11/31 Crafty Me, Crafty Business

I recently got an email from a friend who requested some custom items from me. I don't do a lot of making to sell these days. Life has enough stuffed into it and I've felt pretty overwhelmed by some of the things that have been thrown at us these past months. I did take this one on though. Simple, repetitive and calming is just the kind of custom work I'm into and so I put together a stack of these 100% organic cotton wash wipes for Black Robin Skincare. I'm a big fan of this skincare line, in particular I've got a dedicated love for this peppermint scrub which leaves my face all tingly and fresh feeling and also happens to be named "Tingly Bits".

With all of this overwhelmingness (totally a word) I've been thinking lately about what makes me happy, what is satisfaction and how to make those things a bigger part of my life. Sewing, crafting and design are a big part of that. I don't know if I'll ever go back to full time making, certainly not any time soon but it's nice to think about what that could look like in future if the right opportunities came my way and things fell into place to make it work.

For now I'll just take on the odd small project on the side and enjoy having the space to be choosy.

xx

10/31 - Crafty Me: Wonder Woman

This is an old one but I need to catch up, being just ever so slightly behind. Let's pretend that I shared this months ago and that I didn't let my birthday deadline pass by in a blur of lifewhanaumahifunfriends with less making in between than I'd like.

I made this for Pai for a super hero birthday party she was invited to. She loved it on the day but I have to admit that she doesn't wear the complete outfit often (ever). She's pretty dedicated to her dinosaur dress-ups and super heros are not high on her list of priorities. She's a pretty cute dinosaur but her WW poses slay me so I'm a little sad that she's not big on capes and superpowers.

The gold head band, belt and arm bands were made from an adults version of the costume that I adapted to fit a much smaller human and I threw together the simple skirt and cape with some lightweight cotton.

9/31 - Crafty Me: Striped Tee Shirt Dress

A few months back there was one of those equally amazing and dangerous fabric sales where people and stores and charity's all have stalls selling piles of fabric and patterns. All new, vintage and everything in between.

I spent more cash than I should have and came home with a fresh stash of fabrics to make stuffs with. It was very satisfying and bankrupting.  In order to justify those purchases, I need to have something(s) to show for it. Ya know, prove to myself that I didn't buy it for looking at. 

A fancy kind of dress is in progress and I made a few pairs of leggings but my fave so far is this striped t-shirt dress. I love dressing my kid in stuff I'd wear myself, especially considering all the pink fluffy sparkles that is available in the "girls"  section of most clothing stores. She likes it, I like it and my fabric stash is slightly smaller.  Winning!

8/31 - Crafty Me: Fingerless Gloves

8/31 you guys! I turn the ripe old age of 31 in September so I officially have less than 2 months to complete 19 more projects. Totally unachievable, (I'm such a glass half full kind of person) what was I thinking? I do actually have a pile of things to share but I've not yet managed to produce photographic evidence so it's not quite as dire as it seems (really though, I should have started this project when I was 25).

Full disclosure, these gloves were not made to give as a gift or to keep for me but to list in my Felt store. I've been feeling the need for a new laptop and perhaps a fancy scmancy camera for this blogging malarkey but let's be real, those aren't things I need, per se and not exactly impulse buys you grab on the way home from work on a whim. 

I don't have the cash lying around to make these things happen so I figured I'd see if I could turn some wool into gold. Also, I have a ton of pairs of these for myself already and pretty much everyone in my family has already been given a pair as a gift at some point in the last 5 years. 

So yeah, gloves: 

I made a few pairs in a few different colours but I fell in love with this aqua yarn a few years back and I'm still totally smitten. I love it so much I have nail polish to match. Not even kidding. 

The pattern is mine and the Ravelry details are here if you're a curious person who crafts things from yarn and you want to have a lookie. 

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Crafty Me, Crafty Pattern: Convertible Wave Cowl (Free!)

Ahoy there! I've been crocheting a lot lately, after a long hiatus that arose from crocheting a lot. You'd think I'd learn. I decided to share a simple pattern I worked up a few years back that I still really like the effect of. I've sold many of these cowls over the years but these days I'm more focussed on pattern design than selling finished items. I have so many ideas but so little time so my pattern output isn't exactly what I'd like it to be (patterns released so far this year: 0. Pattern concepts I have swimming around in my head: 6520).

