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crochet garland

Christmas Advent 2015 – Day 9 Crochet Peppermint Garland

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I have to apologize for yesterday. I did not manage to get a project posted. Turns out working on 4 different ones at the same time causes some difficulty in getting even one finished.

My project for Wednesday, December 9, is a crochet garland with ribbon woven into it.

Materials:

  • Yarn
  • Ribbon
  • Crochet hook (I used an “H” size)
  • Darning Needle

crochet garland

I used two different yarns, one a very light red with some satiny effect and the other a nice off-white cotton. I crocheted 22′ (yes, really, that does say 22 feet) of double crochet foundation stitch.  The link goes to a really good and detailed demonstration for how to do this stitch. I just did one row of this and then tied off my yarn. Next I measured out 24 feet of narrow ribbon in red and white. I then threaded this onto my darning needle and wove the red ribbon in between my crochet stitches. Once this was done, I wove the white ribbon through, this time in the opposite pattern, as you can see below. I tied off my ribbons and I was done!

crochet garland

With the red and white colors, I got a really great peppermint/candy cane effect and I am really happy with it.

Happy Crafting!

Kristin

Winter Scarf and Earmuffs

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I will probably ruminate on creativity a bit here when I have the time and the thoughts behind it. It may get a little rambly and may not always make sense, as it is a sort of stream of consciousness to rediscover and define my creativity.

For me, creativity can mean so much. It can be the act of making – whether it be new invention, remake, improvement, it doesn’t matter. It can be doing, I imagine before the year is out, I will figure out how it is a state of being. I have also discovered over the years that frequent small creative successes can be so much better for my psyche than one or two large successes, at least as far as crafting goes. So for today, I finished a scarf and earmuff set. I have had the earmuffs completed for over a year now, but the scarf started as a infinity scarf that was a pretty good failure. I ripped it apart and have recreated it for today. I am much happier with the second attempt and I hope you enjoy the result.

It wraps around me twice and ties in a single knot.
It wraps around me twice and ties in a single knot.

I made the scarf in single crochet in the back loop, crocheted in the long. This gives a false ribbed appearance.  I think it is approximately 210-250 stitches long and is nine rows, not counting the bouclé row. The scarf could be made with however many stitches and rows you prefer. I wanted a fairly chunky scarf, so this is two worsted weight wool yarns crocheted together. There is a blue yarn and a green yarn of the same type.

Here you can see the front of the boucle stitch that I used for the fringe.
Here you can see the front of the bouclé stitch that I used for the fringe.

The last row is a bouclé stitch that creates a nice fringe that runs the length of the scarf.

Here is the backside of the bouclestitch.
Here is the backside of the bouclé stitch.

You can read about how I made the earmuffs in a previous post here.

Matching set of earmuffs and scarf.
Matching set of earmuffs and scarf.

With the seriously cold weather that is imminent here in Indiana, I think that I will truly appreciate the scarf and earmuffs. I finished them just in time.

Happy Creating!

Kristin

Crocheted earmuffs in cream and black wool yarn.

Crafty Challenge 12: Headwarmer – Earmuffs

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Crocheted earmuffs in cream and black wool yarn.

Our most recent crafty challenge was to make a headwarmer. This could be in any color, material, style or shape. Cheri was ahead of us all and posted her adorable recycled sweater hat here. We gave ourselves 3 weeks to make this particular challenge as we were all still recovering from the holidays. I had mine done in less than a week and then had to try very had not to talk about it or brag about it. Of course, this early birdness of me is now completely offset by my late posting.

I love earmuffs, but have never been able to find a satisfactory pair. The never stay on my head or they don’t cover my ears very well. I also hate hats as I have very static prone hair. I knew as soon as we started talking about a headwarmer challenge that earmuffs were my challenge.

I bought a cheap set of fleece wrap-around earmuffs for less than $2. I then cut the fleece off the wire and used the wire for the base of my earmuffs. I have some lovely wool yarn, one skein in cream and another in black. I also received this gigantic spool of very fine black alpaca yarn on year for Christmas. I took all three yarns and crocheted my earmuffs with this lovely and warm combination.

Crocheted earmuffs made on wire frame.

I crocheted 4 circles in double crochet, all the same size and just big enough to cover my ears. I then held two of these circles on either side of the ear part of the wire frame and using half-double crochet, I stitched the circles together. I really wanted the double thickness which provides amazing protection from cold and wind. You could also put some stuffing or quilting in between the two circles if you wanted poofy earmuffs (this would be very cute for a child).

After stitching both circles on the frame, I then single crocheted around the length of wire between the ear pieces. To keep from having to weave-in ends, I folded the ends from the ear pieces under the single crochet. This made the back wire a little thicker and made it so I only had the ends from this last stretch to weave-in.

Crocheted earmuffs in black and cream wool yarn.

This completed my earmuffs. This project took me all of about 2 hours and most of that was just figuring out what stitch I wanted to use to make the circles. I have been wearing these for weeks now and just love them. They are comfortable, very warm, and I haven’t had cold ears at all this year!

Happy Crafting!

Kristin

Christmas garland made of wrapping paper.

Ornament Advent: Day 23 Christmas Wrap Garland

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One of the greatest benefits of having a crafting family are how ideas are bounced, re-imaged, and re-shaped among us. I really love the Star Ornaments that Loryn made and I also just love the Chinese Fortune Garland that Cheri made. I decided to do something similar to Loryn’s stars and follow Cheri and make a garland. I am very happy with how it turned out!

Christmas garland made of wrapping paper.

Supplies:

Christmas wrap

Paper punch (I used 2″ seal punch)

Glue stick or pen

Yarn, string, or ribbon

Christmas garland made of Christmas wrap and shaped into a wreath.

I had some really shiny Christmas wrap and also had this 2″ seal paper punch. I used the paper punch to cut around 120 pieces out of the Christmas wrap. I then pulled out some thick crochet thread that is a sort-of soft gold color and is ribbonish (flat and about 1/8″ thick). I spread glue on two cut-outs and glued the crochet thread between the two pieces. You do have to be sparing with the glue as the Christmas wrap is very thin. I left around 1/4″ of the yarn visible between the cut-outs.

Christmas Wrapping Paper Garland

My garland is around 12′ long and looks great on a tree! I think this whole garland took me around 45 minutes to make. The other nice thing about this garland is that once you fold up the shapes, it takes up so little space and stores very well.

Christmas Garland made of wrapping paper.

Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting!

Kristin