I wrapped my dad's Christmas gifts in pages from my old book of maps.  Then I made a bow using a tutorial from Whole Living magazine.  What do you think?
I tried to choose pages with interesting colors/patterns.

I made these pajama pants over semester break and never got around to posting them.  I used a basic pattern, Simplicity 5923, view C.  The fabric I used was a flannel-backed silky print from Joann.



I had to post them because they're the first article of clothing I've sewn from a pattern without my mom's help.  (She helped me make a vest years ago in middle school    )

Every year my boyfriend and I make cookies for Christmas, but this year we decided to make a gingerbread house from scratch.  It took a LOT longer than we thought, but we're really pleased with the results!  We went looking on Craftster for inspiration, so thanks to all others on the site who posted their gingerbread houses.

He designed the shape of the house and we both baked, assembled, and decorated.








Thanks for looking!

I took the Wilton Course 1, and this was my graduation cake:


I brought it to my summer class so my classmates and I could have a dessert on the last day, and they said it tasted great!

It's been too long since I've tried to follow a pattern.

I am using Peachtree's wonderful apple pattern, found here:
http://pcakeknits.blogspot.com/2007/01/fruit-people.html

I am already fed up with the DPNs (just because I hate them), but I have successfully made a hat with DPNs before.

Anyways, following the pattern, I did the cast-on row, then the next four rows, but I have more than 18 stitches.  I have 22 for some reason.  I am baffled.

Am I interpreting the instructions correctly?
Does "k1, kfb around- 18" mean knit one st, kfb for the rest of that row, end up with 18 sts?

This was my first M&P soap.  I made it for the guilty pleasure movie swap--my partner's movie was Shaun of the Dead.  I painted the ends of the arms with red nail polish before suspending them in the soap, then I swirled a little red dye.  Perfect for any zombie or just for Halloween!


This is soap I made for my bf's lil' sis for Christmas.  The yellow is jasmine chamomile, the purple is lavender and the blue glitter is blueberry.


Another purple, plus rose (pink) and real chamomile (almost no scent, but it exfoliates!).

Has anyone made an Advent wreath?  I'd love to see pictures!

I am wondering what types of fibers should be AVOIDED for knitting swimwear that WILL be worn in pools or hot tubs?  And what fibers would work?

If you have any experience with getting your knitted swimwear wet in the pool, let me know what works.

Would cotton work?  Rayon?  I assume wool or other animal fibers would be bad...

Any help would be great, thanks!

Hey all,
 My boyfriend asked me to make him some plain black armwarmers so he could play football outside in the cold.  He wants them without thumb/fingerholes, and they should go from his wrist to his elbow, but not cover his elbow.  Basically, just cover his forearms.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn to use DPNs, or I could just use circulars. 

Does anyone have any recommendations on needle size, yarn, how many skeins?  I'm not even sure how many stitches I'll need to cast on.  I will take his arm measurements, but I'm not sure what to do with them...I've never knit freestyle before...help!   

So I was gathering clothes that I didn't like/didn't fit anymore and was going to get rid of them.  Luckily, I found Craftster in the nick of time , and after playing with the idea of making a skirt out of something, I ended up putting a drawstring in the bottom hem of a stretch knit shirt.  This skirt is what resulted:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/alariael/shirtskirt.jpg
The back has a small "slit" where the bottom of the v-neck used to be.  I added an insert of scrap fabric on the underside of the slit (which you can't see in the picture).

Here's the shirt:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/alariael/skirtBefore.jpg

I was happy with how it turned out, and a good thing (for me, a beginner in sewing) was that my boyfriend not only liked the skirt but didn't know that I made it until I told him!