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| i realize that a lot of people think a rainbow starts with red and orange, rather than dark pink and light pink... but not in MY family, lol! |
as you know, for about the last year or so, the nieces and i have been very into crochet generally, and rainbow crochet specifically. i made rainbow scarf kits for the american girl dolls last christmas, and even a couple of full-sized rainbow scarves. for riley's birthday in february i made a rainbow granny square pillow. i thought madeline might like something similar, but she had a better idea*:
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| things made of yarn are much harder to photograph than things made of paper. do you know HOW LONG it took me to line these up??! |
headbands, like a set she saw on pinterest! luckily, i was able to find a fabulous (and free!) pattern on ravelry, so i got right to work! these things are an easily memorized combination of chains and slip stitches, can be made of ANY yarn** and only took about half an hour each to make, leaving me with extra time and extra yarn. so i fooled around and made a couple of american girl doll headbands, too:
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| the other great thing about birthday kids semi-knowing what their present is going to be: it makes it possible for a mom to measure both the child's head and their american girl doll's head without suspicion arising. big win! |
then i decided that this many headbands needed their own color-coordinated carrying case. but which color?? hey, i know: how 'bout ALL OF THEM?!! :)
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| one of my favorite things about this project is that i finally learned the awesome invisible or "clean" fasten off method! |
i made the purse by adapting another cool pattern i found online; mine's wider and taller, with a slightly larger handle area. i added a button closure as well, just because i thought it looked more finished--plus, the headbands made it a little bulgy. the only problem is, in the course of the online-pattern search, i found a lot of really cool crocheted bags! there's this one, and these, and who could resist this?! i think i may need a second cup of coffee and little more yarn... (ciao, darlings!) ♥
*our nieces and nephews all know that at least part of their birthday and christmas presents from us will be handmade. i usually ask, a month or two in advance, if they have an idea of what they'd like. depending on the kid and the occasion, answers can range from, "surprise me!" to, "could you make me a knitted shark in realistic colors, please?" occasionally, one of the kids (or their parents) will see something specific online that they really like, and send me a link. i ♥LOVE♥ those times!!! :)
**you make them to the length you need, rather than a specific number of rows, so gauge is completely irrelevant. which, if you're a knitter or crocheter, you will realize is completely AWESOME!!! for the record, i wanted to add crocheted flowers like some of the examples had. this plan was politely but firmly vetoed by the headband-wearer in question!
You are one crazy talented lady. (Notice how didn't put a comma in between the crazy and talented. :-) )
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the fact that the kids expect, and more importantly REQUEST and WANT hand-made items. What a cool tradition you have going there! And that purse is genius. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeletePS: JanR, then it could be crazy-talented, although some days crazy and talented may or may not apply. *runs away*
Jan & Leslie both made me laugh, lol.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow crocheter, um yes. No gauge? HEAVEN. That purse is AWESOME and I want one. And I'm scared to go look at the links, but I'm bookmarking your post for when I feel I need to add several more projects to my mile-long list! I can't say enough how cool it is to have this tradition with the littles - you rock :)
What an awesome auntie gift sure to be loved for years ... I still cherish my rainbow scarf, but will honestly be glad when it finally gets warm enough here not to need it ... where is spring?
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