Finally I'm Finished: Bag Lady

Since kicking the door down to the knitting world, I have fallen down another rabbit hole...

The Wonderful Beautiful Practical World of Project Bags!!!

No more ziplock bags for me ^.^

A project back is a zippered, draw string, or other type of bag specifically to keep a crochet/knit project in.  Kinda makes sense huh?  Anywho, I first decided to make one to house my California travel project.  So I dug through my fabric stash and found a couple prints to use.

For the pattern, I just googled instruction for making a zippered bag.  It came out pretty good for a first go :)  And now I'm completely smitten with the idea of keeping my things in project bags.

Now, of course, I wanted to make more for new projects, and because these little bags were in my mind - I was bitten by the fabric stashing bug.  I started gathering fat quarter cuts and bits from Joann's remnant basket and jumped right into the sewing.  This time I used Nicole of Hue Loco's Holiday Bag pattern.  The pattern was written very well and the accompanying tutorial video helped with any questions I ran into.

A couple days after starting my second project bag, I had 4 new bags made!  I love how they came out and I've been putting them to work regularly ^.^  I do want to make a couple more in a larger size for projects bigger than socks.  I've put together some preliminary fabric combos and hopefully I'll get to work on those in the coming weeks.  Well... after I buy a zipper foot for my sewing machine because I've been struggling along without one so far.

Getting back into sewing has definitely rekindled my love for the craft.  I've been daydreaming of all the new clothes I could make with a bigger work space.  (I'm currently sewing on the corner of the dining room table.)

So yeah!! Happy crafting to me! ^.^

Finally I'm Finished: First Knits

I have been knitting a whole lot more over the past couple months and I'm happy to say it's been very enjoyable.  As a crocheter, trying knitting was like going to the dark side lol!  I think the hardest thing so far has been regulating my yarn tension.  When I started my stitches would be super tight and hard to work.  That was also making my hands feel very cramped most of the time.  So to remedy this, I went online for tips on learning how to hold the yarn looser, but still keep everything neat.  I'm still playing around with how I hold the yarn, but it's going well.

I wanted to share my first few knitted finished projects today.  All three of these pieces have been finished within the last 3-4 months.  I'm so proud of myself ^.^

First, we have my "I Thought I was a Ravenclaw Socks."  I showed the first sock of this pair in mid-March and finished the second sock at the end of March.  They were knit for the Harry Potter KAL but I didn't win anything.  le'sigh... better luck next time! [click -here- for the progress post!] Anyhow, these socks are so comfy and not at all as hot as I expected them to be.  I've worn them to work in my sneakers and they did very well.  They also survived their first machine washing ^.^ I count this as an awesome win!  I worked them cuff down and using a long circular needle for the magic loop method.  These socks took me about a month to complete.

The next thing I cast on my needles was the Seaforth Hat.  I mentioned this hat a couple posts back when I talked about my needle adjacent projects (projects that I want to start).  This hat was SUCH the learning experience!  I learned how to knit regularly on circular needles (not magic loop), I learned how to read a basic lace chart, I learned how to do yarn overs... even though I found out after finishing the hat that all my yarn overs were wrapped the wrong way, but whatevs!  This is a hat pattern that I will surely be making again.  I want to do it in a smoother yarn next time.  This hat was made with Impeccable worsted weight yarn from Michaels.  Next time I think I'll use simply soft or something like that.  This hat took me less than a week to complete.

Third knit item is another pair of socks.  This time, I knit the socks toe up magic loop.  I really enjoyed going toe up because that meant I knew exactly when to start the heel and then I could knit as long as I wanted for the leg without the pressure of maybe running out of yarn.  At first, these were to be socks for myself, but once I finished the heel I realized the foot was a bit baggy.  Turned out they fit Lamar perfectly. -___-  And that's how he got his first pair of hand-knit socks. *shrug*  He likes them and said they are so comfy that he forgot he was wearing them ^.^  The new thing I learned with this project was how to do wrap and turn short rows and how to knit two at a time socks.  I decided to do them two at a time because I felt like they were taking forever once I got up to the leg.  I don't think I really care for two at a time... people were saying it makes things go faster, but I'm still on the fence.  These socks took me about a month and a week to complete.

