bulky Fiber Necklace: Teal

I'm a hot-blooded person.  You know, one of those gals you see wearing only a tee shirt in weather that prompts others to don hoodies, hats and gloves?  Don't get me wrong; I love me a good hoodie, but my point is that I don't do well with heavy stuff all up in my grill.  I get hot, I get cranky.  I get cranky, you don't want to deal with me.  Capisce?

With that said, I've come up with a solution for fall and winter accessorizing.  I can't walk around in a full-out scarf all day, but I love the idea of the bright colors and fun drapey quality. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the first in what I'm sure will become a series to include many colors of the Bulky Fiber Necklace:

This necklace has been constructed completely by hand using acrylic yarn.  I can't wait to share the other colors with y'all!

Interested in one of your own?  Let me know...these will be for sale soon.

Purses in Progress

I know I'm not the only one trying to figure out a more economical solution for round, wooden purse handles...someone out there has to have an idea.  My problem is that the 9" rattan hoops from Jo-Ann Fabrics are so darned expensive; I just can't afford to keep them on hand.

And so, until I come up with a brilliant idea, my completed Super-Fat bags look like this:

Not exactly ideal, but it's working out so far.  I figure I'll stash a few dollars away when I can, and each of these will get handles when I can afford to get them.

In the mean time, does anyone have any brilliant ideas for me?  The hoops I'm buying at the retail store are either $5.99 or $6.99 a set.  I'd love to hear any suggestions you may have.

Happy International Crochet Day!

Today is International Crochet Day, one of my favorite days of the year!

My mom and grandma taught me to crochet when I was a little girl.  I drifted away from it due to boredom and frustration more times than I can count, but somehow the timing was just right after I had my own daughter.  I asked my mom to - once again - show me the basic stitches, and I was off and running...haven't stopped since.  I've found over the last couple of years that I absolutely love to crochet.  In fact, I find it difficult to remember a time when I didn't love this craft.

To celebrate, I think I'll sit myself down with the sweater I've been working on and see if I can't finish off that lower left sleeve...it's the last bit I need to do before I put the whole thing together, and the weather here is getting delightfully fall-like, especially in the morning and evening hours.

Fall is my favorite time of year, and I'm starting to get excited.  Cooler weather means snuggling up under a hand-made blanket with a mug of hot tea, reading a good book...or snuggling up in front of a favorite movie and working on those heavier projects I don't want to deal with in the summer months.

Since International Crochet Day falls at the beginning of that seasonal transition, I really couldn't be happier to see it come around again.  Not only is it a reason to celebrate this craft I love so much, but it's also a sign that the bright colors and crisp weather are on their way.

Short-Sleeved Shruggy Sweater Thing

Mm-hmm.  I'm gettin' all technical on ya with the names, now.  :)

I love cardigans and sweaters of all kinds.  My problem is that I tend to run warm, so here's my solution...at least for the summer months when all I really need is a little something for when the office AC tries to turn me into a girl-sicle.

When I decided what I wanted to do, I visited the ol' Mountain-O-Yarn in the basement and picked out one of my favorite colors of Red Heart Super Saver.  It took about 3 of the 5-oz skeins to complete, and I'm typically a 2X or size 18-20.  In my neck of the woods, that would make the total investment about $9, plus time.
The really cool part?  I already had this yarn from a trade or previous craft store raid, so it was essentially free.  Bonus!

It's really comfy, too.  I think I'm going to end up making another one or two in different colors.

If you want one, you know where to find me.  ;)

Sam the Dragon Amigurumi Prototype

In case you haven't heard, The Hubbs is an aspiring comic strip artist - has been since he was a kid - and he's amazing (and I'm not biased at all).

My very favorite of all of the characters he's created is Sam the Dragon.  Sam was born in 1984 as a way to entertain The Hubbs' little sister, Jello, and he's been drifting in and out of The Hubbs' life ever since.  We are now working as a team to put Sam out there for the whole world to see, and I'm working on a new blog featuring Sam a few times a week.

Naturally, with Sam on the brain, he's managed to seep into my crochet as well.  Here are some (okay, way too many, but I can never choose) pics of the prototype.

I'm ridiculously proud of his fingers, toes and elbows.  They all turned out better than I had hoped, and all on the first try!

Some slight modifications are needed before I'm totally happy with the final product, but this little guy should do nicely as a fourth birthday present for Jello's little girl, K-Bear.  K recently found a book of Sam strips that The Hubbs published about five years ago, and she's been running around the house pretending to be Sam ever since.  Thanks to the wonders of the All-Knowing Internet, this post should be appearing on my blog as we are still at her party.  Here's hoping Sam and K-Bear will be very happy together. 

And if he ever gets lonely, he can always hang with the Totoro I made for her birthday last year.  :)

Work in Progress: Lacy Checkered Afghan

Hey, y'all!

