Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Green Scarf


I crocheted it with Misti alpaca/wool/silk sock yarn. Though soft, it was a little itchy so I tried hair conditioner. It really does work. :)

Kids' Art Project




My Mom and I painted a long mural background and the kids drew, colored and cut out buildings on construction paper.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Snowman gifts



I made these Snowmen for the kids in my son's class. They hold a candy cane and have a pocket in the back for more candy. They are made from felt, a pipe cleaner, snow glitter, and sequins, and held together with Fabri-tac.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Another Scarf


'Tis the season...for gift scarves. This one is knitted from a superwash wool. The yarn strand itself is woven in a kind of braid, Nashua vignette. I used a pattern of knit 3 purl 3 repeat, row two purl 1, knit 1 repeat. It makes a very stretchy fabric.
Update: If the recipient finds this wool itchy-try this remedy: Rinse it in a few cups of water and a couple tablespoons of hair conditioner. Don't rinse the conditioner out, squeeze out the water (press out the rest of the water in a towel if its not too much trouble) and dry flat. :)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Man's Scarf



I knitted this scarf for my sister's father-in-law. It's warm without being itchy because it's made from a bamboo yarn. I chose subdued colors, heather gray and tiny blue stripes just at the ends, colors which I hope will remind him of RAF blue. I knitted it in stockinette and then doubled it over and sewed it closed for a thick and flat look.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Xmas Gifts


I needed a small gift to give my friends in my Skeptical Society. It needed to be something I could put together fast as I needed 10 of them and I only had two days. So I made my coffee cup cozies. It's something to keep from burning your hands on hot paper cups and you can reuse it and save the world some paper. I crocheted them from a fairly thick but nice yarn. My favorite is Berroco "Love it colors," 58% cotton with 38% acrylic and 4% polyester. It has a bouncy feel to it. With a slightly too large size J hook it works up thick and fast. I placed them on a clean paper cup and added cellophane bags filled with chocolate, a home baked snowflake shaped cookie with piped icing and white crystals also in cellophane bags, and a candy cane.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Pouch


I crocheted this pouch in purple and pink cotton for one of Julian's classmates (just because she asked.) It's pretty simple, you just work rounds off of a base chain made the width you want the bag to have. All single crochet, reducing a few stitches on the side for the last couple rows until a row of double crochet, chain, skip stitch, repeat. One row of single then finish. Make a chain for a tie, weave into dbl crochet row.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Hat and scarf


I crocheted this hat and scarf from (mostly) cotton yarn for my sensitive-to-wool sister. The scarf is done with a self fringing pattern that starts a new piece of yarn with every row leaving an 8 inch tail and leaving 8 inches at the end of the row too. I tried to match her green and fuchsia jacket with the stripes.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Crocheted Flowers for Slippers


T knitted these very smart slippers in a lovely pink shade for her mother-in-law for xmas. They have very nice lines with excellent shaping (they really look like loafers!) and are skillfully done. But she said they needed just a little something extra. I thought about embroidering a flower on the toe but chose to crochet these flowers for them instead.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Pumpkin Spiral Hat



Begun with an exercise in creating a double spiral, I finished by making it into a hat.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Granny Square Poncho


I was going to make a blanket but a need came up for a girl's poncho and coincidentally I had the perfect number of squares done! After I took this picture I added a woven-in cord to make the top fit better.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Skull Hat



I made a hat using this new glow-in-dark yarn from Bernat. I used a skull design from a potholder pattern in "stitch n' bitch crochet the Happy Hooker". I also adapted my hat pattern from a hat pattern in the same book.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Autism Walk

Here I am with Julian and a Storm Trooper! Thanks to pcfrost for the picture! After we painted lots and lots of little faces (and some big ones) we scrambled over to get our pictures with the storm troopers. It was a great reward for our hard work on a very hot day.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Apron


I made an apron for face painting. I've been doing a lot of face painting lately, I just did it for the Ice Cream Social at Joseph Sims Elementary School and next weekend I'm doing Walk Now For Autism. I used a denim stripe fabric and red bric-a-brac and then I used a couple dozen iron on patches like the designs I paint on the kids.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Tile

