Cream Bookmark

I made this bookmark, my second effort at thread crochet, as part of my Dad's birthday present (the other part is still a work in progress, to be posted at a later date).

I used the pattern for the Victorian Memories Bookmark by Denise Augustine Owens, which I found on Ravelry. The website where this is housed has a background image that makes it hard to read, but I found that copying the text and pasting it into a document worked well to create an easier pattern to follow.

 I used Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet cotton (size 10) in Natural. I had a little trouble getting everything to line up right on the end where the pattern starts and finishes, but otherwise it worked up easily and was fun to make.

If I had all the time in the world, I'd be doing tons of thread crochet at this point. As it stands, I look forward to making time to do a few more projects like this.

Caleb's Pickachu

You may remember that last year, I made my nephew Caleb an Oshawott for his first birthday. It was my first try at amigurumi, and it turned out well, if I do say so myself. So, for his second birthday, I decided to try a Pikachu. Pikachu has a more complicated body shape, since he's all one contoured piece from his feet to his head, and I had a little more trouble finding a pattern I really liked.

I settled on the Pikachu pattern from Etsy seller getfun for the body, ears, and arms of my Pikachu. However, this pattern uses felt for the tail, feet, and details, and I really wanted my Pika to be all crochet.

So, I used the pattern for the tail, feet, and stripes from the Pikachu pattern by WolfDreamer Off the Hook. I improvised the cheeks and eyes, as they're just circles.

While you can definitely tell that this is Pikachu, I'm not quite as happy with this effort as I was with Oshawott. I'm something of a perfectionist, and I wanted Pika to look just like the cartoon. In the end, Caleb seemed to like it, which is what's really important.

Andy, Caleb, and Pikachu

One Piece Slippers

I made these slippers back last fall, as a prototype to possibly reproduce as a Christmas present. I wanted a pattern that was worked in one piece, and I tried several that I found online. Most of them, like these, were worked by starting from the toe in rounds, then switching to rows to create the sides.

Unfortunately, I never really hit on a pattern that I really liked. Of the several practice slippers I made, these came closest after I heavily modified the original pattern. However, I still don't like how uneven the edging is and I'd have to start over guessing to modify the size. So, I haven't written up my final pattern because I don't really plan to use it again.

I still like the idea of slippers for Christmas gifts, so I'm going to be looking for more patterns like this. I may give up on the idea of working them in one piece, but I'd love it if I finally found the perfect one-piece pattern.

Green Bookmark

Since getting into crochet a little over a year ago, I've been interest in thread crochet. It's much more delicate and allows for some beautiful, lacy patterns. I tried what seemed like a simple bracelet, but couldn't get it to work. So, logically, I decided to jump into a much more elaborate pattern. It worked out a lot better.

 

I made this bookmark using the Shell Stitch Filet Bookmark pattern by Julie A. Bolduc and Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet Cotton in Sage.

This particular pattern also appealed to me because the central portion uses the same pattern of stitches to create a grid that's used in filet crochet. Since I'm also interested in giving that a try, this was a good introduction to both.

Pattern: Poke Bag

My nephew who just turned two last month has already seen enough episodes of Pokemon to have his own favorites, leading me to crochet him an Oshawott and a Pickachu (post soon!). Of course, my little buddy's love of Pokemon is just an excuse for his dad, the older of my two younger brothers, to watch.

Actually, we don't make excuses, my brother and I love Pokemon! So, for his birthday I made him a bag to hold the damage counters, status problem markers, coins, etc. that we need to play the Pokemon TCG.

 It's a Pokeball!

The twist on this bag is that it has a flat bottom. So, when you open it and fold down the sides, it turns into a handy bowl to for easy access to grab the tokens during a game.

I actually first thought of this concept some time ago and made a smaller version for my dad. I haven't ever written up the pattern for that, so I'll do that soon. In the meantime, here's the pattern for the Pokeball version.

