Stash Bash

 So far so good on the daily posting! Today's topic asks "How do you keep your yarn wrangling organized?" Well.. I don't know if you'd call it organized, but it actually looks better than it did last week. Last Saturday I made an effort to clean up my craft room. It still needs work but looks better than the mess I had before. I won't show the whole room, (because I'm not completely satisfied with it yet) but I'll show my yarn stash.

My stash is actually all over the house. My husband moved some of it to a little area under the basement stairs. Now I have to move everything to get to it.. Great... Thanks, dear. So I don't have a pic of that, (it's dark under there) but it consisted of two fairly large plastic containers. My father actually got that yarn for me from an auction. I love free and cheap goodies. I will rescue that yarn soon! The rest of my stash is in the guestroom in a cabinet. The drawers underneath is where I keep my crochet books and extra hooks that I'm not using at the moment. I even have some knitting needles in there. One day they will get some use.

My Skills

  Today's topic calls to evaluate my skills over the last year.  Let's see. Around this time last year is when I opened up my online store, PerfectMix Creations. The first few items in the store were good enough to be sold, but I think I have improved since then. This past year, I also wrote my first free pattern, an easy winter beanie. Now if we were talking about the year before last, I would have a lot more to say because I came a long way that year. I think this year, I've been trying to master what I already know, and tackling new stitches. I'm still working on it. I've learned a lot from doing other people's patterns, reading different blogs, and books from the library. My greatest resource would definitely be YouTube.com. It makes learning anything so much easier when you can actually see it being done. There is one person's videos that I always end up going to if I'm stumped on a stitch and that is Teresa from Art of Crochet. Her videos are always so clear and thorough. If I didn't learn it in a book, I learned it from Teresa. Thank you, Teresa!!  The last video I watched was her teaching a Crocodile Stitch. This is one of quite a few stitches I had no idea existed last year.

Crocodile Stitch

 I've also learned about blocking, different crochet techniques, and embroidering on crochet. I've acquired lots of new hooks and tools too. I have yet to use them all in an actual project. There is much more to learn. Crochet is so versatile, mastering it will take years.

Hairpin Lace

Blocked and Unblocked

  My jewelry making skills have improved a bit as well. Lately, I haven't been able to practice in that area, but I will eventually come back to it. I still have much to learn in that department.

A Tale of Two Yarns

  Almost two years ago, when my husband and I just moved into our new house, I decided to start my first crocheted throw. I wanted one that will match our new couch in our new living room. A lot of new things going on. I was still fairly new to crochet and wasn't very yarn savvy. So I bought some yarn that would match and was soft enough to want to use. I didn't just want something to look at. I bought the yarn at Joann's and I do not remember the brand, but it was something like this.

 It was soft and pretty and I loved how it changed colors. When I finally started crocheting with it, it turned out to be more of a pain than anything! I tried different hooks, but could never see my stitches so I had no idea where to put my hook next. I ended up using a pretty big hook, and went in between the double crochet stitches. I made that thing work! I was determined. That yarn was almost $8! I remember doubling it up because it was too thin, oh that was another pain! I liked the way the colors changed gradually, making a stripe look. I didn't want to lose that, so I actually had to find the point where both skeins changed at the same time! Sheesh, it sounds like too much work just typing about it. Well, ultimately I was very happy with the outcome. It took months, but it's still on my couch today. Would I do it again? Probably not.

 I'm not really sure what I would say my favorite yarn is. I use acrylic yarn the most, maybe because it's cheap or maybe because there are so many colors, or maybe I'm still not that yarn savvy. If I had to pick a brand it would most likely be "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby. I'm really diggin their "I Love This Cotton" too, but I'll talk about the acrylic for now.

  If you've read my previous posts, you know that I'm working on a blanket. This is the yarn that I am using. The color is white sparkle. It's pretty soft and it has a thin silver ribbon spun in it to give it some bling. This yarn is great to work with, not at all as frustrating as boucle.

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - I can do it!

Ok, so I saw this on another blog that I follow (craftfro.blogspot.com) and I thought it was a great idea. It's going to be a challenge because it's been so hard to find time to blog lately, but this might actually help me. It could be the perfect motivation that I need. Either that or it will be a complete fail for me. Hopefully it won't be the latter. I'm not sure if I've ever even posted two consecutive days. I can do it! But don't be disappointed if I don't... You can do it too! If you want to join in, just click the picture or go to eskimimiknits.com for all the details. It's not too late. I will be posting my first post for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week later today. See you then!

Yarn Lovers, FYI

Knit Purl Gurl is giving away free Lion Brand Yarns Cotton Bamboo!! To enter in the contest go to this link. You have until April 4th to enter! I can always use some free yarn! Good luck!

Green Beret for St Patty's Day

Happy St Patrick's day!  As for me, I'm home sick from work today. I caught a virus that my son had. I think the fever is finally gone, but I still feel pretty weak.

