My Blog Has Moved

This week I decided to start blogging on my website instead of here for a few reasons.

1. I'll get more traffic on my website.
2. I haven't been blogging very much these days, unlike when I use to blog everyday.
3. It is easier to upload photos onto my website's blog and not worry about space issues, which is why many pictures are missing from past posts on this blog.  
4. It will also make it easier for people who are looking to take my classes to see what I am currently making.  

Here is a link to my website's blog.  I hope that many of you who follow my blog here will also follow my blog in it's new location.

Thank you,
Kristy

March 2015 Projects

March's theme in the ravelry group Disney Adventures was Dumbo, so I just had to make something inspired by the Pink Elephants song from the movie.  Here is the pink elephant dishcloth that I made for my mom.  I don't know what cotton yarn I used, except that it was worsted weight.  I got it in the sales bin at my LYS a while ago.  I do know that I used size 8 needles though.  Here is the free pattern for it.

Here are the 17 elephant head magnets that I made during March.  The center elephant only has one ear, because I was to busy talking in class to notice that only one ear had been made before I made the trunk and cut the yarn.  I'm keeping him and giving him to my husband.  He'll fit in nicely with my husband's crochet "reject" collection.  The elephants were made with two colors of Cascade Pacific worsted weight yarn, an H hook, Halloween goggle eyes (green, orange, and purple eyes - sold around Halloween), and magnets on the back (glued on with tacky glue).   I made 17 elephants to represent the 16 Dumbos that you can sit in on the Dumbo ride (at the different Disney parks) and the extra Dumbo that you can sit in for a photo.

One of the challenges was to use novelty yarn.  The challenge was inspired by Dumbo's magic feather that gave him the confidence to fly.  So I made this simple garter stitch scarf using Euro Yarns Fashion Fur yarn and a size 11 needle.  I cast on 15 stitches, and I just knitted every row until I ran out of yarn.

My friend Amy designed this crochet shawl called the Variable Star Shawl, and she asked me if I would test it for her.  Of course I said yes.  It was very easy to make.  You do need to pay attention to it for the first 10 rows, but after that it was so easy that it was a little boring to work on.  So that just means that it is the perfect t.v. watching project.  I brought it with me to my classes, because it was easy to put down and pick up again whenever one of my students needed me.  For this one (I've made 2 so far) I used James C. Brett Marble DK yarn and an H hook.  I love how the yarn looks and feels.  This DK yarn feels more like a worsted weight yarn.

This was such a fun and easy to pattern to make that I made a second one using Cascade Sunseeker cotton yarn and an H hook.  The yarn has sparkles in it, and I thought that it would be great to use at the beach (sometimes it gets chilly there).

March 14th was Pi Day, so I just had to make a pie.  Since I am loosing weight the pie that I made has zero calories.  This is just the cutest hot pad pie pattern.   For the red I used Cascade Avalon cotton yarn (worsted weight), and for the brown I used Cascade Ultra Pima yarn (DK).  A G hook was used throughout the pattern.  Because the two yarns were a different weight, I made the brown circle (not shown, because it's behind the red circle) one row wider.  Now that I have made the pattern I have some tweaks that I would like to do the next time around to create a bigger hot pad with thicker lattice on the top.  There was nothing wrong with the pattern, its just a personal choice to tweak it.

Here is the skinny scarf pattern that I created called the Vine Scarf.  You can download it for free of of ravelry.   For this one I used Cascade Avalon cotton yarn and an H hook, and I made it in a single day.  

Then I made a 2nd one, this time I used Cascade Sunseeker cotton yarn (it has sparkles in it) and an H hook.  I gave this one to my mom.

Using the same yarn as the 2nd Vine scarf I made this pineapple stitch bag.  I used this free pattern, but I made up my own handles instead of following the pattern.  The bag is a bit small, because the yarn is DK instead of worsted weight, but thats ok.

My boss got a new dishcloth crochet book in the shop that has 13 patterns in it, one for each month plus a bonus dishcloth.  So I made samples for the store using Plymouth Jeannee cotton yarn and an H hook.  I made these 4 dishcloths using just 2 skeins of yarn, and I had enough leftover to make a coster afterwards.

Then I made 2 of the July dishcloths.

And then I made the September apple dishcloth.  This is a great pattern book.  The only pattern that I don't like is the Easter egg dishcloth, because it looks more like a bowling pin to me.

Here is the display for them at the shop.  

The month wouldn't be complete without making some baby hats for the charity A Child's Light.  The first two are from this free pattern, and the bottom one is from this free pattern.  I used Cascade Pacific worsted weight yarn for all 3 hats.  The top two used an I hook, and the bottom one used a G hook.  I used up 1 whole skein of the multi-colored yarn making them, so the bottom ribbing of the the bottom hat used a solid color purple yarn (same yarn).  

