Not My Project

Sometimes, I like to do crafts with Dot and Lucy when they come to visit.  Today, since it is Halloween, I decided to make ghosts with them.  I found the idea online, but because I couldn't get it to work the way it showed, I adapted it to my own design.  The kids did the rest.  I helped Ezra make his and the one I made to show as a model is going to be Annie's.  Here they are, four little ghosts, sitting on a post...well, not really, but that is how the song goes.

Ghost 1: Ezra's, Ghost 2: Lucy's, Ghost 3: Dot's, and Ghost 4: Annie's

To do this project, we used sticky back felt for the feet and pipe cleaners to connect the feet up into an inverted plastic cup that had been stuffed with Kleenex.  Just a little bit of stuffing was hot glue gunned to the top of the cup to round off the head a bit and to hold the material on.  We used glue dots to put on the googlie eyes and the kids drew the faces.  I also hot glued the cup to the feet so they would hold together and not just fall off when they picked the ghost up. I think they are pretty cute.

Oh, This is Sooooooo Hard!

I am trying to do something new.  I have had an order for an infinity scarf that is crocheted.  I haven't done a lot of crocheting, and I could not find the pattern online like it said it could be found.  I looked at it and decided that it was a braided treble crochet.  I thought it looked like four strands, so I proceeded to make four strands of 300 stitches in treble crochet.  I braided it, and it just didn't look right and I wasn't very happy with the color.  I decided to go buy a different color and try again. I was able to go online again and get some partial explanation from someone who had also tried to make the scarf.  I found out that it was double crochet and that the braid was five strands of 70 inches each.  I have never braided with five strands, so I went online again to find out how.  I found some nice instructions for braiding with five strands on You Tube.  Well, crocheting goes fast, so I was able to complete the five strands very quickly.  However, because I have not crocheted much, my tension was not completely even and so two of the strands were slightly shorter than the other two.  That caused a bit of difficulty when it came time to tie in the braid, since it is an infinity scarf. Well, it is done, and it doesn't look too bad, though it does not look nearly as nice as the one in the picture.  Rhonda is a rather classy gal, so I hope she will be happy with it.  However, if she is not happy with it, she does not have to buy it.  I need to have complete satisfaction for my products before I let someone pay me for them.  I do my best, but since I am not a professional, and I have had no formal training, I need to know that the article I am making meets the satisfaction of the customer.

I always have a difficult time capturing a nice shot of my product.  This is the best I could do with this scarf. It doesn't really show the braid very well, but it does look nice.

I now have to tackle another difficult project for Rhonda.  She has also requested a pull over sweater with very large sleeves and a big loose turtle neck.  It is also crocheted.  I have looked at the picture, and I think I will be able to come up with a pattern in knitting that will look very similar to it.  I hope I can do it.  I'll do my best.  Here's hoping.  She is willing to pay me well for it, so I want to make her very happy.

Socks for Kim

Kim certainly loves my socks, so she asks for them just about every year.  She wears them so much that they wear out on her.  Here is the latest pair.  I can actually say that this is probably the first pair of socks I have made that I have not made some big mistake that needs to be taken out and done over.  I had not made socks in a while, so I am surprised at how fast I was able to do them.  It took me about three days to make one sock.

I usually use the self striping wool yarn for socks, but I tried the cotton one this time.  It seems a little stronger and may last longer for her.  At least, that is what I am hoping for. 

I just received an order for some new things, so I am anxious to get started on the projects.  I do plan to make another pair of the wool socks for Kim, but that will be after I complete my two new projects.  I have been asked to duplicate a sweater pull over and a scarf.  Both are really crocheted, but I plan on trying to convert the sweater to knit.  I am going to attempt to crochet the scarf, since it looks like it is just double crocheted strips that are wove like a basket. I think I can do it.  I tried a small swatch last night to see if my plan would work, and I think I am good to go.  I also have to come up with my own patterns, since I have just seen pictures online of what they look like.

A Couple of Good Guys

Joey and Ellis were able to get together the other night and put on their Halloween costumes to play around for awhile.  Here they are, posing as a couple of good guys.  Joey did not have his beard that was shown in my previous post.

