Ellie's Baby Elephant

Lately my daughter has been invited to several birthday parties.  Instead of buying her friends gifts I let her pick out a stuffed animal pattern and I've made them.

This is the baby elephant I made for my daughter's friend Ellie.  I found the pattern for free on Ravelry here if you'd like to make one yourself.  It's a pretty quick pattern if you're familiar with amigurumi crocheted patterns. It could be made in pretty much any color you like.  Ellie's was made with Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Lt. Blue.

How To Do A Cable Cast-On

Most knitters have a preferred method of casting on.  I personally like to do a long-tail cast on whenever possible.  I've seen many patterns that call for a cable cast-on but I could never really get the hang of it.  Ok, I'll be honest - I didn't really give it much of a chance until now.

I found a pretty detailed picture tutorial that explains how to do a cable cast-on a little better than I've seen it in the past.  You can find it at The Making Spot here.

Happy Knitting!

Snowtracks Cap and Scarf Custom Order

Recently I had a custom order request for the Snowtracks Cap and Scarf that I have in my Etsy shop with a few modifications.  I thought others would be interested to see the finished hat and scarf so here they are.  (Sorry about the dark picture.  The weather hasn't been cooperating lately and this was about the best lighting I could get before I shipped them out.)

The customer requested 100% wool with the cap in red with a rolled-up brim and the scarf in natural.  I had quite the time trying to find a reasonably-priced wool yarn that came in both red and natural.  What I found and ended up using is Patons Classic Wool.  I used 1 ball in Bright Red for the hat and about 1 1/2 balls in Aran for the scarf.

If you'd like to make these yourself you can find the Snowtracks Cap pattern here and the Snowtracks Scarf pattern on my blog here.  I also welcome custom orders.  If you'd like either the cap, scarf, or both made for you please contact me and I'll be happy to work with you to create something beautiful for you.  These make great gifts!  Be sure to order early, since the busy (or should I say *crazy*) Holiday crafting season is starting. :)

Kaitlyn's Tunic Sweater Finished

After putting my daughter's tunic sweater down for a while to work on some other projects, I finally picked it up again and finished it yesterday!  Yeah! 

I think it turned out really cute and she loves it!  In fact, she wore it to Sunday School right after it was finished.  If you'd like to make one yourself, you can find the pattern on the Caron yarn website here.  If you'd like one made for you please contact me.  I'll be happy to work with you to create a beautiful sweater for the lovely girl in your life!

Amigurumi Monkey With a Banana

When I saw this pattern designed by Betsy Brunson on Ravelry I thought it would be perfect for my cousin's daughter Hazel.  She just celebrated her 4th birthday the end of July so I made this for her.  Of course she loved it!

Actually pretty much everyone at the party loved this adorable monkey, and a couple people asked me about making stuffed animals for them. :) 

If you'd like to make one of your own you can find the pattern for free on Ravelry here.  I used small black buttons for the eyes, simply because I had them on hand, but the pattern actually calls for safety eyes.

Amigurumi Crocheted Lion

It's been so crazy this month I just realized I haven't posted the lion that I made for my nephew yet.  He absolutely LOVES it!  It took a little longer than most of the crocheted animals I've done since it's quite a bit bigger, but it was worth the effort.

If you'd like to make one of your own you can find the pattern on the Naturally Caron yarn website here.  The pattern calls for Naturally Caron Country yarn.  I substituted Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Gold for the head and body, Chocolate for the mane, nose and the end of the tail, and then small amounts of white and black for the eyes.  I did the mane and the tail a little different than the pattern calls for, but I'm pleased with the results.

If you'd like to have one made for you please email me.  I welcome custom orders.

Amigurumi Crochet Doll

I've been making quite a few animals and dolls lately.  This is a doll I made recently for my daughter's friend Emily for her birthday.  I thought this doll was so cute with her little ponytail & maryjane shoes.  You can find the pattern for free on the Bernat yarn website here.  Of course now my daughter wants me to make one for her too. :)

The pattern calls for Bernat Handicrafter Cotton.  I used Caron One Pound in Off White and Red Heart Super Saver yarns in Chocolate and Spring Green just because that's what I had here in my stash already.

I pretty much followed the pattern, but for the doll part I skipped the joining step at the end of each round and just crocheted a huge spiral, marking the beginning of each round with a safety pin.  Yes, you can buy those split-ring stitch markers, but a safety pin or a piece of scrap yarn works just as well and costs quite a bit less.  The pattern didn't specify when to put the head on, so I decided to do that last to make it easier to get the dress on the doll's body.  I also made the dress all one color instead of doing the ruffle in a variegated yarn.  I think I may do the ruffle in a coordinating variegated yarn the next time I make this. 

