Christmas Crochet List

So as chrsitmas approaches rather quickly, i have begun my christmas presents...most of which i plan to crochet. heres the list:

6 scarves
1 pair of socks
2 hats
14 headbands
1 pair of mittens
13 or so christmas trees
3 snowflakes

YIKES!!!!! This will be fun. 5/6 scarfs i will use yarn bee cameo on so i could knock one out every 45 min or so, i've finished one hat and one snowflake. the headbands shouldnt be too bad and everything else i can usually get out in a hour or two. i just have to pace myself...not to mention the two hats i'm making for guys at Tomato Tattoo :P but i'll hold those off till Jan when i go with a friend to get touch ups, yay!!!!

Happy Crafting and Happy Holidays

P.S. i so totally crocheted a hat for a tattoo, i think thats one of the most awesome things i've done...ever :)

Update on Projects

I suppose it is time i write another one of these. i've been busy with lots of projects and school over the past few weeks but it has all been fun. i wore my civil war dress for halloween and it was a huge hit!

i have also sucessfully cabled in crochet, and made a wonderful shawl (which will now be produced in wool, probably on my trip to boston). due to a wonderful sale at Michaels, i purchesed a large amount of wool and felted for the first time! i looooove wool! but only when it is 2.50 a skein instead of 5.00. basically i stocked up, i think over all i bought 11 skeins, but i couldnt help myself, it is sooo warm and the colors from Paton's are beautiful! of course i felted a pair of slippers, the most wonderful things ever, and i've made a wool cowl as well.

up next on my to do list is spinning yarn! i bought 2 ounces of purple alpaca and started carding that today, so that when my spindle arrives i can spin spin spin! i also bought a pound of llama to be carded and dyed perhaps! we shall see. this shall all come in handy when i have to give a presentation in class next week about a personal item, hand spun yarn kicks ass and is easy to break down for people...it came from these animals bla bla bla.

in other news i joined a website called ravelry to keep all of my projects in order, and see how long it took me. it is really fun to search for patterns and such! then i decided i'll crochet a sweater seeing as my shawl wasnt so bad!

of course i am off from school in 1 week so i will have loads of time to venture into the world of hand spinning and crocheted garments. i'd say shawl #1 will soon have a friend. Perhaps i can do some cleaning and organizing as well.

but now for the most exciting bit of news! i have gotten my first tattoo, an incredibly daring... ball of yarn and crochet hook :) it's purple and absolutely wonderful. when it is done healing, a picture shall be posted. in two weeks i think i will go back and get a little book on my right foot (the ball and hook are on my left :) )

oh and Jessi and i finally taught mom how to crochet, now shes working on a scarf, has made two hats, and working on a third. i simply cannot get enough of this crochet business!

happy crafting!

Regency Gown

Happy Crafting!
Just dropping in to write down my accomplishment of the day :) i managed to find some addicting white fabric with tiny blue flowers at hobby lobby. at first i passed it up, but it was on clearence and it was perfect for a regency gown so i decided to get some. then, after thinking about how awesome the dress would look when it was completed, i decided to draw up a pattern...actually i just free handed it on the fabric, and go. three hours later i had my masterpiece :) and i got to sew in up with my wonderful new sewing machine, which has already produced a quilt.

Figured it was time for a post

Ah, it is finally october, my how time flies. have you ever noticed how you wake up and its new years, then you blink, and you're out of school for summer, the next thing you know the first homework assginments are being handed out and then comes christmas. every year the same thing happens, and as i get older, the years go by quicker...which isnt really saying much since im 18 going on 19, but still. i can just remember being a kid and waiting for my birthday to come around so i could ask for my hearts desire of the moment, but it's only be may or june. Siblings birthdays were the worst because i'd get jealous waiting for mine. However, i have come to appreciate my birthday much more nowadays. To start off with, i am the only person in my immediate family to have a fall birthday, my individualism comes through yet again :). secondly, Fall is my favorite time of year, the colors, cool temps, and attire just make me ecstatic. Plus, my birthday is exactly one week before halloween, which is always a fun time of year. To top it all off, my birthday marks the two month count down to christmas eve.

quick note on christmas eve, i have come to realize that as i have gotten older i have enjoyed the days leading up to christmas more than the actual day. Sure, i love to get and give presents, but i love the magic of the holiday season, and since we dont really do the Twelve Days of Christmas thing here, it seems that at 12:00 dec 26 christmas is done and over, and we have to wait a whole year till it comes around again. However, from thanksgiving till christmas the magic is alive and kicking. the sights, sounds, and smells of the holiday season just intensify as time goes on. I love the waiting, guessing, anticipation, and pure joy of counting down the days till we can give and recieve. i go over how i think people will react to my gifts over and over in my head till im sure ive alraedy given it to them. all in all, christmas day is nice but thanksgiving till christmas eve is the real holiday for me :D

Back to my birthday. since my parents are divorced i usually get some big thing from each of them, which is nice. this year i am pining for an ipod touch to replace my 1st gen video ipod. i've been cleaning and organizing my itunes library, downloading apps, and contemplating what kind of ipod sock i'll crochet in order to protect the ipod. I havent been this excited for my birthday in quite a few years. From my mom i am going to get a brand new sewing machine! This is going to be like entering the lightness after 18 years of darkness. The only sewing machine i have ever known was my moms ancient and incredibly moody jc penny sewing machine. i cant tell you how many times i have been close to tears because i couldnt even get one stich without the thread breaking. Now alot of the machines are electronic and have all these neat knobs, and speed things. it all seems so foreign to me, so i am really looking forward to playing around with the machine before i start my first project.

