Here's my first attempt at paper quilling. The most difficult part was definitely the outline. Once that was done, I just had fun trying out different shapes to fill it in. I like the freehand approach you can take versus doing a lot of pre-planning on how the curls should look. This took me about 4 hours to complete while catching up on Mad Men.

Photo Contest!

One of my favorite knitters, Anna Hrachovec is having a photo contest on her MochiMochi Land blog. You can choose from one of 3 bird patterns and shoot either a single image or a series of photos (up to 6) of your birds in creative scenarios. Entries are due April 28th.

I tried out the pigeon and chickens (minus the feet) and will probably stick with the chickens for the contest. Either way, they're adorable and tiny (the chickens are maybe an inch tall) and quick to make, about an hour/hour-and-a-half each.

These aren't my final submissions, just wanted to show them off a bit before their big photo shoot!

This year's crops..

So far:
-Sugar Peas
-Cilantro
-Jalapenos
-Chives
-Arugula

Corn Cub

My latest knit creation: Meet Corn Cub! He began as a freehand creation, when I started knitting in the round and decided to branch off to create 3 flaps. The flaps reminded me of a corn husk and thus the idea was born. The play on words helped me decide to make it bear versus just a plush corn. I had debated making the whole body so the bear could be removable, but in the end, the shorter method won and I only made the head.

I used worsted weight yarn and size 3 double pointed needles. The ears and snout and crocheted and the accents are sewn in.

As I mentioned I mostly freehand my projects, but here's a ROUGH outline:

-Cast on 6 stitches (2 per needle)
-Increase in rounds until you have a total of 40 stitches (18 stitches per needle)
-Continue around till you reach the desired height where the leaves will split
-Instead of continuing around, when you reach the end of the stitches on one needle, turn the work around and purl back across that section. Decrease each row by one or two to create a triangular shape. When you only have a few stitches left, bind off.
-Repeat with the other 2 leaves

Head:
-Cast on 6 stitches
-Increase in rounds until you have a total of 40 stitches (18 stitches per needle). Or make sure to match the same number of stitches as the base
-Continue around till you reach the desired height for the head
-Bind off
-Sew to body and stuff with filling

Ears and Snout (crochet)

Ear
My crochet freehand is even sketchier to describe, because I really do this by eye. So again, this is a VERY rough estimate:
-Chain 4
-HDC in 2nd chain from hook and repeat through all remaining chains.
-Chain 1, HDC in 2nd chain from hook and the next chain.
-Slip stitch the last chain. Sew onto head

Snout:
Crochet in the round for 2 rows (total 12 SC), then SC around once
Sew a nose and mouth using a different color
Sew onto head and add a bit of stuffing

Strawberry Mary Janes

These are probably the cutest things I've ever crocheted. As I mentioned in my last post, I have a baby shower coming up. After sewing a bib and failing twice more at sewing another bib, I decided to go with a craft I was more comfortable with. I found this adorable pattern on Ravelry by Yofi Design for $5. The pdf was great and comes with instructions for 3 sizes and contains lots of photos for clarification. The only thing I altered were the leaves (I made 2 instead of 3 and made them shorter and rounder). 

Baby Bib

It's been a busy year so far and I haven't had much time to craft, or even cook much. But with an upcoming baby shower and wedding I'm hoping this will get me back in the swing of things. 

Here's my first attempt at a simple baby bib, as found on the Instructables website. The only thing I did differently was add some padding between the fabrics to give it some thickness. I used sew on snaps for the neck enclosure. The plan is to make 2 more with different fabrics which I'll post once I'm done. 

Sweet Genius

Tune in Thurs, Jan 10th @ 10pm on Food Network for the dessert competition Sweet Genius! My friend's sister Emily Wallendjack will be competing! She's an amazing pastry chef. I've been lucky enough to sample her desserts at Jean Georges and Cookshop. I believe she's currently at Veritas but I haven't had the chance to visit yet. Best of luck, Emily!

PS: She won!!