Great Gifty Friends!

I was beautifully blessed with some fun gifts from friends this past weekend ^.^

My friend Tiff gave me a couple samples of tea (Wild Chaild and Sweet Tangerine).  I drank the tangerine one already and it was delicious!!!  I will def be buying a box of that asap!  She also gave me a cutting from her mint plant.  All the excitement is mine!!! I'm going to plant the cutting and brew tea from the leaves ^.^  I keep envisioning myself drinking nice cups of tea from my huge mint bush while sitting on the front porch during a nice summer rain shower.  That sounds like a wonderful Sabbath afternoon...

The other gift came from my friend, Erica.  She found a bag of fabric while cleaning out her garage and gave me the whole thing! o.O  What what!!!  Talk about an awesome crafty gift ^.^  There were quite a few large pieces that I can use for bag making and also some that will be really nice for garments.  I'm so excited to dig into this new stash soon!

Crafty, gardeny, tea loving friends are the BEST!!! lol :)

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 ^.^

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.

W.I.P. Wednesday: Bellatrix Baby Blanket

Hellooo there ^.^

I have started yet another baby blanket.  One of Lamar's friends is expecting a little girl in July and he asked me to make a blanket for her.  Of course I obliged :)  I love it whenever I'm asked to make something and I have just about all the necessary colors in my stash.  Or maybe my stash is too big... nah!

This is the color scheme. Monochromatic purple :)

After doodling a bunch of different pattern ideas, I decided to just use the same striped pattern from the gender neutral blanket I recently finished.

I'm loving how the colors are working together.

I've named the pattern Bellatrix and it is the first confirmed product that will be listed in my etsy shop. ^.^ huzzah!  I hope to be finished with it by next week.  Then it's back to the drawing board for new designs and ideas!

Finally I'm Finished! The Striped Baby Blanket

Hi there! Happy Friday!!!

At the beginning of the month, I wrote about starting (and REstarting) a gender neutral baby blanket.  I'm glad to say that the color changes where just want the design needed!  I love how the stripes came out. I used the Biscuits & Jam random stripe generator and then repeated the pattern a couple times.  I like that it looks random but organized... if that can be a thing?

Now it will be washed and dried to soften it up.  I think I'm also going to press the corners with an iron to get them just right.  Then it will be boxed, wrapped and sent to our expecting friends.  I really hope they love the blanket.  I'm always super nervous whenever I gift a handmade gift.  Anywho, I love it ^.^ and now I just need to give it a name...

This is my favorite part of the whole blanket. The reverse single crochet edging.  I love the neat edge it creates.  Don't be surprised if I start putting this on everything! lol!

 Have a great day!

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!

Ta-Da!!! Crochet Tartan Afghan

Wow... it's the last day of 2012... Good to see that the world didn't end ;)

I had all these grand plans of posting every day of Kwanzaa, which started on 12/26, but I forgot every day in the midst of being down in Florida with Lamar and his family ^.^  I think I'm going to do a grouped post for each day of Kwanzaa tomorrow (the last day). 

Anywho! The thing I'm most excited about today is.......... drumroll ............ I finished the tartan blanket for Lamar's parents!  It was a good bit of work to do, but I'm glad I did it because not only does it look nice, but it's also really meaningful for their family.  We're going to visit them this evening and I'll give it to them then. I know I shouldn't be nervous, but I am *shrug* 

I haven't measured it yet, but when I do I'll update it here (47 inches by 61 inches).  It took me about 4 weeks to complete (mind you there were many holiday gifts in the making at the same time).  So here are a bit more details about how I put together the whole shebang...

• Foundation chain: 196
• Mesh Stripe pattern repeated 4 times: peach, black, navy, royal, sky
• Chain Stripe pattern repeated 4 times: same
• Border: Row 1: w/ black, hdc around, ch3 in corners. Row 2: w/ peach, granny stripe.  Row 3: w/black, granny stripe. Row 4: w/peach, sc in ea st around.

Tips on making the afghan:  to get the foundation chain, multiply the number of stripe rows in one repeat by 2 (in mine it would be from the start of peach to the end of sky blue: 24 rows x 2= 48 chain sts).  Then take that number and multiply by the number of times you want your stripe pattern to repeat (mine repeated 4 times: 48 x 4= 192).  That is your base chain.  Add 4 chain sts to the base to serve as the turning chain.  The first row is worked like this: dc in the 6th chain from hook, *ch1, skip 1 ch, dc in next ch* repeat between ** across, turn. Row 2: ch 4 (counts as first dc and ch1 here and throughout), *dc in the top of the next dc stitch, ch1*, repeat between ** across, turn.  Repeat row 2 until mesh is the required size.

Well, I'm gonna go eat something then get ready to deliver this blankety goodness ^.^  If you have any questions or decide to make a tartan/plaid blanket, leave a comment.  These blankets are a lot easier than they look. Just a tad bit time consuming with all that chaining :)

 

Playing Artsy Catch Up

I have been wanting to write this post since WEDNESDAY!!! But I was attacked by a mixture of fatigue, holiday crafting, new design creating, and seeing something totally awesome in the sky Wednesday night.  So I suppose I'll just hop right into the list of recent happenings :) Here we go!

