July 2017 – Gilly Gnits

Fiber and Fandom: Knit and Crochet Cosplay!

July 26, 2017 No Comments

Hey friends!

This past weekend I got back from a crazy trip: I went to San Diego Comic Con! And boy, was it crazy! Thousands of people descended on the oceanside city to bask in the nerdy goodness and feed off of each other’s energies as they let themselves be excited by their love of pop culture. It is such a wild experience, though you always need to recharge afterwards–there are just so many things to look at and there are people EVERYWHERE!

I mean, EVERYWHERE!

Look at this panorama I managed to get on one of the days:

I mean dang.

This was my sixth Comic Con and I decided to go with lighter (and less stress!) costuming options this time around, opting for more of an OOTD kind of vibe! Last week, I’d given you a peek at some of the things that I had had in mind with my last-minute costumes with the Crochet Animal Headbands, but also had some other pieces I was excited to show–and was showing the progress on my Instagram.

So allow me to show you a smattering of the pieces that I used:

On Day 1, I wore a brain slug headband, which was inspired by the cartoon series Futurama:

I’m considering making a pattern for the headband, so if you’re interested, please let me know! Also, side note: I’m still kind of confused by my new smile since the braces just came off at the beginning of June, so that’s a work in progress, though I do like how this picture turned out!

Day 2, I went for a Princess Leia bun headband that I had whipped up the night before:

These were a simple project:
2 circles done with a K hook and Wool Ease Thick & Quick, I think it was the color “Wood”, then stitched onto a headband!
They would be pretty cool as ear warmers, so I think I’ll keep them in mind for wintery craft ideas!

Day 3 was my most exciting piece, a Magikarp hat!

This guy was a loom knit piece, with crochet elements, and I am currently working on getting the pattern done so that I can share it with you all! I got so many compliments for it, and a lot of Pokemon Go players were asking me what team I was on!

…

Go Team Valor!

But enough about my own creations! I had the goal of looking for other fiber-arts minded people and so I searched for those people in the crowds who also had knit or crochet creations for the convention!

By FAR the most popular pieces I saw were the Jayne Cobb hat from Firefly! The red, yellow, and orange combination is hard to miss! I would have taken more pictures but some people were just too far away and I couldn’t tap them on the shoulder! So here are some people who were kind enough to let me take pictures of them with their cunning hats:

Everyone was just too cool!

But that wasn’t all! There were also other Magikarp I saw and a super fantastic Harley hat:

Going through the crowds of people to take a picture with this guy was like swimming upstream!

Everyone I ran across had such amazing details in their pieces that it made my day! There were 2 fascinating pieces that I couldn’t get pictures of because of various reasons, but one was a majestic Sorting Hat and the other a large Doctor Who scarf, so I’m still kicking myself, but man, these artists are great!

And the vendors there were splendid! There are so many artisans who come to display all of their hard work and I was so happy to see the fiber arts represented! Here were some fantastic booths that I ran across!

TurtleBunny Creations:

They brought the nerd factor up to an 11! They had so many cute items there from their Super Buddies collection, which you can find more of in their Etsy shop or follow all of their updates on Instagram!

Dorklandia:

THEIR CATS ARE SO CUTE! I don’t know if it’s their body size or the large eyes, but they have some super adorable little kitties for adoption! Adopt one of your own in their Etsy shop or look at their new felines on their Instagram!

dsgnGrl Crochet:

Such an adorable assortment of items! I really loved the crochet superhero masks that she had–such an adorable idea! You can find all of her great items in her Etsy shop, and follow her updates on Instagram!

It was such a crazy experience that I only went to 3 days of the convention, and took the 4th day to decompress by seeing some of the sights in San Diego! It was the right call, we went to a cool historic area called Balboa Park, which was a great idea to help us recharge. I had such a great time at San Diego Comic Con and came away feeling so inspired! It’s always a great way to get new ideas and see the people who enjoy the same things you do, whether it’s your favorite tv shows and movies, or a love of fiber arts! I hope you enjoyed my recap of my Con experiences, feel free to share some of your own!

Until next time,

Gilliane

Crochet

Crochet Animal Headbands

July 19, 2017 1 Comment

It’s coming–that time to dress up and walk around with a bag and get things from people as you trudge from stop to stop in search of free things!

Oh.

Oh, I’m not talking about Halloween. I’m talking about the second holiday to dress up and go around in a costume–San Diego Comic Con! Yeah, that’s right, Comic Con!

