Summer

The Dream

Randal and I are pretty cheap by nature, so naturally we have a hard time spending money on things that don't seem vital to our well being. A symptom of this is our "eclectic" apartment. Recently I have been sick of living in a home that screams student, especially since neither of us are in school right now. Thankfully we are moving up to a 2 bedroom, newly renovated apartment that is too cute for our current style. This has lead to my biggest/most exciting challenge yet! I plan to decorate our new apartment with a budget of $1000!

My wish list is growing everyday: new couch, entertainment centre, chair, patio furniture, area rug, head board, bench, kitchen table and chairs, ottoman, funky wall art... This is going to require some creative budgeting on my part, but I am up to the challenge. I have a few ideas flowing right now, most involving refurbishing/refinishing some pieces I already have (which should spread the budget a bit further).

I plan on buying a nice slipcover for my couch, possible one like this in Chocolate Brown:
And cover the couch is pillows like this, and these:

I absolutely LOVE slipper chairs and have being coveting some that I saw at Urban Outfitters, and some other really cute ones at Target.com like these.

I really like yellow, I think I am going to use it as my accent colour. A good fit for a California apartment no?? I am pretty much so excited, and can't wait to move so I can get started on everything. Look for lots of before and after posts to follow!

Baby Showers!

I think there must be something in the water these days, because everyone seems to be having babies! The number of showers that I have been invited to has but a strain on my gifting budget, so I decided it was time to take action. Here are a few baby projects that I have been working on:

The little Gentleman Series:
I have been seeing so many cute onesies online with ties and bow tie appliques. They didn't seem too complicated, so I attempted to make some for a shower I was going to. This was the result:


I also saw a tutorial for baby bibs at Chickpea Sewing Studio. So going with the same theme, I made a little gentleman bib, because you got to look good while you eat!


The bibs turned out ok, I think I need to practice my technique a bit more.

Next, I thought I would try my hand at freezer paper stencils. The shower that I was going to was The Little Prince theme, so I thought it would be fitting to do an elephant (pre-boa digestion):



All in all, I think that everything turned out ok, and it was nice to get my creative juices flowing. Hopefully this will be to start of more things to come (for my blogs sake at least).

Crocheted Head Band

As you can see, I have become a bit OBSESSED with crocheting. I found this great blog that has a tonne of cool crochet patterns. I found a pattern for a crocheted headband that looked pretty simple so I gave it a try. This is my rendition of the headband, with a little flower. I had to fudge the original pattern, but I think it turned out ok. I think that I am going to try the long necklace next, I let you know how it turns out.

Crochet

Randy, the wonderful husband that he is, bought me some crochet hooks for my birthday, so I have been having fun teaching myself how to crochet. Thanks to some Youtube vidoes and Threadbangers.com, I am finally able to wield my hooks with some skill. My projects thus far have been less than successful, but I think I have finally gotten the hang of this crochet thing. This is a baby toque that I made (I only made a few mistakes, so it doesn't look totally how it is suppose to, but I think it still turned out OK).

