Here we go! This is the finished baby blanket. :) I decided that I liked the way it looked without all the ruffle trim that the pattern calls for so I didn't trim it off the way the pattern called for. It's bigger then I thought it was. It turned out really pretty and the pattern is really simple. I laid it out on the couch to take the pictures and was really surprised at how big it really was.

I have to get back to work on the princess blanket. But first, I have to go get more yarn for it. I have to replace the pink that I used from the stash. I was hoping that I would have the Princess blanket done by now, but it got set aside. It shouldn't take me all that long to finish, provided I can remember the pattern for it. I have the directions, it'll just take a little bit to get into the rhythm again.

Also of note, the other baby blanket I made was received and liked. That makes me happy. I like making people happy. :) I have so many people wanting blankets that it's not even funny. I don't mind though. I don't know how soon I'll be getting to them. It all depends on how soon I finish up the one that's in my bag. I will start working on that one again this week sometime. It shouldn't take as long, since I'm working it a different way than originally planned. I made it too wide to be a lap afghan, but turning it made it the right length for one.

And thus ends the crochet updates. ;)

So, I started on another baby blanket for another pregnant friend.  I'm over halfway done with it, which makes me really happy.  It's beautiful pink and really simple to do.  I found the pattern online. It's a smaller scale of another pattern that I had, which makes me really happy.

I need to get about finishing the main pattern so I can do the trim and get it sent off.  I was bouncing right along, but decided to take some time off to read my book instead.  I haven't taken a new pic since I got more length on it, so this is when I first started it.

Hopefully I'll get it done and sent off in plenty of time.  I finally got the blue one sent off and it's been received, but I've not heard anything about whether she liked it or not.

I spent a little time working on the bibs the other day.  I gathered all my little tools (the picture doesn't even show all the items I needed) and readied my workspace (my dining room table).  I used a cutting board (portable and self-healing), iron, ironing board, hammer, sewing machine, and patterns that aren't shown, along with the scissors, rotary cutters, water-soluble pencils, straight pins, snap setter and snaps, and thread all pictured in this photograph.  After the first bib, I realized the water-soluble pencils were unnecessary, but other than that, I used everything else I'd gotten out

I worked with just the orange backed bibs because I didn't want to have to change out bobbins in the middle of my project.  I still have orange material left so I'll probably make a few more bibs (lots of pregnant friends right now and these will make great gifts to have on hand) out of it before moving on to the next color.  I actually made five bibs, but the first one isn't pictured here because of various mistakes I made.  It is now a bib for Sophie's dolly, which she was beyond excited to receive.

To start off the project, I arranged the material wrong side out, pinned the pattern, and traced with the pencil (totally unnecessary step which I changed up later).  I removed the pattern, pinned the fabric again, and cut the bib out using the rotary cutters.  I pretty much followed the directions in the book/article mentioned in this post.  After turning the bib right side out, I pressed the bib and managed to not press the opening quite right, so when that was sewn it was off a bit.  No worries since neither Sophie nor her dolly care in the least.

When starting the second round of bibs, I was determined to find a somewhat more efficient way of making these.  I dropped the pencil and just cut with the rotary scissors around the pattern.  I cut out enough material for four bibs before starting sewing.  While at the machine, I sewed all four (had to refill the bobbin about halfway through), then turned all four, pressed all four, did the top stitch on all four, and then set snaps on all four.  I have to admit, this was much easier. 

During this second round of bibs, I cut two sets each of two different patterns.  I think I like the bib with the side snap a little better than the bib with the back snap.  The area I left open for turning was much easier to close for some reason, and there was only one major curve to deal with instead of the two curves at the back of the other bib.

My sewing skills are improving, but there are still plenty of mistakes.  Take a close enough look at the pictures and my uneven top stitching can be seen, along with the snap mistake I made on one of the bibs.  It's getting there, slowly but surely.

I picked up a sewing book while at Barnes and Noble not too long ago (Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew), and while many of the patterns are interesting, some of them are still above my ability (and to think, most seasoned seamstresses say it's for beginners). I found a cute pattern for bibs in the book, however. Sure, Sophie's a little old for bibs, but who wouldn't love a homemade bib or two for a shower gift?


