Victorian Boy Snowman Caroler

This is the last family member in the Victorian Snow family made from The Annie Potter Presents The Snowbuddies from Snowville for my last swap. I will post a family photo for Wordless Wednesday next week.

You cannot tell from this picture, but with the addition of snow legs, the boy has a very different format than the previous members of the family. This was a bit more challenging to create than any of the other family members. While it made for an interesting effect, with the balance issues, I might not choose to do it in a second attempt.

I loved the newsboy style hat and may use this for other ami and doll projects.

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Victorian Girl Snowman Caroler

This is the first child in the snowman family. She also comes from The Annie Potter Presents The Snowbuddies from Snowville and I do not have a pattern number for it.

As time was running out for the swap, I was trying to decide how far I would get with this project. Did I just make Mom and Dad? Would I finish the whole family? After finishing the Mother, there seemed to be time to approach the daughter and I was glad I took on the challenge.

The directions for the little girl varied from the larger snowmen and as you will see later, the boy took an even large design variation on the theme.

While I have boxes of Christmas decorations, I am very tempted to make a set of these for myself. They are very hard to resist.


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Victorian Lady Snowman Caroler

This is the second snowman in my Victorian Caroling Family. The pattern for this family is located in Annie Potter Presents The Snowbuddies from Snowville and I do not have a pattern number for it.

I do not usually do much with fancy buttons, but for this project three of the snowmen required more than basic buttons, so I went through an assorted box I had bought a while back to see what unique options I had. I was fun to try to find something that would match.

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Leprechaun

With St. Patrick's Day approaching I decided to interrupt posting my Victorian Christmas Caroling Snowmen family to post the Leprechaun I finished yesterday using Lily's Lucky Leprechaun pattern. If the pattern does not come up right away with the link, you may have to log in and type in the pattern name.

I chose to make my Leprechaun ami with worsted weight acrylic Red Heart Super Saver and Caron One Pounder instead of Lily’s cotton. I believe there is even some Wintuk I picked up at a Church sale I used for the face and hands.

This project works up quickly and makes a delightful holiday decoration for yourself or someone who likes to decorate for the holiday.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:


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Victorian Snowman Caroler

I completed a snowmen family set for a swap. I was waiting until my partner received her package to write about the project. I found the pattern in Annie Potter Presents The Snowbuddies from Snowville. There is no pattern number listed on the booklet.

When I originally purchased this booklet from a vintage vendor, I only thought there was one pattern for a family of snowmen, father, mother, daughter, son, and baby as pictured on the cover. In fact, this has three patterns, which I had seen separately in other locations. It includes the Victorian couple I made for this project, which I had not seen before, and the Snowman Nativity, which I had seen offered separately.

I decided the Victorian couple was unique and chose that as my project for the swap. Since the father was the largest, I started with him.

I love the way the faces are shaped to give the snowmen faces. Many patterns provide a round ball, but this pattern actually provided shaping for the forehead, cheeks, mouth, and chin, which was unique in my experience. The caroling books are not part of the pattern. The pattern calls for paper and gluing them to the hands. I actually enlarged a free Barbie pattern, which unfortunately appears to have a dead link.

Gingerbread Dishcloth

I have tried playing with the picture, but I still cannot get it to upload to Blogger correctly. However, I love this pattern and want to share it. This is the last of the gingerbread items I made for a recent swap. This was made from a free pattern that was part of Maggie Weldon's Dishcloth contest. You can find the pattern here.

The challenge to make this started with finding brown cotton yarn. I am not sure why, but it was hard to find Lily Sugar n'Cream brown. When I found it I bought out the local supply as I have several patterns that call for brown cotton.

This was a fun festive item to make. It makes a nice holiday item if you need an extra Christmas gift.





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I Won a Valentine Heart Bear Pattern

I was very fortunate to win a Valentine Heart Bear pattern from a blog contest at Jamigurumiworld.

I am excited as this gives me new material for my Valentine's box next year. I found a free pattern for a Sweetheart Bunny so I now have two new patterns filed in the Valentine's section of my holiday binders for next year.

Last night I started on the rooster from Crochet Village's Egghead's pattern. These work up quickly and my goal is to have a tiny village of them to put in the Easter box that will be heading out in the not too distant future. I can work on these in between other larger projects I need to finish for birthdays, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

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Valentine's Day Was Fun

I am one of those fortunate crochet lovers who have a supportive husband. Along with a Jazz brunch on Sunday, dinner at one of our favorite restaurants last night, he did not forget my crochet habit.

He braved Barnes and Noble to pick up The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs: 500 Classic & Original Patterns knowing I've been going online to try to figure out ways to make the math work for patterns that are not quite the right size for my needs. I had no idea this was on his radar.

Then he headed off to shop at Crochet Village where he proceeded to pick up a few of the items on my wish list from there. I got the Halloween Goblins set, which will be perfect for my Halloween box. My favorite pattern in this set is the boy in the ghost costume with the high top sneakers. There is something about this pattern that reminds me of the costumes in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and I really want to make it for next year's box. The Dracula and the bat are adorable as well and I need multiple projects to make sure there is enough for all the kids.

He also picked up North Pole Residents from Crochet Village. While I fell in love with the pattern for the Rudolph and Polar Bear pattern, I have been informed DH expects a penguin for his troubles.

