Rosary Pouches

A couple of rosary pouches I crocheted as a free gift with rosaries I created and sold on eBay a few years ago. Yep, Kneedle Junkie does more than knit and crochet - I've dabbled in jewelry making and rosaries.

I'll post a couple pictures of rosaries and necklaces I've done another time. I have a little one requiring my attention at the moment so this is all I'll put up here for now.

Another Bolero

As I mentioned in an earlier post I decided to make another Barcelona Bolero (pattern available for free at Lion Brand) for myself after doing one for my daughter. I managed to finish it just in time for my date night with hubby on Saturday:


I'm really happy with how it turned out - I used the Adirondack color once again. The Homespun yarn is not only soft and comfortable but it kept me really warm while we went out to dinner and a movie - and that's saying a lot for these chilly Colorado nights!

My daughter gave me lots of kudos on her bolero too when I spoke with her on the phone - she says it's so comfortable she wants to sleep in it :-) She wouldn't be the first, I've already napped in mine!

I've already moved onto my next project - a hooded pullover for the son of my friends, again a free pattern from Lion Brand. He'll be three at the end of March. I am also going to attempt to make one for my nephew, he's turning five in just a couple weeks. It's turning out to be a relatively quick and easy pattern - I'm doing my friends' son's with Homespun yarn in Sierra while I'm going to try something different with my nephew's and use Bernat's Soft Boucle yarn.

My Son's Evolving Hat

Okay, one more post (I've been on here too long today!) and then off to Mass. The following actually ended up being an interesting exercise that showed me how much more yarn gets used crocheting projects versus knitting them.

This is a hat I crocheted for my darling son a year or two ago:

The little man got a lot of compliments on it, but being as he has grown consistently like a weed since birth it was quickly becoming smaller on him.

One day a woman who'd commented on the hat suggested I unravel it and knit a new one for him. But would it be enough yarn? I thought.

I decided to finally give it a try a couple months ago. I found Bev's Basic Stretchy Hat pattern, unraveled his crochet hat, and knit it in a size larger than he is now - the crocheting had stretched the yarn thinner as well so I used size 7 needles instead of 8.

The end result - it actually fits larger on him:

Sorry I couldn't get one of him modeling it. Last I checked many if not most boys nearing their third birthday are NOT fond of hats for more than thirty seconds.

But not only did I have enough yarn to redo the hat I even have a small amount left over to do a pom-pom if I wanted. Vive le difference!

Wedding Veils

Yet more pics I thought I'd lost forever - I did a custom wedding veil after selling the one I made and wore for my wedding on eBay. The lady had seen my veil that I'd made and wanted one similar, except with ivory materials.

Unlike my veil I hand-crocheted the larger trim on it for her. But both veils were sewn by hand and were chapel length. Here's a detail of my veil's trim:

I also put a headdress on mine. I purchased all the supplies from Michaels and then constructed the veil by hand from there.

Sadly the scans I did of our wedding photos were also lost so I'm not sure I have a pic on the puter of me wearing it. If I do track one down I will for sure add it here so you can see what it looked like.

OK, NOW I'm excited...

I can't believe I found this! It's a picture of a mermaid doll I crocheted five years ago:

This is exciting to me as a lot of pictures of projects I did from this time are gone - we'd backed them up to a CD when our computer was acting up before a reformat, and since then the CD has been damaged from moving to the point that I'm not sure we'll ever be able to recover them. So to find anything from this time period is a big deal!

Afghan and Pillow

Okay, we changed our minds about going out before Mass so I'm able to post a few more pictures. This is an afghan and a pillow I crocheted for my daughter as a Valentine's gift three years ago:




She was 12 years old at the time and I felt bright, vivid colors would be perfect for her. They not only were great for her age but they remind me of her and the sunshine she brings to my life.

Oh, Wow, I Forgot About This!

I actually have a photo of an afghan I made ten years ago - I'd forgotten we had a picture of it as we currently have it in storage somewhere:

I crocheted this using a wave pattern and several skeins of yarn in varying shades of pink, green, red and white. I think it's big enough to cover a twin bed at least, I made it pretty huge!

