More details about the project will come once all the patterns in the Home book have been revealed. I can’t wait to share my first published design with you!

I finished up a long-term project this past weekend, adding a bit of handmade coziness to the living room.

I love our leather couch, but it’s a bit chilly in the winter.

This project seemed to take forever: I’ve been working on it for nearly a year.

Judging from the pattern I knew it would be a rather small afghan, but when I went to spread the completed squares out before assembly it was a little discouraging to see how small the whole thing was. And there were a lot of ends to weave in. That’s always my least favorite part.

Maggie seemed unimpressed at first… 

but I think she had no trouble getting comfortable.

Make one yourself! Free pattern from lionbrand.com

two-ply worsted weight

navajo-ply (three-ply) dk weight

Mila loves to go anywhere we go. Even though she stays active, her small frame and thin fur sometimes leave her shivering!

I chose pure wool for her so she would still be warm when she gets snow-damp. She seems to understand what the garment does for her and is happy to sport it.

Life Adorned patterns are available for sale in Yarnia’s pattern booklet. Each of the three designs available now can be made with just one 4-ounce cone of yarn.

400 yards of fingering weight yarn

This is a pre-wound cone bought off the shelf. They have plenty of color and fiber mixes to choose from if you don’t feel like fashioning your own yarn.

200 yards of DK weight yarn

This is a custom blend I put together myself.

Did you know that if you fall in love with your own custom blend – as I did – you can save a sample with notes right there in the store? Now I can go back and re-create this yarn without any guesswork.

PLUS, every year you can enter one of your custom blends in the Yarn of the Year contest. (There’s one coming up very soon! Visit the blog for details about their anniversary party.)

We’re just in the initial stages, but I’m so excited to plan the biggest party of our lives.

We’re planning to tackle our wedding in a true do-it-yourself fashion within a simple budget, and I hope to share some projects with you in the future. In the meantime I’ll be looking at inspirational websites, and publications like this fun magazine here.

What are your favorite crafty wedding websites?

the fresh designs crochet series from cooperative press is in the works!

remember me saying something about designing a pattern for the home book?

 

i’ve received yarn support from lion brand for my project:

cotton ease is a soft but sturdy 50% cotton / 50% acrylic. i haven’t used it before but i think it will be quite fitting for the pattern.

Update:
Mila is a warm pup!

it had been a couple years since i’d made myself a new hat. this hat and mitt set was simply worked in single crochet in the round. while i wear a lot of neutral colors, i was happy to see the bright oranges and deep blues pop out of the handspun wool. the hat has withstood a lot of wear, but our few sledding and snowshoeing trips we’ve managed to get in so far have let the mitts get a little fuzzy. wet wool is still warm!

My decision to upcycle an old scissors case scores over my decision to buy a new case that’s specialized for crochet hooks in two important respects.

First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words “DON’T PANIC” inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

plenty of slots for hooks on the right, and a zipper pocket with little containers to hold stitch markers, yarn needles, measuring tape…

to make this cover, i crocheted a rectangle (with a hole in it for the handle on the side), then worked the letters in a freeform surface slip stitch. using matching thread, i stitched the cover around the top and bottom edges onto the case.

this is what it was before i altered it. of course, i still have all of those awesome scissors, but they don’t need a dedicated case.