Nursery Sneak Peek!

Nursery Sneak Peek!

Here’s a look at our baby’s nursery!! We’re expecting his arrival in June 2019 and here’s his new room! It’s a work-in-progress, but this is how far we’ve gotten on his “crib” so far!!

We have a lot of decorations from Hobby Lobby as well as Wayfair and Amazon!

The sign “Welcome to my Crib” can be found here from Hobby Lobby

 

The Chevron Basket can be found here from Hobby Lobby

 

The Furry Rug can be found here from Amazon

 

 

The shelf holding the books can be found here from Hobby Lobby


hobby lobby

 

The Cloud Hanging Rack can be found here from Hobby Lobby

 

The Sheep Ottoman can be found here from Target

 

The arrow wall hanging was found at Hobby Lobby, however, I am unable to share a link to that piece.

 

 

The dresser, changing table, and crib came as a set from Wayfair and it can be found here.

12 Days of Christmas: Christmas Tree Canvas Art

12 Days of Christmas: Christmas Tree Canvas Art

This is such an Easy Yarn Art project perfect for any age. Here we use a canvas, yarn, and sticks to create this fun art piece.

Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make this fabulous wall art:

 

My dad will continue to be the videographer, editor, and photographer for our videos when I move away.
Support YARNutopia today so we can continue to bring you clear, quality crochet tutorials even after I move into my new home!
There will be an added expense of more travel and hopefully this won’t deter our ability to provide consistent videos on a weekly basis.

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**You can always contact me via Facebook if you have any problems with the pattern. I am happy to help if you have any questions along the way.

***These patterns are copyright YARNutopia © so PLEASE DO NOT COPY, SHARE, ADJUST OR RESELL MY PATTERN. I wrote and tested this pattern myself, from beginning to end. It took a lot of time and work, and I would really like to have it remain “my pattern.”

***You can sell anything you make from my patterns, please just link back to my website YARNutopia.com. Thank you!

Teacher: Nadia Fuad
Video and Editing: Fuad Azmat (My Daddy)
Share your work on Facebook!
Add me on Snapchat: YARNutopia
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Visit My Ravelry Store and add this to your Favorites!
Follow me on Twitter: @YARNutopia
Enjoy this video and subscribe to my channel on YouTube for more tutorials on how to crochet!
Leave a comment, and share with your friends!

Pattern:

Designed by Nadia Fuad
You *may* sell items made from my pattern, but please reference my website YARNutopia.com.
Please do not copy, sell, and/or post this pattern and claim it as your own.

Materials you will need:
Red Heart Yarns With Love Metallic
Hot Glue
-Twigs
-Paper
Canvas
-Ribbon (optional)
Scissors

NOTES:
-You can use any yarn to decorate your trees
-You can use any size canvas too! Make more trees and add it to a bigger canvas print!
-There is no written portion of this pattern as there is no crochet involved.
-See the video tutorial for full explanation.
Enjoy!!

This post contains affiliate links, which I may be compensated for when you make a purchase. That means if you click on any link and buy from the linked websites, I will receive a small percentage of the value of your order. The amount you pay is not changed. Thank you for all your support in clicking the links in my blog!! You all are so amazing!! ~Nadia

The yarn provided for this pattern is courtesy of Red Heart Yarns

Nadia Goes on a Yarn Hop

Nadia Goes on a Yarn Hop

With my move to a new city, much of my free time is spent exploring my new home. Nate has lived here for almost 10 years and as familiar as he is with this area, there are a lot of places in our city that I have discovered that he wasn’t aware even existed! One of the first places I wanted to scout out was the area yarn shops. Because it would be a travesty if my husband didn’t know where the yarn is!

You may recall in previous blogs how much I enjoy the quaintness and feel of a local yarn store. I love to support small businesses, and I will do my best to try to frequent them as often as I can. Fortunately for me, my city has a few in and around the area! Insert a visual of wide-eyed Nadia looking like a kid in a candy store each time she enters one of these shops running around squeezing all the yarn balls!

Last week, I popped into one of the local shops, Unwound Artisan Yarn Shop here in La Crosse, WI and found out they were having a Yarn Loop! Squeeee! How did they know I needed that in my life right now? What it entailed was a 200 mile route through three states, hopping from yarn shop to yarn shop along the route. Six shops in total were part of this event! You have no idea that I could hardly sleep the night before!! I was THAT excited.