Sophie and I went to JoAnn the other day in search of material for the bibs. She was such a trooper, helping me pick out fun prints, pointing out little details on the material, and shouting out colors whenever she could. I picked up quite a bit of material, but that's okay since I have quite a few friends who are currently pregnant. I'm going with a 100% cotton front and a cotton flannel back (nothing in between the layers). Sophie and I picked out three different sets of material: a set of greens, a set of oranges, and a set of prints that would work with white on the back.

The cotton prints were all on sale for 30% off, if I'm not mistaken (love to save money!). I picked up a few other items as well, including a self-healing folding cutting board (marked down to $9-ish from $49-ish), snaps, a snap setter, and a few simple to sew patterns for clothing for Sophie. The cutting board and the snaps will be used for the bib project, which will hopefully be underway soon.
 

As we returned home, Sophie and I stopped at the mailbox to get the stack we had let accumulate over about the course of a week or so (we're awful about picking up our mail) and there was a pile of magazines in the box along with all the bills and credit card junk. I had a chance to flip through the magazines shortly after dinner and the first one I picked up was Crafts n Things. Wouldn't you know it, the pattern for the bibs was actually in the magazine!
 

I spent time today putting the material through the washer in batches, each load with a bit of vinegar in the rinse to set the colors. All the pieces are folded again and in a nice pile, just waiting for me to get started. I probably won't have time to get started on this until next week, when I'll pull out the ironing board and iron, the sewing machine, and clear space on the dining room table. I'm really looking forward to working on these bibs, even if it means I have to slow down a little on the baby blanket.

Reader participation:  Do you have print and color suggestions for the bibs?  Do you have other ideas for sewing simple baby gifts?  Do you have a favorite gift to give (or receive) whenever there's a baby shower?  Feel free to share here. 

It seems as though the bug that took our house by storm has just about given up the ghost and I'm starting to feel somewhat human again.  B, Sophie, and I had to make an emergency trip to Tennessee to say goodbye to my grandmother.  She left this world January 12, 2008, after 91 years of life.  We brought home the bug as a souvenir.

While on the road, I managed to sneak in a little knitting and am happy to announce I am done with the boats!  I still have plenty of that blanket left to knit, but there will be no more boats!  I've moved onto the cables and have to admit, it's actually fun again!  Of course, pictures will be forthcoming.

I'm working on a much larger entry than this, but I wanted to let people know I'm still here.  Because I love my readers so much, I'm going to do a bit of a link dump.

I was reading a post by Margaret Kerr on the ChaCha blog network when I stumbled upon a very cool link she shared in her Ocean Waves entry.  The link she shared was for FreePatterns.com.  The site requires people register before using the free patterns, but there is no cost.  They also have a good number of eNewsletters for people who like to have those little reminders (but they also make it easy to opt out of those newsletters for those who hate junk mail).  If you sew, quilt, cross-stitch, knit, crochet, or do any sort of crafts at all, stop by and check them out.  Remember, signing up is free.  There is no cost at all!

Along those lines, the link dump here is for free patterns of all types.  Enjoy!

• Knitty- This is an excellent source for quality knitting patterns, all of which are free.  Knitty is a quarterly online magazine that offers articles as well as patterns.
• Knitting Pattern Central - This site actually hosts links to free patterns all over the internet.  Some of the patterns will be in PDF format.  Some have pictures and some don't.
• The Daily Knitter - TDK is similar to KPC in that it hosts links to free patterns all over the place, but TDK seems to host more broken links.  When hunting for free patterns, every little bit helps.
• Crochet Pattern Central - Same as with KPC, this site hosts links to free patterns all over the internet.
• Free Vintage Crochet - The patterns here are also available in PDF format for download.  These patterns are all taken from older books and from what I can tell, most, if not all, of them have pictures.
• Free Quilt Patterns (1) - This site is like the Pattern Central sites listed above, linking to patterns all over the web.  Of course, as with many sites like this, some links will be dead.
• Free Quilt Patterns (2) - This site also links to other sites containing free patterns.
• Savvy Seams - Amazingly enough, this site actually contains original patterns.  There are only a few patterns listed here, but enough to keep a beginner quite busy for some time.
• Sew More for U -  There is a little more here than just links to free patterns.  There are also articles, tips, links to free software, and much more.  I plan to spend a little time here after the boat blanket is completed.
• Free Cross Stitch Pattern - Plenty of graphs here, but most of the patterns are made from clip art.

