Jelly Fish Mobile

Supplies:

3 different yarns

Scissors

Clear thread

Pliers
6" Embroidery hop
1 Jump Ring
1 Crimp end
Fishing wire or clear filament
Hot glue gun (My mom's ultimate craft weapon)



I used this video from Youtube to make the jelly fish.

Jellyfish Amigurumi tutorial by craftycatsmeow-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8zZKdLUX6Q

I made a few minor changes to the pattern. I did not add any stuffing to my jelly fish. I felt that it looked more realistic if the tops of the jelly fish are not puffy. I also added more of the curly tentacles.

As for the yarn, I did not go out and buy anything specifically for this project. I just went through my collection of yarn that I thought would be great colors for a jelly fish. I tend to see craft supplies I like whether it is yarn, fabric, scrapbook paper, etc. and just buy it for future use. It's a bad habit when you have such a small home.



For my first jelly fish, I used the brand Sugar and Cream (Lava Lamp Ombre) and used a 3.75 mm (US F / 5) crochet hook. With 3 tentacles all varying in size from short, medium and long.

The next jelly fish I used the brand Blue Sky Alpacas (organic cotton/ Bone-80) and used 4.25 mm (US G / 6) crochet hook. With 2 tentacles short and long.

The largest jelly fish was made with a combination of 2 yarns; brand Bernat Cottontots (Little Boy Blue) and Sugar Cream (Lava Lamp Ombre) crochet hook- 6.00 mm (US J /10)

To simplify the mobile, I took the outer circle of the the embroidery hop, cut 3 long pieces of fishing wire/ clear filament and doubled it with the loop at the end. Then in that opening pulled the ends through allowing the wire to wrap around the embroidery hoop. Continue this process so that you have 3 evenly spaced on the hoop.

Pull the piece all together at the top and try to pull them in the middle of the hoop evenly about 5.5-6" (or to your liking) up and knot together.

Next cut a long piece of wire. About as long as you want the jelly fish to hang off the mobile but give your self plenty of extra. Then pull the clear wire through the middle of jelly fish and knot at the bottom of the jelly fish and hide the string.

Then loop the clear wire with the jelly hanging from the bottom to the embroidery hoop pull the clear wire to the height you want it to hang and tie a knot on top of the previous knot on the tip of the mobile. I spaced my jelly fish so that the 2 smaller jellies loop around embroidery hoop and the large jelly fish in the middle of the embroidery hoop it is the only jelly that is not looped around the embroidery hoop. Make sure to space out the jellies so that they are balanced evenly and it does hang lower on one side more then the other.

Then I took a ribbon end and clamped it over the top of the knot and cut off the remaining clear wire. Next add a jump ring to the opening at the top of the ribbon end and tie a ribbon or string to the jump ring to hang the mobile.

I love how amazing it turned out and contemplated keeping it for myself. I was able ultimately to give it as a gift at the baby shower but it did hang in my room until the day of the shower and I had to wrap it.

Bead and Ribbon Necklace

Supplies:

2 pieces of sheer ribbon - 3/8 inch x 36 inch ( 1 yard)

21 beads (7 each of 3 different colors) 

Jump rings 

Needle    

Scissors

Pliers

1 Necklace clasp      

2 Ribbon ends or Ribbon crimps (with or without teeth)    

For my necklace, I found 3 beads at Michael's that I really liked with larger holes. A brown, black and a brown/black/white bead. Now the key to success for this necklace is to find a needle that fits through the bead with the ribbon on. Sometimes the needle will fit but not with the ribbon. Using sheer ribbon is recommended.

Step One:

Cut each of the 2 pieces of ribbon 36 inches long. Next, lay out the beads in the pattern of the necklace. This is a 2 strand necklace so the beads on the outer side is one strand and the beads on the inner side is the second strand. On the outer strand, the bead pattern alternates from 2 to 1 and for the inner strand the bead patterns alternates from 1 to 2. When combining the 2 strands together it gives you 7 groups of three with one of each color in every group. 

Step Two:
Now that you have laid out your pattern, take the the ribbon and thread on a needle to each strand. Thread 2 beads on the one ribbon and 1 bead on the other. Move the beads to the middle of the string. Then knot the end of the beads on each side. (I used an over hand knot) It does not need to be pulled super tight. It is just enough to keep the beads from moving around.

Step Three:

Add the next set of three so that there is 1 bead on one string and 2 on the other and knot the end. Continue this until you have a total of 4 sets of three.