Yep, I'm laying tile in the living room/dining room. I've never actually tiled anything before but I've wanted to for a long time. It's going pretty well. Now I have to paint in there too, then it will be something else...
Update 9/9-
I did something a little fancy around the door.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Rainbow Trout



School started for Julian and we've been busy. First, taking some last short vacations before school and then settling in to the new routine, plus a new socialization group for Julian. So, no completed projects. I have been working on some, just no time to finish up and post.
This watercolor is actually something I started on a while ago, but it lacked "pop." So I worked on it a little, I think it's better now. I worked from a photo I took of a rainbow trout hanging out at the stream profile at Taylor Creek, Tahoe.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Camo Zippered Accessory Bag




I made Alfred a small zippered bag to match his camo computer bag. It's for his mouse and charger. I crocheted it with a yarn already dyed in camo colors. I "invented" (that is I've never seen it anywhere) a stitch to create two cords running around the bag. They give it some style. After all rows of single crochet in round, I used a reverse single crochet into the front loops only. Then the next row simply continued in single crochet in the back loops. After that, of course, I worked in both loops as usual until the next cord.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Another Shopping Bag


I like bringing my own bags to the store because not only am I helping the environment and saving money, I get compliments on my crocheted bags. :) Here is one from a new pattern from Lily.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Red Day Lily Watercolor





Here is my latest, worked from a photo of day lilies I took at McKinley Park last weekend. All those roses were so cliche'. ;) I used masking fluid and gum arabic for the first time. Fun.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Thumbnail sketch of a bee



I've been taking photos of bees for years and finally got one that isn't a blur! So I did a tiny sketch from it.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Day Lily Watercolor



This is a watercolor I did of a day lily growing in our park. These are grown all over Elk Grove, I think they like the heat and full sun and do well even in parking lots. You can find them in yellow, orange, red, and these are pink.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Cute Cotton Backpack


I crocheted a flat bag in double crochet with a drawstring top. The drawstring is just chain crochet. Then I added one long
strap made with just a single crochet row. I just slipped it through at the top and attached the ends together at the bottom to make backpack straps. I added an outside pocket and sewed
one side to fit my cellphone plus a little strap and a cute glass button to keep it secure.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Silk Sketch Set



We just got back from a camping trip near Big Sur. It was great fun! I picked up a sketch pad to capture some of the amazing views there. I also found a ball of yarn made in Nepal from recycled silk (they have some hippie shops there :)). It is a really beautiful yarn and when you look at it you can picture the people who once wore the beautiful silk clothing that went into the yarn. But what should I make from it? One day on the trip I wanted to bring my sketch pad down to the beach and ended up having to put my pencil and eraser in my back pocket, which was not ideal. So I came up with a solution to both problems. I crocheted a pencil and eraser holder that ties onto your sketch pad.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Coasters!






Various coasters crocheted from thread. The white ones are worked in #10 thread. The green are from #5 thread I think. The orange and blue are crocheted with two #10 threads held together.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Lacy Cuff


Here's an easy little project, a cuff from Crochet Today. I made a couple changes from the pattern, I used one variegated thread instead of two colors and reduced stitches everywhere because I used a bigger hook. This neighborhood cat walked into my modeling session. :)

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Ripple Vest


I made this vest with a yarn made from bamboo. It's very shiny and soft. I used a pattern from Interweave Crochet, which is probably my favorite magazine right now. http://www.interweavecrochet.com/issue/2008/materials_spr08.asp#ripple

Friday, May 30, 2008

Monday, May 26, 2008

Cactus Watercolor Frame


A frame broke on one of my watercolors so I had to place it in a new frame. Unfortunately, the makers of the new frame were unaware of the double mat standard and the backing would not slide into the side edge after the watercolor and mats were in. So I sanded off the edges of the backing on the sidewalk and taped it into the frame. :)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Tote Bag


I finished a tote bag for my son's teacher. I worked her initials into the pocket. Or they could stand for Super Teacher.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Space Mural


Today I continued working on a space mural for a boy's bedroom. The ceiling and walls were already painted light yellow so around the top of the wall I painted swirly solar flares so the whole ceiling becomes the sun and the yellow blends. Then I brought the new wall color of metallic blue up to those. I have painted Uranus and Neptune, then Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Tomorrow I paint Earth, Venus, and Mercury. I am pretty proud of my Jupiter. :)