I finished this beret for a friend of mine from work. It's a simple olive green beret.

The pattern is Mimi's Beret Cap without the brim. I decreased for two extra rows, then after the sc rows, I added a row of slip stitches to end. If you haven't noticed, I like this pattern a lot. There is another newsboy cap pattern that she gave me that I've been meaning to try. That will be in a future post. Have a great day!

Happy National Crochet Month

    Yes, it's national Crochet month and I've been slacking. Well, not really. I've been so preoccupied with this blanket that I'm working on. I'll give you an update on that later. Now I'd like to show you a couple hats I recently made. I would also like to introduce my son's first debut on the blog. You've seen my oldest and my youngest so this is my middle child, Isaiah. He is sporting a flat cap made from the same pattern I used before from ravelry.com. This time instead of using two strands of yarn, like the pattern calls for, I used one and it came out way smaller. Perfect for him.

   This next hat was made for myself. I think I may be a little sensitive to acrylic because my forehead starts to itch if I wear a hat for too long. I had this one on for a whole day and it didn't bother me at all. It's made with an olive bamboo blend and it's super soft and cozy. The pattern is called Soldier and it's from a book called "Get Your Crochet On! Hip Hats & Cool Caps."

Face Lift

As you can see, I tried to give my blog a little face lift. Since it's March I thought green would be appropriate. I also added a new page to the blog. I put all of my free crochet patterns there in one place, so all you have to do is click on the title and it will take you to the post with that free pattern. 

Thanks to everyone who follow my blog and special thanks for all the great comments. Please keep them coming and stay tuned for more PerfectMix Creations.

Latest Headwear

Here are a couple new hats that I've made. One is for a customer and the other was for my husband, but I think I like it more than he does. He likes simpler styles, so I think it's too many colors for him. I got the pattern from Ravelry.com it's called Men's Jeff Cap. I used a solid color and a multicolored brown yarn. I actually ran out of the multicolor towards the end so I did the last round with two strands of the solid dark brown.

The other hat is another Newsboy Hat, this time in purple. I also made some matching earrings.

Valentine's Day Hat

Here is a hat I made for my daughter for Valentine's Day. She loves dogs so I added a cute little iron-on applique. She was happy to model for me.

Sackboy Hat and a Sneak Peek

This hat was requested recently. I just mailed it off yesterday so hopefully they got it before they see it on here. So this is Thane's hat and matching Sackboy. Thane is going through chemo therapy. I hope he likes the gifts. Keep your head warm, Thane! My son kept trying to take the Sackboy so I hope he made it to his destination safely.

Lately I've been working on another order. This is my biggest project right now. Here's a sneak peek.

These flowers will be made into a huge blanket lined with fleece. I still have a long way to go, but I will keep you posted along the way. This blanket has a matching hat too.

 A Valentine kiss from Zeke...  Happy Valentine's Day!

Cell Phone Case Pattern

A friend of mine asked me to make him a cell  phone case for his Blackberry. So this is how I did it. There are no exact measurements or stitch counts. It all depends on the size of your phone or whatever you decide to put in the case. This would be good for an IPOD too. I had to use another case for my measurements since I didn't have the phone.

Materials:

• worsted weight yarn
• size F hook
• velcro (sticky or sew on)
• a phone for perfect measurements

 

Abbreviations:

•  hdc = half double crochet
•  st = stitch
•  ea = each
•  ch = chain

Pattern:


Make a chain that goes across your phone, plus 1. Mine came out to 15 chains.

hdc in second ch from hook and in ea st across.
make a second hdc in the last st.
hdc in the next st and ea st across on the other side of the ch.
it should look like this

do not join. hdc in next hdc and ea st around.
the corners will bunch up which is what we want. 

just push the corner in towards you so you can continue crocheting on the outside of the case.

continue with hdc in ea st, spiraling around until it is the length of your phone. do not fasten off.

now we'll make the the flap. 
hdc in ea st across the back of the case.
ch 1 and turn.

hdc in ea st back down the row.
my count here was 12 sts, yours may be different.

ch 1 and turn.
continue making rows with the same amount of stitches until your flap is as long as you want it.

fasten off. 
to close the case, I used sticky back Velcro. You can use a snap or button or leave it as is. 

I cut about 2 inches of the felt part, rounded it off and stuck it on the case. Then I cut a smaller piece of the other part and stuck that on the flap. I made the flap piece smaller because if the little hooks catch on the yarn it will eventually get all fuzzy and felted. 

Here is a pic of the first case I made for my own phone. It is old, dirty and beat up, but it still does the job. The Velcro looks much better on the black because it blends in. I think a button would have been cuter for the blue one, but I don't think my friend was going for cute.

 I love seeing finished products from my patterns. If you want to be featured on my blog with your finished items, just shoot me an email. If you don't want to be featured but still want to send me pics, that's great too! Just let me know in the email if you want me to post your pics or not.

daperfectmix@gmail.com