greetingarts

heartstrings tutorial (finally)

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted!  I am a terrible blogger.  Life just never slows down, does it?  I guess you can make these fast and easy little hearts for Mother's Day, though, or do you really need a holiday to say I love you, or pass on a little love?  They would be very cute as pins and small enough to stick in the mail, too, just because.

 

For most of the hearts I made for the girls, I used a B hook (2.25 mm).  The yarn was sport weight (DK) I think, a little thinner than worsted.  They finished up about 1" across, but I used a thicker hook (a D maybe?) and worsted weight yarn to make a bigger guy, about twice the size.  Of course, you can make any size you'd like by experimenting with yarn and hook sizes.  This is really good for short odds and ends you might have lying around.  You'll be working in the round and only have to weave in the ends when you're done.  I use one of the ends to sew up the middle of the heart, which probably makes no sense to you now, but hopefully will be clear later...

Heartstrings pattern:

ch - chain
sc - single crochet
st(s) - stitch(es)

Start off with a magic circle.  If you don't know what that is, click on the link (which will take you to a YouTube video) and be prepared to have your crocheting life changed.  Anyway, then ch 1, and make 3 sc into the circle.  Close up your circle, as tightly as possible.

Round 1: Make 2 sc in each sc around.  (6)
Round 2: *Sc in next st, 2 sc in next st.*  Repeat from * to * around.  (9)
Round 3: *Sc in each of next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st.*  Repeat from * to * around.  (12)
Round 4: *Sc in each of next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st.*  Repeat from * to * around.  (15)
Round 5: *Sc in each of next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st.*  Repeat from * to * around.  (18)

Round 6: Sc in each of the next 9 sts, skip the 9 sts remaining.  (9)

Round 7: Sc in each of the next 9 sts (which are ones you created in Round 6).  (9)
Round 8: *Sc next 2 sts together, sc.*  Repeat from * to * around.  (6)  Fasten off.

Weave end through the last six stitches, pulling tightly to gather.  Stuff the heart and stick the yarn tail to the inside, using it as extra stuffing.  You really need very little stuffing if you're making the same size I did.

Now, join your yarn to one of the unworked stitches of Row 6, and repeat Rounds 6-8.  If you have a bit of a gap in the valley between the humps of the heart, just use the tail of this second hump to kind of sew them together and then hide the end back inside the finished heart.  Finish up with two teeny puffy paint dots for eyes, string on some satin cord or glue on a ¾" pin back, and you're done.

You can make a whole slew of these really quickly, much more quickly than it took me to get this post written!  Sorry, and thanks for waiting.

recorder cozy

Now that Rebecca's in 4th grade, she gets to play an instrument - the recorder.  Actually, the one she has used to be my sister's and mine, I think.  Rebecca loves that it was handed down and requested a holder for it, so I finally got around to making one this afternoon.

Because it's so darn easy to work with and provides a lot of padding (and because my stash is over a foot high), I chose to work with wool blend felt.  I don't think this is going to get washed very often, and hopefully it will stand up to a bit of abuse.

I cut my initial felt much wider than I knew it needed to be, using the recorder itself to measure for length.  I added some extra room at the top, about an inch, doubled the whole thing, and then left enough for a flap.  I cut out one big long piece, then used the machine to sew up one side of the pocket (stopping where the flap begins).  Again using the recorder to make sure it would fit, I measured over three inches and sewed up the other side.  I used Fiskars' scallop fabric shears to trim all the edges as a finishing touch.  I bought my shears years ago on clearance at Michael's, and now it looks like they don't make them any more... I'd better treat them even more preciously than I already do!

Two buttons and a length of twisted yarn makes an easy closure, and then I printed out a nice inital "R" I found with Google image search, cut it out of felt, and hand-stitched it towards the bottom.  In hindsight, it would have been *much* easier to sew the inital and buttons on before stitching up the sides, but - whatever.  That would have required me to think about it and I just kind of did this one by the seat of my pants.  It worked anyway.

It really didn't take very long at all.  And there is a *lot* of backstitching at the top of the pocket for reinforcement. 

There you have it, a recorder, all cozy and protected.

 

 

checked off my list

Okay, the heat is on.  Literally, I turned on the heat on in my house yesterday, earlier than I ever have before, I think.  And figuratively, I'm beginning to feel the Christmas Crunch.  The school's Winter Boutique fundraiser starts next Monday, classroom Winter Parties are on the seventeenth, and I have a few patterns to test, a couple special orders for scarves and other gift knitting to finish up, plus throw in a dance recital that the girls have been rehearsing for since this summer.

