Warm Enough Yet?

I guess y'all are so totally bored from my few (two) posts about my life outside of crafting... To tell you the truth, it isn't all that interesting. I mean, my friend likes a guy who is "dating" another girl and practically faints every time she sees him, but other than the occasional "EEEHTHHEHHEHE!" from her, life doesn't really get all that different.

So putting my simple and happy life aside, I think it's time you learned something about me: I'm not normal. Nor am I insane-asylum-crazy. I'm moderate, I guess.
You may not have noticed, but I go above and beyond for my lil' dog. She's a princess and she deserves every last thing the world has to offer her (besides a guy, electronics, and chocolate). But one thing that I noticed was while she was trending with the latest fashionistas and while her head was resting upon a royal pillow, her blankets and bedding were some old towels. Now that just wouldn't do! Again, like the pillow, I wanted something that wouldn't leave a hole in my pocket where my only two dollars live. Thus, I used my resources.
This wasn't gonna be an all-out au naturel thing. I just didn't have enough recycled plastic bags for plarn and I didn't have yarn that was totally organic (I do, but who trusts labels?).
Thus this came up:

A PUFF BLANKET!

I most certainly didn't have the time to crochet or knit (yes to you meanies who say "Who knits anymore? That's like a Grandma thing....) anything larger than a 2x4 square with all the things happening in school and life and... nothing. I just didn't feel like doing all that work ( :P )
So I made about a million puffs out of a yarn that I never used and sewed them onto on of the towels that Princess Eliza was using beforehand. I only sewed on enough puffs for her head to rest on because I didn't know how she would feel about having tons of yarn underneath her in the blistering hot air conditioning :P

(I will make a post on how to make puffs soon. Just gotta get that camera charged!)

So when the blanket is all done I will take a (bad) picture of it an put it right on this post! But until then ciao!

A Family Reunion

Sort of. Due to my amazin' skills and super intellectual ability, I can tell you that not everyone was present and accounted for at my house for Easter.


The Teens:
  They were doing their own thing. And that only means one thing: they were on their various   iTouches, iPhones, regular phones, iPads, and other electronics, totalling up to over $2000. Bless one of them; he actually brought a book... which was also left at my house on accident because he was too busy on his phone.

The "Young Ones:"
    What were they doing? The only thing that 3 9-and-unders could decide on and agree on: Minecraft. This wonderful game can be on your iPad with the simple payment of $6.99. With it that "cheap" each one of them had their own.

Me:
     What do you think I was doing?? EXERCISING? Ha! No. I was stuffing myself like a turkey during Thanksgivin'

The "Old Ones:"
     Telling ghost stories. Stories of their lives. Talking. Eating. Reading. Talking... What else?



So in the end almost nobody actually had any social interaction...

Maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't keep on making new inventions. Maybe for once Apple can take a break and be happy with their stuff. In fact, I'd rather have an old phone that you can drop a bazillion times without it breaking than a new iPhone that, with one fatal drop, will die and never turn on again.

Playing with FIRE...

More like "Playing with Weights!"

A few months ago I was stupid enough to be playing with a pair of beautiful purple weights (they look blue in the photo, though) that total up to 4 pounds. So while dancing with them and watching Home Alone, I was stupid enough to not be looking (the funny part was on) and smashed my finger.

Three months later here I am with the nail coming off and having a purple area on it.

So I just wanted to share this with y'all because I have a friend who thinks her fingers are ugly because she has calluses on 'em... Try having a peeling nail!

Doggie "Cape"

To continue our little section on items for our lovable pooches, here's something that I think those of you who are fun and imaginative will really enjoy! Now, if you're someone who's boring and smart (not all smart people are boring... just the ones that are smartish-boringish) you can go to petco.com and order yourself one that is super fancy and durable that only costs $39.95.
What's the use of a cape made by hand that, in total, probably costs more than the Petco version? The LOVE. That's it. (Sorry if I'm rambling). That super durable and long-lasting cape from the superstore might have more interesting designs than the one that you are about to make, but really, where is the love, the love, the love?