Joey as a beardless Obi-Wan-Kenobi and Ellis as Batman.

Obi-Wan-Kenobi and Ariel

I just finished the last two costumes.  The Ariel costume was a trial and error type of thing.  I really had to come up with the pattern on my own.  I started by making a simple jump suit like I had with the other costumes.  I covered the legs with the net to make it look fishy. I planned to just add fins with the net material on the sides of the legs.  I could see that that was not going to be enough to make it look like a fish tail, so I made a shape of the body and the tail with the net and made a front and a back.  I thought I would just sew those together and it would look okay, but it was too sheer and the legs showed through.  I decided to cut that same shape out of the green material and put the net over it.  It worked perfectly.  However, it was too short.  That is when I came up with the idea to add the ruffle to the bottom.  I think it finally came out right.  Lexi really wanted to have the shells top, so I just used some shiny pink material with some sheer blue over it.  I made it look like a bikini top.  It works.

Joey as Obi-Wan-Kenobi.

Back of Obi-Wan-Kenobi.

Obi-Wan-Kenobi with hood up and holding an invisible light sabre.

Lexi makes a very adorable Ariel.

Backside of Ariel.

Another cute shot.

Finally, Halloween costumes are finished.  The Christmas pillows and covers are also finished. I am now working on making a winter brimmed hat that I can wear.  I have it knitted.  Now, I have to add the plastic canvas to the brim to make it stiff and add the buttons on the band strap.  I started to make a matching scarf, but it is going to take some time to get it finished. If I don't have any more projects come up, I will just continue to work on it.

Costumes for Zoe & Jackson

I visited my son and his family this past weekend.  I decided that it would be a good thing to make costumes for Zoe and Jackson since I have never done that before.  Mindy loved the idea, so I asked what they wanted to be and came home.  I started right away.  First, I had to go to the store to get the material that I would need to make them.  I needed to make a pink kitty and Spiderman costume.  While I was working on cutting out the costumes, I decided to also cut out Joey's and Lexi's costumes.  Joey is going to be Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars and Lexi is going to be Ariel from The Little Mermaid.  I worked all afternoon on Sunday and finished cutting all four costumes.  Today, I sewed all day and managed to get two finished.  I needed to do Zoe's and Jackson's first so that I can get them packaged and sent.  I want to be sure they will get them in time.  I will finish the other two later this week.  I need to have them done by the 25th for the Trunk-or-treat activity at church that night. Here are the finished costumes.

I had to draw all the webs on the red material. I got the spider pattern from online and I bought the mask and gloves.

I decided to make the headband ears instead of a hood, and have Zoe wear her hair down long. Tom will paint the face.

Surprise! Surprise! Costumes

Well, I didn't think I could sew without my glasses, but I ended up giving it a try anyway.  My sister-in-law was heading to Maine and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get the costumes up there for Portia and Ellis, just in case we don't make it up before Halloween.  I found out she was going and had just one day to complete them if I wanted them done for her to take them with her.  I got right to work on them first thing Wed. morning and worked on them all day until 12:30 a.m.  I got them all finished, except for the hems in the batman costume because I didn't know how long to make them.  I probably should have just done them, but it was late and I figured his mom could finish that part for me.  My biggest challenge was in cutting out the patterns.  I had to come up with a design for Portia's jack-o-lantern.  I didn't know for sure if my plan would work, but I think it is going to be just fine.  I had a bit of a problem getting the points on the cape for batman, but I think it will work.  I wish it was longer, but it will have to do.  Ellis is getting so tall that I am afraid it will not reach much lower than his bottom end.  Here's my end results.

I stuffed the head so that the hood would show up better.  I used a plastic mask and sewed it onto the hood.  Then, I sewed the hood to the cape.  The ears look a little thin from this angle, but they look good from the side.

Between the hat and the pumpkin, there will be the cute little face of Portia.

I had a request for round eyes and a triangle nose.  The mouth was supposed to be a smile. The pumpkin is lined and stuffed in between.  The bottom has an elastic so that it can just slip over her head and onto her body.  She will be wearing a black sweatshirt and pants under the pumpkin.