Crafty me: the last of the Captains work

Before I returned to full-time office work stuff I spent 4 years and many hours building up and establishing Captain Apricot, a 100% handmade cottage industry type business that allowed me to be a stay at home maker and satisfy all my creative urges while Pai was little. I still have dreams about returning to the world of handmade but if I do, it probably won't be with crochet. 

I was really lucky to be able to spend so long doing something that made me happy and allowed me to be at home with my little one, though towards the end there I was experiencing some serious craft burn-out and if I never make another pair of button up fingerless gloves it will be too soon. 

Anyhoo, long preamble just to share that I did a bit of a tidy up of my crafty space and came across a pile of the very last Captain Apricot creations and so I thought that I'd upload them and see if there was any interest. Pop on over to the Captain A facebook page to have a lookie (this is a seriously discounted affair my friends but there's not much left so once it's all gone, that's it!)

This feels very final, but in a good way. Moving on to new and exciting things and letting go of old when the time is right. 

11/31 Crafty Me, Crafty Business

I recently got an email from a friend who requested some custom items from me. I don't do a lot of making to sell these days. Life has enough stuffed into it and I've felt pretty overwhelmed by some of the things that have been thrown at us these past months. I did take this one on though. Simple, repetitive and calming is just the kind of custom work I'm into and so I put together a stack of these 100% organic cotton wash wipes for Black Robin Skincare. I'm a big fan of this skincare line, in particular I've got a dedicated love for this peppermint scrub which leaves my face all tingly and fresh feeling and also happens to be named "Tingly Bits".

With all of this overwhelmingness (totally a word) I've been thinking lately about what makes me happy, what is satisfaction and how to make those things a bigger part of my life. Sewing, crafting and design are a big part of that. I don't know if I'll ever go back to full time making, certainly not any time soon but it's nice to think about what that could look like in future if the right opportunities came my way and things fell into place to make it work.

For now I'll just take on the odd small project on the side and enjoy having the space to be choosy.

xx

10/31 - Crafty Me: Wonder Woman

This is an old one but I need to catch up, being just ever so slightly behind. Let's pretend that I shared this months ago and that I didn't let my birthday deadline pass by in a blur of lifewhanaumahifunfriends with less making in between than I'd like.

I made this for Pai for a super hero birthday party she was invited to. She loved it on the day but I have to admit that she doesn't wear the complete outfit often (ever). She's pretty dedicated to her dinosaur dress-ups and super heros are not high on her list of priorities. She's a pretty cute dinosaur but her WW poses slay me so I'm a little sad that she's not big on capes and superpowers.

The gold head band, belt and arm bands were made from an adults version of the costume that I adapted to fit a much smaller human and I threw together the simple skirt and cape with some lightweight cotton.

9/31 - Crafty Me: Striped Tee Shirt Dress

A few months back there was one of those equally amazing and dangerous fabric sales where people and stores and charity's all have stalls selling piles of fabric and patterns. All new, vintage and everything in between.

I spent more cash than I should have and came home with a fresh stash of fabrics to make stuffs with. It was very satisfying and bankrupting.  In order to justify those purchases, I need to have something(s) to show for it. Ya know, prove to myself that I didn't buy it for looking at. 

A fancy kind of dress is in progress and I made a few pairs of leggings but my fave so far is this striped t-shirt dress. I love dressing my kid in stuff I'd wear myself, especially considering all the pink fluffy sparkles that is available in the "girls"  section of most clothing stores. She likes it, I like it and my fabric stash is slightly smaller.  Winning!

8/31 - Crafty Me: Fingerless Gloves

8/31 you guys! I turn the ripe old age of 31 in September so I officially have less than 2 months to complete 19 more projects. Totally unachievable, (I'm such a glass half full kind of person) what was I thinking? I do actually have a pile of things to share but I've not yet managed to produce photographic evidence so it's not quite as dire as it seems (really though, I should have started this project when I was 25).

Full disclosure, these gloves were not made to give as a gift or to keep for me but to list in my Felt store. I've been feeling the need for a new laptop and perhaps a fancy scmancy camera for this blogging malarkey but let's be real, those aren't things I need, per se and not exactly impulse buys you grab on the way home from work on a whim. 

I don't have the cash lying around to make these things happen so I figured I'd see if I could turn some wool into gold. Also, I have a ton of pairs of these for myself already and pretty much everyone in my family has already been given a pair as a gift at some point in the last 5 years. 

So yeah, gloves: 

I made a few pairs in a few different colours but I fell in love with this aqua yarn a few years back and I'm still totally smitten. I love it so much I have nail polish to match. Not even kidding. 

The pattern is mine and the Ravelry details are here if you're a curious person who crafts things from yarn and you want to have a lookie. 

Follow Shiny Happy Crafty on Bloglovin.

So if I want to "claim blog" as my own blog on Bloglovin then I need to paste this into a blog post.

If you use bloglovin and you want to be a follower, start following. Or not, I won't take it personally. 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Crafty Me, Crafty Pattern: Convertible Wave Cowl (Free!)

Ahoy there! I've been crocheting a lot lately, after a long hiatus that arose from crocheting a lot. You'd think I'd learn. I decided to share a simple pattern I worked up a few years back that I still really like the effect of. I've sold many of these cowls over the years but these days I'm more focussed on pattern design than selling finished items. I have so many ideas but so little time so my pattern output isn't exactly what I'd like it to be (patterns released so far this year: 0. Pattern concepts I have swimming around in my head: 6520).

Moving on. Pattern below:

Skill level: 

Beginner

Stitches used:       

Double crochet -dc

Single crochet -sc

Chain stitch –ch

Materials:               

9 mm hook

5 buttons of 20mm width or more.

Chunky/bulky weight yarn (you can also use 2 strands of DK or 8 ply yarn, which I have done in this pattern as it is hard to find vegan chunky weight yarn)

Gauge:                   

3-4 pattern repetitions per 10 cm/4 inches. Gauge is not essential for this 

pattern,more repetitions means a slightly smaller scarf and less means a larger one. 

You can change your hook size to suit if you have a preference either way.

Pattern Instructions:

Chain 20 Stitches

Row 1: Sc in 2^nd ch from hook and in each ch to end. Ch 1 and turn

Row 2: sc in 2^nd sc from hook, *chain 2, skip 2 sc and sc in next 2 sc. Repeat from * to end. Ch 2  and turn

Row 3:  dc in 2^nd sc from hook, *chain 2, skip 2 sc and dc in next 2 sc. Repeat from * to end. Ch 1 and turn.

Row 4: Repeat row 2.

Row 5: Repeat row 3.

Here’s how things should look at the end of a sc row once you’ve got going:

Continue repeating rows 2 and 3 until your scarf measures aprox 85 cm, finishing with a sc/ch st row. You can opt to making it longer if you want to be able to wind it around lots of times but you will need more yarn for this.

Next row: Sc in 2^nd ch from hook and in each sc and ch to end. Fasten off.

Finishing:

Stitch buttons onto the ch st gaps along one end of scarf as shown.

Weave in all your ends and threads and if you're so inclined, block. I don't bother with mine, but you do you. 

You can now use every ch  st gap on your scarf as a button hole and so it can be buttoned on angles, along straight lines or just using a few buttons at a time. The possibilities are endless! (Not actually endless, there is a finite number of rows and button holes, but you get me).

Ravelry details here!

If you make this, I'd love to see. Share with me at the Shiny Happy Crafty facebook page and make my heart explode with all the happy.