Twisty turvy headband--free pattern!

Twisty Turvy headband
Pattern by: craftyallie
***EDITS ARE NOTED IN BOLD.*** 
Please let me know if there are any flaws in my pattern and I would be happy to fix them! 
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Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn (Suggestions: Caron simply soft, I Love This Yarn!, Vanna’s choice)
• US size 8 needles
• Cable needle or substitute (paperclip, bobbypin, pencil, etc)
•  Needle for weaving in ends
• Scissors
• Measuring tape

Measurements:

• 4 inches wide at garter stitch section
• 2.5 inches wide at patterned section
•  18 inches around, but very stretchy (because of the garter stitch)

Stitch explanations:

• CO—cast on
•  K—knit
• P—purl
• Sl—slip
• C4B—Slip next 2 sts on cable needle, K2, then K2 from the cable needle
• LPT—Left purl twist. Slip next stitch onto a cable needle and hold in back. K2, P1 from cable needle
•   RPT—Right purl twist. Slip next 2 sts onto cable needle and hold in FRONT. P1, K2 from cable needle

Pattern:

• CO 18 stitches (I used the long-tail method, but you can use a provisional cast on so you can Kitchener stitch the ends together)
• K every row (garter stitch) for 5 inches. Slip the last st of each row purlwise.

• Row 1:(RS) K2, P5, K4, P5, K1, sl 1
• Row 2:(WS) K7, P4, K6, Sl 1
• Row 3: K2, P5, K4, P5, K1, Sl 1
• Row 4: K7, P4, K6, sl 1
• Row 5: (RS), K2, P5, C4B, P5, K1, sl 1
• Row 6: K7,P4, K6, sl 1  


• Row 7: K2, P4, LPT, RPT, P4, K1, Sl 1
• Row 8: K6, P2, K2, P2, K5, Sl 1
•  Row 9: K2, P3, LPT, P2, RPT, P3, K1, sl 1
•  Row 10: K5, P8, K4, sl 1
•  Row 11: K2, P2, LPT, K4, RPT, P2, K1, sl 1 
•  Row 12: K4, P2, K1, P4, K1, P2, K3, sl 1
• Row 13: *K2, P1, LPT, P1, C4B, P1, RPT, P1, K1, sl 1
• Alternate row 13: K2, P2, K2, P2, C4B, P2, K2, P2, K1, sl 1
•  Row 14: K3, P2, K2, P4, K2, P2, K2, sl 1
• Row 15: K2, P1, K2, P2, K4, P2, K2, P1, K1, sl 1
• Row 16: K3, P2, K2, P4, K2, P2, K2, sl 1*

From this point forward, K all the K stitches and P all the P stitches on right and wrong sides. Work the rows within the *s, but only work the 1st row 11 ONCE. When you repeat rows 11-14 each subsequent time, work the ALTERNATE row 11.  Do this cable pattern for a total of five times. On the 3^rd row of the cable pattern, do the following row:

• K2, P1, RPT, P1, K4, P1, LPT, P1, K1, sl 1
• K4, P2, K1, P4, K1, P2, K3, sl 1
•  K2, P2, RPT, C4B, LPT, P2, K1, sl 1
•  K5, P2, K4, P2, K4, sl 1
• K2, P3, RPT, P2, LPT, P3, K1, sl 1
•   K6, P2, K2, P2, K5, sl 1
•   K2, P4, RPT, LPT, P4, K1, sl 1
•   K7, P4, K6, sl 1
•   K2, P5, C4B, P5, K1, sl 1
• K7, P4, K6, sl 1
• K2, P5, K4, P5, K1, sl 1
• K7, P4, K6, sl1
• Work in garter stitch for 5 inches and bind off loosely

Finishing:

You can seam the ends a couple of ways. You can do a provisional cast on and Kitchener stitch the two ends together, or you can do a long-tail cast on and whip-stitch the ends together (that’s the method I’ve chosen).

DIY Hearts and lace shirt

Nursing school has been kicking my bee-hind. Needless to say, that's why I haven't updated anything at all. However, I did find some time to make an ADORABLE shirt the week before Valentine's day. I got my inspiration from a sweater at ThreeBirdNest.

Isn't that just adorable?!  I couldn't justify paying $48 for a shirt I could easily make myself though (and they are out of stock right now).

Here is my rendition of it!And the best part? No sewing machine necessary! The hand-stitching is really easy. It took about 2 hours for me to make, but this was my first ever sewing-related project. All of you experienced crafters could probably knock this out in 30 minutes to an hour, especially if you have a sewing machine!

First, you'll need a shirt. Any shirt will do, as long as it has a nice big back! I wouldn't go out and buy a nice shirt, because it's going to get cut up, and you might mess up! Try using a big oversized sweatshirt or t-shirt. I used a cropped shirt that I ended up cutting even shorter. It all depends on what you're going for.

 Please excuse the messiness of my school books and such :)

So, here's what you'll need:

• A shirt-Don't spend more than $2 on a shirt! And if you have one already at home, it's free!
• 1-2 yards of fabric (Depending on how confident you are). I used a regular polyester fabric because I couldn't find lace fabric in a timely manner. I also was trying to decide whether or not to use tulle, and I decided not. I also used scrap fabric that was given to me, so it didn't cost me anything, but 1-2 yds of fabric at Walmart or HobLob is approximately $10 (That's probably an overestimate, too).
• A spool of lace trim-$5 or less at Walmart
• Matching thread-$3
• Scissors
• Fabric chalk/marker/etc. I didn't have one so I just used a sharpie with a piece of cardboard underneath the shirt so it wouldn't bleed through
• Iron and ironing board
• Good lighting
• Sewing machine (if you have one. I hand-sewed mine)

Next, you'll want to iron everything, just to get it nice and straight before make any cutting commitments!

