ohmygoodknits! // a knitting & crochet blog » valentines

Make it: Embroidered Heart coaster

Lisa — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:31:29 +0000

I made heart shaped coasters, but you could switch out the shape with whatever you like. You could give THESE away as Valentines! They’re fairly quick to complete and easy peasy.

Materials
embroidery floss
a needle
double-sided tape
4″ x 4″ cork coaster (I bought 12″ x 12″ tiles and cut them up. 9 per tile!)
heart shape to fit your tile

not shown:
ruler, pencil

1. Adhere your heart to your coaster with a small piece of tape. Mark the “corners” of the heart by placing a ruler across the tile diagonally and making small marks on the edges.
2. Working with a LONG piece of floss (leave the non-working tail connected to the rest of your floss), insert the needle at the bottom tip of the heart, from front to back.
3. Bring the floss back over and insert about 1/8″ from first spot. Continue bringing the floss to the front and stitching at evenly-spaced (as even as you can muster) intervals along the edge of your heart.

4. When you get to a corner, stitch in the spot, then come up along the adjacent edge and stitch into the same space.
5. Continue stitching along this side until you get to the next corner. Stitch into that space, bring the floss back over along the adjacent edge and stitch into the same spot. Continue stitching until you run out of floss. If you get back to the beginning, stitch into the first spot, then knot the ends together and weave them under the stitches on the back. You’re done!

If you run out of floss, follow steps 6-7:

6. Cut a long piece of floss from your non-working end and re-thread your needle with it. ON THE BACK of the coaster, bring the now working thread through the first two or so stitches, then start embroidering up the side, the same way you did the first half of the coaster.
7. When you get to your original thread, knot the ends together and weave them under the stitches on the back. Now, you’re done!

Like I said above, use them as coasters or little pieces of art! You could use this same method to embroider on cardstock to make a lovely Valentine’s Day card. I’m going to make some for my boys!

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Crochet a heart with me (my first video!)

Lisa — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:54:27 +0000

Valentine’s Day is a few weeks away, so why not start adorning your house (self, bags, books, etc) with hearts? This is a super quick 3 row pattern that you can probably complete in under 5 minutes. String them up garland-style, or add a safety pin to the back and have yourself a brooch. I chain stitched some together to make a vertical garland. Love!

Materials
worsted weight yarn
5mm (H) hook

Abbreviations (U.S. terms)
Ch- chain
SC- single crochet
DC – double crochet
slst- slip stitch
sk- skip
st- stitch

Pattern
Ch 4
Row 1: 1 SC in second ch from hook, 3 SC in next ch, 1 SC in last ch. Ch 3, turn.
Row 2: 3 DC in first st, 1 SC in next st, 3 SC in next st, 1 SC in next st, 4 DC in last st. Ch 1, DO NOT TURN.

Edge: 2 SC in first half of the side of last DC, 1 SC in next half, SC the first and last ch of the beginning chain together, 1 SC in the first ch of beg ch-3 of Row 2, 2 SC in next ch, 2 SC in last ch, 2 SC in first DC, 1 SC in each of the next 4 stitches, 3 SC in the “corner stitch”, 1 SC in each of the next 4 stitches, 2 SC in last DC. Slst to top of first SC. Fasten off.

The edge can seem a little confusing, so I made this video–

Crochet Heart Edge from Lisa Gutierrez on Vimeo.

This is the very first time I’ve made a crochet video. To be completely honest…I LOVED IT. It was awkward at first and pretty difficult to get focus, but I think I might make more for future projects. I found the music on Vimeo and it’s called “Instrumental salad” by Marlo Eggplant (www.myspace.com/marloeggplantmusic).

I used Windows Movie Maker to create this video. Any tips for newbies? I didn’t realize there were black edges on the sides until after. I expected the bars on top, but not the sides. I’ll have to figure out what those are next time.

Let me know what you think about goodknits videos!

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Past Valentine’s Day Projects

Lisa — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:37:01 +0000

[Knit heart, thrifted garland]

[Cupcake containers]

[Heart crayons]

[Amigurumi heart friend]

[Heart pins]

My husband has been in Las Vegas 4 out of the past 5 Valentine’s Days. He works for an apparel company and so he’s there for the men’s fashion convention, MAGIC (ha). The first few years it really bummed me out, but now I’m used to it. These days, I consider it more of a kid’s holiday. We get to play with pinks! Reds! Whites! Hearts! Cupcakes! It’s a crafty holiday and so I really dig it. How about you?

Do you like Valentine’s Day or do you ditch it? Is it more of a romantic or fun holiday for you?

I’ll be back soon with a super simple under-five-minutes crochet heart pattern.

