We've Come A Long Way, Baby - Kitchen Curtain

For Mother's Day I've finished a filet crocheted kitchen curtain.



(Please click on the photos to enlarge them).

 

This is without the lights on in the kitchen. Only the sunlight shining through the curtain.  

 

These two photos show it with the blinds down but opened slats. (One with lights on, one without).



These show it with the blinds pulled up.


After I crocheted the curtain, I got a sheer shower curtain from Goodwill which had a cute ruffle along one side. I sewed the curtain to the back. I had to scrunch the corners. I know it's not perfect but neither am I. LOL!

I crocheted 5 tabs which the curtain rod goes through.

I found the graph for this on this blog. It states that you cannot use the graph to make something to sell. (It also says you cannot make anything for yourself either which makes no sense at all).
So, use the graph at your own risk I guess.

Anyway, the image is in free domain.

It reminds me of the Moms you would see in those Fun With Dick and Jane early reader books.
But really, let's face it, whose Mom ever really looked like this? Not mine anyway.
I think she's either from a time earlier than my childhood or she never really existed at all.
Just an ideal. A fantasy Mom.

But I love the image.
And now she hangs in my kitchen and shines through my window every morning.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Starry, Starry Night; Arabic Peace Table runner

(Please click on the photos to enlarge them).

This project started out by my seeing a vintage filet crocheted chair back cover of palm trees and camels.
I saw it for sale on etsy and I thought it looked really cool. (I didn't buy it though).

Well, then one day I was looking for old filet crochet patterns on e-bay and I came across an old pattern book from The Spool Cotton Co., Copyright 1938, called Decorative Ensembles to Crochet. Book # 125. It had the graph pattern to crochet the chair back cover and two palm tree arm rests as well.

Well, of course I had to get it.

So then I thought, instead of just having the two camels looking one way, I could take a picture of the pattern, upload it to my computer, flip the image, and have the two camels facing the other way too. This way I could make a nifty table runner. So that's what I did.

But as I was planning this I thought, gee, look at all the space in the middle where the sky will be. Wouldn't it be nice to put something in there. So, I googled around for something meaningful that would fit.
Well, lo and behold, right on Ravelry, a fellow crocheter had already posted a free pattern that was just what I was looking for!

Maria Merlino has designed this Salaam Peace in Arabic Script filet crochet pattern.

I had to ditch the butterfly which would have been way out of proportion with the camels and trees, (can we say Mothra?) LOL!

So, I copied the pattern, flipped it and copied that, then I had to glue the two patterns together with my trusty glue stick,
Then I penciled in the Arabic script, (which as Maria explains is abjad for the word Salaam, which translates to Peace).



This first photo is without the flash. The second one is with the flash.

I used all Omega cotton Sinfonia yarn. I really love this yarn and have used it in many of my projects. But I will tell you that I was so frustrated with the blue. Warning! With the blue color; DYE LOTS MATTER! LOL!

I started crocheting from the bottom. As you can see that is a lighter blue.
Well, when I ran out and had to buy more, I noticed right away that it was darker.
So I thought, that's ok. It's the sky.
Well, right near the end, I ran out again and had to go back to Hobby Lobby for one more skein. (Thank goodness that's all I needed because it was the last one!)
So, then I noticed that it was the lighter color again. Aaaaahhhh!.
Plus in the middle when I was trying to use up the lighter blue and switch to the darker it made a streak of lighter blue across the sky.
Clouds, haze, mist, whatever. It's crocheted in there forever.

I used variegated brown yarn for the camels and so they look all stripe-y. I think the Variegated citrus color worked great on the palm tree trunks and script.

And if all this wasn't enough, I decided to use a whole package of sequin stars to dress up the sky. I used a needle and thread and just beaded each one to attach them all.



This photo shows the back. You can see how I had to tack down all the white thread that I used to attach the sequins. I don't want anything to snag on any of the thread.

Let's see. The size of the runner is about 44 inches by 21 inches.
I used a size H cabled afghan hook. I usually use a size J hook for tunisian stitching but this yarn is much thinner and so I used the smaller H hook.