Now comes a kind of scary part for me---cutting!

 Don't be afraid of the scissors. They are your friend! If you have a shirt similar to mine, then be sure to cut ABOVE the seam so that you don't have any bunching fabric at the bottom.

 This is what it looked like when I was finished chopping off the bottom. So far so good, right?

Now comes the really REALLY scary part: cutting out the heart.

 I don't know if you can see my little sharpie dots there, but that's how I made the heart. I kind of free-handed it. If you love perfection, this method isn't for you. Print out a nice big heart on some BIG paper and trace it on. No one will judge you!

Next, cut your fabric to a square just bigger than the perimeter of your heart. I left about 1-2 inches at each pointy end of the heart. Turn your shirt inside-out and, place some cardboard or a hard piece of plastic in your shirt (trust me, it makes it a lot easier to pin) and pin the fabric to the shirt about a half inch to an inch away from the heart border. I probably could have done this step a little better, but I still got the end product I wanted!

After you pin your fabric, flip the shirt back to the right side. This is where I could have done this better. You could probably have left it right side out and pinned the fabric to the inside, but that just wasn't making sense to me at the time. 

Now the fun part--sewing! If you have a sewing machine, take it out now and get it all nice and set up. Proceed to sew the heart on. If you are a hand-sewer and have NO idea how to sew (like me), take a look at this video to help you out! It shows a straight stitch, and that's the only stitch I used for this whole project. This is very much a beginner sewing project.

 Do this stitch all the way around, and make sure to keep your stitches close together.

So, once you finish sewing the heart on, trim the inside edges about 1 inch away from where you sewn line is. It will end up looking something like this:

I could have stopped right here, but adding a lace trim just seemed way more fun :)

See the little lace windows at the top of the ribbon? That's where I did my straight stitch. The needle would go in one window, and come out int he window next to it. It made for a very flat finish. 

Give it all another good ironing and you're finished!

Happy {late} valentine's day!


Stay crafty my friends,
-a

Final Fantasy blanket, final product

I just realized that I never posted a finished picture of my final fantasy blanket! I posted them on my facebook page, but not here! 

 Final specs: 7x10 feet, 21 rows, with 30 squares in each row (630 squares). Final weight: 8 pounds. Duration: almost one year. Below, you can also see my mario mushroom blanket I made about 2 years ago :)

I will also be making a pattern for my South Park people as soon as I can, and it will be up for purchase on my Etsy store very soon! I will provide a free pattern for Stan on my next blog post, so stay tuned! 

Stay crafty my friends,

-a

Fall sweater and thanksgiving

I have been so swamped with nursing school that I have shamefully neglected this poor blog. Since I opened my Etsy store last month, I've had several orders. Thank you for everyone who has shopped at CraftyyAllie! I also added an instagram follow button on my blog. I post lots of knitting and crocheting pictures on there that aren't seen on my facebook page, or here, so check it out!

On Monday (11/19), I decided that I really needed to make myself a sweater. I had started this sweater (and by start, I mean I did maybe 12 rows) back in August, but I decided I needed to finish it during my Thanksgiving break. I knitted furiously Monday through Saturday and on Saturday night I had my very own beautifully knit cardigan/sweater/whatever. I love it so much :)

I also had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and Fletcher's. It was great to spend time with family just relaxing and not worrying about nursing school. For anyone reading this, please keep my grandpa in your thoughts. He will be having open heart surgery on November 30th.

I took some photos of my family for Thanksgiving. It was my first time shooting a family, and I'm glad it was mine. I love how these turned out almost as much as I love them.

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL thanksgiving. If you are still in need of last-minute Christmas items, feel free to stop by my Etsy shop and shop around!

Stay crafty my friends.

Etsy shop!

I finally broke down and opened another Etsy store. Hopefully this one will be easier for my customers to have access to purchasing my products! I'll be doing a product shoot tomorrow for headbands! I already have one listing: my GIANT CABLE-KNIT COMFORTER! woo!

If you guys know anyone that would like to purchase this, direct them to my etsy listing (please and thank you!).

 

 

Stay crafty my friends.

Angry birds pillow made for my precious 4-year old nephew

This weekend, my nephew Liam turned 4! Time goes by so quickly. He decided that he wanted to have an angry-birds themed party, so naturally I had to get my crochet hook working. I decided to make him a angry-birds pixelated pillow, using a graph I came up with. He loved it.

Liam was very happy for his pillow :)

 How awesome is this cake?!

 

 Ronan was trying to sneak a bit of cake. Needless to say, we ended up just letting him have that whole section of the cake. :)

I'm trying to decide whether or not I should start selling these? Any input would be nice! I could also do different characters, motifs, etc.

 Stay crafty my friends.

Guess the project WINNER!

Well, last week one of my wonderful customers correctly guessed the character that is featured on the blanket I am making!

The answer is: Final Fantasy 1 Warrior!

Do you know what she gets now? A FREE BEARD BEANIE! 

I'm so happy that someone finally guessed it. I was starting to worry that no one would!

Congratulations Tabby!

Stay crafty my friends