 
But, for now, I've got it all under control.  And with the help of Cardstore.com, I have one thing checked off my list.  A few weeks ago, I was approached with an opportunity to check out their website, and receive a complimentary order of a few custom cards to see what I thought of their product and their service.  Well, their selection is huge, but I finally managed to settle on one of their holiday cards, a photo postcard.

I was away for the Thanksgiving weekend, so I'm not sure exactly how many days it took to arrive, but I placed my order on the evening of Sunday the 21st, received a shipping confirmation on Tuesday, and the package was here by the time I was able to get my mail on Saturday the 27th.  And that's with a no-delivery Thanksgiving holiday thrown into the mix.  All the cards are pristine, not a dent or fold or bend in the bunch, even though I've got a teeny postal box that my mailman decided to cram full with three days' worth of flyers, credit card applications, bills and holiday catalogs.

I'm not being compensated any more than the 14 free cards I already received, but I've got to say that I was impressed and more than happy with the whole photo editing and card customizing process.  My crummy photo in the low light of my dining room doesn't begin to show off the quality of the paper or printing on the cards.  For today only, you'll be able to receive 20% off your order and receive free shipping if you use the code CYBERSALE at checkout. 

I just might have to go back and do that myself, because 14 just doesn't seem like enough...

pattern of the month

 
Guess who's got the Pattern of the Month over at Kraemer Yarns?  Hop on over there, click on the picture of my Berry Parfait blanket (over on the right, towards the top), and it will automatically open up a .pdf file.  They have a lot of other free patterns available, too, if you go to the Our Patterns link at the top of the home page.  Berry Parfait is a reworking of my Neopolitan Ripple, with wider stripes, and rectangular instead of square.  With all the great Perfection Worsted colors, you could go nuts with your choices.  And now you can print out the pattern in a fancy format if you want.  Go look!

the last preschool graduation

My littlest went and graduated last Friday, and there was nothing I could do about it but sit and watch.

 
Three years ago, Rebecca walked across the very same stage, picked up her diploma from the same preschool teacher, and had the same potluck ceremony afterwards.  Now it's my baby, and we're moving on to a whole new era.  No looking back.

 
I made Jessie a mini graduation cap, for Hello Kitty.  In case you'd like to make one, too, I wrote down the basic pattern.  It's simple, though a bit hard to put into words. 

I used a 4 mm (G) hook, and worsted weight 100% acrylic yarn.  Gauge doesn't really matter here, but my finished cap is about 2.5" square.

Miniature Graduation Cap

Square Part
Row 1 - Chain 13. Sc in second chain from hook, and in each sc to end (12 sc).
Row 2-12 - sc in each sc across.
Fasten off.
Make 2, join together back to back with sl st in each sc, 3 sl sts in each corner.  Basically, you're making a double layered square. 

Cap part
Row 1 - Chain 23, sc in second chain from hook, and in each sc to end (22 sc).
Row 2 - Ch 1, turn, sc in back loop of each sc.
Row 3 - Ch 1, turn, sc in front loop of each sc.
Row 4 - Repeat row 2, fasten off leaving long tail and join short ends to form a circle.
Attach cap part to center of square part, then flip over and attach bulky yarn through the middle for a tassel. Hide ends in between the two square parts.

 

last day gifts

The weeks leading up to the last day of school were absolutely crazy for me.  Knitting and crocheting deadlines, helping Rebecca's teacher take down the stuff on the walls and pack up books and everything to switch classrooms, inventory for the school library, community club meetings, another Book Fair, doing final Box Tops and Campbell's Labels mailings, and getting rewards out to the students and faculty.  I was there by 8 in the morning and left well after 3, sometimes later than most of the staff.  I'd resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to be able to make any gifts for anyone except Rebecca's amazing teacher, and though I felt a little bit bad about it, I knew it was the smart, sane thing to do.

I used the Note Taker pattern from Kathy, and made the small size with these great school-themed fabrics I've been collecting.  I left out the stabilizer and just reinforced with double layers of fusible interfacing (frankly, because that's all I had!), so now it's washable if necessary.  The girls drew their own cards, and I wrote a heartfelt note to a truly remarkable woman.

 
I finished all the sewing by Monday night (last day of school was Thursday) and when I went to the closet to pull out a notepad, dang!  Not one was to be found.  So I grudgingly went to Staples, armed with my Rewards Coupon, and went to get a 5" x 8" notepad. 