My last knit project is... yep... another pair of socks! Lol!  I wanted to try my hand at worsted weight socks so I cast on a pair to give to my friend Tiff for her birthday.  I think I really like worsted weight socks! They were so fast!  Only... I doubt I'd be able to wear them in shoes... These socks were knit one at a time, cuff down on magic loop.  I used some yarn from my stash and actually finished most of the ball.  I love using out my stash!  This project forced me to learn how to correct a sizing problem.  The first sock I knit turned out to be about 1.5 inches too short, so I had to undo the toe and continue knitting on the foot to make the sock the correct measurement.  Then I had to reknit the toe.  It was a little nerve wracking pulling out the stitches, but I was able to get everything back on the needles properly and continue working.  These socks took me about a week and a half to complete.

There you have it!  My first few knitted projects!!  I feel like each one of these projects has made me learn new techniques.  Whenever I came across a problem, I went straight to youtube to search "how to..." and that was really helpful.  The next knit project that I want to cast on will most likely be the Ventura Shawl that I mentioned in the needle adjacent projects post.  I tried it after finishing the Seaforth, but I couldn't get it right.  That's when I found out I had been making the yarn overs wrong.  Next time I think I'll get it! 

I hope you liked seeing my newly created pieces :)  Are you learning any new skills or learning new things within your hobbies? 

The Evy Lovey Doll and Blanket Set

A couple months ago, a friend of mine asked if I could crochet a lovey doll for her daughter's first birthday. A lovey is a small security blanket with a doll or stuffed animal head and arms.  It's a very cute idea and of course I took the challenge!  We did some brainstorming on colors and design and soon the lovey was underway.  The colors she chose were pink, purple, and a dash of teal.  We went with a star-shaped "dress" for the lovey and a flat chevron pattern for the matching blanket.  So after hours of drawing designs, researching how to shape a doll head, inserting individual hairs, and crocheting back and forth on the blanket... I can now present to you the finished set!!!! Woo hooo!!! (Please forgive the super harsh light, I took these outside in the afternoon the day before delivering the set to the birthday girl.)

Seeing my friend's daughter looking at the doll and then at her mom like "is this for me" was the cutest thing ever lol! Later on I got a text that she's been trying to put shoes on her and is really loving her lovey.  That, for me, was the best part of this whole experience ^.^

Finally I'm Finished: The Clover Lace Tank

May I introduce to you, the Clover Lace Tank!  This was a labor of love, lemme tell you!  I think that this tank called for the smallest crochet hook I've used thus far... It's worked up with a 3.25mm hook.  Whaaat?!?!  I've always been one to stick to bigger hooks, well 5.50 and above, for my projects.  I found the smaller hooks to be quite fiddly in my hand and the tiny stitches didn't grow fast enough for me.  So when I came to the 'crochet a top' list item on my 30Before30 list I knew it was the perfect time to make that plunge.

Enter the Wide Strap Tank pattern by Maz Kwok.  The construction was very simple.  I used Red Heart Shimmer yarn in the Shamrock colorway from my stash.  I also used a Boye ergonomic crochet hook with a rubberized handle.  That made using the tiny hook way easier on my hand and wrist.  If you're a crocheter and haven't used any of those ergonomic hooks, you should get a Joann's coupon and buy one! 

The only thing that eventually got to me was going round and round with the shells on the bottom.  My goodness it got boring!  At one point I was actually falling asleep while crocheting!  I think I had gotten a couple rounds into the shells when I decided to stop and work on the Frankenshirt.  Taking that break was just what I needed, because after Frankenshirt was done, I powered through the rest of this top.

I made a few modifications to the pattern, nothing to change the structure, but more aesthetic changes.  Primarily, the pattern calls for relief stitches to create horizontal ribs over the upper bust part.  I didn't want them, so instead I just worked regular double crochet stitches.  I like that the change made the overall look of the top less fussy which is more in line with my style.  I also replaced the foundation chain with a foundation double crochet row.  That made the join of the back section more seamless.

I've worn the tank out once so far.  It wears well and it's very comfortable. If I make this top again I'd definitely narrow out the straps a bit.  Their maybe half an inch too wide for me.  I may also go up a hook size to see if I can get a more loose drape to the fabric.

Start Date: Feb 15, 2016
Finish Date: Mar 7, 2016

Finally I'm Finished: The Frankenshirt

In the midst of furiously crocheting away on my wide strap tank top, I decided to start a different top in hopes of finishing it before my birthday.

I used the Textures Crochet Top pattern from AllFreeCrochet.com.  The yarn, Red Heart Boutique Magical in Top Hat along with some other black and grey skeins, came from deep in my stash.  The pattern was quite easy to follow and it did work up quickly.  I finished it the Friday after my birthday, but I'm totally counting it as my 30x30 top!  I can see myself making another of these tops in the future... although I'll use a solid sensible color next time.

