Booties!

Today has been a day of booties. Yes! Just a bootie-ful day. Just full of yarn and tiny, pretty buttons and flowers. It was so nice.

I have crocheted many booties and today I mixed and mingled all my favorite parts to make some booties for baby girl that is on her way soon.

Aren't they precious?!

I have had my babies and I am happy to be past that point in my life. Still things like this just make my ovaries do a cartwheel.

I wrote up a pattern in case you would like to make some yourself. But, if not I will be happy to make something for you over at my Etsy shop in a custom order.

Puppy Hat Crochet Pattern

My Izzy wanted a puppy hat...black with brown eyes just like our dogs. I got right to work...

 



I used a J hook for the entire hat. The brand of yarn was worsted weight Vanna. It is very soft. Red Heart Super Saver would probably have been a better choice if you want it to look "cleaner". In the pattern I will be revising something I did "wrong" when I made the hat in the picture. In my opinion anyway. The brown stitching around the ears is so messy. I wish I had trimmed the ears in black and then made a row of brown around the edges...next time! :)

I started with a basic beanie: My toddler has a 20" head. Using a J hook and worsted weight yarn, you are probably getting about 3 stitches per inch. Increase or decrease to your liking. But this pattern will be for a 20" hat.

BEANIE

At the end of each row of the hat, ss and chain 1.

1: HDC 9 times in a magic circle (9). Cinch closed
2: HDC 2 time in each stitch (18)
3: HDC around, increasing every other stitch (27)
4: HDC around, increasing every third stitch (36)
5: HDC around, increasing every fourth stitch (45)
6: HDC around (45)
7: HDC around, increasing every fifth stitch (54)
8-16: HDC around (54)
Fasten off. Attach brown yarn near the Fasten off stitch. Crochet over tails to keep it clean.
HDC around (54)
Fasten off.

NOSE:
DC 12 times in a magic circle. Cinch closed, slip stitch into first DC. Fasten Off. Leave a long tail.
EYES:
(make 2)...HDC 9 times in a magic circle. Cinch closed, slip stitch into first HDC. Fasten off leaving long tails.

EARS:
(make 2)
chain 7,
1: sc in second ch from hook and across (6)
chain 1 and turn
2:sc 2 times in first stitch and 1 sc in each stitch across (7)
chain 1 and turn
3: sc 2 times in first stitch and 1 sc in each stitch across (8)
chain 1 and turn
4: sc 2 times in first stitch and 1 sc in each stitch across (9)
Rows 5-13: chain 1 and turn, sc across (9)
14: ch1, turn, skip a stitch and sc across, skip last stitch (7)
15: ch1, turn, skip a stitch and sc across, skip last stitch (5)
16: ch1, turn, skip a stitch and sc across, skip last stitch (3)

begin sc around the edges of the ear.
Fasten off and leave a long tail.

attach the brown yarn and sc around the edge (not the flat top of the ear, that part will be attaching to the beanie), Fasten off. Work in the brown tail

ASSEMBLY:
Sew on the nose, eyes and ears wherever you like them using the long tails that you left after fastening off. Enjoy!!

My Big Daisy - Crochet Pattern

Good morning!

I sense a great day in the making. I am surrounded by yarn, the school year is going smoothly, the baby grows more fun and independent every day...

I love an embellishment! What better than a great big daisy. This crochets up fast.

Yarn I Used:
 Red Heart for the White
I Love This Yarn (I do!) for the Yellow
Vanna for the Green
Oh! and a touch of Red Simply Soft for the ladybug in the center.

I Hook
Finished Size: 5" across.

Stitches used...lots of chains (ch), slip stitch (ss), single crochet (sc) and double crochet (dc)

The Flower Center (Yellow): 12 dc in a magic circle. Slip stitch into the first dc and cinch the magic circle closed. Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing it onto the flower later.

The Petals (White):
-7 sc in a magic circle, ss into the first sc and cinch the magic circle closed.
-Ch 1 and two sc in each stitch (14), ss into first sc of the row.
-*ch 12 and then ss into next 2 chains of the circle*, repeat *-* 6 times.
-*dc 15 times in the next set of chains, ss into next ss after that set of chains* repeat *-* for the next 6 chain loops.
-Fasten off.

