Showing posts with label Crochet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crochet. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 August 2014

::Crochet::FO:: Pink and Grey Pippy Slippers

Recently I've worn my Brown Pippy Slippers in the company of others and have received lovely comments about how comfy they look.

Side-note: I can't believe I've had these slipper for two years.


I'm not often a selfless maker, but when it comes to my nearest and dearest my selfish making defenses are compromised. (I'm a sucker, I know)
So when my sister put in an order for some slippers in hot pink and grey, of course I said yes; but they would have to be a made of what is in my stash, which meant they were going to be a dusty pink and grey.


These seemed to come together pretty quickly. I might have something to do with making them both at the same time each segment at a time. So I did the goes of both, then the foot of both, then the pink heel and then the grey heel bits. They took me about a week on and off.

I do get a sore wrist from crocheting because I hold the hook like a pencil and flick my wrist to YO, but that's only if I go hard for more than an hour at a time. I find crocheting pretty mellow compared to knitting, because you're only working with one active stitch on the hook.

I made a few changes which I've made note of over on Ravelry.
Side-note: If you're on Ravelry say Hi :)

I crocheted the back seam instead of sewing it because that's how I roll :) and because when you're all snuggly and warm on the couch who can be arsed to get up and find a darning needle.


~Numbers~
I forgot to record how much time it took me to make these puppies, but I'm estimating about a 8 hours, but it was probably more.

I'm just estimating how much the yarn was worth because I probably didn't even use a whole ball and they from my stash anyway.

PatternPippy Slippers from Meet Me at Makes - found hereFREE
WoolIn Stash~$3.50
Notions NA $0.00
Time8 hours (* $16-ish Australian minimum wage) $128.00
Total
$131.50

Not cheap for house slippers, but it was still fun to revisit this pattern and do some crochet again.

~Final Comment~
These are pretty cute slippers. I like the colour combo, thinking about it know though I should have put the dark colour at the pressure points of the foot (toe and heel) because they'll probably get dirtiest.
I hope my sis likes them, uses them and appreciates them :)

Question time:
 
Do you crochet?
Do you begrudge making for others?  
What was the last thing you made for someone else?
Leave your answer in the comments :)

Until next time,


Let's connect

Sunday, 30 December 2012

::Crochet:: Starry Coasters

In my last post I showed some coasters that I gave to my sister. Here is the story of how they came to be.

I'm a member of a group called CWA. Now we're not a part of the Country Women's Association, but we are a Crafty Wonders Alliance (I just made that up). :)
The point of the group is that we get together and teach each other about our mad skillz. So an example of this is my friend Sarah of Stitching Lyrical did a session on crochet (she is a wizz with a hook and a ball of yarn) and a session on jam making (it was simpler to make than I thought.).

Anyway, anyway, anyway. I was due to have a session at my house in October and I decided that we would do crochet. I was going to do knitting, but I thought that it would be better to do crochet everyone seemed to enjoy the crochet session Sarah had and I thought it would be nice to continue with it. I pondered about what we could make for some time, I did some searching on Ravelry and then a plan starting forming in my brain. Veeerrryyy ssslllooowwwlllyyy. I found this pattern and then I found this tutorial.
I made this tester and I new this was going to be the pattern to use.



These star shaped coasters would make great Christmas presents. A great idea that Sarah came up with was to put them in watered down glue gently squeeze out the excess and then hang them on the Christmas tree as decorations. I guess you could do this with all sorts of crochet/knit items. The mind boggles at the possibilities. :)

I was telling my sister about me crochet coasters and I showed her one that I'd made. She requested some and I hauled out my yarn stash for her to select some yarn.

I made all 6 of her coasters in one evening. That's right. I am a machine. Check it!
So that is the story of how I made my sister some Starry Coasters for Christmas.

The End.

Until next time, I hope your making things to put drinks on too,
Vanessa xo

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

::Show and Tell:: Catch-up Time!

Hello there!

Where have you been? Oh wait! It's not you it's me that's been away for aaages. Well, I've been a bit busy DIY-ing, going on holiday and other such nonsensical things. Here's a quick run-down :)

Moving House
We moved into our house and instantly had to fix a blocked sink drain and leaky toilet. Grrr. Note to home buyers out there. If you're buying a house that is 10 years old or more, check things like drains, taps and toilets. There's other stuff too, but when you get a building and pest done, they don't usually check these things unless you especially request a plumber to come out and inspect too.

