I'm addicted!

Recently, I discovered Ravelry.... and I am already addicted!! It such and easy way to connect with other crocheters and knitters, and well as keep track of your projects, yarn, and what size hooks you have. Plus find hundreds of patterns and get thousands of ideas from others for projects to make!

If you are a crafter and haven't already joined, I encourage you to!

http://www.ravelry.com/

And after you have joined, or if you already have account, find me and friend me! My username is 'horsearoni'! Can't wait to hear from you!

Christmas Presents 2011

Here are some Christmas presents I made and gave this year! I may post more pics in another post of more presents! :)

(Pattern from Sock Monkey Kook)

Elijah's Sock Monkey Hat (no, it doesn't have braids, I ran out of time!)

Isaac's Angry Bird Hat!

He loves it! He wears it all the time and I still can't look at him without cracking up! :)

Rebekah with her tutu. I didn't make the tutu's though.... my friend Jaclyn did.

Rachel in her tutu! She won the award for how many of your presents can you wear!

Anna with her 18" wearing the swimsuit I made and a doll tutu

And poor Matthew got another nose warmer! :) This one is for when he skis (since blaze orange isn't meant for the ski hill) and is redesigned. And I wrote down the pattern this time! Still didn't figure out how to make that nose flap...

What did you make for Christmas presents this year??

End of the Brown Homespun Saga!

Yay!!! Last update! :) Let's see, I last updated on Tuesday after I have given up on trying to get the brown yarn locally. The tracking site has said it was going to the post office. So my mom went to the post office on Tuesday afternoon (around 4pm) and it wasn't there. The tracker updated later Tuesday night and said it had gotten to the post office at noon. NO it didn't because it wasn't there! Whatever.

On Wednesday morning, I had a lookout posted constantly to watch for the mailman. Of course, of all days, he was 45 minutes later then usual. :p I about tackled him when he finally came, and thankfully, he had that beloved package!!! :) Wanna see how happy I was to get that yarn???

Picture does not even do it's justice! LOL

I can't even explain the feeling I had when I had the brown Earth homespun that I had stressed so much over going through my hands! It was AMAZING!!! LOL

Yesterday, with the help of my dear friend Rachel, I finished the hats, and Rachel (and her family) dropped them off at the lady's house. Oh, it felt soo good when that order left the house!

Great ending, right? HA! The lady who ordered them emails me last night after she gets them. She loves them, except the football hat, which I had made teenage to adult size was supposed to be for a 1 yr old. OOPS!!! Guess I need to double check what I write down with the person who ordered from now on....

And THANK GOODNESS I had enough brown homespun left to make that one too!! LOL I made most of it last night, and put the finishing touches (like straps, stitches, and pompom) on this morning. Unfortunately, because of my lack of sleep I was a bit clumsy this morning and while cutting the pompom gashed cut my left pointer finger. :p

But she stopped by and got it this morning, and I can officially say that order is DONE!!! Here are pictures!!

Two of the girl pink and brown Owl hats

1 matching doll Owl hat

The wrong size football hat

The right size football hat

And a bigger size of this Owl hat

She did say she will probably be ordering more though, so to be on the safe side, I have 5 skeins on "Earth" homespun in my online Joann's shopping cart! :D

I mention this too... while I have not had nightmares about this yet, Rachel has!! :) If my memory serves me correctly, she was looking for a brown verigated homespun with more colors into it like this....

but, all the store had was "Earth". I wanna call that store!!! :D

Correction: She was looking for "Earth", but all the store had was that verigated stuff. Maybe I don't want to call that one.... ;)

Update on the Brown Homespun Saga

So it didn't come today like I had hoped. It's still departing that town according to the tracker. :p The lady who ordered emailed today and wants them tomorrow.So I called some more stores in a wider radius to see if we could go get some tonight, seeing as there's no guaranteed we will get it tomorrow.

Store #4 - "Nope, don't have any of that color."

Store #5 (another Walmart) - Nope, don't connect me to the Cashiers department, the craft department! ..... "Nope, we don't carry that color."

Store #6 - Get the answering machine... ??? Didn't bother leaving a message!

Store #7 - Have Homespun.... Listened to Frosty the snowman for 3 min waiting for them to check. I finally talk to a lady who says the guy who answered the phone told her it was brown, not "Earth". Wait another few minutes, couldn't make out the song they were playing. Nope, she can't find any.