Last but certainly not least is the Yes, Yes Shawl that I made this month.  I love how this shawl turned out, and I am definitely keeping it for myself.  The pattern is more of an intermediate pattern, because it does require some attention and chart reading skills to make it.  I used 3 skeins of Cascade Sunseeker cotton yarn and a G hook to make it.  Yes, I am totally into the Sunseeker yarn right now.  Not only will it be great for the Summer (cotton yarn), but it has sparkles running throughout it.  I will be showing this baby off for months to come.  

February 2015 Projects

This shawlette was made in one day.  It is a very easy pattern.  I was disappointed with how small it turned out to be.  The next time around I will chain a lot more stitches.  Here is the free pattern for it. I used an I hook and Caron's Simply Soft yarn for it, and I chained 150 to start it.

Here are some more purple baby hats that I made for A Child's Light using this free pattern.   Each hat is made with different yarn and an I hook: Caron's Simply Soft, Cascade Pinwheel, and Cascade Pacific - all worsted weight.

I also made 3 more of the ribbed hats using Cascade Pacific Chunky yarn and a J hook.  The two bottom hats are baby size, and I'll probably donate them to my church's holiday fair in December.  The top green hat is adult size (for my mom).  Here are my notes for the larger hat: The larger one had 6 rows of flat circle, skipped the row where 4 increases were made, and did the post stitches for 9 to 10 rounds.

During one of the snow storms that we had in February I made this "Get Whale Soon" tissue box cover.  Puff paint was used to create the eyes and mouth.  This is a very easy pattern to make.  I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn and an H hook to make it.  I think that it would make a great get well soon gift.

One of my students wanted to make an ear warmer, and this was the free pattern that she wanted to try out.  However it used a foundation single crochet to start it instead of a chain, so I made the headband to learn how to do a foundation single crochet.  The headband is really pretty and fits me perfectly.  However it really is just a headband and not an ear warmer, so my student ended up making a different pattern.  I used Cascade Pacific worsted weight yarn and an F hook to make it.

I made these socks for my husband.  He has worn them almost everyday ever since (except when they've had to be washed of course).  They were made with Plymouth Encore Tweed worsted weight yarn and US 5 circular needles (magic loop - 36" cord).  Even though the pattern was free, it is not on ravelry.  I got the pattern from my knitting teacher.

The ladies in my Wednesday night crochet class wanted to learn how to make something on the round knitting loom, so instead of crocheting we all loom knitted.  It was a lot of fun.  I showed them how to make a hat and a drawstring bag, which is really the same pattern.  They both need a "brim" - where after a few inches you fold the bottom up and loop those ends back onto the loom.  The difference is that for the bag you need to lay in 2 separate knotted ribbon loops for the drawstring inside of the "brim" before folding it and looping it back on the loom.  For my small yarn bag (thats balls of yarn inside of it) I use James C. Brett Marble Chunky yarn and the green round plastic knitting loom.

I made the last 6 squares for my sampler afghan.  The pattern is from "101 Crochet Stitch Patterns & Edgings" by Annie's Attic.  I wrote a review for the book so that I could share some of the mistakes with my corrections for it.  

Here is my finished sampler afghan.  It was made using 12 skeins of Plymouth Encore worsted weight yarn and a G and an H hook.  I started it in January 2014, and I worked on it periodically during 8 of the 14 months since I started it.  The edging was very easy to do.  I'm very please with how it turned out.

January 2015 Projects

I've been really bad about blogging, so I wanted to share what all I made in January.

I love this crochet ribbed hat pattern, so I wanted to make one for myself.  However it's a baby hat pattern which uses worsted weight yarn, and I wanted to use chunky yarn to make a hat for myself.  With a J hook and Cascade Pacific Chunky yarn I made a 6 row flat circle, then I ignored the 4 increase row in the pattern, and I added an extra post stitch row.  For the cowl I chained 100, joined in the round with a twist in the chain, single crochet in the first 2 chains, hdc in the next 2 chains, and dc around.  When I got to the beginning again I dc on the other side of the chain.  Then I just dc in every stitch until I almost ran out of yarn.  Then I hdc in the next 2 stitches, sc in the next 2 stitches, and slip stitch in the next 2 stitches.  Its a great one skein project.  However the hat used up 1.1 skeins.

I made a 2nd infinity cowl the same way that I made the blue one above. 

I also made a few more crochet baby ribbed hats.

All of these baby ribbed hats are for charity - A Child's Light.

These baby hats are a gift for someone who is having twins.  The hats will match the babies' bedroom.  Here is the elephant appliqué pattern.

Here is another smaller infinity cowl using an H hook and Cascade Pacific worsted weight yarn.  Then I made a matching peaked hat using this pattern.  The trick to making it fit right is to put 10 stitches into the beginning circle instead of the 8 that it calls for.    