The first thing I did when I found out there was a Yarn Loop was call my mom. Who better to join me on this adventure than my crafty partner in crime?? I was hoping she would be able to come the night before to have a pre-yarn-hop slumber party where we would stay up all night and plot out our plan and get an early start, but she was so busy she couldn’t make it until early that morning. She had over a two hour drive to get to my house, and of course I insisted we be ready to go by 8am. Even though the shops didn’t open til 9!

She was at my house by 8am the morning of the yarn hop and by 9 we were walking into the first shop! Our first stop was Unwound located right in Downtown La Crosse. I love their shop and how welcoming the staff is! The minute you walk in is a burst of warmth and color. Here we were given our “passport” to have stamped at each of the shops participating. Each shop was giving away some door prize swag, there were great deals and sales on yarn, and some had additional prizes and giveaways. Unwound had a nifty needle measure as their giveaway. I also scored some great purchases. I bought some wonderful yarn by Abacus Dyeworks. Along with fabulous fibers, I found some patches to add to my yarn bag. All in all it was a great start, despite the fact that as soon as we stepped out of the shop it was a torrential downpour! Meh, no rainstorm would dampen my spirit when 5 more shops await!

Follow Unwound Artisan Yarn Shop on Facebook!!

Check out their Instagram here!!

Next was Fitting Knit Shop, another store in downtown La Crosse. We arrived and had our passport stamped first thing. They were giving away free knitting patterns and I grabbed a couple skeins of Bamtastic Bamboo Yarn. I plan on trying my hand at knitting to see how I do. One really special point about this stop was the history of this little yarn store! It was established in 1946! They are still in business today. What a remarkable claim to be able to make! In the days of internet, it is pretty cool to see a business like this survive through so many decades.

Follow Fitting Knit Shop on Facebook!

We were quickly on our way to Viroqua, WI to Ewetopia Fiber Shop. I love this shop! With wall to wall fiber and lots of fun products that go beyond the yarn, I felt my excitement rising! What made Ewetopia stand out was the fact that they farm their own woolly animals that provide them their own AMAZING yarn! You all know me, I had to try THAT yarn! I purchased their own yarn which was 100% Blue Faced Leicester Wool. How incredible to have a sustainable farm to provide your own wool and fibers to their customers as well as stocking additional fabulous fibers! The staff at the shop was so endearing and wonderful. I had my passport stamped and I met some friends along the way! They gave out stitch markers for free, and of course I had to purchase some of the other fun items they had in their shop! I can’t wait to go back!

Follow Ewetopia Fiber Shop on Facebook

My mom and I were now off to Decorah, Iowa to our fourth stop of the day. By this time it was closing in on lunch, but we decided to wait until we arrived in Decorah, made our stop at the yarn shop Blue Heron Knittery, before stopping for lunch. Oh. My. Gosh! What a wonderful city Decorah is! This was my very first time visiting and right away we noticed the strong Scandinavian heritage of the area! It was wonderful. What was even more delightful is the yarn store had a wonderful selection of yarns that were specific to Norway and Denmark. We marked our passports to make note that we found our way to the fourth place on our route. I picked up some Kauni 100% wool and some Rauma Finullgarn. The shop had some fun swag giveaways and I walked away with a cute notepad with sticky notes and a pen.  A cute stash bag also caught my eye and I had to have it!

Follow Blue Heron Knittery on Facebook

By now we were starving and the Blue Heron Knittery shop staff recommended us to Ede’s Angry Pickle! Yes you read that right! It is a little sandwich shop right across the street a bit from the yarn shop. You can follow them on Facebook here! What a delightful diner! We had artisan sandwiches with fresh lemonade and it hit the spot! We even left a little bit of art behind to commemorate the day! My mom drew Pickle Art for the wall inside the diner which was filled with the art of past patrons.


By 3pm, we were on our last leg of the trip headed towards Minnesota. A little tired from all the day’s activity, we were determined to finish the yarn hop. The next stop was Just Stitch It Meisch Upholstery in Caledonia, Minnesota. As soon as we walked in the door, we were greeted by wonderful staff in a small shop inside what looks like a home. It was a combined fabric and fiber shop that was very cozy! They handed us wonderful pouches of swag as a sweet giveaway and had us register for a special giveaway of a bag, magazine and ball of yarn. A few days after the Yarn Loop was over, I received a phone call from this shop that I won their giveaway! They had some wonderful yarn selections and I was able to purchase their pattern selection they had featured which used Schoppel yarns. We wrapped up our visit and were on our way to the LAST stop of the day!