Reader Participation:  If you have any links for free patterns for any type of craft projects, please feel free to share it here.  If you have experience dealing with any of the sites listed above, please share them here.
 

I've turned into a monster. Seriously. Every time I sit down with nothing to do, I start crocheting. Yesterday and Today, I was playing with some really pretty cotton thread-like stuff that came from Peaches & Creme. I didn't like it to make blankets, it didn't work up as nicely as what I usually use. It was heavy and I didn't care for the feel of it. So, I went and found a dishcloth pattern that I really liked. It's called Over The Rainbow. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, just from looking at it, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. It worked up quickly and I really like the results of it.

Mom didn't care for the openness of the dishcloth, so she recommended that I find a different pattern if I was going to make more. I can see the point, since you want a surface to work with and the holes are defeating the purpose, so back to the site I went and found a really pretty heart dishcloth. It worked up easy, but I ended up miscounting the stitches, so it's uneven. I think I know how it happened, since I was watching a movie and chatting while I was working on it.

My aunt bought a set from me a long time ago and said she didn't want it till feb so i had time to lay around and work on other stuff. Then i realized, it's almost feb. I called and asked her what she wanted and what colors and she said "purple and green apron dress for a 1 year old" and this was me "Ok, I'll do that." but inside i was saying i don't know how to make a jumper dress or anything like that and there are no patterns to give me ideas! on top of that green and purple looked horrible together.
So i ended up the first night doing math out my butt and came up with this a day later. I started with the skirt part and made that adjustable, then i worked my way up on one side and made an apron. on the other side i took one of Ryu's overalls and got ideas from that and after adding white to the purple green mix this is what i came up with. I made the straps adjustable by making them with shells and i just so happened to have lavender buttons laying around. so - what do you think?

Next blog will be about how to Start Crocheting! So get yourself a hook and some yarn (or crochet cotton thread) we'll be learning about the Chain and single stitches!

A Little about Crochet

Hi everyone, it's me Lee! well this is going to be my first blog post for anyone who's reading, so before we start i want to say  WELCOME to Hook'ed. I named my blog Hook'ed for the simple reason that the more you learn about Crochet, the more you'll want to do it and want to make things. Well, today I am going to give a little history on crochet so everyone knows what it is. 


History

The word Crochet is derived from the middle freanch word croc or croche, meaning hook. Crocheting, similar to knitting consists of pulling loops of yarn through other loops. Crochet differs from knitting in that only one loop is active at one time (the sole exception being Tunisian crochet), and that a crochet hook is used instead of knitting needles.

Know one really knows where crochet came from. But we do know when it became popular in the 1800's we started seeing more of it. In fact the first crochet pattern was published in a Dutch magazine 1824. Sometimes graphs were used and sometimes words or symbols were used to let the crafter know what to do with the hook. Hooks ranged from ugly bent needles in a cork handle, used by poor Irish workers, to expensively crafted silver, brass, steel, ivory and bone hooks set into a variety of handles. Even today we do this. Some hooks you buy at the local store, others, you can have a person make them for you by using bamboo or something more comfortable or even stylish.

In any case,  crochet  came to America and was popular in the 60's and 70's. But in the 80's dropped and disappeared when knitting took over the machine market.  While knitting is beautiful, there are differences:
 

1. Knitting uses two needles, not one hook
2. Knitting can be done with a machine, while most stitches in crochet must be done by a skilled crafter.
3. Knitting is done with many lives stitches and uses the support of both bottom and top rows to keep from unraveling, while crochet does not unravel if a stitch is dropped unless the yarn is pulled out.
4. Knitting uses simple and basic stitches (beautiful ones) while Crochet has so many, a Crochet Bible was written to help that of the modern day Crocheter.
5. Knitting can be shaped and sometimes simulated with crochet, but crochet can't be simulated by knitting as crochet has unique shapes such as the All American Granny; also known as the Granny Square.
 
And though both may have their ups and downs Crochet and Knitting can be combined to create a beautiful garment or project. 

