FO Friday - Crochet Bunting

Whew!  I made it!  I got another project done just in time for FO Friday!

Here it is...a sweet, crochet bunting...

I made it for my daughter to decorate the bathroom or bedroom of her condo.

The leftover bits of yarn and stash yarn I had worked perfectly.

Look how great it matches her shower curtain...

I love the shape and design of the panels.  They're so cute!  

The "Half Lotus Bunting" pattern is free on Ravelry.  I found the pattern directions challenging but finally got it worked out.  I took notes on my Ravelry project page as I worked it out so I'd have an easier time with the next ones.    Now, the bunting panels are easy and quick.

I noticed that other people have had some trouble figuring out the pattern too.  I'd like to try to make a chart to post in my notes.  I find them so much clearer and easier to understand.  I'm sure I'll find it helpful with future buntings that I make and maybe others will find it helpful too. 

 I used a size "H" crochet hook to make mine.

For the chain, I started with 80 stitches, single crocheted each panel on, made three chain stitches between each panel, made 82 more chain stitches, turned (making sure I would be stitching across the top and back), made a single crochet in the third chain from the hook and all the way across.  I fastened off the end, tied a knot with the beginning and ending yarn and used a yarn needle to hide the ends.  To finish it off, I laid it on the ironing board, adjusted the panels and steamed them (from the back).  They lay and hang much nicer after that.

This project is so cute and fun!  In fact, I have another bunting made in Autumn colors.  But, I'm thinking about adding some cute embellishments to it.  So, I'll be posting it later.

Yay!  More de-stashing and another FO!  And, how great to find a use for leftover bits!

FO Friday

Another week has gone by and I'm still on a roll with de-stashing and finishing projects!  Woo hoo!  I love this!  It feels good to use up some supplies, finish up projects, and have some new and fun things.

One of the things I finished up this week was this painting...

My daughter and I took a class at the local ceramics/painting shop last month.  They were featuring this "Sugar Skull" painting for one of the classes.  We liked it and the class just happened to be the day after my daughter's birthday.  So, that's how we celebrated.  It was a lot of fun!  However, there's a lot more to this "simple" looking painting than it seems.  So much so that we didn't finish our paintings during the class...even though it went an hour longer than scheduled.  My daughter finished her painting a day or so later.  But, me...I kept putting it off.  I finally got around to finishing it this week.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and it was a lot of fun.

Another thing I finished was this granny square table topper.  I made it with a huge, 710 yard skein of Handicrafter Cotton that I had in my stash.  And, I made it in one week.  I thought it would look great with this table cloth that I have.  And, it will be perfect for Fall.  However, it turned out a bit small.  I wanted to center it over the table cloth, on my round kitchen table, and have the corners go to each place there's a chair to act as a place mat...perfect to put a place setting at each corner.  I haven't given up hope yet though.  I'm going to try to block it out as much as I can and see if it makes it big enough.  If not....well?....I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it.  I really like it though and I'm determined to make it work for something.  The burnt orange color of it is perfect in my house.  And, I don't want to rip out 710 yards of stitching!  That was a lot of work!

I also knitted up a couple more dish cloths with a ball of brown Sugar N Cream.

Looks like a great color scheme going on, huh?  :-)

This feels so good to be using up so much stash yarn and finishing so many projects!

I'd better figure out my next project and get started while I'm still on a roll!

I just got a message from Sandy at "My Yellow Swing".  It's a bag making bonanza at her place.  She has finished up a bunch of great bags and posted them on her blog today.  I love how she combines sewing with inkle weaving and cords that she's made.  Here's just one of her FO's for this week...

Be sure to pop over and see all the other great bags she's made.

Oh...and, I almost forgot...I'm need  to add my newest FO's to the Stash-Buster Party at Linda's Crafty Corner.  Hop on over if you'd like to join in on the fun or see what everyone's been making.

P.S.  I just got word that Cindy at "Delighted Hands" posted for FO Friday.  She finished a gorgeous, knitted, lace shawl.  Hop on over and take a look.  Great job, Cindy!  I love it!

Here's a peek...

De-Stash / FO Challenge - FO #3

It's no secret that I love cotton yarn.  I'm particularly fond of Sugar 'n Cream and all the pretty colors it comes in.  Not to mention that it's so inexpensive that it's easy and cheap to pick up a ball of it here and there and not feel guilty about it.  It's colorful, it's cotton, and it makes me happy.  Then....there's the stash!  I have quite a bit of it in my stash.  So, I'm working on finding wonderful ways to use it.

I've used up two balls of it over the past couple of weeks!

I made this set of wash/dish cloths with some leftovers.

The colorway is "Earth Ombre".  I love these colors together.

This post is also a great way to show ya'll my adorable new soap dish.  I love the cute little bird on the side.  I saw these at World Market before my trip.  After my trip, I had a great excuse for getting one...the two, little bars of hotel soap that I brought home.

Here are two more dish cloths that I just finished up this week.

This colorway is called, "Barnboard Twist".

I love the colorway and the name!

This de-stash / FO challenge is helping me so much!  Knowing that I posted and promised to do this helps me get things done.  It feels so good to use up some yarn from my stash and finish up some great things.  I'm so happy to have finished and posted three things in three days!

Just in case you missed the first post...this challenge is open to anyone.  If you'd like to join in on the fun, just let me know.  I'd even love to share your accomplishments on my blog (with links to your blog, of course).  We can all encourage and inspire one another.  Happy de-stashing!  :-)

UPDATE 8/10/2014 - I'm joining in on Linda's Crafty Corner, Stash-Buster Link party.
If you'd like to join in on the fun, hop on over to her blog.

Morning Knitting

I'm having fun with my new, spinning yarn holder!

It even works with a ball of Sugar 'n Cream yarn.

The yarn pulls out easily and doesn't get tangled or roll around.

This is a pretty ball of yarn from my stash.  The color is, "Barnwood Twist".  I love that name!  I started a dishcloth yesterday afternoon and had it finished by last night.  I started another one at breakfast.  It looked so pretty with my red placemat and even the strawberries in my oatmeal.  I just had to post it on Instagram and I thought I'd share it here too.  :-)

I've made so many of these over the years.  I love making them and I love using them.  And, I love that I can get exactly two from a two ounce ball of yarn.  I cast 36 stitches onto size eight needles and knit five rows.  Then, on wrong side rows, I knit the first three, purl across, and knit the last three.  On right side rows, I knit all the way across.  When the center, stockinette part, is equal in width and height, I knit four rows (I'll double check that on this one) and then bind off to get three ridges on the top to match the three at the bottom.  I know I've done it right when the new cloth weighs about an ounce and so does what's left on the ball.  :-)

Yarn Therapy

I promised to post pictures of the yarn I bought last week on my "yarn therapy" session.  Here it is...

It's Cascade, Ultra Pima.  I love cotton!  It's soft and the sheen made it even harder to resist.  It adds a richness to it. It doesn't have a color name...just 3719.  It's a soft, silvery, beige.  I think it will go with a lot of things.  It will probably become some kind of lacy wrap or shawl.  I bought two skeins.

I always have a hard time resisting Sugar 'n Cream.  The yarn shop, Labors of Love, has some colors I don't see in the big box stores....like this yummy chocolate brown.  They also have copies of free patterns around the store, sitting next to examples.  I picked up a pattern for a cute, knitted dishcloth.  That's what this will become.

Back to the sewing machine!  We just finished sewing all the squares together for my daughter's quilt. Next, we'll need to decide on a border and sew it on.  Then, create a back panel.  After that, we'll be ready to tie it all together!