I enjoy attending Comic Con every year, it’s a lot of fun and a LOTTTTT of people! You get to see what’s new and fresh in the entertainment industry and it’s just a fascinating experience. Now, every year I have dressed up since I’ve started going, but this year I’m doing something different: I’m keeping it simple.

I also got kind of lazy and lost track of time when it came to the costume I had had in mind and don’t want to stress myself out with trying to throw a costume together, so I’m stripping it down and doing these amazing little headbands! They’re perfect for a last-minute Con outfit or you can pin this and save it for Halloween, or a school play, or whatever, there are so many options!

So I’m sharing with you my adorable animal headbands!

Bear Ears:

Materials:
1″ headband
(I picked up mine in a trio set from Dollar Tree and they’re perfect, this online set is really similar)
1 Ball of Bernat Softee Chunky in Black
L Hook
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Instructions:

Body

Using L hook and yarn, chain 36

Row 1: 1 single crochet into the second chain from the hook, sc across (35 sc)
(side note: leave initial tail unseamed for now, you’ll need it to seam the edge of the headband)

Rows 2-3: Ch 1, single crochet into each stitch (35 sc)

Bind off, leaving a long tail for seaming

Band:

Take your newly-made strip and seam around the headband, meeting up the stitches
Make extra stitches at the end of the strip to secure it
Using the yarn from your beginning tail, stitch secure the end of the band

Ears (make 2):

Using L hook and Black yarn, ch 3
Row 1: 2 sc in second chain from hook, 2 sc in the next (4 sc). Ch 1 and turn
Row 2: 2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc, 2 sc, 1 sc. Ch 1 and turn
Row 3: 2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches, 2 sc in the fourth, 2 sc in the last 2 stitches. Ch 1 and turn upside down
Single crochet across the flat part of the ear, bind off, leaving a long tail for stitching onto the headband

Assemble!

Toy around with the ears and find the place where you think they’ll look best, like so:

Use a whip stitch through the spaces in the headbands to secure the ears, tie them off and weave in the ends!

Fox Ears

Materials:
1″ headband
1 Ball of chunky Orange yarn
(I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Spice)
Small parts of a fuzzy white chunky yarn
(I used Homespun Thick and Quick in Dove)
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Instructions:

Headband Cover:
Using a soft or bright orange color, ch 36
Round 1: 1 single crochet into the second chain from the hook, sc across (35 sc)
Rounds 2-3: ch 1, sc across (35 sc)
Bind off, leaving a long tail for seaming

Whip stitch the seam of your cover around your headband base, creating extra stitching to support the ends of the headband

Ears (make 2):

Front part:
w/fluffy white, ch 2
Row 1: 3 sc in second chain from hook, ch 1 and turn
Row 2: 2 sc, 1 sc, 2 sc, ch 1 and turn
Row 3: sc across, ch 1 and turn
Row 4: sc across, join orange and chain 1
Single crochet around the piece with the orange, slip stitch to the beginning chain 1. Bind off and weave in the ends

Back part:

w/ Orange, ch 2
Row 1: 3 sc in second chain from hook, ch 1 and turn
Row 2: 2 sc, 1 sc, 2 sc, ch 1 and turn
Row 3: sc across, ch 1 and turn
Row 4: sc across, ch 1
Single crochet around the piece and slip stitch to the beginning chain 1. Chain 1, do not bind off

Assembly

Line up the 2 pieces with the wrong sides facing each other, chain 1, and single crochet the pieces together. Slip stitch to the beginning.
Stitch those bad boys onto your headband!

Pom Pom Ears

I think this one is particularly adorable, it has pom poms for the ears! Not only is it cute, it is also a very simple design!

Choose your base color. For this one, I’ve chosen a pumpkin orange, it’s Bernat Softee Chunky.

Do the same steps for your headband cover (ch 36, sc into the second chain from the hook, total of 35 sc for the first row, plus 2 more rows, leave a long tail and bind off), and stitch it to your headband.

And now you can make your pom poms! They can be whatever size you want, though I picked a pair of large pom poms with my Clover pom pom maker, which I find much easier to work with because I had trouble making pom poms by hand. I thought I wasn’t making them consistently, so the Clover pom pom maker was a lifesaver!

I used a brown fluffy yarn (Wool Ease Thick and Quick) for mine!

And then you stitch them where you think they’d be cute on your headband

And I added a few X’s onto my piece to make it look nice and nerdy: Ewok!

I think Ewoks are cute and this was such a nice simple project, so I’m very excited to take it to Comic Con with me!

