How to crochet

So I have been busting my rather considerable stash of yarn.  I like to crochet things that don't take a lot of time so I usually do scarves.  Long ones, short ones, skinny ones, wide ones.  Basically my stash of a particular yarn determines the size.  Since I've been doing a lot of crochet, I haven't done many outdoor crafts.  I'll have to wait until it cools off a bit.  110 degrees is no kind of fun.  So I thought I would do a little tutorial on some simple crochet stitches.  The basic chain stitch which is the foundation of a piece and single, double, and triple crochet.  By knowing how to do these simple stitches and having a few good illustrated books you can easily learn how to do the more elaborate and decorative stitches. 

Girlie Pink Mobile/Lamp/Nightlight

I didn't do a tutorial for this but it's pretty simple.  DH's mom had a huge wooden hoop and thought I might be able to make something out of it for my niece.  Can I make something out of a ginormous wood circle?  What's my name?  Yep.  Sho 'nuf I can make something out of that.  Got some LED christmas lights and wrapped them around the hoop.  Then wrapped some ribbon over that to cover the wires.  Added a few hangy-down decorations and wrapped 25 yards of tulle ribbon over the hoop and lights.  Taadaa.  You got yourself a super girlie pink mobile/lamp/nightlight.  Gotta use the LED lights though so it doesn't get hot, melt the tulle, and cause a fire.

Gotta have a bow on top.  Don't look at the tacky looking PVC pipe stand but I'm telling you it's sure handy to have in the craft room to build rigs to hold stuff while you are working on it.

 Made paper ball ornaments and then punched out some paper hearts, stacked three paper hearts, ran them thru my sewing maching and then folded the two outside hearts to make them 3-D.

 Close up of the paper balls and hearts.  The balls are fun to make.  I may do a tutorial on this later.

 With the LED lights plugged in and the flash on.

 No flash.

Close up of the ornaments with the lights on and flash.

 Close up with no flash.



Hypertufa Toad Houses

So I finally finished this video (I am practicing procrastination).  I posted it on YouTube a couple weekends ago but never got around to linking it here (professional procrastinator).  So here it is finally.  I made these about two months ago and let them cure for about a week under plastic and then about 3 weeks in the sun and rain after that to leach out the lime in the cement.  I think they turned out pretty well for my first time with hypertufa.