Materials

Appoximate amounts worsted weight yarn:

90 yards - Red
95 yards - White
20 yards - Black
H Hook

Pattern

For anyone unfamiliar with working in continuous rounds instead of joining at the end of each round: Place a stitch marker in the first stitch of the round, and move it up as you complete each round.
Round 1: Create a magic ring. 6 sc into ring.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around.
Round 3: *Sc in next st, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 4: *Sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 5; *Sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 6: *Sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 7: *Sc in next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat around.
Round 8 - 15: Sc in each st around.
Row 16 - 17: Change to black. Sc around.
Row 18 - 24: Change to white. Sc around.
Row 25: [Sc in next 6 sts, ch 2, skip 1 sc, sc in next sc] repeat seven times around.
Row 26: [Sc in each sc, work one sc around the ch 2 from previous row], repeat around.
Row 27: Sc around.
Row 28: Sc around until 3 last three sts. Sl st into the last 3 sc from previous round. Finish off and weave in tail under the first few sts of the final round to create a smooth edge.

Button (make one):
Using black, create a magic ring. 12 dc in magic ring, sl st to join. Finish off.
Using white, create a magic ring. 12 hdc in magic ring, sl st to join. Finish off.
Center the white circle on top of the black circle and position both on the front of the bag so that the black stripe on the bag is behind the center of the circles. Using white, sew through both circles to attach.

Use white yarn to chain stitch or braid a drawstring or use ribbon. Thread through the spaces created in rows 25 and 26 of the bag pattern.

While it's pretty simple, this is the most complicated pattern I've written so far. So, please let me know if you have questions or if there is anything that doesn't make sense. Enjoy!

Grandaddy's Hat

 Somebody in my family gives my grandfather a sock hat, or something very similar, every year. He's cold-natured, and these hats are his first line of defense. This year, I decided to make one for him by hand, since this is the first year I've had the skill to do something like that.

 I decided to use the Back Loop Beanie pattern by Ryan Hollists, which is available as a free download on Ravelry. I couldn't seem to get the ribbing at the bottom to work right for me (actually, this was a hilariously awful failure so bad that I wish I'd taken a picture of it), so I decided to stick with extra rows of the basic stitch pattern. I used Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn! in Navy, although this picture isn't terribly true to the color.

I also made a couple of sizing changes:

Add row 11: [Sc in next 11 sts, 2 sc in next st] repeat around (six times)
Row 12 - 40: Sc around

When he tried it on, I thought it wouldn't have hurt to have done another increase row or two. I intended it to be long, which it was, so that part worked out fine. On the whole, it's a basic hat, but it worked up nicely and seemed to please the recipient.

Christmas Mittens

I made a few pairs of fingerless gloves for Christmas this year using different patterns. I tried to think about how the recipient might use them and find a pattern that suited that use. For example, I made a pair for my brother-in-law with his outdoorsy businesses in mind that were nice and sturdy. I also wanted to make some that were soft and cozy, so I turned to a different pattern.

For these, I used the same pattern I used to last year to make a pair for my yarn mentor. This pair was for a woman with smaller hands who likes to work outside. So, I made them slimmer and in a dark color that wouldn't show much dirt. As it turns out, she told me she's worn them inside to read and type when it's particularly cold. The yarn I used for this pair was Caron's Simply Soft in Dark Sage.

This pair was for my brother, who has very large hands and drives a lot. I find that fingerless gloves are perfect for driving. I knew he'd prefer something basic for the color, and it doesn't get much more basic than a nice, neutral black. In this case, I went with Caron's Simply Soft in Black.

One of the great things about this pattern is that it's easy to size. To make them longer and wider for bigger hands, you just begin with a longer starting chain and work more rows. For a smaller hand, reduce the starting chain and work fewer rows.

If you're interested in more detail on my crochet projects you can find all that over on Ravelry.

Warm and Stripey Scarf

I'm still working on posting all the Christmas gifts I made this year, so next up is the scarf I made for my other favorite brother-in-law.

I made this scarf using Lion Brand Jiffy Solids in Wine and Black and a K (6.5 mm) hook. I just wanted a straight forward striped scarf, so rather than use a pattern, I decided to improvise my own.

Ch 191 in first color.
Row 1: Dc in fourth ch from hook, dc across, turn.
Row 2: Add second color, ch 2, sc across, turn.
Row 3: Carrying first color up the side of the scarf, switch to first color. Ch 3, dc across.
Row 4: Carrying second color up the side of the scarf, switch to second color. Ch 2, sc across.
Repeat rows three and four until the scarf is as wide as desired.
To finish, work two rows of single crochet into the sides the stitches on each end of the scarf.

The thing is, once I got started, I realized I don't really know the right way to switch colors like this. So I just kind of made stuff up. Then, I worked two rows of single crochet in black into the side of the stitches on each end to cover up whatever I did. The end result looks nice, I think. Still, I'd rather do what I'm doing intentionally, not to cover a lack of knowledge. So, I've made a New Year's resolution to learn how to (correctly) change colors.