I also decided to play with some of the beautiful blue wool/mohair yarn that I have as well. I found this really pretty crochet pattern that I thought would look fantastic with the yarn color that I have, so I downloaded it.  Just for something a little bit different to work on since I don't have the right stuff for the princess blanket yet.

I found this pattern on freepatterns.com and thought it would be cool to try to work it up. It called for 2ply yarn and a K hook, but what I have is 4ply and I'm working with an H hook. It comes out to the same gauge, so it's all good. I like the way it's working up. It looks really neat and is working up quickly. I just hope that overall it doesn't take a ton of yarn to finish. I'll likely mix in a few white rows to break up the blue monotony, which will make it a lot easier on the wool. I've got a lot of rows left to go and I'm almost through one skein already.

Something else I've done with the pattern is to take it and cut it down to the width of a scarf and have been working that up with a skein of Red Heart soft sport yarn that my husband got me. It didn't work for the project it was for.  It was the wrong weight and wouldn't work with the hook that I use for it.  So I've got that in progress as well.

Hey everyone. Easter is coming early this year, so there isn't much time to play around. There are many different things we can make for this time of year. It will even be more fun since we can bring spring around a little bit earlier, and chase away this nasty winter.

This next craft is easy and fun to do for all ages. It is called decoupage. You can decoupage just about any surface, or item. I will be using ceramics this time. My mom loves to do this, keeps her busy. All you need is some decoupage glue (Mod Podge), a short stiff brush, material, and ceramic eggs and pinking sheers. You can order ceramics online or go to your local ceramic shop and purchase the eggs. I make my own ceramic eggs. My Mother-in-Law has her own ceramic shop in her basement.

Pinking sheers are scissors with a serrated or notched blades. They cut the material and leave a zigzag edge that looks decorative and helps prevent the material from fraying. The material you use should have small patterns on it. It looks better when cut up and glued to egg. Larger patterns get lost and don't look very nice when glued together. When finished, you can decorate egg with ribbon and small flowers.

Decoupage Easter Egg

Supplies:

• Eggs
• Material (cut in small triangle shapes)
• Glue
• Brush (short stiff bristles)
• Pinking sheers
• Ribbon
• Clear gloss spray
• Ribbon
• Small silk flowers (if you want)

First step is to cut all your material into small triangular pieces. Next, use the brush to spread glue on egg in a small spot, just to stick the material on it. Then completely cover the piece of material with more glue. Keep repeating this step until egg is completely covered. Let dry. When completely dried, spray with a clear gloss to give it a finished smooth look. Let this completely dry. Spray the clear gloss in a well ventilated area, outside would be best if not too cold. Finally, you can decorate it. Use little flowers and/or ribbons. What ever you chose. I chose ribbon, just to give you an idea.

You can fill a basket with them, or just set them out by themselves. They make great little gifts for teachers. The following pictures show you each step. Have fun and enjoy.

My next project is going to be my first afghan for donation. I've started the centers of the squares the other night, but I put it aside in hopes of finishing the baby blanket first. Tonight, however, I've spent the night trying to find a pattern that we KNOW we have somewhere around here. It's for the afghan that my mother made for me a couple years ago. We can't find the book and the pattern is not online as far as I can tell.

Heck, the one that I'm working on (pictured left) isn't even available online. That picture was from an ebay auction of the pattern (linked on the image). Someone clipped the pattern from an old (1985) Annie's Pattern Club book.  I'm not sure that was the brightest idea for this person to do, but it's their loss, imho.  Annie's books are just a treasure trove of great patterns.  My mother made many a crochet baby blanket and afghan from those books.  I have the actual complete book. It's been well loved. (aka beaten up and abused) My mother has made several of them and they look really cool when they're all done and sewn together. She's done so many color variations that it's not even funny. I will be getting to work on the centers tomorrow or so, tho. I have 45 more to make. Then I can figure out what other colors I'm going to use.

This is the first hat that I made. I had a bunch of leftover burgundy yarn from an afghan my mother made for me, so I figured I would work up a hat for Rob with it. I made him model for me tonight so that I could post pictures. No, he didn't want to. Oh well. He didn't get much of a choice. :P I told him to put it on so I could take pictures, can you tell he wasn't enthused?

