I love being creative!

I really enjoy not working so that I have lots of time for my creative outlets. I love crochet, but I also enjoy cross-stitch and papercrafting. This year, I have a plan to learn embroidery and how to work with felt. I have to say that I have not been crafting to the seasons or working on my study of hygge as planned, but there are still nine months left in the year, so no worries!

I have worked on 3 baby blankets this year. I have only finished one and gifted it already. I made this for one of my husband's co-workers who is expecting her first grandbaby in a few months. It is the 6-Day Kid Blanket made of Lion Brand Mandala yarns.

I still need to add a border to this one and will be working on that within the week. It is a simple V-Stitch blanket made with some Mandala yarn as well. I love having this blanket on hand because it doesn't have to be a baby blanket ... I could gift it to anyone!

I have made this baby blanket for a past co-worker of mine expecting a girl. I love the way it looks when combining two yarns together at the same time!

I have to admit that I have a TON of yarn ... it's like a mini yarn store! I've been wanting to make a sort of scrap blanket, so got out a bunch of coordinating Papatya cakes from Hobfy.com and a few Lion Brand mandala cakes to work on a simple stitch pattern. I am loving the result! I know who I want to gift this to, so will finish it in April as well.

I also have plans to make at least 3 more blankets this year - one for my son, finish one I started for my husband last fall and a blanket to coordinate with a quilt my mom made me last year and that will be used in my son's room (soon-to-be guest room) once he graduates college and moves out on his own. I've been working with this square called Painted Roses for the guest room blanket.

I do believe that I will have time to finish a few more crochet projects by year's end as well.

I also spent a little time this month making some cute Shrinky Dink stitch and hook markers for some online crochet friends. They came out great! I had so much fun repeating a craft that I enjoyed so much as a child.

An embroiderer I follow posted about two weeks ago that she is starting a Stitch-A-Long for The 12 Days of Christmas. I have been absolutely drooling over these patterns (order here on Etsy) since I stumbled upon them last year. They are gor-ge-ous!!!

So, I have purchased almost all of the supplies to make these beauties and will start on them next week. Look at the stunning stack of felt fabric that I ordered. Of course, I had to order more sets of colors than is needed for this project because it is soooooo pretty! (Order the felt needed for this project here.)

This may be an adventurous start for a new embroiderer, but I'm up to the task! To help me, the creator of the patterns has put up a very helpful webpage with lots of tips! After reading this page, I am sure I can do this even though it is my first embroidery/felt project.

The hard part about having a creative streak is that there are definitely more projects I want to complete than time available to do so! Almost daily I add crochet projects to my Ravelry favorites or I admire a beautiful item in an Instagram post. I probably just need to quit visiting these sites and spend more time creating!

The best part about being a crocheter is when new "squishy" mail arrives. Some new beautiful yarn arrived at my home this week! These are King Cole Curiosity (first 3 pics), James C Brett Northern Lights and then all 15 colors of the beautiful Scheepjes Our Tribe yarn. I have ideas for all of them ... just gotta find the time to work on some new projects!

 

 

So, it looks like I have a pretty busy spring & summer planned when it comes to my crafting. I sure hope I end up making a lot of pretty things this year!