Tag Archives: crochet

Barnicles post and Giveaway!

Hi I’m Barny, or Barnicles :)

I LOVE creating, its like milk to my coffee, and I like sharing.
My blog is a work in progress, following exploration and adventures. Photography, needlepoint, sewing, knitting and more. I love colour, but have slowly started to appreciate duller tones, perhaps when it comes to legwarmers.

My goal for 2012 is to organise more, create more, and upload photos from my dlsr to the internet to share within a month of taking them :)

Check out my blog, pinterest, or shop.

Giveaway – Yellow Bow hair clip (shown below in photo).

To enter just check out the Barnicles shop and tell us your favourite item in the comments below.

- For a second entry become a follower of Barnicles Blog and post here saying that you did :)

- Please leave one comment per entry and maximum of 2 entries.

- Giveaway is open for a week until Friday February 3rd.

Barnicles x

Friday Create Along

Hello again! I managed to finish my soft blocks in time to package them up for the baby shower. I had to rush and take pictures moments before though so bear with me with these late afternoon winter in Canada shots.

They turned out really well. I even added a little bell inside so they jingle when you shake them.

I didn’t even make the connection that it was also Zaaberry’s tutorial for pattern weights that I sewed up a while back. The two projects are pretty much the same just one is squishier and has ribbon.

And for our next project this lovely little slippers. I used random.org to choose the lucky lady, and once again I wasn’t sure how to capture the image, really need to work on that. But it was number 9! So congrats to Nancy! I’m sad I can’t give this out to everyone, you were all so excited about it! It’s been a goal of mine to learn how to make PDF sewing patterns, maybe I’d be bad at it and just give them away all the time.

If you didn’t win you can still pop over to the shop and pick up a copy of your own for only a few dollars. Then go forth and crochet and come back and share!

Friday Create Along giveaway, on a Wednesday!

I’ve done some poking around and found some neat patterns to add to my growing list of ‘make this for the create along’ items. Luckily I’ve also dome some asking around and I’ve been told I’m allowed to share a pattern or two with a lucky reader. I’m also going to challenge myself here and switch to a crochet pattern and hope for the best. These are adult slippers, but Two Girls Patterns also have a toddler version . . . sometimes it’s a good thing I have 2 boys.

Sooooo if you would like to win a PDF copy of this pattern leave a comment below. You don’t have to jump through any hoops to win. However, I would love it if you can actually make the slippers for the Create Along and if you could share your creation (email me or post it in the Flickr group).

I’ll keep the comments open until Friday’s Create Along post, which, if I’m honest with myself will probably go up in the late afternoon for me now that Friday is one of my full days at work. I’ll pick one lucky reader and email them a copy of the pattern. Then we can get our crochet on! Good luck everyone.

Whoooo’s bag?

I got an awesome gift the other day. My friend Joanna came over to bring me a surprise. Apparently she’s been working on it for months and months.

It’s all awesomely crocheted and lined with fabric. The little wing circles on the sides are pockets. It’s absolutely incredible quality, she did an amazing job.

Apple cozy complete.

Despite being embarrassed and a tad annoyed by the outcome of this project I’m going to share.

I needed a lot of help along the way for this project.  Mostly because it was my first time following a pattern when crocheting.  Before this I had only made squares.  *SOME* people laughed at me and asked if I was making a plum cozy initially but I found my groove with the right hook and a much looser grip.

All said and done I started over about 3 times, I went up a hook size, I pulled rows out numerous times, I counted along the way and was somehow waaaay off on many, many rows.  Finally when I was done I was so proud and ran to the fridge only to discover it doesn’t fit the apples I usually eat at all.

Guess I’m starting a new one!

I’m not really this slow!

So while it seems I haven’t been very crafty lately I have been working on stuff, honest! The sad part is some of the projects are secret gifts so I can’t share my progress, which is icky. So I’ve been puttering on other little things as a break from the bigger crafts. I finally used my lovely bookplates and stuck them in my crafty/sewing books. Now that Handmade Beginnings has arrived I’ve only got 1 bookplate left! Time for another visit to Cabin and Cub.

I was almost afraid to actually stick them somewhere, they’re so lovely. Now that I’m a bit addicted to collecting fabric I’m noticing that sometimes I can’t bear to cut a piece! It’s so silly, why have it if you’re not going to use it?

