Long time and all that....

I have been wanting to start blogging again and here I am. This is also a test post since I'm trying it from my phone with the blogger app! So far, so good! 

I've been working on some charity projects, but I can't figure out how to add a picture, yet. Maybe after I've used the app for more than five minutes I'll have been able to figure it out.

But, if you are interested here are a couple of great charities to crochet for: Octopus for a Preemie & The Magic Yarn Project.

The first makes, you guessed it octopus for preemies! It is awesome, unfortunately, it hurts my hands, a lot!

The Magic Yarn Project makes hats and wigs for kids battling cancer! I've made two so far and love it! One, was for my son who thought they were awesome!

So, other than trying to have a slow and relaxing summer... HA!, I'm back and hoping to do more with this blog again!

Crochet Paracord Cup

I accidentally made this the other day.  I know, how do you accidentally do something that takes you a while to complete?  Well, I was trying to make a pouch that I could attach to my bike so that I can have my keys and phone with me when I cycle.  (The pants that I wear to cycle rarely seem to have pockets.)  I have started one several time and saw some leftover paracord in with my yarn.  I thought it might work.  It didn't.  But I kept going with it and it made a lovely, sturdy cup.  Right now, it is collecting the random things I find in the family laundry!

Oh, I used about a N-hook and just did a basic circle on the bottom.  Then I went into the back loop only, then sc all the way up until I didn't have enough string to do another round.

Tunisian Crochet Cables

Early attempt at Tunisian Crochet Cables

I just learned that it's possible to do cables in Tunisian crochet!  It's pretty easy.  You just need yarn, a tunisian hook and some kind of stitch holders.  I have some from when I attempted to do knit cables. but just another hook or a safety pin should work as well.  I used this pattern to help. 

Star Puff Infinity Scarf Pattern

Close-up of the stitch

Here is the Star Puff Infinity Scarf Pattern!!  It has taken me a while to get it all together, but I think it was worth the time!  I hope you love it!

It is available for $4.99 at Ravelry  &  Craftsy! 

"Crochet" I-Cord

Have you wanted to make a cord with crochet?  I have done it and it ends up stiffer than I would like.  I found a great technique here. (Yay for Pinterest!!)

This is actually knitting with a crochet hook! Ha! 

It makes a much softer, prettier cord!  It can be a little hard to hold at first, but once you get used to it, it goes quickly.  It didn't take me very long to be able to do it!

Have fun and just ask if you have any questions.

Sorry for the lapse in posts!

I have been working a lot on the Puffy Star Infinity Scarf and on getting ready to open a booth at a local boutique!  Add Christmas and four kids and you get a whole lot of no posting!

But, I'm back and having a great time crocheting to build up my stash of items to sell!

Have a Happy New Year!!!

The Waiting Game

How many projects do you usually have in progress or on your waiting list?  This little bear is waiting patiently for me to get back to her.  She should be adorable one day, but my current design project is taking much longer than I had hoped!  I have only had to unravel it once (yay!) and the pattern is mostly written.  I just have to crochet the prototype and decipher my scribbles from along the way!

As I go, I think of new and fun project to do!  How to stay focused??

What do you do?  How do you decide?

Tip: Painting Stripes

Okay, okay!  I know this isn't a crochet tip, but I wanted to share it somewhere, so here it is. 

I don't know how other people do it, but I came up with this:

 I wanted to do stripes and decided to make them all the width of the painter's tape.  Then, to measure, I used two small pieces of tape to decide the width. 

 I painted over the whole thing!

 And removed the tape!

 Voila!

On my hook: Sneak Peek

So I found this stitch that I really like, but was in a different language.  So, I looked at pictures and video of the stitch being done and rewrote it into English.  Now, I'm working on a cowl with it.  I'm really excited to have a cowl for winter and to sell the pattern when I get it finished! 

It's a little bit tricky until you get the hang of it, but then it is easy and you can even look away more while you are working on it! 

