12 Monday May 2014
I working on some more crochet jewelry now, so I’m back on the thread. I was looking for a way to corral the open hanks & found Lazy May’s adorable printable floss bobbins.
Why didn’t I see the typo before I finished the photo?
I printed mine on card stock & colored them before cutting them out. I love them! I would prefer if the paper was a bit heavier, but this works.
09 Wednesday Apr 2014
Posted in Crafting
Tags
Keeping You In Stitches Saturday | Pointe Shoes Punk Rock and Purl
Thought you would enjoy this. Hope you’re having a wonderful day!
04 Friday Apr 2014
Posted in Crafting
Tags
Running really behind on day #3, so something quick.
As you can see, our living room is dominated by the bf’s large L-shaped couch. To add some table room without eating up a lot of floor space, I made a sofa ledge to go behind the couch. It adds 10ft of ledge, but only takes up six inches of the room. 🙂
30 Tuesday Jul 2013
Tags
contest, crochet, discount, earrings, Etsy, Facebook, free, gift certificate, giveaway, hair doodad, handmade, headband, jewelry, JoyOOAK, needs more sausage, OOAKindness, ostrich, Pinterest, t-shirt
Having passed the 100 likes mark on Facebook, I am having the promised drawing for my shop. 😀
Here are the goodies!
1. A pair of custom earrings from my shop.
2. A t-shirt designed just for this contest.
3. One of my triple headbands with braided ties in your choice of up to three colors.
4. … & a $10 gift certificate to my shop (& only MY SHOP. Etsy is very clear that I must make it very clear to you my gift certificates are only good at my shop. So don’t try to use them at the liquor store. It won’t work). There will also be other random trinkets & candies, of the non-melty variety of course. It’s in the 90s here, so I won’t be sending out ice cream & chocolates.
Also, I will be drawing for two $5 gift certificates with custom triple headbands.
* In the event one of my male fans wins, alternative prizes can be arranged. The same goes for people who don’t wear pierced jewelry for religious reasons, or the like. I want you to have something you can enjoy!
On to the rules! Continue reading
13 Wednesday Feb 2013
Posted in Food
Tags
candy, candy canes, chocolate, Christmas, crochet, dessert, DIY, food, gifts, handmade, needs more sausage, peppermint, peppermint marshmallows, recipes, red hots, Valentine's Day, white chocolate
Peppermint Bark!
I made this for Christmas, but have seen something similar made with red hots so that would make a nice Valentine’s Day variation. It was very popular & most commonly described as “pure sugar”. It’s like a tastier version of rocket fuel!
I first made this a few years ago after finding some large skewered marshmallows coated in chocolate & peppermint. This was my, far lazier, version of that. No cooking required, just a little time in the microwave for melting the chocolate. (The pics were a last minute idea while I was making them Christmas & I was running late, so here you are shadows & all.)
24 Monday Sep 2012
Tags
armbands, click fob, crafting, crafts, crochet, crochet ewok, ewok, free, links, Lucy Ravenclaw, needs more sausage, patterns, Pinterest, planned projects, Ravelry, running armbands, Star Wars
Okay, still trying to get back into the crafting mood. I’ve been keeping busy working on my novel, training for my half marathon, & the eternal trying to catch up around the house. (Am I the only person who finds this impossible? I miss living alone & having only my own messes to clean up.)
So, in the spirit of putting my feet to the fire to get things done, here are the projects I plan to do this week:
1. Crochet an ewok! My neice asked me to crochet her an ewok with a red cape for her birthday. Her birthday was a few weeks ago & I haven’t even started it:~/ I just haven’t been able to get myself motivated to do any crafting in months. Anyone else have that problem?
I found a cute free pattern on Ravelry. It is made with sport weight yarn, & I play to use worsted weight to make it bigger. I bought dolls eyes for it & it’ll be my first time using those. Learning new stuff!
