Weaving & Knitting!!

So for my second weaving class, on Twill, I made a scarf for my mom for Christmas:



Close-Up:


Close-Up #2 (this one isn't very true to the color; the last two are):


I designed the pattern myself on some software that my teacher had :-)

I also decided to re-teach myself knitting over break, because I love cables. I've been working on a cabled scarf. Here it is so far (picture quality isn't great, sorry):



I got the books Happy Hooker & Stitch 'N Bitch, and got the book Cables Untangled, which is where the scarf pattern is from. It has some awesome cabled patterns in it, as well as a dictionary of cable patterns!!!

Hope you are all having a great holiday season!!

New Pillow Pattern - Fighting Illini!!!

Well I have been overcome by the desire to do crochet, despite my problems with my neck/shoulder. I decided to design a Fighting Illini pillow (like the Packers & Colts pillows I have already made) to make for my father for his birthday (it's his college team). The pattern is now posted at my pattern page:

My Pattern Page



I also have designed graphs for a Chicago Bears pillow, which will be posted once I make it.

Weaving!

That's right, I have picked up a NEW craft! Weaving!!! I'm taking classes with a woman who has a weaving shop in the front half of her house :) I've already finished the beginner's class, and will be starting one in Twill soon! My first project was 4 placemats. I ended up making 2 sets of 2 placemats, to try out a little different technique. Here's pictures of them (I still have to wash them, so they'll shrink a bit & the weave will tighten up some):





Here's a close-up of the second set's detail:



It's still a plain weave, just over 2/under 2. I loved the different look, tho! The first ones look really boring to me now, haha!

Still in pain...

Sorry not much updating... The neck/shoulder thing is still in the process of (hopefully) being resolved, so still no crochet for me... I also haven't been sewing much, just because of lack of time & been busy doing other things instead. I did start a pair of pants, but I have since discovered that I sewed them together wrong and have to rip a large part of it apart... FUN!!! lol...

I'm going to try to update Jen's Stuffed Toy Archive again soon. It's becoming harder for me to find new patterns to add, so it would really be appreciated if any of you know of any links I don't have that you would let me know! Plus I don't always have time to just browse thru the knitting & crochet forums, especially since it makes me sad that I can't make things right now!!

Hey, so, I finally got back to sewing a little bit! My husband's cousin is graduating from highschool this month, so I made her a bag/purse as a present:



Not sure why my camera left a streak across the top... It's a cruddy camera. Some day I hope to be able to buy a nice one!

It was a Simplicity "It's So Easy It's Simplicity" pattern, #4625:

JMW Art Updated!

I thought I'd let you all know that I updated my art portfolio website, JMW Art, in the last few days! You can see 6 new Metals pieces there.

Since I don't have a section for it on my website yet, to view my pieces from my Bookmaking class (there are five) you will have to see them at my Deviant Art site. My metals pieces are there as well, and you can leave comments on my pieces at that site!

Baby Romper Dress!

I finished a baby dress for Elizabeth (my cousin's daughter)! And let me tell you, it was a pain, because I had never sewn in a zipper before... BUT it turned out really cute! Here's a pic, although it didn't turn out that great. You can barely see the collar. But I'm so excited with it's cuteness.



It's a little romper dress, so it had the "shorts" attached underneath the skirt. I also had to deal with elastic, lol, but it wasn't too bad.

The pattern I used is this one: (Simplicity, #5115)

I finished my first shirt!!!! Unfortunately our camera is being dumb, so the pics are kinda fuzzy. And excuse the weird expression I have on my face in the second picture; I think he could me mid-way through smiling, lol...

Sewing!!!

This week I made the plunge and bought myself a sewing machine! I've wanted to learn how to sew my own clothes for years, and now I'm finally getting to it! My first project was PJ Pants:

Changes to the website!!!

Hey everyone! "Jen's Stuffed Toy Archive" has undergone a change! I have now separated it onto two parts: crochet patterns & knit patterns. I've decided to expand the amount of knit patterns that I include, so anyone who also visits knitting forums, could you let them know it's available? I don't personally knit, but I know many people who do.