Well, hubby and son want to drag me out to do some errands before we hit Mass, so I must be going for now. I've been able to dig up quite a few pictures of older projects to my surprise and joy, so I'll post those when I have time later. Ciao!

Knifty Knitter

So far I've mostly done hats with my circular looms:

This one is of my son "modeling" his Dad's hat:

Hubby has since removed the pom-pom. He initially had wanted it but decided it was too goofy.

I've been looking at different sites that have patterns for the Knifty Knitter that go beyond hats and scarves, so maybe down the line I can start getting more creative with this versatile tool.

Poncho and Shawl

Some previous Christmas gifts I've done. This is a poncho I knit for my sister-in-law in 2005:

I used size 17 kneedles with Homespun yarn in Adirondack (I told you I had a lot of it...), and Red Heart Symphony in Earth Brown. I crocheted both the neckline and the hem.

This is a shawl I crocheted for my daughter in 2004:

I used a specialty yarn whose brand escapes me at the moment - if I find a ball of it with its label still intact I'll update this post with what it is. I only remember it has DK in its name and the color is Flamingo. I crocheted two large triangles using a basic mesh pattern then single-crocheted a neckline all around and added tassles to the bottom.

Edited 3/4/07 to add: I found a label for the yarn I used on my daughter's shawl - it's Sirdar's Salsa DK. It consists of 50% Merino wool and 50% acrylic. It looks like this one too is no longer manufactured, I bought it from a specialty yarn shop out of state five years ago so I guess it would stand to reason it's no longer around.

Silver and White Tank Top

One of the few times I knit anything for myself other than hats and scarves - I did this tank top using some silver/grey and white yarn I'd found at Big Lots:


I used the Trendy Tank pattern from TLC. It's a free pattern I found at my Hobby Lobby down the street but you can download it here as well. Normally they suggest using their Macaroon yarn, I decided to use a yarn from Sullivans called Crinckle that was in a bin at Big Lots for $1 apiece (I love a bargain!). The color is Cloudy Day - it's variations of grey and white with a lilac/pink shimmery fiber throughout that the pictures don't do justice. I get the feeling it's discontinued as I couldn't find it on their Web site.

Valentine's Present for Daughter

I knit a bolero for my teenage daughter as a Valentine's gift:

I used Lion Brand Homespun yarn in Waterfall - the picture directly above shows how beautiful this yarn is in both texture and color. I love working with it for those reasons... not to mention it's bulkier than worsted and works up quickly, so you can have a gorgeous garment or afghan in no time. As a bonus, it's also very soft.

I got the pattern from Lion Brand's Web site. They have tons of free patterns you can access with a free subscription. The pattern I used was Barcelona Bolero.

I am currently knitting myself this same bolero in Adirondack. I think Lion Brand has discontinued that color, I didn't see it available on their site and I haven't seen it in my local craft stores. I've had several skeins of it left over in storage and decided why not? So when I'm done with it I'll post pictures up here.

Little Girl Sweater and Hat

I knit a matching sweater and hat set for the daughter of some friends who's just turned one. Here's the front of the sweater:

Here's the back:


Here's the hat:
I used Red Heart Super Saver in Monet for the variegated colors, and Lion Brand Pound of Love in Pink and Lavender for the solid colors. The hat pattern I used was the basic stretchy hat pattern off of Bev's Country Cottage site (link is to the left). I improvised the sweater pattern by knitting panels in different colors and stitch patterns borrowed from various books I have on patterns including knit/purl patterns, laces and bobbles. I used one of my son's older sweaters to be able to measure the sweater for a size 2T.

I delivered the birthday girl's present at her party yesterday. Birthday girl couldn't care less as she was on a sugar buzz from the cake :-) But Mommy and Daddy loved it and said she'd be wearing it to church the next day.

I've slowly been able to load pictures of other things I've made the past couple months on the computer from our digital camera, and I've found a few pictures of items I've knit and crocheted, and a couple handmade things, in archives here and there. So I'll be posting those soon.