Wicket the Ewok by Lucy Ravenscar on Ravelry
2. Make a car clicker fob for my Dad. I broke the ring that holds it on the key chain off his & so far none of my attempts to reattach it have worked. I bought some clear, thin vinyl & University of Alabama patterned fabric for it. I already have snaps, so I am going to create a pattern for his clicker to make a holder that will snap over the ring for the key chain. That should be fun. I finally got my sewing machine out of storage, but haven’t used it yet, though I’m not sure this will be big enough to use the machine. I’m not even sure I remember how to use it.
3. Make an armband for running. I need something that will hold my phone, mp3 player, & a few small things like my car key & ID. The mp3 player is small & will clip on, so it doesn’t need to be very big. I use a run tracker on my phone, so need that (plus you know, safety, & naturally I catch up on texts & fb during my cool down walk because I’m obsessed like that). It would be easier if I just used the mp3 player on my phone, but I am very attached to my little orange mp3 player.
I have a few patterns pinned, plus I have something similar in a book, so I’m not sure if I’ll use an established pattern or just wing it. Most likely I’ll end up doing a hybrid. Since I don’t sew a lot, it’s helpful to be able to piggy-back off of someone else’s experience. Here are the two I have pinned. The first one is closest to what I want. Oh, & I now I happen to have the vinyl:D
Source: favecrafts.com via Joy on Pinterest
Source: makeit-loveit.com via Joy on Pinterest
4. Make a pouch for my phone. I think I’m going to try crocheting one with a ribbed ripple stitch. I’ll have to dig through my stash & see what colors I have. This is pretty basic, so I’ll just be winging my own pattern.
That’s my week. The ewok & the clicker fob are the two most important ones. I really need to get that ewok done. (I did buy her a gift though, so I had something to give her at her birthday party.)
My niece at her 8th birthday party.
Anyone else have crafting plans for the week?
31 Thursday May 2012
Posted in Reviews
Tags
cotton, crochet, fibers, fibranatura, needs more sausage, product review, review, sea cell, sea kelp, slouchie beanie, Universal Yarn, yarn
fibranatura Sea Song Yarn in thrush
A friend of mine requested several months ago I make him a slouchie beanie. I told him I would later. I just made him a hat four years ago, jeez. So anyhoo, my birthday was in February, & what did he get me? A book of slouchie beanie patterns. Subtle. His birthday is next month, & he’s going to be forty, so I figured I better get on that hat soon while Peepaw is still with us.
We discussed yarn options, & I decided it needed to be cotton or it wouldn’t be fit to wear in summer. He wanted it brown to match his eyes. He didn’t want it to be variegated & mocked me for my love of variegated yarns, which he greatly exaggerated. I know, he’s hateful!
Since the only cotton in the only store within an hour of here that sells yarn only had one brown & that was the variegated, I was forced to order yarn online. Yikes. Always a tricky prospect, especially when your ordering a brand you aren’t familiar with.
I ended up at Herrschners where I found fibranatura’s Sea Song on clearance. The price, the beautiful shade of brown (thrush), & the fact it’s a sea kelp & cotton blend won me over.
Fibranatura (a Universal Yarns brand) Sea Song yarn is an 80% cotton/20% sea cell worsted weight blend. Sea cell is a kelp fiber. Univeral Yarn has a large selection of eco friendly yarns, including organic cotton & bamboo.
Sea Song is wonderfully soft & smooth. I love the feel of it. It comes in some beautiful colorways, & has a slight sheen to it that reminds me of embroidery floss (possibly because I was crocheting with embroidery floss before I started on the hat).
Speaking of embroidery floss, another way it reminds me of that is the twist. It is very loose, just like floss, so it splits easily. I’m a slow crocheter anyway, so any yarn that slows me down because I have to take extra care with my stitches & keep having to rework them because I missed a thread gets a dark mark in my book.
Also, in less than half a ball, probably less than a third, I have found two breaks. For a gift I can make this work, but by the looks of things so far (little catches & the broken threads here & there) I would not make anything to sell out of it.
