Recent finds

A few random things I have picked up over the last couple of months.. 

Dollar tree circular knitting needles... 

I have only seen one size.. size 9 .. 

If you're looking for a set that won't let the yarn slide off the needle this is it... I found knitting in the round almost impossible however straight knitting went well enough that keeping them in the car for a side project like a straight stitch scarf is okay... If you already brought a set   ... I wouldn't run out to get another 

also from  Dollar tree 

The photo color didn't come out well.. I took them apart before I realized that lol... these are gold and silver they had red and blue ones as well... the sequins are so beautiful, they would have been fun decorations as is true, those sequins are just too pretty to not want to play with them lol.. I am replacing them with yarn ...

 the sequins are lightly glued to a string and that to a foam base with glitter on top part.. removing the sequins was very easy.. expect glitter to fly while doing so 

Speaking of sequin harvesting... Found these at a thrift store.. 

The sequins were easy to remove from the shamrocks, they had a surprising amount of stuffing... at the point of the photo I had already removed the headband piece from the fabric... that was the easy part as far as the headband was concerned.. hot glue was not spared in the making of these.. will take more effort to get the sequins off..  Ugh 

This roll of sequins was so tightly stuffed in a baggie there was no way to tell what it was for sure... 

The clerk asked if I even knew what it was.. when I told him no, he decided to cut the prices in half and gave me a discount on top of that.. 😊

I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was a yards long strip of elastic fabric sequin trim... 

Picked up some cookie cutters... 

The box was beat up a little bit all of the cutters are fine.. lots of random shapes but no Christmas ones.. not really a surprise as these are the regular stock went back yesterday and found these mini ones

Perfect for making needle felt ornaments for mini Christmas trees.. 

 

Needs felt scrap heart

After weaving in the ends of a scrapy bag I decided to used them to make a needle felt heart.. 

brushed them out

Just stuffed them in without worrying about color placement 

I am planning on making it a charm so heavily felted it,

 flipping from side to side..

Using multiple sizes of needles..38 to start, 40 for the vast majority of it, finishing with a 42 for some smoothing or the edges 

I picked up the heart cut out from the Dollar Tree.. 

Going to use this side as the front.. will finish off with embroidery highlights.. maybe a few other emblements.. will try to update when it's done 

Sequin dress harvest from thrift store

Okay this is going to take a minute... or two to "harvest" the sequins from... should get a bit of fabric from it as well..  it is small however it was on sale at the thrift store for just over $7. with tax.. I couldn't pass it up..

Sequin fringe hanging from the most of the dress ... thinking they are sturdy enough to reuse as a stitched down or even glued line of sequins .. there are so many.. the dress is probably closer to  extra small so they aren't long enough to use again as fringe.. unless maybe a doll dress or on a needle felt item... could work... either way I plan on leaving them intact at least for now..

The fabric is a glittery kind of mesh look over solid green satin with sequins stitched on 

The zipper is unbelievably sturdy.. heavy metal definitely going to be able to repurpose it.. 

Tag doesn't show any where, nor does the rest of it.. actually glad it's not any bigger.. it's going to be a big enough job as it is lol 

 

Simple cord keeper crochet pattern

This is a great project for using up smaller amounts of yarn.. the larger size only uses about 6 1/2 yards.. the smaller one approximately 5 1/4 yards

 I used several different brands of yarn that varied from medium to a thicker worsted weight, 100% acrylic to give the cord keeper a bit of stretchability 

H 5 mm hook

Accurate gauge really isn't essential to this project as it is pretty easy to see the overall size.. 

That being said mine come out about 1 1/2 inches wide ( both the same  ) and about 4 inches long for the 16 row longer size and  approximately 3 inches long .. a tad under..  for the 13 row shorter size. 

This pattern is beginner friendly.... the hardest part is the beginning button loop with 3 SC going into the slip stitch joined loop .. which is made easier simply by making the first chain looser.. 

 it can easily be adjusted in length by adding or subtracting sc rows.... keep in mind the button loop when closed will add a bit of length as it stretches some what

The button loop can be adjusted as needed to suit the size of the buttons you choose..... I used buttons that are close to 1 inch or slightly over.. as the buttons are the main focal point have some fun choosing yours, I used a bunch of random ones I have picked up over the years

6 1/2 yards of worsted weight acrylic yarn 

H 5 mm hook

1 approximately 1 inch button 

American terms 

ch - chain

dec - single crochet decease in next two stitches 

inc - single crochet twice in next stitch

sc - single crochet

sl st - slip stitch

1) keeping first ch loose ch 8,  sl st into first ch made going through both loops of ch, ch 1    ... Check to see if loop goes around your button, you're looking for a easy slide over but not too loose, adjust loop size as needed 

2) in same stitch as the joining stitch sc 3, ch 1 turn ( 3 sts )

3) inc, sc 1, inc, ch 1, turn ( 5 sts) 

4) sc 5, ch 1 turn ( 5 sts )

For longer size 

5 - 15) do as row 4

Shorter size 

5 - 12) do as row 4 

 

or

Repeat row 4 untill you almost reach the length you want

For all lengths 

dec, SC 1, dec ( 3 sts) 

 

Fasten off..... 

