Purple Chair Crochet

Monday, February 18, 2013

Creativity is...

...messy.
And comes in shades of greens and blues.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

The Dress

Here it is.

The Dress.

The Dress is a vintage pattern from the 1960s. See?

Crochet Dress Pattern PDF Vintage Goddess Dress 169 from WonkyZebra

So cute! So simple! And, little did I know, so fast and easy to create! WonkyZebra has oodles of vintage patterns. I ordered this, the "Goddess Dress" and the PDF arrived in my gmail account by the time I next checked it. She included some helpful notes on yarn weight, UK to US conversion (slightly different stitch lingo), and vintage hooks and their contemporary sizes. This was my first dress, and my first vintage pattern and one of my first patterns from the UK, so you can imagine how immensely thankful I was for all the tips- without which this could have easily turned into a disaster of a project.

Armed with my pattern, my notes, a tape measure for accuracy, my hook and 3 skeins of cotton yarn (yes, less than $10 in yarn!) I got to work.

I could have finished it in 2 evenings (yes, it's that fast), but I noticed an error and had to frog out a few rows (rawr!!). But, the pattern is so easy, it wasn't a big deal. I pushed onward, and last night it was d-o-n-e.

Everyone needs dirty mirror bathroom pictures of themselves on the internet. It's a rite of passage.

You can see my sheath here. I was fretting over what to wear with it. Then I remembered I had a dress that came with one barely sewn into it. I snipped it out and -voila!- just a hem away from being ready to wear.

As you can see, the lighting was poor today. It's snowing/raining/grossing outside. My goal this week is to retake these pictures on a sunny day and update this blog post. Someone hold me to it!!

So, if you have...
~ medium size crochet hook (you'll have to work with a few to get accurate tension. I went with a 5mm, despite the pattern recommending a 4.5mm)
~ scissors
~ yarn needle
~ tape measure
~ 3-4 skeins of worsted weight yarn
~ an Etsy account
and
~ an email address
then,
you can make The Dress, too!

...I'm still wearing mine. =P

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Inspired Crochet Magazine, February 2013

Wow! I've been included in the February issue of "Inspired Crochet Magazine". Wonderful news!

Do you see my pattern? The teensy little African Violet from the Flower Pot Series. It's a favorite of mine. :)

This issue of Inspired Crochet is available for purchase by following this link: Inspired Crochet Magazine, February 2013. Happy hooking!

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Avocado Doily (Finished!)

I've been hoarding my Avocado Yarn for, uh, awhile now. Finally, in an effort to do something (we've been sickies over here for most of January), I pulled out my hooks, my avocado-yarn and a pretty pattern I've had stuck up on my wall in my studio.

Boom. Beautiful doily, complete.

But I had yarn left, and these colors are too perfect with my couch , so I went all out and made 3. I have a thing for motifs.

Now that you're all smitten with doily fever, here's where I have to, sadly, inform you that I have no idea where this pattern is from. I printed it years ago... I do remember that it was free... and it's in Japanese. SO.

Here's your close up of the visual pattern. It's incredibly easy to follow, and if you're not familiar with visual patterns, this is a good one to start with. To start off, check out this link... The Craft Yarn Council's Crochet Chart Symbols . They even offer a PDF, so you can download and print and keep it handy as a quick reference. Oh, internet, you are so wonderful.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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So, if you want to make your own Sunburst squares, click on this highlighted mess for your FREE pattern.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Sunburst Cushion (finished)

When a deadline looms, I generally manifest my stress by completing a random and entirely unnecessary project. Meet: The Sunburst Cushion.

The Sunburst Granny Square Pattern has been getting a lot of views the last few days. It's been awhile since I made any, and I missed them. Plus, since the Sunburst Granny Blanket was a gift, I didn't have any but my pattern example around the house. One measly Sunburst. That was it! Clearly something needed to be done, and of course it could not be put off, despite more important things to be hooking (Curious? I bet you are).

The back of the Sunburst Cushion is a nod to this Vintage Vibed mandala I made on request for a friend's birthday gift. I particularly like the color distribution.

The button closure is required because I live with small children. Everything must be washable! (Let the people say: Amen.)

The colors all mix nicely with my quite colorful living room, and they especially pop next to the ugly chair.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Saturday, January 5, 2013

A Wee Bit Ugly (Inspiration)

I dedicate this blog post to my mom (Hi, Mom!), who wanted to see pictures of my new old couch.

I recently bought a couch. An ugly couch. That's okay- that's the point. It's ugly. And it's mine. It all started when my charming husband and I happened across this ~~beautiful~~ ugly chair in an antique shop about....6 years ago.

We christened it, "The Ugly Chair" and toted it with us from duplex, to rented house, to apartment complex to, finally, our home.

Then a few months ago, we came across another ~~beauty~~ ugly...

This one is soooooo cozy! So so SO cozy. I can't even.... it swivels, and it rocks. It's perfectly proportioned for shorties like me (5'2"). It's amazing. Whoops, I'm gushing. More here.

Our mantel. Joy. :)
I don't know why this picture is involved...
Where was I again?
OH, but here it is.... the gorgeous new old ugly sofa!!

We found it on Craig's list where it was listed for sale at a new-to-us thrift store, which also happened to be the cleanest thrift store I've ever walked into. Immaculate.

And since this is a "Saturday at Home" post, I started wandering around with the camera in hand, snapping pictures of things that caught my fancy. African Violet, anyone?

My "octagon" bathmat.... it ended up more circular than I was going for.

A close up, complete with foot crumbs (it is a bathmat, after all).

Window plants silhouettes.... the leeks are going for it, but the sweet potatoes.... not so much. The basil is in the empty pot (bottom left) and I just saw the tiniest little sprout poking through today. Welcome to the world, little Basil!

As promised, my "genie slippers". They're actually the Granny Square Slippers via the purl bee and they're comfy and snug and a wee bit ugly (I'm okay with that, remember?).

Oh, and have a look at this.... a newly started flower pot. There's actually a bit of Big News revolving around this one. But you're just going to have to stay tuned, because I'm no where near ready to get into the details.

Hope you all had a beautiful/ugly day!

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess
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