Quickie: I'm a hooker!

I never thought the day would come.

I really didn't.

I'VE LEARNED TO CROCHET!

My tension is still pretty off, but I'll get better as I go.

This ninja is super stoked.

The Stash.

I'm always curious about what people have when crafting.

You might not be. But I know there's others out there like me. 

There's something about seeing the raw material they're working with and then seeing a finished product that is so awesome, it's hard to find words to describe it. Part of it is probably due to the fact that crafters know what kind of work goes into making things. 

So I thought I'd share pictures of what I'm working with, yarn, knitting, and crochet related.

This is my odd and end box. It's got my scissors, stitch markers, some embroidery thread, gauge reader/ruler, yarn bobbins, darning needles, etc.

This is my yarn. And it's constantly changing and growing or shrinking. It's made up of Red Heart brand (which I honestly don't like, I think it's too rough for much of anything) and I Love This Yarn! acrylic worsted weight. After taking this picture, I got two things of Peaches & Creme 100% cotton. My kitchen needs some potholders.

These are the only two sets of circulars that I have. They're size 8 and 10, both 29". Needless to say, I use a LOT of the magic loop method when knitting on these.

Theeeeese are my knitting needles. Thanks in large part to my best friend, Kristy. Her mom had moved into a house that had a mess of things left over, including a large amount of knitting needles. I've got a pretty good amount of 14", then a couple sets of 10", and then a few sets of DPNs.

These would be my crochet hooks. I had, literally, ONE before Kristy. I also have a big assortment of pattern magazines and books for crocheting, straight out of the 70s and 80s. My house would be retro-fab right now if it wasn't for Kyle stopping me.

And, you know, if I could actually crochet. >.<

So, that's my knitting and crocheting stuff. Not a lot, but it's mine and it works for me.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to show you my craft room.

If only someone could get it done...

(Kyle, if you're reading this, HINTHINT.)

Keeping The Husband Happy

When my husband saw the finished piece I made for his mom and dad for Christmas, he wanted something like that for our house.

"I'M SICK OF ALL THESE PLAIN WALLS!"

The guy gave me free range of crafting and decorating.

And I. Got. Excited.

First, I started tracing my letters onto some scrapbook paper. I ended up getting the same type of letters that I used for the in-laws gift, but smaller.

Then I had to sit down and paint the board I got.

You know, for someone that hates painting as much as I do, I paint often.

And look at my elaborate tools. A cool whip lid as a paint holder? Thrifty.

And a couple of plastic bags to cover my work space? Recycling at its best, no?

I loved how the paint looked on the sign for my in-laws, so I had no problem doing it for the one in our house.

Then the hard part. Cutting out and placing the letters to get the spacing as best as I could. I'm not so good with this, let me tell you.

The letters in all their glory.

"If you teach your child nothing else, teach them the golden rule."

The actual quote is:

"If you teach your children nothing else, teach them the golden rule and righty-tighty, lefty-loosey."

I didn't have enough room. >.<

All attached (mod podge) on the wood.

Final coat of mod podge to seal everything together.

And it's currently...not hanging up anywhere. Because I ran out of the hanger attachments.

Clearly, I don't think ahead very well.

Also, I'm not very happy with the spacing and jumbly-ness that the letters are.

Kyle loves it. Says it gives it character.

I say it's done and I'm not doing it again anytime soon.

Quickie: New Necklace.

Still not sure how I'm feeling about this one right now.

The heart is polymer clay.

It hangs low. Maybe if I shorten the chain, I'll like it better.

Or maybe I don't have the right outfit for it. Hmm..

What a hoot.

I needed a good laugh/smile. 

Why?

Well, you know that green thing I was knitting for-freaking-ever?

I finished it. I loved it. I started trying to crochet the edges together to make a bag.

It didn't work out right. So I tried just sewing them.

It didn't work out right. So I tried pulling out the yarn that I had used to sew up half of one side of the bag.

It didn't want to come out. So I broke out the scissors and...

This happened.

I cut the knit part. *facepalmfacepalmfacepalm* I was SO freaking angry. Like, almost swore off knitting for a month angry. It was very bad times. And I needed something to bring me up.

While stewing, I (ofcourse) ended up at Hobby Lobby and came across this book.

First thing I noticed about it? The owl. The cutest effing owl I've EVER seen. I've been on the hunt for a great owl knitting pattern and couldn't find one that I liked. Well. I found one now. And I squealed.

Legit squealed in Hobby Lobby.

Ofcourse I went home with the book and got to work. Only to realize the pattern was for size 6 needles. And ironically, that's a size I DON'T have. So, I pulled out some size 5s and went to work on them.

His name is Robert Paulsen. Though, Kyle likes to call him Bitch Tits. :(

His little wispys are what killed me the most. I love, love, LOVE him. I snugged him a few nights after I made him, actually. 

And, yes. Without the wispys, he's only about 4 inches tall.

HOW FREAKING ADORABLE IS HE?!

There's an option to knit the eyes, but I had some toy eyes left over from making SIL's Monster Book Of Monsters, so I used them. And you know what? I doubt I'd ever knit the eyes when I make this pattern again.

Gifts Galore!

I'm a huge nut for Christmas. And with money stretched tiiiiiiiight, I had to make it work. My solution.

DIY GIFTS BABAYYYYY!

This was originally supposed to say "GRANDKIDS", but you can see..I ran out of room. Totally misjudged the letter size. The letters, by the way, were traced onto scrapbook paper, then cut out, then applied. Well. The "GRAND" was. The "Life is.." is from cardstock stickers. I painted the once blank wood piece, then added the lettering, then mod podged the whole thing.

Then I painted a bunch of these clothespins. They were painted brown and gold.

And then they were applied to the sign. They're for holding pictures. :)

(Grand)mother-in-law mentioned that there were 5 pictures, and if this was for the grandkids, we needed to pop out another. Bakery is closed, dear. :P

Not too bad, huh?

Ontop of Christmas, it was my sister-in-law's belated birthday. She turned 18 and got her Harry Potter everything day. I'm jealous. Just saying.

She got her Hogwarts letter, a cake like Harry's, and I had to keep with the theme.

I totally made her a Monster Book Of Monsters.

And this was no easy task.

This is the wood book I started with. The spine pulls out and has a little storage tray. Cute, no?

And then I had to cover the thing in faux fur. The fur got EVERYWHERE. I didn't put any on the spine. I have a story for this.

And his eyes. Let me tell you something about his eyes. Those eyes were the worst thing ever. SUCH a pain. Totally worth it. But SUCH a pain.

And then his mouth was made from polymer clay.

So. The story.

He was a very loved and used monster. His spine is completely bald.

This is because of all the children stroking it to open him up.

It probably didn't help that monster pattern baldness ran in his family.

Also, his eyes and mouth are no longer perfectly aligned. The ignorant children dropped him down the many steps at Hogwarts and the injuries caught up with him.

Great way to cover imperfections, huh? Stories FTW!

And in the monster's drawer...

An owl necklace that, yes, I made.

OH. She got another necklace, too, but with her fingerless gloves.

w00t geek love!

Christmas was an all-around success. And now my mother-in-law is requesting her own pair of fingerless gloves.

Stuck In The Shadows

So, I've been gone from this blog for quite a while. And I promise, there's good reason behind this.

1. I've dropped, threw, and got my phone wet too many times. It no longer connects to WiFi. I'm posting this from the husband's phone.

2. Our laptop charger bit the bullet, so we need to get a new one. And MacBook chargers? They aren't cheap.

I'm pretty eager to get a new charger. I've got some stuff I want to share. :)

For those who read/follow,thank you and please bear with me.