This top is called the Frankenshirt because when I finished the front panel in that Top Hat yarn, the first thing I thought was it looked crazy and a bit like a monster...  the yarn was made up of roughly 5 or 6 wildly different types of fibers.  Honestly, I doubted it would get much wear at all.  But for some reason when I finished the whole shirt, I wore it and it didn't look terrible.  One of my friends said I looked like something off a runway.  But we all know some runway looks are... how do you say... gar-baaage lol.

The Frankenshirt was fun to make and I'm glad I got to use that yarn because it was just taking up space in my stash.

Finally I'm Finished: Calli's Christmas Afghan

I decided, towards the end of the October, to start a stash-busting afghan themed for the holidays.  It's made from a variety of my red and green colored yarns with a beige strand carried through.  I organized the colors from light to dark then dark to light.  At one point in the midst of the red section, I was cleaning my yarn stash and found another ball of yarn that matched.  So I wishy-washed back and forth about frogging back to that color to add the new ball in.  Finally I decided to do it since I was suppose to be stash-busting anyway.  That was quite a gut-wrenching frogging session.  Lots of weeping and gnashing of teeth in real life and on instagram lol. 

Anywho, I worked on it throughout November and finished it a couple days into December.  To be exact (thanks to instagram for helping me narrow this down ^.^) I started "Calli's Christmas Afghan" on October 29th and finished it on December 3rd.  I used up a good chunk of my red and green yarn and about 2 whole 1lb skeins of beige yarn (one stashed one purchased).  O.o That's quite a lot of yarn.  And as expected with all that yarn, the afghan is nicely heavy and warm. 

The finished afghan measures 4.5 feet by 5 feet.  Which is the perfect size to fit over the top of our queen size bed.  It's just enough extra warmth since the nights are getting a bit colder here, and Lamar has totally been hogging it more often these days, lol!  The pattern was super simple.  It's one row of v-stitch (double crochet, chain 1, double crochet in the same space) and then one row with clusters (3 double crochets) in each chain one space.  I love super simple patterns like this because I can go into autopilot very easily. 

I don't often crochet large pieces like this for myself, so finishing this afghan was kind of an early Christmas gift.  I love carrying it around the house with me and we recently took it to Alabama with us.  It is a great sleeping-in-the-car blanket too!  We've snuggled in it outside stargazing and inside watching movies.  I'd say in the couple months it's been finished, it's definitely been worth the hours of work to make it. ^.^  So here is a photo of C.C.A. in its natural habitat on our bed.

What do you think?

Cherie's Wedding Waistbeads

Hi there!

Years ago, in college, I had a bad break-up and to get through it I started making waistbeads.  The meticulous stringing of the seed beads definitely helped take my mind off the negativity.  It helped me redirect my energy and I loved deciding on an emotion or theme to convey in each set.  Every color choice ws intentional and each gemstone was used for specific properties or meanings.  All the thought gave me a sense of control and peace that I really needed.  After I'd been making them for a while, one of my friends told me she'd like me to make her a set for whenever she gets married.  For some reason, after like 8 years later, I remembered her request. :)

Her wedding was a couple weeks ago, and I was able to make her that wedding waistbead set.  In true Caleisha form, the finished strand was chock full of symbolism.  From their birthstones to beads representing God's love.  I gave them to her the night before her wedding and I'm glad that she really liked them.

Cherie's Waistbead Meaning:
Light Green & Clear in sets of 7:  Peridot (her birthstone) & Diamond (his birthstone)
Sets of 7: the number of completion
Pink: Love
Sets of 3: the Holy Trinity
The cord: They are strung onto a 3-strand cord. One strand is blue (something blue).  A 3-strand cord is not easily torn apart.

I pray Cherie & Kwame have a wonderful married life.  I hope they experience many good times and learn to weather the tough times.  I want God's love and presence to permeate their home and overflow onto all their family and friends.  Much love guys & congrats again!

Their First Dance ^.^

These Nerds... changing facebook statuses :) How cute.

WIP Wednesday: The Metamorphosis of an Idea

(As usual I have fallen off the blogging bus... but in my defense... there has been quite a bit of wedding to do around here.  And I started a new job, nothing fancy, but it'll do.  I have been handwriting posts in my notebook, but sadly they take forever and a day to get to the computer. *shrug*  I really enjoy writing/keeping this blog, so I'm just going to have to figure a way to make myself do it...  Anywho, on to the actual post!)

