I have a list as long as my arm of blankets and other projects like that to get through for the Holiday season. My choice though because I love crochet these days Love love love love.

So pardon me if I talk about it often enough on my Friday spot ha ha. My current project which I have four panels of probably 6 (maybe 7) done is an Ombre blanket. Now yes I am using double crochet and I will expand my stitches at some point but I want to make sure I can play with the basics. Here is the Ombre so far.

The blues:

The Purples:

The combined:

This is my favorite so far overall. Now don’t get me wrong I am totally in love with the Loki blanket I made for myself but this is really making me in love. I hope the person who it is for likes it as much as I do. What does everyone else think?

Happy Friday and it is back to my attempts at doing a weekly craft talk, I know ,I know who cares Lady, well I do so deal with it ( ha ha ha). I just finished my the blanket for myself that I have been making it is in the softening bath and don’t worry when it is fully done there will be pictures it is very large, King size perhaps? I didn’t really measure, I just made it into what I wanted and would be comfortable.

I am going to be going back to some of the gifts I have to make for the Holiday season never to early to start particularly when you are planning on making a great deal of full size blankets! Then I also am going to make use of a book that a friend gave me. I am so pleased with it, I truly am, maybe even a little bit giddy at the prospect. Some things may even turn up in Etsy maybe, possibly, but otherwise I am just going to enjoy the making!

Well with all of my project and craft work it seems like I had a lot of projects going on at once and who knew if I would get anyone done. Well I did not get my blanket done but I got one that is a gift done and I think it turned out pretty good. I can see where I need to make a few technique improvements but overall I am happy with how it turned out.

Since I have become a crochet person now everyone wants a blanket or scarf, which is fine I am having fun learning my skills and everything.

So here is the most recent project I am working on with what I call “Amby” squares. I made Granny squares and I didn’t like how much “room” there was I wanted something warmer for the moment for my blankets. This is the start of a blanket I am making for K and his favorite football team is the Cowboys. I have the blue squares and pewter ones I will be doing as well and all trimmed in white.
Ya like?

With Feb coming to a close it is time to start looking towards March! March already can you fathom it! I know I can’t the year seems to be flying by already and boy oh boy roll on April! Big trip for me in April! I digress however, so Saint Patricks day is coming and I being of Irish nature like to celebrate. But I also being of craft and frugal nature am not a huge fan of paying a lot of money for one holiday. One of my favorite things to do is make some little centerpieces and coming up with new ideas for them can always be fun.

While in general sometimes this holiday chaps on me because of all the high priced things people feel the need to buy and the jacked up flower prices, I am not bitter about the holiday either. In fact my Valentines this year has been rather lovely so who am I to complain? But always keep in mind just because you might not be able to buy something expensive for someone on Valentines you can still do something meaningful.

A handmade card:

A handmade wreath:

A handmade tasty treat!

Friday is the day I dedicate to shouting out about crafts and the projects I am working on. This week however I am going to stop and give a shout out to my friend Melda. She has been creating some beautiful pieces lately and I am so glad to see her doing it again. Melda has started creating (finally! yeah I had to give a little rib) for the Bastet’s Creations store both on ETSY and CRAFTSTAR.

I can only take credit in helping out a little bit and helping with names. These are all her work.

So last Friday I talked about the fact that I am getting into new and old crafts. Well I worked on mu stitches and worked on my projects and finally while it took a while I got my very first full scarf done in crochet. The picture above is the finished result and below here I will post some of the progress shots I made throughout the process. It is not perfect by any means but I am really happy with how it turned out. It is a scarf, it looks like a scarf and I made it with my own two little hands.

My next project is going to be a three colored Scarf in Loki color scheme.

In the whole spirit of a new year and new things as well as the fact that I have once again started on Etsy and am also selling on The Craft Star, I am picking up some new crafts and some old ones again.

First thing first I used to make things on the bead loom when I was younger and I find that I am missing it. Besides that I think now I could make some detailed and pretty Egyptian designs to add to my shops. It has been a long time but I can feel the design ideas flaring to life in my mind.

Also being the reader that I am, and we all know how much I do read (whew) I wanted to start making some bookmarks. I am going to start with some shepherds hook designs and go from there. I hope that I have some skill at it I have some nice tools that I got. From there perhaps I will even be able to create necklaces, bracelets and other pretty jewelry things.

Last but not least..crochet. I have done some in the past but never been able to truly find what I would call my way in order to make something real and you know solid. SO I am buckling down and going to try that first project I am hoping to make is just a simple scarf.

Wish me luck!

Wow it is Friday already, the first one of the new year. I have been doing pretty good so far this year (only three days in but I take it as a victory!) on staying on top of most of my blog duties. I have not yet set a mail challenge for this year but I plan to give it a little thought and will take care of it this weekend. As well as some other clean up and such work. With that out of the way, time to take a look at the Friday Crafty corner..and today I am focusing on what you can do with kids. Winter break (almost over I know) and Winter in general can be tough especially with cold snaps like those coming to some this weekend (I had to attach a picture!) so here are some crafts you can do with the kids to keep them occupied.

Starry, Starry Night

A real snowflake can be hard to catch, but with these toilet-paper rolls disguised as sparkly, snowy crystals, the kids can hang on to ‘em forever!

Good for ages: 4 and up

What you’ll need:
– empty toilet paper rolls (each roll makes about one star)
– scissors
– white paint
– glue
– clothespins
– white glitter

How to make it: Grab some old toilet paper rolls, and cut them into ¾” rings. Glue the tips of five rings together, and use a clothespin to hold them together as they dry. Then paint each one white. While it’s still wet, sprinkle with glitter to get the Christmas shimmer of a starry night.

You should be able to get or 6 rings (the almost look like leaves or petals from a flower)

2. Dab some glue on the tip of the ring as such and adhere it to another ring.

3. Use a clothes pin to help them dry and stay together

4. Do this all the way around until you have your desired shape (5 rings make a star and 6 make a flower). Let dry completely.

6. Sprinkle it with glitter lay it out on wax paper or somewhere clean, cool, and dry and let dry for an hour.

7. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and enjoy the work you did.

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