Drop the Needle

T-Ra provided our craft group with a plethora of card making supplies during Sunday's monthly get-together, so I decided to put down my crochet hook and make a card for a friend of mine who's been dealing with some really crappy... crap lately. (Thanks, T-Ra!)

I like homemade gifts to look like homemade gifts (thankfully, I suck, so this is not a difficult effect to achieve), so instead of using a paper-cutter for a precise, sharp edge, I decided to just fold and tear the edges of the paper.

As you can see, I also used a decorative edge punch. I really like the antiqued effect.

The card looked a little naked from behind (don't we all), so I threw on a "made for you by" line and a little flower design. (Which also happens to be tattooed to my lower back.)

My next project? To figure out how to make an envelope out of regular paper. I'm sure there are instructions out there somewhere!

Scarf-ace

I've been wearing these around town for a while now so I figured it was about damn time I posted a picture!

The ear-flap hat was a surprisingly easy pattern from the Funky Chunky book. It's a basic hat pattern crocheted in rounds, but you don't turn at the end of each round. I think this makes for a less noticeable seam at the back. It took approximately 3 hours total, but keep in mind that I did one ear flap, the tassels and the pompom in the car. (Don't worry - I wasn't driving!)


I finally made the One-Skein Squiggle Scarf (as I like to call it). The pattern, as linked, is free, or you can find it in Stitch `N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. It was easy and it's a pretty pattern but a word of advice should you choose to attempt it yourself; when it says chain loosely - chain REALLY loosely. Because you're squeezing two clusters in there (that's a total of 10 dcs), you really need the room. If your chain is too tight, the scarf will twist and bunch and the pretty squiggle effect will be lost. These scarves are great (last minute) gifts as they don't take much yarn and only 2 hours of your time. So throw on a DVD and get hooking!

* Yarn used: Caron's (no dyelot) Simply Soft® in Raspberry