Patriotic Coaster CAL -- Complete!

I finished my coasters and FINALLY got some pictures of them.  They are not the best, as I remember to take them at 11 pm last night; but they will work!  I love how they turned out, they are super cute!

I cannot figure out the best orientation for this picture. I think I just need to take a new one! haha  Also, here is that table runner that I was talking about last week.  I made it for my Mom a few years back.  I'm going to see if I can get that picture to rotate, but I make no promises! haha

I cannot wait to see the rest of your coasters.  Post a link in the comments and I will do a final round up later this week!

Patriotic Crochet Along Participants

Thank you to everyone who has joined in so far.  I am having a blast crocheting my little coasters, and it has been fun seeing why you all chose to do it!  Here are the participants so far:

Jenn (Jenn Loves Yarn) is doing Red, White, and Blue.  The blue she chose is unique, and I love the combination of colors!

Paula (Confessions of a Crochet & Cross Stitch Pattern Slut) is also doing Red, White, and Blue -- and she finished hers already! I love the border that she added to around the edge, and the two with variagated yarn.  I have been looking for that yarn all over!  Also, cotton was probably a much better choice than my acrylic / polyester!

Rengawk (Rengawk's Ramblings) is joining us for her first crochet along!  I love it when people join up for the first time! She has a fun selections of reds, whites, and blues!  [And Rengawk, welcome to the CAL world!  I tried to comment on your post, but blogger was being weird and would not let me!  :(  ]

Holly Louise ('Cause I'm a Blonde) has a super cute blog, and has also finished up her coasters already!  She made a set in red, white, and blue for her grandma (how sweet is that??) and in pinks for herself! [And hello to you too, blogger would not let me post my comment on your blog either!]

Major props to the ladies who finished already.  They do work up pretty quick, don't they!  I finished up mine, I just need to get pictures taken!  Go ahead  an post here if you decided to join late, or if I missed you, or if you finished your set!  I cannot wait to see them all!

Patriotic Crochet Along

Last week, I talked about doing some sort of crochet along for the Fourth of July.  I know that pretty much limits this to Americans, but I am American and that is just the way the cookie crumbles!  However, with the pattern I chose, you can use different colors and make it non-American.  I am totally okay with that!  [Thanks for asking, Nevelyn.] Which pattern are we doing, you ask?  Why the Star Coaster of course!  And I would totally love to see it in your country's colors -- or whatever colors you like!

The goal of this little crochet along is to complete a set of four coasters by July 4, 2011.  That gives you exactly two weeks!  So let's break this down into 2 blog posts.  First, this week, tell a little about yourself and what colors you chose.  If you want, take a picture of your materials!  Leave a link back to your post in the comments, and I will try to do a compilation post later this week.  I would use a linky tool, but they are no longer free and I'm cheap. haha

I will start!  I'm Megan (I hope you know that if you are here) and I chose red, white, and blue because I love the U S of A!  I also realized that my husband loves having a Fourth of July party, and I do not really have any patriotic decor -- the shame!  I made this awesome table runner for my Mom a few years back and planned to make one for myself, but I get craft-stracted (that's distracted by other crafts).  Maybe I will pick up some star spangled fabric on clearance this year!

I got started on my star coasters a day or so ago (okay so I get to cheat the system when I set up the crochet along.  I had a nice cup of (decaf -- it was 10 pm) coffee and some Seventh Heaven on dvd... I was kickin it old school!  I have one coaster done.  Three more to go!  I decided to switch up the color order & maybe use 2 different blues (see the top picture).  The first one was a little bunchy at first -- but a little blocking fixed that problem right away! 

Now, I can't wait to hear who is joining me!  And what colors you will be using.  Oh yeah, and I will definitely be sending out a little goodie to a random participant -- I will draw names after the second post!  Don't forget to leave a comment with a link to your post about the crochet along!  Try to have your comment up by Monday, June 27th!

Hello Kitty Beanie

A few months ago, I showed you the Hello Kitty inspired beanie that I made.  And I promised more pictures!  My awesome friend Lauriana took these pictures of her daughter in her birthday beanie.  She is just adorable and really makes my beanie look cute!

She also bought one of my quick knit (knitting loom) beanies for a newborn photoshoot.  How cute is this lil boy?

Hope you have a fantastic day!  Thanks for checking out my pictures! :)

I won!

So last month was Sew Mama Sew's giveaway day and I actually won a couple things!  So exciting!

Dress w/ bloomers from Erin at Simply EC (it is gorgeous!!)

 

Selvages and some fun fabric from Rachel's Quilts.

Thank you very much for your generosity, ladies!  It was such a delight to win these two prizes.  I think I am going to include some sort of prize with my crochet along -- because I know just how fun it is to get mail!!

Owlspiration

This post all started with this picture....

That is my friend's ADORABLE baby girl in an owl beanie. She texted the picture to me and said "my friend got this for me, you must learn how to make it, so we can make them in larger sizes."  Thus began my search for all things owl on the web. 