Sturdy Fingerless Gloves

Let's get started on all the handmade Christmas gifts! I made these gloves for one of my two favorite brothers-in-law, who both DJ's and does grading and tree removal throughout the year. Since he works outside using his hands, I thought he could use a pair of sturdy gloves that would still leave his fingers free to get things done.

The pattern for these is from the blog My Recycled Bags, which as the name suggests, has a number of great free crochet patterns using reclaimed plastics and other materials. The Men's Crocheted Fingerless Gloves pattern uses standard yarn, and I made these using Caron's Simply Soft Solids in Black.

One of the best things about this pattern is that it explains a simple technique to end continuous crochet in the round with a smooth edge. This is something I've struggled with because I greatly prefer this method to ending each round with a slip stitch to join and a chain to start the next round. However, I've ended up with a bump at the end of the final round because of how it steps up over the last few stitches. The technique described in this pattern, which uses slip stitches to replace the last few stitches in the final round, completely fixes that!

The pattern suggests crocheting tightly or doing a decrease in the last couple of rounds to make sure the hand opening is snug. I decided to do a decrease on row 32 (second to last row), then just crochet tightly for the final row:

Row 32 - [Sc in next seven sc, sc2tog] four times, sc in next three sc (34 stitches)
Row 33 - Sc around using instructions to end with a smooth edge.

The thumbs on my gloves lay at an odd angle when they're not worn, but fit and looked normal on. I assume this is related to something about how I worked the first row of stitches to add the thumb, so any tips on how to fix that would be welcome.

Happy New Year!

I've been so busy crafting Christmas gifts that I've had to take a pretty long hiatus from posting. Now I'm back, and I have a big stash of holiday craft photos to post over the next few weeks! I'll start with the elf hat that I made for my brand new niece, who was born a little ahead of schedule on November 20.

I made this hat using I Love This Cotton! in Bright Green and White Sparkle. The pattern is the Newborn Elf Hat with Braided Tassel pattern by Sarah McPherson (this is a link to Ravelry; the pattern has been taken down since I used it). I should note that I changed the tassel and that I did something drastically wrong while changing colors. There's a reason this picture only shows the back of the hat. It also turned out to be a little too small, so overall, not my most successful project.

On the other hand, I have quite a few that turned out much better including a lot more crochet, some body products,

and, something new I tried this year, candles.

I hope everyone's enjoying 2013 so far!

Wedding Waves Blanket

I worked on other projects throughout working on it, but even so this blanket took quite a while. I started it this summer as a gift for some friends who got married in October. It's my first blanket or afghan, so I chose a relatively simple pattern that uses only basic stitches in rows.

I used the Scrumptious Scraps Afghan pattern by Dot Matthews, which I found on Ravelry, and worked the pattern using I Love This Yarn! in Stonewash, Dark Country Blue, and Coffee. While I thought of the project as an afghan or couch blanket, I decided to make it in twin size, as my friends are both tall and I personally like a nice big blanket when I'm on the couch.

I chose the colors because this combination is a favorite of the bride's. I've also been told that the groom has napped under it, and I've been furnished with photographic evidence that the true head of the house has claimed it as her own.

With such feline approval, I consider my first afghan project a success!

His Birthday It Is

Some good friends' son turned one recently, so I wanted to make him something to mark the occasion. Since his parents and I share a love for sci-fi and fantasy, I decided to make him the same Yoda Baby Hat that I made for my nephew some time back. I used the same pattern and materials that I used for the one for my nephew to create this one.

While the young recipient of the hat was a little reluctant to keep it on (it was a pretty warm day to be wearing a crocheted hat), his mom told me that she saw a few adults cast an admiring glance its way.

Roller Derby Babies Pattern

I created these hats for a friend who plays roller derby. One of her teammates was expecting twin girls, and she wanted a gift to get these new derby girls off to the right start.

For those unfamiliar with roller derby, these designs are the helmet covers worn by the jammer and the pivot, two critical positions on the team. In real life, they look something like this:

Image from Molly's Skivvies, purveyor of derby goods

To make my hats, I looked for a basic baby hat pattern to give me roughly the right proportions. I decided on Bev's Newborn Roundie by Beverly A. Qualheim because it's simple and the instructions are easy to understand.

