Monday, December 20, 2010

Only 5 days left!

I made a pillow from some raw/unwashed wool that was given to me. I cleaned it, hand carded it, and dyed it with food coloring. I wet felted a big piece then needle felted. I embellished with some embroidery, then turned it into a pillow by attaching it to some leftover flannel. Not sure which of the boys will get this one.





I used a McCalls pattern, which I totally hated, but the set came out cute. I couldn't understand the directions (not sure if it was me or the pattern), so I ended up with these extra pieces and just made a tail with them for dress up. I made a set for both boys. Aside from the pattern being a nightmare, the set came out really cute! They are meant to match a fancy wool pub hat I got for my husband a few years back (he wears it all the time).









I also made some super hero capes with their initials on them out of some extra fabric I had laying around. I cut out the initials from felt and embroidered them on. I made large rectangles, put seams on all sides, added a casing on the top, ran ribbon through for a tie, and added velcro around the collar since my boys can't tie bows yet. They came out really cute but were hard to get a picture of. Took me all of thirty minutes to make!



Saturday, December 11, 2010

Knitted Washclothes

I made some washclothes for gifts. I used free Ravelry patterns. They all came out cute, except Santa. He's too big (more of a towel size) and the details on his face are hard to see.
The lighthouse cloth http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lighthouse-cloth



The Santa cloth http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/thesanta-cloth



The Skull cloth (for my teenage daughter)http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/skully-dishcloth

Friday, December 10, 2010

Felt Watches

I made my boys some felt watches.



Step 1: I cut out a piece of felt that was about 3 inches wide and their wrist measurement plus 2 inches.

Step 2: Cut out a piece of a contrasting color of felt that is two inches less in width and about 3 inches less in length.

Step 3: In a third color of felt, cut out a much smaller piece to act as the watch face.

Step 4: Embroider on that piece, stitching a "time."

Step 5: Attach it to the middle sized piece with a running stitch in a contrasting color of embroidery thread.

Step 6: Attached two small pieces of velcro (sew on kind) to the largest piece. Remember to sew one piece on the front side, and one of the reverse and back side.

Step 7: Sew on the middle sized piece to the largest piece and voila!

I'm sure there are a ton of better ways I coulda done this, but this worked and I think my boys will love them! Also, both took me about a half hour to complete. I love instant gratification!!!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Lyon Hat

I made matching Lyon hats, Free Ravelry Lyon Hat Pattern, for both boys and my husband. They came out really great! I used different yarn for each and they're different sizes, so they won't be too matchy-matchy. Shoulda taken pics of all three before I wrapped them! The only alteration I made to the pattern is that I increased the child size one a bit for my five year old (the child pattern was perfect for my two year old) and I increased the adult size a bit for my husband (since the child size ran small, I figured the adult might as well). I don't know for sure if they fit, since I can't really have them try them on, but they look right next to their other hats. I'm thinking I should make one for myself! The pattern was very easy to follow and quick to knit.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

More holiday gifts!

I made a bunch of stuffies from a library book called, "Stuffies Only a Mother Could Love." I used craft felt made from recycled plastic and bamboo stuffing. I altered the patterns a bit. These were very quick to sew up!


I made my oldest son a doll to match his sweater.


I also made these for my boys from the same book.


This one is also from the book, but I adapted it a bit and turned it into a tooth pillow for my oldest boy. He's in K now so should be losing his first teeth soon.



My youngest LOVES horses, so I drew a pattern of a horse onto an old pizza box, cut it out and made this.


I also needle felted him a few horses. This is the second one I did. I love it! I used pipe cleaners as a base so that it would stand and be movable.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Holidays- so far...

I made some knitted then felted wool slippers for the boys. The pattern was unbelievably easy and quick. Knitted them up in just a few hours. It's basically just garter stitch straight until the end when you make a few decreases (very easy to do), then you sew up the seams. Let me know if you want the exact pattern. I crocheted around the top of the bigger ones to give a more bootlike feel. I dyed them with food coloring after I made them, then needle felted on the embellishments. I painted puffy paint on the bottoms to make them anti-sliding across the wood floors.




