New Pattern: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Last week was very rough. I am quite excited to move forward from all the cold and sickness with a cute fun announcement today: there's a new pattern in the shop!! I'd like to introduce you to the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. They are quite elusive, so you are lucky to be seeing one right here on my blog!

This idea started back when my sis in law was visiting us out here. In all our travels and adventures, she was very bent on seeing a Bighorn. Unfortunately, we did not spot hide nor hair of any type of sheep on our travels. She suggested that I crochet us some Bighorns to soothe the sting of not seeing one in real life. 

Fast forward a few months, and it's her birthday! I decided to actually get to work and make a RMBH and ship it off to my sis in law. Despite the fact that he was a very very late birthday gift, I was quite pleased with the outcome. Innit he ca-uuuuteee??

 I have decided that I ought to make him some cousins. If you are a hunter and you hunt all four of the North American Sheep breeds (Dall sheep, Stone sheep, Bighorn, and Desert Bighorn) it is considered a Grand Slam. Since I don't intend to do any major sheep hunting any time soon, a crocheted Grand Slam is much more in tune with my skill set. I plan to get at it after the craziness of the Christmas season passes.

Until then, you can get started making herds of RMBH sheeps using my pattern. The pattern is available for instant download via Last in Line Shop for $5. The pattern is quite easy, if I do say so myself, which means you've really got yourself an instant sheepification type of deal here. What could be better?

Well, one thing could be better: a grumpy baby to snuggle with your sheep! But hey, you aren't all lucky enough to have the cutest, most bestest little photogenic babu hanging out at home. (Warning: insane amounts a parental bias, here) 

Mr. E was not too pleased that I had to take his new friend from him so soon. But hey! That just means I have to make him one, too.

Happy Monday!!
-Carolyn

Lastest Pattern Teaser

A little teaser for you of my latest pattern. Currently in the typing stage of this one, and hopefully I'll be able to reveal the subject matter soon! Just got to make sure that the plush arrived at its new home first. Don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone!!

On another note, it's Thursday! Which is my version of Friday! Happy Frithursday!!

Who Lives Here? A New Design by Last in Line Shop

My, what a charming little house in a little log. I wonder who lives here!

The door is closed, perhaps I should knock. 

Oh! Hello! A couple of Rabbits seem to be at home!

"Hello!"
"You knocked?"

Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit, you both dress so nicely! And your house looks so quaint.

"Why, thank you!"
"You are too kind!"

Could I come inside for a visit?

"But of course!"
"Let me get the door for you."

 Look how lovely your home is! A yard, a toadstool, and so much room inside to decorate and play!

"We love our house!"
"It's perfect for us!"

It certainly looks cozy!

"But there is always room for friends!"
"We love meeting new people!"

So do I! I love going out on adventures.
"Can we come too??"
"Just carry our house with you, and we'll always be ready to play!"

How perfect! Let's go!!

I present to you, Mr. & Mrs. Rabbit's House, a carry-along playset. I am quite proud of this creation!! Keep your eyes opened, the pattern will be coming soon to Last in Line Shop!!

Darling Deer Hat: A Custom Order

Oh deer!

 An adorable custom ordered deer hat for a return customer! Nothing warms me up more than having a customer come back for more. Except perhaps, when they come back in want of a custom order!

Right before the move, a customer contacted me on Etsy in want of a deer hat. This was in fact, the same customer who ordered this unicorn hat before Christmas. I was a bit wary to take on an order, considering the high rate of possibility that I could completely lose the project in the midst of packing and chaos. But this dear lady assured me she was in no rush to get the hat. So we settled to details and I got some yarn and started cracking!

Oh, and you get a sneak peek in these pics for tomorrows post! Hehe. Guess what it is?

 I cannot tell you how incredibly pleased I am with the outcome of this hat. She wanted the antlers to be felted, which I thought was super fun. I got to pop them in the washing machine and let the wool work its magic on the spin cycle. Easy peasey, with a super cute turn out. I could not help but take a few pics of the hat at this stage. I love it so much just plain like this!!

Such a cute lil Bambi.

The customer wanted some flowers as embellishments, so I may have gone a bit overboard. Not really, but them are some bold blooms, yo! The big one is deep purple with a faded pink center to match the two little flowers. I think it is super whimsical and romantic. Which is good. Yes.

I feel like you could wear this hat to a tea party. Flowery and cute.

I made up my own pattern for the flowers. Too fun!!

Dem antlers, yo. I love.

I really didn't want to take it off.

Hopefully she is just as smitten with it as I am. I love lovelovelove LOVE custom orders! Never know what sort of adorable things my customers will dream up. This hat has inspired me to work out a lil baby version of this Darling Deer hat. Keep your eyes peeled!!

Linkin' up at these fine sites!