This is one of the head hugger hat patterns that I really liked.  It was a quick and easy project that I worked up in a few hours.  I'm a slow crocheter, since I get distracted easily by shiny objects.. or something.

This, my friends, is the completed  baby blanket. I finished it just after midnight last night. This is the first afghan that I've made and first large project that I've finished. I'm psyched about that. I usually get frustrated and bored, then toss stuff aside. So I'm really proud of myself for getting this done. I just need to get it packed up and mailed off to the mother-to-be. That means I need to get her address from her when I see her online again.  Hopefully that will be soon so that it doesn't sit around too long. *whistles*

This was done with no pattern other than a basic granny square crochet pattern.  I learned years ago how to make a granny square and this is the same principle.  Just much much larger.  It's one continuous square with two rows of white thrown in to break up the blues some.  I used Red Heart  Shaded Dusk for the main color and Red Heart White for the white parts.  Simple directions, just keep going 'round and round the square until it's 30" or more, depending on what size you want.

I was turned on to Head Huggers by a friend of mine. She mentioned the site to me and I instantly felt like it was something I wanted to take part in.  The premise of the organization is simple.  If you can crochet, knit or sew, you can take part.  Head huggers provides hats to chemotherapy patients so that they can keep their heads warm.

Head huggers has a list of different crochet hat patterns, along with knit hat patterns and even sewn hat patterns as well.  Once you complete your hat(s), you submit your caps and they can be distributed to various cancer centers around the country.

You do not have to pick a pattern from the provided list, you can choose to use whatever pattern you like.  You don't even have to submit your caps for distribution, you can distribute them on your own.  The point of the project is not to contribute to a specific place or person, but to contribute.

If you have any hat patterns that you think would work for this project, please do contribute them.  I'm always looking for patterns.

I have done a little work lately on the Boats for Cameron blanket for my niece. It's still nowhere near finished, but it's getting there. I'm almost completely done with the boat panels and then I move on to the cable panels. Once the cables are done, I'll work on the border, and that is pretty much just plain knitting and/or purling per each row, so it will be fairly mindless.

I took progress pictures today, finally. I'm hoping to work on it more this week but I won't do another round of pictures until the cables are done.




If I actually take time to work on the blanket as I should, I will be able to get the boat panels done this week for certain. Of course, that's if nothing else interferes. I'm pretty sure B wants to be able to park in the garage again someday so that means we need to get cracking on the eBay stuff out in the garage which will cut into knitting time, I'm sure. Perhaps I'll knit a bit during Sophie's nap tomorrow and then work on eBay templates tomorrow night. I seriously cannot wait for this blanket to be done. There are so many projects I want to start, but I've vowed to not start another project until this blanket is completed. It's not that I don't want to do it. I'm sure I won't have time to knit anything else I want to knit, either.

Here's holding out hope there will be new progress pictures soon!

One of the projects that I've decided that I want to work on this year is to do something to give back.  I had thought about several different things that I could do to give back and I kept coming back to the idea of making afghans for the local nursing facilities in the area.

Many times you hear of people that put family members in a nursing home then rarely ever see them.  There are people who have no family, or have little to no personal items of their own.  I thought that it would be a nice gesture to make a lap afghan for someone and donate it.  There are ways to find a quick and easy crochet afghan pattern, something that you can work up quickly and make several of easily.

As soon as I thought of this, I shared the idea with my mother who is also a crafter.  She thought it was a fantastic idea and it's not overly costly, especially if you use left over yarns from other projects.  You can make some of the prettiest afghans with scrap colors, and never have the same thing twice unless you want it to be.

In many cases, you can contact your local art and craft supply stores and ask them for donations of yarns or other materials if crochet and knit isn't your thing.  You can even contact the yarn suppliers directly.  Some will send you supplies at no cost, or for shipping cost.  So give it some thought and see if you can come up with some sort of design for a craft project you can do to give back.

If this is something that you think you'd be interested in, contact your local nursing facilities, or even the local red cross, or mission to see if they would like to have donations.  Give back, it's good for your soul.

In my next post, I'll be writing about another crafting cause.

