This picture goes with the first project in the list: a knitted strawberry. I made this for a swap I did some time back.

(knitting) Knitted strawberry (sewing) Simple Monster Softy

(sewing) Reversible Headbands, via Whip-up

(crafting with kids) Balloon Balls (for fun or squeezing)

(knitting) Easy Vertical scarf (striped, with the right kind of yarn)

(printing) Print Levenger's Quote of the Day on a bookmark. Viafullfaun

Look what I made! This is for the craft show -- not to sell, but to simply show off one of the cupcake flags in action. It's entry #1 in this week's list. Mine turned out a little ripply, but personally, I like that much frosting, so it's okay.

Michael's has the boxes called for --99¢ each. The Joann I went to did not have any of this style box.

(crafting) Sweet Cupcake Box (see picture, above).

(crafting) From the same site, this easy-peasy tin can caddy is great for holding utensils at a picnic.

(crafting) I love these! Lisa Solomon's Robots (link to pattern PDF is near bottom of entry).

(sewing) Fabric fortune cookie, via Whip-up.

(sewing) Rolled-hem Handkerchiefs (hand sew project)

(knitting) Scrubbing Power! Combine cotton yarn and strips of nylon net for these cute and functional dish scrubbies (updates). Via Boogaj.

(crocheting) Cotton Dish Sponge, via Berlin's Whimsy

(cooking/giving) More food in jars! NotMartha's Pies Baked in Tiny Jars and (via NotMartha) LloydandLauren's Frozen Desserts in Jars (eat straight from the freezer!)

(blogging) How to start a craft blog, via Whip-up.

(cooking) At the bottom of this post is a set of guidelines (not really a recipe) for White Trash.

(wanting) I really want this. It would be perfect for cakes made with my Easy Bake Oven.

(shopping) This needle gauge pendant is terrific! I will be ordering one.

(crafting 4 kids) Felt Donuts

Picture from Christmas, of niece K with her new shawl. I'm quite a fan of this pattern -- I've made two of them and even contemplated making one for myself to have around for cold days. (Not so much for out in public, though; I subscribe to SIL T's axiom that I don't wear things that point at my butt.)

The reason this came to mind is someone asked for some suggestions about it (she called me Obi-wan, and said I was her only hope*), and I figured it was a good time to share a link to this cool pattern again, along with my "notes for knitters with short attention spans" (just my notes -- I am not connected with the pattern or its designer in any way). Warning: the first several rows look like ass, but it does eventually work out.

I even felt comfortable enough with the pattern the second time around to add three rows of k2tog, yo to add more detail. This is about my level of comfort for lace knitting. Shut up. It is SO lace.

*I don't say this to brag, because we all know I'm no expert. But it just tickled me.

Now, onto the crafts! (Really making up for last week.)

(crafting with kids) Making sure this one is at the top. There is an event at Michael's stores next Saturday (7 June) from 10 AM - 2 PM (check with your local store) to promote the launch of a new Klutz/Chicken Socks book. Check out gee, that's swell! (she illustrated the book) for the flyer.

(playing) For every girl and boy that wants to be Indiana Jones: Duct-tape bull whip.

(sewing) Iron-on vinyl coasters. Requires an iron and a sewing machine (& pinking shears), but would qualify as a novice sewing project.

(knitting) Super Easy Baby Blanket. If I had the patience for something this big (I like small projects that I can finish), this looks like something that would interest me. I like the yarn they're using.

(sewing) Upholstery for Lazy Girls.

(crocheting) I don't think there's a pattern for this (yet?), but this crocheted acorn is too cool!

(sewing) Amy Butler offers several free patterns, including a new Business Card Keeper. Go to this page, then click on "Free Patterns" (it's a pop-up).

(decorating) Cover walls (and lampshades...) with fabric & liquid starch. Easy up, really easy down.

(decorating) Reclaim a boring or ugly wood chair, via Fiddlesticknitting.

(knitting) Knitted Kitty (warning: pattern contains some profanity), via tvini  , who shows her version here

(celebrating) Photo balloon tags, via my bud lilfish 

(sewing) Another goodie from lilfish: Appliqued onesie

(recycling/sewing) Recycle your pet's collar, via Whip-up. Note: it probably goes without saying, but... be sure not to mix up collar parts for cats & dogs. Cats' collars should be "break-away" or have some escape feature like elastic.

(organizing/cooking) Cute, printable recipe cards (PDF) via How About Orange

(sewing) You can make this bird mobile by hand or with a sewing machine (link to PDF in the sidebar). Yet another faboo contribution from Tina (aka lilfish  ).

(sewing) Fitted crib sheet tutorial

(printing) Weekend downloads from print a day. Very cool! (Personal use only.)

I told you I was going to start talking about Halloween soon! I finally got an FTP client installed on my new computer and uploaded a couple months' worth of changes to my Halloween Links site (www.myhalloweenlinks.com). (This picture has nothing to do with that. It's just recent, and crafty.)

