Pip's Hat

I suppose I have been in a hat-making mood! I have lots of friends living in the Land of Frost and I think hats make a perfect handmade and practical gift for giving. My cute friend Pip hails from the land of Minnesota so she is no stranger to cold. She has a perfectly adorable style so I thought this cabled beanie from All About Ami would be perfect for her.



I went with a rather neutral gray. I wanted something that would match lots of her outfits without detracting from them. Buut I also know that gray is just way too much NOT Pip, so I jazzed it up with a multicolor pom pom in her favorite colors.

Oh wait...did someone say pom pom?! Oh! Better use that pom pom maker! *fist pump* 

I rather like the combination and balance between practical and fun in this hat. It was the perfect opportunity to practice cables, which I originally embarked on for the Zucchini Cable Scarf. Cables are definitely trendy right now, but also very classic.

The only modification I would consider for the pattern would be to maybe do the band a hook size down, just so it fits nice and snug. But it is a great pattern and All About Ami's patterns are all amazing. They are so easy and enjoyable to make. Look how cute she is hiking in Arches National Park!

Pattern Review: ZiggyZag Vixen Slouch Hat

Let's face it- 12 Days of Star Wars was a bit of a flop. Just too many things going on. Every once in a while it is important to take a deep breath and lessen the stress. 12 Days of Star Wars had to go. But don't worry! I will bring it back. Maybe a build up for May 4th for Star Wars day?!

I feel like I am swimming in yarn. Somehow I always imagined it would be a much more enjoyable experience. I have Christmas presents to make and a massive scarf custom order (10+ scarves!) to finish. I am happy to report that the scarves are finished (read about it here). Now it's just finishing up Christmas gifts. But enough chatter, time for pictures and sharing!



I would like to introduce the ZiggyZag Vixen Slouch hat by designer Faith Holbrook. I originally snagged this pattern when she posted her rough draft version on a Facebook crochet page. I haven't yet bought the paid pattern but I imagine it could only be better than the original! I highly recommend it.

The first version I tried out was for a Christmas gift for my friend Kelli. I wanted to incorporate the colors from a pair of gloves and socks I got her as part of a sledding themed gift. I think it turned out pretty well!



It ended up being a little slouchier than I prefer, so subsequent versions I shortened a little. I removed a couple rows of v-stitch and a a row or so on the brim. These two were for my nieces who are pre-teen/ teen (holy crap when did that happen?!) so I didn't want them too large.

This was also the perfect excuse to get the smaller pom pom makers since I'm not sure how "cool" big fluffy pom poms are these days.







This hat is really fun to make! It's simple and you don't have to worry about constantly counting stitches, so it works up fast. Which is exactly why I decided to make one for myself. All this snow has me in the mood for sledding. A bright and festive hat is a must!



What do you think? Which color combo is your favorite or what color combo would you like to see? I hope you are enjoying the holidays and staying warm (at least for me!)

Festive Little Bow

If I think the holidays sneak up on me.... holiday parties are even worse. Just meaning that they always come even before the holidays and before you know it you need 3 gifts for a gift exchange, cans of food to donate, toys to donate, and so much more. Well you get all that purchased then you realize that the gifts that need wrapping have none.

You know you're not going back to the store. But you don't wanna be a Grinch. So you do what you are at least semi-good at, and get creative! 

I had this pretty standard gift bag but I wanted to spice it up a little. Enter: festive bow embellishment. 

It is a simple enough idea that I created mis-mashing two ideas that are fairly commonplace.

Bow from: Things to Make and Do 

The curled ribbon ends: Maz Kwok's Designs

I made the bow first (but stop before you wrap around the center), then the tails, slip stitch, second tail, slipstitch, then use yarn to wrap around the center. Simple! 

Small embellishments like this are great because they are so versatile and quick.

12DoST #8: Vehicle Origami

I used to go steady with origami. We had a nice solid relationship where I was totally obsessed. Birthdays and Christmas I would ask for origami paper, calendars, books. It probably started with Sadako and the Thousand Paper cranes. I thought of how incredible it would be to know how to make a paper crane AND make 1,000. Soon after, I learned how to make a paper crane. And it just took off from there. I would squirrel away scraps of paper and fold little boxes and flowers, lizards and goldfish.