As you can see,you have tons of options! I hope you enjoyed this pattern for these super simple and cute headbands. If you’re getting ready for Comic Con and use these for your OOTD, I’d love to see it! Please share with me your finished work via Instagram and Facebook so I can like the heck out of it! Good luck on your crafting and I’ll see you soon!

-Gilliane

Like this pattern? Don’t forget to pin this article on Pinterest!
And I’d love to see your finished projects! Please share with me on Facebook and Instagram!
Finished items made from this pattern may be personally sold on your Etsy and at craft fairs, but please share the love and credit the pattern back here! And please don’t copy and paste this pattern as your own!

Crochet

Santa Belly Coffee Sleeve

July 15, 2017 1 Comment

Ho ho ho!

But wait, it’s July…

Aw, that’s okay! It’s Christmas in July! What better time than now to start thinking of all the things you can make for the holiday season? Do you do craft fairs? I hope you’re already working up your stock items to blow away your adoring fans! I just received a promo for a craft fair I have tried to get into for the last 2 years and will not be deterred–I’m getting into it this year! Third time’s the charm, right?

So if you’re like me and want a bunch of different things to offer your potential shoppers, then I’ve got an adorable idea for you MONTHS IN ADVANCE!

Huzzah!

Today, I have for you these cute Santa Belly coffee sleeves!

I really love that they look like Santa’s wide belt–I know I sometimes need a Santa tummy for all of the coffee and hot cocoa and tea and apple cider that’s coming! So I’ll share with you 2 different options that work out so well for this little guy!

The only difference between the 2 is how you create your foundation, so here goes!

Materials Needed:

1 Ball of Red (5 or 6 weight) yarn
1 Ball of Black (5 or 6 weight) yarn
(For both of these, I used Bernat Softee Chunky)
Scrap gold or yellow yarn
(I used Red Heart Super Saver in Gold)
L hook
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Abbreviations Used:

Sc- Single Crochet
Sl st- Slip Stitch
Ch- Chain

Instructions:

Beginning Option 1:
With L hook and red yarn, ch 23, slip stitch to beginning. Ch 1, single crochet into each stitch around (23 sc) and slip stitch to beginning

Beginning Option 2:
With L hook, Foundation Single Crochet 23 stitches, slip stitch together, ch 1
The most helpful tutorial for me for discovering the FSC was One Dog Woof, so I’ll link her pictorial help here. (She’s also a fantastic resource for different patterns and helpful tidbits and definitely worth a follow!)

**Note: working a foundation single crochet takes a little while longer, but does create a nice even tension in the piece**

Whichever option you’ve chosen, you have your first Round!

Round 2: Work a second round of single crochet around your piece (23 sc), but don’t slip stitch to the beginning just yet!

Color change to Black, using a slip stitch to complete the row.

Round 3: Ch 1, single crochet into the stitch and each stitch around for 23 sc.
Round 4: Repeat Round 3.
Round 5: Repeat Round 3. At end of Round 5, color change to Red once again, using a slip stitch to complete the round.
Round 6- 7: Ch 1 with Red, single crochet into the slip stitch and each stitch around for 23 sc. At end of Round 7, bind off.

Weave in all ends!

Buckle:
Take your gold or yellow yarn and thread it through your tapestry needle. I bordered my buckle across 3 stitches and the 3 rows of black for a more or less square buckle, doubling each stitch. I then tied the 2 ends together and trimmed the ends.

Now your Santa Belly is ready to be filled with holiday goodness! Happy Crafting!

Until next time,

Gilliane

Crochet

Sunflower Coaster

July 10, 2017 No Comments

Summertime and the livin’s easy!

Sometimes. But it’s mostly hot. Thank goodness for cold drinks or there would be absolutely no living with it! It’s always nice to have a nice cold drink on a super-hot day, and even better when those drinks are shared with friends. Summer parties and barbecues are great for getting together with friends and loved ones, with drinks aplenty, so be sure to have plenty of coasters for all those frosty beverages! Or you’re hanging out at Starbucks for a while and want a coaster to look nice, like so:

Which is where this pattern comes in! I think that sunflowers are the quintessential summer flower, and the seeds are delicious! With real sunflowers, it’s a real challenge to husk all the seeds out of them when the time comes, but you won’t have to worry about the mess with these crocheted little coasters—no husking required.