From there, I made quite a few modifications, so here is my final pattern:

Materials
Approximately 50 yards worsted weight yarn for hat. I used Caron Simply in Soft in White.
Approximately 15 yards worsted weight yarn for embellishments. I used Red Heart Shimmer in Red.
G Hook
One safety pin style stitch marker
Yarn Needle

Round 1: Create a magic circle. Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 14 dc into loop (15 sts)
Starting with round 2, mark the first stitch of each round with a stitch marker, moving the marker up as you work.
Round 2: 2 dc into top of ch 3 from previous round, [dc into next st, 2 dc into next st] around (23 sts).
Round 3: Repeat round 2 (35 sts).
Round 4 - 9: [2 dc, dc] around. (This leads to an increase of one stitch per round. Round 9 = 41 sts).
Round 10: Dc around (41).
Round 11: [Sc into next 5 sts, sc 2 tog] five times, 6 sc. Slip stitch into first stitch in the round, finish off (36).

For the pivot hat stripe embellishment:
Ch 13.
Row 1: Dc in 4th ch from hook, dc across. Ch 3 and turn.
Row 2 - 21:  Dc across, ch and turn.
Pin the stripe down the center of the hat to find the correct placement. Stitch the stripe on using the stripe color and a yarn needle.

For the jammer hat star embellishment:
This star is based on the Simple Little Star pattern by Melissa Trenado, with just a slight modification.
Make 2.
Round 1: Ch 2. 5 sc in 2nd ch from hook.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around.
Round 3: [Sc, ch 5, sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc, dc in next 2 ch. Skip next sc from round 2. Sc into next sc from round 2.] five times to create five points.*
Round 4: [4 sc up first side of point, 3 sc in top stitch, 4 sc down remaining side] five times. Sl st into first sc. Fasten off.
Pin one star to opposite sides of the hat to find the correct placement. Stitch the stars on using the star color and a yarn needle.

*I initially found this row a little confusing. To add a little clarity, you are working the point of each star over three stitches of row 2. First, you do a sc, then ch 5. This chain becomes a base over which you work 1 flat row that forms a triangle due to increasing the height of the stitches. Finally, you attach your new triangle back to round 2 by skipping the 2nd sc and doing a sc into the 3rd sc from round 2. I'm sure this is still pretty confusing, but it makes sense once you do the first one!

Luggage Tags

I recently traveled to Minneapolis to present at a professional conference, so I decided to make some crocheted markers for my luggage. I just wanted to make it easy to spot mine out of a crowd, so I grabbed some brightly colored yarn and went to town

They're just simple strips of double crochet five stitches wide. I have no idea how many rows I did; I just went until they seemed long enough to tie in a good knot. The yarn I used is SMC Select Rosas in turquoise. It was on clearance when I visited the yarn store and met my "distinctive enough to be easy to spot" criteria.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm working on a big project right now, so my posting pace may continue to be a little slow. I am doing a few small side projects, so I won't completely disappear. After that, I have several projects lined up for Halloween, new babies, Christmas gifts, and...well, I can't even think of all of them at the moment.

Mother's Day Mushrooms

My mom has had these canisters my whole life (if I recall correctly, they were a wedding present).

They're part of the Merry Mushroom line of kitchen items sold by Sears in the late 70's and early 80's, and she's picked up a number of the other items from the line over time. So, I decided to use them as inspiration for her Mother's Day present.

I made these potholders using this Mushroom Potholder pattern from Lion Brand Yarn (the pattern is free, but you have to sign up for an account on their website). The bell of the mushroom is worked in the round then flattened, and the stem is a doubled-over strip of single crochet. So, the end result is very thick. I didn't actually use these since they were a gift, but my guess is that they would work really well as practical items as well as decoration.

As you can see, they turned out different sizes due to varying tension leading to different gauges. To coordinate with the Merry Mushrooms colors, I used Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton! in Burnt Sienna, Brown, and Woods Print.

Summer Hippy Hat

Since I started crocheting, I've seen lots of patterns for really cute slouchy hats. I decided to try making one for summer in a light, breathable yarn with a very open pattern of stitches to keep it from being hot.

I decided to use the Spider Web Slouchy Hat pattern from A Little Loopy, But I'm Hooked, which also has tons of other nice crochet patterns.

