Flower brooch ~limited edition~

These are the limited edition Flower Brooch that I made earlier... and these are all mine! *evil laugh sound effect*

Ann's Craft Limited Edition Flower Brooch

Felt Flower Clips For Sale

These are samples for 3-layer Felt Flower Clips - you can request any colours...

3-layer Felt Flower Clips

... and 2-layers Felt Flower Clips - originally designed for kids, or those who prefers simplicity...

2-layer Felt Flower Clips

Felt Flower Clips

I was just testing a new craft dies and I got 3 layer felt flowers...

3-layer Felt Flower

 I can attach them to pins to turn them to brooches, but this time around I'm going to make something different with these flowers.  My new stock of clips has not been opened, so I decided to use them this time.  So what do I get?  A pair of felt flower clips!

Felt Flower Clips

The clips used here is a little bit small, so I guess you can use it on your scarf... like my model did:

Style 1

Style 2
*Note:Original image has been edited to ensure anonymity ;-) 

Thank you very much, Model... for being such a sport!

Flower brooch - variants

There are a couple of variants (in terms of colours) for the trio felt brooch.  These are some of them:

~ Trio-Maroon ~

~ Trio-Light Brown ~

~ Trio-Red ~
*Note: can also use these following colour schemes for the Trio Felt Brooch:

... or you can request basically any colour combination, and I'll see if the materials needed are available ;-)

Blooming flowers...

Hey there! These are all on my working table in the wee hour last Monday morning...

... in the making ...

All ready to be assembled.  Well, the only missing part is the round pin!

Finally... special order for Amira

 There you go... blooming 'felt' flower brooches.  Thank you for your order.  Hope you like the colours!

TRIO Flower Felt Brooch - available for orders

Introducing... the TRIO Flower Felt Brooch.. available in different shades. Three samples are as follows:

~ Trio_Lime ~

~ Trio_Blue ~

~ Trio_Turquoise ~

More colours will be uploaded later...

Flower Brooch

This is one of my earliest handmade felt flower brooch - what shall I call it?

Felt Flower Brooch by Ann's Craft

Is there any similarities to these buttercup flowers?

If yes, then I may call it 'Buttercup Flower Brooch'!  Unless of course, any of you (my beloved friends) can give me some info on other similar flowers... feedback is most welcome!

Dangling Hearts

Remember the (felt) hearts that I prepared earlier?  I know that I have some handphone straps left somewhere... but when I found them, they did not come with jump rings... So off I went searching for jump rings (I know I still have packs of them) - they are stocks left from another *CRAFT* activity (what kind of craft? TBA later...  Yes, one that was not abandoned... but simply put: 'on-hold' ;-) )

... hearts, handphone strap, and a much-too-small jump rings ...

oh-oh... too small!  :P

I was lucky; I found the right size of jump rings at a nearby store.  The price/item is not encouraging though...  since they are pre-packed in small quantity.

... bigger jump rings ...

So there you go... a set of handphone straps: Dangling Hearts for your phone, anyone? :D

'Dangling Hearts' by Ann's Craft!

DPNs!

I've packed my yarn collection nicely in a box for quite some time.  No, definitely not for good since the box is not sealed. Though it's hard to do, I've disciplined myself (ha! ha!) not to start a big project until I've clear the major backlogs that I've accumulated since I'm gone (from my blog updates). Sometimes the temptation is very hard to resist!

This is one of the examples...
I've been eyeing the DPNs on the internet for quite some time... and finally I got it from Daiso for a very cheap price - yeah, if you buy from eBay you need to add postage and everything, right? It's bamboo, not excellently smooth, but enough to feed my curiosity on how to use DPNs. So off I went to do research on simple patterns and tutorials... (well, talk about discipline!  The temptation vs. doing the right thing???  Well, I certainly did not do anything wrong here HA HA)

Finally settled on a basic sock pattern that is supposed to be easy... at least that's what I thought.  But since it's been long since the last time I knit, I actually find it hard to control a pair of needles... let alone all four! (DPNs usually come in a set of four; 3 where you put your stitches, 1 for working)  I think I'm better off with my own way - using circular needles :D

I almost gave up, but I don't like leaving things halfway done... So finally finished the sock, but it's totally not presentable!  Ladders between stitches... but now I get the experience, and learn new term/stitch - the Kitchner Stitch.  Well probably a bit of guilt (for being undisciplined?) also contributes to the ladders?  Can't expect me to be over-disciplined, eh... :D

My helpers

Introducing my helpers:

and

 

 and of course my lovely daughters.  Perhaps I can also venture into scrapping? Hmmm.... :D

Felt Brooch

Here's my latest craze: felt craft!

The hearts from my previous post were made from leftovers from these:

First batch

Second batch

... latest!

Oh, I seriously need help... can't survive with only pen, a pair of scissors and layers of felt!

A big HELLO to everyone!

Hi there! Missing me? (yes..  I was missing... but not my crafts)

Sorry I was buzy mending a broken heart... (heh!???), and now I'm back... with more hearts:

Can you guess what's coming? *wink*

Hope it's not too late to wish everyone Happy Eid! Maaf zahir batin... Stay tuned!

