Crocheted Cowl Scarf

In the midst of knitting the orange scarf below, I had the urge to go back to my roots and do some crocheting. I saw these pretty cowl scarves by jenloveskev and thought they'd be pretty easy to make myself.

(this one's by jenloveskev)

Three evenings later I had myself a pretty blue cowl scarf. I'm super happy with the results.

I love that its warm enough that I can wear it with a jacket outside, and yet light and chic enough that I can wear it with a sweater to work inside.

It's also something that I can whip up and give as a gift. I'll probably end up making a few of these for friends yet too, and experiment with feathers and buttons like Jen does.

Knitting

After several months, I've finally finished my first knitting project!

I started off easy and made a scarf, following a Purl Bee pattern called Easy Mistake Stitch Scarf (can't go wrong with a name like that, right?)

For knowing nothing of knitting before starting this project, I was surprised how easy it was, though it seemed a LOT more time consuming than crocheting. It ended up being big enough to easily wrap around my neck twice and used up two skeins of yarn. Plus, it stretches out a lot in width!

Linen Grocery Tote

I recently finished another crocheting project. I made the linen grocery tote with a pattern from Purl Bee I had mentioned earlier. It was nice to do a knitting/crocheting project that only took a week or so opposed to a few months!

Anyways, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I'm thinking these may be good to make for gifts. Yes.

I used the project's recommended linen, Louet's Euroflax linen, in Mustard. It's tough and incredibly strong, while still being gorgeous and soft when you wash it.

It's also really stretchy and fills out a lot so you can fit lots in it!

My next crochet project

Since I took up knitting this summer, I haven't done much crocheting at all.

The other day though, I saw the coolest project posted on Purl Bee.

It's a crocheted linen grocery tote, perfect for putting fruits and vegetables in.

When I go grocery shopping, I usually avoid putting my fruits and vegetables in plastic bags because it just seems like such a waste.

This seems like the perfect alternative! It's super stretchy, and when it isn't being used, can be squished down tiny enough to fit in my purse.

I can't do any crazy crocheting, but the pattern seems simple enough and has pretty pictures. You can check it out here.

I'm a terrible blogger.

I must apologize for my lack of blogging lately. May has been an incredibly busy month, with moving, vacationing in Seattle (I'll post about that later, once I get all the pictures) and a lot of work.

I finally managed to steal Mike's camera and take some pictures of some DIY projects I've been meaning to share.

First off, in addition to my beloved Pyrex butter dish, I've made another purchase on ebay. I bought a vintage kitchen scale in robin egg blue, which I got in the mail from England a few weeks ago.


(Sorry for the crappy picture, the lighting in my kitchen is terrible.) I use it as a fruit basket (did you know 1 lime + 1 tomato = 1/2 pound?). I also finished a DIY project in May. With the help of a coworker who cut scraps of wood to the correct size to me (I really need to get some more tools) I built, sanded and painted a spice rack for myself. I got the project from a lovely blog called Craftynest, but changed it in that I only have 4 shelves, not 5, to allow for more finger room when grabbing the tins of spices.



I also don't think I ever posted a full-size completed version of the afghan I made back in winter.


Here it is, on my bed. It's big and heavy and oh so cozy. The finished product ended up being about 6 by 6 feet after 120 hours of work and going through $120 of yarn. Now that I've been done for a few months, I've been craving crocheting some more. I'm thinking of making a smaller throw blanket with a zig zag pattern.


This project isn't so much DIY as just updating. I got this great vintage lamp base from my grandma over a year ago and had it sitting in a closet because I didn't have a lampshade for it.


While on our vacation, I stopped by Ikea in Vancouver and bought this shade. I love the grey with the yellow!

Movies and Afghans

I saw this trailer today! It looks incredible! That may have to do with the fact that they use Arcade Fire.... how can you go wrong? I'm not one to enjoy fantasy/childrens movies, but I think I might have to make an exception for this one.





And here's another trailer I just had to post. The King and I (from 1956, starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner was my favorite movie from about age 5 to age 10. I think I watched the entire 2+ hour long musical at at least 3 of my birthday parties (I'm surprised any of my friends came after the first time). It's such a charming movie! Anyways, the trailer is absolutely hilarious. They sure have changed in the past 50 years.




In some very good news, I finished my afghan last night! After about $110 of Vanna White yarn and 110 hours of crocheting, it's finally done. It only took me two months to finish (my last one was starting 5 years ago and still not complete...).




I don't have a camera to take nice pictures of it, so I just took a few with my iMac. You can't really see any detail or how big it is (queen size).

When I was a kid my parents had two big afghans in our family room. I liked to hang them across furniture and make forts, and I'd poke at the light coming in through the holes.

It's raining in February

I've been working like crazy on my afghan! Here's an updated picture on how it's going.



Essentially I have to make 64 individual squares (called granny squares) and then stitch them all together to make a queen size bed blanket. Each square is about 9 by 9 inches and takes just under 1.5 hours. I've made 20 as of tonight, and I'm very proud of how fast I've been getting this thing done. Hopefully it won't take another 5 years like my last one!

It's a lot of fun, and I find it really soothing and relaxing to do when I get home from work. Probably because it's repetitive and you don't have to think to do it. It's quite therapeutic.

My goal is to be finished it by the end of March.

An Afghan update!

So I found this super awesome tutorial on youtube about how to make granny squares, the foundation of the afghan I'm making (essentially you just make a lot of squares and then stitch them together). At first it's a little confusing, and I had to re-watch a few parts. But after following it for a few rounds in the pattern, it's so easy!

Within two hours (which I could do in much less time now, the first time is always the trickiest), I made an entire granny square! I think it's probably 9 by 9 inches.



There's one mistake, but I'm proud of it and I'm definitely on the way to completing this project in less than 5 years. Mine is a little bit "looser" than the Urban Outfitters one, but I think it's more home-y this way, and it'll be a lot faster. Plus I couldn't find a pattern for exactly how Urban Outfitters had it. I'm very happy with my results though.

Afghans

I absolutely love afghans. There's nothing cozier than snuggling up with an old afghan.

So I recently found, while cleaning out my room at my parents' place, a crocheting project I started five years ago. My friend was having a baby, so I decided to take up crocheting and make her a baby blanket. I never did finish the blanket, but I've been working on it again the past few days and it's a lot of fun.


It's just white, with a simple pattern.

However, I decided to become a bit more ambitious. After looking at one of my favorite store's websites, I found a blanket for sale at Urban Outfitters that I decided to try to re-create.


I went to Michaels this afternoon and bought a ton of yarn. It's a much more complex project than the blanket I started so long ago, but I think it'll be fun. It'll probably take another five years to complete though, haha.