Bunny Cottage

I metioned yesterday that I preposted my 2022 Easter projects last June to post in 2023 as I missed the chance to post them in 2022 and still wanted a record of them to return to later.

When I send holiday boxes I love sending items that can create creative play with different kinds of items. One type of crochet patterns I've pursued are house patterns that can be used with little amis to make crochet play sets. I found this pattern on Ravelry as part of a online magazine In the Round Issue 15 Realm of the Faires. The pattern is called Cottingley Faire Cottage. You can purchase the pattern here.

This was a fun learning experience as the designer used some techniques I wasn't familiar with to create the fairy cottage look. As this was being created for kids to play with and not just as a decoration I did omit some of her decorative elements. For fun I also dug through my button collection to add decorations to the project rather than crocheting everything.

Easter Hot Pad

Coming just in under the wire on this one. Finished it up Friday night when I realized that Easter was only a weekend away.

I started with the mug rug pattern from Annie's Spooktacular Crochet and by making an additional back side turned it into a hot pad.

I should have reversed the stripes and made the dark portion the backing for the basket. I could still have made the back side the lighter color, as I had concerns I might not have enough dark color for both sides of the hot pad. something to keep in mind for another day. I would have preferred not to have the basket and the hot pad the same color.

The basket comes from a Maggie's Holiday Crochet Fridgie pattern you can purchase here. I've moved to fridgie patterns for my holiday hot pads because there are plenty to choose from and they work up quickly. I used to pieces of Omega Sinfonia yarn together for the basket but found 2 was too heavy for the eggs and went back to single pieces for the eggs. For my notes I ordered the purple yarns when I got the green for St. Patrick's Day from Creative Yarn Source. The yellow, pink, and orange were left overs from previous projects.

Mrs. Cottontail

I finished a second character from The Tale of Peter Rabbit for my Easter box. I found a free pattern for Peter's mother here.

For this project I used Knit Picks Brava Worsted and I found it was a lighter weight worsted than some. For those of you familiar with Planet June's designs and writing she's actually collecting yarn samples on her Ravelry group here to do a write up comparing the various products to document and demonstrate the variances in worsted weight brand yarns so we have an understanding of what we are working with when we start a project. I know I often have to combine brands to get the colors I want for a project and sometimes the size variances don't make a huge difference depending on where I'm using the color, but in locations a size change can throw off a project and that can be frustrating. I look forward to her results when she publishes them.

The challenge I had with using a lighter weight yarn for the body was I needed to change the yarn I intended to use for the clothes. One of the reasons this didn't post Monday was I had the dress almost finished using Joann's Big Twist yarn and it was just too heavy for the bunny. I pulled out an old skein of Red Heart Comfort Sport Blue and Bernat Baby Big Ball Sport Yarn, Baby Yellow and the fit was better.

Notes:

I used an e hook for the bunny. The white is baby yarn to match the lighter worsted yarn, the other white worsted I had was too heavy with the Brava worsted. If I make this pattern again, I'd go with the feet I used for Peter rather than the small feet used in this pattern. I think you get better overall balance.

With the exception of the bonnet I used a C hook with the baby yarn. The bonnet was made with Caron One Pound , White and an e hook.

While this bunny is made to be played with so the clothes can be removed, if I make this bunny again I wouldn't add the white tummy again, it makes it harder to fit the dress. I added the tail after the dress was done to make sure the hole lined up in the back.

My mailing deadline is coming quickly. I'd hopes for more projects, but first I really need to finish the finger puppet family. After that we will see if there is any time left. If not it is on to the summer birthday and more doll donations.

Flashback Friday Easter Projects 2019

I don't generally do Flashback posts but as I was researching what to make for Easter this year I went back to look at what I made last year as a reference and realized I never posted what I made as a record for times like this when I can't remember what I made. So this is for me so next year when I want to look back and remember what have I already made and sent I have a searchable record with links to patterns.

I've always loved patterns that give kids more than just a stuffed animal. It doesn't hurt that it provides storage too. This is a fun free pattern you can find here. The pattern shows room for multiple bunnies mine only had room for one, which wasn't the end of the world for me. I suspect with some work you can make it larger to accommodate more bunnies.

The bunny puppets were from a free pattern found here. Learning from this project I remade them and posted about the project last week. The eggs come from a dinosaur egg pattern you can purchase here. I was going to do dino and dragon eggs last year and never got to it.

