finished the cushion cover!

April 10, 2016 by 4 Comments

After over 4 years of waiting, my husband finally has his cushion cover:

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The cushion cover definitely did NOT reach 28″ x 28″ (the size of the pillow insert), but it is stretchy and the insert was easy enough to get inside.

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I love the texture of this pattern.  It looks cool but it feels pretty neat, too, even in 100% acrylic yarn (I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby).

I forgot to take a picture of the back, but I seamed the sides to where the ends of the cover overlap, like a pillow sham.  No buttons needed!

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Chris likes it; it’s big and squishy and the pattern is the same as a large blanket his great-aunt made for him (just in different colors — she used solid red, white, & blue).  It fits well on our daybed-turned-couch.

Now it’s time to work on the 8+ other WIPs I have going on before starting anything new.

It’s also time for something special to happen here on Not Your Average Crochet — stay tuned for something exciting!

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

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cushion cover: progress

April 4, 2016 by 5 Comments

It’s coming along nicely!

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Although actually at this point I’ve continued this pattern and done 6 more additional stripes — it was just too hard to get a good photo because it’s getting really long!  I’m going to overlap the ends so that the pillow insert can be put in just like a sham pillowcase, and hopefully I won’t need to bother with buttons or anything.

In other news, I’ve started therapy and it’s going well so far!  My next appointment is in 2 days, and I’m excited.  I like the therapist and think it’s really going to be a good experience.

Also, I’m a little embarrassed to share this but I’ve started a GoFundMe campaign in an attempt to get some Wing Chun practice equipment for my home.  As I mentioned in previous posts the only class offered anywhere close to my city is on Saturdays, so even though I go to that class for the rest of the week I can’t really practice, even though I want to very much.  Unfortunately the equipment I need is expensive, hence the campaign; I don’t think I can save enough for it myself unless I want to wait like 10 years.  I feel a bit… un-classy asking for donations, but since it would benefit both my physical and mental health greatly I think it’s an important investment to make, and I am thus trying to lay my pride aside for a bit and ask for some help.  Even if I don’t make enough through the campaign to purchase the equipment now, any money raised will go into savings specifically towards purchasing the equipment later.  If anyone is interested in donating or learning more about the campaign, please click here.  I’d appreciate it to no end.

Well, that’s all for today everyone, thanks for stopping by!  See you soon, hopefully with a completed cushion cover!

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FO: mandala ottoman cover

January 31, 2016 by 10 Comments

Crochet and mandalas just go hand in hand, so I decided to try my hand at making a mandala pattern of my own!  Made up as I worked, this nicely covers the lid of a new storage ottoman we got for our wedding (that way we can actually put our feet on it without worrying about getting it dirty).

Mandala ottoman cover from Not Your Average Crochet

I used a variety of stitches and the yarn is KnitPicks Comfy Worsted (leftovers from the embroidered rose hat) and Bernat Handicrafter Cotton DeLux.  Used a US H/8 hook.

Mandala ottoman cover from Not Your Average Crochet

The sides are just granny rounds and some sc rows to stabilize everything.  It’s held on the ottoman with a strand of yarn run through the next-to-last round and cinched around the edge:

Mandala ottoman cover from Not Your Average Crochet

This way the cover can be easily removed & washed, and since it’s a storage ottoman with a lid I didn’t have to do more than cover the lid itself.

This was fun to make and just took 1 weekend, so I got the pleasure of starting a new project as well as not really adding to my current list of WIPs.  I think this is my 6th completed project of the year, so my goal of making 26 projects definitely seems attainable now!  The only problem is that now I want to start another new project, but I really should work on all those WIPs…

Hope you guys had a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

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newest project

February 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I’ve been working hard today and I’m excited to share my next project with you!  I’m making a cushion!

As I didn’t have any extra white pillows or any white linens to make a pillow out of, I used one of my boyfriend’s huge T-shirts.  It was difficult to work with knitted fabric, especially since I only have a straight stitch on my old sewing machine:

I filled the pillow with regular old Poly-Fill from Wal-Mart, and it’s ready to go (it’s quite lumpy and weird looking, but it’ll be covered up with my cushion cover anyway).

For the crocheted cushion cover, I chose these yarn colors from the Caron Simply Soft collection, again at Wal-Mart:

Aren’t they pretty?  The dark blue is going to be the back side of the cover, while the other colors will be on the front.  I’m using a granny square pattern written up by Lucy at Attic24, and I’m also using her tutorial for joining squares as you go to save me the trouble of putting them together at the end.  Some people may think it looks a little sloppy, but I think it adds charm to certain projects like this.  I also think the colors look a bit Cath Kidston-y, which is awesome since her products are my new obsession (my craft bag has unfortunately not come in yet).  Anyway, here’s what I’ve done so far:

I have 2 more long rows to go and I’ll be done with the front of the cover.  It’s going to be a long throw pillow, almost regular bed pillow size.  Hopefully I can finish the front part of the cover tomorrow, and then get crackin’ on the back piece.  Hopefully I’ll be sharing good progress soon!

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