Crochet Withdrawal: Paige Makes Some Charts

WHY HELLO THERE READERS!

Today (I haven't gone to sleep yet!),  I finished my last class of my freshman year in college!! Only 1 final, a quick trip home, and a second final stand between me and SUMMER (my favorite season)!!

In celebration (and procrastination for studying), I went to my handy-dandy "yarn" Pinterest board. And found this:

These awesome perler bead coasters are Mario mushrooms! If you want these perler bead ones, check out DelightfulEpiphany's Etsy page!

In the caption of my Pinterest "pin", the caption read "...must make crochet charts for this! adorable!". So, I'm sure you can guess that I did do this. I don't have my hooks or yarn with me anymore, but I am planning on channeling my inner DelightfulEpiphany and create the crochet version of these coasters! So instead, I made the charts and I am getting EXCITED!

A blue mushroom coaster chart!

I will keep you updated on all of my adventures! Until I get home, I will be studying, finishing up final projects, and creating more crochet charts for the summer!

Until next time, readers!

xoxo,
Paige

The Saga of Paige and Her Computer

Well, I have to apologize for my lack of posts lately; as the title of this post could insinuate, I have had many computer problems.

It all started right at the end of my spring break - my hard drive crashed. I got a new one (woohoo!), but then I had some bracket problems...apparently, a bracket should be replaced along with your hard drive - who knew? Not me! And then, of course, there were software problems, so re-imaging was in store, but problems still continued.

Now, after 4 trips to the Apple Store in 3 weeks... I am proud to announce that now I have a brand new machine that works like a charm!

The only unfortunate thing is when my original hard drive crashed was that I did not back up any of my files - trust me, I had student backup system issues, along with every piece of bad hardware and software problem I had these past few weeks.

That being said, most of my patterns and things have disappeared into thin air...including some of my original patterns. BUT, PRAISE THE LORD FOR GOOGLE DOCS because the patterns published on this website are SAFE! The ones that were in the works, well, those are history.


**Another Update On My Life: I'm on my last week of classes! So that's good. A final portfolio and two final exams are the only things holding me from summer. BUT, I will be home over the lovely Memorial Day Weekend and will definitely start this blog back up and running full force!**

Keep on reading for more posts!

xoxo,
Paige
(PS sorry I have to get my online signature back - will be back next time! xoxo)

The Adventures of a Pillow

Hello Readers!

My apologies for not posting in a few days, especially that I am home for my Spring Break! I've been busy doing homework, applying for study abroad, shopping, and of course, crocheting!

Over the past few days, I have been this close to finishing the FRONT of my pillow! Unfortunately, I will not be able to bring the completed pillow back to school for the end of this semester - I still have an intricate back to work on before I can stuff it!

completed theta!

All of the letters are completed - just need to finish the top border!

Due to the intarsia crochet, I had a LOT of scrap yarn left over, so I kept them and am starting to make little felted balls from the scraps (tutorial from kundhi.com here) - to make them into felted balls to make lovely Kappa Alpha Theta-themed coasters (inspired from this tutorial by Inspired by Charm):

soooo many scraps

a black felted ball and a gold felted ball!

Well, I hope that the next few weeks bring you well - I will (hopefully) keep updating the blog, but finals are going to start rapidly approaching, but I will be back in summer in full swing! Happy Spring!!

Spring Break (FINALLY!) ... with a new themed project!

Hello Everyone!

I am so sorry for the lack of posts in the last few weeks since Kappa Alpha Theta's bid day - I have been so busy doing sorority stuff, along with keeping up with my midterms and school work (aka no time for my craft!)

So, remember how I talked about the Theta pillow in my last post? Well I'm finally getting started on it! I bought my lovely black and gold yarn, got my size F crochet hook and started reading my chart that I made!

I call my pillow the "Don't drop that K-A-O" pillow... and that's what it will be referred to throughout the process of its' creation:

Red Heart Super Saver Yarn: Gold and Black

The start of intarsia stripes woohoo :)

I'll keep working on it, along with many other projects I have in store for this upcoming week! Have a fabulous weekend!

GO GREEK!

Well, it's been about two(ish) weeks that I have been MIA - I promise I am alive and well! As you all know, I recently went through my university's Formal Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment. And by gosh, I am (very) glad that is over. Recruitment as a PNM (potential new member) is a roller coaster I never want to ride again. But last Monday, that ride finally stopped. I opened up my bid to see that I got the sorority that I wanted - Kappa Alpha Theta!

my favorite picture from bid night!!

Needless to say, these past few weeks have been busy, between new member education, crush parties, and girl dates, my craft hasn't been on my mind as much as it normally is.

