Give Dad a Hand (or Two)

I was looking for something I could do for the 2 grandpas and 1 dad for Father's Day this year.  Here is how it turned out

I found this cutey online from Roots and Wings Co and immediately pinned it on Pinterest.  Go visit her blog, the full tutorial is there!  She did a much better job than I did on the project, so seriously, 

go check her out!

I'll begin by saying I have a new-found respect for quilters.  To all the quilt people out there:  You are an amazing bunch with heaps of patience.  Patience I will never know.  This one little project made me nuts!

Here are some of the things that went wrong and could have been avoided by simply following directions:

I traced my kids' hands onto a piece of paper

instead of directly onto the back of the fabric/iron-on adhesive.

This added a step and made cutting it out more challenging. 

And then I ironed the sewable iron-on adhesive directly to my ironing board.  Doh!

I think I got all the goo off.  I guess we'll find out when I iron my husband's work shirt tonight.

Here are the hands about to be fused to the backing

I zigzag stitched around the hands (and broke two needles because I was using the wrong foot)

And here they are after they've been quilted

I used the piece of glass as a guide to cut the edges off.  Probably not the safest idea to use glass as a guide, but it worked.

The tutorial recommended using spray adhesive to attach it to the back of the frame.  It didn't work for me, so I fired up the glue gun.

That worked great!  Something went right!  Oh happy day.

I tried painting the frames with chalkboard paint and writing the saying on it (in the interest of saving time).  Two words:  JACKED UP!  The chalky writing looked really messy.  So messy I won't even show a picture.

So I painted over it with some dark blue, painted the words on with a small brush, and called it a Father's Day.  It isn't perfect, but it might just make my Father-in-Law cry.  Now to do this twice more for the hubs and my dad.  I better get sewing.

This would be adorable done with paper in a scrapbooking style.  I'm not much of a scrapper, but I'm betting a few of you out there are.  Let me know if you try this with fabric or paper.

Be sure to check out the "Link Party" page, I'll be posting this at a lot of the parties this week.

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings,

Jamie

Knitted Gift for Mom (or Dad if They Weren't So Very Purple)

Here's what my mom got for Mother's Day this year

Golf Club Head Covers!  Not new golf clubs.  I love my mom and all, but I really can't afford that.

Now I just need to find a way to masculinize these for my dad or FIL for Father's Day.  I'm sure it would include a lot less fluff and less vibrant colors... we'll see if I can pull it off.  I got the pattern from my awesome Aunt Maureen and you can find it at the bottom of this post.  It is super easy!  Here is a close up of all that fluffy goodness

And here are the yarns I used

For the top, I mixed 2 yarns: a worsted weight yarn in purple and Yarn Bee Haute Fur in Grape to make sure that the golf clubs wouldn't get damaged as my mom is zipping around in her golf cart... I fear for my life and wish the cart came equipped with an air bag when I ride along with her.  Really. 

For the ribbing on the bottom Simply Soft Paints yarn in Harlequin.  Here's one more look

They are on my husband's clubs in these pics, but they fit perfectly on my mom's clubs too (which are ginormous).  Let me know if you try this for your dad!  I'd love to see what people come up with.  And here are the patterns I used:

GOLF HEAD COVERS

DRIVER – FINISHED LENGTH - 15 TO 16 INCHES

                CAST ON 26 STITCHES/SIZE 9 NEEDLES

                K2, P2 ACROSS (RIGHT SIDE) TURN

                P2, K2 ACROSS

                CONTINUE PATTERN FOR 8 OR 9 INCHES.

                THIS COMPLETES THE RIBBED LOWER PART OF COVER.

                HEAD AREA:

                CHANGE NEEDLES TO SIZE 10

                ALTERNATE A KNIT ROW AND THEN A PURL ROW

                KNIT THIS PATTERN FOR 7 INCHES

                FINISHING:

                ALLOW ENOUGH YARN TO DRAW THROUGH THE TOP AND SEAM THE

                LENGTH OF THE COVER.  CUT THE ALLOWED YARN

                WITH A DARNING NEEDLE PULL YARN BACK THROUGH STITCHES ON THE NEEDLE,

                PULL YARN UP TIGHT TO FORM TOP OF COVER.

                AND THEN WORKING FROM THE INSIDE, SEAM THE COVER.  MOST OFTEN I ALLOW THE SEAM    AT THE BOTTOM TO BE UNFINISHED FOR ABOUT ½ INCH.

                FINISH OFF ALL LOOSE YARN ENDS BY WEAVING BACK INTO KNITTED AREA.

THREE WOOD - FINISHED LENGTH - 13 INCHES

                CAST ON 24 STITCHES/SIZE 9 NEEDLES

                SAME PATTERN AS ABOVE FOR RIBBED AREA/CONTINUE FOR 7 INCHES

                HEAD AREA/FOLLOW ABOVE PATTERN FOR 6 INCHES.   

FIVE WOOD - FINISHED LENGTH - 12 INCHES

                CAST ON 22 STITCHES/SIZE 9 NEEDLES

                SAME PATTERN AS ABOVE FOR RIBBED AREA/CONTINUE FOR 7 INCHES

                HEAD AREA/FOLLOW ABOVE PATTERN FOR 5 INCHES

SEVEN WOOD - FINISHED LENGTH - 11 INCHES

                BOTTOM/ 6 INCHES

                TOP/ 5 INCHES

HYBRID - FINISHED LENGTH - 10 INCHES

                CAST ON 22 STITCHES

                BOTTOM/ 6 INCHES

                TOP/ 4 INCHES - DO NOT CHANGE NEEDLES, USE SIZE 9

This post is linked up on the Sundae Scoop!, Funky Junk's SNS, Craft-O-Maniac Link Party, Mad in Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Eisy Morgan and at The Answer is Chocolate

Happy knitting!

Blessings,

Jamie

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