Materials Needed:
Worsted weight yarn
-Brown
-Gold
4.5mm hook
Tapestry Needle
Scissors

Crochet terms used:
DC= Double Crochet
Trbl= Treble Crochet
Sc= Single Crochet
ch= Chain
st= Stitch
sl st= Slip Stitch

With Brown, starting off with a magic circle, insert hook into the middle of the circle and draw up a loop

Round 1: Ch 3, 12 DC into the circle, slip stitch to 1^st stitch. 12 DC.
Round 2: Ch 3, 2 DC into each stitch, sl st to previous round. 24 DC.
Round 3: Ch 3, 2 DC into first stitch, 1 DC into the next, continue pattern to end of row.

Color Change at the end of Round 3: cut brown, leaving room for weaving. Insert hook to begin sl st to beginning of round, bring up Gold yarn to complete the sl st.

I like to tie a knot between the 2 colors just to ensure that it stays together, but feel free to work it to your preference in color changes!

Round 4: Ch 3, 2 DC into the first st, 1 DC into the next 2 st, 2 DC into the next st, 1 DC in each of the next 2, continue to end of round.

Round 5: Ch 1, skip 3 st, 7 Trbl into the next stitch, skip the following st and put 1 Sc into the next, skip 3 stitches, 7 Trbl into the next, skip the following st and put 1 Sc into the next, skip 3, 7 Trbl, continue pattern to the end of round, sl st to beginning and bind off.

Weave in the ends and put a drink on it! Enjoy, friends!

-Gilliane

Like this pattern? Don’t forget to pin this article on Pinterest!
And I’d love to see your finished projects! Please share with me on Facebook and Instagram!
Finished items made from this pattern may be personally sold on your Etsy and at craft fairs, but please share the love and credit the pattern back here! And please don’t copy and paste this pattern as your own!

Crochet

Granny Goes to the Beach Bikini Top

July 7, 2017 No Comments

Hello!

It’s very very hot here in SoCal right now. And it’s going to be hot until basically November, which can make it a tricky situation when it comes to crafting! So if you live in a hotter climate and love crafting, you either bear the heat and make blankets, or you switch up your retinue of crafts with summery things, lighter things! You can have a ton of options, that’s what’s so much fun about crafting!

The heat can’t catch you if you work faster…right? Well, luckily I have a nice and easy project for you today! It’s my Granny Goes to the Beach Bikini Top! And even easier than that, it’s an applique to place on top of an existing bikini top!

My inspiration for that was that, as much as I love crochet bikini tops–it’s actually what convinced me to pick up hooks and do more in-depth work than simple chains–the problem with lining is always there! So I thought:

“What if I just get a bikini top and make it cuter?”

And that’s where I went!

I went and picked up a few bikini tops over at Walmart, they look like this. I specifically wanted triangle tops, the simpler the better, for this project and these wound up being the ones that I liked the best! They were triangular, they had lining, and forgivingly simple shapes.

[I must note here that I hate HATE shopping for things like swimsuits and bras. The worst. I will admit that I have a very small chest and dislike the way those kinds of things look on me and it’s an ongoing thing but ANYHOW]

I liked these tops, and would highly suggest a triangular top for this project for the applique to work properly!

But, let’s get down to business and make this top happen for you!

[Note: I used a small bikini top because I am a small person. If you’d like to go with a larger size, then still go with a triangular top and add another row or 3 depending on the size of your cup!]

Materials Used:

Triangular bikini top as shown here in this example
Cotton yarn (I used Yarnspirations Lily n Creme in Off White. It’s a huge ball and has lasted me forever)
H Hook
3.5 Hook
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Small straight edge ruler
Rotary Cutter (click for the Amazon place I got mine from)
Crochet edging blade (I busted a mission looking for these guys and I am so glad for these!)

Instructions:

If you haven’t already, put the crochet edging blade into the rotary cutter–be careful! I had problems with opening my first rotary cutter and the store shipped me a new one free of charge because of a weird mechanism that had broken, and it was very nice of them to do.

Be careful with the blades, they’re sharp and have a light lubricant on them!

Take your bladed cutter and a small ruler (you don’t need a 12-inch ruler for this, too unwieldy) and place even lines of holes along the 3 sides of each triangle cup

I had to take a picture one-handed, so place the ruler a safer distance from the edge and keep it straight between corners

Feel free with the bottom triangles to stretch it a bit because of the ruching so you can get a cleaner and straighter line!

