Happy Corner

Do you have a corner in your home that makes you smile every time you see it?

 This is mine. It is the little corner on my dresser adorned with all of my favorite things. Surprisingly this is one of the few spots in the whole house that doesn't have anything handmade. We will have to change that now won't we :)

Summer Garden Pillow

It's done and I am so in love with how it came out!

 This surprisingly is my first pillow ever and I always figured them as quick projects (especially after doing a whole afghan), but as I crocheted the border all I kept saying was "why are pillows so big?!". Well it ended up that my plan to make a 16" pillow turned into a 20" pillow! If I had left off the colorful border it would have been around 16", but I think that the border makes the whole thing.

This pillow was made completely out of leftovers from my Cath Kidston inspired blanket. I used attic24's summer garden square pattern, then added 6 rows of double crochet in white (2dc, ch2, 2dc in each corner). Then outlined that with 5 more rows of double crochet in alternating colors. To make this into a pillow and not just a very large square I hand sewed it onto the front of a plain white envelope style pillow cover.

I'm deciding on what my next pillow project should be as I dream of a couch full of handmade cushions. Do you have a favorite pattern?

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to all of my American friends and Happy Monday to my international ones! It is the unofficial start of summer! Yay!

Crochet Flower Pot

When I posted my "Here Comes the Sun" project yesterday, I realized I completely forgot to post about the crocheted flower pot cover! Tsk tsk. 

The pattern is so simple! Just chain until you can wrap the piece around your pot ( I used a plain terracotta pot) and join to create a huge ring. Single crochet in each stitch around changing colors every 2 rows. Be sure to increase evenly every other row if your pot gets wider at the top like mine. I used lily sugar n cream cotton and I added a simple shell border on the top ( 5dc in one stitch, skip 1 st, sc in next st, skip 1 st, 5dc in next stitch, repeat).

I can't wait to make some more for the summer!

Here Comes the Sun

Cross stitching to me is like knitting stockinette. It is something you do when you don't want to think too hard. You just do the same  stitch over and over again and somehow it is totally relaxing.

This cute little pattern comes from Sewing Seed on etsy. Her designs are my favorite cross stitch patterns on etsy and when I saw this Beatles inspired one I knew I had to have it. It is cross stitched on light blue size 14 aida cloths with the color she suggested in the pattern. It is framed it in a  red painted wooden frame  that I bought at the thrift store for super cheaps. Why is it so hard to paint red without it looking orangey? I think I had to paint on 4or 5 layers.

This makes me insanely excited everytime I see it, but I always get the song stuck in my head when I do. Luckily it's one of my favorites!

WIP: Summer Garden Pillow

 Since I have been so good about finishing up projects I treated myself to starting a pillow to match my new blanket. I had plans to use Bunny Mummy's daisy square, but my idea just wasn't coming out the way I was hoping. So instead I used attic 24's trusty summer garden square.The plan is to add a thick white border around all of the blocks and maybe adding some sort of embellishment... hmmm...

FO: Scandistitches Design #2

We've been having amazing weather here in Cleveland and it has put me in a finishing mood. I have been completing so many half done projects it makes me so happy.

Here is another finished scandistitches embroidery. This was so fast to stitch up that I didn't even have time to take in progress photos.

It is stitched on light pink gingham fabric with bright red perle cotton. The gingham was a little tricky to frame because it is so thin, but I do love the look oh so much!

I hope you all are enjoying the beginnings of summer and finishing up projects or starting exciting new ones!

FO: Scandistitches Design #1

A while back ago I fell head over heels in love with this little embroidery shop on etsy. All of her patterns are just so beautiful and simple. Most of them only require backstitches.

This set has to be my all time favorite ever. All of the patterns are based on scandanavian designs. I knew that they would go perfectly with my ikea swedish bedroom, so I started a mission to stitch them all up and hang them in cute cluster on my wall next to the bookshelf.

