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How to Cre8time with a Little Help from Michaels

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Since you’re reading a crafty blog, you probably know that March in National Craft Month. You might not know that the Craft Hobby Association has launched a new project, Cre8time, which is all about getting people to take time to create for themselves and rediscover the joy of crafting.

They’re also hosting a Crea8time Blogger Challenge with a little help from Michaels Stores, and I’m so thrilled to be a part of it!

It’s a relatively simple challenge: craft for an hour a day every day for eight days straight. In exchange, participating bloggers got Michaels gift cards to buy some goodies to help us recharge our creative batteries.

My Craft Haul

I should start by saying that I went way over budget. I haven’t been to a Michaels in years, since the closest one is about an hour away from my house, so I really wanted to stock up on some goodies.

Here’s a look at some of the stuff I got.cre8time craft challenge

Mostly there’s stuff for mixed media projects, some fabric paint, cross stitch supplies, a heat gun and a few candlemaking goodies.

I decided I really wanted to use this challenge to work on some crafts I’ve either never done before or haven’t done in a long time, so there will be stitching, candle making and maybe some card-making, too!

You may notice there’s nothing yarn-related here at all. That was intentional. Knitting is my job and I wanted this experiment to be about crafting in other ways. (Don’t worry, I’ll keep writing about knitting this week, too.)

I did buy one yarn-craft thing, actually, that’s been on my wish list for a long time.martha stewart loom

That’s the Martha Stewart Crafts Knit & Weave Loom Kit. I’m so excited to give it a try, and I’m sure I’ll have a bit of a review for you all once I’ve gotten a chance to play with it.

I’m going to start my creative journey tomorrow and would love it if you would join me!

In the meantime, check out this slightly dramatic but still powerful video from the folks at Cre8time to learn a little bit more about what it’s all about. What would you create with more time?

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Comments

  2. I try to craft daily, but don’t often have a whole hour to devote to “making”. I’ve been a hat binge lately, and have knit on either a hat or sock just about every day this past week.

Have you read?

Christmas Stocking Knitting Patterns for Your Pets

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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