St. Tropez Tunic

I started this project a while ago but I finally finished my first crochet top. I used a pattern from my favorite crochet magazine Interweave Crochet, this pattern came from the Summer 2012 issue. The pattern is St. Tropez Tunic by Christina Mershon the pattern can be purchased as the digital edition of the magazine here for $6.99. I ended up using a vintage/discontinued yarn for this pattern and I almost ran out so I had to adjust the pattern a little but not enough to cause much of a difference. The yarn I used is Red Heart Lustersheen in Blue Ming, Red Heart still makes Lustersheen but I have no idea if it is the same as the one that I was using. To give you and idea of how old the yarn is it came from a store called Sprouse-Rietz which changed its name in to Sprouse! in 1989. So this yarn was made sometime before 1989, lucky me it have been working with a yarn that is as old as me if not older.

 The only modification that I did was the finishing seem on the shoulder, I ran out of yarn so I wasn't able to do 10 single crochet rows and instead I did 8 rows and slip stitched the seam closed.

 The tunic is comprised of 38 full motifs, 10 half motifs, and 4 quarter motifs. Here is one of the motifs close up.

 Here is the tunic all pinned and stretched out to dry.

Enjoy!

Lovers Knot Scarf

After seeing some pictures of a different kind of stitch/technique for crocheting I set out to make a new scarf. The Lover's Knot is sometimes also called Solomon's Knot, I fell in love with the way it looked so I hunted for a pattern that I could use. I came across a pattern called the Love Knot Scarf by Lucy Croft on Ravelry.com it is a free PDF pattern that I downloaded and went to look for a yarn in my stash that would work. I settled on this organic cotton, Nature's Choice Organic Cotton by Lion Brand Yarn in Strawberry. I only took a couple of photos but here is the scarf

I probably should have used a more delicate yarn or different hook size but I still think it looks great for my first try at it.

January Scrapbooking Class

I know this is really late but I forgot about my January scrapbooking pages because the February class had been cancelled and this month has been really crazy and hectic. The first layout I have to show is travelled themed and it going to come in handy next month when we head to Paris. The second layout it a really cute spring one and the last layout is a kitchen/recipe layout.

France Travel Layout

 

Exploring Spring 2013

 Recipe Layout

December's Scrapbooking Class

December's scrapbooking class was fun, we only had two people show but that just gave us time to chat and get to know each other better.

So here are the layouts we did this time

Spring Butterflies

Valentine's Day

 Christmas Ornaments

 

Travel Jewelry Roll

I was looking into making one of these since I found out that we will more than likely be PCSing to Germany. The only problem was that I couldn't find one that I really liked so I designed my own.
 

The top portion has 5 ribbon loops to hook necklaces and bracelets through.

The middle section is a ring holder that snaps off at one end.

The bottom section is a large pouch that closes with Velcro, I didn't feel like buying anything to make this so I used some green Velcro that I use to fix my husband's uniforms. I use the the pocket to put bangles and small bags. I also use the front of the pocket to stick some of my stud earrings in if I don't have bags for them.

The ribbon that is used to tie it up can also be used to hang it from a hook if you want to use it as a everyday jewelry holder.

Here it is all rolled up. The really nice thing about this is it has a layer of batting in it. The padding will help protect the your jewelry when it is in your luggage.

Scrapbooking Class

To get out and meet new people I signed up for a scrapbooking class offered by the USO. This class was quite interesting considering I have been scrapbooking for years now and due to the move I didn't have any of my supplies with me. The one nice thing is that for $20 they provided a all the supplies needed to create three two-page layout designs.

I was a little disappointed when I saw that the layouts were not Christmas themed as I had hoped but they were still cute none the less.

Here we have the  News Years layout with a pocket to stick all your resolutions in.

Next up is the Saint Patrick's Day layout

Lastly we have an adorable Easter layout. Sorry about the quality of the last picture, for some reason it wouldn't photograph well at all.

Of the three my favorite was the St. Patrick's Day one and I can see myself doing similar layouts in the future. I plan on continuing the classes every month so look forward to next months layouts.