I really want to cut up a bunch of band shirts that i dont wear as often (i have about 100 band shirts... no joke, and want to get rid of them with out getting rid of them) to turn into a blanket quilt thing of sorts. i figure it'd be a pretty kickass blanket, and it'd be unique and entirely hand made. all i need to do is get stuff to line the blanket with so it is actually warm, not just some giant shirt thing. Perhaps a trip to jo-anns is in store.

as for current projects, i am going to crochet 13 little christmas tree ornaments for family, and then i have to think of things i can do for friends for xmas. i figure if i start now i might actually attempt to get some stuff out of the way before dec18 (when i leave for boston). haha. i'm thinking little knicknacks would be awesome for friends, since they dont take much yarn and would be quick to do. i just have to figure out what those do dads should be. cool ipod socks? hats (too much time :p), socks?

i found the best pattern for socks a few weeks ago. i was so proud of it i made three pairs, two for the bf and one for myself (i had to alter it by a bit to fit my feet). my sister made a pair and i'm thinking i'll make a pair for my mom for xmas. i also found a pattern for moccasins that i tried out for the bf. we actually bought soles for them and i sewed them on, so they are legit shoes and kick ass. perhaps i'll mkae them for dad for xmas. the pattern couldnt be eaiser. and they look really hard and complicated! so its even better. i think the only thing i'll cahnge is adding a drawstring to them so they dont fall off. actually, i might start another pair tonight or tomorrow so i have a pair for myself. wait no, jk, thats my sister project for the weekend...phew :p.

quick note about the ipod touch i'm pining for, it has a copy paste thing so you can copy something like... CROCHET PATTERNS, and save them on the ipod...other wise known as my dream device. music, movies, iternet, crochet :D plus there is a crochet/knit project app so i can keep track of what im doing...basically its awesome. the ohter day i was playing around with my brothers touch and actually copied a pattern for xmas tree ornaments, watched the video on tjw1963's youtube page and then made the tree. it was incredible. so much so that my crocheting partner in crime is lusting for one as well. we figure this device would come in handy for things like trips, where we want to crochet but might not have access to the internet and dont want to bring a book of patterns with. we can jsut pull one up on the ipod.

right now i've jsut been enjoying the genius thing on itunes, its pretty cool. i was in a mellow mood so i choose a song to play and it made a playlist around it and i have enjoyed every song since... Really tempted to make moccassins now :P

ah i'll wait. there are always ipod vids to watch.

Happy Crafting!

Update

So since i finished my hat i have crocheted pair of mittens, some small lace motifs and a pair of slippers, i have also finished one book and have been working on a few more. I am starting school on monday so i probably wont be able to keep up the pace of my crocheting, but hopefully i can do a project or to on the weekends. Oh, yes, i did crochet a hat for my boyfriend and a pair of socks for him as well. hopefully i can finish cleaning my room today before radio...:D

Ah, summer is almost over, but im excited for school to start. there shall be many exciting things to look forward to this year. And in almost a week it will be my two year anniversary with my boyfriend.

Happy Crafting.

Mittens

I am hopefully planning to start a pair of mittens today. we'll see how far i get with them...im really tired today after a wonderful show on the radio last night. I did also mangage to get my hands on a copy of civil War: a history. i am quite excited to read this, and then i will also try to finish "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" which is an incredible book.

Wish me luck.

Lace

So now that i have finished with my civil war day dress i can go back to my crocheting. Last thursday, me and my boyfriend went up to geneva for the day. we had a really raelly nice time and found two yarn shops which was a dream come true since the jo-ann near my house closed (nothing against you michaels, you just have a poor collection of yarns). So whilst in geneva i picked up a size 4 crochet hook and some beautiful cotton thread. i then procceded to crochet two doilys. then yesterday i picked up some smaller white thread and a size 10 steel hook. since then i have completed one small doily and i must say, i am proud of my lace.

so for now i return back to the world of hooks and yarns.

happy crafting :)

Hooray!

After slaving(not literally) over this dress for the past two and a half days i have finally finished it! The dress looks incredible and im so proud of it. the color is perfect, the style is just right! and it wasnt a total pain in the ass to make. i had so much fun sewing it together, and i can say i did it the old fashioned way :D

Its almost done!