Well here's a cape that will keep your loved one nice and toasty on a warm winter day down south (my people!), or nice and warm on a nice 50º summer day if your from up north. And if you're in the middle, I have nothin' for you 'cause I have no idea what it's like in Oklahoma, Nebraska, or Kentucky. But I still love y'all all the same <3

So here's what you're gonna need:

Yarn. And lots of it. I'm super sorry to say that I don't know how much, but be on the safe side and get as much as you think you will need. I started with maybe half a skien and had to go all the way to Michael's to get more.

Ribbon*  Not a lot, if your pup is nice and exercised. Maybe more if you have a Great Dane, though.


* You might not need this


Because I am not the best at making patterns, I used the most unimaginative one I could think of:

Crochet as many little crochetlets as you need, choose the length!

Then crochet an extra three and double crochet the entire length of your cape.

Crochet 2. Half Double Crochet the entire length of your cape. 

Crochet 1. Single Crochet the entire length of your cape. 

Repeat. 


Keep on doing what's in the pretty purple until you think that that is long enough. Eliza (my pooch) isn't the most... how to put it? Civilized? When I simply walk her 'round the block she takes every two seconds to relieve her little self. So I made sure that my cape wasn't going to be TOO long and get in the way of... territory marking.

Anyway... Measure around your dog's waist... ALL the way around, people. Make two pieces of ribbon that length (the ribbon will go around the doggie's waist and then tie on top of their back).

The waist is right underneath the a in underneath

Then, measure around the neck of your dog. I'm pretty sure you can choose where to tie it, too. Make two ribbons of that size, too.

Afterwards, tie the ribbons to the cape, in corresponding places. Put the cape on your dog and tie the ribbons to the places of the cape where you measured the ribbons. Tie and DONE!

Also, if you make your cape big and long enough, you might just be able to use it as a blanket for your loving pup!

I made my cape with a yarn that was two colors: white and brown. Sorry the photo is so horrible ~ I took it with my phone because my camera is just being mean and won't work with my computer...

"Where WERE You?"

Funny that you should ask...
My "reason": I was busy with my over-crowded clique, filled with awesome people and Populars

What I was really doing:

So yeah, nothing to worry about. In real life, though, I was busy makin' stuff, mainly for my favorite doggie: ELIZA JANE! (She's my doggie <3 )

So before you decide that you want to make your dog something totally original and amazing that nobody has ever done before, try this (only one person has done made this stuff).

Today's Craft: A Doggie Pillow

You might think that this is utterly stupid and idiotic... "Who would waste expensive yarn on something that will most likely get dirty in the end?" 

Me because I love my dog, but aside from me, almost nobody. So, I decided to make something out of TOTALLY recycled materials, from the fabric to the yarn to the stuffing!

To give you an idea...

Yarn: Plarn ~ You can learn how to make it here.

Fabric: An old T-shirt, a pair of old pants, an old curtain. Truthfully, anything worn and old, but still

            soft

Stuffing: There was leftover plastic from the bags used to make plarn, leftover fabric, and some pieces 

               of yarn left from previous projects. After using all of that, I only needed a handful or two of 

                stuffing that I bought from a Michael's nearby.

Thread: I used organic (that's what the label said, but I'm having a hard time imagining how THREAD 

             can be ORGANIC) embroidery thread. 

*Note: I didn't pay very much attention to how the pillow looked, considering it would be under my dog's head the whole time. So, while the pattern was supposed to look circular, mine was oval-y. Also, excuse the picture below, there is so much dog hair on it. 

(Without further ado) the Pattern:

(In Plarn)

Make a Magic Ring

Crochet 4 sc in Ring

Round 1: 2 sc in each sc (8 sc)

Round 2: Repeat round 1 (16sc)

Round 3: *Sc, 2sc in every other stitch*

Round 4: *2sc in every 2 sc* 

Round 5: *2sc in every 3 sc*

Round 6: *2sc in every 4 sc*

You get the pattern?

Continue this until you think the pillow is large enough for your dog. Plan works best because it is essentially waterproof. Just wanted to make that statement for all you people going "Well I think that my dog deserves better than some silly old PLASTIC YARN!" 'Cause I know some of you were thinkin' that.

Anyhoo, cut out the amount of fabric you want to sew it on top of the plarn with the embroidery thread.  I made my fabric way bigger than the plarn circle, so that the pillow would be fluffier. Here's what the pillow should look like when you're done:

    The Top; where her head goes                        The Bottom; The part that touches the ground