I also made my boys some sweaters! I went to St. Vinnies and found some wool sweaters for adults, washed them a few times in the machine until they shrunk sufficiently, then embellished them. This one is angora and wool mix and is soooooo soft! I wet felted with some light blue roving into a square (bubble wrap, lay out roving in wufts, roll up very tightly, wrap up to secure, I use an oversized sock, then throw in the wash a few times, stretch it out, block it, let dry), cut out the dog pattern, then sewed it on with yarn using a very rudimentary stitch. I needle felted the eye and mouth onto the dog. I made him a doll to match. It has a turtle neck, which I was gonna cut off, my dh reminded me that our son loves James Bond and with the turtle neck it's Bondish.



This one was off white so I dyed it with food coloring. I was trying to make an outdoor scene. I'm not at all happy with the color and was going to overdye it brown, but dh loved it and begged me to keep it as is. I needle felted a dragon, tower, and sun on the back. Again, not super pleased with the way it came out, but...



The front of the original sweater was cabled, which I love, and I added some wood buttons.



I have a ton more FO, but this post already seems too big. More to come soon!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Headband

I made this headband from the DROPS Design pattern 86-10. I used black worsted weight acrylic yarn, from the stash my mama gave me. (I never buy acrylic, just using it rather than tossing it!) It was super easy and only took me a few hours to whip up. The only alteration I made was turning the inc to an M1. I haven't made any embellishments for it, such as a flower or something. I'm currently making some leg warmers and wrist warmers to go with it.

This pattern only requires the knitter to know basic increases (although I used an M1, so no holes), knit, purl, purl two together, and how to bind off adding the cast on edge (not totally necessary, you could just cast off like normal and seam them together).

Here's the pattern:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/86-10-headband-in-alaska

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Felted Clutch

I made myself a felted clutch! It was an experiment that I didn't really expect to turn out as well as it did. I wish I had taken notes and pictures along the way! Basically, what I did was knit in garter stitch a long rectangle, keeping in mind that I was going to felt it and it would shrink in length much more than width. I made a very long rectangle, then bound off (co 75 stitches, garter stitch all the way). I then knitted a very long strap (co 10 stitches, garter stitch the whole way). I then folded the rectangle into thirds, sewed the strap onto the sides, then threw it in the wash. I beaded it for a final touch and added a hidden snap. It is so cute, even my husband keeps making comments on it! He's also enlisted me to make him the manly version ;-)




Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Felt Soaps

Continuing with the holiday gifts... My oldest son made some soaps, then we felted a few of them. They came out really nice and were super easy for him to do. Great project for a small child! For more detailed instructions on this project, check out this page.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Nuno Felted Scarf

I finally tried my hand at Nuno felting! It's a Japanese art form that I think is very beautiful. You felt wool onto silk, changing the texture, creating ruffles, it's amazing. I bought a bunch of undyed playsilks off a co-op, dyed this one with red kool aid, and felted on a length of swirly wool with leaves. I made this one for my 17 year old daughter. It started out red, but after all the felting and soap, it ended up pink.



More Holiday Gifts

I have a ton of pics to take and post from all of the holiday gifts I made, but these are all of the projects I forgot to take pictures of:

I made several washclothes. We made some beeswax candles, a few are sand candles. I made a few pillows with some felt and essential oils. These can be used in drawers or closets to repel moths and for a touch of freshness. My oldest son and I made a recycled tee shirt bag, following this pattern. We used an old stained up white shirt (it wasn't really that stained), and my oldest son drew all over with with fabric pens. The pattern says to only stitch the bottom of the bag, great for those who don't have a sewing machine or serger, but I serged around all of the edges. Came out great!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Knitty Book

For Yule I made a knitted book for my littlest son. It was inspired by this pattern, though I deviated quite a bit. It has 8 pages of different knitted and crocheted stitches, includes things for him to lift up, different textures, colors, designs, velcro, ties, cables hugs and kisses, embroidery, and a little knitted bear that fits into a pocket.