Not Quite Vintage

anna crochet hat for moi

After all the holiday crafting I thought it might be nice to relax on the sofa and crochet a little something for myself. First I had to find a pattern that I loved. One that didn't frighten me and that would use up some of my yarn stash.

I started my search on Ravelry and found the Anna Hat pattern. I hadn't thought about purchasing a pattern - I really love free patterns (doesn't everyone?) - but when I saw photos of the Anna Hat and its reasonable price I clicked on over to Etsy to buy The Anna Hat by CrocheTrend.

I used some mid blue Soft Yarn I had in my stash and really love the color. It just fits. Snug is probably good for a hat and I bet it will stretch a bit as I wear it. The pattern was really quite easy to crochet - the instructions were clear and well written. Overall, it probably took me about three hours to crochet while watching TV at the same time.

Only snag I ran across was that my crochet needle didn't fit through the button holes. Luckily I had some embroidery thread almost the same color as my yarn. It did the trick. I also tacked down the corner of the flap to keep it from rolling up.

BTW, if there are any iPhone users out there, I took these photos with ShakeItPhoto. It makes Polaroid inspired photos right on your phone. I absolutely love the effect. If my skin could look that clear and glowy in every photo. Guess I will have to keep using the app.

holiday mantel

It is beginning to look a little like Christmas around here! Just a little - actually just the mantel, but that is a step in the right direction. Last night I was able to finish my crochet star garland and I am in love with it! 

Tonight when I got home from work I pulled out my favorite pencil Santas and some thumb tacks and went right to work. Now that I look at the pictures I realize that the garland is uneven, but oh well :) Most everything else typically lives on the mantel and to make things a bit more festive, I added some red and green ornaments to my green McCoy planters. The fireplace screen and tools were my grandparent's. I cherish them (actually I cherish everything of theirs that was passed down to me). They never get used, my fireplace is gas and I really don't like using it and wish the previous owners hadn't converted it.

 

This weekend I hope to do more holiday decorating - two trees actually, one at my house and one at Pop's. Lots of decorating to do... and lots of crafting to finish too.

Thanks to The Royal Sisters for the wonderful Grandma Twinkle tutorial. If you haven't checked out the tutorial yet, you should and there is a Flickr group too. The instructions are incredibly simple and addictive. I have actually memorized the pattern and hope I get a chance to make some more - I am thinking of making ornaments out of them and use them when wrapping presents.

warm bread for a cold and busy weekend

What is a girl to do on a cold Saturday morning when she has extra ripe banana's sitting on the counter and there is a waffle shortage going on? Make banana bread of course. I pulled out Momma's old fashioned recipe - it isn't at all healthy, but extra yummy. It is one of those tastes you always remember and other renditions just don't hit quite the spot even though they are just as good and surely more healthy.

I had enough ingredients for three batches and it made eight nice sized mini loaves. Enough for Pops and I to enjoy and even have a few loaves to share and a couple to freeze. Mmmm.

After the banana bread making I spent a few hours at work. Yes, I just said I spent time at work on Saturday. Crazy. I am not used to being this busy (a big implementation happening over the next two months), but I am and on top of it all I have jury duty this coming week. Not perfect timing for work, but I am actually looking forward to the change of pace and a little time to read my book. Is that wrong? Saturday also included some shopping and a few hours spent with my Pop's. He even grilled for me in the below freezing chill. 

Today I have been crafting up a Christmas gift storm. By the time I shut off the sewing machine for the evening, it was too dark to take pics. None are finished yet, but I am making progress - yay! I will share pictures as I complete them.

I also started crocheting together my stars. I thought ten would be enough for my mantel, but I guess I attached them too close together and need to make four more. If I succeed at completing a couple tonight, maybe I will have garland to decorate my mantel with by Wednesday.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Have you been Christmas crafting too?

twinkle twinkle granny chic

I am taking a page from Attic24 today - she posted some amazing inspiration today and I just have to share. If you haven't checked out Lucy's blog yet, you really should - tons of lovely crochet and color inspiration!!

Today she posted some lovely granny chic photos she found in a Flickr group called aptly Granny Chic. I am so in love with this collection of photos. Loads of crocheted potholders, pillows, throws and more mixed with lifestyle photos that mix the old and new together. This style reminds me so much of my friend Renee and I inspire to add more vintage to my home. Actually, I have a lot of vintage pieces from my Gram and that I have collected over the years, I just need to display more of them (adding to my to do list... for after the Holidays).

In her post, Lucy also linked to a fun crochet star tutorial on The Royal Sisters blog. I was so inspired that I grabbed some cotton yarn and my crochet hook moments after I got home from work. The stars are so quick and easy to crochet and I have visions of crocheted star garland hanging from the mantel or a tree full of crochet stars at Christmas. I chose a white, red and robins egg blue color scheme. I thought it might look slightly Christmas-y without being red and green Christmas-y. After the fact I looked through my mail and saw that it matched the December issue of Living. Guess I have good taste - hehe :)

attempting to crochet

This week, I have been trying to fit in a little crochet in the evenings as I relax watching a mix of dramas and The National Parks: America's Best Idea.