 
As I was trying to decide between yellow, white, unbleached, recycled, wide-, narrow- or college-ruled, I found these Mini Writing Tablets, in pink, green, yellow, and purple.  They came five to a pack, and were marked at 99 cents.  The wheels started turning, and suddenly I knew I could do something inexpensive, fast and easy for Rebecca's classmates, too.  And even better, when I got to the checkout counter, the packs of tablets rang up at 50 cents each!  And with my $9 rewards check, I didn't end up paying a dime for anything.  Whoo hoo!

 
I had a stack of black construction paper left over after taking down one of the teacher's bulletin boards, and I thought I could make covers for the pads so that they looked like faux chalkboards.  Of course, I first had to check with Rebecca to make sure the kids still knew what a chalkboard was, but she assured me she did.  She'd seen one in a movie before, she said.  Ha!  Anyway, I cut the paper down to size (3.5" x 5"), plus about an inch extra in length so I had enough to wrap around the top to the back of the pad.  I used double stick tape, easy peasy.  Then Rebecca drew on them with chalk, we printed "Happy Summer" labels with her name and email address on them and stuck them on the inside front cover, and that was that.  I didn't even have to stay up late!

five really fast

For Teacher Appreciation Day last Tuesday, I had five gifts to make and I got them done in less than an hour.  Only three made it into the photo, but you get the idea.

4" x 6" acrylic frames, great scrapbooking cardstock (yes, it's still the same stack but I'm starting to run low) cut to size, some ribbon and colorful 3"x3" Post-It notes, and there you go.  Super simple, but still useful for the teachers, I think, and lets them know how much we truly do appreciate them.  The girls wrote notes on the first sheet of Post-It's and signed their names before giving them out.  Jessie had two, and Rebecca gave one to each of her teachers, past and present.  Her current teacher also got little treats each day of the week.  By the time both girls are in school and in the upper grades, I'm going to have to make like a dozen things all at once!  Hmmm.  Better start collecting ideas.

neopolitan ripple - crocheted baby blanket pattern

 
Look what I've been working on for a commissioned project!  Ooh, doesn't that sounds so fancy?  Actually, a parent from Rebecca's school asked if she could pay me to make three baby blankets for her sister.  But "commissioned" sounds so much more important, doesn't it?  This is the first, I finished it a couple of weeks ago and am now working on the second, which is knitted, and Dodger blue.  But first I wanted to write up the pattern - I think it's my first (aside from the flowers I did way back when)!

Aside from the colors, I was given complete artistic license.  Which, sometimes, is harder than just being asked to make a certain pattern.  So, after fussing about for way too long looking online for different baby blanket patterns, and then messing around with different stitch patterns, I finally came up with this crocheted ripple pattern that gives a nice, soft wave.  After I wrote this up, I did a little searching online and I found that the Neat Ripple Pattern by Attic 24 is the same stitch I came up with.  And there are probably at least a dozen or so others already posted, but since this did develop from my own hands and brain, I think it's okay for me to post this for anyone who wants to make their own Neopolitan Ripple blanket.  You can also find the details here on Ravelry.

My blanket measures 36" x 36".  No blocking, because I used Caron Simply Soft, a worsted weight 100% acrylic yarn, so it would be easy care for the new mommy.  The chosen colors were Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla.  Oh, I mean Chocolate, Pink and Off White.  I used 2 skeins of each color, but didn't use very much of the second skien of each.

G (4mm) hook 

Gauge: approximately 20 sts and 8 rows = 4” x 4”.

Start by chaining 171 stitches across. The pattern repeat is 14, plus 3 extra for the turning chain, which counts as a double crochet.  I wish I could have used a foundation chain, but I don't know how to do that when there are decreases and increases in the first row... (Alice, is that even possible?)

Row 1: Dc in 4th chain from hook. *Dc in next 4 sts, decrease 2x, dc in next 4 sts, 2 dc in each of next 2 sts,* repeat from * to * across the row, ending with 2 dc in last st.

Row 2: Chain 3, turn.  This counts as the first dc of the row.  Dc in same st (you now have  2 dc). *Dc in each of next 4 sts, decrease 2x, dc in next 4 sts, 2 dc in each of next 2 sts,* repeat from * to * across row, ending with 2 dc in last st.

Repeat Row 2 until blanket measures 36” or desired length, fasten off.

Edited on July 17, 2010 to add: When I say to decrease 2x, I mean to decrease twice in a row, thereby turning 4 stitches into 2.  I've also rewritten a little bit of the pattern to make it clearer, hopefully.  Oh, and it might help you to know that dc stands for double crochet in American terminology.

 
For my blanket, I worked 2 rows of each color, starting with Off White, then Pink, then Chocolate, then going back to Off White.  I will definitely do this again in random colors and maybe experiment with different stripe widths. 