Origami was so fantastic because it was like a smart kid puzzle I could do all by myself. I like visualizing things. I learned the symbols and folds and I forced myself to try and try again until I could execute the patterns perfectly. But enough of that poetry. Time to tie it in to the Twelve Days of Star Wars.

I'm not into trains, planes or cars in general. But the vehicles in Star Wars are incredible. I tend to be more interested in them than the creatures. They are just so fascinating. I knew that one of my countdown crafts had to include a starfighter or two.

It's been awhile since Origami and I fizzled out. Life gets busy and sometimes that happens *tear.* So what better way to re-kindle the fire then trying out some Star Wars origami?!

Most of the sources I used can be summed up quite nicely in this BuzzFeed Post.

Being the pack-rat that I am- I have this old origami calendar. It was (obviously) a genius idea to keep it because it came in handy today. The designs are intricate so it is a good idea to use thin origami paper. Even if it be from *gulp* 2005.

The first one I tried was the X-Wing Fighter by Alex Crosse HERE.



I'm obsessed with the way it turned out and proud that I was able to figure it out after all this time. I still got it! ;)

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Second I tried out the A-wing. It is listed as easy and I was riding high (pun intended) from my success with the X-wing. It didn't turn out as great as the X-wing But I like the way the red and white worked together perfectly.



Millennium Falcon was next from this infographic. It was definitely the simplest but... I'm not sure. Looks kinda like a blob. The orange paper isn't helping much either.



Lastly, a TIE Fighter from this YouTube video. I guess I saved the best for first because my first reaction after 5 minutes of trying to make it actually look like a TIE Fighter, was pants-wetting laughter.



You win some you lose some, but I had a blast trying them out and I definitely love the pattern for the X-wing.

This infographic is huge but check it out!

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12 DoST #9 & (Two Cent Tuesday #3): Jabba the Hutt Cupcakes

Even as I type this I am holding back tears of laughter.

But first things first. Today I am combing my epic 12 Days of Star Wars series with my Two Cent Tuesday series.

And I give you:

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I can't stop staring.

What are your two cents? Yay or nay? Pick one:
a) I would pay money for this. 
b) I would make this myself. 
c) I would take this if it was free! 
d) No. 

My thoughts:

I LOVE it! It is a very creative concept. Most of my cupcakes accidentally look like this. But the coloration is epic. The saggy judging eyes are spot on.

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But holy crap that thing is scary lookin! Also, Jabba is just a huge puddle of frosting and I just couldn't do that. You'd go to take a bite and get a mouthful of Jabba. I'm already gagging. Is there even a cupcake underneath there?!

The real question is: Do I crave cupcakes now whenever I see Jabba? or has Jabba ruined cupcakes for me forever?

What are your Two Cents?

12 DoST #10: Saga Graphgan

Mondays are hard. Blogging every day is hard. So today I wanted to feature an absolutely stunning Star Wars project that I most definitely could not make in a day (or week or month if we are counting).

Ophelie from ahookamigurumi.com is incredibly talented. I first found her on ravelry.com via her Star Wars blanket:

Find the direct link HERE.

I cannot stop staring at it. The technique uses graphs, and from each graph you make a square. Then you sew all those squares together. Don't forget color changing and weaving in ends -my LEAST favorite thing to do. I bow before the beauty- the time and skill it would take to create and finish something like this.

Even if you aren't interested in re-creating her project. I highly suggest you check out the blog post here. I love how she picked each of the squares and made the charts. You may notice that they are in chronological order. So cool.

Although this project is very overwhelming, I think a smaller scale one would be really fun.

12 Days of Star Wars #11: Lightsaber Crochet Hooks

On the 11th day of Star Wars my true love helped me with:

Originally I saw this post from Doddle Craft on how to make polymer clay lightsaber pens. I thought it would be a fun craft that would bring the Star Wars theme to my everyday life. Pens. I use pens a lot. But then the gears really started moving and I thought of something I use even more, crochet hooks! Perfection. Lucky for me I already have a ton of hooks in varying colors. 

I was pretty excited for this project because I have only worked with polymer clay one time before- with my friends in Grenada. I really enjoyed the experience but I'm at the point where I have to limit new crafting ventures to the space and money I have. 

Buuut... No harm in buying a couple blocks of polymer clay riiight? I now realize it is a slippery slope because this project was simple and fun (aka addicting). 