Making Your Triangles (make 2)

With H hook and your cotton yarn, ch 4, slip stitch to form a circle

Round 1: Ch 3, 2 Dc, ch 3, 3 Dc, ch 3, ch 1, slip stitch to top of original ch 3

Round 2: Slip stitch across to ch 3 space, slip stitch into the space and ch 3, 2Dc, ch 3, 3Dc into ch 3 space, ch 1, [3Dc, ch 3, 3 Dc] into next ch 3 space, ch 1, [3Dc, ch 3, 3 Dc] into next ch 3 space, ch 1 and slip stitch to beginning ch 3

Round 3: Slip stitch across to ch 3 space, slip stitch into the space and ch 3, 2Dc, ch 3, 3 Dc. Ch 1, 3 Dc into Ch 1 space, ch 1, [3Dc, ch 3, 3Dc] into ch 3 space, ch 1. 3 Dc into Ch 1 space, ch 1, [3Dc, ch 3, 3Dc] into ch 3 space, ch 1, slip stitch to beginning.

Rounds 4-6: Continue with pattern, placing 2 sets of 3Dc into each corner ch 3 space and 1 set of 3Dc into each ch 1 space.

If you are going for a bigger cup, continue from here for the appropriate number of rows for your bikini top

Once you’ve got the appropriate size for your piece, ch 1 and single crochet around the whole cup, and the appropriate number of single crochet stitches for each ch 1 and ch 3 space respectively, slip stitch to your original chain 1

Grab your 3.5mm hook and ch 1. Line up your triangle with the cup of the bikini and single crochet into your top hole. ch 2 to carry around the back of the top, and single crochet into the same hole. Ch 1, slip next stitch and single crochet into the next. Continue this pattern to each corner where you will single crochet, ch 2, and single crochet into the same stitch, carrying the ch 2 behind the corner for your straps to go through. Slip stitch to your original ch 1, bind off and weave in ends.

Repeat with your second cup!

Et Voilà you have your bikini top and you’re ready to go!

Enjoy!
Gilliane

Like this pattern? Don’t forget to pin this article on Pinterest!
And I’d love to see your finished projects! Please share with me on Facebook and Instagram!
Finished items made from this pattern may be personally sold on your Etsy and at craft fairs, but please share the love and credit the pattern back here! And please don’t copy and paste this pattern as your own!

Bonus dumb fun:
I have had a tricky time of keeping track of my hooks in the past and accidentally grab the wrong size, which will mess up a project. This project got sidelined for a while when I grabbed the wrong hook and wound up with a wonky cup:

The cup at your left is the wonky one and I got annoyed because it happened all too often! So don’t do what I did!

Crochet

Summertime Scrunchy

July 6, 2017 No Comments

Do you like tying your hair back?

I know I do. Sometimes I really enjoy letting my hair done, but whenever I’m at work (or needing to get some work done), I tie my hair back to get it out of the way.

But sometimes I get really bored with my regular black hair tie. I mean, sure it looks nice and isn’t noticeable, but what if you’re feeling fun? Then I’ve got such a simple project for you!

It’s this delightful unicorn palette scrunchy hair tie:

Dang, that’s majestic.
It just needs a horn and a tail!

I want you to know that I quietly laughed to myself at Starbucks while I doodled this.

There we go!

Okay, enough with the funny stuff (and I hope you thought that was funny hah), let’s get to this super simple pattern!

Materials:
H Hook
Cotton Yarn (I chose Lily Sugar N Cream Scents in Fleur de Lavande)
Tapestry Needle
Scissors
Elastic hair tie

I picked this yarn because cotton is going to be the most durable, it’s a good lightweight yarn for the summer…and I had it left over from some other fun projects and thought that this would be a really good idea to help me out in my ongoing Project Scrap Yarn.

Placing your slipknot onto the hook, ch 1, and single crochet into the rubber band’s center until you have completely covered the hair tie. Slip stitch to your beginning ch.

2. Ch 6 and single crochet into the next stitch

3. Ch 6 and single crochet into the next stitch. Repeat until you have gone all the way around through the stitches. Slip stitch to the last stitch. Bind off and weave in the ends.

Final step: Wear your new scrunchy! Feel majestic!

Like this pattern? Don’t forget to pin this article on Pinterest!
And I’d love to see your finished projects! Please share with me on Facebook and Instagram!
Finished items made from this pattern may be personally sold on your Etsy and at craft fairs, but please share the love and credit the pattern back here! And please don’t copy and paste this pattern as your own!

Uncategorized

Project Scrap Yarn

July 5, 2017 2 Comments

Hello! Welcome again, here’s a new blog post!

I wanted to share some clarification with you about a hashtag and series of pictures you have probably seen on my Instagram for quite some time now: #ProjectScrapYarn. I also tag it as #PSY, not to be confused with the pop icon who gave us Gangam Style, but I hope he doesn’t mind. So what is Project Scrap Yarn? It’s my foray into breaking down my stash of yarn that I’ve accumulated over the years and making different kinds of projects with them, big and small. I realized that I had been hoarding my yarn in different places, colors stashed all over the place, small balls of yarn here and there, scraps tucked into all different kinds of boxes and jars. It was frankly getting out of control and made me feel like I was grossly unorganized.

