Leprechaun Toilet Paper Topper

I have been in holiday crochet mode and finally decided to make something for our house. I saw the holiday toilet paper toppers at Crochet Village while shopping for My Silly Valentine and decided to purchase Tweedle Dee Leprechaun TP Topper and two others I will hopefully complete and blog about later.

This guy worked up quickly and the surprised me. I though the beard that would be the challenge. It used a loop stitch I was not familiar with and I was working on it while trying to help someone brainstorm some project ideas. Not the best time for a learning experience. The beard actually worked out fine. In fact, the only challenge I found were the feet. For some reason I struggled to understand the directions for the feet, so I reworked the directions for one of her other pieces and made it work.

I used Caron One Pounder and Red Heart Super Saver and some Wintuck I picked up at a Church sale. It has been wonderful to complete projects from my stash.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:


St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

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Valentine Heart Crochet Cookies

As promised I finished the Valentine Cookies from Crochet Village's My Silly Valentine Patterns last week and I posted them today. The pattern worked up quickly. It allows for lots of individualization in terms of frosting color and decorations. I went for simple and basic, as I need the box to be ready to mail this week.

This is a great stash busting project for those little balls of yarn you have around. I used up Caron One Pounder and Red Heart Super Saver yarn.

These cookies are being added to play kitchen food I have sent along on other occasions. I thought holiday cookies might add some fun to the play food options.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

Valentines

St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas


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Hugging Hearts

Hugging Hearts is the second project from Crochet Village's My Silly Valentine Patterns I finished. As I mentioned in the Crochet Chocolate Kiss post, I purchased this set shortly after Christmas to have some new items to make for the Valentine's box I am sending out. This couple was a perfect match.

The heart pair worked up quickly using scraps of Caron One Pounder and Red Heart Super Saver yarn. These would be cute for a bridal shower, too.

My last task before the box is ready is to make the crochet cookies from the pattern.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

Valentines

St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas


Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Chocolate Valentine Kiss

I have been off working on swap and Valentine's projects so I have not had much time to post. I finished my swap projects. However, I cannot post pictures until my partner receives the box. Therefore, I will post my Valentine's projects as I finish them.

This is the Chocolate Kiss from Crochet Village's My Silly Valentine Patterns. I purchased the patterns shortly after Christmas when I saw they had released a special holiday pattern and decided I would get the set ready for my Valentine's package. Just to be clear I changed the color pattern as I wanted a holiday themed Kiss. The pattern has the traditional grey colors. I also decided on the striped legs, the pattern is a solid color. That is one of the great things about these patterns is you can easily adapt them to your needs without a great deal of effort. They are also a good use of scraps. I used up left over Caron One Pounder and Red Heart Super Saver to make this project. I have a request for a blue one and two things I need to work on for the second one are adding more stuffing and working on where to best attach the legs.

I almost have the second pattern, the Hugging Hearts completed. I will post those pictures when they are ready for their public appearance.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:


Valentines

St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas


Pictures may not be used without written permission.

When Sales and Coupons Align

I am doing another swap on Crochetville and was out shopping for it over the long weekend. Swaps present unique shopping challenges. When I shop for craft items for myself, I can wait until I get the right combination of sale or coupons to get the price I want. The time limits of swaps create a challenge of getting the items I want for my swap partner at the best price I can find in the time allotted. With this challenge, I often find I have coupons for items that are sale items, thus making the coupons useless, or a previous sale has often cleaned out the items I wanted to use my coupons for leaving me with limited options. Sometimes I think the companies do plan for this when they issue their best coupons. They place certain items off limits or have them, as sale items for a price that is higher than a coupon would have made it if used. When I have time to shop, this is not an issue because I can usually find the deal and wait until I get it before purchasing. The challenge with a deadline is to find the deal in a short time allotted for the swap.

This week was different. I must have been out of their shopping cycle because I managed to get sales on some of the lower end items I needed and was able to use my 50% coupons for the higher priced items on my list, which at one point brought me to getting two items for the price of one. This means more items for my swap partner. My husband picked up one item on my list that was the last one on the shelf. I have heard that it can be challenging to find at this store so I was thrilled when he told me he found it as they have the best non-sale price for the item.

I also got lucky finding Lily Sugar & Cream brown cotton yarn at AC Moore. I had planned to order it online because I have never been able to find brown locally. Sure enough, I checked at Joann’s and Michaels while we were out and they had no brown. I am hoping because I cleaned out their supply that AC Moore will order more due to demand.

Even online, I hit sales at Knitting Warehouse and was able to use online coupons at Joann’s. It does not often happen this way, so it is important to celebrate when it does.

Millenium Falcon WIP

The Millenium Falcon pattern was part of a set of three Star Wars Ship patterns my DH purchased for me. I needed the patterns for a younger family member's birthday in April. If they work out, I am thinking they would also be great donation toys.

I finished the bottom of the ship yesterday and am hoping to have the top of the ship done today. Along with the ship I am also hoping to finish the Walker pattern as well. I have patterns for the 10 Star Wars Characters that I am hoping to include in the project. Previously I have only completed Yoda. This time I am hoping to finish more characters to make the playset more interesting.

If you arrived here looking for free 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 written permission.

Lucky Clover Dishcloth

I am determined to keep up my minimal knitting skills so I am practicing on dishcloths. I picked up Holiday Knit Dishcloths (Leisure Arts #5287) last fall and am determined to work my way through the seasons and keep up my basic knitting and have seasonal dishcloths to use in the kitchen.

I haven't decided to work on the Valentine's heart ones, since I made some Valentine's ones last year, or move on to the chick and bunny for Easter.

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.

50 Ripple Stitches

50 Ripple Stitches has been on my list of books to buy since Annie's Attic started showing previews of it. My DH bought me a copy of it for Christmas and I have been enjoying looking through the styles and thinking about future projects.