Moving on. Pattern below:

Skill level: 

Beginner

Stitches used:       

Double crochet -dc

Single crochet -sc

Chain stitch –ch

Materials:               

9 mm hook

5 buttons of 20mm width or more.

Chunky/bulky weight yarn (you can also use 2 strands of DK or 8 ply yarn, which I have done in this pattern as it is hard to find vegan chunky weight yarn)

Gauge:                   

3-4 pattern repetitions per 10 cm/4 inches. Gauge is not essential for this 

pattern,more repetitions means a slightly smaller scarf and less means a larger one. 

You can change your hook size to suit if you have a preference either way.

Pattern Instructions:

Chain 20 Stitches

Row 1: Sc in 2^nd ch from hook and in each ch to end. Ch 1 and turn

Row 2: sc in 2^nd sc from hook, *chain 2, skip 2 sc and sc in next 2 sc. Repeat from * to end. Ch 2  and turn

Row 3:  dc in 2^nd sc from hook, *chain 2, skip 2 sc and dc in next 2 sc. Repeat from * to end. Ch 1 and turn.

Row 4: Repeat row 2.

Row 5: Repeat row 3.

Here’s how things should look at the end of a sc row once you’ve got going:

Continue repeating rows 2 and 3 until your scarf measures aprox 85 cm, finishing with a sc/ch st row. You can opt to making it longer if you want to be able to wind it around lots of times but you will need more yarn for this.

Next row: Sc in 2^nd ch from hook and in each sc and ch to end. Fasten off.

Finishing:

Stitch buttons onto the ch st gaps along one end of scarf as shown.

Weave in all your ends and threads and if you're so inclined, block. I don't bother with mine, but you do you. 

You can now use every ch  st gap on your scarf as a button hole and so it can be buttoned on angles, along straight lines or just using a few buttons at a time. The possibilities are endless! (Not actually endless, there is a finite number of rows and button holes, but you get me).

Ravelry details here!

If you make this, I'd love to see. Share with me at the Shiny Happy Crafty facebook page and make my heart explode with all the happy. 

7/31, Crafty Me - Colour Tipped Scarf

And the award for the most awkward picture goes to.... me! Believe me, the other 2 shots were worse.

You know when you want some colour but you don't want a busy print and you don't want anything too bright and you just want to keep it understated so that your cats eye leopard print sunnies can steal the show and you realise that you're probably a bit too picky and maybe you overthink things like scarves sometimes? You get me? Yep. Well this is the scarf for those days. 

This was a really easy knit that was super quick and satisfying and it's really easy to wear. It's all the right shades of all the right colours and is the perfect throw it on and go kind of scarf (I am aware that no one would actually believe that I'm a throw it on and go kinda girl after I opened with that ramble). In real life the red is richer and darker and kind of redder? I like it. 5 stars, purl bee, 5 stars. 

Ravelry deets and the same awkward picture here.

Crafty Me 6/31 - Tiny Dinosaur

This one is old and I really must get better at recording these things, especially when they're related to dinosaurs. I made this costume for Pai for her 4th birthday, back in April using a pattern lent to me by one of her former preschool teachers. The pattern allows for all sorts of modifications (bear/lion/mouse) but it's from the early 90's from what I can tell and it all smells a bit too much of my own childhood. That combined with Pai's dedication to all things dinosaur, made it an easy choice.

I love handmade gifts and I love the idea of making from scratch, buying as little as possible brand-new and those nice things but let's be real. I need sleep too much to be one of those mamas. I'm not being a hater, if you want to make all your children's toys from nothing but a toothpick and blu-tack then go right ahead. All I'm saying is that despite the fact that I like to make stuff, I work full time and so 9 times out of 10, I'm going to choose sleep over lovingly hand stitching "made by mum" labels into the collars of clothing I made with my own bare hands.

Here's some photographic evidence that I made something that my kid really likes. She is wearing dinosaur slippers on her feet in a public place because I cannot say no to a kid in a dinosaur costume.

mid rawr

Til next time, I'm going to go make stuff to bed now.

5/31 - Crafty me. Kid bear cowl hood thing

So this is pretty freaken cute. A cowl, with a hood, with ears. Am I right in saying that adding animal ears to anything makes it automatically 77% cuter?

