Catching on to the infinity craze... without spending a dime...

Recently my fabulous friend Maya made me an infinity scarf... and I have to say I'm kind of obsessed with them now... all outfits seem to revolve around it!  I wanted more... but being thrifty decided to look around the house first for something that I could quickly refashion...



Of course I didn't have to look  for long... I knit this cable scarf a couple of years ago... but don't wear it that often...

Not sure that I wanted a permanent change... I use safety pins to connect the ends...

The pins are invisible on the right side... and easy to take out if I change my mind...



Now this scarf has a new life...  such an easy change, and I will definitely wear it more often...



Just an old knitted scarf I've had for ages...

With these button safety pins, and vintage buttons... I'm going to give this scarf a new life too...

I simply lapped the scarf ends on top of each other... holding it together with the buttons and safety pins...

 

And voila!  A second infinity scarf made... I really like the fringe, it adds a little some thing extra... and the scarf is so long I wrapped it around my neck tree times... giving me some nice chunky layers....

 So, it all started with my inspiration scarf... and now I can add two more to my infinity collection... The best part of all is... (as my thrifty heart jumps for joy) it cost me nothing, and barely 10 minutes of my time! So get out there my crafters... I challenge you to make over at least one of your scarfs with things around your home... even an old lace curtain panel could be made into an infinity scarf... have fun with the infinite possibilities...

***Jennifer

Office Makeover *Sneek Peek*...

So... I've been working hard (or hardly working... I'm having to reach deep for the motivation) on my work space... It needed a complete over haul, and I have to say that the before pictures are rather shocking...  I'll share them with you when I do the complete reveal... Any ways... to say that it needed to be organized is kind of an understatement... so the process seems to be moving at a snails pace as I organize things and find proper homes...Here is some of the organization so far...


I use alot of vintage buttons... and buy them whenever I can get them dirt cheap... They have wound up all over my office in multiple containers.   I am constantly digging though them for specific colors... my bright idea for organizing them, was to rummage through my recycling and pull out glass containers... After cleaning them and removing the labels, I organized the buttons by color... I think they look rather fetching...

My piles of vintage fabric(and I mean piles literally) have also been in a state of chaos... Shoved behind a door, in a cupboard.   I basically had to pile everything on the floor to get to anything... and at that point I had no motivation to fold it, and put it back nicely... because I was just going to pile it up again the next time I needed something...  My solution for this was via my Husband... who took pity on me and came home one day with shelves... My fabric is slowly working it's way into neat stacks... arranged by color...

Well this month does not really seem to be about *fun* projects... but the faster I can get my space organized... the faster I can get back to crafting...
Are you making a fresh start in the new year?
***Jennifer

Experimenting with color... Knitting...

OK... so I know I'm suppose to be organizing my office, but I thought I would share with you my latest knitting project...  I am still struggling with color changes, and thought practicing on some mittens for my kids would be a good way to try out a few techniques... 
I came across this cross stitch pattern and thought... hmm... could this translate easily to knitting?  I didn't see why not so I gave it a try...



It worked great!  And because the boxes of the pattern were roughly the same size as the knit stitches...
 I did not have to alter the pattern at all...

I found this free pattern on line for a basic mitten. To make them fingerless I stopped at the first [body]decrease round(3rd page half way down) and did a 2 by 2 rib for 6 rounds... then bind off... For the thumb (after I slipped my stitches back on to the needles) I picked up 3 stitches... K1 round ... then did a 2 by 2 rib for 6 rounds...


For my daughter I thought I would practice fair isle color change...  They turn out cute too!

Well... I am still not a pro, but I do have a better understanding of color changes... my knitting is still a little tight at the switches... but I guess i still need  more practice... If I come across a secret trick to make the changes smoother... You'll be the first to know... or better yet, if you have any advise I'd be grateful!  Happy Knitting!
***Jennifer

Playing Hookie...

This winter break we spontaneously decided to go sledding with the kids...  Leaving behind all the work/projects (stress) we had, and headed for the hills...  The only problem...  we had no sled...
This however does not detour us... being our usual thrifty selves we used what we had on hand...


A Raft...



It actually worked really well... and we could all fit!



My son had the time of his life...



I love this picture!  Man over board...

And of course... the dare devils...

 With all the projects I've been doing, it was nice play hookie and spend some quality family time...  It just goes to show... we didn't need to get caught up with buying "stuff" just because we wanted to go play in the snow... we had just as much fun(if not more) with what we had on hand...  So, steal away with your loved ones... (the work will be there when you get back)... Making memories is just a snowball away...


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

 P.S.  My New Years resolution is to organize my office... check back to see if I've made any progress... If you don't hear from me, it will be because I'm on an episode of Hoarders... buried alive under all of my stuff... What's your New Year's resolution?
***Jennifer