FO: The Ever Elusive Hurricane Hat I Made 4 Months Ago

Hurrican Hat, originally uploaded by jennlikesyarn.

I wasn't going to blog about such a tiny accomplishment, but I'm so frustrated at things right now that if I don't concentrate on something else, I'm going to hurl, lol. So let's tackle this moment of anger together and talk about knitting. Ooo saaaaahhhhh... oooooo sahhhh.

I finished this marvelous Hurricane Hat [rav link] on the last day of Memorial Day Weekend. This is where you ask me if I've confused Memorial Day with Labor Day. Nope, I'm not confused - just incredibly behind on blogging! Yes indeed, I finished this hat at the end of May and it got gobbled up by my craft room until this past weekend (when I found it stashed away at the bottom of a box).

It's a pity that I lose such pretty things because I really was in love with this hat and am so happy to have it back!

I made it out of some Noro Kureyon [rav link] that I'd received in a long-ago swap. It had been on my wish list for quite some time, but I could never justify spending the money on such a small skein of yarn. Imagine my surprise when I opened my swap package to find this inside! And with all my favorite colors!

I absolutely love the subtle color changes and its overall texture. It is a bit scratchy for me, but beauty is suffering, haha. So no doubt I will be sporting my new hat all winter long.

Perhaps the biggest issue was finding a hat pattern that required such little yarn. Indeed, skeins of Noro do not include plentiful amounts, but that was okay! I found this super quick and easy knitting pattern after doing some searching and started right away. I thought the spiral pattern would look great with the color changes, and I was right.

And now, back to fighting frustration. Do you ever feel like everything is against you sometimes? I think I just need to go home and roll around in yarn for awhile.

Oh, and coming soon: the results of my Flower Swap! I took pictures of the wonderful crocheted flowers I received over the weekend and just need to edit them when I have a free moment in 12 years past never :)

Crochet Wire Necklace with Purple Beading

So after the overload of posts a couple weeks back, I apparently decided I needed a break :)  I haven't stopped crafting, but life has gotten crazy again with the start of my Fall classes and trying to wrap my brain around managerial finance and advanced accounting.  I won't bore you with those details!

Two weekends ago, I visited ACMoore's jewelry section for the first time.  I have never been to a craft store and gotten so confused; I was beyond out of my element.  I've never made jewelry, nor have I ever cared to.  But after finding this tutorial on Ravelry, I knew I had to try!

I wound up leaving with a bunch of wire I wasn't sure was right and some findings that I didn't think would work.  I made the mistake of thinking my tacky glue would work just as well as jewelry glue, and I had no idea if the beeds I'd spent 30 minutes looking at would work well together.  On top of that, there will people milling all around me the entire time who knew what they were doing, so I felt like such a craft dunce.

When all was said and done, however, the results were great:



I really couldn't be happier with it.  Well, okay, I could.  For one thing, crocheting with wire is probably the most horrible thing I've ever done.  I tried to buy the highest gauge possible, but it still wouldn't cooperate, and I think I have a permanent dent in my finger from pressing so hard.  The clam shell doohickerys aren't attached the best way, but I think I'll do better in future necklaces now that I have experience.  Also, the spring in my cheap wire cutters keeps falling out, which posed a whole bunch of problems.

That's not going to stop me, though.  I bought more beads this weekend and plan to make a few more necklaces.  I think they look so chic and unique!  I made one for my mom, plus I wear mine all the time, and we've both received compliments on them.  Hopefully I can perfect them enough to start selling them soon.



Next on my list - finishing up four baby hat commissions for a wee one due in October.  These hats are super cute, and I'm almost done with the first one.  I can't wait to see what they look like :D

I've just been overall crafty

New tags for things I make, originally uploaded by jennlikesyarn.

I needed new tags to attach to my finished products. I just did. In the past, I've used big floppy business cards and, though cute, they just weren't cute enough for me. Everyone has business cards, so to me, they're kind of like... whatever. I wanted something more unique.

So last weekend, I made a trip to my local ACMoore (not unlike most weekends) to check out scrapbooking punches. I have a small collection, but nothing with shapes. Mine are all kinds of fancy, like a lace edger from my idol Martha Stewart. That just would not do, especially since I didn't have ones that cropped out corners in pattern.