After an unexpected bereavement on R's side of the family, I found myself packing Edie's bag for a flight to Te Wai Pounamu, or the South Island of NZ. It's cold down there and as I folded teeny tees and underpants I realise my poor neglected child didn't have an appropriate winter hat. We had a too-small leftover from the year before and a couple of other cute numbers that I loved and Edie did not and so I decided to whip this up using a pattern purchased via ravelry and wool I had lying around (hoping that what I had was enough because running out of wool when I'm 90% finished a project is pretty much the story of my crafting life).

Edie likes it, wears it (the true test of success is whether contrary preschoolers accept or moodily reject finished projects) and only sometimes throws it aside in annoying places. -like that time we dropped off our rental car and were heading towards departures to check in for our flight home and I notice she wasn't wearing her hood. It was still in the rental car and Edie didn't mention that she left it behind because "she wasn't actually very cold".

Ravelry deets here.

Crafty Me 3/31 - dual tone cowl

A finished thing!  Are you proud? This one has actually been complete for a few weeks and I've managed it wear it multiple times without taking any pictures.  Crafty blogger fail.

Anyway, here are some crappy cellphone pictures of Edie in my new cowl (crappy cell pics are fast becoming a theme here, hmm). I was wearing it but there was another sun shiny "downpour" on our 3 block walk home so I handed it over, as one does when their precious child fears sustaining a drop of water on the head

Today my smallest offspring has a teacher only day which is preschool teacher code for "we have so much power we can pull the rug out from under your feet whenever we want don't ever forget it new staff induction and mihi whakatau be damned". But truthfully, I love Pai's daycare and her teachers and actually I just wish that the working world was a bit easier on parents.

So all that to say that after a brief adventure to mama's mahi, the small kid and I have the day ahead of us with out any plans. Which is a lie actually. First we have to get the 4 year check and vaccinations done and THEN the day is our oyster.

I think that post jab, we're going to need lollie pops (both) and cookies (her) and hot caffienated beverages (me). Once these needs have been met there's a high chance of craft on the horizon. Ooh! That reminds me, last night I finished a blanket that was 11 months in the making. I'll save sharing that glorious moment for another post.

Let's look at my scarf again shall we? Also: Ravelry deets here.

Crafty me 4/31 - The blanket

This one deserves a moment of silence for the momentus occasion that is its completion... (everyone else paused here, right?) aaaand let's continue. This is the project I began when I started my full time job last year. 

It's no secret that I'm a bus crafter, I like to have a commuters project on me for my 40 minute bus ride at each end of my work day. This blanket, however quickly became too large to be taken on my daily ride and so after a good start (such energy!  Such intention! Such a short attention span!) It became something of a drag. I'd pick it up and work a few rows while watching a movie but often found other important things  my hands needed to do (like eat popcorn, priorities) that impeded my progress. To consider making a blanket as large as this as a first blanket is probably not the smartest thing when you are quick to give your love to new smaller projects. I'm a sucker for the gratification that comes with a quick easy pattern and so my relationship with this blanket was very troubled with much on again/off again.

which makes this finished product one of my absolute favourites. It's beautiful and it shows I have stick-at-it-ness. If that's not a win-win I don't know what is.

Let's have a look at her shall we?

2/31 DIY Needle Felted Pom-Poms - A Kinda Tutorial

We live in one of those houses that has a LOT of white walls. This is mostly cool with me, white is a good base to decorate and add colour to and it looks nice and bright. The one (teeny tiny) part of this whare that I'm not a fan of is the toilet ( we're talking about a separate toilet and bathroom here). It's a litte white cell with no character or personality and because it's tucked away at the back of the house we've pretty ignored much it (apart from the obvious necessities). It gets cleaned and used and that's about it. 

I decided to try and make this yucky little claustrophobia-inducing space a little bit pretty. The beginning is this pom-pom garland but I have a few more ideas (brightly coloured crochet lace curtains and some kind of wall art perhaps).

As I do with most things, I figured this out as I went along and hoped for the best.  It really was the quickest, easiest afternoon project, I didn't have to restart it a single time!

