DRAGONFLIES HAT FINISHED!

I LOVE this pattern!  You have to really pay attention while you are knitting but it turns out perfectly!  The yarn I used is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino which shows off the stitch definition.  It is a lightweight hat which will be nice for the cool Springtime.  The pattern is Dragonflies Hat and can be found here.

JUST OFF THE NEEDLES

Just finished making another Marian Cowl.  It's a fun knit on size 17 circular needles.  I love the Seafoam color of this one.  It reminds me of going to the beach. I used only one skein of Bernat Roving (from JoAnn's) in color "Low Tide".  And, it is just as soft as it looks!

FELT HEART WREATH TUTORIAL

I cut a heart shape out of foamcore board.  Total height = 8".  Remember HOT GLUE IS YOUR FRIEND!  I have made pillows with these little felt petals but I stitched them together.  This time I decided to cut the prep time and use hot glue.

I squirted a blog of hot glue and then pressed my fingers into the center of the petal and slid it close to the previous petal.

I cut approx. 3" circles of felt.

I folded them in half and then in half again, securing them with a blob of hot glue instead of stitching.  This seemed to work out just fine.

Here I am pressing the petal into place and waiting for the glue to dry a few seconds.

You can make it as full as you want.  I had room to add about 2 petals side by side on this wreath.  Keep hot gluing petals all around the wreath.

And voila!  You have a mini Felt Heart Wreath to enjoy......even on a rainy day!

Gettin' Ready for........

my CRAFTERNOON that I'm hosting this Saturday.  I've invited several people over to do some Valentine crafting.  Thought I'd put a quick little preview up.  The first is a quick little Valentine's Day garland that can be hung from a window (please don't pay any attention to the ugly poles in the background) or it would be cute hung from your mantle.  I used several different papers, printed music and then stamped letters onto the last layer and joined it with ribbon.  

We are also going to make these Sweetgum Ball Glitter Stars.  I made them in silver for Christmas but thought a bunch in red would be pretty for Valentine's Day.  (note to self:  Save these for next Christmas!)

And last but not least, a Felt Petal Heart Wreath.  I haven't quite finished this one yet, but I guess that's the whole idea of a Crafternoon.....to learn, swap ideas and play around.  I needed a base for my Heart Wreath.  Joann's was sold out of the foam wreaths (which cost $4.99 and I didn't really want to spend any $$$).  So I found a piece of foamcore board which I had bought at a damage sale for 47cents .  I cut it into an 8" heart shape and hot glued the felt petals onto the base.  I'll hang it with a sheer ribbon - maybe in my kitchen window!

WOODSTOCK LEGO CLUB

Our first LEGO CLUB at the 

Woodstock Public Library

was a HUGE success!

The theme was

ROCKETS, SPACESHIPS AND ALIENS

Our next meeting is Sunday, February 19 and the theme will be HOUSES, BUILDINGS AND FORTS.

PET BUDDIES NOTECARDS

I am mentoring a high school student this semester for her Capstone Project.  She wants to major in Art and has asked me to help her with some art projects to benefit PET BUDDIES which is a non-profit helping low-income families feed their pets.  They have helped Ashley and her family feed their four pets and Ashley wants to "Pay it Back" now.

Today we are working on designing stamps and printing notecards to benefit PET BUDDIES.

First, draw the design.  Next, burnish the drawing onto the stamping material.

The graphite transfers easily to the rubber stamping material.

Cutting out the design.  Remember to cut away from you!

Here is the finished rubber stamp.

Making a few test runs to see if there needs to be any tweaking of the cutout.

And here are the finished notecards with Ashley's design which she printed herself!

She's looks pretty proud!  She did a great job and I hope she sells a lot to benefit PET BUDDIES located in Woodstock, GA. She will probably sell them for $1.00, so let me know if you would like to buy some and help her make a contribution to PET BUDDIES.

