Craftapalooza

It has been Craftapalooza 2012 over at my house over the last couple of weeks. I have been making things left and right for baby showers,  gifts, and orders!

This is a baby blanket that I have been making for a baby shower. I saw the colors that the nursery was going to be done in, and this is what I came up with. I used the tutorial for this blanket and added some extras, like a border and some applique flowers.

I made this crochet case for a sweet friend who also likes to crochet. I “kind of” used this pattern. The reason I say “kind of” is because I got really confused after I made the spine, so I just started making up stitches. It worked! I also decided to change colors so that the inside would be rainbow instead of one solid color…because rainbows make me happy! 🙂

The outside cover called for an “X” type of stitch that left a lot of holes. I didn’t want the inside of the crochet case to show through, so I did a star stitch for the cover.

This is a star stitch:

AND now onto ORIGAMI! 🙂 Yes, I LOVE origami. Here are a couple of origami baby mobiles that I made. Let me tell you folks, origami is not for the faint of heart! I am totally serious. I basically charge $3 a star when I make an origami mobile, because this takes FOREVER. (I also included some small Origami Lucky Stars in this mobile. I don’t charge$3 for those.) First you have to fold the paper about 500 times (Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little.), and then you have to string them all up. I make sure that I secure all of the strands with crimping beads so nothing comes loose.

This mobile was made because someone requested cranes and tons of colors, in addition to the stars.

So, if you come over and wonder why my house isn’t clean…it’s because I was in the middle of Craftapalooza 2012!

–Amber 

Crochet Flower Brooch

What do you think about my new crochet flower brooch? I made this to wear on my jacket at church to brighten up my outfit this past Sunday.

 Supplies: I used all 8-ply yarn for this. For the flower I used “I Love This Cotton” Yarn in shades Buttercup, Pistache, Orangeade, Royalty, and Red. For the leaves I used Caron Simply Soft yarn in shade Pistachio. (Apparently, I really like the pistachio colors.) I used two sizes of needles, sizes F (3.75MM) and size D (3.25MM). I used the size F hook for everything except the borders on the flowers.  Don’t forget a button, sewing needle, sewing thread, and a brooch clasp for the back!

Here is the pattern, written in U.S. terms

Abbreviations are as follows:

ch = chain

sc = single crochet

hdc = half double crochet

dc = double crochet

htc = half treble crochet

tc = treble crochet

Start with a chain ring: Ch 6, then slip stitch in the first chain to form a ring.

1st row: Ch 2 (count as 1 sc), 19 sc in center ring (For a total of 20 sc. It will be a tight squeeze, but you can get them all in there!) Bind off and change colors.

2nd row: Join petal colour to any st, ch3, *skip next st, and into the next st, sc, ch2*
continue around the circle in this fashion and join with a slip stitch into
first ch. (You should have 10 2ch loops around your flower center)

3rd row:Next, slip stitch to the first loop and make a petal into the loop.

 PETAL: 1sc, 1hdc, 2dc, 1tr, 2dc, 1hdc, 1sc.

 Make 5 petals around your flower, going into every second 2ch loop. Join the last petal to the first with a slipstitch and bind off.

4th row: Switch to your size D hook and outline your flower: Sc around each st, doing 2sc in the top 3 stitches of each petal. Slip stitch across from the last stitch of one petal to the starting sc of the next, and when you have gone around the whole flower, join with a slip stitch and bind off.

(Back Flower)

5th row: Switch back to size F hook and do the back petals. Turn the flower over and find the 2ch loops in between
each petal. Join your second petal colour to any of these loops, and make a PETAL. (The same as the front petals.)

After making the first petal, ch2 behind the front petal to get you to the next 2ch loop, and continue in this manner around the flower until you have 5 back petals made, ch2 across to the first one and join with a slipstitch.

6th row: Switch back to size D hook for the outline of this flower: Join the yarn to any 2ch in between the back petals and slip stitch to a petal. Sc in each st around the petals, doing 2sc in each of the 3 top stitches, the
same as the front petals, and a slipstitch across each 2ch between the petals. Join with a slip stitch and bind off

To make the Leaves:

Chain 13, skip the first stitch, and do the following into the chains: 1sc, 2hdc, 2dc, 1 tr, 1dtr, 1tr, 1dc, 1hdc, 2sc,

and then I worked backwards along the other side of the chain for the second half of the leaf.  You can adjust this to as many or few chains as you like to make a bigger or smaller leaf.

Sew the button on the front and the leaves on the back. (I did this all together.) Then I sewed a brooch clasp on the back.

I saw a tutorial over at the Little Woolie blog and I made mine similar to hers. I changed a few things, but for the most part, it is her pattern. She has a picture tutorial, so if you need to follow along, click the link above. I love her blog and the colors she chooses. I wish she lived close to me so we could crochet together!! 🙂

Hope you have as much fun making this as I did!

-Amber

I am officially a Hooker.