For some reason, I get the organizational bug about once a year (sometimes more often than that, but not usually on as large a scale).  Because we just did the swap between the office and the guest room, this seemed the perfect time to make sure both rooms are as organized as possible.  With my parents giving me the sewing machine for Christmas and me going hog wild with the crafts this year for Sophie and my nieces, I decided the guest room closet will be my new supplies closet.  Granted, it houses other items as well, but it's mostly crafting supplies.  

B and I have been in our new house for almost two years now (it will be two years mid-March) and this room swap has really helped us get some serious unpacking done.  I know, we're a bit slow, but we've had a baby to worry about.  We did most of the unpacking when we moved in (right around the time Sophie was born), but there were various boxes of odds and ends scattered about that we pretty much forgot with all the family visiting and furniture assembly and room swapping and diaper changes, etc.

Lucky for me, many of those boxes were filled with fun craft supplies.  I knew about all the yarn (had that all unboxed within the first month or so) but had forgotten so many of the other supplies.  I found plenty of fabric and felt, wooden pieces, candle making supplies, paper items, lots of patterns and instructions, basically a general hodge podge of "junk" (as B likes to call it).  He seems to think I have enough to open my own craft store, but I truly don't.

I proved that to him once I organized the closet where all my craft supplies are stored.  Our guest room has a fairly large closet (double doors) that was literally packed from top to bottom with boxes of stuff.  This room used to be the office, so most of the stuff was office type stuff, but when we did our room swap, *some* of the office stuff came out (not all), but all of the stuff in the garage and the old guest room was moved into the big closet.  I wish I had taken a picture of just how packed this closet was because I have a feeling no one will believe me after seeing the pictures of how it looks now.

I started my organizational project at JoAnn Fabric.  They were having a sale on all of their IRIS storage items (40% off) so I picked up five somewhat large tubs (30 qt, I believe).  I almost bought drawers but am SO glad I didn't.  While I was at JoAnn, B was at the Home Depot looking at storage containers as well.  I wasn't impressed by the drawer system he found there, but was interested in looking at the other containers they had.  We went together to the Home Depot the following day and I picked up a couple sets of smallish tubs (6 qt and 15 qt) while he found the rails, brackets, and shelving needed to turn our mess of a closet into something manageable.  I was beyond excited to get rid of all the huge Dell boxes we had snagged at work for our move before Sophie was born (and all the various other boxes we still had floating around).

I have to admit, my husband really is my hero.  The shelving in the closet makes it so much more user friendly now.  We have shelving in the parts of the closet that are tucked away as well as on part of the back wall.  I didn't want to cover the entire back wall since it IS a guest room and people actually do stay there from time to time.  I would like for them to have a place to hang their clothes still, so we left a little room for that.  After B put up the shelving, he decided he wanted something a bit sturdier so he ran to the Home Depot for braces (and more tubs).

The end result really is wonderful.  All of my craft supplies are organized.  Every clear tub and drawer is labeled with a list of contents (except for the tubs holding the wooden pieces for now - I have to get out the labeler again).  The closet also contains candles and computer bits and pieces, but those tubs are labeled as well, so nothing in my closet is a mystery.  I have a drawer for all of my scissors (I have a lot of scissors - from fancy paper edging scissors to super sharp fabric scissors).  I also have a drawer for all things glue (rubber cement, various glues, glue gun, magnets, velcro, etc.) and one for all things paint (paint, brushes, sponges, etc.).  Because this project has pretty much put the Christmas undecorating on hold, I think I'll make a tub for old Christmas cards as well since I plan to start recycling them into various crafts at some point.

I think the best part of the entire closet is the two 5.5" Moon Lites (by AmerTac) we installed under the top shelf.  It makes it so much easier to see my labels, especially on the bins that are tucked back out of the way.  Needless to say, we both feel rather accomplished.  It's not quite done yet, but it's pretty darn close.  I still have a few empty tubs and will be moving the candles around most likely, but I want to get Christmas down sometime before January is over (and possibly still get cards mailed out, who knows).

The next order of business for my craft supply closet will be a total Martha Stewart step.  B will be making fun of me for years to come, but I don't care.  I want to take the closet door on the right and add some sort of organizational system to the back of it.  I'll have to draw it all out so I can plan it just right, but there will be pegs and rods and all sorts of great fun stuff so I can hang more "junk" on the back of the door.

Now... if I could just figure out a way to get all the other stuff out of that closet...

