Friday, January 14, 2011

The various things I made for Christmas

I am really behind sharing my projects! I made things for Christmas, but as usual, I didn't get to photograph them. My favorite items were the crochet edged pillowcases. I made 3 sets for 6 pillowcases in all. They looked great! How could I have neglected to photograph them?

I used THIS BOOK and the edges looked even better than those in the article...

Also for Christmas gifts, I made some reusable shopping bags from my fabric stash. I saw this pattern for a fabric produce bag online at Daisey Janie. That was an excellent pattern and I made 6 bags from it as gifts for an early holiday gathering we had a few weeks before Christmas. Alas.. I really craft in a rush for Christmas and I didn't photograph those either. The pattern conveniently uses a fat quarter and ends up quite narrow. Perfect for a produce bag, but I thought I could try modifying it to achieve a more useful size.

Fabric Bags

I used a full half yard and got this perfectly sized bag that measures 15 inches high by about 17 inches wide. I love that these bags roll up neatly when not in use. I also love the way the sales clerks respond when I pull these out to use them: "Nice bag!" "You made it?!" Sure! It was easy! You could do it too!

I've made a lot of reusable bags, but this is by far my favorite pattern. I made these two for me and another set of 4 for my mother-in-law. The fabric I used for hers was quite nice, but you'll just have to imagine it.

Fabric Bags

Take a look at this beautiful Queen Anne's Lace Scarf by fantasticmio on Craftster. When I saw that, I simply had to make one EXACTLY like it for my mom. I also got another colorway of the Bernat Mosaic yarn to make one for my Mother-in-law. They turned out terrific and that is a really nice yarn. This is the one by fantasticmio, but the one for my mom looked pretty much exactly the same:



My mom understands my crafty urges and she got me some cool yarns for Christmas. I've been playing around with them. First I made this Worm Scarf from a pattern by Julie Weisenberger using Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene.

Worm Scarf

I think there is a smudge on my camera... This yarn is really funky and squishy and I love the way this scarf turned out. I've been wearing it a lot since it is really wintery where I live.

Mom and I were really on the same wavelength in our yarn choices because she also got me this rainbow colorway of Mochi Plus yarn which is very much like the yarn I used for her scarf except Mochi Plus is wool and Bernat Mosaic is acrylic.

Crochet

Since I already made two Queen Anne's Lace scarves, I decided to try playing with some of the motifs in my crochet books. This is my first try. It is maybe a little too lacy, I am not sure..

Once I started playing with crochet motifs, I pulled some stuff out of my stash to try this little clover pattern:

Crochet

Here is the center:
Clover Crochet

And four motifs crocheted together:

Green and White Crochet

Pretty cute, but my daughter turned up her nose and declared, "I don't like it, Mom." I like crafting for the seasons and holidays, but this may be just a little bit overboard to make a scarf like this for St. Patrick's Day.

I did even
more crafting for some articles at Craft Critique. More on those later.

5 comments:

Dana (*danavee*) said...

GAH! Now *I* need to go get that yarn and whip up some of those Queen Ann's lace scarves. ENABLER! ;-)

Little Penpen said...

I love those queen ann's lace scarves.. you are so very talented and those colors are wonderful. And I disagree with your daughter; the clover motifs are gorgeous!

IamSusie said...

Thanks Pen Pen! Dana, I bet you can finish a Queen Annes Lace scarf on the airplane to CHA. I seriously have an itch to crochet that must be scratched.

Paula said...

I love your scarves, especially the second one and those produce bags are beautiful and practical. I had a look at the original pattern and agree with you they are too small. Pity you didn't take photos of the pillowcases as I would've loved to see them with your lovely crochet edgings :-)

Linda S. said...

I would very much like to know what book that is that you are using for the clover motif pattern, I would love to get my hands on it!