Lastly, I got their Christmas Card Gift Holder Set 2. What I love about these sets is they make adorable ami gift hard holders, but they also make great smaller stuffed animals for gifts or donation packages. They can easily be made without the gift bags. I asked DH how he picked between the three gift holder sets and sure enough, it was the penguin. I will have to make the little guy for his office next year. I still owe him a Candy Kiss and a Leprechaun for next month.

While the gifts are wonderful and I am already anticipating getting started on these fun projects, what is such a gift is that he supports what I do and why I do it.

Gingerbread Tissue Box

This was my first attempt at a tissue box and I was pleased with it. I learned a good deal and will know more for my next effort. I found the pattern in a library book Annie's Favorite Christmas Projects. I have been searching for this book for a while to add to my collection. I learned the pattern is also available in Issue 90 (Nov-Dec 1997) of Annie's Crochet Newsletter. Sadly, that is one of the ones I still have to collect.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

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Gingerbread Girl

I decided to have a theme for the extras I included in my last swap and I was amazed at how many wonderful patterns are available for gingerbread items. This gingerbread girl was made adapting a free pattern found here. I changed the color of the dress and used a bow pattern found from free Hello Kitty Patterns.

This pattern works up quickly and is an adorable decoration or Christmas ornament.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

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Graduation

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Gingerbread Scarf

I was looking for some creative ideas to add to a swap box and had settled on gingerbread since my partner collected gingerbread items. I thought I was finished when I came across a free pattern for a child's gingerbread boy scarf. I could not resist. I adjusted my hook size to get it to the width I wanted and then added rows to the body to get it to the scarf length I wanted and I had my gingerbread man scarf.

What I love about this pattern is you can make it into just about any kind of creature you want. With the head and legs established, you can add ears and any other character traits to make create a variety of scarves for children or adults. I plan to experiment with this idea for Christmas next year.

Grandma's House Finger Puppet

I finished the second puppet from Red Riding Hood Fairytale Finger Puppet set. I still have the wolf dressed as Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood to go. For fun I think I am going to add the wolf from The Three Little Pigs Pattern to add more story telling options. If I use grey for both they will match. It also provides more options for the children to create their own stories later. There will be lots of extra wolves by the time I'm done making the puppets. Perhaps enough to retell the The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig if they want to try something different.

I've been working on items for swap packages so this project has taken a back seat. However the puppets work up quickly so I am sure I will have no problem finishing the project in time for my Easter deadline. Once my swap packages are received I can start posting more about those projects as well.


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

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Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

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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

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Thankful for Thoughtfulness

I am always touched by the thoughtfulness of the members at Crochetville. The wish lists have changed to quarterly offerings and I have had some very wonderful fairy godmothers grant some of my wishes. While I said my thank you comments on Crochetville I also wanted to take time here to again comment on the generosity of the members.

I want to thank all of them for making me feel so special.

Through Ravelry I got a Red Riding Hood/Granny pattern, a Leprechaun, and a ducky pattern that I plan on posting about in the future. Another thoughtful fairy godmother made me dishcloths for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas.

I already have plans of my own to play fairy godmother, which is all part of the fun.

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Pteranodon

This is the second Pteranodon is I finished from Planet June's Dinosaurs Set 2. I donated the first one to charity. This one is for a gift.

What was unique about this project is that it has been my travel project. I only work on it when I have appointments or other times that require waiting. While I could have finished it ages ago, if I had continued to work on it when I came home, the size of the project made it perfect for those long waits when you need something to occupy your time.

I have already put red yarn in my bag to start another one for a charity project. I need to complete two more for my charity goals and then I will put a new project in my travel bag.

I used Caron One Pound yarn and safety eyes to complete this project.

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

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Tree Finger Puppets

I started on the Red Riding Hood Fairytale Finger Puppet set by making the trees.

I like finger making finger puppets as gifts for kids for a variety of reasons. One they are great for encouraging kids to retell stories when you make them in connection with a story like Red Riding Hood. However, they also can help get kids to start creating their own stories when you have puppets that can mix, match and inspire kids to create new stories. I love the way this designer has added backgrounds to her puppet sets. These set pieces encourage the retelling of this story, but also can be used for other stories, or as the basis for new stories, the child creates.

Another reason for finger puppets is they transport easily. They fit into a pocket or purse and are great when parents need something to keep kids entertained, but do not have a good deal of space to carry toys or for them to play with toys. I like to make finger puppets to donate to hospital charities because they are good for patients who often have long waits in the hospital or in doctor's offices or for their siblings who often are along for the trip.

Lastly, I like them because they are a good break from longer projects. They work up quickly and can be a great addition to a gift box or a last minute present or donation when you need something quick.

I hope to get started on Granny's house today.

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

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Shamrock Crochet Dishcloth

I read a blog post a DLY's Hooks and Yarn where she suggested using her free 4-Hearts Squares as a Shamrock Dishcloth pattern. Since I was looking for some St. Patrick's day themed items for my house, I decided to take up the challenge.

The pattern worked up quickly, I ended up using a K hook instead of a J as suggested and added and extra round of green to make the dishcloth a bit larger.

I used Bernat Handicrafter Cotton and Lily Sugar n'Cream to complete this project.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:


St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Pictures may not be used without written permission.