Crafts

crafty christmas: cable knit scarf

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i was knitting the cabled infinity scarf i showed you yesterday over thanksgiving break while we were in ames. my mom saw it and was all like, “i want one!” at this point in my life, i do whatever my mom wants me to. and i didn’t have a gift idea for my mom yet so it worked out well.

after we got back to iowa city, i went to the yarn shop and looked around for white yarn. there was nothing good. i found this absolutely beautiful mirasol yarn that was a merino, alpaca and silk blend. as i worked with it, it would change from light gray to bluish silver to silvery gray. i fell in love with it and bought four skeins.

i used the same basic pattern, but cabled 6 stitches instead of 8.

you’ll need:
us size 15 needles
thicker yarn for size 13-15 needles
bigger cabling needle
tapestry needle for weaving in ends

pattern

beginning:
cast on 24 stitches
r1 [back]: slip first stitch*, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, p*
[*on every row, you’ll always slip the first stitch and purl the last one]
r2 [front]: slip first stitch, k6, p2, k6, p2, k6, p
r3: slip first stitch, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, p
r4: slip first stitch, cf6, p2, cf6, p2, cf6, p

main pattern:
r5 [back]: slip first stitch*, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, p*
[*on every row, you’ll always slip the first stitch and purl the last one]
r6 [front]: slip first stitch, k6, p2, k6, p2, k6, p
r7: slip first stitch, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, p
r8: slip first stitch, k6, p2, k6, p2, k6, p
r9: slip first stitch, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, p
r10: slip first stitch, k6, p2, k6, p2, k6, p
r11: slip first stitch, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, p
r12: slip first stitch, cf6, p2, cf6, p2, cf6, p

repeat the main pattern until you’ve reached your desired length. when you’re getting ready to cast off, stop after row 8, and then cast off.

happy knitting!

crafty christmas: cabled infinity scarf

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inspired by this pattern, i decided to knit this for my mother-in-law. i saw this beautiful green yarn in my favorite little yarn shop and knew it was the perfect color. it was yarn for size 8 needles, so i held two strands together and knitted on size 15 needles. i basically changed the original pattern completely, simplifying it and making it more of an infinity scarf than a cowl.

this is one of my first attempts at writing out a knitting pattern, so please let me know if you have any questions!

you’ll need:
us size 15 needles
thicker yarn for size 13-15 needles [or you can hold two strands together like i did]
bigger cabling needle
tapestry needle for weaving in ends and kitchener stitch

cabled infinity scarf pattern

beginning:
cast on 30 stitches
r1 [back]: slip first stitch*, p8, k2, p8, k2, p8, p*
[*on every row, you’ll always slip the first stitch and purl the last one]
r2 [front]: slip first stitch, k8, p2, k8, p2, k8, p
r3: slip first stitch, p8, k2, p8, k2, p8, p
r4: slip first stitch, cf8, p2, cf8, p2, cf8, p

main pattern:
r5 [back]: slip first stitch*, p8, k2, p8, k2, p8, p*
[*on every row, you’ll always slip the first stitch and purl the last one]
r6 [front]: slip first stitch, k8, p2, k8, p2, k8, p
r7: slip first stitch, p8, k2, p8, k2, p8, p
r8: slip first stitch, k8, p2, k8, p2, k8, p
r9: slip first stitch, p8, k2, p8, k2, p8, p
r10: slip first stitch, k8, p2, k8, p2, k8, p
r11: slip first stitch, p8, k2, p8, k2, p8, p
r12: slip first stitch, cf8, p2, cf8, p2, cf8, p

repeat the main pattern until you’ve reached your desired length. when you’re getting ready to cast off, stop after row 8, and then cast off.

use the kitchener stitch [there are great tutorials on youtube, here’s one that i’ve used] to graft your work into an infinity scarf and give to someone you love, or keep your beautiful scarf for yourself!

happy knitting!

crafty christmas: reduce paper waste and reuse paper bags

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i usually do a little shopping the day after christmas and get all the wrapping paper i’m going to need for the next year. but after having the same couple rolls of wrapping paper for three years, i realized my wrapping paper needs weren’t as great as i thought. so i thought about it, and decided to use up the last bit of my wrapping paper and then stick to the three r’s principle.

the stronger force behind this post though is that i live in iowa city now and the entire city will judge me if i don’t reduce, reuse and recycle. just call me a people pleaser.

i think i should thank pinterest as another contributor to this idea, because i saw so many classy pins of kraft paper wrapped presents.