Follow Just Stitch It on Facebook

Winona, Minnesota was the next city on the map for our fabulous Yarn Loop Day. Yarnology was the last shop and last stop for us! And what a way to end the day!!!!! Yarnology was packed full of fun and fabulous products! I scored myself some Universal Yarns Bamboo Bloom Handpaints in the color Kanji and the swag they gave away was AWESOME!! They handed us gift bags upon arrival filled with lots of fun do-dads! One big highlight of the day was meeting Lisa who is the owner of Abacus Dyeworks! Remember, I bought that yarn from Unwound Artisan Yarn Shop from our first stop?! How awesome was it to meet the dyer of the yarn I purchased earlier in the day!! I also discovered the product SOAK Wash! You can learn more about SOAK and how awesome it is by following them on Facebook here! I absolutely loved this store, the atmosphere, the staff…the list goes on. It was THE PERFECT way to end this hop.

Follow Yarnology on Facebook

Follow Yarnology on Instagram

Follow Abacus Dyeworks on Instagram

Follow Soak Wash on Facebook

My mom and I had such a great adventure as we always do, and a yarn hop was the best way to spend a Friday. We met so many friendly and welcoming people. We enjoyed driving through the countryside, and when the rain cleared, the scenery was breathtaking. We found new places to go back to and explore. A special thank you to all of the participants in this 1st annual Driftless Loop Yarn Shop Hop! It was a blast! And I found out Yarn Hopping is as fun as it is exhausting! Until next year everybody! Share your yarn hop adventures in the comment section! I would love to hear from you!

~Nadia

 

My Contribution to an Eco-Friendly Fashion Show!

For those of you following my blog posts, I had showcased back in early May, a blog about a recycled halter top that I created using plastic bags. The item was created for an eco-friendly fashion show: Catwalk for Water held on May 7, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. This environmentally friendly fashion show featured “creative and inspiring hair, makeup, and fashion created by area artists. This event was sponsored by Indira Aveda Salon Spa in Chicago. All proceeds benefit their Earth Month Partner – Alliance for the Great Lakes.”


I was contacted earlier this year by a friend who was the driving force behind this Chicago event. She asked me if I could create a piece using plastic bags, and together we collaborated on a vision. Using her guidelines, I created this fun piece that used 70 recycled plastic grocery bags that I cut into “plarn” and crocheted into this wild halter top.


I sent the piece to Chicago for it to be added to an ensemble created by my friend Tracey, owner of Indira Salon and Spa, and used in her vision for this outfit. All items used were recycled, re-used, re-purposed pieces that were put together to make amazing fashion statements.


Many incredible creations were part of the show and it was a lot of fun to be a small part of such a great event even from a distance. The photos from the event show a lot of amazing talent! What a great event for such a fabulous cause that inspires change for our planet and environment besides providing enormous inspiration for creating environmentally fashion.


The ensemble created for the event included my eco-friendly plarn halter top, vintage sunglasses from Fiore in Green Bay, WI, a handmade up-cycle necktie skirt, braided rags to riches Coachella inspired hair both done by Tracey herself. Her entire vision came together perfectly and was worn by a remarkable model who flawlessly showcased all of these items together! She SLAYED! This attire won Best Interpretation of the Theme: Coachella-Art and Music Festival! What an awesome win!


I want to say a special thanks to Tracey and Indira for asking me to take part in this project. It was a great experience to create a piece for this event and expand my talent in such an imaginative way. It was a lot of fun! I hope to do more events like this in the future!


Photos from event were provided with permission by Tracey (Indira Salon and Spa, Chicago Illinois)

Crochet Tutorial: Pop Art Wig

Influenced by the Pop Art Movement of New York artists, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and James Rosenquist, I decided to add this hot pink wig creation to my crochet costume collection. This is my very own version of being a comic strip character with a bit of YARN power!

This bold color works perfectly in the creation of this costume, however, don’t just stop there! This wig can make a great hat! Walk on the wild side with this bold pink fashion statement anytime of the year!