Well, I said it! I do believe I am officially a “Hooker” now. Don’t worry about calling my husband…he knows. He said he hopes I keep up this hobby forever, because it is the first time that I am interested in something that doesn’t cost any money. Well… ya know, besides yarn. Oh wait!! You DID know that I was talking about crochet right?! 🙂

Here are a few things I am working on right now:

This owl. He’s actually finished. I have no idea what I am going to do with him, but I just wanted to see IF I could make an owl. Not too shabby. I think I will make his ears shorter next time. Addison thought it was a pig, before I added the nose and the eyes.

You can find a crochet pattern for this for sale here if you need one: http://www.etsy.com/listing/87023518/crochet-pattern-owl-big-brother-by

I am working on these little gems for a blanket. I found a tutorial online from the Colour in a Simple Life Blog. Fabulous crochet goodness.

This is a granny square that I made from a pattern I found online here: http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/weekend-stockholm

It has a “bumpy” texture that I like. It uses a stitch similar to the popcorn stitch, so the square doesn’t lay completely flat, which I like. I think it gives it character…and it seems like it would be a super comfy blanket if you made a whole blanket out of this. It was a very confusing pattern to read for me though; it did take me QUITE a long time to figure this out, but now that I know what I am doing, it’s a cinch.

I just thought I would show you my workspace: My BED! 🙂 I have everything I need including a Diet Cream Soda, my iPad, cell phone, remote, buttons, thread, needles, yarn…you name it! 😉

I have also convinced a friend of mine, Cassidy, to become a Hooker too. I think she rather enjoys the work.  I see us staying friends when we are old and gray, just laughing and crocheting the day away! (We have joked that we are already turning gray, but we are FAR from old. My idea of “OLD”  has changed over the last few years..hehe 🙂

Learning to Crochet the Day Away

So I have found a new hobby: Crochet! Go ahead and say it…of COURSE I didn’t need anything else to do, but oh well! 🙂 My mother tried to teach me to crochet when I was younger, and I have attempted to do it time and time again. I know I have a couple of unfinished scarves lying around still. For some reason, this time, I meant it when I said I wanted to learn. She came over and showed me the basics again. I think the difference this time was that we have YOUTUBE! Before, when I was a teen wanting to learn, I didn’t have access to YouTube like I do now. I needed someone to sit beside me the entire time. If my mom wasn’t present, I couldn’t remember what to do next, but now that we have access to videos and picture tutorials, it’s easy as pie! 🙂 I do feel like it helped to actually have someone sit down with me to show me, but when I can’t remember what to do, I just do a web search!

I found a couple of projects on my Pinterest that I was interested in doing. I have a friend that is having a baby, so I made this blanket for her. I actually bought the yarn off of a lady from our local facebook Swap Shop. Apparently the lime green yarn, Mint Julep, is no longer in production, so I had to switch to Spring Green when it ran out. You learn something everytime you crochet, and this was a lesson learned…. MAKE SURE YOU CAN GET MORE OF THE SAME COLOR YARN if you are working on a project. DUH. I was too far into it to unravel it, so I am going to pretend like this was on purpose and that I wanted to graduate the color to a darker one. 😉 Hopefully the baby won’t be offended.

I have found that I have a fondness for granny squares. I like the satisfaction of having something finished so early on in the process. (Plus, it’s easier to hold on to. I hate to chain 100, turn it, and and try to stitch the next row. It usually takes me a few rows to have something substantial to hold onto before I get comfortable holding it. If you have ever tried to crochet, you understand.)

And THIS so far, is my pride and joy. 🙂 I read a blog where a lady made a blanket like this (check out my Pinterest) and was intrigued. I am not finished with it yet. I am not sure WHEN I will be finished with it. I want it to be a pretty large blanket, so I am just going to add on until I feel like it’s the size I want.

I keep my yarn in this bag, which is why it is in the picture…I am not finished! I have actually had quite a few people ask me where I got this bag at, so I will link it: http://abarber.mymarkstore.com/ (Click “Shop Entire Collection” and browse around! Lot’s of fun finds!)

Here is the beginning of my next project. I hope I can figure it out. We will see! I am definitely a “Beginner” crocheter, so this may be biting off more than I can chew. However, I know my mother and Meme know how to crochet with their eyes closed, so if I need help, I am sure I can call them! 🙂

And of course, I had to post pics of my girls. I have been away at a Women’s Retreat this weekend, and have missed these girls! It certainly is nice to get away for a weekend, but I do love coming home to my husband and children!

MK is getting SO BIG! *sniff*

Seriously?! The crazy thing is that noone has to teach her to pose like this.

And I LOVE THIS PICTURE…because they are both standing up on the slide and you can tell that MK is scared she is going to fall off, which is why she is grabbing the back of Addison’s swimsuit. LOL

This also makes me think of what Addison said earlier when she was wrestling with MK, and apparently her panties were giving her a wedgie. She said, “Mom, these panties are cracking me up!” Haha

Love these girls.