Store #6 (again.. called back) - "No, we do not carry that color."

By this point I'm getting really really mad! How can SEVEN stores around here NOT have or NOT carry that color?!?!? Still, I'm managing to (barely) keep my cool when they tell me no.

Store #8 - No Frosty while I waited. And no, no earth. ARGGGGGG!!!

Store #9 (Walmart, not gonna say more.) - Doesn't think they have any but looked anyways.... while waiting I was transferred to Toys!!! So the toys lady goes and checks.... While waiting for her the craft lady picks up again and says they don't.... X(

Walmart (several different locations), Joann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Hancock Fabrics... any other ideas???

Store #10 - Mom called one of her friends who gave us the name of a shop.... I looked them up, they are open until 5. It's 5:14. :p Googled 'yarn shop *sh**sh'....

Store #11 - Don't carry homespun.

Store #12 - Got the answering machine... only open till 4:30.

Store #13 - Don't carry homespun. Didn't figure any of these would, they are nicer yarn stores.

Hmph!

I GIVE UP!!!!!!

And can someone tell me why guys keep answering the phone at the Craft Stores, and I get girls at Walmart????

Boy, am I getting good at calling stores!

And yes go ahead and laugh at me! :)

To be continued...

The Brown Homespun Saga....

Homespun is one of my favorite yarns to use, and I use it for almost ALL of my hats. It's soft, works up fast, looks nice, and has a good color selection.

I recently got an order for several brown and pink owl hats, and a football hat - all which need the brown homespun called "Earth".

"Earth"

So I ordered several skeins of it because we weren't going to be getting to Joann's anytime soon. We placed another order a day or two after with some other things that were out of stock the first time and some more yarn for sock monkey hats. The first one (with the brown homespun) shipped, and a day later the second one did. We got the second one of Friday, and haven't seen the first one yet. It's stuck in a town 2 hours away, and won't be here till Wednesday.

Fine, except there's a problem. I need to have the hats with the brown homespun DONE by Thursday. AND another one with the pink that's also in that box. By Thursday. (The brown hats are a local order, so it doesn't have to be shipped, and the pink one doesn't have to get there until the end of the month.) I can't get 5 hats done in less then 24 hours.

So we started calling around to different local stores today to see if they had any Lionbrand Homespun in brown called "Earth", and the pink color so I could get a head start before the Joann's order came.

Store #1 - "Yes, we have homespun. Let me check on those colors." ....... "We have 5 of the pink, but no brown."

Store #2 - Us: "Do you have any Lionbrand Homepun yarn in brown?"

Craft Department person (this is at Walmart): "We don't carry Lionbrand."

Us: "Lionbrand is the brand, the yarn is called Homespun."

Craft Department person: "Oh we have Homespun!"

Us: "Yes, we know you do. Do you have any in a brown called "Earth"?

Craft Department person: "Let me check." ...................

Around this time my sisters (2 and 5 years old, both very opinionated) start fighting over a cup and come in screaming, then we somehow lost the person at the store. They probably hung up. :) 

So we have Dad stop by Store #2 after work and he can't find that color, but there are other browns that are more of verigated. Nope, can't use that. And nope, can't use Red Heart. I had him get some other yarn I needed instead. He does a very good job with my yarn shopping through!! :) He then says he has to go get something in a different city. Ok, let me try calling a store there...

Store #3 - The lady who answers the phone thinks they have Homespun, she puts me through to that department. The lady who I then talk to can tell me off the top of her head they don't carry "Earth". Hmph, guess I wasn't the first to ask.

Moral of the Story: Always keep extra "Earth" homespun in stock.

Oh yay! Just checked.... the Joann's order finally left that city. Hope it gets here tomorrow! :)

Oh by the way, I'm gonna apply for a job at Store #2. Their yarn department is VERY unorganized, and can use a lot of work. :) That's in my spare time, ya know. :p

Shark Pencil Holder Pattern

Shark Pencil Holder - Free Crochet Pattern

I got an order for a shark pencil holder, and had to get really creative in figuring out to make it. I figure I will share the pattern here, mostly for my own benefit, but feel free to use it yourself! :)

Important Notes:
*You are welcome to sell items made from this pattern, but please do not sell this pattern. I would love it if you linked back here though!
*If you think any corrections should be made to this pattern, please let me know!
*All abbreviations used in patterns are explained here.

