Baby Hats....

We know several families who have recently welcomed new little ones into their families. Knitting and crocheting have always been some of my favorite pastimes, so I took advantage of the opportunity to make some hats to bless these families with.  I chose some bright colors that remind me of spring and got to work! These little hats are now on their way to keep some sweet little heads warm!  

Preemie Hats

Here's a picture of the preemie hats I made and donated this year.  There were 25 total.  It's so neat to think of the babies that will wear these hats.  So sweet!

Pincushion

As a gift earlier this year, I made this pincushion for my Mom.  It's made with wool yarn, so it's good for the pins to "reside" in.

This is what it looks like from the top without pins.  It has 4 rings altogether, each with alternating colors.

Side view.....  

And this is what it looks like from the bottom. 

Have a great day!

Emily

A Baby Blanket.....

I made this blanket for a friend a little while back, who needed a gift for a baby shower.  I made it with  chocolate brown, lime green, bright blue, bright pink, and purple yarn.  It was about 36" square finished.

They yarn was so soft and felt really good on my hands while I was making it.

Have a wonderful day!
Emily

A Soap Cozy......

I made this soap cozy for a neighbor recently, using light blue cotton yarn, and this pattern.  I have made lots of soap cozies from this pattern over the years to give to friends, family, and neighbors. What's neat about most soap cozies, like this one, is that you leave the bar of soap in it, and take it in the shower/bath with you.  The cotton yarn is soft, but has a little bit of a roughness to it, which serves as an exfoliator.  Very neat!

Have a great day!

Emily

Doll Dress.......

The Smocking Guild that my Mom is involved in, was having a raffle for an American Girl Doll with a complete wardrobe.  This is the dress I made to contribute to the wardrobe.

It's a pillowcase-style dress made with a Pixie Faire pattern.  I made it from a cute pink floral fabric.  I have used this pattern a lot and really like it.  It sews up very fast and fits the dolls very well.

The pattern for this dress can be found here.

This is the flower I made to go with it.  If interested, you can find the pattern here.

Have a great day!
Emily

Bookmarks......

This Christmas, I crocheted two of these bookmarks for my Mom.  I used a free pattern I found on Ravelry.  I used size 10 cotton crochet thread, a size 6 steel crochet hook, and some pink scrap ribbon.  They came out really pretty!  They look very delicate and elegant.  I'm thinking about making some for my Bible too!

Here's a picture of both of the bookmarks together.  If interested, you can find the pattern here.  I hope to be posting more pictures of items I made as gifts for Christmas very soon.


Have a great day!
Emily

Plastic Yarn Tutorial

I recently learned how to make plarn (plastic bag yarn). It has been really cool making and crocheting it lately. Last night I realized that I shouldn't keep this all to myself. So I figured I would make a tutorial on it.

What you will need:

*Plastic bags, pretty much any kind will work.

*Scissors

*Ruler (optional)

First, take your bag and lay it out on the table.

Then fold it in half lengthwise.

Fold the bag in half again.

Cut off the handles and the bottom. You can throw these away.

Start cutting strips about 1 in. wide. You can pretty much just eyeball it to see where you need to cut. Measuring is not crucial, but it determines how many strips you will get from each bag.

When you are done it should look like this.

Take two strips and unfold them.

Take one of the loops and loop it through the other one.

Pull one of the loops up through the other loop and pull. Be careful to not pull too hard because we are working with thin plastic which tears easily.

The knot will look like this.

Repeat these steps until you have a big heap of plarn on the floor. Wind the plarn into a ball as you normally would yarn. After that you are free to use your plarn as you please!!!

I choose to make a soap dish with mine. I'm thinking of making it a free pattern.

I think that most people who have not made plarn would think "It's made out of bags it would be too stiff. I don't want to work with that." First of all, feel a plastic bag, it's not rough, in fact it's very smooth. Second, if you use a big enough hook. Plarn is very flexible when crocheted.

So I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Happy plarn-making!!!

Preemie Hats

Lately I have been making preemie hats to donate to our local NICU. These are some of them.

I think that preemie hats are somewhat addicting. (The hats look big in the picture but they are a good size for little babies). This year I set a goal to make one a day. Although I must say I have a little bit of catching up to do. My personal favorite is the lt. blue hat with the white ribbon weaved through it.

Have a great day!!!