And I was. I was really unorganized. I felt gross looking at my workspace because no matter how often I thought I was reorganized the area, it was never enough to clear anything up! And it was frustrating.

But how could I fix my organization issues and feel less bad about having dozens of small tidbits of color floating around my workspace? This project of knocking down my stash of scrap yarn and making something productive from them! Last year I created myself a really wonderful granny square blanket with several partial and half-balls of Charisma yarn, and I feel so proud and happy every time I look at it because it turned out so beautifully. Look at it!

But, as always happens with yarn and crafting, the scraps re-accumulated. And as much as I’d like to create more blankies, I wanted the challenge of doing different projects. So occasionally I’d look at my baskets of yarn bits and think of what colors I could pair together. Which has led to me to some really fun projects like a pencil scarf that looks like a pencil, dozens of coffee sleeves, headbands, coasters, scarves, and more!

Some of the patterns that you will see me post will have been influenced by this self-imposed project, and has led to a lot of illuminating lightbulb moments, it’s been such a cool adventure. So if you see my hashtags floating around on Instagram, I’d love it if you wanted to join in on the social media fun and show me what you’re doing in terms of your own stashbusting!

P.S. Organization of yarn is an ongoing issue for me, I’m sure you have your own, but more on that another day!

~Gilliane

Like this article? Don’t forget to pin this article on Pinterest!
And I’d love to see your finished projects of your own Project Scrap Yarn! Please share with me on Facebook and Instagram! Use #ProjectScrapYarn so I can find you and you can always @ my handle!

Uncategorized

Zen and the Art of Yarn Detangling

July 4, 2017 No Comments

[To start, I took the title of this blog post from a really interesting philosophical novel I read a handful of years ago called Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig which I really liked and took away some helpful advice!]

I love yarn.

I do.

I love yarn SO much.

But I really really can’t handle unknotting tangles as they come up sometimes.

Which is a problem because it happens more often than you ever want it to, am I right? Which brings me to my post today about why I learned to appreciate something as awful as yarn detangling.

Growing up, I was always kind of a perfectionist (which was always in competition with my tendency toward procrastination, but…anyhow). I assumed that I was good at everything and definitely did NOT appreciate it any time it came up that I was not, in fact, amazing at everything the first time around. Which is difficult sometimes, and it happens to everybody. But you couldn’t tell that to Kid Me. I would get super irritable and annoyed and start shutting down.

Not the healthiest reaction, I’ll be the first to admit.

But, with time, you learn to accept the things that you are not good at.
You do that in two ways.
1) Accepting that maybe it’s not your thing and leaving it, maybe consider setting it on fire

Image result for picture of fire — Bye inconveniences!

OR

2) Understanding that maybe you can’t do it YET

The first is the easiest to do, whereas the second takes a lot of time and PATIENCE. Patience is in short supply for the young, but if you don’t really practice at it and challenge yourself, you become an impatient adult and that is way less endearing. When you decide to understand instead of getting unproductively mad, you learn to take the time to see a problem to its proper end, and develop the patience to problem-solve in a more efficient manner.

Image result for picture of a math book — The one and only time I ever threw a book it was a math book. I regretted it immediately and it was an unproductive step to doing my homework (even if I felt temporarily better). Sorry, Algebra.

Which is where my issue (and probably yours) with tangled yarn comes in. It is a fantastic lesson in patience. It goes hand in hand with the craft that you do, whether it’s knitting, loom knitting, crochet, weaving, amigurumi, or anything that you do with yarn.

Image result for picture of yarn ball slippers — Sure, this counts too!

There are going to be snags, but you have to get through them to get to work on your real project. Yarn detangling is a minor issue, or setback, along the way to the thing that you really want: to get started on your “real” work. Much like in the same way that people think about the things they want to do, but get sidelined by small things that are still important and necessary steps…even if they’re annoying and you don’t like them.

“I just want to be a doctor and help people, this pharmacology class is super boring”

Things that are trying or difficult make our goals seem just that much further out of our reach, but if we start looking at them as steps toward our success of creating a cute hat or a delightful blanket that we’re excited about, then it makes the tedious task a little bit more manageable. Sometimes when I get mad at my yarn tangles and start tugging harder and worsen the knot, I kick myself for not simply taking the time and causing myself the issue of working that much longer at getting them undone. I especially had a difficult time in June when I got these fabulous hanks of Malabrigo yarn and needed to put them into balls for easier crafting.