Finished Size:
Depends on size of container you use, mine is about 7 inches tall.

Materials:

-H hook

-Stitch marker
-Yarn needle

-Grey acrylic yarn (approx. 4-5 oz.)

-A can or plastic jar to use as base - any size, you will make it to fit your can

-2 googly eyes

-3-4 white pipe cleaners

-Hot glue

Pattern:

Body:

Ch 2

Round 1: 6 sc in 2nd chain from hook, place st marker in last st. You will be working in continuous rounds so do not join. Remember to move st marker to last st at end of every round.

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around

Round 3: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st - repeat around.

Round 4: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts - repeat around

Round 5: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts - repeat around
Round 6: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 4 sts - repeat around

Round 7: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 5 sts - repeat around

Repeat in pattern established until wide enough to cover bottom of can. After wide enough, sc in each st around for every round until just under 1/2 inch from top of can. Sc2tog on last few rounds if can curves in and is necessary. Cover should fit tightly around can. Note: if you decreased at end, last few rows might have to worked while cover is on can. This is difficult to do, but it might be necessary. 

Last round: hdc in first stitch, dc in every stitch around, hdc in first hdc, sl st into next st, fasten off.

Top fin (dorsal fin):

Ch 2

Round 1: 4 sc in 2nd chain from hook, place st marker in last st. You will be working in continuous rounds so do not join. Remember to move st marker to last st at end of every round. (4 st)

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around (8 st)

Round 3: 1 sc in each st around

Round 4: 2 sc in first/next st, 1 sc in each of next 2 st, 2 sc in next st - repeat once more (12 sc)

Round 5: 1 sc in each st around

Round 6: 2 sc in first/next st, 1 sc in each of next 4 st, 2 sc in next st - repeat once more (16 sc)

Round 7: 1 sc in each st around

Round 8: 2 sc in first/next st, 1 sc in each of next 6 st, 2 sc in next st - repeat once more (20 sc)

Round 9: 1 sc in each st around

Round 10: 2 sc in first/next st, 1 sc in each of next 8 st, 2 sc in next st - repeat once more (24 sc)

Round 11: 1 sc in each st around

Round 12: 2 sc in first/next st, 1 sc in each of next 10 st, 2 sc in next st - repeat once more (28 sc)

Round 13: 1 sc in each st around. Fasten off, leaving 12 in tail.

Bottom fin (make 2):

Round 1: 4 sc in 2nd chain from hook, place st marker in last st. You will be working in continuous rounds so do not join. Remember to move st marker to last st at end of every round. (4 st)

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around (8 st)

Round 3: 1 sc in each st around

Round 4: 2 sc in first/next st, 1 sc in each of next 3 st - repeat once more (10 st)

Round 5-7: 1 sc in each st around

Round 8-9: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in each of the rest of the st around (14 st on row 9) Fasten off leaving 6 inch tail.

Assembly:

1) Thread tail from top fin into needle, and whip stitch together open edge. Position fin on cup in accordance with the picture below placing the sewn edge up so it faces towards top of cup. Then sew it onto cover.
2) Position bottom fins onto shark according to picture or however you like, and sew them onto the cover with the their tails you left long.
3) Place cover onto can if it's not already. Hot glue on eyes.
4) Bend white pipe cleaners into a zigzag the size of teeth. Pinch all the ends on one side so they are moth teeth like.
5) Pull cover down if possible, and hot glue teeth around top of can, stretching them a little, depending on how close together you folded them. When glue is hard, put glue around bottom edge of teeth and just that on the can, stretch the cover over the teeth a little bit and glue it in place. Note: you may want to put teeth on before placing cover on can.
6) Weave in all loose ends and you are done!!

What I've been up to!

Sock Monkey Hat!

(Pattern from Sock Monkey Kook)

LOTS of Owl Hats!

Shark Pencil Holder! (Pattern coming soon!)

....and that's what has kept me from blogging! :)

Ha! A Picture! :)

I finally got a picture from Matthew! :) (See my last post!) He did indeed wear it, and said it worked pretty well, I just might want to think about adding a flap so the wearer can blow their nose... Any suggestions anyone on how to do that?? ;)

He cracks me up!