more scrappy crafts...

I have been crafting up a storm lately. We've been doing some road trips, so I've been making all sorts of smallish items in the car while Asa drives.  I've also been trying to use up scraps of yarn that I have taking up space in the yarn basket. 

booties

 

These little booties were made with leftover yarn from a baby blanket from last year.  I saw the pattern for these cuties on Ravelry and knew right away that I would be making them soon.  They were quite quick and are very cute. They don't require much yarn and many color combos are possible...and very likely! I still need to pick up some buttons to match the green or blue/purple yarn...once they have buttons, the tabs will cross over and fasten in a criss cross.

I made these little flowers on our road trip up to NH for a wedding. I didn't have anything to wear in my hair so I made two crochet hair clips on the way. They came out very cute, and I got many compliments on them.  Asa was kind enough to wear one and show off my handy work for everyone to see.

flower clipped husband

newborn frogs ~ tadpoles?

These two newborn froggy hats aren't made entirely with scraps; I bought the soft green yarn special for this hat. But, their eyes are made using some scrap yarn.  This is the first knit character hat pattern that I've worked and I'm happy with how it turned out.  Grace saw me making them and she is really hoping I make one that will fit her head.

knit knit kharma...

I have been on a hat kick. I often will make up a hat when I have just "that little bit" left of a certain yarn or when I want to experiment with a new style or stitch. I had a growing collection of knit and crochet hats in a bag in my closet, just waiting for a head of their very own. A couple of weeks ago I told Asa that I wanted to make something to donate, either to hospitals for newborn babies or to some organization that knew how to distribute knit and crocheted gifts to those that needed them.  It was really spooky when I got an email from Craftsy pretty much the next day, telling me just how I could donate my hats. As you can see, these hats are all sizes, shapes, and colors.  I still have a few baby hats that I will send along for an organization that specializes in newborns.

a rainbow of hats for Kendall

These hats will be on their way to Kaps for Kendall.  This organization helps raise money to fight Fanconi Anemia and to provide special hats for kids who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy and radiation. I decided to go with this organization because it seemed magical to me that I should get the email about Kaps for Kendall so close to talking with Asa about a donation. (And DESPITE the fact that they spell Kaps with a K - a personal sticking point for us Martins, who refuse to camp anywhere if its spelled with a K!)

Just follow the links above to see how you can help (either with a cash donation or the donation of new, cool, colorful hats).

scrappy crafty...

Last week I gave myself another little challenge. I wanted to finish three projects using scraps of yarn that I had in my overflowing the yarn basket.

Mission Accomplished!

Dragon Girl

Dragon in the cave

The piggie hat and wolf hat were a pig hit at work, so my first scrappy craft was a dragon hat.  I used some left over yarn from a previous project. I had made some crochet fruits and veggies for my little cousin, Maela's birthday last year. The green, light green, and orange were all from that project, as was the stuffing that I used to stuff the tail and scales.
 

I still had plenty of orange yarn left so I made this little pumpkin hat for my other little cousin, Kenzie.  I wasn't sure how many stitches to use when I knit this up for an eight month old.  But, at 80 stitches on a size 6 needle, it fit her perfectly! The hat came out really well, even though I'm not crazy for the yarn. I also dug out a tiny scrap of brown yarn for the stem. I had bought the orange yarn for a fruit toy project so its not really a soft yarn, its more sturdy...but it will do!

brand new baby booties

My last project was a pair of baby booties. When I bought the yarn for that snuggly wrap, there was a free pattern for baby booties hanging along side of the yarn.  It was written specifically for that type of yarn. I followed the pattern exactly, but these booties are really tiny...they will fit a newborn for about 1 week, I think...but they are super cute.  I still have a bit more yarn, so I plan to make a little hat to go along with them.