Little Things

I know it's small and insignificant to most but I think details like this matter. I don't like things to look messy so I'm always trying to improve on things. Unfortunately I'm afraid that most people would never guess by the state of my house that I am this persnickety.

Most people know that the cords to blinds can be very dangerous to children and pets. We have a friend who had a kitten hang it's self on a mini-blind cord. For that reason I've always kept the cords tied well out of the way of curious hands and itchy paws.

But I've always thought this looked messy. And in some places like our big picture window I don't have anywhere to put one of those hook things you wind the cord around and honestly I'm not real found of the way they look either.

So I came up with this solution recently. I let the blinds down at far as I wanted them to go when closed, then I took the remaining cord starting at the top and using a very large hook I crocheted it into a chain and pulled the little ends through to finish it off. Now it doesn't look so messy but is still out of the way of small children and my kitties.

You can do this without using a crochet hook by simply making a loop at the top and then pulling a loop of cord through it over and over to create a chain.

Go here to see how it's done. Or search on crochet chain to find lots more examples.

J's First Sweater

This is J's very first sweater, hand crocheted by his Yia Yia.
(Yia Yia Greek for grandmother, no we're not Greek, I'll share the story another time).

Isn't he cute as a bug? I never get tired of taking photos of this baby.
His face is so expressive.

It's an easy pattern with post stitches to add texture.
All it needs now are a few buttons.

Sorry I've lost the link to the pattern but when I find it I'll share.

Shelf Edgings

I finally got around to putting up some of the edgings I crocheted months ago. I bought the little cloisonné' cricket at Pottery Barn for .99 cents. He was being sold as a Christmas tree ornament and was originally $10. I wanted him very badly but couldn't bring myself to pay that price. So I left the store and forgot all about him. Then one Sunday in Feb. G and I were in the mall and I wanted to look around in Pottery. There was my little cricket for 90% off. I bought 5. In the language of totems crickets represent travel.














The edgings are in my office. This is what my office looks like most of the time because I always have more than one project going; that's why it takes me so long to complete one.















I put the edgings up with light duty staple gun similar to this one. I was careful not to damage the crochet work and the nice thing is you can't even see the staples. I still have one more piece to crochet and then I'll be through with these two shelves. I have two more edgings in cream that I crocheted for the Welsh Dresser in the dining room but I'm not putting them up with staples because it's an antique and I don't want to damage it. So I've decided to buy a nice piece of linen to line the shelves and sew the edgings on to it the old fashion way. The linen will brighten up the shelves and I can display my edgings without damaging the shelves.














The tea cups in the photo above are some I bought to make into pincushions or candles to sell at the farmers market during the Christmas season. The jars in this photo are some of my collection. I like old jars for storing/displaying the bits and pieces I use to sew or craft with. They all come from thrift stores and it's my personal rule to never pay more than $2 for one. At first I bought any glass jar with a lid I could find but then I realized they were very plentiful so I started buying only those that have patterns in the glass like the one on the right.


I tried really hard to format this better but blogger would not cooperate.

Sorry I forgot to add this earlier; You can visit kootoyoo to find other creative spaces. Looks as though Kristy is about to get an awesome "Creative Space" all her own.

My Creative Space

So I shared the redo of my creative space so I thought I would share some of the things that have been going on in my space. Actually they've been going on in the livingroom and out on the deck but you get the idea.

These are some crochet projects I've been working on.

This is a tablecloth I've been working on for over 3 years now. It's made of motifs about 4 inches wide. I have about a third finished, I would have been completely finished byt I get distracted by other projects.

This is one of the projects that distracted me. This afghan is a Christmas present for a relative, not saying who but if you're kin to me and you already have one of my afghans then it's not for you ;o) It’s done in worsted weight yarn.

This is a piece of lace pillowcase edging I've been working on, I plan to use it along the edge of one of the shelves in my sewing room. As you can see I haven't worked in the tails yet. The shelf is long enough that I will actually need two to go all the way across. I started to do one long piece but changed my mind, I figure if I do it in two pieces I can always use it on pillowcases if I get tired of it as shelf edging. The edging is made of #10 cotton thread.

This is a piece I did awhile back. I really like the way it turned out. It’s crocheted of DMC embroidery thread because that’s the only way I could find all the colors I was looking for. I’m thinking of doing another in #30 (much finer than #10) all white or white accented with a second color and then frame it.

And this is a highchair I picked up at Salvation Army for $15. Jenny Lind was very fashionable when my kids were babies and I wanted one so bad but they didn't come cheap. But now I have one for the grandkids :o) As you can see it was in bad shape. It had to be taken apart and completely re-glued. I sanded it down and put one coat of primer on it. It needs another sanding and another coat of primer, then I'm going to put two coats of a creamy white oil based gloss on it. I think I'm going to accent the spindles with red or possibly a combo of red, baby blue and yellow.

To see what's happening in other creative spaces go visit kootoyoo.

The Hair Shirt

J started a pattern for a crocheted hoodie about a year ago. The pattern specified Bernat Chuncky but J fell in love with Bernat Alpaca Natural Blend. I tried to discourage her because I knew just by the look of it it wouldn’t be an easy yarn for a beginner but nothing doing. She got the hoodie pattern from the Bernat site unfortunately it’s no longer available.

She had finished the back and most of the front but got frustrated with the shaping of the front neck. Part of the problem is it’s very hard to see your stitches with this particular yarn, so it’s very hard to keep count. She put it in a bag and it sat in my office for almost a year. I had just finished up a afghan for a new grandniece (sorry I forgot to take pictures) and was out of things to crochet so decided to see if I could finish it up for her.

Turns out that she had the neck shaping all finished, I can’t remember what the problem was that had her stumped. All it really needed was sleeves. So I read and reread the rather confusing instructions and then just did what I thought was best, turns out that is exactly what I was supposed to do. She wanted the sleeves to be ¾ length so I had her try it on from time to time until I got them where she wanted them.

I have to say that I hated working with the stuff, it was itchy (that's the reason for the title of this post) and had it not been for my experience at crochet I would have probably thrown in the towel as well because it was so hard to see the stitches and did I mention the stuff it itchy. I would not recommend this yarn to anyone who’s not at least an intermediate crocheter and if you react to wool then you wouldn't want to try this yarn either.

The pattern was a bit confusing in places but I would use it again.

Prayer Shawl

I crochet a lot! I always have excess yarn that I am trying to figure out how to use up. I had a whole skein of Caron's One Pounder and decided to see if I could make a shawl from it. I didn't particularly need a shawl but thought I might be able to sell it at the farmer market.

I recently joined the quilting group at our church, turns out it's more of a needle arts club because some of the ladies also knit and crochet. The women's minister is trying to start up a prayer shawl ministry so that those who don't quilt can contribute something made with their skills.

So it was fortuitous timing that I had finished this shawl about a week before I joined. I donated it to the ministry yesterday. I am really pleased with how it turned out. It’s dimensions are gracious and I got fringe and all from one skein of yarn.