If you find any mistakes, please let me know and I'll try to fix it right away.  Hope you like it, if you make one be sure and leave a comment with a link - I'd love to see.

plant me - a long-winded tutorial of sorts

Okay, so maybe I didn't take as many good photos as I'd originally thought... but anyway, for whatever it's worth, here goes a mini tutorial to let you know how I made the little plantable flower favors for Jessie's preschool class.  It's kind of a multi-step process, you can split it up if your kiddos are going to be helping and have a short attention span.  There are papermaking kits out there that you can buy that have much better directions than mine, and probably lots of great videos and online tutorials too - so please go check them out if I end up utterly confusing you.

 
First, you'll need to find some paper you were about to relegate to the recycle bin, mostly non-glossy (though you can put in a bit of that, too).  We used some construction paper from old preschool homework projects, and the corner of one of those drink holders they give you at the fast food places when you haven't got enough hands...  The size of the pieces isn't a horribly big deal, because next you'll be getting out the machinery.  Well, actually, I  take that back.  If you're using super thick stuff like the drink holder, I think you probably do want to rip it up so the pieces are no bigger than oh, say your thumbnail, or your blender might not like you too much.

So then, yes, pull out an old blender - preferably from the thrift store and not one you'll ever use for margaritas again.  If you don't want to mess up your blender, you could probably get away with ripping up your pieces really really reeeally small and letting it all soak in a bucket of water overnight.  But my kids (and I) are not that patient, and I made my own paper way back before I was married so I already owned a messed up blender.  Put a couple of handfuls of ripped up paper into the blender, then fill about three-quarters of the way with water.  Hit the button and mash it up until it looks like a smoothie.  Puree is the right setting on mine...

It doesn't look attractive, I know.  But you're going to pour it into a dishpan and probably make at least another batch.  I have my well-used tub filled about halfway.  As  you can see from the grey sides, if you use junk mail or stuff that already has printing on it, the ink will run and that's just something you need to be aware of.  Obviously, this isn't an exact science - at least not for me, anyway.

The rest of the supplies you'll need are a sponge, some muslin or other cheap cloth (keep in mind whatever texture your cloth is, that's the texture you'll have on your paper - mine is smooth), and some wooden frames.  The size of your frame will determine the size of your paper.

 
One of your frames is simply a wooden rectangle, or whatever shape you want, really.  The other frame has a very fine mesh stapled to it.  You're going to hold the two frames together, the mesh one on the bottom with the mesh side up (staples facing you) and then the other one stacked on top.  You'll dunk the frames into your washtub, letting the paper pulp settle onto the frames.  Move gently from side to side so that you get even coverage, and here's where you add the seeds, and need a couple of extra hands.  You could also pour the seeds into the tub after you add the pulp and mix it up inside the basin (with your hands, don't put the seeds in the blender of course), but I just wanted to make sure you could see them lying on top of the paper.  Then lift straight up, and let it drain, using the sponge from the underside to wick away as much water as possible.  Then, carefully remove the top frame and turn the mesh frame with the paper on it face down onto your cloth.  Use the sponge to press down on the back of the mesh frame, removing as much moisture as you can, and repeat until you can't wring out your sponge any more.  Start pulling the frame up from a corner, and the paper should come away from the mesh easily, sticking to the cloth on the bottom. 

 
Take the cloth with the newly-made, still-wet paper on it, set it by a window in the sunlight, allow to dry, and then the paper will peel right off the muslin.  If you don't put seeds in, you can even iron your paper and it will be dry almost instantly (again, that patience thing).  But, of course, if you have seeds you can't do that! 

When everything was dry, I cut out a cute shape, traced on the back of the paper (less seed interference that way) and cut.  You could certainly use a die cutter or paper punch.  That would be much smarter.

 
We used poppy, batchelor button, forget-me-not and daisy seeds.  They were small, and not too thick.  

I printed up some simple tags so the parents would know what to do with these, and cut them into strips.

I looped the strips and used a water soluble glue stick to attach them onto the backs of the flowers.  In retrospect, I think they would have been cuter with green paper, maybe even cut to look like leaves.  Anyway, they were pretty simple, even though my directions may not make it seem so.  Please email if you have questions, I didn't mean to confuse anyone.  I hadn't expected to explain the whole papermaking process, just the adding seeds part and how I made them into favors!

Happy Earth Day, everyone.

oh joy

Today there's a repost of my crocheted flower tutorial on Vanilla Joy, and don't forget to scroll down or look in her sidebar for all the cool knitting and crochet giveaways she's got going on this week, too!