Meet Betty!

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Meet Betty!

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Meet Betty! She is my brand new head form that I will be using to take photos of all of my shop items. She allows me to make my product photos much more editorial and reflect my items in style! Curious where I got her? Check out Store Fixtures USA mannequin head section.

I also got crafty at home this weekend, and with the help of my husband (the true do-it-yourself guy) I built a custom light box out of a large cardboard box, an old white sheet, tape, and a lamp. If your interested I followed the basic guides from this tutorial I found here.

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This is the setup that I used to take all new product photos. From building the light box, to taking all the photos then post processing them and uploading them, it took almost all day on Saturday but I cannot believe how great they turned out. This also allowed me to combine my two favorite hobbies, photography and crochet, in a big all day project. It was super fun!

Here are some sample shots from all the ones I took. If you head on over to my Etsy Shop Page to see all of the new photos, plus some new items that are now for sale as well!

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Thanks for stopping by!

#Mashup – Wintergreen Skies Shawl

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The Yarn

Company/Store: Schaefer Yarn: Nichole (sadly out of business)
Colorway: Peter; mint greens and light blues
Weight/Length: Fingering/405 yards
Material: 80/20 Extrafine Merino Wool/Nylon

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This is the last of my Schaefer yarn, I got 2 of these skeins pictured above for this project so I had a total of approx. 810 yards to work with. I opted to find a pattern for a shawl that would show this yarns lovely mints and blues off well and be a bit airy to be able to wear throughout the year. Great colors for spring and winter both! Reminds me of wintergreen or spearmint mints like tic tacs or altoids and the blue is just a great gradient of lights and medium baby blues. So pretty!

The Pattern

Name: Colchique (Ravelry Link)
Author: Alix Gonzalez

Colclique Shawl

At first when I downloaded the pattern I learned that it was written in French, I took French in grade school and barely remember any so I wasn’t immediately set on using this pattern. However thanks to a great Ravelry user who left great notes and photos in the Project section for this pattern, I was able to follow along quite well. I will note, that the converted pattern and chart is in UK terms, which I noticed after making the first row! So once I learned that the chart was easy to follow, and works up quite quickly. Here are some in progress shots:

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This shawl is fun because you mirror the pattern on both sides so it makes it symmetrical. Another nice thing about this pattern is that it is very easy to lengthen or widen, the foundation chain is simply a multiple of 7, and it is an easy 4 row repeat. Based on the original pattern I followed it but added an additional 28 chains at the beginning to make it just a tad longer. I kept the suggested 5 times repeat on both sides as well. I really like how its turning out and as I am writing this post I have just finished it so I will be adding completed photos very shortly!

Final Stats

Size: 66 in long x 10 in wide
Yarn Used: Out of the 810 yards I have on this yarn I estimate I used about 750 yards total

This item is For Sale! Link to Etsy Product Listing!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Cloudy Skies Scarf Pattern!

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Grey skies are gonna clear up, crochet a fun and easy scarf!

I am happy to announce another new and FREE pattern called Cloudy Skies. I was again inspired by yarn I got from Western Sky Knits, a neat combo of blues and greys in DK weight. You can read all about this mashup on the pattern page HERE.

This time I have included a Symbol Chart along with photos. This pattern is great for beginners and experiments alike as it is easily customizable to any size, width and finishing desired!

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Cloudy Skies Scarf

For those that prefer downloadable PDFs you can use your favorite crafty site here:

  

Please Note: There are no restrictions on the use of my patterns however the patterns themselves are not for sale, resale or duplication. Please give credit by linking to the pattern if used, I enjoy seeing what others make with it!

 

Project Completed! DROPS Squares Blanket

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I have finished my first squares blanket! Head over to the project page for it for all the details but here are the final stats:

Squares: 70 total ; 10 colors ; 1 x skein of each color to make up the total squares
Joining/Edging: 3 x skeins of dark grey used for all joining and edging
Size: 64 inches x 88 inches
Time: approx 24 hours to complete all squares ; approx 10 hours to complete joining and edging

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#Mashup – Bold Berries Scarf

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The Yarn

Company/Store: Western Sky Knits
Colorway: Renaissance
Weight/Length: DK/280 yards
Material: 100% Superwash Merino

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Another awesome color combo from WSK, I love the bold colors. Also, it was on sale, so how can you pass that up!

The Pattern

Name: Sweet Lorraine Lace Scarf (Ravelry Link) (CrochetMe.com link to pattern, free to register with email, pattern #4)
Author: Doris Chan for CrochetMe.com

Sweet Lorraine Lace Scarf

At first I thought that this pattern wouldn’t work well with a variated yarn, but after the first few rows I really liked how it looked. Reminds me of a fresh fruit cup with blackberries, melon, strawberries and blueberries, with a sprig of mint on the side. When you download the pattern, it shows in both written and diagram form, which is very helpful, once you get familiar with the written pattern, the diagram is great for reference. It also works up quite fast so I am excited to finish this one soon and post up some completed photos!

