Tasty Treats

I finished some of my projects last month. I absolutely love finishing things up, and posting here is like the final check on my to do list. I still have so many projects left to complete to finish up my challenge, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Will I finish by 2014? Probably not, but I will get everything made eventually! Click on the link for more project info and the pattern.

 

Below: Coffee Cup (Feb 5), Sushi / Cupcake (Dec 28), Donut (July 18)

 

This Frosted Donut (Feb 24) is seriously adorable. I just love it!

 

Lastly, another shot of the Bakewell Tart (Feb 23). I used a Gatorade bottle bottom inside the base, so it is actually pretty sturdy! So fun! 

 

Coffee Cup Cozy Pattern

I started making these coffee cozies a few weeks ago.  I was going to use someone else's pattern, but just could not find exactly what I wanted.  I designed this after my french press cozy pattern.  I am really happy with how this turned out, and I hope you have the same results.

Pretty gorgeous, right? I have given these as gifts and people seem to really love them. I have sent them simple (below) or adorned (above). Men prefer the simple way, but I just love the cute adornments! I have crocheted both stars and flowers and attached them. Lovely, I say. Then again, the simple looks fabulous too!

Please feel free to use this pattern for personal or small scale sales use.  Just don't go mass producing these in a sweatshop. I would appreciate it if you linked back to my pattern if you sell a finished product online. If you sell it at a craft fair, no linkback is necessary. Enough of the small talk, here's what you really want... the pattern!


Coffee Cup Cozy
Supplies:

• Small amount of yarn.  I like worsted weight, but you can just use whatever you have and adapt the pattern accordingly.
• Size H Crochet Hook (I have also used G and I, like I said, the pattern is adaptable)
• Yarn Needle
• Flower Embellishment (I like using this pattern, but feel free to use whatever one you like, or none at all!) or Star Embellishment (pattern to come soon!)

Abbreviations:
Ch - Chain
SS - Slip Stitch
HDC - Half Double Crochet

Instructions:
Round 1: Chain 14
Round 2: skip first 2 Ch, HDC in each stitch across, Ch2  (12 hdc)
Rounds 3 - 22:  HDC in each stitch across, Ch2 (basically continue in the same manner until your piece is approximately 8" when laid flat). On the last round, skip the Ch2 and Fasten Off.
Finishing: Lay the coffee cozy flat, lining up the first and last row.  SS in both rows to seam together.

Flip right side out and attach embellishment.

Simple, right? And lovely! Go ahead and make one today! Pair it with a gift card to a local coffee shop and you will have an excellent birthday gift!!

 

Birthday in the Bay

I was lucky to celebrate my birthday for over a week this year! I went to the Bay Area for a shower and my parents spoiled me with some birthday gifts too! I also remembered to pack a few doilies that I was working on. Those are great projects for traveleing, because they take up so little room!

My mom gave me her old Kindle and it had the Hunger Games on it.
I possibly read all weekend and barely saw my fam... possibly...

Coffee for two!

What do you think I (my mom) bought?

A gift from my sweet friend Jess.

Wine tasting afternoon with Mom. So fun!

Caramel Birthday Cheesecake

And I can't forget... birthday dinner at Paradiso!

One last pic from the winery (we were at Concannon, if you were wondering).

 Pictures from the shower to come later...

Featured!

I was featured in a Treasury!  Wow!  I am sooo excited!  You guys should check it out too, it is all about coffee.

Happy Thursday!

Iron Craft 11 & Crocheted Cozies

After sewing a bunch of coffee cozies, I realized I could crochet some too.  I searched for patterns on Ravelry, but decided to just create my own!  I was also going to create some shamrock coasters for St. Patricks day (and the green challenge at Iron Craft), but I ran out of time.  So I made a green coffee cozy!  So far I only have three crocheted cozies made, but I LOVE how they look!

Marketing :)

 

And for the green cozies (for Iron Craft):

 

Coffee Cozies: Complete!  I am definitely going to be making more of these.  I just love them!  And sorry, the green just didn't show up very well.  Oh well!  Would you be more likely to purchase a sewn or crocheted coffee cozy?

Gettin Cozy

Matt and I were at a local coffee shop (it's so rare for him to join me -- it was definitely a special treat!) and he said I should sell my sewn coffee cozies there.  This inspired me to bust out the sewing machine this weekend and get going.  I created my own pattern and template so that I could make these quickly.  I think I finally got the design perfected!

Matt suggested ones without buttons (lobster and denim above), but I took it to mean "put in a snap."  He as saying I should just make a continuous circle, but I just cannot figure out how to do that.  Oh well. Buttons it is.  Guess I'm limiting my audience to ladies!

 Here are some closeups.  This travel one below was inspired by my sis in South Korea!