12.11.10

Last time I missed the 10.10.10... and I missed again the 10.11.10... so I vowed to 'stamp' an entry (at least) on a day in 2010 with a nice date.  You might be wondering why my blog was updated with 'silent entries' lately, but I assure you that my craft projects are still going on and off...  There are quite a number of projects that are presentable, but I still need to add some finishing touches (ha ha... it's the idealist vs realist thingy...).  And apart from exploring yarn projects, I did venture into sewing! :-)

As the title indicates something with a decreasing order... I'm actually counting my days to finish my study, with LOTS of work yet to be done!  Guess you have figured out the cause of the silent entries... so, wish me luck! ;-)

Tips #2 - Part II

So here I am... trying to solve the puzzle...

I began to analyze the tricks behind using DPNs and adequate length of circular needles; the bottom-line is that you must be able to divide the stiches equally among the needles (or on the cable for the circular needles - this can be a bit tricky) so that you can work as usual on some part of the fabric while leaving some parts on the other needles/cable on hold, and you have to do this in turns.  I only have two pairs of circular needles (3.5 and 4.5 mm) of 60 cm in my possession, but they are not long enough to allow me to move (and shift) comfortably between the parts that I'm working on and the part on hold.  So I decided to invest on two new pairs of circular needles (this time, 4mm - BOTH!).  I divided the stitches into two equal parts on different cables as I knit; I guess this is the closest I can get to using DPNs (yea... yea.. they are also double-pointed, with cable in between the needles :p  ).  Note that I'm using two pairs of circular needles for this purpose, but only a pair of circular needles are involves at a time as I knit in turns, and this is what I got:

And the end result:

 

.. a heightened level of satisfaction; for I can defeat the shortness of (tools) supplies in achieving my goal of... seamless bootie! HA HA

(*Note: you need to take extra care not to leave the adjacent stitches (the last and the first stitches) too loose; otherwise this will produce a bigger gap as compared to other stitches... and I just found out that this is referred to as 'ladders'. Well, at least I don't have to sew the seam anymore!)

Tips #2 - Part I

I'm missing my yarn projects already!  I have two FOs that need to be photographed, but I don't feel like setting up my camera just yet... so I guess I can release my restlessness by updating my blog ;-)

This time I'd like to share another tips that I learnt as I was knitting baby booties.  I began to learn knit a bootie the easiest way - by knitting a 'flat' (yeah... almost flat, except for the toe shape) fabric and sewing both sides using a tapestry needle.  You only need two (normal) knitting needles of the right size, and this is just perfect for a knitter with a very limited gadget (a.k.a the beginner).  In the beginning this is very satisfying, as you can knit booties with just two needles.  However, as (ehemm...) I grew more skillful (ehemmm...) - more than often, I felt the urge to defer the sewing part until it was really needed.  Why? Simply due to the fact that you have to be extra careful not to create a crease as you stitch the seam.

I 'googled' to find solutions for seamless booties, and yes; you could knit the booties 'in rounds'.  In other words, you can knit around and around - creating 'seamless' booties and therefore save you the sewing process.  However, there are only two ways I found to knit in rounds; either by using at least three double-pointed needles (DPNs - they are usually sold in pack of four) or... using circular needles with adequate length of  cable.  And yeah, there is another way - by using a knitting loom (don't ask me how... I can't imagine how it works!).  Great... all are not in my possession right now... and a trip to the nearest craft supply store proved to be less successful...

Well... I am not going to be defeated by the limited supply of tools in my quest for a seamless bootie!!!  Should I pay more for postage than the tools from ebay stores?? Or... is there any other way around...???

... stay tuned for Part II ...

Ribbed booties

I made the first half of the booties some time ago, that time only to test the pattern involving 'brioche' stitch.  I managed to finished the second half to complete the pair last weekend - and this is the result:

... anybody interested? Going once... going twice....

July 2010 Booties

This is another pair of booties that I made in... err, end of June, but were fully completed in early July. Not that they are complicated; in fact they are quite the opposite, actually. It's just me who is a slow-knitter, I guess, and have to admit that being quite a perfectionist makes matters worst in a way. But look at the booties:

... aren't they just adorable?  ( Sorry again, these are also taken... )

June 2010 Booties - Part II

Now this is the second booties that I made in June.  I really like the shape and texture - so nice, soft and fluffy!

If only they could snugly fit my feet that are not so little anymore... :D
And, yeap... these are taken as well ;-)

June 2010 Booties - Part I

I've been very busy lately with my studies... but my craft projects are still on - during the weekends and at times when I needed time to think. So here's a couple of finished projects during the time I was 'missing' (MIA??? probably...)

The first one:

A pair of pink booties, made with cotton yarn and 4mm needles.  The interesting thing is that they can be worn both ways (reversible) depending on whether you like them to show:

 

... the Garter stitch side, or...

... the Stockinette stitch side.

Err... sorry to say that these booties are taken! ;-)

Another new bootie!

First time I saw this design, I thought it may involve rib stitch... Never heard before a stitch called 'brioche' stitch - some may refer this as 'prime rib' or 'brioche rib'. Yes, it also produces rib but a fluffier one.  Learning to knit a 'brioche' bootie is a whole new experience for me, and a whole lot fun!  Look what I got...