lapghans?

October 3, 2026 by 2 Comments

I’ve heard people call them this, but it feels like a weird word to me for some reason.  But I have in fact been making 2 lap Afghans out of ever-increasing crocheted granny squares, and I’d like to share them with you!

Each used 3 Caron Blossom Cakes, the first in thr Tropical Bloom colorway and the second in Azalea (which is also our kitten’s name).  I used an H-8 (5mm) hook because that is my favorite size, but I noticed something interesting: with the Azalea one I used an inline Susan Bates hook, and for the Tropical Bloom one I used the Clover Amour hook, which has a tapered head.  I know I’ve talked about which I prefer before, but get this: with the inline hook, my square needed more stretching on the sides to get it even with the corners when I was done.  With the tapered hook, the rows took up slightly more yarn but I didn’t have to do any stretching to get it to be a decent square.  Interesting.

I’m also working on a crocheted shawl and I’m sewing a costume and I’m crocheting a little cardigan thing, so stay tuned for those!  I hope you all are doing well, and thanks for stopping by!

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what’s in your essentials?

September 18, 2026 by Leave a Comment

My zippered pencil case finally gave up the ghost after many years of loyal service, but when I went to find something new I was a little overwhelmed with all the options these days.  I ended up just ordering this (and you can see my needle/hook gauge attached to the zipper):

So I have a separate little bag for my Clover crochet hooks, and I have separate storage bags/cases for needle sets, etc., but no matter what yarn project I’m working on, this comes with.  First off let me laud the fact that this case has an expandable zipper, like a suitcase, so if I ever go nuts with my supplies it can handle it:

But as of now I don’t, because my essentials fit inside:

A nice zippered pocket on the left for the small things, at “pencil holder” flap in the center, and space behind it is all I need!  In the zippered pocket I have some point protectors, cable needles, plastic yarn needles for sewing in ends, and extra grippers to slip on hooks (and yes, a plastic cable needle is broken, lol, I need to just throw it out):

The hooks in the middle are ones in sizes that I find useful for a variety of instances, including picking up knitting stitches if I drop one, or just extras if someone else wants to join the crafting fun.  And behind that:

Stitch markers for crochet.  Stitch markers for knitting.  A Cath Kidston measuring tape that has yellowed over time (but I don’t care), a 6″ metal ruler, some embroidery scissors, and my needle tin, which holds:

Thinner sewing needles, more stitch markers, safety pins, and a few bits of string.

And like I said, this goes with me every time I’m working on a yarncraft.  Do you have a container or bag like this that holds your essentials and sticks by you like glue, and if so, what’s in yours?  Am I overdoing it, as I suspect, or should I go all out, unzip the expander, and add all my Clover hooks to the back and combine 2 pouches into 1?  Is there anything vital that I’m missing that I need to add?  This stuff has been in my essentials fot years now, but it’s very possible I’ve missed something important!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are all doing well!

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surprise, I’m alive and stashbusting!

September 4, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Not because I’m quitting crafts or anything — quite the contrary — I need room for more, of course!

I hope you’ve all been doing well, and I really hope to start blogging more with the stuff I’m making and stick to it this time (cuz I know I say that every time, and I do apologize).  I’ve still been sewing, crocheting, knitting, cross stitching, embroidering, jewelry making, and even doing more “eclectic” type stuff with bones and bugs I find outside, I just need to share it with you guys!

I will say I have been busy partially due to the fact that my bestie (who is an insanely creative crafter) and I are now running a craft vendor booth called Hyperfixation Station (click here for the linktree, and you can see some of the stuff we have for salethrough Facebook as well as our Instagram if you feel like following or just taking a peek at some of the crafts we’ve been up to and markets we’ve participated in).

So anyway, stashbusting.  My yarn was overflowing my dresser, I bought another set of storage drawers, and I still had trash bags and baskets and storage ottomans full, so I decided it was time.  I got rid of a ton of my worsted weight acrylic yarn by thrifting a large wooden picture frame and filling it with pompoms I made with the medium and large Clover pompom makers (I just used hot glue to stick them on):

It’s hard to tell the scale but it’s pretty big — I feel like I’m carrying a large waitress tray when I hold it — and it got rid of SO MUCH YARN, it was so nice!  I’m hoping to sell it at a market, as I don’t really have a good place for this in my house, but I think it’s a pretty quick and cute way to use up scraps!  One lady at a market commented that she used to make things like that in the 70s, and I thought that was pretty cool, as well, how things always seem to come back around.

Another kind of addictive way I’ve found to stashbust smaller scraps is by making “wind catchers,” which is just to say I’m using spiral crochet to make pretty decorative hanging things!  Here’s what I’ve got so far (and I intend to sell these, as well):

They’re fun, quick, and pretty!  Here are some closeups so you can see a bit better:

You can see some of them have more rows than others, some of them have crab stitch outer rows (which is probably my favorite border stitch of all time, honestly), and some of them look wound more tightly than others (which is dependent on your stitch count choices), so there’s a lot of room to play with these!