I got off to a slow start on Monday while watching House. After pulling out a skein of cotton to make a one of the dish clothes I liked from the September/October issue of Crochet Today, I worked for most of the hour before deciding to frog the entire thing. I just didn't like the texture the pattern produced. Darn.

I took Tuesday off and tried again last night. This time I pulled out some Naturally Caron yarn I picked up last week. I am working on a couple gifts, so I can't tell you what I am trying to make, but I promise to share later. I worked a couple motifs only to have a big, huge mess of knots come out from the middle of the skein. Honestly, I was so excited when on the first try I pulled out the end of the yarn from the middle of the skein. No big wad of yarn came with it, no pulling of other yarn, nothing. So, I am really not sure where the heck the big huge mess of knots came from. Since I only bought one skein of yarn for each project, I frogged what I had completed and started to un-knot the yarn. A lengthy conversation on the phone with my Pops and about five more minutes later I had it all cleaned up. Phew, yarn saved. 

I had to take a little break after that for dinner, but afterward I was ready to try again. Under my cozy quilt and while watching ANTM followed by the much more brain-worthy The National Parks I completed more than a dozen motifs. It was a good night all-in-all for crochet.

lacey scarf complete

After a week of fitting in a bit of crocheting here and there, my lacey scarf is finished! With just one skein of yarn and a few hours invested, I have a great skinny scarf in my favorite color.

It was quite an easy pattern - by the time I had completed a handful of motifs, I had the pattern memorized. I really love a crochet project that doesn't require me to carry around and keep checking my pattern. That requires too much thinking - I rather prefer the relaxing repetition of it all.

I have a feeling I will be making a couple more of these this season for gifts, but this one is all mine : ) How could it not, its my favorite color - green.

lacey WIP

After all my crochet talk yesterday I was inspired to start a project last night. A quick and easy Queen Anne's lace scarf that I found on Ravelry. No new yarn necessary, I just picked a skein of Lion Brand Wool Ease I had in my stash. After an hour or so in front of the tv I ended up with this.

I did have to pull out my crochet book a couple times to make sure I was doing things right and my stitches definitely improved as I practiced. I forgot how much I love crochet and how relaxing it is.

Anyone watch the premier of Glee last night? It is oh so quirky. I can't tell if I really like it or if its novelty will wear off soon.

time for crochet again

Last night while driving home, the sun was shining, New Order was on the radio (Alt Nation on Sirius is like my college soundtrack relived) and even though the temp was in the low-eighties I could feel Fall approaching. Then my mind flicked to crochet. Something about Fall and Winter make me think of yarn crafts again. Not sure why, maybe it is the cozy factor. So when I got home and checked the mail I was quite happy to find the September/October issue of Crochet Today. I know it is really a big advertisement for Red Heart, but sometimes there are some good patterns. The cute alarm clock on the cover drew me in.

As I kept turning pages I kept saying to myself "that is so cute," "I should make that" and "I need to save that pattern for later." So what did I find?

An upcycled tee with a very cute crochet neckline. On my crafty to do list for sure.

I could really use some new cotton dish clothes to replenish my stock.

An earth-friendly grocery tote. This could make a great holiday gift.

For the person who has everything - a lacy river rock. I have seen some amazing crocheted rocks on Flickr here. This pattern is by Resurrection Fern.

A cute beret... not sure I would make it in raspberry : )

There are a few more patterns I have bookmarked, but I will end with this one for Halloween crafty disguises. I like the superhero mask.

So, does the coming of Fall change your crafty to do list? What are you working on?

friday mish-mash...

Ah, look what I found last night while pruning my rose bushes - a sweet birds nest with a tiny speckled egg nestled down in amongst the throrny branches. Pretty smart birdie momma protecting its little one from the crazy squirrels in my yard.

I have to admit, I am happy she decided on the rose bush for building a nest because last year I battle birds nests in my gutters. No so much fun.

On the craft front, I just finished another set of crocheted cotton coasters. This has been my go to easy craft of late. For the weekend, I have two Pieced Together Quilting Bee blocks to finish and 20 packages of fabric to ready for my month - May. I am determined to mail them out early next week. Seriously, I promise.

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Did you know there is a big birthday celebration going on at See Katie Sew. Stop buy and leave a comment to be entered to win one of many, many great prizes. Happy birthday Katie!!

And don't forget if you want to win a patchwork belt, be sure to comment on my last post.

the power of crochet

Last night before I went to crochet class my Pops told me about a news story he just heard. It was about a 98 year old woman who had been burried in the rubble of the Italian earthquake for more than 30 hours. Do you know how she passed the time? She crocheted!

Isn't that just amazing? I can totally see how she was able to focus on her crochet instead of the reality of her situation and how it helped her pass the time. I use crafting for similar reasons sometimes - to redirect my mind, to keep me busy, to feel like I am accomplishing something.

I've mentioned before that my crochet teacher Erna is in her late 80s. I know her love of crochet and knitting and her passion for passing along the crafts to others (she has been teaching for over 30 years) has kept her life moving forward. How many of would feel so incredibly blessed to be so healthy, so mobile, so patient and so sharp in our 80s.

Both stories are inspirational.