Tee Shirt Remixed

  I tried another pattern from Erika and Monika Simmons called Remix T-Shirt Sleeves. This pattern is published in their book called  "Double Stitch: Designs For The Crochet Fashionista." It is also free and can be found here. Don't you love free? You know I do!

So I took this plain gray tee shirt:

Then added the Remixed Sleeves:

The final piece:

Crochet Portraits

   Have you ever seen a crocheted portrait? One of my Ravelry friends is an expert at making them! His name is Todd Paschall and his website is Crochet By Numbers. You can turn your own pictures into crochet portraits! He has made portraits and sweaters of several famous people. You can find some free patterns and training tools on the site to get you started.

  I've been admiring his work for a while but haven't tried his technique yet. I will soon. It seems like it would take forever, I guess I won't know until I try. I will definitely let you know once I do and if anyone else has done it, please leave a comment.

  Here is some of his work:

Image from http://www.crochetbynumbers.com/







Image from http://www.crochetbynumbers.com/

 



The Versatile Blogger Award

  I got a blog award! I was awarded The Versatile Blogger by Lovestitch from Stitch of Love. Thank you Lovestitch! She has a craft blog full of free patterns, and her beautiful creations. Check it out sometime. The rules of this award are as follows:

1 Add the award to your blog

2 Thank the blogger who gave it to you

3 Mention 7 random things about yourself.

4 List the rules

5 Award to 15 bloggers

6 Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

My 7 random things:

1. My alter ego is Lolita Loca - manager to professional wrestler Lobo Loco.
2. I was a true tomboy growing up.
3. My first real job was at Hershey's Chocolate World. I love Reese's! mmmmm
4. I graduated high school, year of 1997, and have never been to college full time.
5. I love to dance.
6. I was in the marching band in high school and was still cool. ha, glee club too!
7. I am easily distracted and get bored. Gotta have variety! 

I'll pass this award to the following blogs (in not particular order) who may or may not participate:

• LambAround
• Make The Best of Things
• Handmade by Lilacanglia
• The Craft Patch
• Strung-Out
• That's So Cugely
• Craft Envy
• Wires & Yarns
• Centsational Girl
• A girl and a glue gun
• Crochet and Other Stuff
• new day, new ideas
• Crochet Spot
• Doublewide Dreamer
• the blog of ashLeenikoL

Free Patterns Sraight to your Inbox

  I love getting free crochet patterns emailed to me, even if I don't get to try the patterns right away. I save them in a folder in my email just for crochet patterns. Sometimes I email links to myself for later use. If it's not in my email, it's in my favorites on Ravelry.com. Patterns that I've used, make it to a folder on my hard drive, unless I just didn't like it.

  If you don't know about this site already, it's a pretty good one to keep on hand or you can subscribe to their newsletter. I subscribe to get "Hooked on Crochet" in my email regularly. The website is called All Free Crochet. Not only do they have free patterns, they also have tutorials, tips, reviews and more. Check it out sometime. I enjoy it and maybe you will too!

Braids and Twists

   I haven't had a hair post in a super long time. Newer followers probably have never even seen my hair posts. Not only can I manipulate fiber, but I can manipulate hair a little bit as well. So I'll leave you with some images of my cosmetology skills and my precious hair models.

Two-Tone Shrug Pattern

  I found another free pattern to try out, the Two-Tone Shrug, designed by Erika and Monika Simmons.  This is a pretty quick shrug to whip up. I can see it over a summer dress or something like that. I used a multicolor yarn instead of two different colors like the pattern suggests. So I guess mine is a multi-toned shrug. I used Hobby Lobby's "I love this Yarn!" The color is called Blue Camo.

  I really need to check the gauge when I do projects. I don't know why it's such a problem for me. Maybe because I just want to jump right into the project. I must crochet a little tighter than the twins do because it's just a bit small. It didn't come out too much smaller, but I will definitely use a larger hook next time. I used the suggested size H crochet hook. This will probably look better on my daughter than on me.

  My big lesson from this project is learning how important gauge really is. Does anyone else skip checking your gauge, or is it just me?

Halter Top

  If you've been following my blog for a while you might remember my unfinished halter top. Here's a pic if you haven't seen it.

  I finally picked it up and decided to work on it again. I wanted to undo the bottom part because I thought it was a little too ruffly. I think I'll keep it as it is and make it into a dress instead of a shirt. Hopefully it will come out the way I imagine it in my head.
  So here's what I'm working with so far:

  Anyone have any suggestions? Is it too ruffly? Should I keep going? What do you think? Thanks for any input.

V-Topper Completed

  My V Topper is complete! The pattern was very easy to follow and well written. If you'd like to try it, you can find the free pattern here. I haven't blocked the sweater yet, so I think it will look better after I do that. The bottom kind of rolls up a bit, so blocking will eleminate that. The only thing I might do different next time is to make the sleeves a little longer and maybe not as wide. So here is the final product and a sneak peek at the 3d wall art in my new craft room. (The room is still not done yet.)

