This section of the site is new...like brand spanking new! I've shared my crafts from time to time on Facebook and Instagram but since it is a part of me, I thought it was time to set aside a section here for my crafts. Here is a little background about crafting and me.
First, let me start by saying that I am not a creative person. Not a crafty creative person I mean. Like my mom can see a piece of wood and turn it into something beautiful. My sister took boards from a pallet and turned them into a sign for me that says I heart Bacon. I did dabble as a kid in tole painting (because my mom did it) but always followed a pattern. My favorite was this pair of candy corn that I painted smiley faces on. I can't draw or freehand anything but I can trace! I need a pattern. That's why I'm better suited for the world of cross stitch, crochet and some knitting.
When it comes to my experience level for those 3 activities, I would consider myself to be somewhat of a novice in knitting, a little more advanced in crochet, and think I can tackle some fairly difficult cross stitches. Let's start with how I learned these!
I honestly couldn't tell you who taught me or how I learned to cross stitch. I do remember getting those pieces of plastic canvas and following the colors on the plastic and using yarn to stitch. When I was a teenager, my aunt had a baby and I found the cutest bib at JoAnn's of a Care Bear and the pattern printed on the bib. That was my first "big" cross stitch project.
I took a long break because finishing high school and joining the military took a lot of my time. I heard that my cousin was pregnant and found a cute Care Bear cross stitch crib blanket (like the bib) and thought I would make it for her. It took a lot longer to finish than I anticipated. I think I bought it in 2004 or 2005 and didn't finish it. Then my old roommate was pregnant, and then someone else, and someone else...next thing I know I've finally finished it in 2009 or 2010 and said I'm keeping this for myself for whenever I have a kid! No clue that it would be 8 or 9 years later before my child would be in the world to use that little blanket! I have an Old McDonald crib blanket (like the bib and other crib blanket...meaning the pattern was was printed on the fabric) that is finished, cross stitch wise, but I need to finish the back and add a thin batting and figure out what kind of fabric I want to put on the back.
Over the last few years I've done some random cross stitches. Several people have gotten baby feet that are either pink or blue and their baby's name, date of birth, and birth weight...just realized I need to find another one of those kits for my stepbrother's daughter who was born back in October. I've made a couple "I Can't Adult Today" hanging signs and recently made some that are framing/hanging size.
I learned to crochet from my mom. My mom new how to crochet but didn't know what her stitches were called and didn't know how to read or follow a pattern. For the longest time I did the same thing. I have made many a-scarf using single, double, and triple crochet stitches without knowing that's what it was called or how to properly turn at the end of the row. In 2019 I saw an ad on Instagram for Annie's Kit Club and there was something called Block of the Month that came with all the materials I would need to complete 3 blocks (hooks, yarn, and the patterns for all 3 blocks) and video tutorials for the blocks (lefty and righty). I wanted to learn how to read a pattern (and taught my mom) and since this was geared towards beginners, I gave it a try! This is the one I did and I loved learning what my stitches were called and how to properly turn my projects! Since then, I have also done my own color way for that block of the month afghan, the stripe afghan, and used my left over yarn to make a couple of scarves for a friend, almost 100 washable/reusable face scrubbies, and a ton of headbands.
I learned to knit from my grandma, my mom's mom. That's it though. She only taught me how to do the knit stitch. My mom signed me up for a knitting class at the local yarn store but I remember going a couple times and was taught how to increase and decrease to make a wash cloth. Since I knew how to cast on and do a knit stitch, I decided to challenge myself after I finished the crochet block of the month afghan and did the knit block of the month. Talk about a challenge! While it was fun learning how to purl and how to combine knit and purl stitches to create cool patterns and then also how to do cable knits, I have found that I am not meant for knitting. I can't remember what it is called but it is basically threading a piece of yarn or string into a row so that if you find that you made a mistake and need to frog your piece (because you have to rip out your work...rip it...rib it...frog it...get it!) you can only take out to your life line (is that what it is called), slip your needle in,
and go again. For me, that is easier to do in crocheting but for knitting...I had one block that I almost gave up on. I started and tore the whole thing apart almost 5 or so times before I finally got it right! Needless to say I don't know that I'll try the knit stripe afghan any time soon (this is the one I would do) but maybe one day...
Here's a kind of collage of all the things that I could find that I have done over the years and if I don't physically have it or a picture of it, I'll add a stock photo from the internet...like with the Care Bear bib. Stay tuned for what projects I have to finish up and what is coming up next!
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