But I had never worked with winding hanks of yarn and didn’t look up the best method and spent roughly 4-6 hours of my weekend simply trying to work my way through the mess that I had made. That was time that I could’ve spent working on the top I had planned, which was really frustrating. Because new projects are AMAZING! However, because I valued the yarn, from my friend Marina from Bad Sissy Crochet, and had a nice project in mind that I was excited about, I lightly clenched my jaw (because I recently got my braces removed and wanted to be careful with my new smile, obviously) and quietly swore between my teeth.

I’m glad to say, though, that having put on a nice tv show in the background (I’m a huge fan of Impractical Jokers myself) and getting into the groove of unwinding the hank of yarn, I didn’t mind the task as much as I thought I would have. There is a calming sense about it, just breathing and feeling the tracking in the thread, much like when you get down to the nitty-gritty of your “real” project. I learned something about differences in types of yarn winding, experienced a new shape in yarn (since I was more accustomed to skeins and balls), and finally got to setup the groundwork for a new project!

I can work on my top now knowing that I put in a lot of effort and care to make sure that the work-in-progress goes smoothly!

So, all in all, I learned it’s much more productive to understand that things don’t always work out the way you want them to the first time and you’ll have to make your way through small obstacles (and maybe some big ones) to get to where you want to be. It takes time and patience to refocus and re-center yourself on getting things done, but is worth it in the end.

~ Gilliane

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As always, I’d love to see any of your finished projects! How have you gotten through your own issues with yarn detangling? Please share with me on Facebook and Instagram!

Loom Knitting

The Joy of Loom Knitting

July 4, 2017 2 Comments

Looking for a new craft? It is always great learning new things, it’s something I really enjoy! I taught myself French using DuoLingo because in high school I said I wanted to become trilingual (I already speak English and Spanish), and finally decided to try and make it happen. It is not easy to do, and I am still practicing, but when you start learning a new skill, something amazing happens. You get a different outlook and see things differently. You find different things that you enjoy doing and encounter new challenges. You change. And so does your brain.

As you learn new things, pick up new skills, challenge yourself to do different things than you’re used to, your neurons love it! They create new pathways and do so many amazing things to help your health. Did you know that crafting is a stress reliever and keeping mentally stimulated can help you cognitively? So, there is a lot of benefits to doing different types of crafts! When I started my Etsy shop, I was creating things with loom knitting, and there are lots of great things about it!

Loom knitting is a craft that uses a multi-peg board and a stylus that looks like an angled hook, or a dental hook, like so:

And looms come in lots of different shapes, materials, and sizes to allow for a wide variety of projects to be made! There are looms that are round, others that are rectangular, sock looms, and afghan looms! You can make everything from preemie baby hats to large afghans and everywhere in between!

I personally really like the deceiving simplicity of it. I call it “deceiving” simply because it looks like a really simple tool set, but you can also create all kinds of designs with them! With looming, you can have wide open stitching with e-wraps, you can create knit and purl stitches, and the combinations therein! So you like the stockinette stitch? You can create that with a loom! Want to add cables to a project? You can still do those as well! You have lots of options with loom knitting, and one of the cool perks that I enjoy is that the sizes are a bit more standardized depending on the size loom you’re using!

Have you ever had the problem where you were planning out a hat and thought that it would fit, only to have the heartbreak of discovering that it was too big or too small?

I’ve had that happen with some requests for friends where I underestimated the size and there’s no way around it, you have to either undo the piece or redo it! If you have a loom, the varying number of pegs help to take some of the guesswork out of how many stitches or chains you need to cast on! Need a grown-up sized beanie? BAM! Grab a 36- or a 41-peg loom! A teenager? 36 pegs! Loom knitting really does help open you up to new and different crafting and pattern opportunities, which is why I think it is so cool! Loom knitting, for lack of a better phrase, was my gateway drug to crochet.

I was introduced to crochet through loom knitting because a lot of the patterns necessitated the use of a crochet hook for crochet cast-ons and creating clean lines for casting off, and they can also add some nice touches to the loom knit pieces. Also, while loom knitting can achieve a lot of effects, it was incredibly helpful to learn basic work in crochet, like chains! So it was a natural transition that I made into getting into crochet work. Crochet was an augmentation to the loom knitting projects, which gives you lots of types of projects to work on.