Stitch Markers Tutorial

  This pattern that I am working on called for some stitch markers. Usually I would just use a paperclip or another color of yarn or anything that will work. I had nothing on hand at the moment and decided that maybe it's time I had some real stitch markers. So I made some, and this is how I did it:

Start with some materials:

• findings
• beads
• tools

Thread some beads onto a headpin.

Bend the pin as close as possible to the last bead so the pin is at a 90 degree angle.

Cut off the access leaving about 1/4 of an inch. I just eyeballed it.

Using round nose pliers, bend the pin back towards itself to make a loop.

Now add the jump ring and the clasp.

Another variation would be to have the beads on separate headpins or eyepins so the piece will be more dangly. You can go as long or short as you'd like. There are so many possibilities.

Work in Progress - A Garment

  I think garment patterns intimidate me. I don't know if it's because I think they will take forever or because I think they will be too difficult, or because I might get bored and never finish. I've only made one garment. It was decent, but could definitely use some improvements. If you'd like to see my purple cable jacket, click here.

  I think I should do more garments this year. I would learn a lot more and it will surely make me a better crocheter. I was looking through some books that I have for something that I can see myself wearing. I started making a gypsy duster. That pattern was made by the Double Stitch Twins, Erika and Monika Simmons. I'm not sure if I was doing it right or what, but I'll have to come back to that one another time.

  I found this free pattern on Ravelry and decided to give it a try. It's called V Topper by Renee Barnes and can be found here on the Caron International Yarns website. So far so good. I haven't had any problems yet. Hopefully I won't, and it will be a smooth ride the whole way. I even learned something new, this pattern features a double slip stitch (dsst), which makes the textured stripes going across. This is the back side, so far. The pattern goes up the back then will continue around the shoulder area and down the front.

Happy Three Kings Day!

image from http://www.sundayeducation.com/

My Gift from the Gift Exchange

  I'm really late with this one, but I wanted to show you what I got for the gift exchange that I was a part of recently. I was partnered up with Holly. She was really nice and sweet. You can check out her blog here and she has a tutorial on how she made my gift. She made a wreath for my front door! It matches perfectly. The hubby made a face when I took it out of the box, but after I put it on the door he said it looks good. (That's a huge compliment coming from him.) I love it and think it looks great! I probably should have put it a little higher, but it still looks good.

Zeke wanted to get in the picture

  I wasn't sure what to make Holly. I decided to be safe and made her a headwarmer. Then I thought that wasn't enough, so I made a scarf to match.. and while I was at it, I threw in some earrings. Hopefully they get some good use. It's actually starting to feel like winter these past couple days. I'd rather have the heat, but at least my crocheted stuff will come in handy now.

2012, It's a New Year!

  I hope everyone had a happy new year celebration, vacation, and all that jazz! Now it's time to get back to our normal work schedules, fighting traffic, school, and other activities. Be glad if you don't have traffic to fight. Hopefully everyone is back with a new year attitude and being extra nice and considerate. As for me, I am trying to get over this horrible cold the just keeps morphing into something worse than it was before. Maybe the saying is true that it will get worse before it gets better? What a depressing statement.

  Anyway, this year I will have a new craft room which will hopefully inspire new projects and designs. The craft room has been in remodeling mode for a while which is why I haven't told you about any new projects lately. I was going to post a before picture, but I was too embarrassed of the mess I had. Maybe I will change my mind when I have an after picture to show. Well, here's to the new year, new attitudes, and new ideas!

image from http://www.youknowwhereyouare.com/

Marble Nails

  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! This post is out of the ordinary crochet talk, but I thought it was interesting enough to post here and tell you about it. I found this crackle nail polish as I was doing some last minute Christmas shopping and thought I'd give it a try. I was looking online to see how other crackled nails had turned out and came across this video for making marble nail designs. It's actually pretty easy to do. All you need is a cup of room temperature water, some nail polish, toothpicks or a pin, and a q-tip. The design is made on the surface of the water with the polish. You can see the video that I saw here, and there are many more tutorials and designs out there. Here is my first try at it, I think it came out really neat and I will probably try different colors sometime. I only had a few colors since I don't do my nails regularly, but after I did it I bought these tiny bottles of polish to try called Bon bons. Has anyone tried this technique before? It's new to me, but I'm sure it's not new. I really like how it looks.

Show n Tell, Headwarmer

Here is Shelly's headwarmer made from my free pattern found here. It looks great! Thanks for sending me pics!

Crochet Christmas Trees

  I found this great pattern for crochet Christmas trees by Teresa on her blog.  I used Hobby Lobby's "I Love this Yarn." Isn't that the perfect name for great yarn? I love it! I used all the same color since it had the sparkly ribbon already in it. I also had to make my chain longer since I wanted a bit fuller tree. I think it came out great. I'm still contemplating if I want to decorate them any further.

Lizzy's Blanket Final Update