I found this precious onesie on homemade by Jill.  She also has a sweet "i heart santa barbara" onesie.  I am thinking I will make a "left my heart in SF" for myself (a shirt, not a onesie!).

An adorable little owl softie tutorial from The Rubber Punkin.  Picture is from their site as well.

This is not necessarily an owl craft, but I found this cute picture of owl stuffies on Craft Hope.  And I love Craft Hope, so I wanted to share about them anyways.  They basically rally the troops of crafters to coplete good projects.  Right now they are making birthing bags for women in Haiti.  Photo from Candace at Craft Hope.

Jill at Homemade by Jill also made this super cute owl mobile, you can find the tree template in the post.

She got the owl template from Juicy Bits, who made some fabulous owl Christmas ornaments...

Oh, and I guess, lastly, I can show off the blanket that I made for the lil girl.  Her room is forest themed (they didn't know she was a girl until she arrived), so when I found this forest panel and fabric, I HAD to get it.

The forest blanket.  I stitched a few random leaves, instead of quilting the whole thing



Closeup on our feature creature.  Here you can see the stitching on a leaf

There you go, some owlspiration for us all!

------

Edited later that day.  I just realized all of the owl projects were sewn -- and this is mainly a crochet blog!  So here is a little knit and crochet inspiration for you!

A fun, knit owl hat from Ruthie Knits. If I learn to knit, this is definitely going on my to do list -- the faint owls are just adorable!

This knit owl coffee cozy from My Knitting Basket is also going on my "learn to knit, knit this" list!  It seems like a great beginner project!

Not a knitter?  Try this cute little owl from Crochet Me.

picture from user: psylocke on ravelry

Or the amigurimi graduation owl that I posted back in June last year (meaning it is on my list!)

Good luck on all your owl-ventures!

Fourth of July Crochet Along

I have not done a crochet along with you all in a very long time. Since we have about three weeks until the 4th, I want to do a quick crochet along. Which pattern do you want to do?

Star Coaster

Fourth of July Coaster

I really want to make this snazzy wreath too, but I don't think 3 week is enough time. What do you all want to do?  How many coasters should be in our little set?  I hope you all join me!

Eyelet Afghan Pattern

I have not posted any patterns recently.  This one from Lion Brand really caught my eye, and I just had to share it! 

Eyelet Strips Afghan

As always, this picture is from Lion Brand.  I love the colors of this afghan!!

Stuck!

I mentioned this a couple months back, right after my birthday.  The hubby and I went on Alice in Wonderland and got Stuck!!  We were probably only stuck for 15 minutes or so, but it felt like forever.  Especially when the park attendant walked by us three times.  She was not very helpful.

Hubby is starting to get creative with his pictures, about 7 minutes in! haha

We made it out of Wonderland safely -- but Matthew still has not seen the end of the ride! If only we could have gotten stuck on something super cool, like Pirates of the Carribean.  Or even Small World -- how do you get out when surrounded by water?  That would be fun!!

Leftovers in the Shop

I'm super excited because I have some new items listed in my shop.  The success of the Craft Fair definitely gave me some renewed enthusiasm and answered some prayers about the future of my business.  And -- praise the Lord -- I had a sale this weekend!  I asked a friend for some advice about how to sell successfully on etsy, and she gave me some great tips -- but the most important was to pray.  She told me she would be praying for my shop as well -- how kind and loving is that? Thank you for that, Lora.

And now, recently listed items in the shop:

Herbivore Pot Holders $10

Bright Summer Newborn Cloche $10

Brown Sparkles Coffee Cozy $8

The Perfect Pear Coasters $12

Pale Speckles Newborn Cloche $10

I am so excited.  I also made the cutest little pink beanie.  I just need to get pictures taken and I will list it.  I used a new flower pattern, creating my own from a Lion Brand pattern.  I will definitely share it with you!  I also won a couple items at giveaway day, so I am very excited to share those with you!

Currently on the Hook

I have been sewing a lot lately -- and for myself!  Now that the craft fair is over, I sewed a few skirts that I had been putting off.  I am planning to write a tutorial for this skirt over on Newly Wife later, but for now you can see a couple fun pictures that my wonderful hubby took.

I have also been crocheting a few things lately.  The finished cloche is with Lily Sugar N Cream in Pinky Stripes, with a Chrysanthemum [Mother's Day] pattern from Lion Brand.  Very fun and different!  The in progress cloche is being crocheted with Sugar N Cream yarn in Moondance!

Oh yeah.  And the blanket is Nov 16: Baby Gingham and I love how it is turning out so far.  I mean, I still have a TON to do, but I love it so far!

Stars & Stripes

I am trying to create a pattern for these stars, but for now you can just take a peek!  Please excuse the weirdness of my ironing board.  It's just water -- not sure why it looks brown.  Do any of those stars look more starlike than the others?  Which do you like?  Or do they all look the same? haha

I also finished up the first in a new set of scrubbers from Big Girl Jewelry -- the ridged scrubby set.  I am  halfway through the second pattern, and excited to start the third!  I tried it once already, but I was tired and could not make sense of it -- so I went with the easier two!  Here's the Vertical Ridges Scrubby.