Halloween Hats

I had a request for some hats for Halloween costumes.  I'm really happy with out they turned out and I am excited to use the new antenna pattern I developed along the way!

Butterfly Hat

Caterpillar Hat

TIP: Taking from both ends of a skein

It's kind of hard to show what is going on here, but I found a way to use to strands of yarn without going through the trouble of winding two balls from one or buying double amounts. I decided to try to use the end you are supposed to that comes out of the middle and the one that hangs out on the outside. I was able to have two strands and make the hat extra squishy and not have to start by winding balls. I hate winding balls of yarn, first! (I stupidly just wait until they are a problem and all in knots...) This worked really well and didn't get all tangled up like I expected it to. A couple of times I had to untwist the yarn as I went, but it mostly just worked out perfectly. I will definitely be trying this with other projects and types of yarn!

Sorry about the blinding color! It really is a vibrant yarn and my camera really picked up on that! Ouch!

A couple of disclaimers:

I didn't use the entire skein on this project, so I don't know what would happen once the yarn got really loose.

So far, I've only tried this with Red Heart worsted weight acrylic yarn.

(Let me know if you have luck or trouble with this tip!  I'd love to have more input!)

Daisy Chain Bookmark

I just lowered the price of my Daisy Chain Scarf Pattern.  It is now $3.99!

Also, if you use crochet thread (#10), you can make a cute bookmark! 5 flower motifs long and it is perfect for keeping your place in your favorite book!

Fall Goodness

As the weather starts to cool off in my neck of the woods, I start to think of the holidays, baking without making my kitchen uncomfortably hot, soup, warm hats and scarves, chocolate, changing leaves, cute kids in costume, chocolate, crochet for Christmas....The list goes on.  Ya, chocolate should be on there a few more times, but I hate to read long blog posts, so let's cut it short!
I'm hoping to start my first cowl today!  I've been working to translate a stitch and make it work for a new pattern.  I think I might start the actual design today!  Let's hope this nap time designing session can last and be productive! 

Daisy Chain Scarf Pattern

I'm so excited to announce that my first pattern is ready for sale!!! It is just $3.99 and you can buy it here:

Daisy Chain Scarf

It is an adorable scarf made by attaching daisy motifs as you go. I hate to get to the end of a project and then have to sew everything together and weave in all of the ends, so this scarf avoids all of that hassle.

Great for Spring or when you want a little color in the winter!

Close up of single daisy motif.

Mix-and-match color option.

Pink and orange!

My First Pattern

My first pattern for sale is ALMOST ready!!  I am really excited!!

This little girl is now 8 years old, so this one has been a long time coming.  I have sold this Daisy Chain Scarf for many years, and now I am ready to start selling the pattern.

What do you think?

It's been a while...

I haven't blogged in a while and I'm having to relearn a lot of things.  Maybe setting all of this up again while I'm sick wasn't the best idea...

Back!

I just started working on this blog and read my last post about wondering if my baby would let me crochet.  Well, since that was more than a year ago, it looks like he hasn't let me work on this business and hobby very much!

Well, I'm back!

School is in and while my kindergartener is in school, it's nap time and I can get SO much more done!  I am loving it!

No more carpel tunnel!!!

I had my baby, so now I can be back to crocheting....At least as far as my carpel tunnel goes.  If he will let me work on it is another story...  Wish me luck!!!

Crocheted Playgrounds

I just came across this really neat concept on Etsy.com.  Artist Toshiko Hoiruchi MacAdam was displaying a crocheted hammock and two children wanted to play on it.  She let them and decided that she wanted to crochet play areas.  Her work is odd and amazing!  Go check it out at this playscape blog and at Colossal.  Wow!! 

(I wonder what kind of yarns she uses and if I could duplicate it for my kids...)

Crochet Mania

Yet another new blog!  I found Crochet Mania through Pinterest and one of her videos.  She has lots of free patterns with instructions and videos!  Check her out!