Thanks to Ravelry I started a cute little apple cozy only to discover (after taking it apart 3 times) that I crochet really tightly and I’ll need to use a bigger hook so that it will actually fit an apple and not a plum!

So is it ‘cosie’ or cozie’ or ‘cosy’ or ‘cozy’? I think I use a different one every time.

Dear Ravelry, you have stolen my evening and my heart.

So I joined Raverly waaaay back when but didn’t do much with it. I don’t even know how to knit and can only crochet squares (in one colour) so I didn’t do much with it. BUT I went on to check out the bag my friend Joanna finished and got clicking around and saw things I’d like to make. So I logged in and started favouriting, which led to putting patterns in my library, and going on a yarn buying run to Michael’s today *sigh* Nevermind the gazillion projects I’m in the middle of right now, like I need more!!

Here’s some of the things I fell in love with, it appears links won’t help you as you have to be signed in so I’ve linked to blogs instead.

Love, love, love this sweater by Flint Knits. Probably because it’s green and that seems to be my new colour bff but it’s really nice and I fully intend to make one.

I love this brilliant idea for it’s eco-friendliness and cost effectiveness. I stopped using our swiffer (it was left in the house by the previous owners) because I never remembered to get, or could be bothered to pay for, the little refill thingies. Problem solved with this little pattern!

I NEED to make my boys some of these hats. I had been looking around the net trying to find a nice free pattern. Silly me forgetting about Ravelry. Thanks to Coffee Bra for sharing.

This bag by Lykkefanten, who is apparently only on ravelry, so if you’re a member seek her(?) out.

Circle storage for my squares.

I’ve been having fun making squares for my little square scarf, but I’ve also been having trouble storing them, and I’m nowhere near done!

Snazzy storage.

Snazzy storage.

So I came up with the idea to make myself a little storage bucket thingie.  I toyed with embroidering it with some complicated paisley pattern, copying the fabric, but whimped out for a faster and wittier approach.  Here’s how I went about it . . . ish.

Fabric selection.  I used some black felt to save on interfacing.

Fabric selection. I used some black felt to save on interfacing.

The professional and highly technical template.

The professional and highly technical template.

The trickiest part, pinning and sewing on a curve.

The trickiest part, pinning and sewing on a curve. The hand of my little helper.

Witty caption.

Witty caption.

Scarf time!

I’ve made one scarf in my life. I remember it was Thanksgiving weekend and I was at my Nanny’s house for turkey yumminess. I spontaneously decided I wanted to learn to knit, after years of watching her make little slippers, and asked her to show me. With some extra supplies she had lying around I started to work on a scarf. It was really simple, just knit a straight line. Despite the simplicity, I still found myself heading towards a triangle as I somehow added stitches to rows here and there. I remember pulling out an awful lot of that scarf and having to go back and reknit rows! My husband thinks it’s ‘ugly’ but I love that I made it myself and that I was able to learn something from my Grandmother.

So, with that adventure behind me I’ve become inspired to give it a go and make a scarf, this time I’m going to crochet so I know I’ll be able to handle it! I stumbled across this, while reading through my RSS and clicking and clicking around, I found do you mind if i knit with this gorgeous gem of a scarf! I must have one.

So with a sale on at Michael’s my friend and I have invested in, for now, 6 different colours so I can begin madly making squares! My friend is the knitter, she has tried to jog my memory on how to knit but it didn’t seem to work, and she has made my son a cute little sweater (after I bought the pattern thinking I would attempt to make it) so the least I can do is return the favour in crochet form!

my itty bitty start up stash

While Vanessa seems to have used about 43 colours in her scarf, I’m starting off smaller. Here’s the colours we picked up last night, one is Lionbrand Vanna’s Choice – Terracotta, the rest are from Loops & Threads Impeccible worsted. We grabbed 5 of those ones, Cadet, Fern, Heather, True Taupe, and Rouge. Now with a 3 year old and a 9 month old in the house I may have my head in the clouds thinking I can get not one, but two!, scarves done before June, but I’m going to try!!

In Halloween news, my sons and I are going to 2 parties and I’ve decided to dress as the Tooth Fairy. I’m finally going to put my prom dress that’s been sitting in a box to use!!