Easter Honey Bunny

So in light of easter, I thought I would post an easter bunny knitting pattern. It turned out pretty cute, but a little more complicated than I had intended. He's kind of fun, so it will be nice to have two, maybe my sis will get one for Easter.


Download pattern here (pdf).




I lost my yarn needle as well as my front tooth, what a weekend, seriously, so I'm going to run out to the store and pick up a yarn needle so I can finish up this little guy and post picture, as well as some cement so it at least looks like I have a front tooth (stupid crown, stupid dentist).

Anyway, enough griping. On to other things. So I'm going to be taking Craft Leftovers to its first art and craft sale in less than 2 weeks! I'm going to be selling kits, items made from the patterns, and the patterns themselves (just 50 cents to cover printing and card stock). So in a week I'm going to be temporarily closing the etsy shop, but when I get done with the sale I'm going to update all the items in the shop. I'm not going to be post any new kits until this time (two Fridays from now). The sale is the 11th and 12th at NIU in the Glass Gallery in the Holmes Student center from 10am to 3pm. It should be fun. There is always a good turn out for it. And... it's going to be the test run for taking Craft Leftovers to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago! Which is this year's goal. Hopefully by then, I will have the book finished up and will be able to sell it there too. How exciting!

And and and, I'm going to help out in a performance piece at Links Hall in Chicago in conjunction with the sewing rebellion on April 6th, so I've opted to not post a pattern that day. I think it would just be a bit much. I will post revisions by then, so there will be plenty of bunny goodness to keep you going.

Keep it Crafty! Have a good week!

Springy Crocheted Head Wrap

I have been oogling head bands and other things like that to show off my new bangs. It’s the first time in years. There is a problem though, art supplies or hair accessories... hmm... of course the art supplies win out. So what to do about showing off these new bangs? A little crocheted head wrap! The perfect thing.






Also, there are now kits for The Perfect Dishcloth, Pencil Clutches, and Travel Tissue Holders. I will be adding more of each of those tomorrow along with kits for the Springy Head Wrap. It should all be up by 2pm central time.

Have a good week!

Fancy Fricking Napkins

You can embroider them with wool or cotton, either way they are Fancy fricking napkins. Easy enough to make, they add that special something to your fancy fricking dinner. Depending on your dinner, you can fancy them up or fancy them down style.

The pattern also includes a how to on making a crocheted napkin ring. Sewing and crochet! My favorite!


You can see here how it was embroidered by outlining first with the back stitch, then filled in with satin stitch and french knots.
There are few more dish cloth kits in the store and I'm going to make up some more kits tonight. They should be added to the store by midnight. Thank you to everyone who bought kits, commented and sent me super supportive emails about the book. I really appreciate! It always makes my day!

Have a good week! Craft it up folks!

Stash Socks

So this pattern completely has to do with impulse buys... Cotton Fine in Rue and Hempathy. Two of my fav yarns and, especially when it comes to the hempathy, I just can resist picking up a skein and feeling it and then, of course, buying it... only one skein. I can't justify more than that, it's just too pricey for me at $6 for 50g on average. I do impulse buy yarn too often, but I did and so now what to do with it. I combined it with some other impulse buy yarn and voila! stash socks were born! The model+hemp+cotton blend of the hempathy makes for pretty good socks and the cotton fine in Rue makes it a pretty fun little pair of socks to knit and wear! I made a little stripe after the heel gusset decreases were finished, just two rnds to add a little something.



Have a good week! Keep it crafty!

Think Spring

Oh it is so cold out and I really wanted something to help me think spring. I grabbed some of my spring time colored yarn and had a go at it. I figured a little shoulder bag would be the perfect thing, then I could take it with me wherever I go.
Now something that I discovered after the fact is that the bag is kind of floppy, even with the extra supported sides and on top of that, as all knitted and crocheted bags have a tendency to do, my knitting needles/pens/pencils/fork and what have you inevitably slip through the holes. My suggestion is that this would be great with a sturdy liner. I am going to put one in and I will post a “how-to” for that when I get it done and post some pictures. You could also use a smaller hook too, that would help it be a bit thicker.



Okay so, I have some exciting news! In celebration of the upcoming one year anniversary of Craft Leftovers (this summer) I'm going to publish a collection of patterns from this past year, along with tips, hints, ideas, and bonus projects. I need your help though, I honestly lack the funds to make this project come to life. So I wanted to let you know in more detail what the CL kits are all about and how they can help this book happen.
+++ Every kit is priced at the cost of supplies, s&h, and 50 cents.
+++ The 50 cents will go into a fund for the book and help cover production and publishing costs of the books.

+++I'm also setting up a donate button in the side bar to help cover costs of the book and will also to help support the site in general, like packaging for the kits and postage and hopefully some contests and whatnots. If you would like to donate, you can just click the button and follow the instructions. Anything you decide to give is deeply appreciated.

And with all of that I'm going to put together some more kits and add them to the etsy shop.

Have a good week! I will see you next Friday!