Category: Crafts

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Valentine’s Cozy Roundup – Day 4

I saw some ideas on Pinterest for cozies with popcorn stitch hearts.  The links to the patterns weren’t good, so I made up a pattern!

Stitches Used:

  • Chain (ch)
  • Single crochet (sc)
  • Slip stitch (sl st)
  • Half double crochet (hdc)
  • Popcorn stitch (pop) – There are a couple of different ways to do this.  My favorite is as follows:
    • Yarn over and insert hook from front to back in to stitch, yarn over and draw yarn through stitch (3 loops on hook), yarn over and draw through two loops (2 loops on hook)
    • Yarn over and insert hook from front to back in to same stitch, yarn over and draw yarn through stitch (4 loops on hook), yarn over and draw through two loops (3 loops on hook)
    • Yarn over and insert hook from front to back in same stitch, yarn over and draw yarn through loops (5 loops on hook), yarn over and draw through two loops (4 loops on hook)
    • Yarn over and insert hook from front to back in same stitch, yarn over and draw yarn through loops (6 loops on hook), yarn over and draw through two loops (5 loops on hook)
    • Yarn over and insert hook from front to back in same stitch, yarn over and draw yarn through loops (7 loops on hook), yarn over and draw through two loops (6 loops on hook)
    • Yarn over and draw through all loops on hook

Cozy Pattern:

Chain 30 and sl st in first chain being careful not to twist.

R1:  Ch 2, 7 hdc, 1 pop, 14 hdc, 1 pop, 7 hdc, sl st to first hdc

R2:  Ch 1,  30 sc, sl st to first sc

R3:  Ch2, 5 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 10 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 5 hdc, sl st to first hdc

R4:  Repeat R2

R5:  Ch2, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 7 hdc, 1 pop, 6 hdc, 1 pop, 7 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, sl st to first hdc

R6:  Repeat R2

R7:  Ch2, 1 hdc, 1 pop, 5 hdc, 1 pop, 5 hdc, 1 pop, 2 hdc, 1 pop, 5 hdc, 1 pop, 5 hdc, 1 pop, 1 hdc, sl st to first hdc

R8:  Repeat R2

R9:  Ch2, 1 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 2 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 1 hdc, sl st to first hdc

R10:  Repeat R2

R11:  Ch2, 3 hdc, 1 pop, 7 hdc, 1 pop, 6 hdc, 1 pop, 7 hdc, 1 pop, 3 hdc, sl st to first hdc

R12:  Repeat R2, break yarn and work in ends

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Sham-Ombre Hat Pattern

I created a St. Patrick’s worthy hat pattern consisting of the standard shamrock and an ombre effect as the hat transitions to the crown.  I chose two coordinating green tones of Knit Picks Hawthorne fingering weight yarn that is light and perfect for spring.  I love the subtle design and the two beautiful yarn tones!  Because of the subtle effect, the hat doesn’t scream St. Patrick’s day and can be worn on other days throughout the year.

Buy the pattern on Etsy here or on Ravelry here.  The pattern is a written pattern, if you would prefer a chart, please contact me, and I can make that happen!

Materials:

Go to this link to buy a kit with everything you need to make this hat on Amazon.

  • Two colors of fingering weight yarn
  • 5 Size US 5 double pointed needles
  • Tapestry needle


Stitches Used:

Please comment below with any questions!

 

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Valentine’s Cozy Roundup – Day 3

I love this cozy because instead of hearts, it has lips.  The lip pattern can be found here.

I decided to have some fun, so instead of using a plain cozy pattern, I made up one with a little extra texture.


Stitches Used:

Cozy Pattern:

Chain 30 and sl st in first chain being careful not to twist.

R1:  Ch 2, hdc in each chain around, sl st to first hdc (30 hdc)

R2:  Ch 2, hdc in third loop around, sl st to first hdc (30 hdc)

R3:  Repeat R2

R4:  Repeat R1

R5:  Repeat R2

R6:  Repeat R1

R7:  Repeat R2

R8:  Repeat R2

R9:  Repeat R1

R10:  Repeat R2

R11:  Repeat R1

R12:  Repeat R2

R12:  Repeat R2

R13:  Repeat R1

Break yarn.  Sew on applique, and weave in ends.

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Valentine’s Cozy Roundup – Day 2

Day 2’s cozy is a puff stitch cozy from the Roving Nomad.  I love how the v-shaped puff stitches resemble hearts!  The only edits I made were to use a H-hook and start with a chain of 30 instead of 24.


 

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Valentine’s Cozy Roundup – Day 1

I had surgery this week and am supposed to be doing nothing at home, so I whipped up six coffee cozies for my kids to give their teachers for Valentine’s Day.  I plan to share one cozy a day until the big event!

Day 1 – The Love Cozy

I saw a pattern I liked on Pinterest for a coffee mug cozy with the word “love” embroidered on it.  I wanted this to by a coffee cup cozy, not a mug cozy, so I followed this simple pattern by Dakotah Knits.

After I finished the cozy, I chain stitched the word “love” on the cozy.  Easy and cute!


