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Check it out HERE

Giant Granny Square

As you may remember from THIS POST- I've been working on a giant granny square and now I've finally got it finished - this photo is the blanket on my queen sized bed. I've been working on this blanket since December (mostly due to the amount of yarn - about 16 total skeins- this required, resulting in my husbands pet name for the project 'the yarn hog'), and I'm so glad to finally have it finished. This is for my BESTEST friend in the WHOLE world who lives all the way in Montana.

Her favorite colors are dark green, navy and dark purple -- I added the gray to breakup the darker colors a bit.

I used a standard granny square pattern with a "K" hook and just kept going and going and going until I couldn't stand it any more!

I almost hate to let this go, I used a bulky weight yarn so it's very soft and comfy!

Soda Can Cozy

My sister - the one with the octopus skills - is sick of her cans sweating all over her desk (teehee) and wanted a cozy for her can.

After thinking about it for a while, I came up with this pattern.

Soda Can Cozy

You need:
"E" Hook
EasyLiner Select Grip
Sugar n' Cream Yarn - yellow and white
Yarn needle

Abbreviations:
Sc - Single Crochet
Inc - Increase (two single crochet in one loop)
Sl St - Slip stitch
BLO - back loop only

I work in continuous rounds - 'cause that's how I roll

With Yellow Yarn:
Rnd 1: Ch 2, sc 6 into 2nd chain from hook
Rnd 2: Inc around
Rnd 3: "Sc, Inc" repeat around
Rnd 4: "2 Sc, Inc" repeat around
Rnd 5: "2 Sc, Inc" repeat around
Rnd 6: "3 Sc, Inc" repeat around - sc in the last two loops
Rnd 7: Sc around, sl st to end
Rnd 8: Sc around in BLO
Rnd 9 - 14: Sc around

At this point if you want to add the gripper at on the bottom you should. I cut a piece of the liner to fit the first seven rounds and using the yellow yarn attached it to the bottom of the project. I put in quite a few stitches so it would sit flat.

With White Yarn
Rnd 15 & 16: Sc around

With Yellow Yarn
Rnd 17 - 22: Sc around

With White Yarn
Rnd 23 & 24: Sc around

With Yellow Yarn
Rnd 25 - 28: Sc around

With White Yarn
Rnd 29: Sc around and tie off

There you have it - mix it up with the colors and which colors are in which rounds.
Now you're cans won't sweat all over your desk either!!

Happy Hookin'

Octopus's Garden

My younger sister had a Beatles themed party for her friend and wanted to make her salad table an "Octopus's Garden" (what can I say mad skills run in the family) - so I whipped these up over a about a week.  Fantastic!

Hat...

Another hat to check off the list!
This is a basic hat using double crochet alternating green and burgundy yarn. The last row was done as a single crochet, chained three then another single crochet - making it a cute little ruffle.

Chubby Teddy

Seriously?
How freaking cute is this chubby teddy??
The answer is pretty freaking cute!!

I made this for my friends new baby boy - and plan to do a few more for a fundraiser coming up in September.
The pattern was FREE and can be found at:
isitatoy.blogspot.com/2010/07/chubby-teddies-free-pattern.html

Rag Rug #3

I finally got around to getting the third rag rug done! My upstairs bathroom is mostly green - so I wanted to use the dark green, sage green, and tan sheets for this one. The finished rug is almost 4 feet long and about 2 feet wide and using about one and a half king sized sheet.

I crochet this with a 'P' hook and a basic single crochet.

To get the basic oval shape you sc a foundation chain as long as you'd like (this one was much longer than the first two). If you prefer you can work in any basic crochet stitch you would like - just keep it consistent throughout. I work in continuous rounds and increase three stitches on each end for each round. You would do two sc in three of the sc of each end. I have found it's better to stagger these increases and forget about counting to get them perfect - I really helps to even out the curve.
This ended up being 16 rounds and it fits perfectly in our space!

The next project is to create a rug to go around the toilet, I haven't been able to find a pattern for this so if it works out I will try to post it!

Any ideas for these???

Okay so about six months ago I learned how to crochet a 'granny square' - I know I'm SO far behind in my crochet education!! I started an afghan for a friend of mine with the individual squares and then connected them around a larger square and trimmed them in gray. I finished these two, two foot squares and decided I would rather make an afghan as one gigantic granny square (photos to come as soon as that huge project is done) and set these aside.
Now I have no idea what to do with these and I'm putting a call out for ideas!

They are great colors and I hate to just have them sitting around waiting and waiting and waiting.....

HELP????

Hat Update!

Two more hats done (one from last week and one from this week) and one has a scarf to match. I had an entire skein of this gold, bulky weight yarn I was going to use for an afghan - but found a bright yellow that worked better. Which is why I wanted to make a matching scarf and hat set. So because I did these on my own I'm attempting to write a 'pattern'. This is my first one - so be kind!!

For the scarf using a 'K' hook- single crochet (sc) 141 - sc in loop second from the hook and sc to the end. Continue sc for 14 rows. I then added three rows of double crochet to each end of the scarf to fatten the ends a bit.
To finish using a contrasting color - triple crochet around the entire piece, at each corner sc three before turning to prevent the piece from looking to squished.