PLAY-DOH, DRAGONFLIES AND HEARTS! OH MY!

I'll have to admit that since my kids have grown up I haven't been in a toy store for a long time.  Since I am starting a LEGO CLUB at my  library I decided to browse Toys 'R Us to check out their current stock of LEGOS.  The last ones I purchased are probably 15 years old now.  But as I was wandering around the store I came upon this wonderful NEW Play-Doh!  M E T A L L I C Play-Doh!  Why didn't they have this when my kids were little?  I really want to go back and buy some just so I can play with it myself!  What a great idea!

And, I love the Star Wars LEGOS!  Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Hans Solo!  We really need these for our LEGO CLUB!

On to the Dragonflies.  I've started a new Dragonflies hat using Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino.  It is 55% Merino wool and 12% Cashmere.  The last Dragonflies hat I made used a thicker yarn (worsted) that had a fuzzy quality. This is a DK weight and is so wonderful to knit.  I am making the size Large so it will still be slouchy but I think the pattern is showing up better in this one.  Also, after making the first one, the tricky lace pattern is going much smoother now!  I'm actually getting the hang of it and ENJOYING it!

A cute little Valentine's present I found on ETSY is this package of VALENTINE SOAPS from the LoveLeeSoaps.etsy.com shop.  I love the conversation hearts made into little 1" soaps.  You can check out their shop here.

DRAGONFLIES HAT

I finished the Dragonflies Hat to wear with my Bella's Mittens.  I found the pattern on Ravelry.  It was the first time that I had knit "lace".  It was challenging for me but I learned a lot about different stitches and how to read and interpret the pattern.  I started out making the Large size, but I made a mistake and torn it out.  I decided to make the Small.  This yarn is really stretchy, so if I had made the Large it would have been gigantic!  I still need to block it, so maybe the pattern will pop even more then.  But, all in all, I am real happy with the way it turned out and should keep my head toasty.......if it ever gets cold around here!

I figured out that you NEED to put markers between each set of stitches on each round.  If you make a mistake you can figure out which set has the problem instead of tearing out the whole row.

I also covered above and below the line of instruction that I was on because several times I starting stitching the instruction above.  Live and Learn.

By the time I got to the top of the hat I had the pattern and tension figured out.  Now I can't wait to make another one.

STARTING A LIBRARY LEGO CLUB

I am starting a LEGO CLUB at our library, the Woodstock Public Library in Woodstock, Georgia January 15th.  We will meet the third Sunday of each month.  I have researched the idea and found that hundreds of libraries across the country have also started a LEGO CLUB.  You might ask what do LEGOS have to do with reading and why are there toys in the library?  We are trying to attract those children who have outgrown Story Time at the library.  Playing with LEGOS offers something imaginative, creative, physical and mechanical.  Promoting play in the library also contributes to early literacy development and increases attention span, creativity, logical mathematical thinking and problem solving.  Below is a display we set up in the children's area.  Within the first few minutes we had children gathering around the display.

My children loved LEGOS and since I used to work for LEGO, we had a rather large collection in our downstairs "LEGO CLOSET".  I know how much my children loved LEGOS and spent hundreds of hours building their masterpieces.  Most of these have gone into our library collection.  I know many more children will benefit from playing with these LEGOS too!

This is a photo from the Waldinger Library at one of their LEGO CLUB meetings.  I hope to post some photos of our first meeting on January 15th with many children playing with LEGOS in our library!

1st Knitting Project of 2012

My first knitting project of the new year is a hat to match my Bella's Mittens.  This hat is named Dragonflies Hat and I found the pattern on Ravelry.  It was designed by Joji Locatelli. It is the first "lace" piece I have knit so it is fun and challenging at the same time.  The pattern is coming together so I can actually see the dragonflies.  It only has a total of 43 rows of lace but I am going slow and counting twice -- after my Bobble Beret debacle!  I'll post another photo when I'm finished.