So here is the first design. I completely copied September House's colors on this one. I used dmc perle cotton on plain red cotton fabric.

I'm happily stitching up the next design and will have a little sneak peak up soon. Let's just say that it involves pink gingham. Yum!

FO: Cath Kidston Inspired Granny Square Blanket!

 I finished my Cath Kidston blanket yesterday morning! It was actually a reasonably quick crochet for a blanket and so fun to make. I started it on May 10th and finished it on May 20th.

This is only my 2nd crocheted blanket in the 9 years that I have been crocheting. I always that that it was more of a commitment than it really is. I think I am completey addicted and will definitely be making more. I already have some yarn for the next afghan I'm planning :)

Look who's already enjoying it!

Here are the nitty gritty details:

Yarn:

Red Heart Soft Touch in "guacamole" ( 1 skein), "lemon" (1 skein), "white" (1 skein), and "blue sky" (1 skein).

Bernat Satin: "crimson" (4 skeins) and "flamingo" (2 skeins)

Hook Size:

US H

Pattern:

Basic Granny Square Pattern that you can find here.

Notes:

I joined the squares as I went using Lucy of attic 24's wonderful tutorial.

Each square has 7 rounds. Each being a different color. The 4th round and last round were always red.

A total of 42 squares were used. The blanket is 6 squares by 7 squares.

Finished size measures 41 inches by 46 inches.

The border is 2 rounds of granny stitches (just treat the whole blanket like it is one big granny square) and 1 row of single crochet (3sc in each corner)

I really did love this project and can't wait to start another. The size is great for curling up on the couch and taking a nap. The yarn was surprisingly soft and non squeaky or scratchy for acrylic and I will definitely be using it again.

Up next in the crochet queue is a coordinating pillow. I'm thinking Bunny Mummy's new daisy pattern would be perfect!

Flowers and Lace

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I am still going strong on my granny square afghan even after a little disaster when a joined square became completely unraveled. Gah!!! Luckily, it ended up being an easy fix.

With that I will leave you images of florets and lace..how romantical!

New project bag

I had to show off my new project bag that my mom (happylittlecottage) sewed for me! I am a novice sewer and the thought of sewing a zipper brought back nightmarish memories of high school sewing class. So I asked my mom to make it for me with super specific details - I wanted it with a red zipper, red polka dot lining, and measure 14" square. The fabric is kokka fabric that I have been coveting forever and finally found it at SuperBuzzy. It's been in the stash for awhile destined to become pillow covers (or so I thought).This fabric is probably the cutest thing ever with dalas, matryoshkas, windmills, flowers, and hearts.

The bag is a nice big size! It fits about 5 skeins of yarn and a stack full of granny squares..

I'm in love with it. Thanks mom!

WIP: Cath Kidston inspired granny square blanket

Last week I had the urge to crochet a granny square blanket out of Cath Kidston inspired colors, so that is exactly what I did :)

I found a lot of inspiration here, here, and here. I only have a few more squares to crochet up and then on to the border. Once I finish I will post all of the color, size, and pattern details in case you would like to make a colorful blanket of your own.

Vintage fabric flower pot

My current obsession is vintage sheets and we have quite the collection going. I saw this tutorial on how to make fabric covered pots and I new I had to make one out of my favorite vintage sheet pattern. I really love the way it turned out, but if I were to make it again I would paint the pot white first and then add the fabric. The terracotta shows through the fabric a little and muddles the colors. To add a little more color I painted the tray a matching pink (you can never have too much pink!) 

The little pot of hydrangeas are currently sitting on the porch steps.

Matryoshkas in progress

I'm having a wonderful bout of craftyness. The latest is crochet matryoshka dolls. I have always loved them and have always wanted a set, but have never found wooden ones with colors I love and for the right price.When I came across this pattern on etsy, I knew I had to buy it and start right away!

 I am still playing around with color combinations on the littlest doll so more details coming soon.

Aren't these chrysanthemums from Trader Joes gorgeous?