Projects

Things I plan to make, am making and have made

Where have you been, dude?

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Dude, where have you been?

Wow, over two years since I’ve posted… I’ve been paying to keep my domain, and with each renewal I’ve thought, “Oh yeah, I should start writing again.” But, alas.

A lot has happened since I posted last! Too much for one post. WAY too much for one post. But the plan is to slowly unfold the last two years, and get back into the swing of this Crochet-Hooker thing. To start, I’ve created a Facebook page at the urging of my lovely husband (Oh, yeah, I got married within the last two years! See? I told you I would slowly unfold what I haven’t been sharing.) And will soon launch that once I get some photos put together and whatnot.

For now, here’s my latest creation feat. Dixie. An old friend from Michigan reached out and asked if I could make two LEGO blankets for his sons. SHYEAH! I was super pumped at the prospect, and they were a breeze to make. I had to write my own pattern, because I couldn’t find one that made the dimensions I needed. So I did what I do best — I improvised. Click here for that pattern. The blankets were shipped off and delivered just in time for Christmas.

LEGO Blanket

That’s it for now. Merry Christmas, friends!

Jenna

Just Like Daddy’s

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Let me tell you about my friends Angie and Nick.. They have the 2nd cutest, loudest Beagle I’ve ever met, and now 2 handsome little men running around their home. Angie just had her second boy a few weeks back so of course I had to crochet him something. Nick is a Union man to the bone, and his (made in America) work boots are one of the most important tools of the trade. I figured I’d give baby Luke a pair just like his daddy. How adorable are these?

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I should make something for their first born again.. I was just learning to crochet when she had him so he got a funny looking hat that was too small to begin with… hmmm..

P.S. All is well in Texas =) I just put my mom back on a flight to Chicago this morning after a 4 day visit. She soaked up the sun and palm trees around Houston and on Galveston, and actually got to see me do work at my Spring Book Club discussion of Kathleen Kent’s novel The Outcasts. It’s really good, go read it.

Jenna

Book Bird

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I posted a couple years ago about connecting literature with crochet. I made a funny looking spider from a children’s picture book for a friend’s daughter and he turned out awesome. I now have another chance to merge my crochet skillz with my library profession once again because I’m an over achiever.

The idea was sparked when a little girl left her Hello Kitty toy hanging out on a statue we have in the library. The statue is of a little boy reading a book, and the way she abandoned it there, nuzzled next to the little boy, it looked like Hello Kitty was sucked into whatever bronze book the boy has been reading for the last 20 years. Then it gave my boss an idea… What if we had our own “mascot” for the library, and what if it traveled to a new spot every day, waiting for a kid to find it?? Genius. So the plan is it to hide it in a new spot every day and whenever a kid finds it they’ll get a sticker or some little toy to leave under the seat in their mom’s mini van.

The over achiever in me decided I was going to crochet this little mascot because I haven’t made anything in a while and my fingers are losing that crochet hook tone (yes, crochet muscles!) So here I go, working on a little blue bird to flutter around the library!

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I promise he will be something soon… And the children will love him! Or they’ll just love the stickers and bookmarks they’ll get when they find him hiding in the library…. Tweet Tweet!

Jenna

Happy V-Day!

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Give lots and lots of hugs and kisses to all your Valentine’s today! My Valentine is living 1000 miles away (literally.. he made the move to Texas) so I have a date with my camera and my family at my Aunt’s wedding tonight.

Just wanted to spread the love to everyone on Valentine’s Day =)

EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

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xxooxxoo,

Jenna

Baby Blackhawks Gear!

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My fingers have been very busy now that I have so much more free time on my hands! Check out one of the items I’m selling made to order. Any Chicago Blackhawks fans out there?

The pattern for the helmet can be found here and the booties are just a regular bootie with an improvised skate.  I’ll just give you an empty promise of a future pattern 😉

Check out how great my friend’s baby (future Patrick Sharp perhaps??) looks in his helmet and skates!

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I made a pattern?

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If you know me (aka read my personal info) you would know that I don’t always follow patterns. In fact, I kind of suck at following patterns.  So what I usually do is improvise, tear apart, improvise some more and then another couple of rounds of tearing apart and improvising.  But lately I’ve found how useful patterns are, especially when making booties. I just can’t seem to get the hang of those things!

I’ve had a couple of requests for a pattern for my leg warmers. But each time I’ve made them, I never took good enough notes to make a pattern from it. Ooops. So what I’ve decided is to finally start keeping track of my most popular items and writing down a pattern. So yes, the title of this post is true.. I wrote a pattern! The school librarian I’m working with right now asked if I could teach her how to make my coffee mug cozy so she could use it for a Christmas craft program with her high schoolers.  Being the over achiever I am, I even offered to write a pattern for her.  Though I shouldn’t give myself a bruise patting myself on the back, because, hey, this pattern is ridiculously easy. Like, REALLY easy. Easy.

So I would like to call on my pals to test it out before I publish it to Ravelry or anything.. Could you fine folks do that for me? I’m attaching it for the low low cost of $0, and I would LOVE for ya’ll to give it a try and let me know if I need to make any changes. Tear it apart, add to it, tell me to never make another pattern because I’m just that horrible. But any feedback would be much appreciated! Just leave your comments on this post so I can know how to make the pattern that much better =)

Thank you!!!

Crochet Coffee Mug Cozy Pattern

Jenna

Master of Library Silence

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I’M DOOONE. With what, you ask? Well I thought it was a little obvious from the title, but okay. I have completed my Mazter’s Degree in Library and Information Science (that was a typo but I liked the sound of mazter). So I’m a librarian now! Hooray!

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My parents are so proud…

And what does that mean? More time for books and crochet! But forget the books, this is a crochet blog. After having a lot of people ask whether or not I have an Etsy shop and deciding that I want to make a little extra money, I’m thinking about opening an Etsy shop. Let’s see how long this idea sticks.

So I have a question for my fellow crafty folks: Do you have advice for me? I have never sold my stuff online except to friends and I’m a little nervous about keeping up with inventory and not being able to fill an order. Little things like that.
But in the mean time, and in-between time, I’m beginning to bang out a supply of coffee mug cozies that are sure to please. Be sure to keep an eye out for them in my future Etsy shop =)

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Jenna

‘Merica

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Yes, it’s been a while since I posted last. No, i haven’t had a chance to fulfill all of the promises I made in my last post. But I am here to tell you that, five months later, I finished the American flag afghan! It’s a beauty, for sure.  And my Captain America boyfriend loooves it, as does his dog =).

I won’t lie, I finished it over a month ago, but I haven’t had the time or patience to sit down and blog about it. But we’re on the verge of a blizzard right now and I’m in between homework assignments during Spring break, so what the hell.

I got a lotttt done on our trip down to Memphis, because crocheting makes an 8 hour car ride go by a lot faster! Take my word for it….

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The blanket turned out to be a little under 6 ft. long, about 3 1/2 ft wide, so the perfect size for him to curl up with on the couch like he’s been doing every day with it! But he’s not the only one; Midge wanted to stake her claim when I was photographing it, but I sadly had to inform her that it was for Matt.

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Already, my mom told me to make one for my Grandma, and a friend is begging me to make him one, but I’m in no hurry to do that all over again. I don’t even think I can recreate it… I winged practically the whole thing and I’m honestly surprised it worked out.. I mean.. I knew what I was doing the whole time! Not. Anywho, here’s the happy camper with a disgusting smile on his face because he finally got his American flag afghan..! I hope my Midwest and East coast friends are staying warm during the Winter storms! And happy March, everyone =)

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Jenna