It's been a while since I've updated my blog,

except for the quick one showing all the coupon holders that are available.   After the craft show on Dec. 20 last year I took a break from sewing.  With Christmas and New Year's so soon after, I was busy traveling back to Nebraska to see family and didn't really get a chance to until a week or two ago.  So it's about time I post some things I've made!!!!!

My latest obsession is Pinterest.  Along with Craftster, you can get TONS of new ideas of things to make.  Pinterest also have great recipes, cleaning tips, etc.  So if you have signed up there, !!!

A few things I've tried that I've seen on Pinterest are below.
First, I've been wanting a new "Spa Towel".  I have one I purchased at a Hanes shop in an outlet mall years ago, but it's just too big, so decided I needed to make one.


So, of course, I needed a new towel for my head to match!!!!  (I had made a couple out of old towels, but this one is made out of the same terry cloth fabric I purchased at Jo-Ann's).


Another cool thing on Pinterest was spa slippers!!!!  So, of course (again), I had to make some of them!


Those all turned out OK, but I wanted to try to see if I could do better.  After another trip to Jo-Ann's (thank goodness they have great coupons - 50% off one item, 20% off your entire purchase, etc), I ended up bringing home some Chenille fabric - mostly pink but some blue, too.  So here's the 2nd "spa towel".

And matching hair turban

The thing about Chenille vs. Terry Cloth (besides the cost) is the chenille is one-sided, so I decided to add a layer of terry cloth on the inside of the turban.

And the slippers-

I had remembered seeing fabric with little plastic/grippy stuff that you see on the bottom of kids' footy pj's, so bought a little of that to use on the bottom of the slippers.

Overall, they are pretty nice!  The right foot is a little big (both slippers are the same size, it's just that my right foot is a little smaller than my left due to falling out of a 2nd story window when I was really small.)  I used two layers of batting on the bottom, and one layer on the rest.  I may try them again, but for now they are nice to have on when I'm at home.
 

What's better than handmade slippers?????

Handmade SOCKS!!!!!!  I had been thinking of trying to make something with my double-pointed knitting needles, but wasn't sure what to start with.  I read www.craftster.org quite often, and someone posted there about making socks, so I thought about trying that.  I tried a couple and they worked OK, but decided to try them just a little different.  The main difference was I made 2x2 ribbing all the way down the top of the sock.

Here they are:






So I decided that socks are pretty fun to make! VERY WARM, even though Texas is probably done with cold weather for the year, I'll have them for next year.   And I also learned that you can buy yarn specifically made for socks (these are made with some regular yarn I had started making an afghan out of).  Sock yarn is very thin and some are stretchy.  I bought some yesterday and will start one today, so when I have a good pair done, I'll post a picture.

And one of Sam's friends asked if I could make another baby afghan for her, so I did that.




It's the basic basket weave pattern.  This is actually the second one I made - the first one I decided wasn't quite big enough, so I ripped it out and re-did it.     I seem to do that quite often, but that's one good thing about knitting and crocheting - if you don't like how the project turned out, you can re-use the yarn.

Comments are always welcome!!!!! :D