Easy Peasy!!



If you want to make the hat - this is what I did using a 'K' hook:

In Main Color
Ch 2
Row 1: in second loop from the hook, dc 8 and join with a slip stitch
Row 2: ch 3 (will always count as the first dc/tc in the first loop) dc in same loop then 2dc in each remaining loop and join with a slip stitch
Row 3: ch 3, dc in first loop, dc in next loop *2dc in next loop, dc in next loop* continue until end and join with a slip stitch
Row 4: ch 3, dc in same loop, dc in next two loops, *2dc in next loop, dc in next two loops* continue to end and join with a a slip stitch

In Contrasting Color
Row 5: ch 4 (counts as the first tc) tc in same loop, tc in next 3 loops, *2tc in next loop, tc in next three loops* continue to end and join with slip stitch

In Main Color
Row 6: ch 3, dc in same loop, dc in next 4 loops, *2sc in next loop, dc in next 4 loops* continue to end and join with slip stitch
Row 7 and 8: ch 3, dc in each loop to end and join with slip stitch

In Contrasting Color
Row 9 -11: ch 3, sc in each loop to end and join with slip stitch

In Main Color
Row 12 - 14: ch 3, dc in each loop to end and join with slip stitch

In Contrasting Color
Row 15: ch 4, tc in each loop to end and join with slip stitch
Row 16: *ch 4, slip stitch in next loop*continue to end and join with a slip stitch - this creates the ruffly edge at the bottom of this hat.

Keep in mind - I have never written a pattern before, so let me know if there are any corrections!

Happy Hooking...



This is just a basic hat pattern that turned out to be pretty fat - but I'm sure there is someone out there with a big fat head it will fit perfectly.

Dumbo the bunny

I went to a family reunion last weekend at my brothers house in Idaho. When I can, I try to bring something homemade. So in addition to the 80 snicker doodles, I made this bunny for my niece. However, everyone thought it looked more like Dumbo with those huge ears!
It was a great pattern I found at: www.favecrafts.com called 'love bunnies'

Hats, Hats!

I have been wondering what to do with the large amount of left over yarn that has been hanging around for the last few years (or longer in some cases).

I decided I would make hats - as many as I could with what there is. So...I'm hoping to get at least one hat done a week, and at the end of the year will donate them all to the local homeless shelter. The two I made this week are just the basic shape - increasing to until they were the size I wanted and then hdc all the way around to the length I wanted. Both are big enough for a younger child.

The green one was made from a bulk weight yarn, and it VERY thick - but will be nice and warm.

I got started on this one and since purple is Kellie's favorite color I let her claim it! I have more of the variegated yarn and will most likely make another one like it to donate.

Cup Cozy

I found a pattern for this on http://www.ravelry.com/, but my cup is a lot taller so I just had to kind of wing it with this one. I sc a row long enough to circle the cup and joined with a slip stitch, then dc in each sc all the way around. I then dc in each dc until until the last two dc and then turned - creating a space for the handle. I continued on until it was long enough to surround my cup (about 5 inches) adding an extra 3 inches to the end and dc in each twice to thicken it up (leaving a space for the button) - I then went around the entire piece in yellow using a sc.

Blanket Edging

While we were moving I came across this blanket still waiting to be edged - it only sat around for about five years!! I couldn't remember how my sister taught me to do the edging, so I made something up.

I edged it by doing the following in each hole - sc, dc, ch 3

It turned out cute and is a little bit waving and cute for a girl.

Teeny Tiny Octi

I wanted to try a pattern using the embroidery yarn I had from a blanket and the 1.7mm hook.
It turned out SO cute! I don't know how often my eyes can handle doing a project like this, but it was worth it.

Vinyl for Ms. Kellie, part two

This is the rest of what we did on Sunday! Kellie picked out all the flowers and told me where to put them.

They turned out really cute!

Vinyl for Ms. Kellie

Now that we are finally all moved into our new place, I have my cricket back with me!!! I bought this purple vinyl months ago because it was a really good price and it's Kellie's favorite color. We spent Saturday decorating her room - she picked out everything.

Her door...


Heart next to her baby picture...

Dad, Mom and Kellie ladybugs for her wall...

Cute Little Elmer

My four year old daughter was invited to her first friend birthday party! I made this cutie for her friend as birthday gift. The original pattern was orange and blue - but I girled it up a little.

The pattern can be found on www.redheart.com - search for Elmer

Bandage Girl

Before going to my sister's house I made this cutie for my niece (always come bearing gifts) - she loved it! The pattern included arms - but I didn't have the energy to do them and I thought it was pretty darn cute without them.

You can find the full pattern on:
http://dishclothdiaries.blogspot.com/2011/02/bandage-girl.html

Droid, Jr.

I made this for a friend who is currently in the military - on request after posting the first one. This droid actually turned out to be about and inch smaller than the first one and therefore is dubbed, Droid, Jr.

Vinyl

This weekend my sister cashed in my promise to help her with vinyl at her house. I think it turned out great!



This is a magnet board for her family room.

Above her back door...