Blue Ombre Crochet Basket

Before we had completed Phase #1 of our move, I decided that it was more important to make some decor for our new apartment than to packing boxes. So I settled in on the couch and pulled out some vintage yarn. I had been planning on getting rid of this yarn when we moved. While I enjoyed the colors, it was taking up too much room in my stash. I had three skeins of each color and they just didn't make the cut when up against beautiful wool. But when I decided to make this basket, I knew it was the poifect yarn.

Ombre is probably on its way out of style, but I don't care: I love it!!

"Why a basket?" You might ask. Well, while prowling through Pinterest and Ikea for clever ideas on how to decorate our new abode in style, I found myself being attracted to storage baskets tucked neatly under side tables. Now, some of those cute lil cubbys featured hefty price tags. But why?! They are just baskets!! Being savvy, crafty, and motivated by not wanting to pack, I decided to crank out some of my own baskets.

I crocheted with all three strands of each color together to make a nice sturdy fabric. I am very fond of the outcome: vintagey and useful. It also kind of has a beachy feel, which is fine by me. I have always wanted a breezy, nautical themed home. Even though it's the middle of winter. And I live in a landlocked state. And will be moving to another landlocked state. But hey. I have my dreams, and I'm sticking with them!

Think of all the things I can carry around in here!!

For the edging, I did reverse single crochet (aka crab stitch). I looove love love love the way this looks and the tight, corded edge it makes. I've used it on baby blankets before as well. It reminds me of the look of the edging on those woolen blankets from the Southwest. So chunky and nice. Mhmhmhmhmh. Edging.

Those tight stitches, yo

A close up of the corded edge

So much room for storage!!

Perfect for yarn stashing. And, as a plus, I can select matching yarn to stow in it. Decorating!!

I will probably use this basket to tuck some magazines and maybe a few skeins of yarn under a side table in our living room. I'm leaning towards one of Ikea's "Lack" side tables because they are so affordable and spiffy. Maybe in grey? Depends on what color couch we get, I guess. This pregnancy thing just makes me want to decorate everything. Is that normal? I'm not complaining, (because who doesn't like to have a cute living space?) but just curious if decorating counts as a nesting instinct.

Hope you all had a sweet Valentine's Day!! I know I did.

Yours craftily,
Carolyn
Linkin' up at these fine sites!

DIY Refashion: Men's Shirt to Peplum Dress

 Hey guys! Remember this big old ugly shirt? A week or so before Christmas I set to work chopping this shirt up and designing a snazzy peplum dress out of it. I wore it on Christmas Eve and got asked a few times where I bought the dress! I consider that a successful refashion.

#betterthanstorebought #booyahmozzerellasticks #awyeah #hashtag

Ahem. Enough of that. Let's talk about the dress. I started by properly dissecting the men's shirt and gathering some matching thread and some extra fabric in the event that I needed to add more.

 While I do not have any good pictures from the process, you will have to make do with my turn of phrase and poetic descriptions.

I started by drafting up what I wanted in the dress. It had to feature a princess-seamed bodice. The lines are flattering to every body type, and will hopefully suit me for at least another month or so of Baby Z's growth. Hehe!!

To achieve a well fitting bodice, I was lucky enough to have a princess-seamed dress that fit me quite well. I used that dress as a basis for designing mine. I added a little wiggle room in the bust area (since pregnancy has already left me floundering for tops that fit in that realm) as well as the waist. After drawing up the pattern on cardstock (and making sure to add a seam allowance) and picking which pieces of the shirt would become which parts of the bodice, I set to work cutting.

 After piecing the bodice together with pins, I was shocked and concerned to discover that the bodice was FAR too tight. So, without a moment to lose, I drafted a side panel. Having such limited fabric from the men's shirt, I had to use some sections from a pair of teal old lady trousers I scored a year ago. I also decided to use the teal pants to assemble the peplum ruffles as well so that the side panels did not look out of place.

After the bodice was pieced and sewn, I quickly trimmed up the skirt and edged the peplums. Then, after attaching the skirt to the bodice, all I had to do was finish the neckline and sleeves and WHAMO. One bootiful dress.

Since this dress will hopefully be able to be worn for another month or two of this pregnancy, it is a bit billowy. I pair it with a brown belt to keep some of the girth in check. You can hardly tell that it has got extra belly room!! The shoes are a Goodwill score from a few weeks before Christmas. $3!! Holy schmowzow!! And they are practically new. I love me some fun flats.

There you go friends!! Have you done any spiffy refashions lately??

-Carolyn
Linkin' up at these fine sites!

Tapestry Cowl: Free Pattern!

Did I just say free pattern?? Why, yes I did! 'Pattern' is, however, a bit loosely used in this sense, because this cowl is so easy it hardly requires a pattern. So, maybe I should say: "Free Method". But....if people are talking about this it could sound a little odd:

"Did you see Carolyn's sweet Free Method she just posted?"
"...A what? A Free Meth Head?!"
"Yeah! For making a knitted cowl!!"
"She enslaves meth heads to make cowls??"

