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.

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.

Kindle Cover Pattern

I received both my first crochet supplies and a Kindle for Christmas. Naturally, I wanted to crochet a cover for my Kindle, but I couldn't find any pattern that was exactly what I wanted, so I decided to create my own.

I used Caron Simply Soft Solids in Blue Mint for the body of the cover and Pistachio for the contrast stitching and pocket. I wanted to add an earphone pocket for listening to audiobooks, but I wanted it to be round to coordinate with the button. Since creating a round pattern from scratch was a little too advanced for me, I used the Loopy Flower Coaster pattern by James Davis for the pocket.

Crochet Kindle Cover

Materials:
Approximately 80 yards worsted weight yarn in color A
Small amount of worsted weight yarn in color B (for contrast stitching and pocket if desired)
Shank button with  1" diameter
Crochet hook size H
Yarn needle

Foundation: Chain 26 using color A.

Row 1: Hdc in third chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 2. Turn. (24 hdc)
Rows 2 - 48: Hdc in each stitch across. Chain 2. Turn.
Row 49*: Hdc in first 10 stitches across. Chain 4. Skip 4 hdc. Hdc in remaining 10 stitches across. Chain 2. Turn.
Row 50: Hdc in first ten hdc across. Hdc in each of 4 chain stitches. Hdc in remaining 10 stitches across. Chain 2. Turn.
Rows 51: Hdc in each stitch across. Chain 2. Turn.
Row 52: Hdc in each stitch across. Fasten off. Weave in ends.

* This is based on a button with a 1" diameter. Adjust the number of chain stitches and skipped stitches to accommodate the button you plan to use.

Assembly: Fold finished crochet piece so that row 1 lines up with row 45. Using yarn needle and color B, begin whip stitching through front and back at bottom left corner moving up the body of the piece. When you reach the end of the front, continue whip stitching along the sides and top of the flap to create contrast edging around to the other side. Continue whip stitching through front and back layers moving down to the bottom right corner. Using yarn needle and color A, attach button in appropriate location to fit through button hole.

This pattern does not include the pocket pictured because it is not my own design. If you want to add a pocket exactly like mine, use the link above to access that pattern. You could also stitch a square or rectangle of any size you need to hold earphones, notepad, or other items and attach it to the front.