Filet Crochet Baby Animals Carriage Crib Cover 2

Back in June of 2011 I posted my Filet Crochet Carriage Crib Cover.
Well, someone posted that there was another pattern out there which was similar only it had more animals or different designs of the baby animals.

Well, I did track that pattern down and decided to make another afghan with it.
It's another Laura Wheeler / Alice Brooks type pattern. (Although there is no mention of their names on this pattern either).
The pattern is simply called Design 7577.

So, on the most awesome of Leap Days, I went outside and snapped lots of photos of the new blanket.
(Click on the photos to enlarge them).




This is the front.



And this is the back. There really is no difference except for the single crochet stitch where I joined the blocks. It kind of looks like a seam. A bit raised.

I used the same DMC Cebelia thread size 10 that I used in the first afghan. I only had to buy one of each color since I already had enough from what was left over before because you still need two skeins for each block.

I wanted the lamb to be white so I used the purple to border the squares this time.



Here are the two afghans side by side. This second one is slightly smaller because the squares were a different size. If you wanted to make all of them on one afghan you'd need to add an extra row along the top or bottom of each square as well as one along a side of each square from the second patterns animals.




Here's a couple more shots. I had to stand on a chair to fit them both in the picture.



As you can see I made both the dogs blue, both the cats pink, and the rabbits in both afghans are a peach color.
The lamb's in white.
I love the deer in yellow!

I still have no idea what the animal is in green in this second afghan.
It's not a squirrel like in the first afghan. It doesn't have a bushy tail.
Is it a chipmunk? A baby bear? A gopher?
What the heck is that animal??! LOL!

C'mon Get Happy Bag

Three years ago I posted an Earth Day tote made from an old Columbia Minerva kit.

Here's the link to that post.

So, last year I decided to take the pattern and make a needlepoint repeating the pattern 3 times across with left over thread.
(The other tote was done in plastic canvas with yarn all from the kit).

So, after I finished this new needlepoint, which took me forever, I made it into a sort of purse slash bag thingy.
Then I was so tired of looking at it I took some photos of it outside and threw it in my Closet Of No Return. (Similar to the Forest Of No Return from Babes In Toyland). I must have listened to this album a million jillion times. I don't even think I saw the movie! LOL! It did come with a storybook though, as I recall.
So, anyway, I never posted about the bag in here. Yet.
Well, here it is, folks.



I used three different colors for the sky as it was just a bunch of old thread. I ran out of the darker yellow there in the one panel and had to use a lighter color.




It's sort of a round barrel shape so I squished it flat and took these photos so you could see it easier.

The top is croched with green variegated Sinphonia yarn. I wanted it to look like the tree tops. I crocheted in a vintage plastic Ecology Flag that I found at a garage sale.

The bottom is made from a smiley flowered fabric. (I tried to keep it like a theme of flowers at the bottom, the start of the tree trunks in the middle with more flowers and butterflys, and the the tree tops for the top of the bag.)



At the very bottom of the bag I mad a peace sign on plastic canvas and sewed that to the end.



This photo is of the inside. I even lined the thing. Sheesh! I never do that. No wonder I was so tired of it afterwards.



These photos show the bag with the strap and the drawstring closure.
The strap is made from a cool bandanna from Goodwill.
It had someone's name written on it in one corner in black Sharpie marker. I think it was a girlscout. I guess she wanted to forget her campout when she got this awesome bandanna. Anyway, now it's a strap on my bag.

Man, do you think I took enough pictures of it that day? LOL! I still have more too but I think you get the idea of how it looks.
You can always click on the photos to enlarge them.

I wasn't sure what to call this bag or this post.
It was going to be for another Earth Day but I always forget about it when the day comes.

Hmmm, I think I'll just call it the C'mon Get Happy bag.
The pattern is just so neat.
I'll bet I could crochet it into an afghan too. Hmmmmm........

How Will I Know?

What is a sure sign that you have reached that intangible stage called "Middle Age?"

This was a question posed to us in our Social Studies class at school a long while back.


