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Christmas countdown!

11/30/2012

Or advent calendar. Whatever you want to call it, it’s hanging on my foyer wall.

I spent the past week browsing Pinterest and just becoming so overwhelmed with advent calendar ideas. I kept complaining, “we neeeeed a calendar. we neeeeed a countdown. blah, blah, blaaaaaaah.” Finally, yesterday, I stopped complaining and went to Hobby Lobby for supplies. While taking Andrew to the bathroom (OF COURSE), I noticed the shelf with wood sheets and my mind flashed to the few scrap wood trees I’d seen in my Pinterest perusing. Bingo!

I loved the look of the scrap trees, but I wanted something really quick and easy. You can see the exact materials I used, below:

I stamped the numbers using a set my MIL gave me a few years ago. Everything is hot glued together and it hangs with a small piece of yarn. I’m going to fill the tiny envelopes with activity prompts and/or chocolates (I’m thinking Andes!) for both boys. I’m glad I got it done on time. They are super excited for tomorrow! I’m just a little terrified that 2012 is already so close to being over. How’d it go by so quickly?!

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Gradient Yarn with Kool-Aid

10/08/2012

Last month, I got the urge to dye yarn. I didn’t have any bare skeins hanging around, but I did remember I had pieces of a white wool sweater in my closet. Waaay back in 2010, I thrifted a large white wool sweater. It had the perfect seams to unraveling, so I took it apart almost immediately. …Then we bought a house and moved. It got trapped in a box of random crafty shit and I just forgot about it for a year. Last year, I dyed one of the sleeves and then last month I finally dyed the other.

I like sleeve dyeing because it makes me feel like I have more control over where the dye goes. Last year, I used these directions from craftystylish, but this time I wanted to try something different.

I wanted a gradient/ombre look, so I thought about how people get that with shirts by putting small parts of the fabric in at a time. Would it work? YES! I probably made it a little more difficult than it needed to be, but I was working with what I had–2 packs of pineapple Kool-Aid and 1 pack of cherry.

I started by putting my sleeve in a bowl of water with a splash of vinegar. I made sure it was completely saturated, then I put it in the microwave for a minute to temper it. While it was heating up, I mixed the 2 packs of pineapple with 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water and put it in a pot to heat up. I pulled my bowl out of the microwave and lifted the sleeve out (over the bowl, because it was dripping), gently squeezing a bit of the excess water out. I was able to handle it with my bare hands, but use caution if it feels too hot to you.

I started by dipping about 6-8 inches, counting to ten and dipping another 6 inches. I could see a lot of the dye getting absorbed pretty quickly and by the time I got to the last bit, there was hardly any yellow coming off my liquid. I quickly mixed the pack of cherry and 2 cups of water and then lifted my sleeve over the pot, mixed in the cherry and started dipping again. by the time I got to the top, the water was pink. Yay!

I let it sit in the warming water for a few quick minutes (no boiling!) and then I rinsed it with hot water, slowly getting the temperature down. When I could handle it, I put a dash of baby shampoo in to get any excess dye out. After it was done, I rolled it up in a towel and squeezed out most of the water, then let it hang in front of a fan for a few hours. Once dry, I went about the arduous task of unraveling and getting this yarn into a skein, which entailed ANOTHER bath (once unraveled). It was all worth it, as it looked so pretty wound into a ball.

I had various shades of coral and pink throughout. I was afraid the mix would be too orange, but it came out so lovely!

It took another week or two for me to finally knit something out of it, but here it is! A basic knit hat. The yarn was pretty chunky, so I was able to make a 60-st hat in a day.

It was big enough for me to tuck my hair into.

Do you like to dye your own yarn? Have you ever tried dyeing a sweater sleeve then re-purposing the yarn into something else? I’ve dyed with Kool-Aid before, but this is the first time I’ve actually tried to get the colors to look a certain way.

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Crochet: Simple Mask

09/25/2012

With October fast-approaching, I thought it was time to share this quick pattern.

Andrew, who’s 4, has decided he wants to be Darkwing Duck for Halloween, this year. Yes, the cartoon character from the early 90s. I can thank my husband for introducing that one to the boys. He’s dressed in a purple double-breasted blazer, a cape, mask, and hat (no pants because cartoon ducks don’t wear pants). I searched a few thrift stores for a purple blazer, but couldn’t find one. I DID find a white linen/cotton blazer to dye, though. I also picked up some purple fabric to make a cape and he has a gray fedora that will do just fine. I only needed to figure out the mask situation (and find him some white pants, because no way he’s going pantless).

I know I could make one out of the same purple fabric, but I got the idea in my head that he needed a mask made of yarn. I wasn’t near my computer when I made this grand decision, so I whipped one up just winging it. The results were pretty damn cute.

I would have just called it a day after that first try, but I soon realized the elastic was in the wrong place. I made it sort of cat-eye shaped, so the elastic is attached at the top corners. Since the top sits on his eyebrows, whenever he emoted, the mask shifted. Big boo! I spent the evening thinking about how else to make it and the next morning I crocheted and frogged and crocheted and frogged and finally got a simple shape that was also simple to crochet (2 rounds!!). Make a bunch and hand them out at Halloween!

I’ve provided some photos to help aid in the construction. It might sound a little tricky, but after the first you’ll get ‘em made in like 5 minutes, I bet!

You’ll need: worsted weight yarn, 5mm (H) hook, and some elastic.

Ch 21, slst into first ch to make a loop (left in above photograph).
Ch 23, slst into 21st ch from hook to make second loop (right).
This leaves you with 2 loops connected by 2 chains.

Ch 1, SC into next 2 chs, 30 SC into the loop. Shift them around so they’re evenly arranged around the loop. They’ll all fit!
SC into the back of the center 2 chs, 30 SC in next loop.
DO NOT JOIN.

SC2tog across the center 2 sts, *[HDC in next 5 sts, DC in next 4 sts, HDC in next 5 sts] 2 DC in each of the next 2 sts, repeat from [ to ]*
SC2tog across center 2 sts; Rep from * to *, slst into first st. Finish off, weave in ends.

Cut an 11″ piece of elastic and attach each end to each side of your mask. I used 3/8″ black elastic. You can adjust the size to fit the head you’re making the mask for.

Put it on and enjoy! Feel free to adjust the pattern to fit your head. If the 30 stitches around the eye opening are too big or too small, change the size of the beginning chain loops! You’ll have to change the second row, too. To get the shape, I split the stitch count in half then added taller stitches to the top, bottom, and side.

sorry, I’m not as cute as my kid, but he hasn’t been feeling well, so I’m not going to force him to pose for me.

As with all things things that can be made for children, please supervise them when they’re playing. The mask can knock out their peripheral vision and they could bump into things! Show your little one how to adjust the mask to fit around their eyes. It took a while for me to get used to having it on my face. It was pretty annoying at first, but I wore it for a bit!

[Text-only version of the pattern may be viewed HERE.]

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Christmas countdown!

Gradient Yarn with Kool-Aid

Crochet: Simple Mask