I used I Love This Cotton! in Purple to make it nice and light. The band around my face turned out a little looser than would have fit me perfectly, but it stays in place okay for just hanging out. Adding a little barrette or two somewhere makes it secure enough for getting out and doing stuff.

The instructions were easy to follow and the hat worked up quickly. As it turns out, I'm not crazy about how it looks with my hair tucked inside, which is how I was hoping to wear it. I actually don't wear hats all that often, so I'm still sort of trying to decide how it fits in my wardrobe. I always seem to have that problem with hats.

Do you have anything like that? Things that just seem to always end up cooler in concept than in practice?

Don't Lose Your Marbles

One of my dad's hobbies is collectible marbles. As I now know, a run of a particular machine-made marble includes marbles with numerous swirl patterns, each with its own name and level of desirability. So, part of collecting these marbles is sorting and examining them. Toward that end, I decided to crochet some sorting bowls for my dad for Father's Day.

I made these using the Nested Birds Nests pattern from Think Crafty Thoughts. The pattern is available for free as a Ravlery download. You'll have to sign up for Ravelry to get it, but it's well worthwhile to sign up if you're looking for free patterns.

The nests come in three sizes, and I made three sets of nests. There's one in each size in each color. The yarns are all I Love This Cotton! from Hobby Lobby in Brown, Forest, and Woods Print. They worked up quickly and are SO cute. They would really make nice little organizers for paperclips and office stuff or jewelry or anything little you need to keep together.

I especially like how the final row curls in to create a little bit of a lip. I think this is more pronounced in my version than in some of the others people have posted on Ravelry because I used a fairly tight tension.

After finishing all my bowls, I decided he might also need something to take his marbles with him, so I made what I'm calling the Mobile Marble Bowl. It's basically a flat-bottomed bag that converts to a bowl when the sides are folded down. I'm planning to write up instructions and share them in a separate post, so this is just a little teaser for that project.

Poke-Mon Hat

When I started crocheting, I was (pleasantly) surprised to find out how many Pokemon crochet patterns there are out there! My brother Andy first got me into Pokemon through the trading card game, which led me to the cartoons, then the Nintendo DS games, then the old GameBoy games...and on and on. So, after making his son an Oshawott and a Yoda hat, I decided it was time to make Andy something.

I made this Pokeball hat using this free pattern by Bonnie Jacobs. Andy said the visible crochet stitches made it look sort of Rasta, so we dubbed it the Poke-Mon hat. I used I Love This Yarn! from Hobby Lobby in Red, White, and Black. You can also find this project on Ravelry if you'd like more information.

So, I will leave you with a picture of the recipient of this project wearing his hat!

I think I'll need to make hats for his family of three (and one impending) by this winter!

Little Sister Owl

As I've mentioned before, one of the best ways to get the products of my craftiness is to be a fan of it. So, when Sonya saw some patterns on Ravelry for owl-themed things and mentioned that her younger sister loves owls, I grabbed some left-over yarn and whipped something up.

This little purse (more of a change purse or wallet really) was made using the Owl Purse pattern by Brenda K. B. Anderson, which is available for free on Stitch Nation.

The pattern calls for crocheting in wool and felting the finished product. Instead, I decided to crochet in acrylic with a smaller hook and fore-go the felting. I used Caron Simply Soft Solids in Blue Mint and Black and Red Heart Shimmer in Hot Pink. I used a size G (4.0 mm) hook for everything. The beak is embroidered on.

I really like making things that can be used or worn regularly, and I'm told that the recipient of this purse was really happy with it. What are some of your favorite practical objects to make?

Fiesta Shawl

In the past, I've thought of crocheted shawls as sort of little old lady-ish. Once I started crocheting, I realized there were so many patterns and so many ways to make a shawl or wrap that it didn't have to be that way. Nevertheless, my first shawl is a little old fashioned on purpose.

I made this shawl using the Morning Has Broken pattern, which is available free on Ravelry (you'll have to sign up for an account). In fact, I liked how it looked in the photos from the pattern, that I used the same yarn, Lion Brand Homespun in Fiesta. The yarn is bulky weight and I used a size L hook, so the shawl worked up very quickly. I love the colors in this variegated yarn, which is also very soft and warm. So warm, that it offsets the open stitching to make the shawl very warm. It's definitely something I'll wear mostly in winter.

I'd like to make myself a wrap or two for spring and summer as well - maybe something I could wear in the evening over sleeveless shirts. Does anyone have any favorite patterns or materials for spring/summer?