Kid's hands shot up with their answers.

"You have children of your own."
"Your children get married."
"You become a Grandparent."

Well, I was sure I knew the answer to this question for I had witnessed it myself in my own home.
I raised my hand with what my teacher thought was a perfect answer.

"When people your own age start to die.", I said.
Yep. That was it.

For not too much earlier before that question was raised in my class, Elvis Presley had died.
I know I've already talked about that time with my blog readers when I posted my Elvis afghan a few years ago.

But I remember well how shocked my parents were. How many times my Dad had said, "I can't believe it. He was MY age!"
whenever they had the story on the news. And the news about Elvis' death seemed to last forever.

And so, with the passing of Whitney Houston last week, I had a bit of a déjà vu moment myself.
When I saw that she was born in 1963 I thought, "Wow! She was MY age!"

It really makes you think about our short time in this world.
Where am I going with my life?
Have I done all that I wanted to do?
What am I leaving behind?
Has my life been wasted?

I really hate thinking about all those things because I don't like my answers to them.
I always feel that nothing that I do will ever matter in a hundred years so why worry about it?

So, instead of pondering my own fate, I went and dug out my old 45's.
I must have hundreds of 45's.
I have them sorted alphabetically by the song titles and stored away in cases and a big long file so it wasn't too hard to find the two I was thinking about at this moment.



Here's a photo of my many record cases and my two Whitney Houston singles.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody and How Will I know?

(45's used to come in these neat record sleeves with great photos.) That's when buying a record actually meant something.
Anyway, these pictures of Whitney Houston are how I remember her.

I confess, I've never followed her career and I have no idea what she's been doing for the past twenty-plus years.
Once I started my own family I guess I just became wrapped up in my own world.

Movie stars. Pop singers.
How were they relevant to me as I took my kid to his soccer game?

Perhaps I might have heard her song on the radio as I drove there.
It may have taken me back to the time I first heard it.
A time when my whole life lay ahead of me.
Way before I reached this "Midlife Crises" I'm dealing with now.



Well, I could take these singles and go play them on my ancient turntable which sits idly in the living room.
This photo shows my tower of singles crammed into a converted file organizer. (It's on the left).
I told you I had hundreds of singles.
I ran out of cases and had to find somewhere to put them all!
They don't make 45 record cases anymore.

This is what being middle-aged looks like folks.
It's not pretty.
But it's not too bad either.

When do I decide to give up all these mementos of my past?
Have I reached that point in my life?
How Will I Know?

How Will I Know?

Rest in Peace, Whitney!



P.S.
Does anyone know what I can make with this absolutely geeky shirt I found at Goodwill a while ago with cartoon likenesses of the Sweathogs from Welcome Back Kotter?



The child-size shirt was so retro I HAD to save it from there.
Rest in Peace, Robert Hegyes, (who played Juan Epstein!)

Evil Nostrella - Mistress of the Underworld

Ladies and Gentlemen;
I present to you a portrait of pure evil.....



The one and only;
Evil Nostrella; Mistress of the Underworld ---- ( Well underneath the table at least).
Her nostrils flaring as she pokes her snout upwards and sniffs about the topside layer for food scraps.
She is an monster.

(Don't gaze upon her portrait for too long as your brain might turn to mush and you may be compelled to do some horrible task which you, in no other circumstance, would ever dream of doing!)

She goes by many other names as well; most of which are not decent for repeating in my blog.
But I can tell you that right now she prefers the name Yee.

She has captured and held my family prisoner for 8 to 10 years. (No one can really remember because it's all such a terrifying blur).

Through the years she has chewed her way through countless pairs of eyeglasses, (our optometrist LOVES her), video games, Cds, videos, remotes, furniture, socks, shoes, anything she finds interesting in the garbage, razors, toothbrushes, toilet paper, carelessly placed plates of food - (that has earned her one nickname The Shark), utensil handles, tea bags, and unfortunate Beanie Babies.

I know there's so much more but I'm not wasting any more of your time.
I believe her latest heist was a Cheese-It cracker box half-full and left in the living room.

