anna knits - knit ornament 4

A few days before Christmas I finished a red and white knit ornament from the book 55 Christmas Balls to Knit. These guys are so addictive! I used Dale of Norway BABY ULL Soft Merino Yarn. It is super soft.

You can see the navy and white ornaments I made this season here. 

anna crochets - paperclip ice skate ornament

Still need presents for the holidays? Make a few of these paperclip ice skate ornaments! They are fun, easy, and oh so cute.

I saw a picture of crochet ice skate ornament on instagram (via sheepishknitcrochet), and thought it was a neat idea. I searched for a pattern on Ravelry, and found this one by Suzetta Williams, which I've tweaked to my liking. Here is my pattern - enjoy:

~ Crochet Paperclip Ice Skate Ornament ~

Materials:

Worsted weight yarn (I used Cascade 220) in a Main Color (MC) and White 

G crochet hook
Two jumbo paper clips

Step 1: With the long edge of the paperclip at the bottom, and the smaller loop facing right, put a slip knot onto the paperclip as shown using your MC.

Step 2: Double crochet (DC) 1 stitch around the paperclip into the smaller loop, and then DC 6 stitches into the larger loop as shown. Remember to crochet over the yarn tail!

Step 3: Chain 2. DC 4 stitches. This is the end of the MC for this skate. Bind off leaving a 1 inch tail.

Step 4: Starting from the opposite side as where you ended (in other words at the back of the skate), single crochet (SC) 4 stitches with white.

Step 5: Chain 1. SC into 4 stitches, and then chain 30 stitches.

Repeat steps 1-3 to form another skate.

Step 6: pull the existing white chain through the new skate and use that to crochet steps 4 + 5 (without chaining 30 stitches at the end).

Step 7: Bind off and sew in any loose ends.

Merry Christmas to all!

anna bakes - holiday cookies

I made my grandma's roll out cookies this week - you can get the recipe here.

The secret to these cookies is rolling out the dough super thin. It should be thin enough for you to see your fingers through. Letting the dough rest overnight is also key. 

Happy holidays!

anna knits - knit ornament 3

I finished another knit ornament from the book 55 Christmas Balls to Knit. This one is kind of art deco looking:

Now I've knit three total. You can read my posts about the first two here and here. 

I decided to give two away as gifts. They were fun and easy to wrap!

If you like to knit, these are the perfect holiday gift. The patterns are fast and fun, without being too boring. I hope I can find the time to make a few more in the next week!

anna cooks - fruit smoothie

I was inspired to make a smoothie after seeing this beautifully photographed post from the blog food and other stuff.

So off I went to the grocery store. I decided to make a dairy-free fruit smoothie with frozen peaches, frozen strawberries, orange juice, and bananas.

So easy, and so delicious!

blogging, etc. - pinterest verification

I have a lot of fun on Pinterest - check out my pins here! There are so many cool ideas and beautiful images floating around on the site.

If you love Pinterest and you have a blog, you may be wondering how to verify - get that little red check mark - your site.

It is sort of complicated to figure out for blogger, so I thought I'd share this video, which takes you through the process step-by-step:

Hope this helps!

crochet, etc. - crocheted snowflakes

New a winter project? Try these crocheted snowflakes from Martha Stewart Living - too cute!

Get the patterns here. 

anna knits - knit ornament 2

This weekend I knit another christmas ornament. (You can see the first one I made here.)

The pattern is from the book 55 Christmas Balls to Knit. 

I love this project because the patterns are so fun, and the ornaments knit up so quick. I plan to make a few more this holiday season to give as gifts!

anna knits - red hope hat

After knitting this hope hat, I was commissioned to make another. It is for a man, so I decided to make a solid red one.

I used the same HOPE design from Knit Circus, which you can find here, but I changed the way I knit the body of the hat - I was not super happy with the fit of my first hat. 

Instead of following the Knit Circus pattern, I used the Turn a Square pattern (minus the color work) by  Brooklyn Tweed, which you can download for free here. The pattern got great reviews on Ravelry and it was easy to follow. 

Here are a few pictures of the progress:

Because the back of the hat was red and not blue, I knitted the red sections of the pattern fair isle style and then used duplicate stitching for the blue. 

knitting, etc. - knit ornaments

I stumbled across these knit ornaments on Twitter. They are so cute!

The pattern is available for free on the blog Wooly Wormhead. I can't wait to make one! 

holidays, etc. - DIY holiday ideas

I love this idea for a DIY melted snowman ornament I saw on Pinterest:

Just a glass ornament, salt, a few peppercorns, and an orange paper cone. You can find step by step instructions here.