Cowboy Billy has been a favorite Easter pattern of mine for quite some time. He can be purchased here. Just because he's a duck he doesn't need to be an Easter pattern, but I find there are lots of non-holiday patterns. I love finding unique patterns that will work for holiday themes. A western themed duck has proven on several occasions to be just the right choice for an Easter basket.

Petunia the Purple Bunny Ballerina was the April Bonus Pattern from the 2018 Crochet Calendar. I do rather miss that annual publication. I always got a couple doll and ami patterns to add to my pattern collection from it.

From the pictures I was looking through this appears to be the package from last year and now I have the links to reference too. This blog is my reference point for old projects. So adding this post will help me keep track of items made and remember where I found the patterns should I be looking again.

Rabbit in a Carrot Sleeping Bag

I've been slowly collecting patterns by this designer as they are perfect little presents to add to packages. I received this pattern as a Valentine's present and set out to make it right away for the Easter package. You can purchase the pattern here.

There are tons of patterns free and paid on the market. I love these patterns because the ones I've made are simple to make up and they all have little accessories that add some fun for little ones play time. I previously made the dog with bed for a birthday present and I've been collecting the holiday themed patterns to use for my holiday packages.

Thanks to a friend's search for eyes I found pink noses from CR Crafts here. I've been able to find my eyes and regular noses locally for the most part but colored noses have been elusive and I usually need to get those online. This way I can remember where I ordered them from when I run out. I have no idea where my previous supply came from so had no ability to reorder.

Additional notes:

I'd make the carrot wider for several rows and slightly longer before reducing the rows to the point. While you want the carrot to be tight so rabbit doesn't fall out, you also want it to be easy to get the rabbit all the way in and out.

I liked the grey rabbit. White was too white against the orange. The brown was OK but I think perhaps an off white if I needed a second rabbit again.

Easter Lovey

I finished this up last week. The free pattern can be found here.

The pattern calls for DK yarn. For best results I would suggest DK or sport yarn. I only had worsted on hand and while fine for the chicken it was a little heavy for the blanket. I used Knit Picks cotton sport yarn for the chicken's details. Worsted yarn would have been a little heavy based on the directions given for the beak, feet, and coxcomb. I did use the white worsted for his wings. This is a fun cute project and would be a great Easter gift to keep a little one comforted and entertained during Easter celebrations.

I only need one more lovey and my year long project will be complete. I'm thinking of adapting one of the projects from Snuggle and Play Crochet: 40 Amigurumi Patterns for Lovey Security Blankets and Matching Toys that my DH bought me for Valentine's Day. The last one will be a Patriotic themed one for the July 4th holiday. I've already located some great board books for the set. I haven't decided on the rest of the set. When I start up again in for Halloween I'll be making mostly ami's and eventually perhaps doll clothes.

Crochet Eggster Bunny

It is wonderful to be part of a supportive online crochet group. When I started posting about my Easter projects a good friend posted a link to the free Crochet Eggster Bunny pattern which you too can find here. I already had another pattern in mind to make for the last ami for the Easter box. However, once I saw the Eggster Bunny there was no going back. It was definitely the choice for the last ami project.

You will clearly notice differences between my bunny and the pattern authors. First I am determined to finish off my stash yarn, so when I discovered I didn't have appropriate off white yarn, I went with white. I also wasn't crazy about the yolk colored accents, so I went with traditional pink. I had this ball of purple yarn I've been dying to finish off so it seemed like an ideal project to use it on and while it isn't finished I made a good dent. I chose not to stuff the feet. I found the balance was better with flat feet. It's always a choice you make when you create amis. Lastly, for the nose and the buttons I used size 10 crochet thread.

My egg just came out wider than I'd expected, but I loved it. The designer has a more rounded egg look, but I fell in love with my egg bunny. At some point I really want one for myself.

A thank you to the designer for her pattern. I was so impressed with the level of detail and the pictures included. I learned some new tricks, especially about embroidering the nose. I also appreciated the pictures about where to join and the up close pictures that let me count holes to make sure I knew where her pieces were located. It made putting the bunny together much easier.

Claudia Cottontail

Claudia Cottontail is an adaptation of a Caolyn Christmas pattern found in an out of print Needlecraft Shop Book, Crochet Private Collection. The book was originally published in 1999 for those of you who might be interested in finding it.

