Special Olympics Scarf Project

In the New Year, I have resolved to give more charitably, whether through monetary means, or through donation of goods/services. By chance, I received my regular Crochet newsletter, and the USA Special Olympics Scarf Project was featured.
I decided to crochet a scarf, but had a hard time finding both colors of yarn. I was quite desperate, when I turned to a place that I never shop, Wal-mart. It turns out that they did have the color...and I could finally start my project, after bouncing around town to 4 stores.

Here is the finished product:



And the pattern, if you find yourself so inclined to crochet or knit one of your own to donate:
http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/files/upload_file_806701660.pdf

I hope everyone is having a terrific New Year so far!

Melting Snowman Amigurumi

I was looking for something to make a friend of mine for a Holiday gift - because I like handmade things, she likes handmade things...and, well, I'm cheap. I just bought a house and I need money for the improvements - give me a darn break, already!

When I found the pattern for this project, I really loved it - and I thought she would get a kick out of it, too. There is a story behind this gift, though, and you'll have to live through the story before I'll allow you to see the awesome amigurumi that I made :

My friend is 81 years old. She lives in a 55+ community, and every year, they have a craft/hobby fair. She bought a badly made snowman from a lady because she felt sorry for her. The snowman had a WHITE scarf (really - a white scarf on a snowman), and it's arms were jutting haphazardly out of it's hips. Needless to say, this poor snowman looked like he suffered an industrial accident. So - her and a mutual friend of ours, Sarah, went to JoAnn's Craft and Fabric store, and picked out a bunch of decorative stuff to hopefully fix the train wreck that was this poor snowman.

It didn't work. It's an inside joke now, something to poke fun and laugh at - that silly deformed snowman. So - in honor of that poor, deformed snowman, I made this:



It's a melted snowman!

I found the pattern here, at Fun and Fang, if you would like to pick up your hook and make one of your own.

Hope you're all doing well, having a great holiday season - and staying warm!

Fan Light Pull

A few days ago, my husband expressed frustration when trying to find the light pull on a fan in our house. As you may know, this house is new to us - but it was built in 1972, and has changed a few hands over the years. The previous owners weren't too handy around the house...they half-assed repair jobs, and they sure as heck didn't leave us anything they didn't have to. The light and fan pulls are both short - so they're pretty hard to find in the dark.
So, I came up with this solution, after sifting through my art stuff for about 15 minutes:

I've had the green pendant for a while now - I suspect I found it on one of our family's yard-sale excursions when I was a teenager. I got the fake pearls at our local JoAnn's Crafts store. I attached the pendant to a length of craft wire, then threaded on the beads. I weaved the craft wire around the existing fan light pull, and VOILA! A new, sexy fan light pull. Well, maybe not sexy, but it is pretty stinkin' cool, if I do say so myself. :)

Crochet Bell Necklaces for Wooden Deer

My dad made me these awesome wooden deer years ago, and I haven't had much of a place to put them until now. So, I decided to pull them out and make them festive this year.



I bought some big bells at my local JoAnn's Craft store, and then scoured my yarn stash for the right shades of red and green. I made a cord, using this method ( I used technique 2) , and threaded the bell on when I thought that I was halfway done. I left a few inches on the end of each thread, and tied them around the necks of the deer. Cool huh?

I'm so crafty, I amaze myself sometimes! :D

Homeless Hat

While moving, I found a few hats that I made that I seldom (if ever) wear. I decided to give them to a homeless ministry, and started to look around for one...unfortunately, I was unable to find one in my area, but I did contact Clark County, Washington's Council for the Homeless for information. I was kindly referred to the Friends of the Carpenter, a homeless ministry that is, in short, amazing. They have a large wood shop, and teach the local homeless how to use the equipment to make beautiful, mostly religious themed items. If you're interested, their Product Catalog is here.

Now, in addition to the hats that I found, I decided to make a special hat, specifically to give away to the homeless. Here's the hat:





Feel free to flatter the beautiful model with compliments. :D

I decided that every time I do an "experiment" or practice another crochet skill, that I make a large swatch of it, and make it into a hat. This one was done in rounds, though, with no seam. Here, I was practicing crochet ribbing, and it turned out so well that I was just a little bit sad that I had to give it away.

I hope it will make someone very happy - and very warm - this holiday season.

Skull Tapestry Crochet Bag

I know it's been a while, but here is my latest project:



This purse is piratastic! I'm artistic, so I can just make up words. I'm cool like that.
I've done tapestry crochet previously, but never this intense, and never on anything that I would willingly carry around in public. But this...is just all kinds of awesome.
The pattern for the handbag is at futuregirl's site: Starling Handbag
The skull motif is here, at CraftyCrafty: Jolly Roger Skull and Crossbone
I've put a picture of my handbag on the Starling Handbag Flickr Pool - it's great to see what other crocheters out there are creating with the same pattern!

I even have an order in...for one with a red skull, so stay tuned for that one!
Also, I have a set of crochet dice to make, as well as a gift for a friend's daughter.
I'm *this close* to finishing a hat that I'm going to be donating to a homeless shelter, along with three other hats I've made that never get worn. So - that's what I'm doing these days. Well, that, and managing to get all the REGULAR chores done while unpacking boxes in our NEW HOUSE! Woohoo!

See? I told you I might check in!

A glimpse of what is to come...November 2010

I have quite a few things on my list this month, but that list might have to be postponed for this, and possibly next month. My husband and I are buying a house, and the deal is set to close on the 19th of November. So - understandably - posts on my blog will be mighty scarce while I pack, move, and unpack. I hope you all will understand.

Without further ado, here are my lists:

In the works:

1. Gift for Mika
2. Gift for Jeff (my brother-in-law)
3. Finish Granny square blanket
4. Skull and crossbones crochet purse
5. More "hand tools" drawings

My to-do list:

1. Crocheted Autumn leaves magnets
2. Crochet socks
3. Frog Amigurumi
4. Bags for my cousins for Christmas (If I get the color/applique info)

Random Ideas: (I'm taking from my last 'Glimpse' post - which was taken from the last 'Glimpse' post before that. I love some of these ideas, and fully intend on making good on them!)
1. Hammer cozy
2. Small BBQ cozy (our apartment thinks that Charcoal BBQ's are the devil, so I'd like to crochet a cozy to make it more covert)
3. Random street art, to get my 'Crochet Valkyrie' blog up and running again
4. Cross-stitch Buddhism stuff - 4 Noble truths, 5 precepts, 8 fold path
5. Havamal samplers
6. More sushi sets, to sell on Etsy, or wherever I feel like it.
7. Do a felting project!

Again, if there is anything that you'd like to see here, feel free to leave a comment.