Holiday Pale Blue Cotton Seersucker shorts
I went on holiday to Vanuatu to visit my mum and dad recently and I really wanted some simple shorts for the trip.
I had some pale blue cotton seersucker and I thought it would be the ideal fabric to use for shorts. Especially if I was going to be doing some frolicking in the water. Mostly because it would dry quickly. Awesome!
I wanted to them to be super simple so I decided to make them using the pattern I'd used in the past to make the house pants I made earlier this year and my pyjama pants from the Pyjama Party Sewalong this year.



Gardening
When we came back from our trip we went to the shops and bought some seedlings. We kept them in their store pots for a week and they were starting to dry out so I transplanted them into some pots. Here they are about a fortnight ago and they've grown a whole heap since.


Sorbetto
I had planned to have made this before we went on holiday, but after having taken soooo long to complete it I'm kinda glad I didn't push myself to finish it before we left. It would have been a disaster!



Granny Square Throw
I've been working on this a little bit. A granny square throw intended for the Mr's soon to be 3year old nephew.



Craftsy Classes
I've been on a bit of a Craftsy class kick lately. I took the free short rows class and made this.

I've also signed up to "Beginner Serging" and "The Couture Dress".

And that's about it really. That brings you up to date.
Do something that makes you smile :)
Vanessa xoxo

Sunday, 5 August 2012

::Crochet:: FO Brown Pippy Slippers

Heya,

This project is from before we moved, but I just had to share them with you. Aaages ago I found a really great tutorial on how to crochet some slippers by Pip Lincoln of Meet me at Mikes (it would seem according to the post that it was June last year!). I'd been meaning give this pattern a go, but never got around to doing it. However, my tootsies were getting extra chilly this year and I thought enough is enough I must make something to keep my toes toasty! These puppies took me 4 days to make. Four days! That's super quick and mega super quick for me!

You can tell how ridiculously excited I was by how quick they came together by the ridiculous number of photos I took. Here's my first slipper in progress (yes I have a grippy thing on my crochet hook like a nanna - DON'T JUDGE ME!)
Slipper one after 1 day. Booyah!
The pattern tells you to switch colours as you go, but I had a whole ball of brown Carnival Soft 8 ply that needed using (and I couldn't be bothered changing - shhh)

One completed slipper down, and one to go!
That is one cozy foot (and one cold one)
Here are both my slippers in action
I highly recommend this pattern it was easy peasy lemon squeezy! I've also Ravelled my slippers here.
Until next time, I hope you make something you'll use.
Vanessa xo

Friday, 29 June 2012

::Crochet:: FO Clapochet Scarf

I first stumbled across this pattern years and years ago. Well, actually I stumbled upon the knit original, the Clapotis , in about 2004 via Knitty, and then subsequently found Clapochet, the crochet (and IMHO, easier) version. So I've wanted to make one of these for AGES!!!

I finally got started earlier this year by trying out the beginning stitches on some spare yarn I had lying around.
My first efforts

When I finally worked out how to start I then had a think about what yarn I wanted to use. I decieded that I really liked the effect of having different coloured rows, but didn't feel like changing yarn each row. So I thought a verigated yarn would work well. I was at the shopping centre one afternoon and thought I may as well have a look for some yarn in Big W while I'm here and low and behold I found some great yarn at a great price. It felt great and I really liked the colours. Interstingly it's got a 70% wool and 30% soy composition. It feels lovely. And I decided to crochet it using a 5mm hook to give it a lovely loose drape.

Sean Sheep Rockband wool Pink and blue verigated
I bought 2 balls of yarn thinking that would be enough. However, after I crocheted one and half balls I decided that I would need another ball.

Humble beginnings (the green thing in the background
is my 'green' shopping bag I stored the Clapochet in)
She grows.
Gotta keep going! Nearly finished....
And this is where I stalled. I got to the point where I needed to 'squaring off' the end of the scarf again and it stayed that way for weeks and weeks. Then finally this weekend I resolved that I needed to finish a project. So I couldn't fall asleep on Friday night so while I was watching very bad late night television I finished this project off. Yay!
All Done! Close up of the striping.

