FINISHED: Loomknit & Crochet - Captain America-Inspired Hat

A little something to celebrate opening weekend of the Avengers movie.
The hat is loomknit on the Knifty Knitter Adult Hat Loom.  The Captain America shield applique is crochet with an I hook.  The yarn is Caron and Red Heart.

FINISHED: Loomknit & Crochet - Green Lantern Hat

Here is a project that I forgot to post earlier...The Green Lantern hat that I made for my younger son's Christmas gift.

The hat is loomknit (double strands) on the KK Adult Hat Loom (purple); while the Green Lantern applique is free-form crochet.  The yarn is Red Heart Super Saver.

Finished: Crochet - Baby Brobee

Pics of latest crochet project: a "Baby" version of the Brobee character from the childrens television show "Yo Gabba Gabba".
I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn and an I hook...the body is mostly done in post stitches...and then stuffed with polyfil.
This is a gift for my grandson, Zander, when he comes to visit me this summer!  I sure hope he likes it!

The finished Baby Brobee

My inspiration picture

Finished: Crochet Jack O'Lantern

One of the things I love most about living in South Philly is that so many people decorate for the holidays!  I just love looking at everyone's front window displays!

Well... I am no pumpkin carver...so I thought I would crochet a jack o'lantern for our front window.

I used Red Heart SuperSaver yarn from my stash... It's my favorite yarn for crochet 'sculptures'... And a G hook for tight stitches.  The piece is stuffed with a bunch (i didnt count) of saved plastic grocery bags.

I started with a basic ball-shape and then added a stem.  Next, I crocheted all of the facial components: eyes, eyelids, nose, mouth, teeth & tongue.  No patterns... But just basic shapes...

Once all the facial features were completed, I (starting with the nose) began stitching them onto my pumpkin.  I decided to stuff each of the eyeballs (they each contain 1 bag)...which really made them puff out.

It wasn't a difficult project... Mostly time-consuming... Since I am a slow crocheter... But i am very pleased with the results. 

My husband built a shelf so that I could put decorations in the window AND still let the dogs sit in the window. (That's their favorite spot in the house!). Isn't he sweet? and clever?

Happy Halloween!

FO Posting: Cleaning Set

Here is my latest FOs: Reversile Swiffer Sock, Dust Mitt, Tawashi and Cotton Dishcloth (woven w\ crochet trim). This matching cleaning set was my gift to my Mom for Mothers Day.

First up is the Reversible Swiffer Sock (for dusting & mopping). This is from a pattern on the craftstylish website. The pattern calls for two solid color yarns for a striping effect; but I prefer the way this variegated (Banana Berry {color 0994} Red Heart Super Saver) yarn worked up.

This is a fairly simple pattern... it only takes a few hours (even for a slow hooker like me!)... when first reading the pattern, i couldn't grasp it... but the accompanying pics (with further explanations) made it crystal clear.

This is the view from the top.

According to the the pattern, the acrylic yarn will build up static electricity, which will make the dust and dirt cling to it... so i modified the idea just a bit to make a dust mitt.

I was running out of the variegated yarn and so added stripes in Spring Green and Bright Yellow Red Heart.

(i seem to have a lot of red heart in my stash)

here is the matching tawashi (which is actually the first piece made of this set)... this one is my own design with sc, hdc, dc and 3-stitch bobbles (for a little extra scrubbiness).

and lastly, here is a dishcloth made from two hand-woven (on a weavette-type rectangle loom) rectangles; and trimmed with crochet. this was made in in matching colorways in Lily Sugar'N Cream cotton yarn. (also from my stash)

i think it looks really nice when folded like this

but when unfolded, you can see the yucky looking middle seam... i just stitched the loops together... but it really turned out ugly. i can tell that i need to experiment with connecting the individual woven pieces!

in hindsight, i think i should have trimmed each rectangles with sc and then crocheted them together and then trimmed with crochet.

any advice or suggestions regarding joining handwoven pieces is much welcomed!

--------------------------
i really liked the eco aspects of using the reversible swiffer sock and am working on one for myself to test the usefulness of these (and waiting on my mom's review); if the results are positive, then i will probably make me about 3 for myself to use.

FO: MY FIRST TAWASHI

Here is my first tawashi, which is a Japanese -inspired crocheted (or knitted) scrubbie for cleaning dishes, counters, etc.

I have been seeing so many of these on Ravelry (there are several groups devoted to tawashi) and on blogs, that I decided to whip one up to see how it works. I had some left-over Red Heart Acrylic in my stash... believe it or not, acrylic is the main choice for these little scrubbies! (although you can buy special acrylic with silver in it for authentic Japanese style)

This is my version:

first, i made a rectangle with bobbles (made with 4 dc) staggered on it... i used hdc for the rows without the bobbles and dc for the rows with the bobbles.

I folded the rectangle in half and trimmed the tawashi with sc done in a different color.

lastly, i did another round in sl and created a hanging loop on one of the short ends.

TA DAAA! here is my finished little tawashi! I cant wait to try it out... will post the results after some use.
-----------------

If you are interested in tawashi, check out these sites for inspiration:

a whole load of craft

knitting knonsense

okniawa otter knits

little purl of the orient

juli's jots

or just "Google" the word tawashi