Another holiday Pinterest find I love is this Mediterranean food wreath:

The idea comes from Julia M. Usher's blog, which has some other cute DIY holiday ideas here. 

You can see my entire Holiday Times Pinboard here. 

anna crochets - fleur de lis cup cosy

This weekend I made a fleur de lis cup cosy for an LSU fan:

You can find the free pattern for the cosy itself here. I free-styled the fleur de lis, and will try to write out the pattern for this blog soon!

I made the packaging out of a white piece of cardboard.

PS: Made a bit smaller, this pattern would work well as a wrist band for an LSU football fan!

knitting, etc. - weird knits

My coworkers shared some interesting knitwear with me today:

The second is called a privacy scarf. I think it would be nice if it included a hole from breathing. I don't see any patterns for for these on Ravelry, but I'm sure things will start to pop up soon. 

anna knits - hope hat update 2

I finished my hope hat today:

I did the 21in picot version using worsened weight Cascade 220 yarn via the knitcircus pattern available here. 

It turned out smaller than I anticipated - I have to admit I did not measure my head first. It will be perfect for a child, but is definitely not adult sized. If I make this again, I will knit the 24in version. 

You can see my progress in an earlier post here. 

knitting, etc. - knit poufs

Check out these giant knit poufs:

They are by Mary Marie Knits and available for purchase on Etsy. You can pick from a variety of colors, which is always fun. Makes me want to get some giant knitting needles!

anna knits - hope hat update 1

My hope hat is coming along:

I am trying a red version inspired by this one by mrspeterson, which I first saw on Ravelry:

You can find the pattern for the hat here. 

On an Obama related note, my Obama cup cosy is now for sale in my Etsy store! Check it out here. 

cards, etc. - embroidered cards

I love these embroidered snowflake cards by Koto Designs:

I first saw these cards on the blog Paper Crave, which always features wonderful stationary designs. I haven't done embroidery in a while, but I may try to make some myself!

anna crochets - obama cup cosy

I love making these crochet cup cosies (free pattern here) because the decoration choices are endless. I recently made an obama symbol one:

What would you make?

anna crochets - crochet bookmark

Want a quick, easy project for extra yarn? Try a crochet bookmark. You can use any color combinations you want!

~ Crochet Bookmark Pattern ~

I used Cascade 220 worsted weight yarn and an H/8 5.00mm crochet hook.

Round 1: Chain 21, or desired length of your bookmark. 

Round 2: Single crochet in second chain from hook. Single crochet across (20 stitches).

Round 3-4: Chain 1. Single crochet across. 

Round 5: Chain 1. Single crochet across. End off.

Create fringe if desired. A video showing you how to make fringe is available here.  

anna crochets - more cup cosies

This weekend I made a few more cup cosies:

You can find the free pattern for the cosy shell here. Also check it out on Ravelry here! 

The best thing about making these crochet cup cosies is the flexibility. You can make yours a few rows taller or shorter and it will still work fine. And then of course there is the decoration - endless possibilities! 

What would you put on your cosy?

politics, etc. - knit obama symbol

I saw this knit Obama symbol on the Obama for America Tumblr and had to share:

My roommate just left to spend a week volunteering for Obama in New Hampshire, so I am feeling like I too should be getting involved... I could at least make some Obama inspired knitwear this weekend.

In 2008 I knit an Obama hat:

On my way to the inauguration! Brrrr.

You can get the pattern and read more about it here.

Not an Obama supporter? Check out these bipartisan stitch markers, avaliable on Etsy.

Such a cute idea!

halloween, etc. - pug costume

Happy Halloween! Last year my family's pug, Maeby, wore a crochet yoda/monster costume we bought for her from Handmade Monster on Etsy:

Not sure what she is going as this year, but I bet it will be equally as cute!

anna crochets - hurricane cozy

Stuck inside because of the hurricane? I spent my afternoon whipping up this crochet cup cozy, and now you can too! (Scroll down for pattern)

~ Cup Cozy Pattern ~

I used Cascade 220 worsted weight yarn and an H/8 5.00mm crochet hook.

Round 1: Chain 28, or enough to fit tightly around your cup, and join to the first chain with a slip stitch. Be careful not to twist your chain!
Round 2: Single crochet in each chain around.
Repeat round 2 twelve times, or until cozy is as tall as you desire. End off.

The heart appliqué pattern I used was from the blog Cornflower Blue Studio.** The pattern has easy to follow illustrated instructions and is available for free here!

** (12/10/14) A reader alerted me that the Cornflower Blue Studio pattern is no longer accessible. I found the same pattern with great instructions on another blog, a creative being.  Enjoy!