Crochet mustache

I put crochet directions for this mustache on the Let's Make Stuff page.  It's not hard at all.  I must apologize to all seasoned crocheters out there.  I have never written crochet directions before so I hope you can decipher these directions.   If you don't know how to make the varying stitches, About.com has a directory of stitches here.  Curious.com offers video lessons here.


Enjoy.

Mustaches!

Mustaches!  And more in the works.  If I ever figure out how I crochet them I will post the directions on the Let's Make Stuff page.

Anyway, can you guess why I am producing these fake facial hair products???  Because I will be telling stories at Godfrey Daniels on Sunday at 2 pm - and my stories will have mustaches in them!!!  So I need some samples, see?

So pray for sun and warmth.  Right now, it feels like we will be housebound til April (3 to 6 more inches on the way, they say, bringing our total for the day to what? 14 inches? 18 inches?).  

Time to make some more mustaches!

Those pesky rectangles

Some people have crafty squares or hexagons or recipes using delicious materials.  I have that dwindling - thank heavens - stash of crocheted squares.

Do you remember the Mug Shrug??  (See above) Well, I've redesigned it.  Forget the pesky buttons.  Here is the New!  Improved!  Mug Shrug! (patent pending or whatever).

Yes!  Now, all you have to do is slip the Mug Shrug over your mug, slide the handle through the opening and fold back the top for an insulated drink!!!  Or leave the top up if you have to abandon your mug for a while and your drink will stay warm even longer. 

Wrecked Angles

Get it??  Hahahaha  I crack myself up.  The latest addition to the gallery of rectangle creativity is above - buttoned fingerless mitts.

And here I am, modeling one of the mitts.  I am having a great deal of fun with this pile of rectangles.  Whatever will I do when I have used them all up?

Rectangles to the Rescue

I get Artizen Magazine in my inbox.  It is very artsy.  I found some conical knit alien thingies in one of the recent issues and they reminded me of my rectangles.  Remember those crocheted rectangles?  The ones that I don't know what to do with?

Today I did something with three of them - something so simple and so commonplace that I am embarassed it took me so long to come up with this plan.

Thing #1:
My son called me today to tell me that I kept calling him.  I was purse calling him, it appears.  That happens when the outside pocket of my purse - where I put my cell phone - bumps against my hip as I walk and my phone calls someone.  So, I decided to move everything to my Fall/Winter purse and I decided to make a cell phone cozy to protect my phone!  So simple!  Here it is.

That only used up ONE rectangle.  The blue stripe was already on the rectangle.  But it looks like I did it on purpose.  Just a bonus.

Thing #2
My Fall/Winter purse is big.  Actually, it is capacious!  So capacious is this purse that more than once I thought I lost my wallet because it slid to the very bottom of the purse.  I wanted to get something to  hold my wallet and pens and my calendar and change purse - those things I need to find in a hurry.  Rectangles to the Rescue!!

This little purse-in-a-purse used up two rectangles, one of which was two-toned, sort of.

Those knit conical aliens were so cute, I wish I could make something like that with my rectangles.  Hmmm, I must work on that.

Rectangles

Those pesky crocheted rectangles from a past post now have a new life.  This view shows the Mug Shrug (c) and how it is constructed.  I added a contrasting border and two crocheted button loops and then added two buttons. 

This project is really a one size fits all project as you will see in the next photo.

Just fold back the top to drink!

I started with just one button which worked perfectly - buttoned under the handle - for standard straight-up-and-down mugs.  But on a slightly larger tapered mug like this one, the second button - above the handle - was necessary.  The shrug insulates the mug which is great for me.  I am forever pouring myself some tea and then walking off and forgetting about it.  Now, when I finally remember, the tea is still warm - if not hot.  Warm is so much better than cold when it comes to most teas.

On shorter mugs, simply fold up the bottom and fold down the top to make the Mug Shrug fit.

Can you guess what I will feature at the October Crafts Fair???  Hmm.

I am working on my first giveaway of 2012.  Watch this blog!