Step Four:

Move to the other side of the necklace and continue the pattern by stringing on 2 beads on one string and 1 on the other and knot. Make sure the pattern continues to alternate. There should be 3 more groups of 3 beads. 

Step Five:
Now place the necklace on your neck and see where you would like the beads to rest. The ribbon is intentionally longer then it needs to be in case the ribbon unravels etc. After trimming the ribbon on each side for the desired length, it is time to add the ribbon ends. Place both ribbon pieces from each side in the ribbon end. Clap down each side so that the ribbon is secure, will not move, or unravel. Continue to do this to the other side of the necklace. (If you are worried about the ribbon ends not being secure enough, you may want to add E6000 glue on the opening edges.) I feel if you crimp it down hard enough, it is definitely secure enough.

Step Six:
Now add one jump ring to the ribbon ends.  The final thing to do is to add the necklace clasp to the jump rings.  Now you have an imitation Anthropology necklace for a fraction of the cost.

This neckless cost me $15.00. I am all about the deals, so I used a 50% off coupon on each of the bead strands and on the ribbon. In order to use the 50% off at Michael's, each item may not be on sale and each item has to be on a separate transaction. Michael's does not have as many 50% off coupons as they use to, but they do use competitor coupons.  I often use Joan's Fabrics; they almost always have 50% off. As for the findings, jump rings, ribbons ends, and necklace clasp, I already had these items, but you can get these pieces in a bead store for a couple of dollars. You can also buy them in a multi-pack at Michael's which is not cost effective unless you need a lot of them.

Monster Baby Booties

 Knitted Monster Booties- Size 0-3 months

Supplies:

Pattern
Suede yarn (other yarn for the sole with work too)
Fuzzy yarn
Double pointed kitting needles US size 6/ 4mm
Scissors
Darning needle
Pencil

Instructions:

Sole:

• With the suede yarn, long tail cast on 10.
• Row 1-16: stockinette stitch*
• Row 17: k2tog* k6 k2tog
• Row 18: purl
• Row 19: k2tog k1 k2tog k1 k2tog 
• Row 20: Cast off using the purl stitch
• Repeat above so that you have 2 soles 
• Use the darning needle and weave in ends

(the sole on the left is the purl side up and the sole on the right is the knitted side up)

Bootie:

• Switch to the fuzzy yarn to pick up stitches on the purl side. 
• Use 4 double pointed knitting needles to spread the stitches around the boarder of the sole. Start with picking up 8 on the heal, 11 on the right, 7 on the toe and 11 on the left.
• Row 1-8: knit
• Row 9: k19, skp*, k3, k2tog, k11
• Row10: k17, k2tog, k5, skp, k9
• Row11: k16, k2tog, skp, k1, k2tog, skp, k8
• Row 12: k15, k2tog, k3, skp, k7
• Row 13: k3, k2tog, k3, start the ribbing: k1, p1 alternate
• Rows 14-18: alternate k1, p1 (for the ribbing)
• Row19: bind off with k1, p1
• Use the darning needle and weave in ends

Claws:

• use darning needle to stitch on the claws

Please do not sell. This pattern was created with a friend of mine and is for personal use only.

*NOTES:
stockinette- alternate knit and purl stich
k2tog- knit 2 together
skp- slip1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over
ribbing- alternate k1, p1

If you need help with knitting or knitting terms http://www.knittinghelp.com/ is a great website that I used when I learned to knit.



This is my 5th time making these baby monster booties. I love this pattern because it is a adorable, quick and an easy knitting project that packs a punch. I like to space the project over 3 days. It takes me about 1 hour to make the soles and 3 hours for the each booties with the claw detail. (I would say I am not the fastest knitter and knit at a medium speed. So it may take you less time.) This project can be done in a day, but I would not recommend it. Your hands will be tired. My favorite yarn to use for the fuzzy part is the Red Heart Buttercup yarn. I get it at a Michael's craft store. It comes in pink, blue, and multi colors. This most recent time I use the multi color with pink, green and yellow. As for the suede, I got that at a local yarn store.



Here are the different styles I have made:

Enjoy!

Baby Shower Madness!

There are many times when I feel like nothing eventful happens. Just the normal hum drum of life; working, cooking, walking the dogs, cleaning, sleeping, etc. Not to mention the occasional exercise when I am not completely exhausted from the day and when time permits. For the most part, I feel like my life can get pretty monotonous with my daily routine. Then, all the sudden, my life changes and does a 180 on me. It becomes a whirl wind of madness.