Amigurumi Elephant

*Pattern moved from Zorabell's Average Life*

Elephant

Materials:

K hook, I hook

Worsted weight yarn

2 safety eyes

Stuffing

Yarn needle

BODY- using K hook
Start with the magic circle, working in a spiral pattern, mark the beginning of each row with a stitch marker
Row 1-Chain 1, sc 6 - 6 sts Leave a 6 inch yarn tail and do not weave in (will come in handy later ;) )
Row 2- 2 sc in each sc, around- 12 sts
Row 3- * Sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc * rep from * around - 18 sts
Row 4-* Sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc * rep from * around. - 24 sts
Row 5- * Sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc * rep from * around. - 30 sts
Row 6- * Sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc * rep from * around. - 36 sts
Row 7- 19 - Sc in each sc around - 36 sts
Row 20 - * Sc in next 4 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts * rep from * around. - 30 st
Row 21 -* Sc in next 3 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts * rep from * around. - 24 sts
Row 22- * Sc in next 2 sts, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts * rep from * around - 18 sts
Make sure to leave a long tail for sewing,

HEAD- using K hook
working in a spiral pattern, mark the beginning of each row with a stitch marker
Chain 18 close into a ring with a sl st in first ch
Row 1- * Sc in next ch, 2 sc in next ch * rep from * around -27 sts
Row 2- * Sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc * rep from * around. - 36 sts
Row 3-5- Sc in each sc around - 36 sts
Row 6- * Sc in next 4 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts * rep from * around. - 30 sts
Row 7 -* Sc in next 3 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts * rep from * around. - 24 sts
Row 8- * Sc in next 2 sts, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts * rep from * around - 18 sts
Row 9- * Sc in next sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sc * rep from * around - 12 sts
Row 10- Dec 1 sc in next 2 sts * rep from * around. ( 6 sc ).
Row 11- Dec 1 sc in next 2 sts, sl st in next st. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave length through last rnd of sts, draw tight to close opening and secure.

LEGS (make 4)- Using I hook
Start with the magic circle, working in a spiral pattern
Row 1-Chain 1, sc 6 - 6 sts
Row 2- 2 sc in each sc, around- 12 sts
Row 3 -11 Sc in each sc around - 12 sts
sl st in next sc at end of last rnd, fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing

Ears (make 2)- Using I hook
Chain 5
Row 1- 2 sc in 2nd chain from hook, sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in last ch, ch 1, turn- 6 sts
Row 2- 2 sc in first sc, sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in last sc, ch 1, turn- 8 sts
Row 3- 2 sc in first sc, sc in next 2 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in last sc, ch 1, turn- 9 sts
Row 4- 2 sc in first sc, sc in next 2 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in last sc, ch 1, turn- 10 sts
Row 5- 2 sc in first sc, sc in next 3 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts, sc in next 4 sc, ch 1, turn- 10 sts
Row 6- 2 sc in first sc, sc in next 3 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts, sc in next 4 sc- 10 sts
bind off and leave a long tail for sewing

Trunk- Using I hook
using a magic circle
Row 1- Chain 1, sc 5 - 5 sts
Row 2- 2 sc in each sc, around- 10 sts
Row 3-7- sc in each sc around- 10 sts
Row 8-10- sc in next 4 sc, dec 1 sc in next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sc, sc in next 4 sc- 10 sts
Row 11- *sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc * rep from * around- 12 sts
Row 12- *sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc * rep from * around- 14 sts
Row 13-14- sc in each sc around- 14 sts
bind off and leave a long tail for sewing

Tail
Before stuffing the body pull the starting tail to the inside and make a good size knot at the base, then using the yarn needle thread it back through the center hole. The knot should keep it anchored nicely. Then depending on how long you wish the elephants tail to be make a knot 1/2 inch to the end.

Assembly
Stuff the body as firm as you would like. Then before stuffing the head sew the trunk to head, roughly in the center. Next place the eyes evenly above the trunk and attach them. Stuff the head to the same firmness as the body and sew the body and head together. Next attach the legs to the underside of the body evenly. Next attach the ears to both sides of area where the body and head meet up. Weave in all ends an voila! Elephant!!! Enjoy!!!