knitting, etc. - baby booties

I was talking to a friend of mine today about knitting baby blankets. They are a great gift for knitters to make for expectant mothers, but they can be time consuming projects (it is a blanket after all!). Our conversation got me thinking about other baby items that might be a little quicker to knit up. And that's when I thought of baby booties! Here are some of my favorite patterns:

Baby Mocs from the Purl Bee:

No Button Baby Booties by StitchLeft:

Fortune Cookie Baby Shoes by Sheila Zachariae

Also check out my knit octopus for handmade baby toy inspiration - but don't include the pipe cleaners!

anna crochets - heart bookmark

Since it is Valentine's Day week, I've been experimenting with crochet hearts. I ended up making a bookmark, which I am really happy with. Here is the pattern for you to try:

~ Crochet Heart Bookmark Pattern Idea ~

I used Cascade 220 worsted weight yarn in red and pink and an H/8 5.00mm crochet hook. Please note that this is less of a pattern and more of a pattern idea as you will be required to crochet a heart based on your own preference. There are many tutorials out there for crocheting hearts. Good luck!

Step 1: Crochet a heart. I used this photo pattern from the blog Cornflower Blue Studio  Please see below**.
Step 2: Crochet a second heart.
Step 3: Attach a second color yarn with a slip stitch to one of the hearts.
Step 4: Chain 30 (or as long as you like).
Step 5: Attach the other end of the chain to the second heart.
Step 6: Tie in loose ends.

Have a happy Valentine's Day!

** (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!

*** (2/12/17) Unfortunately the link from a creative being is also no longer accessible. Thanks to reader Madeleine for letting me know! I found a tutorial for making the same type of crochet hearts on Youtube from Chic and Cheap (Easiest Crochet Heart Tutorial). Happy Valentine's Day!

jewelry, etc. - blue bracelets

I am obsessed with these bracelets I got for the holidays:

They are by Garnett Jewelry and come in lots of colors. I love how mine add a pop of blue to my outfit. 

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!

knitting, etc. - knitting kit

I love this knitting kit from Tickledpink Sheep on Etsy. It is a great idea for a DIY gift for someone who wants to get into knitting. I especially like that it comes in a chinese take out container.

Each kit comes with enough yarn and instructions to make an infinity scarf. 

I may try to put something similar together for Christmas gifts this year!

patterns, etc. - union jack

Since I have been a little slow with my union jack tea cosy - (I ran out of red yarn and I'm waiting for a new yarn shipment!) - I decided to post some union jack products instead. In addition, the London Olympics are coming up, so this post is a great way to get in the spirit!

I love this union jack gift wrap and gift tags by Sophia Victoria Joy. I originally saw it on the blog Paper Crave, which always has great posts.

If I didn't already have plans this weekend, I would love to take this Jubilee Jamboree Pillow Class at the Cambridge craft shop Gather Here. 

You can see my union jack tea cosy progress here, here, here and here. 

anna gifts, etc. - birthday party in a bag

A few months ago I sent a birthday party in a box. This past weekend, I sent a smaller version to a dear friend - a birthday party in a bag.

I originally got the idea from the blog You Are My Fav, which has a bunch of themed box ideas. It is a great way to jazz up a card you are sending to a long-distance friend, and it is completely customizable! 

Content includes:

- Noise maker

- Happy Birthday Balloon

- Beaded necklace

- Card

- Tissue Paper

- Blank business card that I turned into a mini birthday announcement

~ Happy Birthday, Jessica! ~

anna knits - spiral top tea cosy

Done with another spiral top tea cosy! I mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on a neon yellow tea cosy for my Etsy store. Between then and now, a buyer asked for it specifically, so this neon yellow cosy is not for purchase. There is still another super cute, spiral top tea cosy available though. Get it while you can!

You can also download the pattern for this spiral top tea cosy for FREE here.

Here is how the neon yellow cosy turned out:

I wrap my tea cosies for gifting in a little tissue paper and yarn, and attach one of my business cards with a personalized note on the back. I made my business cards with Avery business cards from CVS.

All the pictures are taken with my iPhone using Instagram, and the collages are made using the iPhone app Pic Collage.

See my Ravelry entry on this tea cosy here. 

packaging, etc.

A Finals Week Survival Treat

Finals. I've been there. It is a stressful time. And while I'm not in college anymore, I thought I'd send a little finals week survival treat to some friends who are. 

Homemade cookies are my go-to item for de-stressing during finals. I decided to bake some chocolate chip walnut cookies using the Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® recipe. 

While the cookies make studying a little bit sweeter, the bubble wrap is there to help relieve some of that finals week induced agression.   

And for those of you sitting at your computer feeling stressed, here is some virtual bubble wrap to take the edge off:

~enjoy~

anna knits - small bag

I decided to give the needlepoint iphone case I made away as a gift, and since the person I am giving it to loves little knitted things, I decided to make a small bag to put the case inside instead of using wrapping paper.

The pattern is available for free here. It is meant to be a make-up bag, but I adjusted the pattern to make it fit an iphone snuggly by taking away the edges of the pattern, thereby decreasing the width by 6 rows. I used Noro Kureyon rainbow yarn, which my Aunt gave me, on size 7 needles. It took less than 1 skein. I made the handle using an icord. 

I fist saw the pattern on Ravlery, and you can see my Ravelry post about it here. I really love some of the other projects Ravelry users put up for the make-up bag. Here is one of my favorites:

photo by © marialaine

The knitter used a used a Fair Isle Knitting and size 3 needles. What a great idea! 

I hope to make a smaller version of this bag with a cotton based yarn to use as little gift bags. They would be great for putting a gift card inside. Here is an example of a Ravelry user's work with a cotton yarn. 

photo by © HelenKnitting

It is always a struggle to find knitting projects for the summer, but this is an easy (but not too easy) and fun one! Do you have any ideas for summer knitting? 

anna gifts - birthday party in a box

Finding the perfect gift is both a talent and an art. In this blog post I wanted to share a birthday gift I recently made: A Birthday Party in a Box. I got the idea from the blog You Are My Fav. It is a great present to send to a long-distance friend. You can customize the contents with whatever party items you think s/he will enjoy. Here is the one I made:

I bought all of the party contents at iParty, except for the box itself, which is an old lettuce container I washed out. The sign reads: Birthday Party in a Box! Just add friends. The total cost for the party contents was under $15. 

Content includes:

- Blank business card that I turned into a mini invitation

- Blue crate paper

- Noise makers

- Confetti popper

- Solo cups

- Electronic candles

- Balloons

- Happy Birthday banner

- Beaded necklaces

I packaged it with a homemade card and the real gift (custom stationary from the Etsy shop Honizukle Press, which turned out wonderful!) on top.

Thank you You Are My Fav for this great idea. I look forward to putting together some other themed boxes.

anna gifts - grandma's cookies

Printable Grandma DeSimone's Butter Cookies Recipe Card Now Available Here!

I made the rest of the Grandma DeSimone's Butter Cookies yesterday for my friend Melissa's birthday. Since the recipe makes so many, I wrapped a few up in these cute heart bags from Martha Stewart, and gave them out to people attending her birthday dinner.

I included a little printout of the custom stickers I ordered from The Paper Source in case people wanted to visit the blog to get the recipe. The stickers are meant to be personalized gift tags for holidays or after weddings, but you can customize the writing with whatever words you want! See the template I used here.