combining the powers of the three r’s and pinterest, i believe that i made the ideas i saw even better by making this little project free and eco-friendly. [on a braggy side-note: my friend kaylee and i were just talking how we are the best at making ideas we find on pinterest even better]

i started asking for paper bags instead of plastic at the grocery store [who has too many plastic bags? i do!] in early november. i folded the bottom up and stored them flat. when i started wrapping presents i simply cut the paper bags like this:

are you wondering about the print that is usually on the outside of grocery bags? well, i’ve never seen one with print on the inside! flip that sucker over and you’ve got yourself some free kraft paper.

i doodled the names with a sharpie and used my gray industrial thread again. the cute bags in the first photo are also reused from home-ec workshop where i get my yarn.

speaking of yarn, stay tuned for pictures and patterns of my christmas knitting projects!

happy krafting! [pun absolutely intended]

crafty christmas: show off your christmas cards

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i know i’m not the first person ever to do this, but it is darn cute so i thought i’d share.

do you have a bunch of christmas cards sitting in a pile? i did until a few days ago. we got back from seattle and opened the majority of said cards, and i put them in a pile with the rest of the mail.

i LOVE getting christmas letters and cards. when i was a young girl i would sit and read every single christmas letter that my parents got. i didn’t know half the people, but i read them anyway. i actually think my first sure sign of adulthood was when i received my first christmas letter addressed to me at my own house.

and while i cherish these letters, they still end up sitting in a pile for a long time. and as my fridge is rather crowded, i can’t put them there either.

SO, staple gun in hand, and armed with gagillion feet of gray industrial thread, i fashioned for myself a “picturesline” [as opposed to a clothesline] in my kitchen. i used the same clothespins that i hang my clothes with in the summer, so this little project was completely free, just the way i like it.

plus, this project gives me:

a lovely way to show off my friends
a classy look
a little bit more happiness and love in my kitchen

i’m satisfied!

felted soap bars

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what the crap is a felted soap bar?
why did this crazy girl make her soap brown?
does the brown one look more like poop or hair that you’ve just pulled out of the shower drain?
what is the purpose of a felted soap bar?

all good questions, my friends.

a bunch of my favorite people in iowa city got together on wednesday night to craft! my friend kaylee orchestrated this fun, sudsy little project for us. so onto your questions:

a felted soap bar is simply a bar of soap which is covered in felt.
felt is simply wool that has undergone a significant amount of friction

so to make these felted soap bar, we covered delicious smelling soap in wool, slipped it carefully into a stocking [or knee-high as i like to call them] and scrubbed our little hearts out. we were all covered in suds and our hands felt a little dry, but we had these beautiful creations to show for it!

i happen to really like brown, okay? i know it kind-of looks like hairy nastiness, but the heart is cute right?

in the end, we all have a felted soap bar that we can use as a loofa and a bar of soap all at the same time!

paint chip calendar

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this was a little bit of crafting fail, but i decided i’m still satisfied with the functionality and overall look. i LOVE having a calendar in the kitchen, especially a dry-erase one! bryan loves it too, and he said he thinks it looks cool.

of course i can thank pinterest for the idea, but i tend to forget to read the actual instructions/tutorials, i just look at the picture and do it my own way.

i used a 16×20 sheet of plastic that came from a poster frame, 30 green and yellow paint chips from lowes, and lots of mod podge, which didn’t end up drying very well on that sheet of plastic, oh well. i’m not really sure how it could have worked out better, but a friend on instagram asked if it was laminated. that’s not a bad idea and would eliminate the use of mod podge. but i don’t think the laminate would be as sturdy as the poster plastic.

i also suppose that instead of speculating with me on how to put this thing together, you could just look at the tutorial on pinterest that inspired this craft [which i still haven’t looked at by the way]!

happy crafting!

infinity scarf [rust & gray]

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i’m a little bit in love with this scarf.

it’s my first infinity scarf, and it’s actually all for me. i didn’t make it with anyone in mind to give it to, and now i love it so much i think i’ll just keep it for myself. and thanks to my love for good sales even when i don’t have a project in mind, this scarf cost less than $10 for the materials. you definitely can’t buy a 100% merino wool scarf for that cheap, people.

the above picture shows how long it is, but this is likely how i’ll wear it most of the time:

and for the knitters out there, here are the basics of this scarf:

i used two 50g skeins of super aussie 100% merino plus a tiny bit of leftover gray that i had from another project.
i also used a US10 35″ circular needle

cast on 225 (or a multiple of 3) stitches, join yarn and repeat rows one and two until desired thickness is reached or you run out of yarn (which is what happened to me)

R1: kkp (repeat x 75)
R2: kpp (repeat x 75)

it feels so good to have completed a craft again! finishing knitting projects always seems to give me such momentum. here’s to more crafts to come!

happy crafting!

