Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I thought I'd share by remembering the Valentine's themed projects I made this year.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all

I'm celebrating by remembering my holiday themed projects

Be Mine Baby Doll Valentine Outfit

I've had the Be Mine pattern in my binder for a while and while considering what to put in the Valentine's package this year, it seemed like a good time to pull it add and add another holiday outfit to the Big Sister doll. You can purchase the pattern here.

A few notes to myself should I try to complete this again in the future, I didn't have sport weight (3) yarn in red so I decided to see if I could make gauge by using a smaller hook and worsted weight (4) yarn. I had to go to a size D hook, but it worked. If I do make this again, I think I would choose to go with a lighter weight yarn for the shirt as it was a little bulky under the heart jumper. However, the dress was fine with the heavier yarn.

I played with the arms as I found the pattern made the arm holes too tight for my doll. While the arms are designed to be fitted, they also need to be able to be taken off by little hands.

The snaps for the straps worked out well. I also chose snaps for the shirt.

This pattern does not include a pattern for shoes. The shoes come from a free pattern found here. This is actually one of the reasons I've tried to be more careful about documenting what patterns I use for which items. It can help you the reader, but it also helps me. I knew there were a couple of baby doll shoe patterns that fit this doll but I'd forgotten which pattern sets they came from. By reading the posts I quickly located the one I wanted and this outfit has shoes.

Crochet Valentine's Day Cookies

Not even half way through January and I was working on Valentine's Day projects. I hadn't even finished getting all the Christmas decorations put away. The truth is however, if you are going to send hand made gifts you have to get a head start. Even a bigger start if you have to mail a package.

I've always been a fan of play food. I think it encourages pretend play. Adding holiday food just makes it even more fun. You can keep these as heart sugar cookies in your play food box or bring them out for the holidays as something to play with after all the Christmas toys and decorations have been put away.

This pattern is part of one of my favorite Valentine pattern sets created by Crochet Village called My Silly Valentine. Crochet Village used to have a website but the company seems to have moved to Etsy. You can purchase the pattern here.

There are a few container patterns available in crochet and plastic canvas in heart shapes. I considered the option and dismissed it. While I love making hand made gifts I'm realistic about how well certain items last under little hands. Measuring the time and effort required to make a crocheted box versus how long it would last I began looking online for my options. I found two different heart shaped boxes at Hobby Lobby. Since we just had a Hobby Lobby open near us, I even avoided shipping. You can find the box online here.

Valentine Dishcloth

I needed a break from the Cat Afghan so I pulled out my Valentines patterns and made the Sweetheart Crochet Dishcloth to brighten up my kitchen now that all the Christmas decorations are coming down. This is one of the 365 free dishcloth patterns posted on Maggie Weldon's Best Free Crochet site. It is well worth visiting if you have not checked out her dishcloth challenge.

This is another victory for my stash busting. I had all the cotton on hand and used up some of the large Bernat Handicrafter Red I had left over from Christmas projects and some Lily's Sugar 'n Cream White for the details.

This is a pretty and quick project if you need something for a Valentine's present.

Free Dishcloth and Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

Free Crochet and Knit Dishcloths Patterns

Valentines

St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope all of you are having a wonderful day.

My Valentine's Day Crochet gifts were a hit. I got an email about the package I mailed and my weekend visitor loved the doll dresses I made. Barbie's dress was the bigger hit of the two. Of course, Barbie's dress was pink so I guess that made the difference.




My husband surprised me with flowers yesterday and my Valentine's gifts at breakfast. His are still in the closet upstairs waiting until he gets home. I planned for a dinner exchange of gifts. I was thrilled as he once again fed my crochet habit. He had asked me about patterns I was interested in and got me a cool gadget. While I have overcome my fear of downloading patterns, I still leave him with lists of those for these occasions. It is hard to hide my love for holiday patterns and I got two more Halloween patterns to use for next year.

I had been eying Fun and Fang's Dracula's Castle pattern for a while now. She had a sale after Halloween, but I had just purchased a bunch of vintage patterns and my home printer was not working. Therefore, I passed on the opportunity. I love the castle along with the mini Dracula. I am sure my younger relatives will enjoy it, too. The other pattern he bought me was Frankenstein and His Bride from Crafty Deb Designs. I believe I orginally saw this pattern on Annie's Attic but again missed the opportunity to purchase it. When looking for Fun and Fang's pattern, I came across the Frankenstein pattern and put it on my list of patterns I would love to own. I love making the Halloween ami's to send and I noticed they are becoming popular with the adults in my family, not just the kids.

Lastly, he found a better chart holder than the embroidery one I purchased ages ago. The Knitting Chart Holder from Knit Picks stands up and it is portable. I am looking forward to using it on my side table as I work on crochet projects.


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

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

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 permission.

Valentine Mouse Finger Puppet

This mouse finger puppet was adapted from Finger Puppets 12 Designs to Crochet by Susan Pippen. Leisure Arts published the vintage Leaflet, number 435, in 1986.

I love these ami style finger puppets and have blogged about them before. I decided to make a Valentine's themed one when I found a shortage of Valentine's themed toy patterns. When I have shopped for Valentine’s toys in the store, I have found most are traditional toys created in holiday colors. Since I did not have a Valentine's finger puppet pattern, I decided to create one using the same theory. I took a regular finger puppet pattern and simply changed the color. I am thinking about doing the same for St. Patrick's Day.

The box is now full, taped, and addressed and ready to head off to its new home filled with Valentine goodies. I have one American Girl Dress almost done for my local package. I need to work on the Barbie Valentine Ball Gown, which I believe is going to be in pink this time.

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

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

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 permission.

Valentine Bear

My Valentine Bear is actually adapted from the Birthday Bear in Jan Hatfield's Crochet Pairs of Bears pattern number 1182. The American School of Needlework published the leaflet in 1993.

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been working on this bear as part of the Valentine's package to mail Friday, unless the snow does not stop. I have given myself until then to finish the package. The mouse finger puppet is almost complete and I think I will call and end to the making Valentine items to ship. I still have a local package to finish.

My husband says this is his favorite of all the ami's I have made yet. I will have to make him a dressed bear for his office. I love the bear pattern. The clothes were a bit more challenging. While we often discuss gauge in crochet, we rarely discuss stuffing. After working on the clothing patterns, I must guess that my bear is better stuffed than Ms. Hatfield's bears. While the pants fit, the shirt was not even close to fitting. I tried three different methods for making a bear shirt before reaching success with the fourth. The bow tie is based on the pattern, but I added a chain so it would be removable. The belt and shirt use snaps. The pattern called for buttons for the shirt. After playing with the pattern and being rushed for time, snaps were a quicker alternative.

The leaflet includes a St. Patrick's Day couple. They would make a great addition to my next package. I am not done with this pattern yet.

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

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

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 permission.