BUT, have no fear. I can't stay away that long. After bid night, I went on Pinterest (typical, I know) and decided to search "Greek Crochet Alphabet". And what pops up?! This lovely pin:

AKA crochet charts for Greek letters! Thanks to Pam at Crochet Parfait, I was able to email her to get the actual Excel document with all 24 letters! You can find her email address at this link.

So, what do I do with these charts? CREATE MY OWN KAPPA ALPHA THETA PILLOW CHART! But, since I am not initiated yet, I cannot post a picture of my pillow design, as it has the letters on it. This is my impending Spring Break project, so let's hope I get it done in time for initiation to display on my bed! (I will tell you one thing - it's filled with black and gold and such happiness)

I also plan on sharing in a few weeks a simple pillow tutorial - including how to sew one up! Be on the lookout in about a month!


That's all for now, folks! Check back soon :)

CHECK ME OUT!

For those of you who don't know the whole Blogger system, whenever you (the blogger) log on, you can see your pageviews, audience, etc. One thing that I also can see is if people clicked any special links to get to my page (ravelry.com, pinterest.com, etc.). All of the sudden, I logged on today and noticed a new "link" from creativejewishmom.com!

As a bunch of you know, I love reading other blogs (as that was my inspiration to start this blog!) and one of my favorites is creativejewishmom.com. One of her features is "Craft Schooling Sunday", which features crafts from bloggers around the world. Super cool, to say the least. I got many inspirations and tutorials from these Sundays.

A few weeks ago, I decided to give it a shot and submit my Cozy Mug Coaster Pattern, and GUESS WHAT?!? IT WAS AN HONORABLE MENTION ON LAST WEEK'S CRAFT SCHOOLING SUNDAY! Check me out:::

Wishing you all a fabulous week! Another blog post to come later about why I've been all MIA lately :)

P.S. Like my new online signature?!

SECOND Free Pattern Uploaded!

Like promised, I have OFFICIALLY added a SECOND pattern to the Oh So Stitchy Free Patterns Page: Paige's Ear Warmers!

Check it out HERE: http://ohsostitchy.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns.html 

Tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, ANYONE!
Be on the lookout for more patterns coming soon!

xoxo
Paige

The Recruitment Ear Warmer is DONE!

....of course, with only two days into recruitment. Silly me, thinking that this project would last me the two weekends!

Here are some pictures of how I did my ear warmer! (Pattern coming most likely later tonight/tomorrow!)

the full band

band that is all seamed up!

bow-esque ear warmer!

Check out the pattern super soon!

xoxo
Paige

Crocheting My Way Through Recruitment

Hello readers!

I am so sorry for not posting in a while - for those of you who are just visiting for the first time, my spring semester here at college has just started, meaning schoolwork has picked up and left less time for crocheting!

A big thing about college social life includes going "Greek" (or known as joining a sorority) - which I plan on starting my own recruitment journey this weekend!

I do not want to go into specifics (because that is not allowed), but I will show you my crochet aspect of my nametag to show all the girls that I will be meeting over the next two weeks that I love my craft!

Just a single chain to hold up my nametag around my neck

As I was trying to figure out all of the interesting things about me, I realized I neglected the new part of my blog a bit - the Free Patterns Section! So, in the spirit of recruitment starting and the fact that my headwarmer broke two days ago, I decided to create (and write the pattern for) Paige's Ear Warmers! Check back in a few days for the FREE pattern! Actual pictures (besides my materials) to come!

I don't know what's wrong with my phone sometimes...sorry for the upside down picture!

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!!

xoxo
Paige

Paige's Plarn Tutorial!

GOOD NEWS: I finished my geology class today - took the final, so let's cross our fingers that I do well!
BAD NEWS: I only have this weekend to recuperate from my winter session class to prepare for spring semester! This is when everything will pick up (more classes and sorority recruitment and such), and blog posts and patterns might be harder to do during an actual semester.

So before spring semester starts, I present to you my own personal "plarn" (yarn made out of plastic bags) tutorial: (note: this is very similar to my t-shirt yarn cutting tutorial, but with bags instead!)

Paige's Plarn Tutorial
Materials:
1 plastic bag (any color, any size)
Scissor

Your materials!

Step 1: Fold your plastic bag in half

Step 2: Snip off the edge seam and the handles

Step 3: Unfold your plastic bag - it should look like a tube!

Step 4: Fold your "rectangle" three times, to form a tinier rectangle

Step 5: Cut all the way through the plastic bag, in one-inch pieces

in the process of cutting

All the pieces cut together!

Step 6: Unfold your pieces and cut each piece with one scissor snip

my little plastic circle

snip snip!

the cut strip

all my strips

Step 7: Once you have all your strips, tie them together using just a simple knot

Step 8: When everything is knotted, roll up your "plarn" into a ball and enjoy!