If you're familiar with needle felting already then you probably don't need a how-to but if you're not here's a quick run down of how I made my garland. Be warned, this is the cheap, figure it out as you go along guide to making felt pom-poms. If you want a proper tutorial with pictures and correct official instructions and terminology, I suggest you go put those words into a search engine because I don't do those things here. Disclaimer aside, here we go: 

1. Take your needle felting needle, which probably has a proper name but I'm not one for technical terms when you all know what I mean anyway. Needle felting needles look like this and are really sharp. Don't go poking yourself in the fingertip with these ones if you can avoid it.
2. Take your needle felting wool, which again, has a proper name that I don't know. It looks like this but you really only need to grab off a little bit of it, don't use a whole big bunch like in those images.
3. Take a large piece of foam or sponge to put under your work - this helps to avoid stabbing yourself with those sharp needles I mentioned.
4. Roll your wool into a vaguely round shaped ball and start stabbing at it with your needle. Needle felting needles have little grooves on the sides of them which catch the wool fibres and kind of mix them and smash them all together to create this wonderfully dense felted thing. 
5. You'll notice as you go that the more you stab, the denser the area gets so you're going to want to roll your work around in your hand so that you can stab it evenly all over for an even, smooth surface. 
6. If your pom-pom is feeling a little small, or a bit lopsided, tear off some more of that felting wool and place it against the part of your work you want to join it to and stab some more. The stabbing will again, mash those fibres up into one lovely mess of a thing that is hopefully looking circular by now. If not, stab where you want it to shrink and add more wool where you want it to grow. Stab more to smooth it all out. 
7. Repeat until you have a nice pile of felted pom poms to make into a garland. I made 9 in navy and purple because those are the colours I had sitting around. 
8. When your pom poms are stabbed to satisfaction (very therapeutic this needle felting thing, hey?), thread a needle (a regular hand sewing or darning needle) with the yarn or thread of your choosing (or whatever you have lying around, like me) and push that sucker through the centre of your pom-poms. 
9. You can knot the space in the thread next to your pom-poms if they don't feel snug enough to stay put but mine didn't need this so I skipped it. 

And you're done! Super quick, super easy and super likely to make all the felting gurus out there cringe a whole bunch. I think if there was a needle felting god, I would totally be banned from needle felting heaven because of my sins against wool fibre crafts.

About 31

Whether or not anyone has noticed or not, I thought I'd share what the 31 project thing is all about. If not for nothing else than to get it clear inside my head. So here's the run down

• I turn 31 this year. In September. I am completely comfortable with this. I'm mostly not scared of ageing and feel better in my 30 year old skin than I ever did at 21. 

• In June last year I was a full-time Stay at Home Maker. I had 2 busy online stores and stocked multiple shops as well. I was always creating.

• I went to work outside the home in July.

• After starting my new job and once our family had adjusted to the massive upheaval that it was, I had mega makers burnout. I was uninspired and lacked any kind of motivation to be creative

• Now, 9 months later I'm ready to be creative again but I still need to push myself at times to make it happen. I get enormous satisfaction from making stuff but between 2 kids, a full time job, study (I study te reo Māori and attend night classes) and a partner, creativity gets pushed aside all of the times out of 10.

I decided during my (wonderful, wonderful) 10 day holiday break in January that I was going to get my craft on in 2015 and the idea of completing 31 projects before 31 seemed achievable (seemed being a key word here). Being creative is where I find my shiny happy (not the only place I find it but yeah) so I decided to make it a priority for myself.

And that's it, 31 before 31. That's the plan anyways...

Crafty Me 1/31 - Tohorā Nui

Wellington can be a cruel cruel city and the winters are windy and wild. I love this place but you do need the right clothing for the weather in this here city. This is especially important for the littlest people, who can be the most vulnerable during the cold months. 

I had a lot of input from my littlest for the design of this one. We looked at patterns together but ultimately Pai just wanted a purple hoodie with a gray tohorā (whale). This was more than a little daunting as I've never knit anything more complicated than this cardigan which was all one piece and was completed just in time for E to outgrow it. 

I used very technical techniques and drafted a graph for the whale on my son's old maths book pages and really just went with my gut and did what felt like made sense. The result is a little messy and so perhaps next time I attempt something like this I'll consider doing some proper research and learn some actual technical techniques. 

You can tell I haven't blocked it yet when you look at that wavy ribbing  - Tricks and guides to blocking handknits (the wool is superwash) very welcome!

Find this project on ravelry if you're so inclined.

A Shiny Happy Crafty Un-beginning

In an effort not to write one of those awkward introduction posts (you know the ones that feel like the writer got put on the spot and has to introduce themselves to large group of people?), I'm just going to get straight into it. Just pretend like I've been doing this for years and I already know you and you already know me and we'll skip that part. 

A proper blog post about proper things to follow.