Stash Busting - Lace Up Moccasins

These moccasins was found in a Crochet A Day Calendar for 2008. The pattern is by Georgiann Eikenbary. I saw these moccasins and instantly knew I had to make them. This is a picture from the blog of the designer.

Here is a frontal view of my moccasins. They have beads purchased from Michaels' and fringe around the top of the foot. The pattern from the calendar shows fringe and it mentions beads but I couldn't see them on the photo.

I think mine look really really good. Very good pattern. I love how they come up the calf.

Here's a side view. There was an option to make additional soles so I did for additional cushion. Also I added some padded insoles to make them comfortable and to give them some shape.

I'm modeling these while at my mother's home. She was very impressed with my work. Watching her look over my workmanship made me feel all puffed up and proud! LOL!

I haven't decided to keep them or give them away as a gift. I may just keep them for myself. Who knows?

It feels great to finish a project and the outcome is terrific. I'm very pleased with these moccasins.

Toodles!

Stash Busting - A Gift for Joyce

It's been a while I know! Trust me! I know!

But I've been busy with a few things. For National Crochet month I started a new crochet project. I didn't want to spend any money on yarn when I had so much in my stash. So I decided to go through my yarn. There was a whole one pound skein of blue yarn which was calling my name. While in Hobby Lobby I found a really quick and easy afghan pattern by Red Heart to make. Then I remembered my cousin Joyce. Joyce has been recuperating at home for the past year after a serious stroke. She doesn't get out of the bed often so I thought this might make the perfect gift. I call it "A Gift for Joyce".

I really like this pattern. It called for a super saver skein of Red Heart yarn but since I had the Carons One Pound Skein of yarn I thought it would be a good substitution. But low and behold I didn't test gauge and I ran out of yarn.

I decided to stop after I ran out of yarn and used the variegated yarn for the edging. I love how it came out. Pretty huh? Would patting myself on the back be wrong? LOL!

I love how the FPDC creates the ribbing in the pattern. Too cool!

Here's a close up photo of the afghan. I love it! The pattern really looks good.

I may make this again. I really liked it a lot. My mom was impressed too. I haven't given it to my cousin yet but I plan on doing it after church on Easter. I think that would be a lovely gift for her Easter celebration.

What do you think?

Toodles...

I'm getting it!

Thanks to all of you who posted comments regarding Ravelry on my blog. Any help is much appreciated. I finally got my blog feed directed there! Thanks Stacey.



I finally figured out the difference between the queue and favorites! LOL! They seemed to mean the same to me but now I get it. I just need to figure out how to get other patterns I want to do listed. Then I will be straight!



Here is my latest and greatest! I just started this on Thursday!
It's called a cushy scatter rug and its for my master bathroom. It's supposed to be 24 X 60 inches. I have a ways to go but I'm off to a great start. I am using three strands of yarn and its very thick. The yarn colors are shown in the previous post. The Caron yarns. I'm using one of each color. I hope I purchased enough yarn!

I got the pattern from Wal Mart. It's the "Beginner's Guide Crochet Stitches & Easy Projects" by Leisure Arts Little books. I'm doing a cross stitch all through it. I've done in this book. This book is a must for a newbie!

I made scatter rug before using a goldish yarn with metallic threads all through it. I loved that rug but a previous feline roommate ruined it by urinating on it. I would wash it and she would do it over and over again. Needless to say she is no longer a roommate and I threw the rug away. It was a hard thing to do! Trust me!

Well I'm off to pack for my trip. I don't plan on taking this project since the skeins of yarn are so large. I would definitely have to check my luggage for a trip with it. I don't want to do that this week. Traveling light is a preference for me.

Chat with ya later!

Crochet and Ravelry Musings

I've been very busy with my crochet group. Now that fall has begun we have decided to meet weekly. This was my suggestion. I find that I miss a lot of meetings with my work schedule. We are going to create a group on Ralvery too! I'm quite excited. Many members already added me to their friends list (It's mskasey for those of you who would like to add me too!).

As a group we decided to do a knit/crochet a-long. Remember I'm a crocheter not a knitter (which I will try after a few more crochet projects). Well I was the first one who started and first one finished. I decided to do this pattern by Moda Dea yarns.


This is a crocheted kimono. Kritina from our group brought a knitted kimono book to our meetings and suggested a knit/crochet a-long. They chose kimonos from the book and I searched the internet for this one. Here is my review.

This is the finished kimono

Close up details

Pattern - Moda Dea crochet kimono - leaflet


Yarn - Bernat Berella "4" the afghan yarn

Color - Burgundy


How much yarn used - about 6 1/8 skeins. The pattern suggests a Moda dea yarn but it was more per skein than I wanted to pay.