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Day O’Love

Lisa — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:17:20 +0000

Heart knit from pattern found in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop. It’s the back of the “Heart Hat” knit with Lion Brand’s Thick and Quick

I might not be around the interwebs, tomorrow. My hubs leaves for a convention in Las Vegas (a men’s fashion convention–ha!), on Monday, so we’ll be spending Valentine’s Day packing and dealing with the emotions (mine. anxiety, hello!) of his departure. I’m trying my best to focus on the positives like:

-Andy & I get the bed to ourselves.
-I don’t have to practically beat him up to get him to wake in the mornings.
-I can practice taking photos with my brand-new Lensbaby.
-I can fart whenever I please.
-I can knit after the kids go to sleep without feeling like I’m neglecting someone.

But I’m finding my mind settling on the things I’ll miss. Like his help with evening meltdowns. His laugh. The way his hair smells. And his middle-of-the-night cuddles. It’s only 4 days. Only. Only. Only.

you COLOR my world!

Lisa — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:00:36 +0000

Valentine’s Day is less than a week away! Yeah, I know, it’s a faux-holiday invented by major corporate scum to steal all our money! And blah blah blah. It’s also one of the few times a year I get to play with pink! I think I’ve said this before, but being a mom to boys means I don’t often see pink. You could say that’s my fault for following gender rules, but really, my son loves pink! He just doesn’t choose it as often as he chooses red or orange. It’s ok with me, because I do love me some orange. I just get a little tired of passing over pink, is all.

Anyway…This weekend, my sister chipped in and helped me with the single party favor I had my heart [!] set on making for Nate’s pre-k class. Heart crayons. Though stripping them of their paper and breaking them into small enough pieces was an absolute [and literal! my thumb still hurts] pain, they came out lovely.

Most how-to’s on the subject of heart crayons show an aluminum pan filled with crayon bits. Well, I went out and bought an aluminum pan, made a batch, but could NOT get them out! It was awful. So, I went out again and found a silicone pan and these lovely hearts were easily achieved.

I actually didn’t have enough crayon scraps (and I wasted a lot in the aluminum pan), so I bought 2 boxes of 64 Rose Art crayons ($2 each) for these. We split them up by color group and filled the slots accordingly. The aluminum pan fiasco taught me that contrasting colors didn’t go too well together in this project. I tried my best to keep them all within the same color group. I love the marbled–spin-art-ish–look!

I made a cheesy little tag with the line “you color my world” on it. Valentine’s Day party is this Friday!

scoop of hearts

Lisa — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:55:36 +0000

little heart pins made with guidance from the purl bee. check out the tutorial.

My initial plans were to make a few as little Valentine’s day favors. Well, I started and then couldn’t stop making them! Andrew was napping and before I knew it, I had finished my first sheet of red felt (it made 6) and so I started with pink, then white, and then I made another batch of red. What I’m trying to say is…I have about 24 little heart pins sitting in my cool Regaline bowl, now. I made them throughout the weekend. During naps, late-night movies, when my kids left on a lunch with grandma, etc. I’m all out of felt, now!

see more photos on flickr.

‘Tis the season for Cupcakes!

Lisa — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:14:33 +0000

If you would like to see more photographs, please click HERE.

heart friend

Lisa — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:24:05 +0000

It’s been a bit since I posted something in the crochet or knit category. You must be tired of my kids and/or my week-long obsession with pom-poms. Here’s something new.

Is it too early for Valentine’s Day crafting? I’m not much of a romantic, but I do like hearts and flowers and OMG!pink! I suppose I get so tired of all the blue, the millions of cars and trucks and construction scenes, that I’m happy to have an excuse to display some hearts and make little cutie pie things. Even if my own personal Valentine has been absent from 2 of the 4 past February 14′s, thanks to a little convention in Vegas that is anything but MAGICal.

I bought a handmade heart garland at the thrift store, a few weeks back. It was less than a dollar and I couldn’t bear to just leave it at the store. Someone definitely put some time into it. It’s comprised of many little stuffed hearts. It’s hanging on a hook in my living room, patiently waiting for it’s Valentine-decor spot.

I made this little amigurumi heart yesterday. The pattern was as easy as they come. It’s this free one at roxy craft. Pay attention to the stuffing note. I stuffed and stuffed and still think it could have used a smidge more poly-fil. I used some Caron Country and a 4.25mm (G) hook.

I was thinking of making these for Nathan’s teachers, but then I remember the cute little heart pins on the purl bee and decided I should make those instead. I just need to buy some felt. I have amassed a collection of random craft things but I don’t have any felt. That’s really weird, no? Felt is so lovely, but I tend to only buy the cheapo stuff at Wal-Mart whenever I need a bit to make something specific. I want some wool felt in all the lovely colors of the visible spectrum. If that’s too much to ask, a few squares in some pretty colors would be sufficient.