[1] I've knocked out the butterfly & bow clips! I feel so accomplished ^.^  I used this pattern for the butterflies, so they were really easy to whip up using some thrifted yellow and white yarn.  Here they are:

The bows were a bit more challenging.  Not because the pattern was hard, but because I couldn't find a pattern I liked.  I have literally been on the hunt for the perfect bow pattern for E...V...E...R... but for some reason I didn't like any of the ones I was finding.  My a-ha moment was in the midst of making one of the butterflies.  I saw that when just the two large wing lobes were done it made a cute bow shape. ^.^  So I used that idea and came up with these:

I love them!  I wrote out the pattern for memory sake and I want to create 2 more sized (med & large). I'm about to have bows on everything!!! lol

[2] The next thing I've been playing around with is based on the Babette Crochet blanket. (They're awesome! Click here to see the flickr group.)

If you remember way back at the beginning of the year, I was working on a queen sized granny square blanket for my bestsisterfriend's wedding (finished post here & finished photo here), and since then I've wanted one of my own.  Soo, up popped the idea to create a babette style blanket. ^.^ This whole idea materialized while I was having a cruddy day at work.  (Creativity to the rescue, right.) I was doing my best to look busy while I planned the layout of my blanket.  Here's the plan so far:

The colors in the graph are NOT the colors I'm going to use in the actual blanket.

It'll have 6 large (2 ft), 12 medium (1 ft), and 48 small (6 in) squares.  I haven't decided on the color scheme yet, but I can't wait to get it underway.  Well... that is after I take a well deserved break from crochet after the holidays.  Do you have any color combo suggestions for me?

[3] The last crafty bit that I've been working with is to design a crochet tartan afghan.

I saw the technique in the book 'Crochet Master Class' and thought it was a great idea, promptly logging it away on the Artsy-To-Do List.  Now for some reason, yesterday it jumped back into my conscious with a vengeance like "MAKE ME WOMAN!!!" So I did a bit of googling to find out how to design my own tartan pattern & found this site that has a free tartan design application.  (Cue Caleisha making tartans for the next hour and a half ^.^)

While I was playing around with the idea, I realized that it would be a great way to give Lamar's parents a thoughtful holiday gift.  The plan would be to design a tartan using the favorite colors of each family member and then create a small afghan for them.  I love it!!! So I'm just waiting for Lamar to give me the family colors... (come on Lamaaaar)

So today I took some scrap yarn and worked on a practice square.

First, make the foundation mesh in your chosen stripe pattern.

Then, crochet chains that are wide enough to go across the piece also following the stripe pattern.

Last, weave the chains perpendicularly through the mesh following your same stripe pattern.

And Ta-Da! Basic tartan making.  Something to keep in mind is that whatever the order you create your mesh stripes in, do the same rhythm with your chains.

Repeat your stripe pattern a couple times to really make the tartan/plaid pattern stand out.  My example is only one stripe repeat.

[4] Now the LAST awesome thing that I wanted to tell you is (drumroll) I saw Jupiter on Wednesday night!  Yes, the planet!!! Evidently, Jupiter's orbit allowed it to be seen by the naked eye next to the moon.  It was super bright and really exciting for me being a lover of starry skies.  I didn't know what it was until the next night when I noticed the 'bright star' was gone.  So I googled, figuring it must have been a planet or something.  I still get excited when I think about it ^.^ I saw JuPiTeR! ::falls out::  That is all.

So yeah, my last few days in a nutshell.  This was long, I know & if you made it to the end I applaud and hug you over the interwebs >>hug<< I hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend... and if it must be full, let it be full of things you love :)

~Peace

Crafternoon #15: The Holiday Crafting Begins

Good evening and good night :)

I have officially begun my Christmas crafting! Hurrah for me!!!  I'm being super (stupidly) ambitious with this years gifts.  I mean- I'm planning to finish 4 afghans/blankets before Christmas... (sheesh Caleisha! some planning...)

Anyway, here are three of the color schemes I'll be using.

The top two are for Lamar (green) & my dad/wife (blue). The bottom one is for my mom.

My plan for the top color schemes is to make two individual afghans that button together to make a blanket. For instance, I'll have my afghan that is light green here in AL & Lamar will have his dark green one in FL.  When we get back in the same place, we can button them together for snuggles! I know... it's a little cheesy, but I really like the idea.  I'm also making one for my dad & his wife. 

The afghan I'm making for my mom is the Drop in the Pond Afghan. I have half of the first part done.  I'm hoping to finish it in a couple days because I want to make another one for my aunt & uncle.The pattern is simply written, but there are videos on youtube showing how to make the afghan... they were SUPER helpful.

Progress shot on the drop in the pond afghan.

Oh! Another thing I'm proud of with these project so far is that all the yarn I'm using was already in my stash.  I only had to buy another ball of royal blue yarn.  I will have to buy yarn for my aunt's afghan because I want to do it in light browns and neutrals, but luckily, I have a couple 50% off coupons for Michaels and a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby. I'm ready to stock up for this. I will have these gifts ready for Day 7 of Kwanzaa (at the Latest). lol. 

Well, I'm about to pass out sleep... I dozed off twice while writing this :) I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready to take on the upcoming work week.

Holiday Crafting

It's around this time of year (if not earlier) that those of us with a penchant for the handmade are getting started on making holiday gifts for our loved ones. 

If I were a responsible crafter, I would have already made my list of projects and they would be underway... Unfortunately, I am not that crafter and I haven't even thought about what to make for any of my people.  This will be my third year doing Handmade Holidays & I want to actually have my gifts ready for Christmas/Kwanzaa instead of New Years or St. Patrick's Day, lol...

What gifts should I make this year?

The CBG Blanket Finished :)

I gave the CBG Blanket to Amber & Chris yesterday at the family get-together yesterday... I truly had separation anxiety when I handed it over :-/  They really liked it & of course everyone said it was a 'fertility' blanket **rolls eyes**

Packaged & ready to go :)

Amber loved it! Yay!