There are other projects I’d like to share, too, but I’ll just stick with these stashbusters for now.

Do you have any go-to or favorite stashbusters you’d recommend?  I may be out of most of my worsted acrylic now, but I’ll eventually end up with more that I don’t know what to do with (as well as other yarn weights), and I’m open to other ideas, too!

I’ll try and come back soon with more of the stuff I’ve been working on, but until then, thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is full of beauty and peace!

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a finished project and a new one

August 22, 2023 by 1 Comment

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all staying cool this summer (if it’s summer where you are) — the temperatures here are in the 100s and I’m staying inside as much as possible.

In an effort to be more comfortable in the heat, I made a new linen shift using the historical method that includes only squares and triangles. I used this method on my brown one last year, but this one is entirely machine sewn to save time and I also gave this one short sleeves instead of long ones.

It hits just above my knees and is pretty comfy. I may use it as part of a ren faire costume if I decide to do something other than the swamp witch this year, although I think I may just do the same thing as last year and maybe just make a better skirt.

Anyway, I’m also in a redecorating mood, and I’ve recently bought some new household items to fit the dark cottagecore theme I’m going for in my bedroom (think lots of dark greens and teals and browns, with a few lighter accents here and there). It’s a good theme for me because I’ve already got a ton of old dark wood furniture, and I like the cozy, sleepy atmosphere.

I decided I need a new throw blanket for the bed, though, and I already have a ton of Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran in the shade Vintage Pink so I decided to use that for a crocheted blanket (yes, it matches the shift, and that was completely unintentional but kinda cool). I think it’s a good accent color with everything else, and I chose the Fenya Blanket pattern to use. It costs money and is very similar to the free Popcorn Blanket pattern, but I was willing to pay the small price to get the chart, which I often find easier to follow than patterns that are written out. Here’s my first square:

It’s only got 11 rounds but it’s larger than I expected it to be. Not that I’m complaining — that means fewer ends to weave in and fewer squares to connect at the end! I do wish the yarn wasn’t completely acrylic because acrylic blankets make me sweat at night, but I’m probably just gonna keep this at the foot of the bed for decor, and because of that I might not even need to make the recommended 16 squares — I bet I can get away with a smaller size blanket just fine.

I’m also working on sewing a cute linen summer dress with a strawberry and floral print, but I’m incredibly frustrated with it at the moment — I picked my size so carefully and even combined areas from 2 sizes to make it fit me perfectly, and the whole thing turned out too big. I’ve got to undo a ton of work and trim some of the pieces, but I’m worried it’ll look weird so I’m just kinda staring at the half-finished dress sitting on my sewing machine, not wanting to mess with it. I need to finish it though — the fabric was ridiculously expensive.

Sorry if this was a kind of boring post — I just wanted to share my projects and there’s not really anything else going on in my life to talk about right now. I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe and healthy, and I’ll try and come back soon with something more interesting!

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The Swamp Witch

July 13, 2022 by 3 Comments

Hello, hello! I’m back with a new project to share with you guys today: a shawl that I will be wearing for my Renaissance Faire costume this year! I’m going as a swamp witch, and since it’s in October and November I figured a nice wool shawl wouldn’t go amiss. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

It’s a knitted triangular shawl following the Lace Mess Shawl pattern (which is really more of a tutorial than a pattern, but it’s free!), and it starts from the top down and more lace (simple yo, k2togs) is added the farther down you go. It should look kinda messy and something like a swamp witch would wear if I do it right! In fact, I’ve made one before years ago in a different yarn (sorry for the terrible photo quality):

This time I’m using KnitPicks Muse Handpainted, an aran weight 100% superwash merino (on sale at time of posting), in colorway “Success.” It’s a decently soft and nicely squishy yarn with tones of grayish green, which is exactly what I wanted for the swamp witch costume.

I haven’t gotten far with the lace yet, but you can see a little here to either side of the “spine.” Also, note my skull stitch markers, which I thought were perfectly fitting for such a project. 😄 I’d link to them for you but I can’t remember where I got them and I’ve had them for years now, so my apologies for that.

The shawl is working up very quickly on size 10 needles (6.00mm), and I’m already on the second skein of the 4 I bought. I’m spit-splicing the ends together (since it’s not something I’m giving to someone else) so that I don’t have to worry about knots. If you haven’t run across spit-splicing before I recommend you look it up — it’s a great way to join wool yarns seamlessly (and it’s delightfully weird). 😁

For the costume I also plan on using a crocheted shawl I made years ago from the Recuerdos de Infancia pattern, a versatile shawl pattern that’s proven worth the $6 for me since I’ve actually made 4 of them. Here’s the one I’m going to use, possibly as a waist wrap (sorry again for the terrible photo quality):

There are many other components of the costume I need to put together, as well, so I’ll update with those and definitely with finished photos of the current Lace Mess Shawl.

Do you ever make crocheted or knitted items for costumes? If so, do you try to make it something you can wear again on its own later, or do you just make it for the one event?

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Please take care of yourselves, and thanks for stopping by!

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