I was really excited about this yarn, the color, the softness, the fact that it was made with kelp, but have been very disappointed with it, mostly because of the splits. I could have overlooked the breaks, I’ve seen worse in yarn, but the splits are a problem.
Overall I would not use Sea Song again, & I’m not sure about trying other fibranatura yarns, but I don’t rule out trying other Universal yarns.
Anyhoo, just feeling a little frustrated & wanted to vent a bit in a quick review. Hope this shines a little light for someone!
Oh, the hat is this really easy slouchy beanie at Jenn Likes Yarn. The hat he wanted in the book was knit, & this was a pretty close approximation in crochet. I could have just winged it, but I’ve been trying to work more patterns to learn new ways of doing things. I’ve been winging it almost since I learned to crochet, & I feel a little stunted because of it. I’m hoping to finish it tonight, if not then for sure tomorrow. I’ll update you on the finished product.
I would love to hear about your experiences online yarn shopping, & any problem yarns you’ve run across, as well as some favorites you’d like to share.
26 Saturday May 2012
Posted in Food
Tags
black eyed peas, cooking, cooking experiments, dinner, experimenets in the kitchen, food, Glory foods, gnocchi, JoyOOAK, leftover mashed potatoes, meat flavored pasta sauce, meat isn't a flavor, needs more sausage, Pinterest, recipes, turnip greens, vegetarian
I ❤ gnocchi, & have been considering trying some out with leftover mashed potatoes. I found a recipe online for gnocchi from leftover mashed potatoes. Now would be a good time to mention I don’t cook much, if you don’t already know.
leftovers
We eat a lot of mashed potatoes, & it’s not unheard of for us to have turnip greens with them. I thought combining them for gnocchi would be fun, like Southern fusion cooking.
(We like Glory Foods seasoned turnip greens a great deal. They’re spicy, delicious, & easy.)
.
yep, that’s dough
04 Friday May 2012
Tags
contest, crochet, discount, earrings, Etsy, free, gift certificate, giveaway, hair doodad, handmade, headband, jewelry, JoyOOAK, needs more sausage, OOAKindness, ostrich, Pinterest, t-shirt, Twitter
Thanks to everyone who has helped me make it to 100 followers on Twitter… & beyond! Hurray!
Now, for the drawing I promised. First a reminder of the prizes*:
1. A pair of custom earrings from my shop (which does include any of the pictured styles though they still haven’t made it onto Etsy yet).
2. A t-shirt designed just for this contest.
3. One of my triple headbands with braided ties in your choice of up to three colors.
4. … & a $10 gift certificate to my shop (& only MY SHOP. Etsy is very clear that I must make it very clear to you my gift certificates are only good at my shop. So don’t try to use them at the liquor store. It won’t work). There will also be other random trinkets & candies, of the non-melty variety of course. It’s already in the 90s here, so I won’t be sending out ice cream & chocolates.
Also, I will be drawing for two $5 gift certificates with custom triple headbands.
The same prizes will be given for my Facebook fans when I reach 100 likes over there. I’m at 82 likes now, so you’ve still got time.
* In the event one of my male fans wins, alternative prizes can be arranged. The same goes for people who don’t wear pierced jewelry for religious reasons, or the like. I want you to have something you can enjoy!
On to the rules for my very first ever drawing! Continue reading
04 Friday May 2012
Posted in How-to
For anyone who uses GIMP (a free alternative to Photoshop), I just whipped up a pattern made from a white single crochet swatch. Make it any color you like. 
For the 1st & 3rd lines, I used a 100×100 scale of the image for my pattern & colored it pink. (The first font is Janda Curlygirl Pop by Kimberly Geswein.)
For 2nd & 4th lines, I used the pattern at its original 500×500 size. The bottom is the original white & the 2nd was colored a dark pink.
I’m posting the original & more information on how to use this behind the cut.