And school, inspired by a few schoolteacher friends (Sarah, Jess, etc)

You can see the little sticker that I added as packaging.  Hopefully I will have a logo soon, and use that as the back sticker, with a price.  I was totally inspired by Gussy's post on packaging!

What do you think? Will they sell at the local coffee shop? And do you think I should try selling them on my etsy?

Iron Craft: Get Cozy

I kept seeing Missie post about her Iron Craft challenges, and they just looked so fun.  This week's challenge was to make a coffee cozy.  Lucky for me, I had already made one!  I wanted to make a few more to sell on etsy, but the pattern just was not right.  I feel bad for joining the Iron Craft challenge a few weeks late, but better late than never, right?  I finished up these 2 cozies during the week of the challenge.

Below you can see the 2 next to each other.  You can see how much smaller the pink one is -- that was my first attempt!

I am in love with the pink / green hearts one.  The other one... well it just may be showing up when I do my giveaway later!  I had to do some last minute changes, after I tried it on the mug.  You can see my "fails" below!

This one was just tossed.  No recovering from it.  It would have been super cute,but part of it did not attach and I chopped off the end.  Then it was just too small.  :(

And this one -- well it is the "before" of the cute light blue & brown coffee cozy.  The button was sewed on too far to the right.  I was able to cut it off and resew it, though I was worried I would not be able to, because I sewed the button on before sewing the 2 pieces together.  Sigh.

All in all, it was fun to participate in this iron craft.  I would love to keep going - with more crocheted items!

Lattes & Chocolate

So I am free to post whatever I want, whenever I want.  So crazy!  haha  I am thinking of merging this blog with my other one, to create MegN.com or something.  Thoughts?  Anywho, I wanted to share a fun pattern that I found to purchase online...

Mini Chocolate and Latte Cups!

Reminds me of my crochet and coffee dates with my good friend Mel.  Last week, she was making a gorgeous sweater and I was working on a baby blanket for a friend.  So excited!

May 7: French Press Cozy - COMPLETED

Pattern #127: French Press Cozy

Today is a different day than normal. I am designing the pattern! I finished the product, but I have not yet finished writing out the pattern.

Update: I have mine finished. Check out the finished pictures:





Here is the original post, which I am leaving up, because I like the inspiration!

The background info - my Mom requested a French Press cozy. However, I could not find any crochet patterns that I liked. I found 2 knit patterns, one by Derek & Lauren and the other by Mary Townsend, but nothing for crochet. So I started to make my own. About halfway through I realized that my Mom and I have different sized french presses. So I have to create a new pattern to fit hers. Eventually the pattern will suit both the tall skinny model that I have, and the short fat model that she has!

For now, you can see my inspiration from:

Derek & Lauren

and Mary Townsend

[all pictures are from their pattern sites on Ravelry]

May 6: Beaded Coffee Cozy

Pattern #126: Beaded Coffee Cozy


This seems very similar to the other coffee cup cozy -- but this one has BEADS! And that makes it even cuter! This seems like something that any Mom would love. Am I right?



Picture from Jan Spirik:

April 15: Latte Cozy - COMPLETED

Pattern #105: Latte Cozy

This is fitting as today is free coffee day at Starbucks. Or you get free coffee if you bring in a reusable cup. While I do not get coffee that often, I always get a sleeve when I do - so this would be really important to have. Or one of those cute sewed ones that are all over the blogosphere. Anywho, this is my bday week so this is another pattern for me!

I finished this up in a day. And I made one for the hubs too. I did not follow the LB pattern completely - as they have you using different colors of yarn for each stripe. But I used their general structure. I don't think hubby really liked his - who would have thought the chapstick holder was what he really wanted? hahah

Here are some pretty poor pictures, but it's what I have for now. And I have not tried it out with a hot drink yet... this must be an excuse to go get some coffee! :)

Feb 5: Coffee Cup - COMPLETED

Pattern #36: Coffee Cup

Hannah, over at Bittersweet, has an amazing collection of crochet patterns as well as recipes. She's a vegan and makes it look absolutely delightful! I have sent my mom her way a few times, as she is learning to cook vegan for a special member of their ukelele group. If that isn't the most random sentence, I don't know what is! And apparently my proper English has gone by the wayside today. My apologies! Anywho, I found this cute little coffee cup pattern over there, how adorable is it? I think I am going to put a few beans inside, to make it smell AMAZING!

-----------------

Updated August 22, 2013: I found this in my craft room and realized that I never blogged about it. I think I finished it a year or two ago. Maybe even during the first year (2010), probably before I had really come up with my system for posting finished products. Whoops! I can tell it is old because of the quality. I overstuffed it and the handle is all wonky. Oh well. It is done for now, and I didn't even put the coffee beans in it!!