Mom's Crochet Snowflakes
In the months before my mom passed away last winter, she felt well enough to take up her tiny crochet hooks and create quite a few little projects.
Mom crocheted hundreds of snowflakes over the years and gave most of them away to family and friends. These 2 are now part of my collection.
The snowflakes were crocheted with 100% cotton crochet thread. I still need to stiffen them to turn them into ornaments. I don’t have much experience with the process so it will be a bit of an adventure, I think.
Tags: crochet
Knit sampler with horizontal rows
Last spring, I began learning new knit stitch patterns and created a series of stitch samplers as 9 inch squares.
This sampler is a simple series of alternating wide and narrow horizontal rows. The wide rows are stockinette stitch and the narrow rows are garter stitch.
I used Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight yarn in cornmeal.
As a relatively new knitter, I focused mostly on not dropping or adding stitches and keeping my tension even.
Tags: knit
Gingerbread Man in Cross-stitch
Happy holidays, everyone! I love the holiday season and I particularly love to use gingerbread people and houses in my holiday decorations.
I cross-stitched this little gingerbread man from a kit several years ago.
I backed the finished project with a piece of green felt and used the half-stitch in red, green and white to stitch the two pieces of fabric together. Finished size is about 3 inches wide by 4 inches high.
He is now an ornament on our tree, sitting nestled between branches at a low level so that little ones with curious fingers can admire him.
Tags: embroidery
Bear in My Stocking ornament
I’ve introduced a new embroidery pattern in my etsy store: “Bear in My Stocking”.
It features my animal friend, Bailey, the Brown Bear, hanging out with a candy cane in a Christmas stocking.
The photo shows an ornament I am making. I stitched this cute design in red, green, brown, and white using raised satin stitch and outline stitch. The fabric is a square 6×6 hem-stitched piece of 60/40 linen I purchased from one of my new favorite online stores All About Blanks (look for hem-stitched table linens…these are the 6×6 cocktail napkins).
To finish the ornament, I’ll add a second napkin as the back, sew the two pieces together, stuff with poly-fiber, and weave a ribbon through the hem-stitching holes.
For instructions on how to make the ornament, you can download a pdf at All About Blanks.
Tags: bears, Designs, embroidery, etsy store
Muppets made of jellybeans
This fantastic candy portrait of Fozzie Bear and Kermit the Frog appeared on the side of a gingerbread masterpiece at the 2009 Gingerbread Village–held every year at the Seattle Sheraton in downtown Seattle.
Created from an assortment of jelly beans, this piece of art is a very tasty interpretation of two of my favorite Muppet characters! And I love the added touch of the sunglasses! Too cool!
Tags: Muppets, photography
Embroidered Eye (Allyson Mitchell's Eye #3)
I’ve been doing a lot of embroidery projects lately and here’s another new one.
This is a “shades of pink” embroidered eye I stitched from a pattern my niece designed for our etsy store (Eye #3 by Allyson Mitchell of Pink Tea Design).
The fabric is a cotton kitchen towel and I used the following stitches: split stitch, french knots, raised satin stitch, outline stitch, and stem stitch.
It was a quick project, taking about 3 hours to complete. I’m working on other eyes in her pattern series now.
Tags: embroidery, etsy store, eyes
In honor of my mom’s birthday today, I’m including a few of her craft projects. Mom was an amazingly versatile crafter and taught me so much.
Crocheted Baby Hat with Butterfly
This small blue and white baby hat is crocheted with extra soft terrycloth yarn and features a fold-up brim. The little butterfly accent is crocheted with #10 thread. Very sweet!
Changing Pad
This cute changing pad was a gift for a friend’s new baby. The basic construction is an extra-soft hand towel backed with colorful cotton fabric. Mom sewed in some pockets for the little necessities (and included some samples!). It all wraps up into a tidy bundle with a white ribbon. The changing pad easily slips into a backpack or diaper bag and can be washed.