Cost of yarn - $1 a skein! I bought 9 just in case. I found it in the clearance aisle at Michaels'. I love a good bargin.


Level - easy


Started - September 29th


Ended - October 14th


Size - 36


Did it look like the picture - yes it did!


Were the instructions easy to follow - yes


What did I like about the pattern - very easy and quick to crochet


What did I dislike about the pattern - nothing was wrong with the pattern at all.

Would I crochet it again - definitely. I want to do it again for myself!


Changes made - I decided to crochet a belt instead of using ribbon like the pattern said to do. It's just a simple single crochet belt.


Would I recommend this pattern - Definitely! Very easy! Good for a beginner crocheter


I still need to wash and block it but I think you get the overall effect. I think it came out great and I can't wait to give it to my mom. I think she will love it! I'm excited!

More projects to come!

Toodle Loo!

Crocheted Finished Projects for 2008

This will be a picture heavy post. I am so happy to show off my newest finished objects! I am so excited to finally post these crocheted items. They are past due my intended completion date but I am happy with the results!

The first item is a crocheted shell I made using Sugar n Cream cotton yarn I purchased at Michaels' when they had their ten skeins for $10 sale. This shell took about 8 1/2 skeins. It's very simple to make and I will make another one. I got the pattern from the Sugar n Cream website after I purchased the yarn. I am very excited and thrilled with it.


I want to show off my detail around the arms. I had to single crochet around the arms twice to finish.

This is the neckline. I like square necklines and the shell pattern looks really pretty!

Last but not least the bottom of the tank I crocheted the shell pattern all around. A very fun and easy project. This could easily be done in a week.

Unfortunately the shell is too big by one size on me. I think I will give it away to one of my friends.

This project I started back in June and had planned to complete by the end of July. This is the cardigan I worked on and ran out of yarn. I couldn't locate any skeins in the right dye lot so I had to improvise. I decided to make the back a solid color. It worked perfectly! I was thrilled. This jacket came out perfect. I actually have plenty of the multi-colored yarn left over.

The one thing about this pattern was the amount of yarn needed. I used two whole extra skeins on this project. I bought an extra skein but it was not enough. I guess you live and learn to improvise.

I must confess it is not entirely completed. I need to sew those buttons onto the sweater! TEE HEE! This is the one reason I am not modeling it for you.

As for the fit. It's PERFECT! I had to let you know this because a certain blogger and hubby (Patrice and Ian) said it looked huge. But I will say this they weren't the only ones. But it isn't huge at all. It's very thick though. My mom said it was like a coat! LOL!

Now I must show off some of my details like the ribbing around the sleeve. This was the first time I did ribbing and it really was easy. I love how the sleeves are nice and long. Sorry to the bloggers who suggested I make the sleeves 3/4 length to save on yarn. I have issues! LOL!

This is the collar. I had to do a shell pattern all around and change colors too for the back. Not bad! I really like this sweater and I can't wait to wear it when it gets cold.

Last but not least I made my first pair of socks! Yes these are crocheted socks. I love them! I made them in about a week. Not bad huh? I could have made them quicker but I took my time. I really like the way they turned out. I can't wait to make another pair. These were made with white worsted weight yarn I purchased at AC Moore in a bulk package with no name. It was incredibly cheap so I thought why not? Sure came in handy too. I didn't use much of it either. I like the way these feel on my feet. Very comfy!

These socks are worked from the cuff to the toe. The ribbing on the cuff is so easy! I mean very easy! I think I will make some of these for gifts this Christmas for family. I really like them a lot.

I really like the cuff. It's a simple single crochet only in the back loops. I made them while watching my television shows.

The heel, gusset and toe was a little more challenging in the respect of reading the pattern. I did frog once to start again but I figured it out after the one frogging. The toe was a no brainer and sews close with no ridge. KEWL!

Well there you have it! My crocheting projects for the month of September. I think I did a fabulous job! I am very excited.

Right now I think I will take a small hiatus on crocheting. I have other crafts I need to concentrate on (sewing and scrapbooking) for a while. I will get back to crocheting a little later in the year.

TOODLE LOO!

Frogging...

I finally decided to frog some of my UFO's which were not turning out how they should. I don't know what gets into me and why I do these things to myself. I made two different things a cardigan sweater and a cropped jacket.