And you do NOT have to feel limited to making only hats! I have made boot cuffs, beanies, scarves, fingerless gloves, and iPad covers, along with other things. I hope to share those ideas with you as I create patterns, and give you other wonderful resources that have really been helpful to me on my creative adventure!

So, welcome to a new craft adventure if you are new to loom knitting or are a seasoned loom knitter looking for other sources of inspiration! I’m here to learn new things and look forward to embarking on this with you all!

~Gilliane

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Crochet

Granny Gone Chic Gloves

July 3, 2017 1 Comment

Despite the name, granny squares can be super trendy! They’re also a phenomenal motif to work with, whether you’re working with a simpler design or something more involved. You can, however, do enormously more intricate designs and they are wonderful to gaze upon:

Look at the majesty of this square!
Click the image for the free Ravelry pattern

That’s a lot of color changes and it’s so pretty!

And since they’re square, it takes the guesswork out of what the size is going to be: square. So you’re going to get a reliable size on whatever piece it is you’re putting together, you aren’t going to get any kind of weird obtuse shape or have the project wind up with an extra arm, as long as you’re doing it right! Sometimes I just like the reliable simplicity of a standard granny square since it can be so versatile!

You can make a ginormous afghan in the Granny,

This large blanket was one of my first crochet projects!

or coasters,

Click for Sewrella’s delightful pattern!

or even these granny square gloves!

Gloves, fingerless gloves, wristers—whatever you call them, they can be so helpful when the weather is not quite super cold, or you simply want to have the use of your fingers for doing small handwork (or texting, we can be honest). Those snaps don’t caption themselves!

I’m going to present these guys to you in two ways: one for those who already understand the granny square and another for those who are like “what” about how the stitches work! Either way, this is a simple project, the only trick is you have to make two or you only have one wrister, which…I don’t know why you’d only need one glove? But anyhow, here we go!

Materials Needed:

*1 Ball of worsted weight (4) yarn
I used Buff Fleck in Red Heart Super Saver for mine, I liked the simplicity of the neutral color
*H hook (5.5mm)
*Tapestry needle
*Scissors

Terms Used:

Ch = Chain
Dc = Double Crochet
Sl st = Slip stitch
St/s = Stitch/Stitches
Ch sp = Chain Space

Instructions:

With I hook, chain 4, slip stitch to the first chain to form a loop

Round 1: Ch 3 (this first Ch 3 counts as a Dc here and throughout), 2Dc into the loop, [ch 3, 3Dc] three times, ch 3, sl st to beginning of the round

**note: In the above picture, you may notice I only chained 2 in the corners, don’t do that
Chain 3 to the form the corners!**

Round 2: Ch 3, turn over. 2Dc into the ch 3 space. Ch 1 *[3Dc into ch sp, ch 3, 3Dc, ch 1], repeat from * twice, sl st to beginning of round. Sl st across to the corner and place another sl st into the corner ch 3 space. 8 Dc total

Round 3: Ch 3, 2Dc into ch 3 sp, ch 3, 3Dc into same ch 3 space, ch 1, 3 Dc into ch 1 space, ch 1, [3Dc, ch 3, 3Dc] into corner ch 3 sp], ch 1, 3Dc into ch 1 sp, ch 1, [3Dc, ch 3, 3Dc] into corner ch 3 sp, ch 1, 3Dc into ch 1 sp, ch 1, [3Dc, ch 3, 3Dc] into corner ch 3 sp, ch 1, 3Dc into ch 1 sp, ch 1, sl st to beginning corner. Sl st across to the ch 3 space, sl st once into ch 3 space. 12 Dc total

Rounds 4-6: Continue the pattern, expanding by 4 Dcs in each round. In each ch 1 space, 3Dc, and in each corner [3Dc, ch 3, 3Dc].

Ch 1, single crochet into each stitch and chain space around the piece. For each ch 1 space, place 1 single crochet. For each ch 3 space, 3 single crochet. Once completed, ch 1. Do not bind off.

Fold the piece in half, and seam the side opposite the fold with a single crochet beginning from the end with the Ch 1. Continue across to the second ch 1 space.

Look here where the hook and tapestry needle are pointing:

The space in between is where you want your thumb hole to be!

Option 1: Break the yarn and reinsert past 2 3Dc clusters
Option 2: Slip stitch along one side of the piece until you reach past 2 3Dc clusters

Continue to seam with a single crochet to the end of the side. Bind off and weave in the ends.

And enjoy your gloves!

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Finished items made from this pattern may be personally sold on your Etsy and at craft fairs, but please share the love and credit the pattern back here! And please don’t copy and paste this pattern as your own!