Craft-a-presents

Hello! It's me! I'm back finally. Woo!
I've had a lot going on during the last few months that have kept me away from the bloggy (mostly holidays/vacations) but I am back in freezing New York so can show you all that I have still been crafting. Don't. Worry.

First up, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2 months late is better than never, right? I hope everyone had a fantastic time and is still keeping to their NYs resolutions. I am not :/

I spent the holidays with my friend-family in London, England. What up, Bow? Many good times were had and lots of cute gifts exchanged.

Here is my contribution:

First up, many, many reusable crocheted cotton grocery bags!


I love this pattern, it is super quick and easy to do while commuting. Pattern here from Purl. I actually made more than are in the photo, but you get the idea.


I like that the straps are long so you can sling it over your shoulder. Particularly good in NY if you live more that a couple of blocks from the Supermarket. Like me.


I have one to send to NZ that I forgot to give while I was there, (sorry K!) and then I am going to experiment with some multi coloured ones for myself. All were made with machine washable cotton.

Next we have the cowls:

The first I made for myself as a test, as I didn't have a pattern but I thought I could visualize what I wanted. Made with one skein of Brown Sheep's Burly Spun in "Lemon Drop". Sorry about the blurry picture!


It is super warm and just what I wanted. Let me know if you want the pattern. I was inspired by this picture from (I think) The Sartorialist.


Since the yellow one turned out quite well, I made two more for gifts, out of Lamb's Pride Bulky from my stash. Colours, Emerald City and Mystic Blue.



Next we have a Gold trimmed lace scarf/wrap for someone I owed 2x Christmas presents AND a birthday present. Let's call her C.


To make this I got a yard/metre of lace from Mood Fabrics (Thank you, Mood!) and edged it in gold, with a couple of rows of single crochet, then a final round with loops to create a picot-ish edge.


And here is C modelling it! Yay!


Next is the Brighton Cowl for my Mother:


Pattern on Ravelry here.


I almost got this done with one skein of Cascade 220 Heathers in Mallard (2448), but I ran out with 3 motifs to go. An-noying.


My favourite part of lace scarfs is how pretty they look when blocking.


And last but not least is the Felt Cushion Cover I made for my bro.


It doesn't look it but its made of Navy Wool felt and I basically made up the stitch pattern in some different contrasting colours to make it more interesting.


Super easy if you try it yourself!

Ahhhhhh and that is it for now. I will be back more regularly I promise with some more pretty pictures later.

xxx

Spring Scarfy

I finally finished my 2nd Queen Anne's Lace scarf for a workmate's combined Christmas and Birthday present.


I chose a bright-mustard for this one, a nice Cascase 220 1 skein project.


She loves it and I am inspired to try the pattern out in a few more yarn variations.


And since it is so lacy and light it is perfect for Spring, which is hopefully around the corner here in NY. The weekend forecast is for warm weather and also time to change the clocks, so fingers crossed!

PS: I know you are probably not supposed to block scarves in a curved manner, but my apartment really isn't big enough to stretch it all the way out lengthwise. No hallway!

Lazy Friday

I know I have been super slack on the blog front this week. Keep coming back bloggies I'm still here I promise! So since its feeling like a lazy friday around here and Im sure you can't be bothered reading lots and lots of posts I thought I would just do a quick round up of the cute stuff I have seen lately. For your viewing pleasure.

Knitted Rose ring in time for V-Day from (enter cute shop that I cant think of the name of here).


Cute knitted and crocheted fonts from Handmade Fonts.



Twin prints from Etsy. I think these would look cute above a double bed.



Crochet Heart Garland (with tutorial) for V-Day. Here from BellaDia.


Cute vase aternatives I saw over on Brooklyn Bride. I have the London Phonebox one!


Gorgeous prints from Dilka Bear. I want all.




And finally a top-hat chandelier via Kanye West's blog.


Happy weekend everyone!

Happy New Yeahhhhhh!!!

Hi there. And welcome back. I don't know about you but our holidays flew by and I can't believe I'm back at work already.

I hope you all had a great relaxing break and Santa was good to you. I got lots and lots of treats and was very spoilt by my visitors. Lucky! Hopefully Z and M had a good time being shown around NYC.