the look around

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as you might be able to confirm after this week, we’re totally into giving. we always want it be a large part of our lives. we want to trust God for his provision, and we want to give more than we’re always comfortable with. 
this week has been a great reminder for me to give even more. [for example, i’ll confess that while we decided to give monthly to exodus cry, i didn’t actually do it until i sat down to write the blog about it.] it was encouraging to see so many comments and so much excitement about giving. i truly hope i’ve encouraged you to think more about how you can contribute to causes that you find worthy.
but this week, i was challenged to write about one of the pitfalls i fall into when it comes to money. 
sometimes, it’s really easy to just write a check and wash your hands. 
being generous is a discipline in a lot of ways, and i think bryan and i have become pretty disciplined about it. and in that way, i have this tendency to think very logically about giving money, rather than being heartfelt and moved. does that make sense?
i guess what i’m saying is that there are often times when needs arise, and my first tendency is to say, well, let’s write a check. it’s not to pray for the person in need. it’s not to bring them dinner and see how they are doing. it’s not to seek to understand why they are in need. my solution is cold hard cash and often, that’s exactly what it is: cold. removed. even haughty. 
that’s one reason why i love compassion. they make it virtually impossible to just give money. they practically shove it down my throat that i should be praying for and writing letters to the child we support. it’s not just money that she needs, it’s love and support and letters and jesus. 
so my challenge for you today, but mostly for myself, is to do “the look around.” what are the needs around you? the needs that might be a little messy and emotional and hard to meet? the needs that may take more money, more time, more stress than you’re willing to give? 
how can you contribute?
maybe it’s helping the homeless in your area. maybe it’s visiting someone you don’t even know in the hospital because she has no one else visiting her. maybe it’s letting someone borrow your car. maybe it’s buying someone lunch and listening to where they’re at. maybe it’s serving someone who doesn’t deserve it. maybe it’s helping someone with their finances. maybe it’s making a meal for someone without a real support system. maybe it’s organizing all of your friends to make a big difference to a women’s shelter. 
it could be a lot of things. today, i’m going to do the look around here in iowa city and find out. 
this week, i’m giving away five handmade crafts from lullabies for africa! 
and i’ve saved the best for last. this cute little thing is a reusable coffee cup sleeve! instead of using the paper ones that come around your cup at the coffee shop, slide this thing on and you’re good to go! 

simply leave a comment on this post if you’d like to win this coffee sleeve!

i’ll randomly select the winner at the end of the week!

missions & relief projects

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do you want to know something really shocking about me?

i thought so.

i don’t have any desire to move overseas. if i’m truly honest with myself, i don’t. and it’s not for lack of trying either. i’ve taken perspectives (an amazing and life-changing class!) twice. i do my best to keep updated on what is going on in the world. we are blessed to attend a mission-focused church. but i still don’t want to move overseas. i like america.

you can start booing now.

let me clarify by saying that i would move overseas. in a heartbeat. i understand that God loves the world and it’s people way more than i love america. and i’m all about following God wherever he leads me. we moved to iowa city in faith, and that was a great step for me. if God wants us overseas, we’ll know and we’ll go.

but i don’t know if we’ll ever move overseas, honestly. this is quite possibly the reason why i love those who are passionate about missions and relief work. because i’m frankly not passionate about going myself. but if someone else is, i get so excited.

we are blessed to have many people in our lives who are passionate about many different people groups. i’m so thankful for them-they make me fall in love with the world. they help me see the world the way God sees it.

bryan and i have become eager to help fuel these passions financially, especially since we don’t have a specific goal for ourselves when it comes to missions.

how can you contribute?
  • compassion international has organized some swift and trustworthy relief efforts. consider making a one-time donation to meet critical needs.
  • support your friends or family who are going.
  • consider taking perspectives in your area and evaluate your role in world missions.
  • support a missionary through gospel for asia.
  • pick up a copy of operation world and pray for nations.

this week, i’m giving away five handmade crafts from lullabies for africa!


simply leave a comment on this post if you’d like to win these hairpins!
i’ll randomly select the winner at the end of the week!

exodus cry

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a little over a month ago, a student organization here at the university of iowa called Students Abolishing Slavery held a viewing of this movie. Nefarious was a powerful film in more ways than one. it plainly described the tragedy of the sex trade in our present world in an artful way.

despite it’s horrific focus and against all odds, the film ended with a hopeful spirit. this organization seeks to raise awareness of modern day slavery and the sex trade, rescue women by setting up lighthouses, and reach and change the hearts of men. but it was clear at the film’s end that only true healing can come from the power of Jesus Christ. this is the message they carry with them.

it was not a difficult decision to choose to give Exodus Cry monthly support. i talked to bryan about it and we decided to add it to our budget.

how can you contribute?

this week, i’m giving away five handmade crafts from lullabies for africa!


simply leave a comment on this post if you’d like to win these awesome earrings.
i’m probably going to have to get a pair for myself!
i’ll randomly select the winner at the end of the week!