Christmas hat #6 is done. Woot! (For anyone new to this blog, I am not a Christmas fanatic. However, last year I wasn't in the mood at all, so I'm grasping for any inspiration I can get, whenever it happens to come.)


Now for the crafts:

(reading) Another new (to me) blog: A Fanciful Twist. I'm still digging through it! Artistic & inspirational, yes, but even if that doesn't interest you, you might enjoy this fairy photo story (scroll down a little bit). Via the ever-so-cool PumkinRot (Halloween-themed blog)

(gardening) Square Foot Gardening: Pretty Grid

(sewing) Cute and practical lunch sacks

(sewing) Black Apple Dolls. So glad lilfish  told me about this. I read this blog but kind of clicked a bunch of things as "read" when they really weren't and missed this completely.

(reading) Skip to My Lou is a fun craft blog. The lunch sacks (above) are from this site.

(sewing) Fabric bucket. Neat!

(grilling?) Not sure what category this is in, but it's COOL! Make a mini S'mores grill. This would make an excellent gift for S'mores fans (or anyone (adult) that likes to play with fire).

(nuking) Instructions for more s'mores -- this time using graham bears, chocolate chips and the microwave.

This is the little sweater I knit for P, about this time last year. The picture was taken in August (I just got it on Thursday). Sweet baby!  celticsuncat  gave me permission to put this picture in my Flickr account so I could add it to my project file on Ravelry , but I couldn't resist sharing it here as well.

Now, on to the crafts!

(crocheting) Crocheted Bath Rug

(crafting) Toadstool

(reading) Fun new (to me) blog: FrazzyDazzles

(entering) Enter Abigail's comment contest

(knitting) Tiny knitted toys (thanks to lilfish  for pointing this out. Little Cotton Rabbits is on my bloglines, but I'm still not all caught up)

(twirling) Learn how to twirl a baton

(embellishing) Decorating office supplies

Another Christmas hat done! This one is for my honorary nephew Connor.  I do believe this is exactly the style he wanted.

Pattern

Yarn: 3 colors of Lion Brand Woolease (black, red & gray) and a small ball of Reynolds Utopia (orange)

Knitted yesterday, during a few episodes of Supernatural. Not counting the 3 previous cast-on attempts.



Now, on to the crafts:

(knitting) Myriads of Mushrooms

(knitting) I found Through the Loops! via Dogged blog, and discovered many great, free patterns, including a hat pattern that I am making for at least 3 honorary nephews.\

(machine-embroidering) Free Download: Sew News Rose (down in the sidebar)

(celebrating) Way back when, another CFF list included a project like this. Sadly, the site was shut down, and the link was lost. But looky here: someone else has put together directions for the clever paper treat pouches.

(knitting) A ton of cute, free patterns at The Knitted Toybox.

(crafting 4 kids) Superhero PJs

(painting) Bird & branch on cabinet doors (or a dresser)

(crafting with kids) Blog: Crafty Crow

Forgive me in advance if I don't get all the sources for these links.

(sewing) This is from an actual recent blog post that I read: Merbaby -- a really cute mermaid costume for dolls.

(reading) Forget the fact that I don't have kids. I'm an auntie, and I'm fine with it. But I want this book anyway: The Creative Family
How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections. I've been wanting it since I read about it on Amanda's blog. If you actually do have kids, you might want to check it out.

(giving) Download now and save 'em for Christmas: Amy Karol's adorable and fun gift tags.

(cooking/giving) Yum! and Cute! Cake in a jar. At the bottom of the entry she shares her secrets. Follow the link in the post to the shop that sells the cupcakes. They might be out of my budget, but I'm still quite impressed.

(crafting/giving) Surprise Eggs (save these for Easter, I guess).

(sewing)Lavender Baby (softly scented softy)

(kids crafting)Gifts for Mother's Day or Father's Day? (Actually from a Christmas post, but it's adaptable.) More. And another (all from the same site).

(sewing)Crayon Roll (may be a duplicate). I've done something similar with colored pencils. This tute is nice b/c it's sized exactly for crayons.

(knitting)Felted Oven Mitts (Cool gift, and the recommended yarn is not expensive.)

(giving/crafting)Reindeer Gift Card Pouch (PDF)

(celebrating) File this away for Easter: Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs, via How About Orange?

Dipping a toe into the shallow end. I have decided to skip the indexing part of this project, however. If you click on the appropriate tag at the bottom of the post, or in the sidebar, all CFF posts will be displayed.

Recently, a few sources for free online knitting patterns shut down, and people kind of freaked. The good news is that many of the designers are making the patterns available via other avenues -- some free, some for a minimal fee -- so they aren't gone forever. Lesson learned: print, download or save any pattern that you think you might want. Ones that are already in PDF form are easy as pie. Ones that are web-based can be printed onto paper or, if you have a PDF-maker application, printed to PDF (my preferred method). I started doing this after several cool tutorials featured on my Halloween Links site disappeared. (By the by, that site was recently updated.)

(giving) Gift Wrapping Idea, via The Felt Mouse. I'm linking to the one that I will probably use -- there are a total of six ideas presented.