One reason I wanted this book was that unlike many ripple patterns this book does not chart the whole afghan, but provides you with a style of ripple and the math to use it in any type of pattern you desire. I have never been good at figuring out the math for ripples. Therefore, when a style I like is too large or too small I have never been sure what the formula is to make it smaller or larger. This book provides you with the math for each ripple pattern.

I also like the variety and style of ripple patterns. While I will likely never get to make all 50, unlike many of these types of books there were only two that I could not see myself ever wanting to make.

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.

Bag Patterns Crochet, Knit, and Loom

I have been doing more exchanges that require totes or bags and finding them great gifts. I decided it would be good to start a page where I could catalog the places I found patterns so I could locate them again and share them with others. My blog makes a great bulletin board. As with my other pattern pages it will expand as I have time to update, but for now, it gives me a place to get started.

Crochet:

Cat Bag

Clustered Tote

Crochet Pattern Central Bags

Crochet Pattern Central Totes

Market Bag

Owl Bag

Owl Bag Purse

Rainbow Spikes

Ripple Bag Coats and Clark

School Tote Bag

Striped Bag

Summer Hobo Bag

Sweet Pea Tote Bag

Waves of Color


Knit:

Crossword Bag

Knitting Pattern Central

Ripple Bag Coats and Clark

Sundance Market Bag


Loom:

Bee Bopper Tote Bag

Courier Bag Lion's Brand

Lion Brand Bag

Market Bag

Uptown Bag Lion's Brand

House Ornament

This is the second ornament I completed from Amy Gaines' Woodland Christmas Ornament Pattern set. I have always loved Christmas scenes, villages, gingerbread houses, and items that create that Christmas picture. This was one of the patterns that attracted me to the set. I loved the snow on the roof and the little details that she added.

As part of my stash busting goal for 2012 I did use Red Heart Super Saver and Caron One Pounder for this project instead of the suggested Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice. The only place I really think it made a difference might have been the wreath. The fuzzier Vanna's may have made a better wreath than the Red Heart I substituted.

I am proceeding with my cat afghan and am hoping to have it finished soon. While I want to continue making Christmas ornaments to reach my goal for 2012, I am going to have to turn to Valentine's Day and St. Patrick’s Day projects, soon.

If you arrived here looking for free Christmas patterns please check out the following pages:

Free Knit and Crochet Ornament Patterns

Free Knit and Crochet Christmas Patterns

Free Plastic Canvas Christmas Patterns

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Super Scary Crochet

Mom and I were out doing some shopping for Christmas and I was able to redirect her from something I did not want for Christmas to Super Scary Crochet: 35 Gruesome Patterns to Sink Your Hook into which had been on my Christmas list. Mom was pleased to get me a gift I wanted and I was thrilled to add a book with some wonderful patterns for my Halloween box.

This was actually one of the hit gifts of Christmas Eve. Even people who are not interested in crochet passed around the book to look at the characters that Nicki Trench created for this new book. She covers the standard mummies, vampires, and werewolves expected in a horror book. However, evil tomatoes threw me. I suppose there was the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, but I tend to think of them as friendly. I am not sure what it says about my family, but the bunny murdered with a carrot stick was very popular.

If you enjoy the darker side of amigurumi this book might be the one for you. Patterns are written format and do not include charts or symbols. While I have not had a chance to make one yet, the patters appear to be clearly written. They look easy enough to follow. The author has added non-yarn items to some of the patterns to complete the outfits. I am looking forward to adding some new toys to my Halloween boxes this year.

Reindeer Ornament

This reindeer is part of Amy Gaines' Woodland Christmas Ornament Pattern set that my husband bought for me as a Christmas present.

I did well in 2010 getting Christmas ornaments made to send with Christmas packages. This past year was more of a year of experimentation with different types of projects and I realized too late that I was not going to finish ornaments to include in my packages. New Year's Eve and day, I needed some small projects to work on so I decided to get a jump start on my ornament projects for 2012.

I did alter the pattern slightly. First I am still stash busting so I used Red Heart Super Saver instead of Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice. While I love the feel of Vanna's I am quite happy with the outcome in Red Heart. I also sewed premade pom poms. I have a miserable time making them and the premade ones were fine. I used safety eyes for the eyes and the nose. I avoid embroidery on the ami's when I can. Last, since I was going to use this as an ornament I chose not to add the legs. Since it is made with worsted weight, it is not a tiny or light ornament for the tree. If I were making it as an ami for a child's toy or as the basis for a finger puppet, I would include the legs. I decided for an ornament that I would try to keep it from being tangled in the branches.

If you arrived here looking for free Christmas patterns please check out the following pages:

Free Knit and Crochet Ornament Patterns

Free Knit and Crochet Christmas Patterns

Free Plastic Canvas Christmas Patterns

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

50 Fabulous Crochet Squares

One of the many wonderful gifts I got for Christmas was a copy of 50 Fabulous Crochet Squares (Leisure Arts #4420) from my husband. I have been participating in more exchanges and one of the requests is often squares for friendship afghans. Having a variety of patterns to choose from keeps me interested in making them and makes the afghans more varied for the recipients receiving them.

I had not considered making an afghan square Christmas afghan for myself. However, having seen the Christmas Wreath square, the Catskill Mountain Rose, and a few others, I am tempted to think about starting one. I have quite a few other projects in my crochet cue and I have promised myself to dig out my knitting loom DVD's and see if I can master that this winter. I also need to learn to use the Knook I got for Christmas as I also received a couple of pattern books to try out with it. Therefore, the Christmas afghan may be a dream for the future. However, with more swaps and exchanges coming up, I am sure to put the squares in this book to good use.