Blankety Ta Da and a New Craft

I hope you are enjoying the same delicious weather we are!  Oh my it's been nice.  Libby dog and I have been to the woods every day to pick up sticks and greenery and all sorts of good things.
However, this is the biggest and best news of the week:  my blue granny square blanket is finished!

When I decided to use up all my left overs I wasn't totally convinced these colours would work together, but they really did!  I did have to purchase some additional yarn, but I am happy to say I used up most of it.  I was able to use up quite a bit in the border:

 (I did not block this so that's why everything is so wonky looking)

One of the reasons I am so pleased with it is the fact I finished it so quickly:  ten weeks!  I wish all of my blankets could grow so quickly.  It's quite heavy, so definitely great for snuggling under.  Once the cold weather settles in we will be all set.

Granny squares can be a little tedious when you have to make so many, so I did a bit of 'in between' crocheting to have a break.  These cheery new dish cloths and scrubbers were quick and much appreciated little diversions.

I mentioned about a new craft, and I also mentioned about getting things from the woods.  I have been foraging for downed branches that I can cut up and make into ornaments.  I bought myself a wood burning tool and today tried out something new:

I think I'm hooked!  I have learned a few things about wood burning on different kinds of wood, and now I am able to tell the fakes from the authentic ones on Pinterest.  This weekend I will cut out the rest of my wood and have lots more canvases to play on.

Thank you for visiting and your lovely emails.  I really appreciate the time you take to visit me.
Next time I hope to have some finished Christmas gifts to show and a bit of cross stitch too.

Happy Days!
Jenn

Make Overs

This weekend I traded my hooks and needles in for some paint, glue and paper.  Didn't I have fun!

I have had few pieces from the thrift stores around for a while that I wanted to 'do-over' for some time now.  I found this sewing box on my birthday and fell in love with its shape.  I just didn't like all that brown!

I tried chalk paint again; this time in the softest pink:

I lined it with some minty scrapbook paper:

I am thinking this might make a good home for my sewing charms or overdyed threads.

Another brown wooden box in the form of a tea box.  More chalk paint in ivory, with some vintage looking scrapbook paper and she's a much better fit for my kitchen.  (Sorry for the blurry photo!)

I didn't paint the inside because I never seem to be able to  get good coverage in the corners .  Unless you spray, which I didn't want to do because I will be storing tea bags in here.  This would be cute for storing so many things really, like cake decorating stuff, or sewing supplies...  I might just have to go look for another box!

A few years ago I was gifted some tea, but once I finished it I couldn't bring myself to put the tins in the recycling bin.  They were such a nice size and the lids fit really well; it seemed a shame to get rid of them.  After I found this scrapbook paper and chalk labels two weeks ago, I knew exactly what they were going to become:

I do wish my Mod Podge wasn't so glossy, but all in all it's probably for the better as these will be stored in the kitchen.  Now I just need to make a loose tea order from my favourite tea company and I will be all set!

I know I said I put down my hooks on the weekend, but since I just finished these potholders I thought I would put them in.  I thought some pastel winter decorations might be nice for my kitchen this year:  they work so well with my new tea cannisters!

I used Bernat cotton yarn in robin's egg; and a pink, nubbly baby cotton that I can't remember the brand.  The white cotton is also from Bernat, and is one of their holiday yarns with a thin strand of silver woven in.  The pattern can be found HERE.  It's very easy and in two evenings you can have it all done.

Thanks for visiting!

xoJenn

October Catch Up

If it's true that time flies when you're having fun, then October was truly fun filled for me.  Holy cow! Did it whip by for you too?!
Where September saw my needle and thread out for most of it, October was mostly about crochet.
  I know I say it every year, but the leaves were simply spectacular this fall and I was inspired by all the beautiful colours like these:

Doesn't it just want to make you go home and crochet a tea cozy?

I think it needs a few more acorns, but other than that I am so happy with it.  I actually had to rip the base out twice, and then make a completely different one on the third try.  Thank goodness I love crochet!

I also made a fall inspired mandala for it to sit on:

I thought it was rather 70's looking with all the browns, but at this time of year it all looks good together I think.  It got Mr. Crafty World's praise so that's worth something!
For the mandala I used part of a pattern from Nata's Nest.  On the sidebar you will see lovely links to free tutorials.  I have my eye on another one of her mandalas, and the crochet snails are just so sweet I think.

While in the craft store I found the prettiest yarn from Red Heart.  It's called Boutique Treasure, and the colourway I fell in love with is called Horizon.  As soon as I saw it I wanted to stitch up a cozy fall infinity scarf.  The colours are very fall like I think, without being all about browns, oranges and reds.

It actually reminded me of days like this:

I have worn it a lot already and still love it so much.  The pattern I used for the scarf can be found HERE.  I made mine a bit less wide because the yarn was a bit chunkier.

I mentioned in my last post about a few other projects I had started:  the scarves are growing bit by bit:

Both are made with Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable , using the linen stitch.

My 'Canadian' blanket is growing too:

This is also stitched with linen stitch and is working up very quickly.  I have to put it away now until after Christmas, but I have completed a third of it so far.

I also started another blanket!

These are left over colours from my Lake Erie blanket, and over the summer I started making up a few squares here and there.  I just decided to go for it and start using up all the left overs to get this out of the yarn cupboard.  I have a goal of about ten squares a week:  I need eighty squares all together and then I am going to attach them together with grey and use any left over blues in the border.

I did finally manage to pin down My Favourite Girl and craft our leafy luminaries:

I love how they turned out and I burn candles in them every night.  The look just gorgeous all lit up in the evening.
We used leaves from the dollar store which had to be individually ironed before we could glue them on, but despite the extra work I think these fabric leaves look much more realistic than the ones we saw in the craft store.

By the middle of the month I knew I wasn't going to get any new cross stitch completed.  I finished off this apple that I had started in September.  I was about half way done when I ran out of floss.  The craft store does not sell individual skeins of DMC 115, so mail order was my only option.  I finished the back with the red and white toile in the photo.  I tried to finish it off into an apple shape, but it's a a little hard to see here.

This little black bird is a project I started last summer and put away.  Every once in a while I get it in my head to stitch over one and it always takes me forever!  This is a design from Danybrod in France.  I finished it with some dyed wool; vintage lace, and a small charm.  The pillow itself is quite tiny, maybe two by three inches all together.

And that brings us to the end of the month!  I have started working on some Christmas gifts so I plan to be a busy bee in November.  Thank you all so much for visiting and your kind remarks on my September projects.  I'll leave you with a few Halloween photos.  Until next time,
Happy Days!
Jenn