I can’t exactly describe everything since some of my recipients read this, but it will be a combination of jewelry, sewn stuff, and knitted/crocheted goods. Speaking of sewing – I went to Joann’s saturday for fabric for a gift project and was vastly disappointed by their selection. I was basically looking for some novelty/calico print cottons. I didn’t see anything I really wanted and I’m not paying $5/yd for stuff I don’t really like. I’d rather drop the $9/10 yd on Amy Butler stuff. I guess I will hit up the land of evil to see if they have anything better. I also can’t find a lint comb anywhere!

Saturday I made this cute hat. Excuse the crappy cell phone pic, the real color is much nicer. It’s crocheted with Lion Brand Thick & Quick Woolease. I’m not a fan of acrylic blends but I loved the color. Mustard yellow is my new obsession. This probably took about an hour to do. I am planning on making another one for a gift and if I actually do it I will write up the pattern. In the meantime I need to get knitting.

Anyone have tips for knitting with elastic for yarns that don’t have much inherent elasticity? I’m trying to do a beret with bamboo and it’s not working out. I’m sure the drapey part will look great though. I bought some sewing elastic and I’m going to give knitting with that a try.

I made these as a gift for my friend Christina’s bridal shower. She really enjoyed them.

The pastie is crocheted using pearl cotton and small steel hook. I forget what size. I just made a basic circle doing some non-increasing rows so that it would be slightly cupped. Then I sewed on the lace and beads at the same time. At this point I wondered exactly why I was hand beading a gag gift. At least it looked nice. I made tassels out of a skein of DMC embroidery thread and sewed them on. Voila! Pasties.

Christina enjoyed them and even modeled them for the guests.

Here is the final product. The box is about 4″ square to give you an idea of scale. I used a G hook and prestrung my beads. I really like the organic feel of crocheted wire, and since you can only buy sterling silver wire in 1 oz spools (I got mine from artbeads.com) I still have plenty more wire (and beads!) to play with.

These are a gift for a friend who told me that I should make Lorene originals rather than copying some stuff I saw in a jewelry shop. Although the necklace I liked was $5000! And, yes I am still planning on making my own version of it.

The smaller bead section is knotted between every 8 beads. The large bead secion has knots between every 3 beads. I used a bead awl so the knotting was pretty simple to do, but I’m surprised I don’t have a blister on my left index finger. Altogether the necklace is about 49″ long. So it can be single, double or triple wrapped.

I also made up a little pouchette for the necklace. Healing stones made me think of the little crochet bags my mom used to make when I was younger. I used to have a collection of stones I carried in the pouch around my neck. I decided to do a simpler version (my moms had patterns) with #3 pearl cotton. I used a 0 crochet hook and double crochet so it went rather quickly.

I’m sending her the necklace with a wee baggie of sea salt for purification. I hope she likes it.

The turquoise trio..knit and crocheted with knit picks shine sport

click to see big

There’s a little headband with a crocheted flower, some baby ballet slippers, and a cable knit wristband (with a nod to Heidi for the idea). I love the Icord fastener on this. I got that from Knitting Over the Edge. And I made all three while watching a Yankees game.

Now on to Aunt Flo’s Bag…yes that’s another tampon holder. This one is a bit fancier. It’s knit with knit picks shine worsted. The final verision has a shiny black dome button too.

So first up is a skein of hand painted yarn for my sister. It’s Lamb’s Pride worsted that I painted using Washfast dye in Magenta and Black. I am so unscientific when I dye..I pretty much eyeball everything but I love the way this came out. I used the leftover dye to paint some roving as well. Now I need to find time to spin that up!

Next up is a Panta for my other sister. The pattern is on craftster.org somewhere. I used Lamb’s Pride worsted and size 8 needles. I also only did 5 repeats.

Last up is a scarf I made for my Grandma in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk – Orange. I used 3 skeins. I forget what the stitch is called.

So then I made a striped hat with a pom-pom that my mom thinks is too small. Then I came home and made a pom-pom for my kitten. I hung it in a doorway and she’s having great fun batting it around.

must make this at some point