My Claudia is slightly different from the author's. For one thing I don't have experience with soft sculpture needles and decided to forge ahead and make a more traditional ami. This is a skill I'd like to learn more about, but this is a time sensitive challenge and I needed to move forward.

I started with the suggestion of worsted weight yarn for this bunny, but it was huge. I ended up using some lighter sport weight yarn I'd bought previously. This caused a challenge when it came to cloth the bunny. I started with lighter weight cotton sport yarn I had on hand. However, Miss Cottontail was larger in the chest area and that required a medium white sport weight yarn to get the dress to fit in the bodice as it was too tight with the lighter weight sport yarn.

This one of those patterns I'd have loved to see the back side for both the dress and the hat. I think it would have helped with my on the fly adaptations. However, you work with what you get. The details were cute with this pattern. This bunny is quite modest as she has panties that remind me of the old fashioned pantaloons. I used a draw string to help make mine fit a bit better at the waist, but I thought they made a cute addition to the pattern.

I started this pattern well before the St. Patrick's Day box left but I ran into problems when I realized I needed more Knit Picks sports yarn as I'd fully intended to use worsted weight for the bunny and some heavier weight sport yarn I had on hand for the dress. Since I had to order yarn the project to a back seat until my order arrived. However, it will be ready to mail before my deadline and that is what really matters.

Happy Easter

While today is Good Friday, I don't post on the weekends. For those of you who celebrate, I wish you a very Happy Easter. I hope it is filled with family and friends.

I didn't finish nearly as many crocheted projects as I usually do for Easter. However, these are my completed Easter projects for the year.

Easter Elephant

Once again I got distracted working on swaps and other projects and didn't get to posting. I hope to get caught up soon.

I thought I'd post the Easter projects first. First up was an Easter elephant I made for an ami swap. I participated in Crochetville's ami swap and decided on a holiday elephant theme for my partner. The challenge was finding unique ways to have holiday ami's without making them all identical.

This elephant was made using the Reginald and Regina Elephant free pattern located here. I changed the colors to give it a more holiday feel. For the Easter basket I expanded a free Barbie pattern for an Easter basket found here. There is also a free AG one found here.

This was a really great pattern. While I only made the girl doll, I found the clothing is a size that will fit the baby dolls I'm working on to donate giving me additional free patterns to use. I wish I had found this pattern first. This was one of the last elephants I made and didn't have enough time to make the companion male elephant to send. If I need another elephant in the future, I would start here first.

If you arrived here looking for free patterns you may be interested in the following blog pages:

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Pictures may not be used without permission.

The Easter Bunny Brought Crochet

Who knew the Easter Bunny shopped at Etsy, but he left me some wonderful patterns to play with in the coming days.

Mysterious Cat's Airplane and Cat has been on my wish list for a while. Sadly, at one point when I could have bought it she had stopped selling it, only selling the finished items. When I saw it was back up for sale, this was the top item on the Easter Bunny's list. I have seen other animal and plane patterns, but this is the only one I have encountered where the child can remove the animal from the plane. I can easily adapt the cat to be whatever animal I want as long as the body size remains the same. If I can master this pattern, I want to put her Fox in the Race Car on my birthday list.

Another item that has been on my list for a long time is the Liberty Dragon of the Month-July from Hands of Hope. I had been looking for Dragon patterns when I stumbled across Hands of Hopes Dragon of the month and decided the July one had to make it here. It took me a while, but the Easter Bunny came through.

It is hard to find St. Patrick's day items to keep my holiday boxes new each year, but the Bunny located Liam the Leprechaun from Crochet Spot. This gives me two Leprechaun patterns I have not tried out yet to use for next year.

The last two patterns came as a set and will help me with another hard to find holiday, Thanksgiving. The Easter Bunny brought me the Thanksgiving Turkey pattern which provided me with an adorable Mr. and Mrs. Turkey to make for the holiday. Mrs. Turkey even has a delightful pumpkin pie.

I have some birthday gifts to finish up. However, I am excited about getting started on my Easter gifts. Hope all of you had a wonderful Easter holiday.

Boy Duck with Green Shirt and Egg

This was the last of the ducks I made using the "Easter Eggs" pattern from the April 2011 Crochet World.

I decided to play with the egg until I could actually get the duck inside the egg and found I had to use an M hook. As I mentioned in a previous post, the duck fit, but it started to lose its egg shape.

