Making – Page 7 – Organizing Threads

July 27, 2013July 27, 2013

Introducing: Pickles B.T.L.

Mina has discovered the joy of dressing and undressing her dolls and no longer needs a lot of help from her Mom. Trina asked if I could make some clothes for her buddies. I do enjoy making doll clothes, but I really want to have a model when I do it. I want to know the finished item will fit properly.

As well, today there was a birthday party for my great-nieces, and I needed to get a gift. Because Mina loves her Lalaloopsie buddies so much I thought maybe the twins would also like them.

The Target store just opened across the expressway from my house so I went over at opening, 8:00 o’clock this morning. They had a few Lalaloopsies, but nothing I really liked. I decided to bite the bullet and go to Fairway Road to ToysRUs. They weren’t open that early. But Walmart was. As a practice I avoid Walmart (dislike of some of their business practices) but today I went. I found what I was looking for:

Why Pickles B.T.L.? Because she has rollerskates, just like my favourite little girl:

Mina's rollerskates — Mina’s rollerskates

And for Maya and Makayla I found soft dolls (I can’t quite understand the love of these hard plastic, heavy-headed dolls myself) Ember Flicker Flame and Mittens Fluff’nStuff.

So now I can begin making doll clothes. I have crocheted a shrug and shoes which will be mailed to California on Monday. I am working on a dress. So more posts will be coming.

March 25, 2013March 25, 2013

Almost Easter

Wow, time flies, doesn’t it? Here we are in the last week of March. Hoping that snow disappears and doesn’t come back. Looking forward to Easter.

At the end of the week I fly to San Francisco to spend ten days with my kids in Santa Clara. I am so looking forward to the sunshine and warmth!

I’ve also been busy. Last year I made two little owls that I mailed to Mina for Easter.

This year I came across a very cute bag on the Red Heart website and just had to download the free pattern and make it. Here is my version (I opted to leave the wings off).

Yarn used: from my stash – mostly Caron Simply Soft, in a blue/aqua/pink variegate, purple and pink. Crochet hook size 6mm for double-strand bag body and strap and 4mm for the rest.

As well, I came across a bunny pattern on the Drops Design website — I love making toy animals; I have a big box full of them yet from when Simon and Trina were little. I had to make this one too:

Yarn used: again, from my stash – Patons Grace (beige & purple), Schchenmayr Catania (pink & black), hook size 2mm.

These items will go in my suitcase to be given to the wee girl on Easter morning.

March 4, 2013March 25, 2013

A Shawl for Cheryl

My sister, Cheryl, asked if I would make a shawl for her. She wanted pure wool, Canadian sourced, so she ordered DK wool (Emerald, #s-13) online from Grand River Yarns. The downside of this order was that she was not given a shipping choice — the order was expedited, arriving just a couple days after ordering it. Cheryl would have been happy to wait a little longer to spend less on shipping.
I didn’t follow a pattern, I just started crocheting with a 4.5mm hook. The downside to this is that I finished the yarn with a shawl that was not long enough to wrap around my little sister. *sigh* I pulled it all out and am starting over. This time I am making it a bit more narrow and am using a 7mm hook so the shawl will be less dense and the yarn will go a bit farther.

January 9, 2013March 25, 2013

Recipes Collected

Another project that I’ve wanted to take on for a long time, and have just begun is taking my favourite recipes and putting them together in one place. At the moment they are often on various scraps of paper in a folder, or in certain cookbooks. But I usually have to sort through the whole folder or take a couple of my cookbooks to the couch, because I don’t know exactly which one it is in.

About a year ago Apple came out with a program called iBook Author – to help make it easy for people to write their own books. And so I have started my recipe collection. But it isn’t fast! I have three recipes written out so far. I have a long way to go.

Here is a sample page:

Thumprint cookies — A page from my “recipes collected” book.

September 15, 2012October 13, 2012

The Troll

Mina and I have been having a lot of fun with the story of the Three Billie Goats Gruff. I found a picture book at Barnes & Nobles. We like to act the story. We can use My Little Ponies or other toy animals for the goats. But I wanted a better troll — so I crocheted one:

“Who’s that tramping on MY bridge?”