square into star

A Christmas star that started out as a square.

Weaving ch-28 loops over and under the sides of the square...oh, I love this pattern!

The pattern is from MAGIC CROCHET magazine October 2002 - Number 140 and designed Hiroko Hanai.

At first, my crochet thread was causing quite a knotted mess (because you are unable to shove the ball of thread thru each corner opening when weaving) but I just let it.

Cause a mess, that is.

Because in the end, after you clip your threads --- voilà! -- the twisted square turns into a beautiful Christmas star.

stuffing a scarecrow

 

Anne Marie and I have been 'talking' about cute crochet patterns for fall.  And after some digging I found my pattern for an adorable scarecrow. I hit my bin of yarn & starting pulling lots of skeins of fall-like colors to use -- along with a G hook, poly-fil and a stuffing tool.

 

 

And oh, my! if his little britches aren't just the cutest, ever!...

 

 

 

Now it's off of the laptop and onto finishing this little guy.

 

Oh!  And what makes this scarecrow pattern even cuter (if that's possible) -- she includes a pattern for crocheting the crows perched on his shoulder & the adorable pumpkins.

 

(btw--this pattern is from a 2007 issue of Crochet World and designed by Cindy Harris.  I see that her patterns are on Ravelry, but I don't see the pattern for her scarecrow/crows & pumpkins included on her page.  I also noticed that you can purchase a downloadable copy of this Aug. 2007 edition* of Crochet World here.)

 

*edit 10/12/12: arrrrrrrrrgh! I was just informed by someone who purchased this edition of the magazine that this pattern was NOT included in the magazine. 

 

If you need the pattern please let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

well, hello dolly

There is no age limit to dolls, is there?

My girls may be in their teens, but I know they share in the same love I do for a doll.

So with my g hook & oodles of leftovers from my stash of yarn...

...I got busy with crocheting a doll.

The pattern is from an old magazine that my great-aunt Bertha was tossing.  I don't even remember the name of the magazine, but knew without a doubt I had to add this pattern to my crochet library.

And how cute can a pattern be when it comes with accessories?  Cape, beret and hatbox.  Oh, my!...just the description of them warrants a need/desire to make them!

Once I saw how adorable this whole ensemble worked out (and because I was flitting thru the house practically dancing with her) my older daughter just wanted me to stop dancing also wanted a doll.

In her color scheme.

With of course, the cape, beret & hatbox.

And here she is.

I changed up the face and hair. And if you know a great tutorial for adding yarn hair, please let me know!  This was a bit of a hit-and-miss with me. (read ---> an almost disaster.)

Regardless of maybe needing to improve the hair, I am pleased with how cute they both turned out.

a bunny & a 'bad' dog

For every Valentine's Day, I crochet each of 3 kids some sort of amigurumi.  It's a tradition that my son demands I keep.  (And for a soon-to-be-13-yr.old-ALL-boy...I'm tickled pink about that.)

So I started pouring through my books & magazines, looking for some sort of cute amigurumi to make for them.

And I found this darling bunny -- she has her own blog that chronicles all of her adventures! -- how cute is that?! 

The pattern is from here:

Inside Crochet March 2010 Issue 15

I struggled & scratched my head a bit with this pattern, because this magazine hails from the UK and the crochet terms are British English instead of American English.  A little tough at first when they print dc and it actually means sc, but after awhile I whizzing through it with no problem.

I used Caron Simply Soft in Grey Heather with a size G hook.

She's so floppy and adorable that I must keep her away from a certain four-legged creature that goes by the name of Bear.......

...because he, lovable golden retriever that he is...

(ahem)

...thought he would be of assistance and help with the taking down of our Christmas tree.  Never mind that in taking the ornaments off of the tree, he  proceeded to eat them!!...

Argggh.

Bear looking all apologetic.

Yup. 

It worked.

Apology accepted.

wintry cowl

Wintry weather is always welcome here.

Huge snow drifts. Huge snowflakes.  Huge prayers for at least 22 inches of the stuff.  Huge hopes of major snow accumulation that will somehow exceed the roof line of our house.

Now that winter has indeed made its frosty entrance -- well....one must have a gorgeous, wintry cowl, right?

And I found just the one!  Crochet today jan/feb 09  has a super easy cowl pattern that works up beautifully.

Using leftover yarn and my M hook, I fell in love with the ease & look of this stitch pattern.

It's a simple v-stitch that can be done almost mindlessly.  And with a big hook...

....well, a mere 31 inches later a luxurious cowl has formed.

oh! how I love a dragonfly

If I had to pick a favorite bug -- it would be the dragonfly.
.
Every time I behold the sheer, translucent, shimmering beauty of the dragonfly's wing -- I am stunned into silence.

 

And guess what?  There is a crochet pattern that involves a dragonfly.   So to speak.

.

It is Dragonfly Shawl, designed by Lisa Naskrent and is described as being a

'symphony of elegance with a dance in flight.'

Everything about this pattern is a 'symphony of elegance'!  The pattern can be found here:

interweave CROCHET winter 2008

Now, given the alternative of written directions vs. a diagram -- hands down, I will always pick the diagram.

I mean -- honestly!  I could not wrap my head around any of this:

... s-ch 5 in each ch-5 sp

to first SMK,

[BP-sh-seq, s-ch-5 in next ch-5 sp]

through first ch-5 sp after last

SMK on this side...

What does that mean?!!?
.
So, thank goodness for a drawn diagram and probably the most delectable yarn ----  Shadow Tonal Lace Yarn in Blue Violet from KnitPicks  in the most gorgeous shade of periwinkle (read ---> my favorite color!)
.
Being a laceweight, I had a super hard time getting used to using a D hook with a size 0 yarn.  And yes, I did have to frog my first 20 attempts at getting this started.  Getting those first 3 rows going was the most difficult for me.
.
But, duh! -- after studying the diagram, I realized that the pattern is very, very easy to memorize and now that I can actually see a completely magnificent shawl starting to appear --- I am stealing away as much time as possible to get this done so it can be draped around my shoulders.



cat nap

,

.
Oh, to have the life of a cat. Where the only big question of the day is whether to lazily slumber on the couch or the footstool.


The only big question I am facing is whether to continue making 11 more blocks for this Cat & Mouse blanket -- or to just call it a day and finish this block for a pillow.
.





I got the pattern from this magazine:

....but it can also be found here.

My only misgiving about continuing this as a blanket is the heaviness when done.  If a project weighs more than my refrigerator when finished (and that happens a lot!) I get all frustrated and shove the thing in the back of my closet.  Soft & drapey has to be the end result -- or it will never get used.

Okay. This finished kitty is so adorable (yes, to my husband's horror -- I could easily become that Crazy Cat Lady....) and with the added mouse border that is included with this pattern...
,
....well, this might just become a blanket instead of the pillow.