I chose green as that is one of this child's favorite colors. It did not necessarily have an Easter feel to it, but it he looked adorable when he was done.

I do not do well repeating projects, so I try to find a way to make each one a little different. This pattern only had two ducks. So in order to make the second boy different I went back to Crochet Village's Eggheads to find an alternate hat. I settled on the cowboy hat I used on the orange chick earlier. I love being able to use one pattern to change another.

If you arrived here looking for free holiday or toy patterns please see the following pages:

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Bunny Egg with Bunny Slippers

This is another item created from Crochet Village's Egghead's pattern.

I originally intended to make the mother and father bunny and include them in the Easter box. However, it is confession time. I fell in love with the bunny slippers and with the box rather full and time running short, I have decided that bunny will be staying here. Next year I will send bunnies, but this year with the projects I still have to post, the multiple Easter boxes are full.

I expect those bunny slippers will be appearing in other ami projects I make in the future. I have already used one of the hats from this pattern set on a duck project I needed a different look for after completing the two that pattern provided.


If you arrived here looking for free holiday or toy patterns please see the following pages:

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Mrs. Bluebird

I finished Mrs. Bluebird from Crochet Village's Eggheads so Mr. Bluebird will not be alone in the Easter box. I need to finish one more bird and I can move on to the bunnies.

The eggs are simple and easy to make, however what I love about this pattern set are the many varied hats and little items that make the sets. I am looking forward to the bunny slippers for one of the bunnies. That is first on my list after I finish off the birds.

Easter Egg Dishcloth

My digital Crochet World subscription just yielded its first benefits. I downloaded this pattern from the April 2007 edition. This is actually a pot holder pattern, but I adapted it into a dishcloth. The Sugar 'n Cream Yarn makes great dishcloths that are easy to clean. I usually substitute it for pot holder yarn requirements.

There are several different styles of decorated eggs in this pattern including a plain egg, stripes, and various shapes.

This was the first time I have used a chart when crocheting. I know they are common in knitting, but most of the crochet patterns I have used to date are written out. It was great getting a chance to practice on a basic pattern. I have avoided some of the more complicated patterns because of the charts.

If I want to do more work with charts, I will need to work on color changes. The ability to make changes cleanly is what creates the patterns.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

St. Patrick's Day

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Easter Granny Square Dishcloth

I have been on a kick lately to make cotton dishcloths for our kitchen. My husband actually asked me yesterday if he could use one of the shamrocks to clean with and I laughed. I like decorative items, but my point in using cotton has been to make them practical, not just pretty. The shamrock has been put to good use.

I have been experimenting with a variety of granny squares. First, they are a fun pattern to play with and can be done in a variety of locations without having to carry many directions. Secondly, they make decorative items. Lastly, they have a scrubbing quality that flat panels have not given me. Those bumps do have a cleaning quality. Even though you lose some cleaning quality with the granny gaps.

The variegated cotton dishcloth yarn makes wonderful granny patterns. Last year, I made knitted and crochet basic square dishcloths. They were not nearly as pretty as the granny versions. I will continue to make both as they all serve different cleaning purposes.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Hello Kitty

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Bunnyzilla or What Happens to Easter Puppets When the Pattern Goes Wrong

Sorry I have no picture folks. It was a frustrating day after working on a pattern from a vintage book to realize the puppet part was not right and it made the bunny look like something from a horror flick. His face was distorted. I considered using it for a Halloween project, but the part for the hand is just not comfortable for use. I have to go back and figure out where I went wrong with the directions. I was upset because I loved the way the arm part worked. I had a pretty pink bunny coming together, but there is something wrong with how I constructed his mouth. Therefore, it is back to the drawing board.

On the upside, I have a few more dishcloths finished and I have started the yearly production of crochet Easter eggs. I will have photographs soon.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Hello Kitty

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Easter Comes Late

I have been working on creating holiday packages and most have fixed dates. Easter is always an interesting challenge as it floats between March and April making planning a challenge. An additional challenge is there are two birthdays that fall around the Easter date in April and May that I have to work around the Easter package that is mailed. Over the last few weeks, I have been working on Easter and St. Patrick's Day projects. Yesterday I checked the calendar and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Easter does not fall until April 24th this year.

This means I have extra time to work on Easter, two kids birthdays, and even put time into planning my husband's Easter and birthday gifts.

Sometimes the small things provide us with gratitude and relief.