The cardigan sweater I had worked on off and on since last summer. I completed the back, two front panels and sleeves. The pattern called for 48 ounces of worsted weight yarn. I had used 60 ounces and I had to buy two more 16 ounce skeins to complete the sleeves which I had to buy a contrasting color because I couldn't match the dye lot. The sweater was going to be huge! I mean seriously huge and I knew that after I finished the back. So someone tell me why I did not stop myself? PLEASE! So now after completing most of it I finally decided to stop and start over from the beginning. That's right! The beginning! I knew I wasn't going to wear it and I didn't want to give it away with the money and time I invested into it. I decided my best bet would be to frog it and start over fresh. But this time I will finish it and it will fit. I already made a sample to test my gauge and I have started fresh.
The crop jacket was very easy but again I made it too large! It was so pathetic I had to take a picture or two so you could get my drift! I made the sleeves about six inches too long! What is wrong with me. The back was large and the front was not properly constructed. Can we all say "HOT MESS"? I should be ashamed. I knew something was wrong in the beginning and I kept going. I need some serious help. None the less I frogged it too! That will be my next crocheted clothing project.

I tried to work on my next sewing project but I needed to fill a bobbin with the proper color thread. This was not working at all! The bobbin winder on my machine would not cooperate. Finally I called my local JoAnn's ( I purchased my machine there about 20 years ago) and asked if they could assist me. The lady in the sewing machine department was nice and told me to bring it in. I did so Saturday afternoon and she had no clue. She had never seen this type of bobbin winder ( I have one with the drop in bobbin winder). She tried though. No luck at all with it. So now I needed to take it in for repairs. I took my sewing machine to Hancock fabrics to have the repairman look at it and he found the issue. Now my machine is working fine. I am ready to start a new project when I return home! Yah!

I am now in San Antonio and I do not expect to be home until Friday or maybe Saturday (it's a longer stay than usual). I can't wait to get home . But the weekend I spent some quality time at the Six Flags waterpark. I had a great time of course and its a wonderful way to spend a very hot Saturday. I also took some time to ride the new rollercoaster called "Goliath". Boy I am getting old! I was so dizzy afterwards! I loved it though but I couldn't even think about doing it again! Funny! I spent Sunday relaxing and catching up on some sleep. A good weekend.



I have big plans when I return home. I will be calling around to have central air installed in my home ( something I should have done a long time ago). If I can get over that one small hurdle I will be good.



I hope everyone is having a great week!

Smooches!

Finished Chenille Cowl

O.K. Here is my finished chenille cowl! I loved this project! It was very easy and quick to make! Here is my review a la Crimson Purl!
Book - So Simple Crochet
Author - Melody Griffiths for Creative Homeowners
Pattern - Chenille Cowl
Level - Beginner
Time to complete - about four hours
Yarn - Lion Brand Chenille Thick & Quick, 1 skein each color antique white, khaki and Champagne
Needle size - N
Pro's - It's very easy and quick.

Con's - I never figured out how they got the fringe to twist! Also the pattern is one size fits all which isn't true for us busty women! I had to add several additional rows to the pattern. If I make it again for myself I would increase the stitches at least by five!

Overall this was a fabulous pattern. I will make a few of these to give as gifts this year!

This is my finished KCAL project for the Ebony Elite group. I may have another one to show later this week! This was too fun to make and easy!

Smooches!

KCAL Chenille Cowl Progress

Here is my chenille cowl I am doing for the KCAL with Ebony Elite. I am having some sizing issues. I wish I would have added a few more rows of the first color to the cowl. Now it only shows on the collar portion. I have decided to add a few more rows to the cowl of the other colors to make it long enough for me. I have broad shoulders and I wear an extra large in tops. This pattern appears to be made for a much smaller person. So I need to improvise some. I do like the way its working out though. I hope to have it finished by the time I leave for home on Thursday.

This is a picture of the cowl with the collar not rolled. This is a picture with the collar rolled. I would have preferred more of the cream on the shoulders but it appears the cream will show only on the collar. I know for next time now!

I will post the finished product by the end of the week!

Toodles!

Crochet progress

I am currently creating a really nice cardigan. I don't think this will be a quick finish by far. I found this pattern at Wal Mart in a book of crochet stitches with like five projects included. I have made two of the projects and this is the third. I can't wait to finish it. . I started it some time ago but I realized that it was way too large for me. I had completed about 80% of the back was only about fifteen rows from finishing the back when I realized it. I unraveled it. Now I have started it again due to Sheila's cardigan completion. Do not expect me to finish it as quickly as she did! LOL

Here is a picture of the cardigan.

Here is a picture of my progress.

I purchased this yarn at JoAnn's. It cost around $5 a skein. I like the colors of the yarn. I can wear this cardigan with many colors. I have a new pair of navy blue pants to wear when I complete this cardigan. I am pretty excited.

However today I noticed a bit of a flaw in my work. Look at this picture. It looks like I added an extra stitch to the last twenty rows! Ugh! I hate when that happens. I think I will unravel and start it again. Hopefully I will finish the back sooner than expected. I want to get this completed.

Wish me tons of luck! I need it!

Smooches!