Knitting Pattern Links are Updated!

 Somewhere along the way I let these lapse. Now they should work again. And I may add some new patterns.

San Francisco Chess Set

I love the NYC chess set available at the Met but I don't love NY. San Francisco has iconic buildings and would make a great chess set. However, I don't have a 3D printer and I'm not much of a sculptor...maybe drawings?

King: Transamerica building
Queen: City Hall
Bishops: Misson San Francisco or St. Mary's Cathedral
Knights: Cable Car on hill
Rooks: Coit Tower
Pawns: Painted Lady house

2018 Met Gala!

Yeah, I don't really follow this stuff, but when fashion gets this crazy, I can't ignore it.

Best Match to Theme:

Zendaya - Space Age Joan of Arc

Best Dress Overall:

Amal Clooney - Floral Peacock

Missed the Point:

Kim Kardashian West - Slap a Cross on It

There were several metallic gold dresses: Kerry Washington, Olivia Munn, Emily Ratajkowski, etc. which were just kinda bland. Halo or sunburst headdresses helped with the theme. Also too many "pretty ball gowns" that looked historical without context.

Kitschy Christmas Mugs

I've been seeing vintage Christmas mugs with vintage Christmas decorations in them all over Pinterest. I just love kitschy retro Christmas decorations! So when I saw that Pottery Barn was selling reproduction mugs, I decided to give it a try.

I figured that I would use either vintage or new-but-look-vintage items to make my own. I wasn't very successful in finding bottle-brush trees or other little decorations. I ended up using Christmas-themed floral bits and some plastic Christmas tree balls with a Styrofoam tree form.

Materials:

• Snowman Christmas mug
• Christmas-themed floral pieces 
• scissors

For Frosty Mug, I just trimmed and arranged the greenery. I didn't even add a bow or anything. Easiest craft ever!

Frosty Mug

Rudolf took slightly more effort.

Materials:

• Reindeer mug
• Styrofoam cone, I picked white for some reason, but it showed through so I had to spray paint it green. Next time, I start with a green cone
• Assorted plastic or glass Christmas tree balls
• Glue gun

The cone I chose, was a good height and width, but the base was a little large to fit in the mug. I carved a bit off the bottom of the cone so that it fit in the mug and around Rudolf's ears.

As I mentioned above, painting the cone to match the color of the balls helps to hide it. Use the hot glue gun to attach the balls to the cone. Small balls make it easier to get good cone coverage.

Rudolf in progress

I did not glue the cone to the mug so that the mug could be used for other purposes or redecorated.

Rudolf from the front

Rudolf from the back

Fitbit Pendant

What to do when your pants don't have pockets and you don't want to clip your fitness tracker to your shirt collar?

I've seen some nice pendants to hold them, but having an older one makes it more difficult to find one that will fit.

So I decided to make one of my own.

Materials:

• Filigree medallion
• Necklace, cord, chain, etc.
• Jump ring
• Needle-nosed pliers

Metal Filigree Medallion

I put my Fitbit in the center of the medallion and used the pliers to bend the metal on either side of the Fitbit. Then fold the sides of the medallion so they wrap around the Fitbit, overlapping slightly in the back.

The Fitbit is tapered slightly so that I made sure the top of the pendant was larger than the bottom. Both ends are open and the Fitbit can be slipped into the top and will not fall out of the lower end. I bent the bottom of the medallion just a bit to help keep the Fitbit in place.

Add a jump ring to the top of the medallion and put it on the necklace or cord you have selected. And you're done!

Pendant and Fitbit

Front of pendant

Underside of the pendant with Fitbit inside