5-Strand Braided Headband

Like I said, one of the many things I've done this summer is craft. So one of the things I've made was this gray braided headband. It's a great summer accessory and it's great to make when you have a bunch of old tshirts you don't want anymore and are thinking of recycling or throwing away. I made mine out of a grey jersey fabric that I got by cutting up an old tshirt I didn't want anymore. And like the title says, it's made with 5 strands instead of the usual 3.

To make it, you start with the 5 strands of jersey material and sew them together at the top. Then split the strands, 3 to the left and 2 to the right. You start with the left side and cross the leftmost strand over the strand next to it and the thrid strand from the left over the strand to the right. Then the strand that ends up in the middle is moved to the right. You repeat the same process except you start with the rightmost strand and cross it over the strand right next to it and then you cross the strand to the left of the one you just crossed over the one to the right, as if you were doing a normal braid. Then you move the one that ends in the middle of all 5 to the left and start the whole process again. After you have a braid that is slightly shorter than the circumference of your head (because jersey is stretchy), you sew the bottom pieces together. Then sew the bottom piece to the top piece so you form a circle. To cover the sewn part you can add another square of the same fabric and form a loop around it and sew. And there your have your new headband!

I didn't take any pictures of the process but I'm pretty sure if you google it, it pops up. I got this idea from Pinterest. It's actually the first thing I made that was inspired from that website and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. Anyway, without any further ado, here's my headband:

That's me wearing it.

Holy Cowl !!!

I'm technically supposed to be writing my thesis right now, but instead what do I do? Write a blog post, of course! So I just finished a cowl I was working on, since they happen to be so "in" right now. I had some chunky blue acrylic/wool blend yarn that I had started making into a snood, like really, about 4 years ago, that was in my pile of works in process but since I didn't really like how it was coming out, I decided to unravel it and make this cowl instead.

Pattern:
It's a really simple pattern. All you do is knit one long rectangle with the moss stitch and when you're done you just sew the sides together and you have a cowl! So for those who don't know what the moss stitch is, it's basically a ribbing that you interrupt every two rows. So Rows 1 & 2 are: 2 knits, 2 purls, 2 knits, 2 purls and so on until the end of the row. If you look at the 2 rows you have, you'll see how the ribbing is starting to form but you'll kind of interrupt that in the next two rows. Rows 3 & 4 are: 2 purls, 2 knits, 2 purls, 2 knits and so on until the end of the row. All you do is just repeat those four rows until you have the desired length and then bind off and sew the two short sides together. Oh, and I cast on 64 stitches which is basically the circumference of the cowl. However, next time I'll probably cast on more stitches because I would've liked for it to be a bit looser and I'll probably also try using a different kind of yarn. So yeah, that's my cowl. :)

I like big BOWS and I cannot lie...

On Saturday, I was browsing through my favorite craft website, coincidentally called Craftster, and I saw a post with an awesome headband with a bow. It was love at first sight and I decided to make it since I had just finished my last project. The pattern is from another fellow blogger and can be found here. I only made a small modification since I wanted a larger bow. Did I mention I love bows?! I made the strip for the bow 10 inches long instead of 8 as the pattern instructed. And voila here is my awesome headband!


And a picture of me with the headband!

Crafts, crafts and more crafts!

One of my resolutions for 2011 was to make more crafts/ be more crafty. I can safely say that that was probably the only resolution I kept. I know, sad day. Anyway, here are some pics of my wonderful creations!!

First off, are some pj pants and shorts. They're made out of flannel and I used some Butterick pattern, I think. The shorts are have an orange and pink pattern and the pants have crabs, fish and turtles (or as my mother said, "seafood") on a blue background/ the sea.


Next is a cute turtle I cross-stitched. This was just some random kit I bought simply because it was a turtle. It now proudly hangs on my bulletin board. :) Sorry for the crappy pic!


Last but not least is a scarf and headband set I just finished yesterday. The yarn is a homespun yarn and the ribbing for the scarf is 5 knits and 5 purls and 2 and 2 for the headband and the bow. And of course it has a bow, it's my signature thing!

OMG, a headband!

While at work, I had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do and I was quite bored...
So, since I was carrying around some yarn and crochet hooks I started crocheting and I made a super cute headband!! Now, all I need to do is make a pink flower to go with it but I don't have any pink yarn with me right now so I have to wait til later...

[Pics for later]

P.S. And yes, I'm at "work" right now... XD

Summer resolutions...FAIL!

So, supposedly this summer I was going to do two things apart from working, reading and crafting.. Well, I kind of managed to do the first one, sort of. I've read 5 books so far: "The Kite Runner", "Pride and Prejudice", "Death on the Nile", "My Sister's Keeper" and "And Then There Were None." All great books but I'd intended to read some more...

As for my second goal, crafting, well I've only made one thing but I'm really proud because it's the first thing I've crocheted EVER!!! I made a red beret with a bow. The pattern I used is pretty simple, the beret is very basic. It's just a circle made doing single crochets in circles and increasing. The bow was a little bit harder, at least for me, but I got the pattern from Creativeyarn's blog. So...here are some pics:

Me modeling my hat Closeup

Anywhooo... I hope to do some more projects sometime before I go back to college in September. I kind of have to anyway since I'm in this "Wists" Swap on Craftster and I definitely have to craft some stuff even though I've absolutely NO IDEA of what I'm going to do yet since none of my partner's wists are knitted or crocheted. I was thinking of maybe trying to learn how to do Kanzashi or some jewlery or felt food. Gotta think about it though...