I like to use the tail end to stitch down the button if you choose to do this leave a tail 10 to 12 inches long

Stitch button in center of second to last row, weave in ends

That's it fast and easy ... plus useful 

Pictured above is the shorter cord keeper, below is the longer one with the same cord ( 6 foot ) .. either would work for holding this size cord however the shorter one is pretty close to it's limit 

Thrift store bead find

I lucked out at the thrift store..

Two clear boxes of seed beads.. only a couple had any removed from the hanks

Many still had their original label 

One had not been opened... Yet .....

Size 13/0 ... beautiful ..

Most are size 11/0 with a few 13/0 .. 

so smooth... many appear to be Czech.. if not all of them 

Approximately 430 grams for just under $6. 

and another sequin pillow for less than a dollar and a half... light brown .. usable back satin fabric and the stuffing will make another pillow for my doggies
 

You never know what treasures you'll find well thrift shopping... 

Sequin harvest

While thrift store shopping I came across a few items with beautiful sequins.. 

I have been gathering up sequins for a few projects, when I come across an item on clearance, thrifting or at the Dollar Tree I get them and stick them on the side to "harvest" at a later date..  

3mm dark blue... Infinity scarf.. the color is darker than the photos make it appear.. 

The sequins are in beautiful shape.... Only issue I ran in to was having to wash it by hand 3 or 4 times... to remove the starch....???? 

The sequins were on mesh, that after removal is definitely still usable 
 

Got a fair amount of usable sequins plus just over two yards of mesh and knit fabric for around $3.00 

This piece of brown sequin fabric also came from a thrift store, over two yards of knit fabric with golden brown running through out.. both this one and the blue scarf were on fairly elastic fabric, with the sequins stitched in straight lines.. making it much easier to remove them with the fabric intact.. the fabric will make beautiful liners for smaller crochet bags where I want to keep the bag on the stretchy side... 

8 mm, top hole, black sequins 

8 mm, light silver top hole sequins both the black and the silver or less than four bucks each on a 40% off sale

Awhile back I picked up a yard of this beautiful black flower multi sized sequins on mesh... on clearance plus a coupon.. I don't recall the exact price but it was less then $4.00 ... Removing sequins on this is a long and tedious process each one has to be removed separately..

I plan on using the flowers fussy cut on some projects so I'm only using the ones along the cut edges of the fabric

Still a fair amount of the three different sizes well worth the price..

When a craft store was doing remodeling they put a lot of their trims on clearance so I grabbed a pink and a royal blue ...

They are more difficult to remove the sequins from but I plan on using the elastic that's in the blue one and the cord that runs through the pink as well as the other strands of floss on some freeform projects.. the sequence are larger center hole probably 8 mm as much as I am getting off of these they were definitely a good deal, I'm not sure how many yards I have 10 or 12 and these were less than $10 for sure but I don't remember exactly they've been sitting since last summer in storage waiting for me to get around to them..

I picked up a thrift store pink sequin pillow for less than $1.00 a couple of days ago.. these are size 3 mm

Stitched down in a very random pattern which is going to make removal slow, but the color actually matches the larger pink ones from the trim fairly well and will definitely be worth the effort

After opening the seam, I realize the center was a fluffy pillow and along one seam was a long zipper that wasn't exposed I'm guessing they decided to go with something different after placing the zipper and just closed over top of it either way it is an excellent condition and will definitely get used ... the back satin from the outside cover of the pillow is in really good shape and will make a nice liner or background for broach

I still have some 8 mm top hole sequins with different colors on each side, from the Dollar Tree that I need to remove, while they come off fairly easily as they're done in a straight line not much of the fabric is worth saving but having the choice of making them flippable or layering with one color up instead of variety of colors definitely adds to the fun factor of creating with them even though they turned out to be a little bit more expensive than some of my thrift store finds

I have spent the last few days harvesting sequins while watching YouTube videos, during my limited crafting time, as to give my arm and hand a chance to heal from the damage done by the antibiotics intubating in to my arm and  hand.. I

it's been on things that are mostly getting ready for other projects I've had in mind for quite some time but was too busy with crochet to actually create ... 

Taking a break from crocheting has not been easy as I have so many things I want to make, this busy mindless work will lead to creating some fun projects in the near future ..