Well, there it is! Enjoy your plarn! This is a thinner version that can be used with smaller hooks. I use my G hook mostly, since it's the only one I have at school with me!

BUT WAIT; THERE'S MORE! You might be wondering how to crochet with all of the knots, so I worked a little bit of my first round of my plarn tote motif to show you what happens when you crochet with a knot:

Crochet normally, treating the knot that its just there. See knot above

Just do another snip, snip of the knot!

Now, do you see a knot?? I don't!!

There might be a little bump, but it totally adds character to your piece!

Have a great, great, great weekend ahead!

xoxo
Paige

ps. If you have any questions about this tutorial, please feel free to comment below!

Plarn Plarn and More Plarn!

As you could tell in my previous posts about t-shirt yarn (tutorial on how to cut some here!), I am fascinated with repurposing everyday items. One day, while researching how to cut up t-shirts (a few years back..) I came across "plarn", AKA yarn created from plastic bags!

For all of you East Coasters (and even Southerners!), you have been completely aware about how much snow we have been getting! While many schools are off today, my lovely college did not cancel class, as it is only raining and not snowing. But this past Monday, I had my own personal "snow day", so I decided to take a crack at tackling some plarn!

(PSA: later today/tomorrow I will put together a post on how I cut plarn to fit a G/H hook...many techniques online will not work well with such a small hook)

Anyways, I created a reusable bag out of plastic bags! (Inspiration from this pattern by The Tasteful Hooker...with a bunch of tweaks from me) Here are some pictures:

Holding the Shiny and Garden Scarf!

The fan is still a great model, I know

I am currently working on another reusable bag...this time granny square style! This is my inspiration found on Pinterest! Check out these pictures (pattern and finished product coming soon!):

Sketching out how many squares I need for the bag

Square before getting its edges trimmed

Square after getting trimmed!

Wishing you all warmth on these cold snowy days!

xoxo
Paige

FIRST Free Pattern Uploaded!

Like promised, I have OFFICIALLY created the Oh So Stitchy Free Patterns Page!

Check it out HERE: http://ohsostitchy.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns.html 

Tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, ANYONE!
Happy Super Bowl Sunday and be on the lookout for more patterns soon!

xoxo
Paige

What a Great Day to Wear a Sweater!

Right now, it is about 45º F where I am currently residing. For once, it felt a lot warmer out today than this past week! But, despite my need to bundle up each time I leave my room, I have some great news for you!

I have been keeping a little bit of a secret from you this past week...I got bored from working on my circle scarves, I picked up my hook and some Red Heart yarn and went to my Pinterest board for some inspiration!

Some things that I noticed on my nicely titled "yarn" board was that there were many different types of mug cozies! One picture inspiration that I found included a bottom of this cozy, creating a cozy coaster! Unfortunately, there was no pattern for this particular one that I fell in LOVE with! So, what did I do? I did another thing on my bucket list - write a pattern!

I basically just started going with my hook, writing down little notes shorthanded. In the next few days, I will post the fully written and explained pattern on my blog! (If I am technologically savy enough by then, I will create a whole new "page" for original - and free! - patterns)

Ladies (and gentlemen), here are my Cozy Mug Coaster photos!

lovely side view including my nice little bows :)

Front of the cozy, which could have been embellished with a design 

Handle view...notice the contrasting color to create the bows!

Top view, for those who were wondering!

Keep on checking back for some original patterns, coming to a blog near you! (well, ohsostitchy.blogspot.com !)

xoxo
Paige

Paige Finishes Project #2

If you haven't figured out by now, I obviously have a pending exam considering how much I have been blogging and knitting these past few days (oh procrastination at its finest!) I needed to take a break from all of the floods and eons that I am learning in my Geology class, so here I am!

Well, if you noticed the title of this post, I FINISHED my second winter session project: the garden scarf! Check out these pictures I took in my dorm room of my beautiful creation:

The fan is a great model, I know :)

After my exam tomorrow (EEP!!!), I will figure out my next step...maybe another ruffle scarf? Or maybe a brand new, fabulous project? That's tomorrow's problem; tonight's is trying to cram information in my head!

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo
Paige

Winter College Project #2: Another Netted Scarf

Well, I have officially caught that "bug" again! Nope, not a sickness; a yearn to knit and crochet constantly!

So, last night, after I finished the blog post about the sparkly ruffled scarf, I went back into my yarn stash and pulled out my Starbella skein in Spring Bouquet.

Here is what I have of my "garden scarf" (as I would like to call it!)

Sorry for the sideways picture! 

up close and personal look at the colors included in the garden scarf!

nice little detail shot of how Starbella yarn loops look - it's very pretty!

At the rate I'm going, this scarf will be done by tonight! (If you cannot tell already, I have an exam that I can't study any longer for) Check back later to see another post with the finished garden scarf!

xoxo
Paige