I made a 2nd peaked hat using Caron's Simply Soft yarn.  This is my favorite winter hat to wear.  It's warm, looks good on me, and the slight brim on it keeps the snow off of my glasses.  

I made another pair of Tunisian crochet slippers, this time for my aunt.  They only take a day or two to make.  I used Cascade Pacific Chunky yarn and an N, K, and J hook.  The N hook needs to be a Tunisian hook, but the others can be regular crochet hooks.  Here are my pattern notes: Work up 20 rows of simple stitch, after the decrease row switch to a K hook, then after you finish what the pattern says, switch to a J hook and slip stitch all the way around.  The slip stitch row will make sure that your slippers do not fall off of your feet.

I did a Valentine's swap with 2 people, and I sent 3 other people a small Valentine's package.  In those  packages were some crochet heart coasters.   One person got a set of 4 coasters and the 3 smaller packages had one heart coaster in them.  This was an easy pattern and a great way to learn how to make a mitered square.  In fact I recently made just the mitered square without turning it into a heart.

I used two different fair isle charts that I found to create this personalized ornament for one of my swap partners for Valentine's Day.  The bonus is that she can also use it for Christmas as well.  Instead of stuffing I put a styrofoam ball inside of it.  I used size 2 needles and Cascade Cherub DK yarn to make it.

Then I did the same thing for my other swap partner.  

I also made these great crochet braided cowls.  The pattern is very easy.  Its so easy that many of my new students made one.  For these 2 cowls I used Carons Simply Soft yarn and a size I hook.   You can make this cowl in a single day.  

Here are the 5 cards that I drew for my swap partners and the 3 smaller packages.  

So far I've received one of my swap packages in the mail.  My partner made me a hat, a donut, and she gave me a bunch of patterns, a purse, a sparkly pen, 4 note cards, a fish notepad, a squeezable heart, and a drawstring bag.

I'm trying to get a jump start on Christmas by making fair isle ornaments for gifts.  

I don't always have a place to keep my iPhone while I'm working out, so I made this belt cozy to put it in.  I used this pattern to create the musical note appliqué.  The actual belt cozy pattern I made up on the spot.  It's based on other phone cozies that I've mad in the past. 

I also made a braided cowl for myself using Cascade Pacific yarn, as well as a matching slouchy hat.  

I taught my boss how to make cute elephant magnets, which became part of some goodie bags for a baby shower.  This is the one that I made.  I plan on making several more.  

I made 12 more squares for my sampler afghan during January as well.  Not all of them are pictured here.  So far I have finished #48 - 70 & 75.  The sampler afghan starts with swatch #48.  There will be 30 squares in all.  I am using the book 101 crochet stitch patterns & edgings to make it.  I don't recommend this book though, because there are a lot of typos in it (like a chain 7 where there should be a chain 1).  

12 Purple Hats

This week I was challenges (via one of the ravelry challenge groups that I'm in) to make hats or squares for charity.  The challenge ran from January 5 - 11, but I read about it on the 7th.  So I took out some purple yarn and got to work making my favorite baby hat pattern.  This pattern is a lot of fun to make, probably because I enjoy making front and back post stitches.  If you haven't tried them, then you should.  They are easy to do.  I used Cascade Pacific, Cascade Pinwheel, and Caron's Simply Soft yarns and a size I crochet hook to make them.  Each newborn hat uses about 40 to 50 yards of worsted weight yarn.  I will be donating them to A Child's Light which is my local chapter of Click for Babies. 

The mission of A Child’s Light, Inc. is to prevent the abuse and neglect of our children and includes all forms of abuse and neglect, whether physical, sex.

CLICK for Babies is a grassroots public education campaign organized by the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS) in partnership with hospitals, public health and child abuse prevention groups to create awareness of the leading trigger for infant abuse, frustration with infant crying.
During the campaign, communities all across North America donate handmade caps stitched in all shades of purple. Along with these caps, new parents receive a video, booklet, and bedside information describing the Period of PURPLE Crying (a period of time when infant crying increases; beginning when babies are about two weeks old, peaking in the second month and ending around the third to fifth month).
The collaboration and coordination it takes to make the caps, distribute them to hospitals, and deliver them to parents provides a fantastic opportunity to bring the whole community together in an effort to raise awareness about this important issue.

Elephants

Yesterday I crochet this cute elephant magnet using some Cascade yarn.  It was very easy to make.  Here is the free pattern for it.

Yesterday I made these two newborn hats with elephant appliqués.  This is my favorite crochet baby hat pattern to make.  It uses front and back post stitches to create the rib effect.   Here is the free elephant appliqué pattern, and here is the free hat pattern (which comes in different sizes - newborn to 12 months).