Amigurumi Crochet Panda

My niece and nephew happened to be at my house when I was working on the amigurumi frog that's for sale in my Etsy shop and of course both asked me to make them a stuffed animal for their birthday.  My niece asked for a panda and my nephew asked for a lion. (I'll be posting the lion as soon as it's finished.)  So here is the finished panda.  She LOVES it!

You can find the pattern for this adorable panda at Darncat Crochet here.  I pretty much followed the pattern but made a few changes for this one as follows:

I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in white and lavender.  Since I was out of safety eyes I used buttons for the eyes.  I also crocheted each part as a spiral and skipped the step of joining at the end of each round.  That way there isn't a seam running down the back.  The pattern says to make the head and body separately and sew them together, but I just took out a row at the neck and made them in one piece to avoid having to do another seam.  (That's my least favorite part about making these - can you tell? lol )  I also made the arms and legs each a row shorter than the pattern calls for and attached them as shown so the panda is sitting instead of standing.  So have fun with this and modify it as necessary to fit your needs.  Happy crafting!

Custom Curtains For The Trailer

My husband's family owns property in Northern Minnesota that we spend quite a bit of time visiting in the Spring and Summer.  When my husband, daughter and I visit we stay in the old travel trailer that my husband's grandparents used to own.  

The trailer is pretty cozy and comfortable, but let's just say the curtains could use some help.  Ok, they were almost 40 years old and falling apart.  I finally decided to do something about it and have been busy making new custom curtains for the trailer windows.  The picture here shows the before and after.  The orange curtains on the right are the old ones and the beige ones on the left are the new ones I just made.

Since the curtain rods have clips to hold the curtains on, I didn't need to make any rod pockets so the construction was pretty simple.  I just needed to make rectangles cut to size and hem them.  In case you'd like to make some of your own, this is how I did it.

Measure the width of the windows, adding a couple inches on each side.  Then measure the height of the windows from the curtain rod to a couple inches below the window.  Then decide how much of a hem you want to have at the sides, top and bottom. 

For these curtains I purchased cotton duck fabric since it's durable and machine washable.  Also, with this fabric I didn't need to add curtain lining.  These windows just happened to be about the right size to do 2 panels of 44/45" fabric for each section, so I only had to cut the length and not the width.  Then I folded over about 3/4" on each side (enough to fold over the selvage edges) and stitched them in place.  For the top hem I folded over 1/2" to the wrong side of the fabric, stitched it in place and repeated.  For the bottom hem I folded over 1/2" and stitched in place, and then folded over 1 1/4" and stitched in place.  And voila... A completed curtain panel!

Crocheted Wine Bottle Bag

I've been making quite a few wine bottle cozies/bags lately and I thought other people might enjoy making them too.  Both of the wine bottle bags shown are crocheted with this same pattern but in different yarns.  Experiment with your favorite bulky yarns.  I'd love to see pictures if you make this yourself.

You'll need:

• Approx. 2 oz bulky weight yarn.  The orangish red one is made with Bernat Softee Chunky in "Rouge" and the purple one is made with Lion Brand Homespun in "Baroque".
• Size K crochet hook.

Gauge isn't real important for this project, but you'll want to crochet loosely with the bulky yarn.  If you tend to crochet tighter you may want to use a larger hook.

The base of the bag measures approximately 3 1/2" in diameter, and it's approximately 12 1/2" tall.  It will fit most 750ml wine bottles and champagne bottles.

If you really like these but don't want to make them yourself, I have the finished wine bottle bags in my Etsy shop.  Love this but want it made in another color?  I welcome custom orders.  Please contact me and I'll be happy to work with you to make something beautiful for you.

Round 1: Ch 4, 11 dc in 4th ch from hook. (The first 3 skipped chs count as a dc.)  Join with sl st to top ch of 1st 3 chs. (12 dc)
Round 2: Ch 3, 2 dc in each st.  Join with sl st to top of ch3. (24 dc)
Round 3: Ch 3, dc in each st.  Join with sl st to top of ch3. (24 dc)
Rounds 4-18: Repeat round 3.
Fasten off.  Weave in ends.

Tie: Ch 70.  Fasten off.

Finishing: Weave tie through stitches in round 15.

You have permission to sell the finished product made from this pattern as long as you give me credit as the designer, but please do not sell this pattern or post on another site without my permission.