And yay the best thing about being back is I can now show you what I have been crafting over the last few months. Nothing compared to some of the amazing treats out there but I tried.

First up the Glow-in-the-dark Monogram ipod/camera/phone/whatever covers I sewed up on Odette, to slip in with some Xmas cards. Pity most of the cards were opened by the UK post and the pouches were either lost or shoved back in and taped back together. Ugh. Thanks for that.

I made them with some neon grosgrain ribbon and soft natural linen from Mood Fabrics, I'm soooo project runway.


And embroidered each recipients initial on in glow-in-the-dark thread from Sublime Stitching.


This is the closest I could get to glow in the dark :(


And this is one of the ones that got lost!! Ill make you another one soon C.


Next up is a matching scarf and hand-warmer set I made for my friend Z for Christmas.


The hand-warmers were an experiment and (even though I had to re-do one of the hands) I think they turned out good!


I also posted them on Ripple-Along here before Christmas and fellow rippler Jan has even made her own versions! Awesome! Let me know if anyone else is interested in the instructions and I can post them here as well. So exciting to think that someone can follow my instructions :)


Next is a Queen Anne's Lace scarf for my Mum. My first attempt at lace and once I got the hang of it (ripped and re-started 3 times...) it was actually really easy.


I am making a few more in this pattern and cant wait to experiment with brighter colours and also thicker wool.


Download the pattern (for a small fee) here.


And lastly 4 sets of hand-embroidered pillowcases for my parents, grandparents, aunt & uncle and poppa.


The pattern I kind of made up myself after being inspired by some stitches I found online.


The purple wasn't my first choice but time was running out and funds were running low. I think it looked ok once it was all done.

Other than that I actually made 2 scarves for my brother but accidentally forgot to take photos of either of them, durrr. They were both black so nothing to get too excited over ;)

Well after all that it doesn't look like I even made that much! Now I just have a few more things on my list of WIPs (tea-cosy, 3 bday presents, scarf for me etc) and maybe sometime this year I can start on my first afghan. Scary!

Hope you are all well and 2009 has been good to you so far.

xxxxx

PS: New years resolution, post on GC more often!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Today is my last day at work till the 5th of Jan, woah, so I thought I would take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry christmas, happy hanukah and awesome whatever else celebrations you have going on between now and when I get back. I have some family and friends hopping over the pond for a visit so will be busy with horse carriage rides in the park and ice skating under the giant tree - if the blog is a bit neglected over the next 2 weeks, you will know why.

Good news is when I get back all the crafted gifts would have reached where they are going so I will be able to share here! Yay, I cant wait to show you all what I have been making.

What I can show you is my little christmas tree I got in the weekend! Its only tiny but so is my apartment so it fits.


Its not much but the pink lights I got from Urban Outfitters really make it cute.


The other decorations consist of some left over garland from my room and a whole bunch of Maori Hei-Tiki ornaments, courtesy of my Mum. Thanks Mum!


So I hope everyone has a great break and Santa crafts you something good.

xxxxx Emma Apple

Favourite Corny Christmas Movie Moment

Tears. Every. Time.

Annie and Al wish you a Merry Xmas

Not reeeeaaaalllllyyy a christmas carol. But from a christmas movie so good enough.

Famous Wrapper

Hi there! I hope you all had great weekends and got lots of christmas chores done. Me, I did some... but not enough. 10 days to go and only 7 till I need to pack off NZ-bound presents with my cousin. EEkkkk!!! Im getting a bit stressed, 5 completely unstarted craft-gifts to go.

I also accidently invited "whoever was in town" for a Christmas Orphan Champagne Breakfast, thinking it would just be around 5 people. As of this morning the count is 11... what was I thinking. Halleluyah for Whole Foods Holiday Ordering!

But anyway, the funnest thing for me about Xmas has always been the wrapping. Check out the below pics for inspiration. Even the cheapest present can look like a million bucks with a bit of creative wrapping.

From Bestow...




From Bugs and Fishes by Lupin....




From Design*Sponge...



From... I dont know where!


And my fave, using yarn as ribbon.
From Martha.


And the Purl Bee...