There are LOTS of new patterns, especially in the knitting section!!!

Also, don't forget that I have a mailing list so you can be notified whenever I add new patterns!!!

Enjoy everyone!

Oh, and there are now 196 people on the mailing list :)

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So I haven't crocheted in a while now. The last thing that I made was a baby jacket & some booties for a friend (shown in the below picture, along with the other two outfits I bought for her):

I've been cross-stitching instead. Although I probably shouldn't even be doing that, lol... I FINALLY got a diagnosis from a rheumatologist. I have tendonitis. I've been taking an anti-inflammatory, and I've been feeling like it's helping some. When I first started the medicine the pain got worse for about 5 days, but now it seems to be getting better. Lets hope that I can eventually get back to my crochet!!

126 Subscribers!

The mailing list for Jen's Stuffed Toy Archive is at 126! And I get notification e-mails almost constantly! Crazy! I'm glad everybody likes the site so much! :)

I haven't been doing much crochet for a few reasons: too busy, motivation to crochet has kind of piddled down, plus my shoulder is still bothering me. I go to see the doctor again this Wednesday. The guy wants to do a CAT Scan; I've already had an MRI, and it showed nothing. I think the CAT Scan is a waste of my time and mine & my insurance company's money. I'm gonna try to get a referral to a rheumatologist.

What I HAVE been working on (slowly) is some things for my friend Mandi who is expecting her second baby (a boy!) in May. Not gonna say what, cuz she might read this. ;)

"Pattern" for Patrick

I've been asked about a pattern for the stuffed Patrick that I made. Here is where I got the instructions; you have to go to page 2. It's more guidelines, really, so if you're the kind of person who needs to have step-by-step instructions, I can't help you out... sorry... But he was really easy to make, so I would suggest trying anyways!

Sick...

So I haven't done any crochet since I finished all of my Christmas presents. Largely because I'm a bit burnt out, but lately because I am sick... I am fighting off bronchitis...

Someone asked me about the fish that I made for my dad and whether I made it up. I got the pattern from a booklet called "Hooked On Fish."

Sorry I don't have more to update...

Pics!

Okay, so now that Christmas is over I can post pics of things that were Christmas presents :)

I made my brother a stuffed Taz. Let me tell you, he was a PAIN IN THE BUTT to make! But he turned out AWESOME! The pattern came out of a booklet called "Looney Tunes Bugs & Pals To Crochet." If I ever feel ambitious I might make the other three, lol (it has Bugs, Tweety, & Sylvester in it, too).



Remember how I made Lynnea that Spongebob halter top? (If you didn't see it, you should go back to the post here.) Well, I made her a stuffed Patrick to go with! It came from a set of guidelines that I saved to my computer and can no longer find on the internet; I'm pretty sure I found it at Crochetville, but I've tried searching and cannot find it. If anyone knows the link, let me know so I can share. Mine is smaller than the one that person made. He was pretty easy to make!



I also made a bag for Lynnea's mom, Bianca (my husband's cousin). I used the Honeycomb Crochet Purse pattern, and you'd THINK that since it's off of Joann.com that it would be a good pattern, right? WRONG! It is SO confusing, and the pattern omits things that should be repeated, so I had to do a lot of frogging and figuring out of myself... It turned out neat, but GEEZ... You have been forewarned if you try it! I skipped the top button/loop thing. The texture makes it really neat, tho, and it's really thick!



I also made some red & white dishcloths & a strawberry potholder for my grandmother; she says the dishcloths are too nice to use, tho, lol. I don't have pics of those to show, sorry! And I've already shown pics of the heart motif doily coasters I made for my mom, but I'll post that pic again cuz it's been a little while:



I also made a green hat for Scott, Bianca's husband, using this pattern.

I've decided that I'm gonna stick to stuff for me for a little while. I still have to finish my afghan, and I'm still in-progress on a couple of tops I started making. I might not do much for a bit, tho, just because I'm a bit burnt out after all of the rush to get Christmas stuff done!