FINALLY. It's SCARF season!

I can't help but love a fabulous scarf. Fall is my favorite season just because it means I can wear scarves...well and pumpkin everything, but that's a story for another day. It's finally cooling down here in Idaho. We have a week or two of fall and then the endless winter that always gets me slightly grumpy. I have more scarves than I have shoes. The beginning of the season meant I had a reason to take a break from Ponyville and make myself a new addition to my collection.

I found this gorgeous yarn awhile back and fell in love with it. I'm not going to lie, half of the love comes from the name of the colorway: Parrot! There is absolutely no way to accurately photograph the colors of this yarn. It's stunning. Pinks and reds and blues and greens that fade flawlessly. It's roving yarn too, which I love. So cuddly soft. I wanted something different than what I've done in the past. Don't get me wrong, I love a good infinity scarf or a traditional scarf, but it was time for something new. Something with fringe.

I found what I was looking for after surfing Ravelry for a bit longer than I care to admit. That place can be worse than pinterest for me. I'm not even kidding a little bit. Hours can be wasted surfing patterns. Yarn holds a special place in my heart, but all the lovely patterns people create leave me deliriously happy. I'll never get around to writing any original patterns because I always get sidetracked. This pattern from Cortney Young is called the Easy Triangle Fringe Scarf and Shawl.

 

Easy was exactly right. I needed a break from ponies where I didn't have to count stitch after stitch. Just mindless relaxing with hook and yarn. The scarf itself took less time than adding all the fringe. Of course, the fringe is what makes it so fun! This really is more of a shawl than a scarf, but the yarn is light enough it can be worn lots of ways. I feel like I have a warm and comfy blanket on when I wear it. I really can not express how much I love this thing.

I'm all snug and wrapped up as I write this and my motivation is back to finish the ponies that are going to be the highlight of my daughter's birthday in (gah!) 8 days. I am in a perfect autumn mood now. Bring on the pumpkin lattes and pumpkin bread and everything else pumpkin that I can get my hands on. Happy Fall!

Also, I've finally gotten around to actually setting up an account on Ravelry. If you'd like to see what projects I'm working on (because there is always more than one) come find me!

I've linked this post to: Link Party Palooza Hooking on Hump Day Crafting Along Craftionary Show Off Friday Obsessive and Creative Show and Tell Saturday
Inspiration Gallery

Crocheted Owl Hat GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I'm so happy that fall is nearly here. In Idaho, that usually just means "early winter," but it's still my favorite season! I love layers and scarves and hats and boots and pumpkin EVERYTHING.

Since it's almost hat season, I've decided to do my first GIVEAWAY!!!!! 

For those of you who have been asking for one of my crochet creations, this is for you! I will make a one of a kind, specially for YOU owl hat. And by the way, before you say adults can't wear them, let me say, pfffft!  These are SUPER cute no matter what age! 

Use the giveaway entry form below. There are a couple things you need to do to enter. 

1) LIKE Jubilant Jessi on Facebook. You can use the nifty box to the right of this post if you need.

AND

2) Leave a COMMENT on this post telling me what two colors you would like your hat to be if you win. Also, please tell me the size you would like. I can make this hat to fit anyone, from newborn to adult. The choices are yours! 

If you want some extra entries, you can pin any image from my blog onto Pinterest or share the post on Facebook. Each time you share the post, you receive an additional entry, but only once per day please.

That's it!

I will randomly select a winner on September 19th, 2013. The winner will be notified via email and on Facebook. Once the winner is confirmed, the hat will take 2-4 days to make and then it will be on it's way to you in the mail!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE. It means the world to me. 

GOOD LUCK!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hat Party!

I finally have to admit that autumn is just around the corner. Everyone's talking hats. I'm crocheting lots of hats. Since I just recently sold my first crochet creation, a cutie owl hat, I've since sold several more and keep getting orders. Cool for my yarn addiction, not so cool for my homework in the upcoming weeks. Let's be serious, though. Yarn totally wins!

My favorite hat was the zebra hat. This one was for Lily as she was watching me make hat after hat. She asked me, "Mom, I might like a hat. Did you consider that?" We spent some time on pinterest and she decided on a pink zebra hat with googly eyes and long braids. I looked at several different versions being sold on Etsy and came up with my own design. It's a mish-mash of cute ideas.

I had to dig out my pom-pom maker for this hat and I can't seem to stop making the little fluff balls now. Sage likes to toddle around with them and throw them at the nearest innocent bystander when she feels she's being ignored. I have this idea of a pom-pom garland for my window. We'll see if it goes anywhere. I bet I could promote Lily to official pom-pom maker.

I also made a hat for myself. Having dreads usually means hats are hard to find, unless you don't mind wearing slouchy beanies or tams all the time. This hat, like so many of my other projects, has no rhyme or reason. I picked a stitch and a color as I looked through pictures for inspiration. Few rows of stitching are the same. I love the big happy flower on the side. 

I am now venturing into superheros and monsters. No, seriously.

 

It's the AMAZING Spiderman hat! 

The webbing will haunt me. Spent waaaaay too much time worrying away at that part. I finally ripped out the original yarn and replaced it with puffy paint. It's off to be loved by a cutie little guy in his up and coming photo portraits. 

