Christmas Stockings!

I love holiday crafting.  Like LOVE love it.  There is the excitement of picking the *perfect* pattern with the *perfect* yarn.  I also love that I'm working towards a goal--need to get it all done before Christmas!  But then...bam...it hits.  That mad rush to finish the holiday items!  Because not only do I end up with things I want to make for gifts, but I also go into super Craftini mode for items for my Etsy store.  This year I decided things will be different.  All summer I'll be working to stock my store and will have new rules for custom holiday items.

What would be the biggest help for a Craftini like me?  Getting custom requests in early.  Like months early.  Custom items take time to make.  I put my entire heart and soul into what I make--so when you get a Craftini Marini item it is always made with love and with the best craftsmanship!  So, I was thrilled when I got a custom order in January for a holiday item!  It was an order for four Christmas stockings and I had a BLAST working with this client.  She wanted stockings for herself, her husband, and their two cats--the best part was that I got to match the cats' stockings to their fur color!

She wanted something fun and stripey for herself.  I worked with two different greens, two different reds, and white to create this fun, whimsical stocking!

For her husband she wanted something that looked like a candy cane with a green toe and heel.  I used the darker green and red from her stocking for his so that they would coordinate.  Love the way this came out!

 And for the cats she wanted a chevron pattern using each of their fur colors (silver gray and black) with white.  I LOVE the way these came out.

This was such a fun project!  These were actually my first time knitting Christmas stockings and my first time doing stranded color work.  I know that there will be more of these in my future!  Keep and eye out on my Etsy shop to see if any show up there for the holidays!

Strawberries and cream baby sweater

You know what I love?  Well, ONE of the many things I love, that is.  I love crafting for babies.  There is something so sweet and special when you make something for a little baby.  I try to do it as frequently as I can!

One of my most recent items is a striped sweater in cream and light pink.  The pink is heathered and I'm just so in love with how it pairs with the cream.  I added pink buttons that add the perfect "girly" touch to this sweater.  I definitely need to clarify something--I don't like to genderize (is that even a word) items for babies.  I don't believe that colors are gender specific and that girls should wear only pink and purple and boys only green and blue.  However, this sweater began as a special request by my mom for a friend and since my mom is more traditional that I am, she wanted something pink for the little girl.  So this sweater was born :).

But, to be honest, I do LOVE the way it came out!  Also, plans changed and the sweater is no longer going to the intended recipient, so look for it in my Etsy store in the fall! (If I don't gift it before then!)

Crochet mood blanket: March recap!

Nothing like being 17 days behind ;)...oh well, better late than never!  I can't believe that more than 3 months of 2014 are over!  Where has the time gone?  I'm happy to say that I've been moving right along on my crochet mood blanket.  March ended with 5 rows finished--yay!  It is really fun to see all the colors come together and I just adore the way it looks in natural light.  I'm itching to see it all done.

The whole process has been ok so far.  Some days I just can't find a minute to make a square--but I catch up the next day.  Other days I find myself rushing to make a square before bed--those aren't my favorite days.  I think I need to find a happy medium for making the squares.  Maybe getting up earlier in the morning and making it then would be better.

For anyone one else participating in this CAL, what is your strategy?  Are you enjoying the process?

Also, if you want to see my day-to-day progress check out my Instagram: Jessicle322!

Crochet mood blanket: February recap

This year seems to be moving quickly--two months of 2014 have already come and gone.  I'm glad to say that they were two really good months filled with happiness, friends, and family.

My crochet mood blanket is really coming along--it is taking shape and I can really see a "blanket."  This month I realized that I made a mistake in the number of squares in my blanket.  I always wanted it to be 18x20 = 360.  That's just about a square a day with some room for a day or two of border making.  However, somehow last month I only made the width 15 squares.  So I played catch up and just added 9 squares to the end of the first 3 rows when I realized.  It doesn't go in order anymore, but I'm ok with that.

Now on to the pictures!

Crochet mood blanket January recap

So it has been one month since the crochet mood blanket crochet along started.  I can't believe a whole month of 2014 has come and gone--time really does fly!  Each day of the past month I've crocheted a granny square.  They are supposed to be colors that coordinate with your mood that day, but I decided to pick the color that I like the most each day and use that.  :)  I started with  13 colors, then added 7 more, and then added 6 more after that.  As I started to progress I realized that I might not have enough yarn.  Honestly, who wants to go adding new colors in the middle or the end of the year?  I'd like to have it mixed in as I go along.  If I run out from what I'm using now I'll just add stash.

The last 31 days have been good.  I've been posting each day on Instagram (follow me! @Jessicle322) and I add a little blurb (usually) about why the color I picked attracted me.  It is interesting how I get a few days of subdued colors and then shots of bright colors or sparkles.  I'm working in rows of 15, moving right to left.  January 1st starts with the sliver square at the bottom right corner of the "blanket" in the picture below and January 31st is the sparkly purple square 2 rows above.

So far I'm loving it!  It is a little slow going--I just want to keep making squares! BUT in the end it will be great!  I'm making 360 squares and using the remaining 5 days of the year to do an edging and any finishing that needs to be done.  This is definitely going to be a large blanket--it hangs off the bed widthwise already and will only get wider with the border.

I'll check back in with my progress at the beginning of March :). (And I do hope to blog more often--I've just been crafting in all my spare time!)

New year, new project!

Welcome 2014!  I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year :).  As always, I need to figure out a few crafting goals for this year.  I'm not completely sure what they will be, but I know that using yarn from my stash will be a top priority.  I also would like to publish a few more patterns and get more stock in my Etsy store.  The rest I'll figure out later.

If you're active on Instagram (like me) and check yarn-related hashtags, you might have seen one for #crochetmoodblanket2014.  This started as a little group and now has developed quite a following.  It is a group of crocheters making squares for either each day or each week in the year that relate to their mood.  By the end of the year you will end up with a blanket!  I thought this would be a fun challenge to try this year, however I didn't want to assign moods to yarn colors.  Rather, I decided to pick a color of yarn that tickled my fancy each day.  I'm only using yarn from my stash and have picked a group of 13 colors.  I have 6 or 7 other sparkly colors that I'm debating throwing into the mix, but we will see how I feel as the year progresses.

I'm doing very simple granny squares.  4 rounds each using an I hook.  This gets me a 4"x 4" square.  I'm also planning on doing the daily square option.  Actually I'll be making 360 squares for an 18 x 20 square blanket.

I think this will be a lot of fun and I'm going to make it a goal to blog about it monthly.

So, here are my color choices and my first square--a sparkly silver one to represent New Years Day!

All the colors that I've decided to use (most are Red Heart Soft yarn).

Some Caron Simply Soft Party in sparkly colors.  These may or may not make it into my blanket.

The lovely first square.  It's a bit dense, but the holes are small (which I'm liking a lot).

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in 2014. Happy crafting!! Happy New Year!