She has shed so much fur I have finally broken down and bought a Dyson vaccuum for Christmas in hopes that this will save us from Her Hairyness.

Her greatest achievement was learning to open the fridge and scarfing down an entire Easter ham.
We've had to put a belt around the refrigerator door handle to latch it shut but my family has weak members, ( ahem, you know who you are!), who foolishly leave it unbelted, despite the warnings. So she still gets in there from time to time. Whenever she can use her mind-melding techniques to make us forget to latch it. (At least that's the excuse that certain members of the family will claim whenever a breech has been discovered).




Here she is on a couch I bought on e-bay a few years ago. I thought that couch was so cool because it was upholstered with Harry Potter fabric. The Yee totally chewed up that baby and it was thrown out long since.

She's growing older, as are we all. She has lumps and graying hair. (She has become The Gray Lady to some).
She won't be around forever.
But I do believe I will miss her when she leaves.

Perhaps Josh Gates will one day do an episode about her on Destination Truth.
Evil Nostrella - Mistress of the Underworld - Myth, Legend, Beloved Pet.

Happy Hippy Hobo Bag

Alright. Now this bag took a while to make because I made it in stages.
Click on the photos to enlarge them please.



Here's one side.



These two sides are made from a great 70's tote kit that I found on e-bay a while back. It was supposed to be a square shaped tote. But I took the yellow burlap fabric and attached it's sides to two round t-shirt centers which I'll show you next.




This end is made from a smiley t-shirt I found at Goodwill. I don't remember what the shirt said, (if anything), but it was too cute to pass up so I got it even though the shirt was never gonna fit me.




This is the other end of the tote. It's made from a Joe's Crab Shack t-shirt also found at goodwill. I'm sure you've seen them before. They are really cute but who wants a shirt that says "Peace, love, crabs" on it? Well, The huge peace sign and the tie-dye fabric is awesome for recycling.

What I did to make the ends is cut off the round smiley and the peace sign from the shirts, (leaving about an inch of extra fabric to work with). Then, you fold over that extra bit of fabric as you crochet around the whole circle so that all the rough ends are no longer exposed. It's not too hard to poke the crochet hook through the cotton t-shirt fabric. If I ever had a problem, I have a leather punch awl that will ream a hole right through but I didn't have to use it much.

Then you just continue to go around the circle shirt logos until you feel you've made them big enough to cover the entire circumference of the front and back of the tote fabric, (remember the yellow burlap I used here?)



Can you see where I attached the circle smiley to the yellow burlap in this photo?
You can also see the strap I crocheted for the bag. It's long so the bag can be slung cross-bodied to lug lots of things inside the bag. I also crocheted al latch with a slot and sewed a button on the other side to close the bag.



Here's the other side where the peace sign attaches to the yellow burlap.
I had to use a really sharp heavy needle to attach these round sides to the yellow burlap.
For the purpose of photographing this I stuffed the bag with two blankets to puff it out so you could see everything.



These next two shots show the strap again, the bag stuffed and then empty, and the latch thingy.





The next two shots I smushed the bag flat after removing the inside blankets. You get the idea of how the sides attach to the front yellow panel in these photos.





OMG! Finally one more photo!



This shows the lining on the inside. I used Winnie the pooh fabric that is a mustard yellow with just some bees flying around.

I haven't even explained how I decorated the sides with the doves and flowers!
The original tote kit had one felt dove and some flower petals and leaves. So I just made lots more to do the other side too. (I made a cardboard template of the dove because it's so beautiful so I can reuse that for anything!)

Instead of just gluing the felt on, (which the kit planned for only the glue had long-since dried up in the tube anyway), I chose appropriate yarn colors to do whip-stitch needlework around each felt piece. It took a lot of time but I enjoyed it anyway.

Then, after all the outside design was done, I lined the insides. The t-shirt sides also have an extra padding and lining back. I wanted to make sure they were good and sturdy.

This would make a great craft tote for a big yarn project in which you needed to carry around lots of yarn and supplies.