Currently on my  hook is the wing for a Captain America's helmet. Is it weird making these is giving me the urge to have a hero movie marathon? I also get to try a monster hat next. And then maybe a My Little Pony. Lily's birthday is a few months away and she would die for a crocheted set of the "mane six" characters. Now that the idea is in my head, it's not going anywhere and I want to try it so I can play with them too! I'm such a sucker for kid's toys.

If you haven't noticed yet, I have started an FB page! I would love for you to join me and share your crafty creations or say hello! 

I've shared this post at Hooking on Hump Day!

Owls and rainbow bags...

I finished two great projects this week. I'm pretty proud of them.

 The bag is another one from Lucy at Attic 24. I think I've mentioned in the past how much I love her crochet patterns.

 The owl hat has the distinction of being the first crochet item I've ever sold. That's big for me because I've been pretty seriously thinking about selling my crochet through etsy or some such way. Having someone buy and appreciate what you've made is so extremely satisfying.

 
 I love the bright happy colors of the bag. I love that there was no rhyme or reason to the color stripes. I love that I can take it to the Saturday market and fill it up with the treasures I find there.

 This bag is BIG. In fact, big is not a big enough word for this bag. Gigantic. That would be a good word. It's really TOO big to use as a daily purse... but I have been anyways because it's so awesomely colored. Sage fits in this purse. With a teddy bear or two for company. (Hey, she crawled into it, I didn't put her there.)

You can read about Lucy's bag and find the tutorial here or here. I have yet to put on the flowers because I got too distracted by wearing the bag to the market.

 The owl hat was super fun too. I'm totally in love with owls. And since I can sneeze and probably hit something owl related every time I go into a store now, I know I'm not the only one. These hats are all over etsy and pinterest. Isn't it cute?

 
 It's part of a much more owlish Halloween costume that my dear friend is making for her adorable daughter. She still had to wear it at the park this morning, even though it was sweating, holy moly hot outside.

 
I didn't follow one single pattern, but I did use a few for inspiration. You can find them here and here.

For you yarn lovin' folks, I used Lily Sugar and Cream cotton yarn for the bag. I wanted it washable. My life is full of adventures, I need easy. I used plain Jain acrylic yarn for the hat. Wouldn't it be fun do do in some chunky, delicious yarn?

Summer's going by too fast. I don't have near enough time to crochet all the things I have saved up to do!! I wonder if there is a bachelor's degree in crochet that I could switch to for the fall? Would that fix the problem?

I linked this post to Hooking on Hump Day  Craft-O-Maniac Monday  Making the World Cuter Mondays  The Weekly Creative Link Party

To-Do Tuesday.

I just need to start asking for Home Depot / Joann's / Michaels's gift cards for all birthday, holiday, and special occasion gifts. I have way too many projects that I would love to try. Here's some of my current favorites: 

I am particularly fond of mushrooms. They're neat. I did a Biology experiment assignment where I grew my own mushrooms (oysters... delicious!) and have been oddly enamored ever since. Here's my latest mushroom love:

I found this photo here!

I have had a hard time finding out the original ideaster behind these adorable garden mushrooms, but they're stunning. They are also a perfect excuse for me to buy those pretty crystal dishes I always see at the thrift store. What a great way to create your own fairy garden!!

Over at Patina White, there is some really neat decorating using world globes.

I found this photo here!

Every self respecting teacher needs a globe and a good inspirational quote or two. This is a match made in heaven! I will have something like this in my someday classroom. Maybe when I get over my fear of power tools. 

I have also found a way to make use of the paint chip samples I can't stop myself from collecting. I've just about got the hubster convinced that our bedroom wall would look awesome like this:

I found this photo here!

I love rainbow anything. This seems like an amazing way to spruce up a wall that I can't paint. They used painters tape to adhere to the wall, so it would be easy enough to take down. I think this would be great in our ever changing rainbow bedroom. You can find more paint chip projects here.

As if I don't already have space issues in my house, I have been trying to figure out (since we moved in) how to fit a piano somewhere. I miss playing every day and I really want my girls to learn. Also, I want to try my hand at painting a piano.

I found this photo here!

Pinterest has so many wonderfully bright, happy pianos. When I finally get a bigger house or decide I don't need a living room couch... I'm getting my piano and it's going to be painted. No boring black in my house! :)

Moving back into the land of Realistic Crafty Projects, I am loving the rag rugs I am seeing lately. And kudos to the genius who had the idea of using jelly rolls or whatever you call them (packs of fabric strips for quilting) to save time on cutting. 

I found this photo here!

No one actually mentions how long it takes them to hand sew these babies together. Anyone know? I imagine it would be fairly simple to braid the strips. However, hand stitching and I don't get along so well. I have also seen some stunning rugs done with grocery bags or with (swoon) wool roving. I can't seem to find multicolored grocery bags though, and I don't have a bajillion dollars to spend on that much roving. I'll stick with fabric! :) I did find one tutorial that used a machine to stitch the rug together, so maybe there is hope for me yet.

Well, that's it for this week's to-do list. I may accomplish one of these projects in a year or two! HA! I need to take a vacation with my crafty supplies and my sewing machine. One weekend, no sleep, and no interruptions, I could get a whole pile of to-do items done! Of course, then I would complain about missing my babies and the husbandy face. Can't ever win!