I've Ravelled this lovely here. I'm already thinking about making another, but I'll probably take ages to get around to it.

Until next time, I hope you finish something and feel a great sense of achievement.
Vanessa xo

Friday, 25 May 2012

::Show & Tell:: Finished Objects - Sorbetto and Granny Throw

Last weekend was a nice change from the usual and I had some time on my hands. So I thought I'd better put it to good use. I've had a couple of UFO's (unfinished objects) sitting around for awhile waiting for a couple of finishing touches so I thought I'd better tackle them and gain a sense of accomplishment rather than start on any new projects-which is what I usually do.

It's something that I always do. Start a project; not finish it; start another project; not finish it; start another project.... See a pattern here? Anyway moving along...

First off the rank was my Sorbetto top, I belatedly posted here, that needed the binding resewn.

Close up of my hand stitching-you probably
can't see it, but that's how I like it  :)
Now my Sorbetto can be worn
(Ignore the dotty shower cap in
the background - I said Ignore :P)

I tried sewing in my craft room, but because I was sewing black on black I couldn't see what I was doing. So I moved out to our little sunny balconet and had the job done in 20 minutes. 20 MINUTES-WHY HADN'T I FINISHED THIS OFF EARLIER? Silly!

Anywho, with that project done and under my belt my eyes scanned over to my Tri-Colour Granny Square Throw. Now I've been working on this puppy for years. YEARS. Granted it was an on-again-off-again love affair. I had decided not so long ago that I wanted to do a couple more rounds before I finished off. But Then I thought, Naaah :). So I just wove in what loose ends were there and it was ready to go. 5 minutes max. I've ravelled this my blanket here.

Where the Granny Square Throw shall reside
And that my dears is the tale of how putting things off is silly.

Until next time, I hope you have many projects to keep you occupied unfinished AND finished,
Vanessa xo

Tuesday, 20 March 2012

What do you mean it's the end of March already?!

Holy guacemole! It's been a fair while since I've posted. Lame!
Anywho, let me tell you about the latest most greatest things that have been going on in my world.

I'll start with the boring non-creative stuff.

In late Febrary/early March my work life was crazy hectic, luckily in early Feb I decided I'd take the second week of March off. Totally glad I did it, otherwise I think I'd have gone cray-crazy!

Last weekend I went for a gallivant OS to see my parents. It was nice to hang out with my parental units. I just did some reading and lots of sleeping. My main read was a book that I've been working on for some time, I've been nursing this book along slowly because I devoured the first volume within a month.  I do like me a little Sherlock Holmes.

My holiday read - Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume II

Mum kept apologising that we weren't doing anything special, but I wasn't bothered. It was nice just being out of my usual environment.

The view from the room I was sleeping in. I love the colours, blues and greens. Yeah you're jealous :-P

I did manage to get creatively productive when I got back. On Friday I set up my sewing machine, my DVD viewing setup and I was ready to get my craft on. Oh yeah!

Aaages ago I started what I intend to be a bento box quilt and I thought if I was going to be sewing and watching a DVD at the same time straight sewing was going to be the best way to go so I worked on putting together more blocks. I put together 4 blocks at a time. Here are the fruits of my labour!


Please excuse the blurry photos. Shame!


That afternoon I went to Big W and bought some variegated yarn, some cheap fabric and a couple of other bits and bobs.

I got 4 balls of this Sean Sheep-Rockbank
The yarn is for a scarf I'm crocheting. The fabric was for a bag bag, the Mr requested on so we could wrangle our collection of plastic bags in the cupboard.

The Mr was out of town on Saturday and Sunday morning, which gave me some all-about-me time. Saturday morning I went to a Brisbane Northside Knitting and Crochet Group  meeting. I've only been to a few, but it was fun and I got started on my Clapochet. You can read about my Clapochet on Ravelry.

My Clapochet in progress.
My sister and I went out for lunch and she came over to my place afterwards. We watched Red Dog and we talked about her plans for her sewing patterns and her online presence.