So I find it really cool how some ideas seem to grow and develop rather organically.  I mean you start with a thought like this, "I'm gonna tie these thank you tags on with a ribbon.  Than some alphabet charms catch your eye and they get tossed into the mix.  So you sit down and try multiple times to tie a nice ribbon bow.  You know, one that will show off the charms, only to realize... It doesn't quite work.  So back in the bag they go.

Something doesn't click... What is it???
The next idea is to use a bit of chain to hang the charm just below the thank you tag.  Brilliant solution right?!

Not so much... GAH! What's missing?!?!  Back in the bag they go again.
The thing about creation is that sometimes the stars align and suddenly, while packing up beads to give to a friend, it hits you!  They're not suppose to be tied on with a silly bow!  These pieces are meant to be keychains!

Victory!!!
And then this happens.

 So yeah :) These key chains are a part of the gifts I'm creating for my bridesmaids.  I'll be posting a full look-see on the gifts soon.  Hopefully the girls will like them.  A lot.  Like really ^.^

Finally I'm Finished #3: Making Ear Warmers

"I don’t make things because I need them. I can buy hats and socks and things to fill my frames. I need the making, and I end up with things." ~ Amanda of On the Craft

This quote pretty much sums up my recent craftings.  I've made 4 ear warmers this week... well technically 5 but I frogged and reworked one.  It's so calming to sit with my hook and yarn. Just wrapping and pulling and feeling the fiber move through my hands.

I use to hate frogging out things, but I don't mind so much anymore. Especially if I'm not working from a pattern.  It's almost like starting with a general idea and letting the yarn fill in the details.  So with that said, on to some pictures.

Basket weave turban style ear warmer

Offset single rib turban style ear warmer

T-shirt yarn turban style headband

Brick stitch turban style ear warmer

All four finished bands

Close up of textures

Gee... I'm seeing a color pattern here...  The brick stitch is the most cozy one. I think it'll be the only one recreated for my shop.  I think it was the chunky yarn that works for me.  The t-shirt yarn band was a fail.  It looks cute, but provides no actual warmth and the t-shirt bits come off in your hair.  No fun.  The other two are nice, but not warm enough to really call proper 'ear warmers'.  They'd be better suited as fashion over function accessories.  Good to know.

I hope your week went well. I'm feeling a lot better than yesterday.  Today was a quiet stay at home day listening to pandora.  I got a couple messages from loving friends/family via blog comment, facebook, & text messages and I really appreciate them.

Have a good weekend!

Finally I'm Finished #2: Fraggle Rockin!

I've got a silent movie for you today :)  Lately, I've been wanting to make little videos and actually share them.  Last weekend, I made a simple square shaped hat with pompoms on the tips.  The yarn I used was thrifted from Goodwill.  It makes me feel really accomplished to totally create something from thrifted components.  I also made a pink/white hat in the same style using pink thrifted yarn and white yarn from my stash.  Enjoy my silly little video ^.^

Here is a picture of the pink/white version. I think I'm going to tweak the length of the hat because as it is now, the brim is super long.  After I take off like 3 inches, it should be perfect. 

I also bought one of those pom-pom makers from the craft store and made the ones on the pink hat.  The poms on the blue/green hat were made by wrapping yarn around my cell phone.  I like the finished look of the perfectly round poms, but I also like the quirkiness that the looser poms have.

 Which pom-pom do you prefer?

Finally I'm Finished! #1: Introduction

Hi! I'm (as you can see over the last few posts) starting new weekly topics on here.  So with the updates, Fridays have been dubbed 'Finished Object Fridays'.  I really want to come up with something more clever, but alas it's been a long day and I'm fresh out of cleva.

Anywho, it's just as it sounds, me showing my recently finished projects.  Hopefully, having this topic will help me with my collection of UFO's (unfinished objects) and create stock for my etsy shop. 

So for this first installment of Finally I'm Finished!, I'm showing my first DIY apron ^.^  Yay!  Sheree (my roommate) asked me to make her an apron to wear in her classroom.  She found it super frustrating to run out of pockets for things at work.  Now of course I couldn't just buy a pattern or look one up online, I had to dream it up from doodle to finished piece.

I pulled out my trunk o' fabric and she picked out a few bits, but I ended up getting some other pieces from Joann's (some lace trim and owl print fabric).

I basically cut out a bunch of rectangles: one of the main teal fabric, one of the backing burgundy fabric, a smaller one of the owl print for the pockets and a few long thin ones for the waistband/ties.