(sewing) Puppet-style Oven Mitts

(cooking) Jek's Puff Pancakes; Alicia

(sewing) Aw, an Itty Bitty Dress pattern, via CreativeLittleDaisy.

(sewing) Make bias tape without a tool.

(crafting) Oooh! Look at the wee owls! Also via CreativeLittleDaisy. (Expect a lot of clustering like this, while I dig my way out of Bloglines.)

(sewing) DIY Maternity Jeans (source: see above)

(sewing) Binding Tute

(crafts - embroidering) Pleasant Kitchen Dishtowels (PDF)

Trying for an all-acorn theme. It might be short (as I write this, I have a couple of items), but hey -- I love acorns, and I'm totally in the mood. I'm hoping to get out this weekend and collect lots of acorns to fill a jar.

Category	Sub-Category	Link & Description
Fiber Arts	Knitting	Small Knit Acorn (can't wait to try this)
Fiber Arts	Crochet	Amigurumi acorns (aaaw -- too bad my brain doesn't get crochet!)
Random	-	No directions, but lovely pic -- maybe some inspiration? Velvet Acorns
Fiber Arts	Knitting	This may be a repeat, but it fits the theme: Tiny Acorn Bookmark
Random	-	Totally a repeat, but it belongs: Acorn Softy Tute
Shopping	-	I want this acorn pendant! And this one!
Random	-	I recently made some acorn pins, pincushions and fabric buttons. Here is a tute for the pins
Fiber Arts	Felt	Felted Acorns (I believe these were wet-felted, but have also seen them needle-felted)
Random	-	A different sort of acorn pincushion
Shopping	-	I need to check this out at Michaels, to see what "resin acorns" look like: Martha Stewart Acorn Napkin Ring kit. (I don't want napkin rings, though.)
Fiber Arts	Knitting	(& Shopping) Oh.My. Acorn Baby Hat -- pattern for sale.

ll Halloween!

Category	Sub-Category	Link & Description
Celebrate!	Halloween	DIY Halloween Countdown (a la Pottery Barn's $60 version), with thanks to lilfish .
Celebrate!	Halloween	Black Lace Web - lay it over any tablecloth
Fiber Arts	Crochet	Zero, from Nightmare Before Christmas
Fiber Arts	Knitting	Chauncey, a knitted & felted skull
Fiber Arts	Crochet	Candy Corn bag (May require registration to access), via my SIL, C.
Fiber Arts	Crochet	Crocheted Skull (May require registration to access), via my SIL, C.

Category	Sub-Category	Link & Description
Celebrate!	Costumes	Alison over at The Blue Blog has posted mods to make a baby-size Hallowig.
Random	-	Acorn Softy Tute
Adornment	Accessories	Key Fob (Not in English, but plenty of pictures)
Adornment	Bags	Molly's Niece Purses (really cute!)
Adornment	Accessories	Patchwork Scarf
Fiber Arts	Knitting	Swatch Bangle
Adornment	Bags	Bias-tape zippered pouch (unlined -- uses bias tape to cover the seams)
Reading	-	Get a tissue, then read The Pancake Story.
Fiber Arts	Crochet	Cephalopod, via Lime & Violet's Daily Chum

 

 

Category	Sub-Category	Link & Description
Fiber Arts	Knitting	Day of the Dead dolls (pdf)
Food	Bread	"Really Tasty Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread"
Gifts/Toys	Kids+	Button & Ribbon Medals and Rosettes
Adornment	Clothing	Flower Garden Skirt (give new life to an old skirt)
Adornment	Accessories	Kathy at Pink Studio shares a link to a cool Reversible Headband Pattern (repeat) (with enclosed elastic) and offers the dimensions she used to make her daughter's. (In her words, "a 9 year old with big hair.")
Food	Desserts	Candy-topped Cookies from Limelady
Food	Sauces	Lemon Nectar - add to fruit salad for a little zing. (Scroll to middle of post)
Celebrate!	Costumes	Harry Potter Wands (via Not Martha)
Sew Domestic	Bags	Wallet-size Fold-up Reusable Shopping Bag
Technique	-	Pretty much free Shrinky Dinks, via Whip up

This may be the shortest entry ever! I'm very, very behind in my blog reading, which is where I find most of my gems. I couldn't resist sharing this one!

Category	Sub-Category	Link & Description
Fiber Arts	Knitting	Death of Rats

(Just pretend it was on time)

Category	Sub-Category	Link & Description
Gifts/Toys	Kids+	Stuffed Mousey and his bed. Very cute toy for a child. If you want to make one for your cat(s), use very sturdy fabric. Sheldon once completely ate a cat toy (marketed to cats) that was made out of craft felt, and then pooped out blue.
Random	-	Pricing your bags or other crafts to sell. Via whipup.
Gifts/Toys	Kids+	Walnut doll, also via whipup.
Technique	Packaging	Make your own bubble mailers
Baby	-	Chenille Baby Bibs
Fiber Arts	Knitting	MSTK3 Baby Sweater