Valentine's Day Hearts

I love making hooked earrings!  

These make great last minute gifts...especially for the lovey holidays!

ZigZags of Colors

 Using up my basket of colors by making an afghan 

out of a zigzag pattern!  

I love just grabbing for the next color, 

or creating a few blocks of color-pattern!

Christmas Sweater Project

Having all the bright colorful yarn around me

inspired me to take on a larger project this Christmas...

and attempt a sweater!  

Of course I couldn't just pick a sweater pattern that was for a size that I was making...

So I put together this one for our youngest niece Allie.

 I adorned it with a few hooked flowers to the bottom.  

And found some pretty pink flower buttons!

Now just to get a photo of her in it!

Monday Monday...

A day of peaceful hooking.  

A hot cup of chai, hook & yarn, and my slippies!

I originally picked up 3 balls of the Bernat Baby Blanket (100% Poly, but it feels so super soft like Terry Cloth!) to create a baby blanket gift.  After rolling the first ball, I fell in love with how SOFT it felt in my hands.  I knew then that I had to make myself a scarf out of it!  

No fancy pattern, the bulk of it is enough.  In fact, as it came together, it has reminded me of the loom potholders I used to make as a kid...or the loop rag rugs!  Anyway, so soft and ready for my next walk in the brisk January air! 

What I did: Using 1 ball Bernat Baby Blanket (10.5 oz) and using a N hook (9MM)
 Chain 14, then sc in 2nd chain from hook (gives one turning ch) and repeat across to end, ch 1 & turn. Repeat back and forth until desired length.  I used up the ball on this one, wanting it long enough to wrap around me twice...so I can pull it up over my mouth in the wind!

Happy Hooking!

Little Christmas Slippies

I needed a quick little yarn gift, 

so I adapted a slipper pattern I had made myself 

and came up with some tiny little slippers.  

Perfect!  

This is for a pair of slippers that are 

4" long & approx. 2 1/4" at widest part of foot

using a size G hook.

Just like in socks/slippers, start a base row to fit your toe line.

You can adjust the amount of chains for your size needed.

Base Row (for toe line): Ch 3

(work in-round from now on)

1.) 2 sc's in 3rd ch of base row, 2 sc's in next ch, 5 sc's into 1st ch, 2 sc's in next, 3 sc's in next, sl st together.

2.) *sc in next 6 sc's, 3 sc's in next, * repeat again, sl st together.

Change color if desired & create the pattern you wish for the foot section in the next 8 rows.

3.) - 11.) sc around (18 sc total)

Change color if desired. (I changed to red)

To form heel area:

12.) - 18.) sc in next 9 sc's. Turn after each row. Sl St heel end together.

Change color. (I changed to pink)

19.) Hook into top of heel area and sc around. sl st together. Tie off & weave in end. 

You can continue on with a nice trim row, 

or make a pompom for the heel area, or continue on for a sock!   

The socks are perfect to tie one onto 

 the top of your gifts with a candy cane! 
 Or hung on the tree!
 

     

Christmas Skirts

I found this fabric last year at a cute quilt shop.  
I love these shops! The ones that actually take the time to keep the hues flowing throughout the store, while tucking the pretty eye-catching sets in cabinet displays.

  

 (Moda fabrics)

They remind me of Norwegian Holiday sets, and Christmas at my Grandma's.  I thought about making another set of the dresses.  They are perfect for the contrasting of pretty fabrics, but not so much for this time of year.  At least not here in the Northwest!

 
So bringing in the brightness of the fabrics, I thought about little Cindy Lou Who on The Grinch Movie...and twirly skirts took form!    

Now just to make a red tutu petticoat layer underneath for the perfect full twirl!

 I added a little red heart to one side of the skirt hem, 

and made a puffy red heart pin for the pocket!  

A few little trinkets for added cuteness! 

I'll do up a tutorial with what I did as I create the next one & post here!  

Happy Skirt-Twirlling Nieces!

Patchwork Skirt Fun!

I had a little time this past month to tuck into my fabric stash and came up with a few patchwork ideas to use up some of my favorite pieces, odds & ends, and crocheted adornments.

I started a crazy-patchwork quilt first, something for my husband and I to look back on with the "ohhh, remember that concert"  and "oh that fabric is from...".  A great memory quilt, if you will.  I'm not rushing thru it, but piecing it together with a slow progress so that I'm sure it turns out "just right".  

So in the meantime I got to thinking on the bright colorful pieces of fabrics that I have kept.  The cheery owls, scraps of pretty flowers...and all those fun things inside my basket.  

Searching "patchwork" came up with the basic tote bags, quilts, placemats...and oh, skirts!  Yet, the skirts were too basic for what I had in mind.  So I took up with the patchwork skirt idea, and added some major flair to it!

I am sooo happy with how it turned out!  

Lots of colors and very twirl-worthy!

I have a basket that I keep so many of my favorite buttons, sequins & beads, crochet trims and flowers...all the little things that I knew I was keeping for something special. 
 

 Evening time spent making lots of hooked flowers and trims paid off...with such a fun way to showcase some of my favorites!  

And patches created out of some fun fabrics, adorned with sequins and beads to really make them pop!

Now...how did I do it?  I will have to be more exact in the measurements with the next skirt, so for now you get the "gist" of what I did.  There are many tutorial's online for patchwork skirts if you need a more in-depth and detailed step-by-step process!

Ronna's Patchwork Skirt:
For the squares I cut out pieces 5"w & 7"t, with some smaller pieces in width but still the 7"t.
I took the waist measurement- in this case was 29" and added 4" to it for some gathering which made it = 33". 
So for the waistband I cut out a piece approx 6"wide and 33" long.  Sew it into a band (like you do for your waistbands) leaving an opening for the elastic to be inserted.
Next I began sewing the rectangles together into rows.  Starting with the first row, adding to it until it was about 5" wider than the waistband.  I then top-stitched between each rectangle, knowing it would be annoying to attempt so after all sewn together! Then I gathered the top of that first row and attached it to the waistband. (Sew this as you would any skirt/pants etc)  Then from there I just kept adding another 2 rectangles or so to each row to give it some gather/twirlyness! Repeating the gathering the top of the row and adding it to the bottom of the previously attached row.  Press & top stitch etc.   For the hem-band I pieced together fabrics in lengths, making sure that it was 7" tall once all pieced together.  This was so that I could fold it under, giving the underside a bit of a prettier look instead of the underside of fabric. 
Back to finish the waistband.  Instead of the basic elastic waist, I took a piece of elastic 8" long and to each end I added a piece of hooked yarn (For this I did a row of sc, with 2 colors for some added pop & thickness.).  Insert like elastic/ribbon thru the waistband and then finish the waistband hem. 
Next was the fun part!  Adding all the patches, trims, ribbons, sequins & beads, buttons, and crocheted flowers!