When she left I watched The Help and made the bag bag requested by the Mr out of the fabric I bought from Big W. This is my creation complete and in use, tres neutral, tres useful.

While I was out and about Saturday morning I got a text from a friend that she was going to have a birthday brunch Sunday morning. She said no presents, but I ignored that part :) I pondered what I was going to make for her and I went to bed with a plan.

I woke up Sunday morning had a shower and got down to work on my friend's gift. I had some curtain fabric I had bought last year to make a different gift that I hadn't gotten around to making.

I cut two 12' by 18' pieces of the fabric. The fabric was shiny on one side and dull on the other, I used the shiny side of one of the pieces and the dull side of the other as the right side. The wrong side of the pieces were interfaced with adhesive interfacing. With right sides together, I sewed around the sides and left an opening in one of the short sides. The corners were clipped and it was turned right side out.

I zigzag stitched the side with the opening along the edge to close the opening. I stitched so that one side of the zigzag stitch missed the edge of the fabric while the other side of the stitch caught the fabric. This created a great over edge binding for the fabric. I should have done the whole side of the fabric, but I only did it to close the opening and to one end of the opening side. Silly. Oh well, you live and you learn. :)

Next was to sew the sides to create the pouchy bit. So I folded the short end with the zigzag edging up a third and zigzagged the sides together. Ta da!

My pouch is complete!

You might just be able to see that the outside is mostly shiny while the inside is mostly dull

Here's a close-up of the zigzag stitching.

I gave the pouch to my friend with a set of coasters that I had made before (you can read about them here).
The pouch and coasters. A doubley handmade gift!

That's about it from me my dear.
Until next time, do things you want to do, when you want to do it,
V xoxo

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Crocheting along...

Hey there,

This weekend was pretty chilled. Lots of sleep (mmm sleeeep...zzz). Oops sorry about that.
I also went to the Old Petrie Village markets for Sunday brekky (just between you and me, it wasn't a bowls club brekky, that's for sure).

I did however do something that I've been meaning to do for ages. I subscribe to Craftzine and my Google Reader account has been backing up for ages with its posts. So I sorted through over 100 posts over the weekend. So I kinda feel like I've accomplished something in that regard.

Oh! And I also worked on this old thing...

While working I found my wrists were getting tired. So I started holding the needle differently. I started holding the needle in the under-the-needle position. It was better for my wrist, but I found that because I'm using a 4mm hook it's a little difficult to hold.

I've found a few tutorials on how to make crochet hook grips
here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnyAKzdcbeY
here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4CAwk9bc_s
and here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6gfwP4R21Y

And I've found some pencil grips here
http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/School-Supplies/Erasers/SAS54520#

So I think I might go the way of blue tack and pencil grips first to see how that goes.

What have you been up to these days?

Until next time, have a great week and do something you love!
V xoxo


Wednesday, 27 July 2011

I'm moving...






That's right, I'm moving my blog.


I've been thinking about this long and hard and I have come to the decision to move from Wordpress.com to Blogger.com. I'm a bit of a Googleophile and I haven't been loving the direction that Wordpress.com has been moving in since I joined. I'm not a massive techspert and I have been finding Wordpress.com a bit difficult, so I'll leave to Blogger.com which I have found to be a great deal easier to use. I have already moved my older posts over to Blogger so you won't have to come back here to see them.


You will now be able to find me at www.simplefibrelife.blogspot.com.


I could say that I didn't post last week because I was agonising over whether I wanted to move my blog… but that would be lying. To be honest, things have been a bit busy with The Mr and I looking at rentals the past couple of Saturdays and then taking it easy and getting house chores done the next day.


However I have managed to finish a project. I have finished my something to wear from THIS post.

Crochet Hat
My hat took me a couple of goes, but I got it in the end. Just a simple single crochet made on the fly. Done in the round with bulky yarn and a 12mm hook.
Also, I have started doing this


Crochet Chain Strands
because I was totally inspired by this.
I've also been working on this
Crochet Project
I'm going through a crochet phase..... hmmm.


Well, my lovely peaches, that is all for now.
Until next time, get crafty and make something you love,
V xoxo

PS. Don't forget to adjust your bookmarks, and change your RSS reader feeds because I am moving my blog.