Good Afternoon, Guys!
We are just under three weeks away from the first day of fall. The autumnal flavors have hit the shelves and the leaves are beginning to change where I am, which has put me in the mood to start planning some projects for the season!
So here's what I'm thinking...
Crochet Projects
A Spooky-Cute Cat Pillow
The first project I want to talk about is a crochet pillow I found on Folksy.com It's a paid pattern by Twinkle Twells called, "Schrodinger's Cat Mini Cushion," and it's a reversible pillow that features one side as a normal cat and the other as a cat skeleton.
I love how this pillow looks! I think the designer did a great job with the overall shape of the piece as well as creating a cute yet believable cat skeleton with charted colorwork. The fangs are probably my favorite part about it, not gonna lie; they look so sweet and small next to the giant voids that are the cat's eye sockets. Ugh, I love it.
In terms of yarn for this project, I will be using some worsted weight acrylic that I already have on-hand, and I'll be changing the eye color from yellow to green since my real-life black cat Jackson has green eyes and I want to take inspiration from him for my pillow. So, I'll have a black cat with green eyes on one side and for the cat skeleton, I'll be using something a little different:
Lion Brand's DIY Glow Yarn
I know that's not an original idea (the pattern cover literally has an example pillow made with it), but I've never used this yarn before and this cat pillow will be a great time to try it out! I'm not expecting the glow strength to be that strong either, so I'm basically using it for the novelty of being able to say, "It glows in the dark, too!" should someone ever ask about it... I don't know who would since no one goes in my craft room but me and my cats, but the fun fact is there regardless!
Knitting Projects
A New Sweater, Perhaps?
The next project on my list is from Hobbii's website this time, and it's the "Colienne Sweater" by Knitting With Chopsticks. I actually featured this project on the blog before in a post about sweaters I wanted to make in 2023. I planned to make this sweater then -- I even got the yarn and proper needles for it-- but I ended up pushing it to the side because I did not love the yarn color I got for it.
The sample sweater is a beautiful raspberry color, which I think is "Redwood #16" in Hobbii's Fluffy Day XL yarn, and that paired with with eyelet detailing throughout inspired me to want to make this sweater and make it in that color, but I talked myself out of it. I thought I already had enough of that color in my fall wardrobe (turns out I don't), so I decided to pick something more neutral for year-round wear...
And I chose gray...
There's nothing wrong with gray, but when I got this yarn order in the mail last year, it kind of killed my desire to make this project. I pushed it to the back of my project pile and didn't think about it again until my husband and I had to move. I then had to face my abandoned projects and decide which ones I wanted to keep and which ones I could part with for donation.
The gray yarn for this sweater was in that donation bin, buried deep in the box and ready to leave my craft room to become a project for someone else... but I found the pattern again while cleaning and thought, "I really want to make this sweater."
So I dug it out and brought it back into my craft room for a second chance. I'm still not in love with the gray, but I know I have enough of it to make the sweater, so I'll be knitting up a gray Colienne Sweater for the season. Maybe I'll love it, maybe I'll end up dyeing it. That's for future Jenny to decide!
Sewing Projects
Cat Lady Lounge Pants
The last planned personal project I have is a new pair of lounge pants.
I'll be using a pair of joggers my sister gifted me for Christmas a few years ago as my pattern template because I like how they fit and I'm somewhat confident in my ability to make a pattern from an existing piece of clothing. These pants have served me well in comfort on lazy days, but they have some old paint stains on them now, and the material is super thin, like almost see-through, which means if I forgot I was wearing them when taking our dog for a walk, I'd be showing the neighborhood my underwear...
I don't want to do that, so I'm going to make an updated, more modest pair!
I'll be using this adorable two-way stretch fabric from Joann's, which I also saved from my craft room donation pile. The material is nice and thick, so the fear of mooning my neighbors is handled, but it's also soft so I'm not losing any comfort that the first pair provided. It also nods to my cat mom/cat lover self since it's well... covered in cats... but in a subtle way, right? Black and white is chic, I think. Yeah! We'll go with it! Chic Cat Lady Lounge Pants (how I love a good alliteration).
I have some remnant white knit ribbing I'll be using for this project as well. I have no idea where I got it, but it'll become the waistband and ankle cuffs on these pants. I'm not sure if it'll get an elastic or drawstring waist yet either; my sewing basket will determine that.
Hopefully within a few hours, I'll have a nifty new pair of joggers to wear that project day, and for the rest of the season!
That's it for me today, guys!
I know my list is short, but I'm leaving space for the spontaneous projects I know I'll have over the next few months, too. If I planned every single project out, it would overwhelm me more than motivate me to make them. Of my planned crafts, though, the Colienne sweater will take me the longest since I've never knit a sweater before, but it's a challenge I'm willing to take on for the sake of skill growth and warmth this fall. We'll find out together whether the gray yarn was a good move or not, too!
What are you planning to craft this fall? Let me know in the comments!
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