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Post Update: 10/1/2013

I am happy to say that I am finished with this scarf and it turned out super cute, worked up super fast too, just a few hours. Take a look at the final photos, I really like this pattern and would use it again on other colors of yarn too.

Final Stats

Size: 6in x 48 in
Yarn Used: All but a few yards so approx 270 yards

This item is For Sale! Link to Etsy Product Listing!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Project Update: DROPS Blanket

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I am happy to say that I have finally finished all of the squares for my DROPS blanket project that I started back in April, I have worked on it off and on since then and have just now started to stitch the squares together, here is a photo of all of the squares and then what it will look like in the final pattern.

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Will update with final pictures once I am finished!

Granny Square Blanket

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I had a bunch of Red Heart My Love yarn lying around and thought I would try the crochet standard Granny Square blanket.

While very basic, I enjoyed learning the classic stitch pattern. Wanting to use up the yarn I had resulted in some odd rows with color swapping, however I still like how it turned out. Here are some photos.

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The blanket came to about 3 feet by 3 feet once I used up all the yarn I had, so not really big but that is ok, I still like how it turned out. Overall it was a fun quick project and a great way to use up a bunch of yarn if you have a lot of the same lying around that you want to use up.

Thanks for stopping by!

#Mashup – Rainforest Squares Scarf

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The Yarn

Company/Store: Misti Alpaca
Colorway: Macau CSP24
Weight/Length: DK/327 yards
Material: 83/17 Pima Cotton/Silk

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I picked up 2 skeins of this yarn from Uncommon Threads recently, I am a big fan of green and was really taken by this yarn with so many colors, but they all seem to come together. I did not know the name of this yarn was Macau prior to comparing it to the rainforest when choosing a name for this scarf either! (I do seem to be featuring a lot of scarves lately I know, I will try and do a hat or something soon instead if I can…) It is super soft, as all yarn I buy has to be, and since its mostly cotton I wanted to find a pattern that was good for any season.

For those wondering, I got the idea to wind yarn onto a toilet paper roll after seeing this Pinterest photo.

The Pattern

 Name: Mirror Lake Scarf (Ravelry Link) (FaveCrafts.com also called Green Sheen Scarf)
Author: Lisa Gentry for Caron Yarns

Mirror Lake Scarf by Caron Yarns

So far I have only done 1 of the squares needed for this scarf. I do really like how it is turning out. I wanted to note that I changed my hook size to a G, instead of the I that is recommended for the pattern, I started with the I hook and it was way too loose. The G is working out great for this yarn for me. Otherwise I am following the pattern as described and will update again when completed!

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Post Update: 10/3/2013

After a few weeks of neglecting this project I finally got into gear and completed it! I followed the pattern and made 8 squares, and then did the edging. The only change I made was on the edging where I only did 10 dc instead of the instructed 14, I wanted to ensure I had enough yarn left over at the end. I adore how it turned out!! Photos below!

Final Stats:

Size: 8in x 70in
Yarn Used: 1 full skien and about 1/2 of another, so about 450 yards total
This scarf found a home shortly after completion at a craft fair!

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Thanks for stopping by!

#Mashup – Rainbow Scarf

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The Yarn:

Company/Store: Schaefer Yarn: Nicole (sadly out of business)
Colorway: Hermione; all colors of the rainbow
Weight/Length: Fingering/405 yards
Material: 80/20 Extrafine Merino Wool/Nylon

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The photo does not do this yarn justice for how amazingly colorful it is. It is literally a rainbow in yarn form. I so wish I could find more but alas the company is no longer in business so I knew I had to choose wisely to find a pattern that shows off this rainbow yarn perfectly!

The Pattern:

Name: Atlee Scarf and Shawl (link to Ravelry)
Author: Bev Matheson of One Yarn After Another

Atlee Scarf and Shawl by One Yarn After Another

Atlee Scarf and Shawl by One Yarn After Another

I came across this pattern on Ravelry and instantly knew, this was the right pattern to show off the ribbons of color in this yarn. So, I know as I continue to crochet I am going to come across things I make that I have trouble parting with, however I know that I will usually have enough will power to list almost anything despite how much I like it. But I am so keeping this one for myself I can’t dream of parting with it, check out the photos of how it turned out!

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I did not end up having enough yarn to fully complete the pattern, it came out super long, but I love how the rows lined up with the color changes just enough to really make it look like a rainbow. Needless to say I am thrilled with the result and cannot wait to show it off this winter!

Thanks for stopping by for another Mashup!