This is all the big pieces laid out... Obviously I suck at progress shots, because the next pictures I took were the whole finished piece. *shrug*

The finished apron has 3 large pockets for her to put all her what-nots and her tablet.  And the lace gives her a cute little retro feel.

I told her after I finished, that when I got around to sewing on the owl fabric I was a bit terrified that it was going to be upside down o.O  Luckily, I got it right.

I think it turned out pretty good for a first time apron doodled on a sticky note pad.  The next time I think I'm going to make the corners rounded and go bigger on the lace.

Alrighty, that's it for this week.  My goal is to have a completed project to feature every Friday.  Since I'm not having Crafternoons anymore, this will have to be it.  Hope you have a great weekend!

Peace!

Crochet Catch-up!

Hiiiii!!!!

I've been super ghost in the blogosphere due to comp technical difficulties, but now I'm back in business! (After a lot of struggle, I found that my charger had gone bad.)

Let's see what I've been up to...

I wrote about this blanket when it was just in the beginning stages. I used everyone's favorite colors in it so I suppose you could call it a family afghan or whatever. I think it turned out pretty nicely. My dad got it like a week after father's day and said he liked it. Huzzah!! 

BUT... I lost in the imaginary 'best gift' competition to my little brother.
He gave my dad a screwdriver and a card that said:
"From a son who still thinks his dad can fix everything."
When dad told me about the card... I cried.  And cried.  And sniffled for like 10 minutes.
Yes.  I'm a total softy.

Back to crafty bits!  I finished the white & yellow chevron blanket.  It took a really long time and I don't know if I'll make another one just because. Here's some pictures ^.^

Of course Kiva approves of the new blanket.  I must admit, putting the edging on was THE most frustrating part of the whole process! I'm pretty sure that the stitching is wrong. Oh well... it's cuddly just the same :)

...see... cuddly...

That's about it for this catch-up post :) And now that my computer is back in proper working order, I'll definitely be around. Bye bye ghost-caleisha!

Granny Patchwork Blanket Reveal!

Sooo.... I was planning to write this post earlier today, but that was obviously a fail, lol. It's okay though.  I hope you had a nice Friday and have good/fun plans for the weekend.  I've been very productive, so that's always good.

Now, onward to the yarny goodness!  ^.^

Monday, I showed a few progress shots of my latest blanket design and promised to have the whole thing done by today.  I'm very proud of myself because I finished it yesterday! (color me crochet addict, lol) Hurrah!  So yeah, all that's left to do is to run it through the wash to soften the yarn up.  I do this because I use a lot of red heart super saver acrylic yarn and sometimes it's not the softest fiber out there. But after a trip through the washer, it's good to go.  So there's a little tip for anyone wanting to use acrylic but worrying about the feel.

Tuesday: All squares finished and laid out

In order to get the piece finished within my time limit, I crocheted in a bunch of places.  I wish I had a Books-a-Million close by cuz I'd totally post up in there, but alas... Anyway, since Lamar started playing in a teacher's basketball league, I've been lugging my bag-o-yarn to the gym to watch the games.  I've gotten some strange looks, but maybe those strange looks will turn into sales one day...

Wednesday: Joining squares at Lamar's game

Originally, I joined with whip stitches, but I didn't like how it looked.  So I frogged it and switched to single crochet in back loops only.  Doing this left a really nice finish on the front of the blanket.

This is the blanket all joined together.  (So stinkin proud of myself for getting all the blocks joined at the bball game!)  It came out really nicely.  And I'm really feeling the nonsensical mix of colors. :)

Later Wednesday night, I got down to the business of edging the whole thing while watching American Idol...

Let me take a moment to jump on my soap box and say Candice Glover singing Lovesong killed me! Gah! She got all up in that song and made her bed!  I got chills.

Okay, back to blanket edging, lol. I did go with my first inclination of 3 granny stripe rows and one scallop and here's a progress of the edging.

Wednesday/Thursday: This was totally 2am, lol

I finished the edging at some ungodly hour of the night.  And decided to forgo weaving in the ends for now.  I hate weaving in ends...

This is me after I finished all the edging... suh-lee-py

So here is the final blanket........ drumroll please.........

Thursday morning: TA-DA!!!

Ta-da!!! I haven't measured it with the edging, but before the edging the blanket is 4'x5'.  The edging is about 3 ish inches, so final measurements of this blanket are about 4.5' x 5.5' Not bad :)  Seeing the blanket finished really makes me feel like making money from my crochetwork isn't such a far fetched idea. :) Yay.  Well that's all for now.  The next blanket I work up is going to be a tartan design.  So keep your eyes peeled for that!

Peace!