Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Ice Skate Ornament

** I'm going to say right up front that this is NOT a Carolyn DeAngelis pattern. **



I saw this ornament and pattern on Pinterest.  If you aren't familiar with Pinterest, then you should exit this blog right now and go sign yourself up.  There are about a million cool things on there -- including loads of pictures of felt ornaments and patterns.  I saw a picture of this one and became minorly obsessed with that ice skate.




For starters, I used to ice skate as a girl.  Secondly, I had yarn pom-poms on my skates.  Lastly, my sister & I used to have knee socks with that same kind of Scandinavian star/snowflake pattern on them.  It was just meant to be.  I ordered the pattern online (more about that later) and could hardly wait to make it.  Here's my finished skate:



The pom-poms on my skates were very big, so I made this one very big, too.  I liked the colors shown in the pattern photo, so I stuck pretty close to those.  I didn't use any pink because I hate pink and red together.  The pattern suggested satin-stitching those red diamonds, but I really stink at satin stitching, so I didn't want to do that.  I cut out tiny pieces of felt instead and stitched them on.  I stitched the little circles for the boot eyelets on both sides using two strands of regular thread.  The pattern showed the ornament being stitched with a blanket stitch.  I'm a really good blanket stitcher, but since all my other ornaments are done with a simple overhand stitch, I decided to go that route.  

I thought this ornament looked pretty complex and I thought it would take a long time.  It didn't at all!  It was really relatively quick.  Quick enough that I'd definitely consider whipping up a few for gifts.  The most time-consuming part was the pom-pom.  I haven't made a yarn pom-pom since about 1975 when I was in Girl Scouts.  I bet I spent an hour on it.  It took forever to get it nice and round and to the size I wanted.

Because this pattern is currently in production and for sale, I will not be sharing it.  I would encourage you to go purchase it if you like it.  She has several ornament patterns for sale.  There are three ornaments in each pattern and the patterns are only $7.00  Considering that you download them as a PDF file after purchase and don't have to pay shipping, that's a bargain.  It's also nice that you have the pattern immediately instead of having to wait for it to arrive in the mail.  It's called the "Ice Skating Afternoon Ornament Pattern" and it's available here from the site Posie: Rosy Little Things.

Touchdown Tommy Goes to Ohio State

It's been awhile since I've posted.  Partly because I did a couple of ornaments that are exact duplicates of ones I've already done.  I didn't think you needed to see a second purple Ashland eagle!  I also did a couple of Touchdown Tommy ornaments in Ohio State colors for some friends who are rabid fans.  I love Touchdown Tommy because I think he turns out so cute.  I realized that I think I've made more from that pattern than any other!  He's a little deceptive, because I always think he looks easier and quicker than he is.  Doing two at a time about killed me.  Major snooze-fest!!  He turned out great, though, and I think my Buckeye friends will love seeing him on their trees this Christmas.


Kathy's Ornaments

I first introduced you to Kathy in this post.  Her aunt had made Carolyn DeAngelis ornaments for Kathy's family when Kathy was young.  She wanted to make them herself so I sent her the patterns and she got to work.  Here are the first CDA ornaments she made herself and they are BEAUTIFUL!!

 Green Christmas


Carol & Karl Singer


Katrina



I always love to see the different color combinations that everyone uses.  It gives me new ideas!  Kathy -- we need to know where you got the blades for Katrina's ice skates!