You will need: 

Metal crochet hooks

Polymer clay 

Hard surface or cutting board you don't mind permanently donating for clay and craft projects

Full disclosure: I bought one Sculpey brand and two Craft Smart brand polymer clay bricks. Since I didn't want to fork over the money for black clay (cheapo) I used a Wilton food gel to color the gray clay. Buuut verdict is still out as to whether or not it will continue to stain my hand black...

There really is no formal tutorial for this. First glop the gray clay on the handle of your hook and roll it around til smooth and shaped the way you desire. I made mine a little thinner at the top. 

Next, spend the following 2+ hours adding embellishments and semi-obsessing over replica accuracy. Feel free to use this guide to lightsabers in your quest, this one is also helpful. Ooooor just make up one on your own!

I baked them on parchment paper, according to package directions for 15 minutes in a 275 degree F oven. I'm not sure what makes them "done." But I took them out and let them cool. 

Oh so cool.

Can you tell who's lightsabers I made? 

Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope) 

Mace Windu 

Qui-Gon Jinn

Lastly, I painted some mod-podge over the clay. The black still appeared to be running a bit, so I will let it dry and see how well the color sealed. Maybe I'll just stick to paying < $2 for legit black clay next time. ;) 

Which lightsaber is your favorite, or which one would you like to try to make? 

12 Days of Star Wars #12: Snowflakes

Now that Thanksgiving is over, and we are well into December it's time to start counting down. Counting down to STAR WARS!!!

I've already got my ticket to see it Thursday December 17th. What a better way to anticipate the release than a count down with Star Wars themed creativity!

I presented The 12 Days of Star Wars! 

On the 12th day of Star Wars: 

While I was perusing for Star Wars themed crafts I found this amazingly talented person. 

This designer has created 33 different patterns for Star Wars snowflakes. They are all incredibly detailed. They are made the traditional way with folding and cutting. As magical as it is to unfold and see the creation, I just don't have the patience to make all those tiny little cuts. Instead I cheated. 

I dusted off my Silhouette machine.

Go ahead and pull the image you want into the Sillhouette software. Re-size however you'd like. 

Trace (on toolbar) > Select Trace Area > Highlight area to trace. 

Make sure to uncheck the High Pass Filter box > Trace button. 

Drag away the original image/ JPEG and delete. 

Right click > Release Compound Path

Now you can remove the square around the image as well as any details you don't want. I cleaned up some of the designs because they were too small and I didn't feel like weeding them. 

Watching my Silhouette at work never gets old. 

This project was even easier than I expected. Even the weeding took less time than I thought. 

I think the General Grievous is pretty cool. But I also really like the the BB-8. 

I strung them up with some embroidery thread. I usually can't stand my white walls but I love the way the snowflakes look against them. 

Hanging up with the other Christmas decorations. 

Day 12: COMPLETE!

Festival of Trees: Mini Tree Skirt

In October I had a fabulous customer request a custom made Christmas tree skirt on my Facebook page. I was happy to get to work albeit nervous about such a large project. As that project was in full swing the same amazing customer approached me with a new requested.

A custom made mini Christmas tree skirt. How fun!

Okay, so said amazing customer is my fantastic older sister with a heart of gold. She always knows what is happening in the community and consequently got involved with the Festival of Trees program. I have personally never been but was happy to take part in an event that raises money for Primary Children's Hospital. Participants donate hand decorate trees (and wreaths and more!) and they are auctioned off.

Armed with the leftovers from her tree skirt I searched out a pattern. I found one on this crochetville.com forum post. Scroll about halfway down and you will see member Lisa post a pattern. Her post starts with, "I use Lyn's RR pattern when I make the afghan so this is a variation of her pattern - with a split!"

I simply stopped when it was large enough. It definitely looked unfinished so I added a border with a newly learned picot stitch for the points. I went up the sides and it was the perfect finishing touch to tie it all together. 

I was very pleased with the finished product, but even more impressed when my sister put it all together with her tree! She hand-painted the star ornaments and included a gorgeous hand painted box to house it all if you were ever under the obligation of needing to take it down for some reason. 

And one close-up. 

This project was so much fun to work on and really put me in the Christmas spirit. I can't wait to make next year's mini tree skirt. Thanks to Lisa for the free and easy pattern.