Collar? Cute!

In my quest for the new and unusual crochet, I found THIS precious pattern from lululoves:

...and I have to say, I love it. Super cute pattern, very easy, and versatile...worn alone, stitched to a sweater, easy to change sizes...

I'll  be honest, I don't think I am quite cool enough to wear it the way she does. But in concept it would be ridiculously cute with one of my black dresses.

I made a big girl size...can't wait to play with smaller yarn and a smaller size for a baby or toddler.

Project: Doily

My precious husband inspired me to start working on some heirloom quality projects. Not that all of my finished creations aren't of high quality, but to begin to focus on pieces that can decorate our home for years to come and be passed down or given as cherished gifts. So as I have on stock some seriously fabulous vintage yarn and I tend to be a pretty "instant gratification" crafter, a smaller project - like a doily- seemed like a good place to start.

I began with a white yarn that was fairly chunky (for a doily at least) and did a variation of this pattern:

Then after building my crochet confidence, I went for a smaller, more intricately designed pattern with a thinner yarn (still not as thin as traditional doilies would be normally crocheted with, but a step in the right direction). For the peach doily, I used this pattern:

A pleasure to crochet and a pleasure to photograph.

Long Lost Gifts

My kiddo cousins just got back from Japan (!!!) and are trying on their crochet and loom knit presents in the middle of summer. They are such sports!

Love you Evan and Riley!!!

Sock Monkey Hat

When a coworker who is due in October (it's a girl!!!!) asked me to make a pink sock monkey hat ... I struggled to find a pattern I loved, so I went to work - flying by the seat of my pants. And I am extremely pleased with the results. Maybe when I make another I will take the time to write a pattern up and post it...until then, enjoy!

Ankle Bells!!!

Here is my new crochet obsession: Baby Ankle Bells! They are basically simple cuffs that easily slip over baby's foot with bells attached. They crochet up quickly and can pretty much be made using any crochet stitch. I made mine in the round but you could also crochet the cuff straight and then join it by sewing or a crocheted join. Honestly, they hardly warrant a pattern...but for kicks and giggles:

Crocheted Baby Ankle Bells Pattern
.........
Ch = chain
Sl st = slip stitch
Dc = double crochet
.........
Ch a length that will easily slip over baby's foot.

(To measure: gently wrap a piece of yarn around baby's ankle and then measure the length of that yarn, make your starting chain about that long)

Sl st to first ch to join, ch 2, turn.

DC into each ch around, *sl st to top ch from ch 2.

Ch 2, turn, DC into each DC around*

Repeat between * * until the cuff is desired width, sl st to top ch from ch 2 and fasten off.

Then as securely as possible sew bells to the cuff (I have made sets that have one bell per cuff and sets that have 7 bells per cuff...so just play with it!)

I have also added flowers or other motifs to jazz them up if that tickles your fancy.

These would be super fun for that day they discover their feet, new crawlers or walkers, dance time, and for keeping tabs on little explorers. Heck! I want a pair for myself! I think they are just so darn fun!

***PLEASE MONITOR LITTLE ONES THE ENTIRE TIME THEY WEAR OR HANDLE THESE PRODUCTS AS SMALL PARTS MAY BECOME DETACHED AND POSE A CHOKING HAZARD!***

Just a little crochet love!

I wanted to share a few photos of some crochet love...I will post links to patterns and shout outs to my inspirations as soon as I have a chance. But for now - enjoy!

Something old. Something new.

After a lovely week with family and friends up north - we have made it safely home and have begun settling back in to a routine. While in the lovely South Bend Indiana I made some wonderful acquisitions - a brand spanking new Vizio Tablet (to catalog and view my knitting and crochet patterns and to better be able to keep up this new blog). I am very pleased with it!

The second gift - thanks to the precious giving spirit of my mother who is the definition of servanthood - was a true treasure trove of fiber art - old and new. Vintage Yarn, crochet hooks in sizes I didn't know existed, circular needles, embroidery thread, patterns, magazines, buttons, needles, scissors, full sets of traditional knitting needles...I could go on and on.My mother took care of an elderly woman who was in need of a friend/advocate who recently passed. Because the woman had literally no living relatives, she left a great deal of her possessions to my mother. This woman was very skilled at these crafts and left behind a great deal of projects - many partially finished and many painstakingly completed with such craftsmanship as one would only see today done by an embroidery machine or a knitting machine.

So for me - this new piece of technology and the old boxes of yarn upon yarn met up with such perfect timing...no way Jose was I going to spend upwards of $50 for a case for my tablet which gave me the brilliant excuse to break into some of my new old yarn. I searched around for some patterns for a crocheted case and found a few but was left dissatisfied.

For my Vizio tablet...

I used a size P (10.00mm) crochet hook and four strands of worsted weight yarn (or shoot for a superbulky yarn).

Chain 14

DC in 3rd chain from hook and in each chain across
Turn, ch 2, dc in each ea st across
Repeat until you can fold the panel around the tablet.

To create the flap:
Ch 2, skip the first st and dc across. In the middle of ea row, dcdec.
Repeat until you are down to 2 st and tie off.
Fold and sc up one side to join the sides.
DC around the flap (this helped create a smooth sturdy edge)
SC down the other side to join the sides and tie off.

Weave in ends and turn inside out.
Sew on a button that will fit thru the dc's of the flap.

This will be super easy to change for a different sized tablet. Just play with the length of the foundation chain. This will also change if you use a different size of hook/yarn - which would work if you want.

Mine turned out super bulky which is exactly what I wanted in order to keep my tablet safe in my bag.