I'll just stick with 'free pattern', I guess. But consider yourselves warned, it really is not much of a strict "follow this and you will have exact results" pattern. More like notes I felt like sharing with you. Yeah! Notes. That sounds good.

 I made this cowl for my mother in law for Christmas. She wears a lot of neutral colored outfits, so I wanted to make her something she could wear with anything! The yarn I chose did most of the work in that department, so I had to stitch up a cowl that really showed off the colors without getting too distracting. So a simple knit and purl cowl was born!!

 The texture it created was interesting and subtle; perfect for such a multi-hued yarn!! Since for some reason I have a ton of variegated wools, I am all about patterns that create nice texture and really show off the yarn.

 So versatile!! I was quite tempted to keep this cowl for myself. Good thing I have a lot of this yarn left! I can probably whip out four more of these for me.

Dat drama!

The cool thing about this pattern or method is the level of customizability there is available. I used about 250 yards of worsted weight wool and size 6 circular needles for my cowl. You can use and size yarn you desire!! Just be sure to adjust your needle size and (possibly) your stitch count to suit your needs. Nothing else really has to be changed! I would love to see this worked up in oober bulky yarn. So pluffy and cozy!!
 

Tapestry Cowl Pattern
By Last in Line

Materials:200-300 yds yarn of your choice
Circular needles in a size appropriate for your selected yarn
Scissors
Stitch marker for marking the beginning of the round
Yarn needle for weaving ends

Stitches Used:K: knit
P: purl
CO: cast on
BO: Bind off

(So far so good right? If you can knit and purl, you are pretty much set.)

Cast on 160 sts for worsted weight (Remember, you can adjust your stitch count to accommodate the size of yarn you use. In fact, you don't even need to count!)
Join for knitting in the round and begin:

Round 1-6: knit
Round 7: purl
Round 8-9: knit
Round 10: purl
Round 11-18: knit
Round 19-20: purl
Round 21-25: knit

I repeated these 25 rows twice to make this cowl. I believe I even added a few rows at the end to get the height I wanted. Really, the pattern is all about tossing random purl rows in between groups of knit rows to get a little texture. Not much of a pattern, but hey, I thought someone else might find it useful.

Yarn I used: Taos by Crystal Palace Yarns Color #10: Hopi

Enjoy your cowl!! Be sure to comment me with a link if you do make one inspired by mine!! I'd love to see what you come up with.

Happy Monday, darlings!! Hope you all have fantastic weeks ahead of you!!
Lots of love,
Carolyn

Linkin' up

My Views on Custom Orders and Unicorns

I love doing custom orders.  I. Love. Custom. Orders. I feel like making things by hand is such an intimate process. You are involved in each step of the process. You pick the materials. You design the product. You make it. You pack it. You ship it.

You...get the idea.

The intimacy of making something by hand is increased at least a hundredfold when the customer is a part of the design and creation process. When the communication is good between both parties, it is a blissful experience. Now, I cannot do all customs all the time; it takes longer, because you need to talk to the buyer and finalize designs and fees and whatnot. But, doing custom orders every now and then is refreshing.

Most often, the buyer wants a color combo I had not thought to offer before. Sometimes, the buyer wants something altogether new. Something I never thought of. Something totally unique. I love that. It pushes my boundaries, increases my repertoire, and ultimately makes the customer super-duper happy. It's a glorious situation all around. I get street cred for making a crazy-odd design, and the customer gets to tell everybody that their one of a kind hat was their own idea, and it was made by a glittery fun girl who is game for most things.

Last week a lovely lady messaged me on Etsy asking if I would be willing to do a custom unicorn hat for her to give to someone for Christmas. Of course the answer was yes! She had seen my 'normal' Unicorn Hat in my shop and was unsure if the recipient of the hat would really wear such an attention-grabbing creation. The person was hip and fun and would probably think the hat was neat, but needed a more low-key chapeau for erryday thuggin'. 

Which, honestly, worked out really well that the lady wanted a custom, because less than 3 hours after she messaged me, the Unicorn Hat I had listed in the shop sold to someone else.

'Normal' Unicorn Hat. Yeah, it's pretty cray.

She decided that she wanted a shorter, white mane for the hat. I was excited, because I had some floofy FunFur on hand that worked poifectly. I think it turned out very cute! I was a little worried at first that a shorter mane would make the "unicorn aesthetic" a little less obvious, but I mean, come on. The thing has a horn coming outta it's head!! Unicorn to the max.

I love these labels so much. I cannot tell you. Well, I can. And I'll say it again: LAHVE DEM.

Another successful custom order!! Well, I think it was successful. The hat should be arriving to it's happy new home any day now, so I'll know soon enough if it was an all-over success.

Happy Saturday!!
-Carolyn