424 Small and Quick Crafts

I have been crafting, but they have been quick little projects. Mostly, I get the urge to make something, and I just use whatever is close to me at the time. Or I find a blog with something I want to try, and I grab the stuff I need and barrel on through the project.
It sounds like I am not enjoying the process BUT I AM! I love that there are so many projects that you can do with just a few spare moments and kids hanging on you. We finally got our first snow of the season, so we have spent a good bit of time outdoors. And of course, all that led to sniffle-y time snuggling on the couch. I have managed a few projects that I am going to share with you. (and I will try not to forget any of them, but I can't promise)

First I was surfing through some amazing craft blogs last Friday, drooling over other people's talent when I ran across a link on 30 Handmade Days which led me to mmmcrafts and this post about phone cozies. Now, we all know I have had a bit of a felt addiction lately, so of course I had some close to hand. I just HAD to make my own little phone cozie! We also know I do not follow directions (or usually even look at directions). It seems like cheating sometimes when you are crafting to follow the directions. So, mine doesn't look nearly as wonderful as Larissa's, but I just felt like I needed to MAKE something right then when I saw hers. Mine isn't finished. No strap, no button. I kind of like it though, and Connor has been known to slip my phone into its cozie if he finds them apart.

When the girls were looking at my little cozie it reminded me that I had not made a tooth pillow for one of Katie's friends ... well, that and she has a tooth just about to fall out. So, I whipped her up her own tooth fairy pillow. (funny thing, mmmcraft also has a REALLY cute tooth fairy pillow pattern. Hers is much more intricate)

Then on Saturday, Katie spent the night down the street with her BFFs, so I had some Connor time. When we walked in the door from dropping Katie off, the first thing I saw was a little tiny Micro Machine car. Right away I knew I had to make Connor a little car. I drew up a pattern.

(which I mostly didn't end up using) And grabbed the closest BOY colored felt and set to work. I only used the car shape as an actual pattern. For the rest of the car I just cut a strip of felt about three inches wide and long enough to go all the way around the car. FINE... I know it looks very little like the actual toy car, but that was my inspiration.

On Sunday I thought it seemed like the perfect time to finally try to learn how to crochet a granny square. I was sitting on the couch, yarn and a hook nearby ... perfect. I googled "granny squares" and it brought up this tutorial on About.com. Looks simple enough. Words. Pictures ... oh yeah, this is going to be easy! Right?! Uh uh ... for some reason the first time through none of this made sense. I was doing it all wrong. My square ... it turned into ... 

That is pretty ... but not very SQUARE! So, I actually read all of the words in the directions, and squinted at the pictures until it suddenly made sense to me. AH HA! The inner circle is ... what is that like? Macrame? Friendship bracelets? And then you work your stitches in the spaces! Ohhhhh!!

I haven't made anymore, but my friend Jill at Stix on the Beach is also working on granny squares. We just might have to encourage each other. Oh, and our friend Rachel at Memories of Mine to Thine just posted that she wants to learn granny squares, too. I love it!

I have been seeing GORGEOUS cowls all over etsy! I was once again sitting near some yarn and thought I would give it a go. I checked out some patterns on Ravelry.com just to get an idea of how many I should chain first, and I got to work. I just made it up as I went along, but basically I

chained 60

double crochet 57 (I think) for 7 or 8 rows

Slip stitch for 10

double crochet 37

slip stitch 10

Turn. slip stitch back to the new layer and then over 5 more (but wish I had just chained 3 and started double crocheting across)

chain 3. DC 27

slip stitch back to the edge.

I fastened off then started back on my newest row so I wouldn't have to keep going back and forth to keep it even.

I did 4 rows of 27 DC to get some height. I was trying to build a piece that would cover my ears. When we were out sledding my ears were freezing! It turned out ... interesting. It was a first attempt, and I have a better idea what I am doing now. I didn't have any buttons, so I cut four black circles and stitched two layers together to create my buttons. I like how they turned out. The cowl ... needs improvement. (and I might need to learn how to write a pattern that is legible) Katie wore it to school today ... and bed last night, and watching tv, and ...

 I had some yarn leftover, but not a lot. I started to crochet a pot holder in SC ... and I just couldn't make myself do it. I am just not the pot holder type. I had a rectangle, so I folded it in half and created a little purse/crochet phone bag.

 I still had some yarn left so I made another one with a seashell type stitch. Super easy, and really cute if I do say so myself ... Katie stole them of course.



 And finally, last night the kids were running around with this rope. It has been annoying me for weeks. I have rolled it up several times a day to put away, and they always pull it out. Well, some of it is gone, and Katie has a new bracelet.

So, that was my week in crafting. What did you make?!

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