No Peeking

This blog has been pretty quiet, but that doesn't mean I haven't been a busy little elf around here. I just can't show you anything, until they are revealed on xmas that is.  Well I guess you can see the gingerbread house cookies.

Julian's Hoodie

I wanted to make Julian a hooded sweater because he is sensitive to light and sound and these sweaters help him to block out a little of that. I wanted to make it non-itchy because he is also sensitive to that. I chose the boy's pattern from Berroco Vintage family but used the Berroco comfort yarn instead of their Vintage. I like the look of the pattern and the fact that it has a zipper. Everything worked out pretty well and the sweater looks nice, but unfortunately it's a bit too small. :(  I think the pattern was kinda small but I measured Julian and checked my gauge and added stitches to the largest size, but with this yarn, if you knit 10 inches a couple days later it's 8 inches. I think this is what really shrank it down. It has a lot of stretch though.

Bike Seat Cover

I crocheted a cover for my bike seat. Pretty cute. I wanted to use the gel out of an old ripped bike seat cover because my tailbone has been sore after rides lately, Mom says its because I have less "cushion" lol. I wanted to show off my new bike and new baskets too ;D.

Swiffer Wet Jet Crocheted Cotton Pad

I crocheted this up in single crochet using a large K hook with Lily Sugar n Cream in beach ball blue. I started with a chain to match the width plus a little bit and then made it long enough to fold up and stitch the sides for pockets on the ends.

Thread crochet edging for my cut offs

I love my new cut off capris but the edges were unraveling too much.  I didn't want to hem them, I liked the raw edge and the length, so I needed to secure them by sewing near the edge. Then I thought, as long as I was sewing, I could add some lace or something, but instead of buying some, I picked up a ball of burgundy thread and crocheted it.

Pink Dolphin

Another toy for my niece, this time she wanted a pink dolphin. I used a pattern from Crochet! July 2010 by Sonja Hood. I changed the colors, used pre-made plastic eyes and added a yellow plastic flower button. I like to think that dolphins would wear flowers if they could. Sometimes in real life they will carry a piece of colorful coral for no practical reason and others will follow the "fashion" and carry one too.

Blue Birds of Happiness Scarf

I made this for my sister for her birthday to match her new pink purse. She wanted bright colors to cheer up her days of Seattle gray. It took a full day to apply the resist and another full day to apply the dye.

I had made her one with pink peonies and a green background but it got ruined when I tried to steam set it. Moisture got into it and it and some parts blurred, other parts looked washed out and since I was using newspaper instead of unprinted newsprint (which I found out later I was supposed to use) it got some black on it too. So, since this was the third project ruined while trying to figure out steam setting, I decided to go the chemical route and bought the chemical dye set. It was super easy compared to wrapping in paper and carefully placing it somewhere over boiling water on the stove for an hour and trying not to let the silk get wet by placing it under a makeshift aluminum tent so that condensation doesn't collect on the paper, which didn't work anyway! Whew! So I mixed up the chemicals in a quart of water, stirred for five minutes and voila! perfection. But before you use the chemical dye set, make sure your project dries for a full day first and then press it with an iron for good measure, especially if you use resist.

Tie-dye!

For our end of the year art project, the kids in Julian's class made tie-dye shirts to wear on the last day of school. It was very fun and all the kids were very excited. We outfitted them in disposable aprons and gloves and my mom told them that they looked like doctors. They put the rubber bands on their shirts in the classroom then we all went outside where we laid down some newspapers on the grass and went to town with squeeze bottles of dye. Afterward I had a lot of leftover dye, so I bought some sheets on the way home and my Mom and I dyed a set for Julian and some for myself. They really brighten up our bedrooms. Alfred, my Mom and I made shirts for ourselves too.

Painted Silk Scarf- Turtle, Octopus, Sea Star

This is the first time I have done silk painting. I am really enchanted by it and have already ordered a boxful of even more supplies! I am even thinking of teaching a silk painting class at the local continuing education school because Dharma Trading Company has a really cool kit for a beginner's class of 30 students.

Little bird embroidery

This was from a Dimensions kit. It was very easy, but completely charming.

Art Lesson from April 23, 2010

In this project the kids drew buildings and colored them with oil pastels. We put them up on a background I had made ahead of time. Because they were done on construction paper and then the shapes were cut out, they really "pop."

Art Lesson

I am teaching art to my son's class. It's a fifth grade class for IEP students in a regular elementary school. These kids are awesome! It's amazing to think of the autistic boys, all the stuff going on in their heads, all the distractions around them they have to push past mentally just to complete the project, and it shows how much they really love art that they stick to it for most of an hour to get it done. This project was one where they had photos of birds that they drew with colored pencils and then added feathers using torn tissue paper and glue. I got a couple shots of their display of the project in the hallway but all I had with me was my camera phone.
I did another project with them today. I'll get a photo of it soon and post it.

Edit: new photos added

Wall Organizer

I made this patriotic red white and blue organizer for my husband for work. His new work likes him to keep things neat and those who know him know that this is a challenge for him. I hope this helps. The pattern is in "Lily Sugar 'n Cream Kitchen Essentials (to crochet)" I especially love the cool textured porcelain buttons I found at Jo-Ann. The driftwood was from our local beach, of course.

Kitten for R. for Valentine's

I made another white kitty for R. This time I used a pattern from "super-cute Crochet" by Nicki Trench. It was super-adorable. I used a cotton yarn for the body and an acrylic for the dress. Felt nose, wool whiskers, thread mouth, plastic or rubber button for flower in ear.

Doggie sweater, matching human beret

For a friend with a cold chihuahua. :)

I knitted the doggie sweater, making it up as I went along from measurements taken by my friend. The buttons are oversize and along the underside (belly side) of the sweater, the collar is attached at the back of the neck in a contrasting color.

I crocheted the beret from a Bernat pattern in the same colors as the doggie sweater.

I hope to have pictures of them being used, I hope they both fit the respective recipients.

Jammies part 2 and 3

I made Julian some space pjs like the Scooby ones, except I took a premade t-shirt and appliqued some of the space images cut out from the fabric used for the bottoms. It came out pretty cute, and I made some for myself too with a cute cat flannel.

Controller Cozy (Handwarmer for gamers)

My friend Cheri had this great idea! Her hands sometimes got cold while playing games like Playstation or X-box and she would pull her sleeves down to keep warm. So she thought, why not make a special handwarmer? So I developed a pattern for it and made her one.