After about five hours of sewing by hand today and four hours yesterday, i am almost finished with my shirt! today i tried it on with my skirt and was very surprised to find it looked incredible. For this being my first article of clothing i've sewn (well i did a pair of pajama pants for school), it is absolutely amazing. plus i was able to do this all without a pattern, i was too stingy to buy an actual pattern and probably would have goteen confused/frustrated by it so instead i just sketched out the design, drew it out on the sheets and cut it out. plus the shirt i purchased to be used for undersleeves it the perfect complement to the dress itself! the only thing missing is a brooch which i expect i can find in the town thrift shop or good will. if not there is always ebay and amazon. the brooch will be the only thing i pay for besides the shirt. the dress itself is free since i used old sheets <3

all i have left to do on the shirt is sew on buttons and hem one thing. it will be maybe an hour left of sewing tops, my next project is going to be an apron for the dress. i am quite excited to see the finished product.

in other news, i inquired about joining a reeacting unit today. hopefully i'll hear something about this in the next few days. that way all of my sewing wont have been in vain...haha either way it wasnt in vain, i finally have a beautiful, hand sewn creation to call my own. its my baby and i love it with all my heart!

Shirt/Bodice

my fingers are aching but i think i might attempt the bodice tonight. though it is less fabric than the skirt, it will probably be more sewing. if only it was possible to crochet this piece and have it look just like the skirt. i am making plans to crochet a shawl for my ball gown.

i feel kind of silly about ordering my ball gown, i love it and i havent even recieved ti yet, but i rushed into buying it without thinking of the historical acuracy. luckily for me, it is historically accurate and was really cheap for a ball gown. on top of that i got to choose the color satin and ribbon i wanted, so it was still a great buy! once it arrives i am posting pics, ive been dreaming of it since i payed for it.

i also have another day dress coming in the mail. it cost me about 4 dollars, 9 with shipping, so i figured even if it was a bust, i wasnt emptying my wallet over it. it should be here before the ball gown.

now i will have three outfits to wear for reenactofest 6 in chicago two day dresses and a ball gown, it just so happens there is a ball.

the white shirt i am wearing in the toher pictures was actually purchased to wear under a short sleeved day dress for undersleeves. now i can use it as a second bodice for my skirt which gets me two outfits in one :D

the only dilemma i have is what shoes to wear for my day dresses. i have a pair of black lace up converse that go to my knee and could possibly pass as boots but i'd feel like i was betraying my costume. i just dont want to shell out the 40-60 dollars for a cheap pair of boots. a trip to the local good will is in order.

sadly the jo-ann by my house (5 min away) is now offically closed. i am confined to hobby lobby for fabric unless i want to drive 30 min to go to the other jo-ann. im sure the pull of jo-ann will be too strong and ill be over there in no time.

well now i am off to relax for a bit before diving into more sewing :D perhaps by the end of tonight i will have myself a bodice! now that i think of it, the sewing shouldnt be all that much. 2 front pieces, one back, four pieces for the sleeves, its totally do-able.

happy crafting

That was easy...

So i awoke at 10 am not 8 am as planned, but it didnt really affect my plan for the day. after tampering with the ancient sewing machine for an hour and a half i gave up on that idea and decided to make my dress the old fashioned way. Last night i got all the peices cut out so this morning i sewed two of the three 40"x47" together then i sewed on the third peice but i did not connect the two. instead i folded down the top of the skirt that would sit at my waist and sewed in the elastic band.

note on the elastic band: if you are going to be sewing a dress/skirt and are using sheets, try to cut out the pattern with the already hemmed part at the bottom so you dont have to hem the skirt. then if you are also taking fabric from the fitted sheets with the elastic band, you can cut off the elastic band and save it for later.

i ended up making my skirt a drawstring skirt because it gave the effect of being a pleated/bustled dress with out all the extra work, and it is adjustable :D

i havent gotten around to the shirt/bodice part of my dress, but i think for now i will work on an apron, which i shall make out of a old pillowcase :D

all in all my new day skirt cost me all of $0 which makes me a very frugale seamstress. i'd say this was a very sucessful day.

the pattern for this dress was taken from http://www.shasta.com/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/dresses.htm

thats an awesome site if you are looking for descriptions of what women wore and didnt wear during the civil war days. :D

To sleep or not to sleep?

Well, here it goes, i've been up for hours researching civil war dresses and gowns, and finally i decided i will make a day dress to wear to a reenactment festival i am planning to attend in february. after much debate, i figured dropping in on my neighborhood jo-ann (which, sadly, is closing) to look for some fabric for a dress was the best solution. then i found mint green checked sheets in our linen closet which hadnt been used in years. making an executive descision, i took the sheets, attempted to draw up a pattern and then transfer it onto the fabric. well, my pattern had to be revised, and i messed up on my sleeves, i cut four right sides and no left sides, but i have enough fabric left to make the left sleeves and i was able to recycle the elastic band from the sheets and will use it for my skirt :D all in all, i think it a very sucessful night. now i'm hoping to just sew this thing up tomorrow and be done, probably wont happen but we will see. at the moment i am half tempted to run down stairs and at least make the skirt, but my eyes are begging me to stop. They've watched me be very crafty this weekend. i crocheted a frankenstein amigurumi, two hats (1.0 and 2.0) a pair of socks, some flowers and circles. once again, id say another sucessful weekend. well, hopefully my eight oclock alarm will wake me up, and then perhaps, i'll have a dress before the siblings school lets out. wish me luck. 'night

Melanie