A Thank You and More Images

First of all, Thank you to everyone who has been voting for me on Top 100 Crochet and Hook List! As of this morning I'm a solid #33. Want to vote for me? Click the pink box to the right under the yarn skull. If you are viewing me on a feed, drop by and click through.

I have been taking a bit of a hooker break. Once again I have too many project ideas, too much yarn and too many things going at once. Also, I think that cookie jar project just sucked the life out of me. If I ever decided to take on something like that again (meaning no pattern, several parts and use of stiffeners) just shake me and tell me no. Speaking of that project, I have some more, but not exactly better, images.

First, the cookies. I think there are about 20 of them. Done in 3 parts and whip stitched together *pulls out her mad math skills* that's 60 little circles. You can see why it drove me crazy.



...and the pile of cookies.



Cookies were done on an f-hook in Red Heart SS in Coffee and White.


I wanted to get a picture of the back edge of the jar. I decided to do the jar in rounds to stop the line that would have happened from that. What I forgot is that since I changed colors, there was a bit of a jag to the stripes. By the time that fact dawned on me, I was to far in the project to frog it. It works out just fine, though. It is being displayed with the lid leaning on that side.



See the jag...jog...where it's not perfect? That bothers me. I still can't see past it.

Some images of the lid. The fabric stiffener is on the outside of everything but the lid. I had to do that on the inside because of how I shaped it (read I stuffed it inside a bowl).





One more from the top.




For the life of me, I can't get a good image of the matching tea cup.

ETA:
Blogspot is doing some funky things on the preview. Every time I click it it jumbles up my images. I think I got it fixed. But, if things look off it's all on blogspot, not me, for once. ^_^

Cookie-Cookie-Cookie starts with C

My mother's birthday was this month. I decided to make her tea cup (like the one posted here only better - pictures of it later on). I though that the cup wasn't enough, so I was going to make a cookie jar full of cookies to go with it. Great idea in theory. It took much longer that I though it would. The cookies were the worst part. I think I made the jar bigger than it needed to be. I ended up making 20 cookies to go in it and it didn't even fill it half way. I stuffed the bottom with tissue paper and set the cookies on top of it. I also use chocolate scented oil to make them smell more like cookies and less like yarn.



One inside the jar:



All done with Red Heart on a f hook. The jar was my own pattern. The cookies were from this pattern (pdf file).

Seeing Stars

I'm seeing stars! Okay, I'm making stars. Why? Because I can. I do it because I think that I might just have a perfect project to add stars to. I think of it as something that I can mindlessly hook away at while watching CNN. Also, as something I can do instead of committing to a larger project. The truth? I make stars while deciding on my next project. How I'm going to do it, what yarn to use, etc, etc.

Here's what they look like:

A pile of off white stars with the tails still attached. That's so I can easily stitch them on something later.



Here's some larger ones, sans tails.



The white ones are on WW yarn on a F hook. The Colored ones are WW yarn on a H hook.
Here's a picture for the size difference.


Want to make some? Here's the pattern!


itty bitty 5 point star motif


Materials:

worsted weight yarn - I use that little bit left over from other projects.

a hook in any size - I find that a F hook works great for a tighter star. A H hook works well for a bit larger one. I haven't use any other sized hooks. But I don't see why you couldn't.

yarn needle

***This pattern is for a 5 point star. You can adjust the number of points by adding or subtracting chain rows.***


ch 3, slst in the second ch from the hook and the starting ch. (this is your first point)

ch 2, slst in the second ch from the hook and in the starting chain. (this is your second point)

ch 2, slst in the second ch from the hook and in the starting chain. (third point)

ch 2, slst in the second ch from the hook and in the starting chain. (fourth point)

ch 2, slst in the second ch from the hook and in the starting chain. (fifth point)

Draw up your last slst, cut the yarn and pull it through. Now you will have two tails on the star. One on each side. I use a yarn needle to stitch through the tail on the front side to the back, then tie it off. I leave the tails if I plan on adding them to something. If not, I cut off the tails and give them to my cat to play with.

Baby gifts for the military baby

A friend of mine recently had a baby. I decided to make her a little something. I didn't want to send her the whole light blue and yellow deal like you see in most boy baby gifts, hand made or not.

Her husband is a military man...what could I make....? Then it hit me. Camouflage baby! I doubt she'll get a gift like this.

First up, the blanket:

Red Heart Multi in camouflage, Caron pound skein in black, h hook. 6 granny squares, slst together and edged. (DC, SC, SLST)


By yarnmonkie

I decided to make a small bear for the baby. She also, has another child, a bit older. I couldn't leave him out. The smaller one is for the baby, larger for the older child.


By yarnmonkie

The bears were made form a pattern bought from Roxy Craft. The larger bear was on a f hook, the smaller on a d hook.


By yarnmonkie

When you have the bears on a blanket you can barely see them. Almost like they are camouflaged or something...

Spot of tea...?

I have a thing for tea. I love tea. I love to crochet. Why not crochet tea?


By yarnmonkie

MMMM, tea! Tea is always good with lemon in it!


By yarnmonkie

Made on a f hook, caron pound of love (dark purple), red heart softs (brown), red heart sport (yellow), red heart super saver (off white and flecked off white).

It took about 2 hours to totally complete. That was with a lot of trial and error.


By yarnmonkie

Everything is removable, including the cup's saucer. I didn't think to get a picture of the saucer separate. The tea is just a circle of fabric, propped up on some stuffing. I will sew it in eventually, when I decide if that's how I want to keep it.


By yarnmonkie

Now, if I could only make a tea kettle...

Couch Cover Finished!!!!

I'm finished *shock* *gasp* *faint* No, really. I finished the monster project. The huge couch cover, in the summer heat, I finished it.

It ended up taking 7 whole skeins and all but 1oz of another skien to finish it. It took about a month to do, working pretty steady on it. Maybe an hour a day on average. I'm not sure. I never was able to keep track of time like that.

Here's some finished pictures.

From the front


From the back


And now for the real reason for doing this whole project, for making 6 feet of DC on a f hook...

a very small, yet sausage like dog.


Here's what I've learned from this whole experience:

1) Never, ever make something this big in the summer. Save projects like these for winter time.
2) Try not to use a hook smaller that the yarn calls for on huge projects.
3) Even a small dog and appreciate good crocheting.

Now that's it's all done, I feel a great sense of relief. I'm working on small projects for the rest of the month. Instant gratification and all that jazz.

Face cloth/Wash cloth

After doing lots of projects for other people, I decided it was time to make myself something quick and simple. Fast enough to get done in an hour or so. I also wanted to try some face cloth and wash cloth patterns to decide if I want to make them as gifts.

This is done on Sugar 'n Cream Cotton yarn in swimming pool. V stitch on a F hook.




Finished is about 9" x 7". I think I will make them smaller in the future. maybe 7" x 7". I believe a double strand would have made less visible holes in it. The real test is going to be when I use it in the shower tonight. :-D

ETA: I loved using this in the shower. I wouldn't recommend it as a face cloth but as a wash cloth, it's perfect.

I will definitely use the v stitch on some of my trade squares.