There was a point in time when I was going through treatment and I lost my hair, this would have been a great piece to wear to cover my head. I could totally rock these crocheted bold colored wigs! They make great chemo hats! Add a bow for a little flare!

go BOLD, go CRAZY, go WILD! Whatever you do, have fun!

Pop Art
Pop Art

Watch this video to learn how to make your own Pop Art Wig:


Pop Art
Pop Art

Pattern:

Designed by Nadia Fuad
Questions? Leave a comment!
You may sell items made from my pattern, but please reference my name and Etsy Shop (YARNutopia).
Please do not copy and post this pattern and claim it as your own.

Materials:
-Red Heart Super Saver (Less than half skein–I Used Pretty N’ Pink)
-Size J-6.00mm crochet hook (You could use I-5.50mm crochet hook)
-Yarn Needle
-Scissors

NOTES:
-For special stitches (FPDC & BPDC) see video tutorial for visual instructions

Ch: chain
St: Stitch
Sl st: slip stitch
SC: Single Crochet
DC: Double Crochet
FPDC: Front Post Double Crochet
BPDC: Back Post Double Crochet
Ch 4,
Rnd 1: 11 DC in 4th ch from hook, sl st to ch 3 at the beginning of round (12 DC)Rnd 2: Ch 3, FPDC around Ch 3 from previous rnd, *DC in next st, FPDC around same st (See video for visual instruction) Repeat from * around, sl st to beginning ch3 (12 DC, 12 FPDC)Rnd 3: Ch 3, DC into the FPDC from prev. rnd, FPDC around same st, *DC in next st, DC in next FPDC from prev. rnd, FPDC around same st, repeat from * around, sl st to beginning ch 3 (24 DC, 12 FPDC)

Rnd 4: Ch 3, DC in next st, DC into the FPDC from prev. rnd, FPDC around same st, *DC in next 2 sts, DC in next FPDC from prev. rnd, FPDC around same st, Repeat from * around, sl st to beginning ch 3 (36 DC, 12 FPDC)

At this point, you can skip to round 6 if your hat is big enough to fit a child.

Rnd 5: Ch 3, DC in next 2 sts, DC into the FPDC from prev. rnd, FPDC around same st, *DC in next 3 sts, DC in next FPDC from prev. rnd, FPDC around same st, repeat from * around, sl st to beginning ch 3 (48 DC, 12 FPDC)

Rnd 6: Ch 3, DC in next 3 sts, FPDC around FPDC from prev. rnd, *DC in next 4 sts, FPDC around FPDC from prev. rnd, repeat from * around, sl st to beginning ch 3 (48 DC, 12 FPDC)

Rnds 7-13: Repeat rnd 6

This next part is worked in rows (See video for visual instructions)

Row 14: Ch 3, DC in next 3 sts, FPDC around FPDC from prev. rnd, *DC in next 4 sts, FPDC around FPDC from prev. rnd. Repeat from * 7 times, ch 3 turn work (39 sts)
(Leave the rest of the stitches unworked)

Row 15: Ch 3, DC in next 3 sts, BPDC around FPDC from prev. rnd, *DC in next 4 sts, BPDC around FPDC from prev. rnd. Repeat from * 7 times, ch 3, turn work (39 sts)

Rows 16-23: Repeat Rows 14 and 15

Continue to SC around entire wig.
Fasten off, weave in ends.

Fasten off with long tail for sewing.

Enjoy!!

***You can always contact me if you have any problems with the pattern. I am happy to help if you have any questions along the way.

***These patterns are copyright YARNutopia © so PLEASE DO NOT COPY, SHARE, ADJUST OR RESELL MY PATTERN. I wrote and tested this pattern myself, from beginning to end. It took a lot of time and work, and I would really like to have it remain “my pattern.”

***You can sell anything you make from my patterns, please just link back to my website YARNutopia.com. Thank you!

Teacher: Nadia Fuad
Video and Editing: Fuad Azmat (My Daddy)

Share your work on Facebook!

Shop Here

Add me on Snapchat: YARNutopia

Follow me on Instagram

Follow me on Twitter: @YARNutopia

Enjoy this video and subscribe to my channel on YouTube for more tutorials on how to crochet!
Leave a comment, and share with your friends!

“Art is anything you can get away with.” ~Andy Warhol

~Nadia