For Lovers Eyes Only

Valentines day is quickly approaching us. For those of you who are still trying to decided what to do for there loved one here are a few ideas for both the nice and the naughty.

Valentines day is a holiday to show your love, what better way to symbolize that than the heart. Here are a few heart patterns that you can use to decorate and embellish with.

To the left is some beautiful heart garland. Pattern here http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/01/28/crochet-heart-garland/

To the right are some cute 3D hearts, could be make both with or with out the face. These kind of remind me of those sweet tart heart candies. Pattern here: http://www.roxycraft.com/crochet_hearts.htm

To the left, is your loved one a diabetic, or have a food allergy to chocolate? You could crochet them a box of chocolates. Or if you don't have a loved one and just would like to make a nice decoration for your house that can be brought out year after year.
Pattern here: http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/crochet-box-chocolates

On the right is a valentines basket weave sachet. Downloadable pattern can be found on the following blog: http://my-pattern.blogspot.com/2010/01/valentine-basket-wave-sachet.html

There nothing more simple and timeless than granny squares, here's a tutorial for granny hearts: http://sandra-cherryheart.blogspot.com/2011/06/granny-heart-tutorial.html

WARNING THE FOLLOWING CONTENT MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 18. PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG IF YOU ARE UNDER 18, SENSITIVE TO GRAPHIC MATERIAL, OR READING THIS WHILE AT YOUR DESK AT WORK.

You've seen the nice and the sweet patterns, now it's time for something a little naughty!

Looking to spice it up in the bedroom? Try making this, Sleeping mask or not!!! Pattern can be found of ravelry, you do need to sign up for the free membership to get patterns from this site.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sleeping-mask-or-not-valentine-day

How about this Love Lace Lingerie? Pattern found here: http://www.creativepartnersllc.com/Pattern-LoveLaceLingerie.html

And finally for the person that does not have a valentines date... Apparently you can buy all sorts of "crafty" things on etsy.

This specific on is sold but perhaps you could make a special request.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/46162399/crocheted-penis-pillow

Since I don't think I can top this one this will concluded our valentines edition.

Remember 101 Years

How do you remember 101 years? My grandma passed away last Sunday at the age of 101. This was something that she had been praying for since I was a kid, so it was sweet that she finally made it home. However, that doesn't make it any easier for us left here. Even though she was showing signs of dementia she always would remember me. ...Until looking through pictures, I hadn't realized that my grandma hadn't worn her glasses the last few years of her life, I'd like to think that perhaps this is why she always asked who I was? She couldn't see me.

Anyhow in addition to losing my grandma who was my last living grandparent (aside from in-laws), I feel like I've had to say goodbye to my link to such a historic past. At a 101 she lived through so much, even though she never went to school past fifth grade or learned to drive a car. She endured the loss of an infant child, the years of unknown separation with her husband due to the war in Europe, and then came over to America to essentially have her family be work-slaves for a year while paying back the farmer who allowed them to them enter this country.

As a kid I didn't realize that she had such a hard past, I just thought she liked to stay home knit, crochet, sew, cook, clean, garden and mow the lawn. She's the one who first intrigued my mind with the beauty of crocheting and all things yarn. She created endless afghans and doilies for all of her family and it's nice that we each get something like that to hold onto.

I had previously written the Grandma Projects blog about her,
where I talked all about her skill of yarn.

At the funeral last week, each of her daughter's families created a poster board with pictures of Oma in our life. One cousin, stepped above and beyond by creating the board above. She put one of Oma's doilies and necklaces on the board and then scrapbooked photos of other things she made and loved on there as well. It was a great way to really connect with who Oma was.

It's hard to say goodbye, but I'm glad that I can keep the crocheting part of her alive.

From A Land Down Under - Ugg boots

I recently took a trip over to Australia where I was immersed with all their culture and style. Despite being their summer where the average temperature was in the 80's and 90's, the Australian made Ugg boot was everywhere. While I didn't see anyone wearing them, the stores were full of them. When I was at one of these stores, I noticed how they modified the Ugg boot with a rather stylish crocheted ruffle around the calf portion of the boot.

I took the above picture and then checked my camera screen to see the picture. Right away I was distracted over the sign underneath the boots - "Genuine Australian Kangaroo Scrotum $29.99." A few things immediately crossed my mind:

1) Genuine Kangaroo Scrotum, why would anyone want this?
2) It costs $29.99?!? Again, why would anyone want this?
3) This must be a cultural thing, and these crocheted embellished boots must be in prime real estate at this store!

So do you think the GENUINE AUSTRALIAN KANGAROO SCROTUM, helps to sell these enhanced Ugg boots? I certainly do!

Yarn Bombing Big Time

One of my New Year's resolutions this year it to participate in some yarn bombing. We've posted a few blogs on this topic allready, our first encounters with it. It seems as if yarn bombing is just getting bigger and better. If you're looking for some inspiration check out these big time yarn bombs:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/outdoor/yarn-bombing-the-guerrilla-knit-graffiti-movement-151393

This article talks about the yarn bombing movement. Unfortunatly it gives all the credit to knitters, maybe we can do something to change that.

This is one Magical School Bus. Now thats what I call yarn bombing to the extreme.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/06/wool-rise-knitting

Once again giving all the credit to knitting :/ grr.

This one is my favorite of my findings. Lion Brand has developed there own yarn bombing tutorial!! How awsome is that. Now this is something anyone can do. My favorite thing about this is that it shows both knitting and crocheting stitches!

http://www.lionbrand.com/yarnBombing.html

Let it snow

Happy New Year hookers! Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday and has had a chance to relax, and recharge maybe even do some crocheting.

So we may not have had more than a few fluries of snow this year but that doesn't mean you can't have a little fun and make some snowmen! You may recal "A Lovely Christmas Gift" one of our posts from 2010 about the gift of a crocheted snowman. I came accross this pattern for an adorable snowman family!

All though it's not exactly the same as the one featured in our previous blog but they are so cute! Should be a quick project, would love to see if anyone tries it out! The pattern can be found here: http://www.favecrafts.com/Christmas-Crafts/Crochet-Snowman-Family-from-Bernat/ct/1#

Christmas lights

Tired of buying christmas lights only to have them burn out and have to replace them the following year? Why not crochet some lights that will never go out?  Love this idea...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/holiday-lights-2

Perfect for indoor use or outdoor.  Hang them outside and people can see the "lights" during the day.  Hang them in a child's bedroom and have holiday lights without worrying about the kids playing with electricity! Make them to any color scheme you like. You no longer have to go from store to store to fine the right lights, make them in the summer and you wont have to stand in any long checkout lines.  This would also be a great project to use up all your left over yarn from previous projects!

What I Want For Christmas!

While shopping at Joann's this week, I came across this very fitting sign!