Needless to say, I got really distracted and picked up not just a circle punch, but a scalloped circle punch. It's 1.5" and pretty freaking cute, if I say so myself.

In Illustrator, I put together a really simple circle design that says "Made with love by jennlikesyarn" and then listed my website. I then glued the printed sheet of logos to the back side of some fun scrapbook paper (don't have a heart attack - it wasn't the Mariposa stack or anything :P). Then I punched out each logo and used another punch to put a hole at the top for attaching to products.

I think the results are fabulous. You have all the information you need one side, and fun pattern on the other. In future generations, I may put an email address on there, but I think this suffices for now :)

How do you guys use tags on your products? Anything fancy? I think these are my favorites so far, and I think they're unique. What are the best tags you've seen? I love getting new ideas!

Help, I'm surrounded by too many crocheted roses!

Welcome to Day 3 of my "catching up on blogging for all the photos I took last weekend because I have had endless projects out the wazoo" series.

Today, I'm sharing some sparkly obnoxiousness for a flower swap I'm participating in.  Everyone in our group had to make two different kinds of flowers and enough for each person.  One of the requirements was that we embellish the flowers in some way, so I sprayed both flowers with fabric glitter and added bling to the blue ones.  Here's a pretty photo:



This was before I went out and purchased more posterboard to take nice-looking pictures, so I apologize for the fact the turquoise blue isn't burning holes in your retinas as it should be.  I promise, it is much brighter than the photo allows for.  But they still look pretty!  I made them on my flower loom using some new skills I had learned to make a fun "swirl" effect around the center.  You can see this effect better in my next photo:



The other flowers were some really cute rosettes I made from a Lion Brand pattern.  I really hate making rosettes, so I was thrilled to find a pattern that didn't make we want to rip my hair out.  It's fun, easy, and the results are really cute.  Plus, they give you instructions to make the roses bigger or smaller, depending on what you want, so you really don't need to worry about gauge.  Check them out:



And as thanks to Sonya for hosting this swap, I made her a little thank-you hat featuring one of those adorable rosettes! 



It's one of my latest designs I'll be selling this fall, and I've already made three with more on the way.  I'm even working on some baby ones for a custom order I received earlier in the week.  I already heard back from Sonya, and she loved it!  I'm surprised how quickly it got to her (I mailed it from PA on Saturday and she received it in CA by Monday - how did that happen?!), but I guess it's the little things that make life fun :)

I'll be receiving everyone else's roses over the next few weeks, so I'll keep you posted.  I'm sure you'll be waiting with baited breath, haha, but I'm excited to see what they make!

My swap partner loved me - Favorite Hats PicSpam

See?  I told you I got spoiled.

Before going in to the other contents of the package, I should mention that there used to be Swedish Fish.  Unfortunately, they didn't survive this photoshoot; Hubby and I had already torn through the bag.  Okay, so it was mostly me, but he helped!

Anyway, the purpose of this swap was for my partner to make one of my favorited hats on Ravelry.  Little did I know that she would be making me three!  I win!  And Jess has the greatest taste in yarn ever (she does a really cool thing where she attaches the yarn label to the hat so I know what it's made from).

Here are some closeups of each hat.  Control your drooling!


Bobble Beauty (rav link to pattern)


Phannie (rav link to pattern)


Olivia's Butterfly (rav link to pattern)

If you click here, you can visit the Flickr page where I've noted each individual item and what they are :)

But look at all the cute things!  I especially love the little paw punch that I can use for scrapbooking.  It's adorable.  Jess is the swap partner I've had before who has my cat's twin (or so it seems).  They look so much alike, it's scary.  So we've taken to including little kitty gifts in our packages, and Jess did not disappoint.  I've heard Chucky and Petey tossing their new blinky ball around in our living room.  In fact, they were so happy about their new toys that they hijacked my photoshoot:



They were just too cute to shoo away.

I hope you've enjoyed downloading the 87 photos on this page. You're welcome! Haha. Thank you so much, Jess, for another great package. I super loved everything and can't wait until it gets a wee bit chilly so I can wear all these wonderful hats. MWAH!