Reader Participation:  Have you organized your craft supplies?  If so, what is your system?  If not, why not (too few supplies, not enough room, not enough time, etc.)?  Feel free to share photos!  Also, feel free to ask questions if there was something I didn't cover or if you're curious about something you see in my closet.

I love crafts and I love free, so to find a website for All Free Crafts pretty much meant heaven for me.

From what I have seen so far, they have free crocheting, knitting, and sewing patterns, along with free craft ideas for various holidays. There are also free patterns for crafting with the kids.

This site is excellent for beginners or for people wanting to try their hand at a new craft since patterns can be pretty expensive. There are several crochet patterns, including patterns for a crochet baby blanket and a crochet hat. I'll be hitting up the sewing patterns here to practice my sewing since I could really use some practice getting my stitches straight. Perhaps I'll be able to find a good knitted hat pattern for B after the boat blanket is done (worked on that today, by the way... pictures will be taken soon, I promise).

I also really like the All Free Crafts blog. There are lots of ideas for how to recycle old books, magazines, cereal box liners, and wrapping paper (I am on the hunt for how to recycle Christmas cards and plan to post about that fairly soon).

(Probable) Upcoming Posts:

• Ringing in The New Year and Keeping up with Resolutions: Craft Room Organization
• Boats for Cameron Knitted Blanket Progress Pictures
• What to Do with All Those Leftover Christmas Cards

I sat down and tried to figure out just what craft projects I want to do in 2008 and most of them are crochet projects.  In case anyone is interested, I thought that I'd make my first post of the new year a list of the projects that I'd like to work on.

After I finish the baby blanket from the previous post, I want to work on a special project for a lady whose family lost everything in a fire right before Christmas.  She collected a lot of things with lighthouses on them.  She had just gotten a brand new set of lighthouse canisters and lost them in the fire.  I want to find some different Lighthouse inspired craft projects to make for her.  I grew up with her family, in fact her youngest son was the first boy I had a crush on, so I want to do something for her.

If you have any good lighthouse patterns that are crochet or plastic canvas, let me know! I want to do as many as I can. :)

After I do that, I'm going to work on a couple of afghan's for next Christmas.  I want to make one for my nephew in blue and green and I'm considering making one for a close friend in bright pink.  I don't know what patterns I want to use for either of them, so throw crochet afghan patterns my way!

I also have plans on making a set of place mats for my mother, and work on expanding the range of stitches and styles I can crochet.  I'm kind of limited right now, but I'd like to get past the beginner patterns.  I want to make a Celtic knot throw for over our bed as well.  So, yeah, that's my 2008 plans.  What are yours, friends?

To me, the coolest thing I could learn to do is knit my own socks. Finally, I have started taking steps to fullfill that dream. I recently bought a book called Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. By recently, I mean in the last week. I must say I love this book. Love it!

For some reason I had always thought that knitting socks was way above my head. Too complicated. Well, this book makes it look (and sound) so easy. I'm still not done with my first sock, but so far I have finished the cuff, which is a 2x2 rib about 2" long, the leg, the heel and most of the foot. All I need to do now is finish the last inch or so of the foot then work the toe and finish! Sounds easy, right?

Well, it's a bit more complicated than it sounds when it's put that way. But that's the great thing about that book. Ann Budd shows you, yes, with actual pictures of a sock in progress, how do EVERYTHING step-by-step.  She even includes tips on how to minimize ladders, gaps at the beginning of gussets, matching one sock to the other, etc.

Go ahead. Ask me how this book could get any better. I'll just tell you. Ann includes patterns to over half a dozen different socks. Including my favorite, stripped socks! She even included the basic formula used to calculate how many stitches you'll need to begin and examples so you can further understand how it works.

If you're interested in looking up the book yourself, you can find it at Interweave Press's website. If you want to purchase it, it can be found anywhere where books are sold.

Just remember, if you're planning on getting sucked into the art of making your own socks be sure to do a gauge! A gauge is the most important thing to do whenever you knit anything, even more so for socks! If you measure your gauge wrong or don't do a swatch at all, your socks could be too big or too small. Or both.

Enjoy everyone! I know I am!

Here are some links where Ann Budd's book has been the topic for discussion:
Knitting Daily
Knitting News Cast