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Sweetheart Hat Pattern

I wrote a guest blog this week over at Her Exchange about self-care through creativity, especially knitting and crocheting.  If you read the article, you’ll read about how after having kids, I really lost the joy in knitting in crocheting due to real or self-imposed deadlines and closed down my Etsy shop.  I have decided to change the focus of my shop and reopen!  Instead of selling finished products, I’m going to try to start selling my patterns.  And if I’m being truthful, I really enjoy the design aspect of coming up with a new pattern more than I enjoy making that pattern over and over for clients.

Without further ado, here is my first pattern:  the Sweetheart Hat.  I designed this hat for my daughter as a Valentine’s seasonal hat, but hearts are really always in season, so she doesn’t have to put it away after the holiday.  The pattern features my favorite heart cable that I’ve been putting on everything since college.  The hat can be worked in sizes baby through adult, but the cable size does not change so the cable will be more prominent on the baby sizes and less prominent on the adult sizes.

Buy the pattern on Etsy here or on Ravelry here.

Materials:

Go to this link to buy a kit with everything you need to make this hat on Amazon.

  • Worsted weight yarn
  • 2 Size US 8 needles for cable
  • 5 Size US 6 double pointed needles for remainder of hat
  • Cable needle
  • Tapestry needle


Stitches Used:

Please comment below with any questions!

 

 

 

 

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Mandala Madness Nursery Rug

While I was pregnant with Zoe I found a pattern on Pinterest called Mandala Madness.  It looked like so much fun!  The pattern created a giant, whimsical circle of crazy crochet techniques and looked like a blast.  But what does one do with a giant whimsical circle?  I decided to make it and use it as a rug in the nursery.

This project was FUN.  It is probably the most fun I have every had crocheting a project.  Every row was a different color or texture.  I finished all but the last two rows on it before having Zoe.  Since her brother moved to a big boy bed last night and she now has a crib in her room, I decided I had better finish the rug so we can finish the nursery.  (I’m not finished with her crib blanket, either.)  So, eight months later, the rug is finished!  I actually didn’t finish the 18 part pattern, I stopped when I got to the rug dimensions that I wanted.  I can always add more rows onto it later if I decide to reuse it as a larger circular blanket.  Right now it is about 4.5 feet in diameter, which is a great rug but a small blanket.


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Simple Crochet Christmas Ornaments

I love to make homemade gifts for people.  With teacher Christmas gift time approaching, I decided to make some simple crochet ornaments (in addition to contributing to class gift cards).  Gift cards, while appreciated, feel so generic to me.  I like to give at least a little something that is special.  

That being noted, I also bit off a little more than I could chew and didn’t finish six of them before Christmas.  Better late than never, right?  I got a set of three to Zoe’s three teachers before the holidays, but Jack’s teachers just got their today.

I chose a set of three free patterns from 5 Little Monsters that I found on Pinterest.  Didn’t they turn out cute?


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Horizontal Cable Knit Hat

Life got busy around the holidays, and I got behind on posting! One of my recent projects has been a new hat for Zoe. Baby heads grow so fast and none of her hats fit! The little jacket she wears all the time doesn’t have a hood, so she needed something to keep her little downy noggin’ warm. I was in love with some horizontal cabled hats I saw on Pinterest. I often make up my own patterns, but was interested in the construction techniques of this hat, so I bought a pattern I liked at Posh Patterns on Etsy. The pattern was quick, easy, and I love the way it turned out. We’ve already had many comments on it as we are out about town. The pattern can also easily be adjusted to use a different type of cable and now I have new ideas for how to construct a hat!


 

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Elmo and Zoe Halloween Costumes

A couple of months ago I started getting emails advertising Halloween costumes.  I looked at the options online, and had a hard time justifying the cost of the available costumes.  It would be a little different if Zoe was six, obsessed with Moana, and would play dress up in her costume for the next year.

Jack was almost two and had just become obsessed with Elmo.  Elmo’s best friend is Zoe, and it was just too perfect for our Zoe to be dressed as Zoe.  (Apparently I have a thing for matching names.  Last year Jack was Jack-Jack from the Incredibles.)

While Elmo costumes are available commercially, I was not going to put my 2-year-old in a fur costume in Texas.  He doesn’t understand the concept of dressing up for Halloween, I wasn’t sure he would even recognize the fur costume as “Melmo,” and it would be very uncomfortable.

Instead, I decided to knit/crochet hats for them and fill out the rest of their costumes with clothes from their closet.  They would give the impression of the characters while still being comfortable.

For Jack, I made his hat.  Can’t knit or crochet?  You can buy an Elmo hat on Amazon or Etsy.  I added a solid red Elmo t-shirt and jeans.  He could still run around being himself, and he had “Melmo” on his clothes, which was pretty cool.  At a party we attended this weekend, another toddler was following him around calling him Elmo, so I call that a success.


I also made Zoe’s hat.  If you can’t knit or crochet, Zoe hats are a little harder to come by, but are still available on Etsy.  Because Zoe (the character) loves to dance and often wears a ballet costume, we put our Zoe in a solid pink onesie and leggings with a tutu she wore during her newborn pictures and socks made to look like pointe shoes.