Leaves (Green):
chain 15, sc in second chain from hook, sc in next stitch, hdc 1 time into next 3 chains, dc into next 8 chains, dc 5 times into the next chain. This will work you around to the other side. dc into the next 8 chains (opposite side of the other 8 dc), hdc into the next 3 chains, sc into the next 2 chains, ss into the last chain and fasten off. work in tails.

Sew the leaves onto the petals with white yarn. Then sew the center onto the petals with yellow yarn. Then a quick sew of red on the yellow center for a ladybug...just for fun!

It would look cute on a hat, on the corner of a baby blanket, pin it to your shirt, Sew it on the side of a tote bag...I like to put crocheted flowers on Pickles leash when we go for walks. Have fun with it. :)

I am still new to pattern writing. As always, if you see anything odd or confusing, please let me know. :)

The Making of Spiderman (Crochet Hat)

Collect your Supplies! Bright Red and Soft White are "Red Heart Super Saver" and the Blue and Black are "Impeccable"

 Make a swatch...I don't always, but with hats I have to. Its amazing how much a different a knot can turn out with a different brand of hook, a different brand of yarn and a different set of hands.

 My swatch was 12 stitches wide and four rows high...it measured 4" wide and 2" tall. So to make my 20" wide and 8" deep (toddler size to fit up until they are about 5 years old) I would need it to be 60 stitches wide and 16 rows deep.

So I made a simple beanie. HDCs.
SLIP STITCH into the first stitch of that row and chain twice.
I hook
Worsted Weight Yarn (This is Red Heart Super Saver...it holds up well to being decorated)
Increase: Means to HDC two times in one stitch



Row 1:In a Magic Circle I crocheted 9 HDC. Then I cinched closed my magic circle. (9)
Row 2:HDC two times in each stitch (18)
Row 3:HDC around, increasing every other stitch (27)
Row 4:HDC around, increasing in every 3rd stitch (36)
Row 5:HDC around, increasing in every 4th stitch (45)
Row 6:HDC around (no increases on this row) (45)
Row 7:HDC around, increasing in every 5th stitch (54)
Row 8:HDC around, increasing in every 6th stitch (63)
Row 9-16:HDC around (63)
Fasten off. It should like the picture above. :) Minus the cute toddler. Unless you happen to have one, too.

 Attach the blue yarn. Single Crochet all around for one row. Fasten off.

 When you are crocheting with a new color...crochet over the tails that have been fastened off. It makes it much neater when you snip ends.

 Make an eye. This is the right one. I wanted it to be 1/5th as wide as the hat but my teenager says its a little too wide. Feel free to make yours a little smaller. But this is how I did it! :D

Single crochets...7 rows.

Chain 21.
Row 1:Single crochet in the second chain from hook and continue across (20), chain 1 and turn
Row 2:SC in the first stitch and the next 17 across (18), chain 1 and turn
Row 3:skip one stitch and SC in the next 16 stitches (16), chain 1 and turn
Row 4:SC in the first stitch and the next 14 stitches (15), chain 1 and turn
Row 5:skip the first stitch and SC in the next 13 stitches (13), chain 1 and turn
Row 6:skip the first stitch and SC in the next 11 stitches (11), chain 1 and turn
Row 7:SC in the first 10 stitches and Fasten off. (10)

Make another one for the other side. I made them the same and just used the flip side of one.

And here is a chart. I like to make them to simplify.

 The eyeliner. I wanted heavy eyeliner without making the already large eyes too much larger. So I Spike Single Crocheted all around. If you havent done this, its VERY simple. Instead of stiching into the row below thew one you are working on like you normally would, you insert your hook two rows down. That makes for a wider stitch without adding much more width and a fun spiking effect. At each of the four corners of the eyes SC three times in the same stitch. Fasten off and leave a looooong tail. This will be what you sew the eyes on with.

 Sew on the eyes using a yarn needle.

 Use a yarn needle to sew on teh webs.

 And here it is!

I love constructive critisizm. So, have asked everyone that has seen the hat what they think. So far only my teenager has noted changes that I should make. The eyes should be smaller. I will be trying again very soon. But, until then...here is how I feel about critisizm.

 Mow the lawn...wash the car...Watch your brother. LOL

Haha...just kidding. No punishment for honesty around here. It was just chore day. He is happily playing videogames right now as I type. No teenagers were harmed in the making of my hat.