Long time, no see.  This has been a busy summer at our little yellow house, and I realize I've been neglecting you.  Not to worry...you're not alone.  I just sat down and replied to a couple of emails that were over a month old.

I guess it's time to catch up, eh?

Even though summer isn't always the most comfortable time to crochet, I've completed a few things since I last posted, and I have more in progress.  I'll post the completed projects after they've been given to their new owners - wouldn't want to ruin any surprises! - but in the meantime, here's a sneak-peek at a current work in progress:

These grey and purple motifs are almost 12" square, and I'll be joining 25 of them together to make a checkerboard afghan.  I'm using bulky acrylic yarn that I got through a trade, and I think the combo of the bulky yarn and the lacy motif will make this blankie quite interesting.  I'm about halfway to the finish line on this one...stay tuned for more pics of the completed project!


See you soon,
One Crafty Broad

Juggling Balls

The Hubbs taught himself to juggle as a kid.  On a road trip.  In the back of the family car.  With a book and a starter set of three juggling balls.

He still has that set of three juggling balls, and he's still damn good.  The Princess loves it when he juggles, and she presents him with his juggling balls multiple times every day.

Recently, he's expressed an interest in learning to incorporate more than three objects into his juggling fun-time.  Our only concern with this is that we're rather skint of late, and we're trying to be good little donkeys by sticking to our extremely strict budget.

Thinking outside the box, I grabbed my hook and some spare yarn from my stash, and I started stitching.  The first one felt okay, so I made three more to start (we can always add more later), along with a spiffy little storage bag.

The juggling balls are constructed using acrylic worsted weight yarn and pinto beans, and the bag is all acrylic yarn.

While looking at the finished product does make me feel rather resourceful, I prefer seeing them in action.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's my pleasure to present the love of my life...(drumroll)...The Hubbs!

Hope your summer is going as swimmingly as ours is.  Have fun, y'all!

Olivia's Baby Gifts

One of my good pals at work is about to become a grandmother.  She recently commissioned my services to make an oversized baby blanket, and the shower was this past weekend. 

When I realized the amount of yarn I had left over after the blanket was done, I decided to contribute a couple of gifts of my own as well.

The blanket measures 48" by 48" and the dress is sized or a newborn baby girl.

Here's a close-up of the stitch pattern on the blankie and the dress.

I love working with this stitch, and I think I'll be making something for myself using it soon.  The fabric is so soft and cozy.

Olivia's one-of-a-kind dress.

The granny-to-be saw the dress and blankie, and apologetically asked if I might be able to make a headband to go with it.  Giggling, I told her that I had already started the process...it just wasn't done yet. 

I'm hoping to see a picture or two of the little one with her new loot when she sees fit to join us.  With her family's permission, of course, I'll try to post at least one here for all to see.

Crocheting for a Cause: Cancer Caps

Working in the local hospital, I have to admit I'm in a good spot.  Whenever anything is needed as far as handmade pieces go, my folks are really good about letting me know.

On Friday, one of the ladies from the cancer center told me that she had received a request for cancer caps.  There's a group of ladies in town here who make them, and some of the patients are requesting more muted colors and a more simplistic shape.  There are also a few men in need of caps, and all of the donations that are currently available in the cancer center are overtly feminine.

Well, heck.  Hats, I can do!  I designed this simplistic stocking cap for The Hubbs a few weeks ago, and it seems to fit the bill perfectly.

Okay, so this isn't particularly manly, I know.  But the colors are pretty and fairly muted, so I thought I'd slip it in.

I'm not sure how they'll feel about the color changes in this and the next one, but I'm willing to take a chance...I didn't have enough of either of these yarns to make a full cap, but they're so soft it would be a shame to let them go to waste.

Color-change cap #2: I really like this one.

Plain brown...can't go wrong with plain brown.  :)

And here's a picture of the four I'm donating today.

Ooh-Ooh the Monkey

My brother's step-grandson turned one recently.  I wasn't sure what little A would like, so I went to Hambone for ideas.  He said they call him "Monkey."

This seemed as good a time as any to see about modifying that kitty I've been making into a different animal. 

Here's Ooh-Ooh's  sweet little face.

Ooh-Ooh side view



Ooh-Ooh's caboose  :)



I'm pretty happy with how little Ooh-Ooh turned out.  I have a few other animals I'd like to try making in this simplistic style, and I'll post each of them as they're completed.

And if, by chance, you're in love with Ooh-Ooh here, I can make one especially for you.  Just let me know.  ;)

Couch Arm Remote Holder

If your house is anything like mine, your coffee table is covered in remote controls. I've seen mass-produced canvas pouches for storing them over a couch arm, and I thought I'd give it a whirl.

There are a couple of major bonuses to this particular project:

First, I got to use up some of my leftover bits of yarn from previous projects.

Unfortunately, the color just doesn't want to come across properly here.  For the blues, think jeans.  And the red is more barn than fire engine in real life.

And second, perhaps by separating the remotes into their individual pouches, they'll finally stop multiplying. :)