Now that the anime mural wall for the kid’s bathroom is finished, my husband Peter did a little write up on his process of redoing the kids bathroom with anime images pasted to the wall, hopefully it all makes sense.READ MORE
In the midst of a ton of things going on right now, I started obsessing thinking about adding a little sparkle to the dining room. Just cause. In its newest version, this room is so much cheerier and brighter than it has been (before and after pics in this post), I absolutely love everything about it. But there was a void in the corner, it just needed something there, nothing crazy or complicated, just something. I thought about a large plant (even though Gracie is good about not eating plants, THAT one would be the one, with my luck). I tried out a couple of things we had, which were okay but not the answer.
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First of all, hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day! Mine was, um, well, memorable. There were a couple of broken vacuums and a prompt 12pm arrival for the Star Wars Exhibit at PacSci when our tickets were actually for 12AM the previous night (don’t ask). I would not suffer through these kinds of days with just anyone, so I’m really lucky to have a family who loves me enough to suffer through them with me… and keep me laughing through it all.
Secondly, it occured to me that I do not show the actual process of sewing up what it is I show you on the blog these days nearly enough. This type of thing used to be normal for me, and if I’m going to keep blogging, what I’d love to do is to create some more how-to’s to explain the process, instead of assuming that everyone stopping by here already knows the basic steps.
Okay, pillows. I tend to change the pillows on our front porch bench at least twice a year. I use the same pillow inserts over and over, just change the covers. This year, giving a nod to our recent vacation off the coast of Florida, I decided to give a fun nod to my East Coast roots and go totally preppy, using some Lily Pulitzer scraps to make some quilted 9 patch covers. But really, a 9 patch pattern is a great use of any of your favorite scraps. (I found my Lily scraps from this etsy seller). I had enough to do the front of all 3 pillows shown above.
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One of the most thoughtful gifts I received at Christmas was from Peter’s dad. He precut all the pieces, ordered the window starts, and gave me the plans to build a mid-century bungalow dollhouse from a wonderful book Peter’s mom has, The International Dolls House Book.
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If you are looking for a fun, quick, addictive project (because I’m sure you, like me, are always finding yourself with nothing to do, right?), these small crocheted hearts are so sweet! I sat yesterday while the kids were at their after school activities and did a bunch of them. I think I’ll make them into a Valentine’s garland of some sort. I am mixing them with larger crocheted hearts (pattern found here) and maybe some miniature granny squares.READ MORE
I’m a little obsessed with crochet since doing those granny squares. (I know, I know, they aren’t *actually* granny squares, but for the sake of classifying, let’s call them that.) I was told that learning something like those sort-of granny squares right off the bat is a difficult place to start, but since then I’ve managed to teach myself how to do some of the simpler stiches by spending some time with expert crocheter friends (hi Kelly!) and watching youtube videos. It was inevitable that I included some sort of crocheted handmade gifts this holiday season, in addition to the crocheted rocks.
This is an extremely simple pattern to crochet wool cozies for those pretty and inexpensive IKEA Driod glasses* (The Sittning glass on IKEA’s website looks similar). By the time this post hits the airwaves, I will have given these to a list of neighbors, teachers, good people, and friends. If you put a nicely scented candle in each of them, you have a great gift for under $20.
I am probably way out of my league here, creating a crochet pattern of even the simplest sort, however I’m just going to put this out there and hope for the best, because its easy and fun. What I am really loving about crochet in general is that it is forgiving, there is actually room for little mistakes or miscounts, and they won’t usually wreck the whole design. As an example, my first dozen of these were all completely different, but still completely useable when I looked closely at them, and I used them all (well, there may have been one or two thrown out). I finally got some consistency in the last batches, so that’s where this pattern was tried, tested, and finalized.
Short, wide-mouthed drinking glasses like the ones mentioned above (I also have luck finding votive and candle holders of all sizes at thrift stores)
Yarn in your chosen weight and color (I used Cascade 220 worsted, my favorite)
Crochet hook in US size H/5.0mm (or size appropriate for your yarn and guage)
candles**
To Make:
(This cozy is crocheted from the bottom up, and has an open bottom. I didn’t take step by step photos of each of these rounds because of the simplicity of this design. If there’s enough requests for photos, I’ll try to add them in.)
Round 1= make a chain of 30 stitches, slip stitch to join into a circle, careful not to twist. (check your gauge, this chain should fit snugly around the bottom, it will stretch a little as rounds are added).
Round 2 & 3 = 1 Half Double Crochet into each chain, 30 stitches. Join round with a slip stitch.
Round 4 = Chain 1, *1 Half Double Crochet into first and second stitch, then 2 Half Double Crochet stitches into the next/third stitch*. Repeat from * till end of round, 40 stitches. Join round with a slip stitch.
Round 5 = 1 Half Double Crochet into each stitch, slip stitch to join round, 40 stitches. Join round with a slip stitch.
Continue as Round 5 until you have the desired number of rows to cover your candle holder. I wanted my rows to reach all the way to the rim of the glass, so I did 5 more rows for a total of 10 rows. Eyeball this, it may vary depending on your gauge and tension. You may prefer to have a little of the candle holder showing at the top (after all, they do come in pretty colors). If so, do one less row.
That’s it. And when I say this is quick, I was able to do one in about 20 minutes once I’d worked out the kinks. Granted, I’m crochet obsessed, but I’m still very new. And right now, I am enjoying the one I kept for myself. I can’t live without candles in winter.
If you make these, I’d love to know! Send me your pictures and thoughts (and, of course, if you see any blaring mistakes in my instructions, let me know). Please tag all with #wisecrafthandmade on your social media posts so we can all see what you’re up to!
*IKEA calls these drinking glasses, and they are sold in that section of their store. But, for whatever reason, I use these for candleholders. So for this exercise, they are candleholders. If you do use these for drinking glasses, the cozy would work well to keep your warm drinks warm longer, and protect your hands from heat. Your choice.
**The candles I used, which happen to fit perfectly into these glasses, are the Rainforest and Euphoric refills from Aveda. These come in little paper cups, and my suggestion is to remove the candle from the paper cup before using, (sadly, I don’t see these on their website).
Helpful tip- Put a few drops of water in the bottom of your candleholder before putting in the candle, to hopefully avoid the candle sticking to the bottom and make it easier to get it out when its done.