This is the pattern I used (this pattern includes a bill which I omitted)
Size:
One size fits 6 – 18 months
Finished Measurements
Circumference 16½”/42 cm
Materials:
1 1¾oz/50g ball (approx. 120yd/110m) of worsted weighted (medium) yarn (nylon) in desired colour (MC)
1 1¾oz/50g ball (approx. 120yc/110m) of Plush (Bulky) Yarn (nylon) in desired colour (CC)
Size H/8 (5mm) crochet hook or size to obtain guage
Yarn needle
Gauge:
12 sts and 12 rnds to 4”/10cm over hdc using size H/8 (5mm) hook and MC
Crown:
With MC, Ch 50. Taking Care not to twist ch, join with a sl st forming a sing
Rnd 1 (RS) Hdc in same ch as joining, then hdc in each ch around—50sts. Join rnd with a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn (back seam).
Rnd 2 Hdc in each st around. Join rnd wit a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn. Rep rnd 2 until 9 rnds have been completed. Next rnd working in back lps only, hdc in each st around. Join rnd with a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn.
Crown Shaping:
Dec Rnd 1 *Hdc in next 3 sts, dec 1 st over next 2 sts; rep from * around—40 sts. Join rnd with a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn.
Dec Rnd 2 Rep last rnd—32 sts. Join rnd with a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn
Dec Rnd 3 *Hdc in next 2 sts, dec 1 st over next 2 sts; Rep from * around—24 sts. Join rnd with a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn.
Dec Rnd 4 Rep last rnd—18 sts. Join rnd with a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn.
Dec Rnd 5 *Hdc in next st, dec 1 st over next 2 sts; rep from * around—12 sts. Join rnd with a sl st in first st. Ch 2, turn.
Dec Rnd 6 [Dec 1 st over next 2 sts] 6 times—6 sts. Fasten off leaving a long tail. Thread tail into yarn needle and weave throught sts. Pull tight to gather, fasten off securely.
Back Flap:
With bottom edge of hat at top, count 5 sts to the right of back seam. Join MC with a hdc in bottom of beg ch, cont working in bottom lps, hdc in next 10 lps. Ch 2, turn—11sts. Working in hdc, work even for 3 more rows. Fasten off.
Right Ear Flap:
From RS, count 1 st to left of back flap. Join MC with a hdc in bottom lp of beg ch, hdc in next 11 lps. Ch 2, turn—12 sts.
Row 1 Dec 1 st over first 2 sts, hdc in next 8 sts, dec 1 st over last 2 sts—10 sts. Ch 2, turn.
Row 2 Hdc in each st across. Ch 2, turn.
Row 3 Dec 1 st over first 2 sts, hdc in next 6 sts, dec 1 st over last 2 sts—8 sts. Ch 2, turn.
Row 4 Hdc in each st across. Ch 2, turn.
Row 5 Dec 1 st over first 2 sts, hdc in next 4 sts, dec 1 st over last 2 sts—6sts. Ch 2, turn.
Row 6 Dec 2 st over first 2 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, dec 1 st over last 2 sts—4sts. Ch 2, turn.
Row 7 [Dec 1 st over next 2 sts] twice—2 sts. Fasten off.
Left Ear Flap:
From RS, count 13 sts to the right of back flap. Join MC with a hdc in bottom lp of beg ch, hdc in next 11 lps. Ch 2, turn—12 sts. Cont to work as for right ear flap.
Bill:
From RS, count 1 st to the left of right ear flap. Join CC with a hdc in bottom lp of beg ch, hdc in next 10 lps. Ch 2, turn—11 sts.
Row 2 Hdc in each st across. Ch 2, turn.
Row 3 Dec 1 st over first 2 sts, hdc in next 7 sts, dec 1 st over last 2 sts—9 sts. Ch 2, turn.
Row 4 Dec 1 st over first 2 sts, hdc in next 5 sts, dec 1 st over last 2 sts—7 sts. Ch 2, turn.
Row 5 Dec 1 st over first 2 sts, hdc in next 3 sts, dec 1 st over last 2 sts—5 sts. Fasten off.
Finishing:
Hat Edging:
From RS, join CC with a hdc in next st from left edge of bill. Making sure that work lies flat, hdc evenly around entire edge to next st from right edge of bill. Fasten off.
Bill Edging:
From WS, join MC with a hdc in RH edge of row 2. Making sure that work lies flat, hdc up right edge, across top edge and down left edge to LH edge of row 2. Fasten off. Fold bill up to RS and tack in place.
Ties:
Make 2
With CC, ch 23.
Row 1 Hdc in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across—21 sts. Fasten off. Sew ties to earflaps, as shown.

Entering the DYI Blogisphere

I have decided to enter the world of the DYI blog!  I caught the bug after recieving this book for my birthday.  I am so excited!  I hope that all of my projects work out.