Since the end of February, my life has really been a blur. I got another job as an arts and crafts teacher for seniors which I am very excited about. My mind has been flowing with many creative projects for my lesson plans. My first project for them will be a replica of an Anthropology necklace.

Also I have been planning my best friends second baby shower with family. This time it's a girl! Yay for tutus! And, upon her request, I am matching the amount of gifts I made for her first child. Supposedly people tend to slack on the second child, and I can honestly see why. I think I went a bit crazy for her first child. I knitted monster baby booties, knitted an alien plush, knitted a lamb, made three receiving blankets, and a quilt. But, to be fair, this was the first baby of my friends and family. So for her second child, I made a plush fox with a removable tutu as an accessory, a jelly fish mobile, and the one of my personal favorites the monster baby booties. Whenever a baby is on the way, I can't help make them. They are just so adorable.

On Sunday, I felt a large sigh of relief as the last of the baby showers were complete. (Knock on wood...it's still just the beginning of the year.) As for the two twin size quilts that need to be finished/worked on, I have plenty of time since they will not be using it right away. As long as I get it done by the baby's first birthday.  ;)

I have been quite busy crafting away for the many baby showers. For the first the event, I made a super hero giraffe (my own personal design), monster baby booties, and finished the front and the back of a twin size quilt.

For the second shower, a whale which you saw from my previous post.

And last but not least; monster baby booties (again), a jelly fish mobile, a fox wearing a tutu (also my own personal design), and picked the pattern for the soon-to-be quilt. There were some late nights due to my procrastination, but I pulled it off and finished the majority of the gifts.

Overall, I am feeling pretty good about crossing off my craft projects. Now, as long as I am able to keep my focus, who knows, I just may check everything off my to do list.

*FYI- I will be posting these patterns for the craft projects soon!

Whale Plush

As I am getting older my friends are settling down and getting married. A few even started a family. But this year in particular has had a baby session. Everyone is "a pop'in". I love making unique homemade gifts for friends and family's baby showers. Many times I use Pinterest for inspiration but this year has been challenging with all of the baby's being born all around the same time. My cousin is having a baby girl and they live near the ocean, so I thought it would be perfect to create a whale plush. This time I decided to go with a pattern I found online instead of creating my own. I found a very cute pattern online by Googlie Momma (http://googiemomma.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/a-whale-of-awhale-free-pattern.html).

When I began I figured it would take me a few hours and volia. Boy was I wrong.

I started by printing out the pattern and cutting it out. Then I traced the pattern on to the fabric with a white chalk pencil, which by the way took for ever because I wanted to make sure it was dark enough to see. I pieced the right sides together, pinned and tried to sewed. The white chalk was barely visible with the light from my sewing machine shinning on it. So now I need to re-chalk the outline. I should have not been lazy and searched for where I miss placed my yellow Clover Chaco Liner Chalk Wheel. (available at quilting stores or amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Clover-Chaco-Liner-Chalk-Wheel/dp/B00BELY1F4)

I found it after a quick search and remembered why I love how quick and easy it is to use. After I sewed the flippers together I realized I had not flipped the fin pattern over and made two left flippers. Ugh. -_- At this point it felt like one of those nights where no matter how hard I tried to do things right it would just back fire, but I decided to push through. That was a mistake. I then realized as I am trying to pin the tail together it was not fitting right. Sometimes I can not follow the simplest of instructions. I cut where I was suppose to fold and folded where I was suppose to cut. Luckily I had enough fabric to finish the project but I cut it close due to all of my errors. At this point I had only gotten to the third step with the fins attached and the large body piece sewn. I spent more time than I would like to admit and went to bed.

The next morning was more successful but not with out its challenges. After using the seam ripper 5 or more times I successful sewed the whale together and before stuffing it, I added the eyes which I was inspired by an other Pinterest picture I had found.(http://s11.photobucket.com/user/TokyoBunnie/media/Blog_3/il_fullxfull-1-1.jpg.html)

Then I stuffed the whale and sewed it shut. Done! Finished my whale.

I have to say for all of these issues I had I really loved how the whale turned out. It is very adorable. The pattern was basic and easy to follow. As it goes for my issues that was user error.

(I just had my chiropractor tell me that I need to be in the present and to stop think of what is to come and that I would stop tripping and running in to things. Which made me laugh because it relates to my whole life and especially my challenges with this pattern.)  

Just don't forget to flip the pattern over for the fins so you get a right and left fin.