Rib Hexagon Dishcloth with Back Post Stiches

I mentioned in a previous post that I made the Rib Hexagon dishcloth from Learn-a-Stitch Crochet Dishcloths with the wrong stitches even though I had made it previously the right way.

This is the one I made using front post stitches:

There are advantages to both and I think I might continue to try both ways. The correct method creates a better scrubber, but it does not lay as flat. The front post method still cleans well, lays flatter, and I just like the look of it. Sometimes mistakes create something unique.


Find free dishcloth and dishcloth holiday patterns on this blog:

Dishcloths

St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Crocheted Wardrobe for 18" Dolls

I was so excited to find Edie Eckman's Crocheted Wardrobe for 18" Dolls, 1278 from American School of Needlework, while out vintage pattern hunting. It was published in 1999, but for some reason it has been very elusive in my hunts to locate out of print crochet patterns. Every time I have located a copy, it was gone before I had a chance consider the cost.

As you can see from the pictures I posted the patterns are nice pants, skirt, and sweater outfits. There are also some cute accessories. I am excited to try a pair of mittens along with a coat. What did impress me is the level of detail regarding assembly of the outfits. While this comes naturally to some, I can always use helpful tips when it comes to sewing the outfits together for their best fit. While a nice selection of outfits, I am not sure why this has made it so hard to locate. My only thought is that there are not that many crochet books for the 18" doll as compared to sewing. For whatever reason, this one seems to have become collectable.

This is going to be a welcome addition as I get prepared to start my Christmas donation doll project.

Crochet Bear in Airplane

The Easter Bunny was kind enough to buy and leave me Mysterious Cat's Cat and Airplane pattern in my Easter basket. My husband wanted one for his office, but he preferred a bear to a cat, so it became a bear in an airplane.

I had looked at this pattern a while back, but she had stopped offering it for sale, only selling the finished items. When I saw it was available again, I informed the Easter Bunny it was at the top of my wish list.

While I love making ami's assembling more complicated pieces is challenging for me. This pattern came with detailed directions and pictures. I am already realizing where I can do better for the planes I want to make for my Christmas boxes. This one is already in his new home in DH's office.


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 permission.

Dishcloth with Front Post instead of Back Post Stitches

I needed an easy project to take to the doctor's office last week. I have been working on ami's, but I wanted something where I could follow the pattern based on the shape and not have to worry too much about the number of rows. I had made the Rib Hexagon from Learn-a-Stitch Crochet Dishcloths a few times before so it seemed like the ideal choice. One of the required stitches for the pattern is a back post double crochet. I have no idea where my mind was, but while sitting in the waiting room instead of making bpdc I made front post double crochets. I actually like the look. It gives it a slightly different cleaning quality. I am working one with the bpdc now and I will post the two together to show how the pattern changes, but is still functional.

Find free dishcloth and dishcloth holiday patterns on this blog:

Dishcloths

St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Snubbull

I finished Snubbull with the help of another free pattern this one from Nannette's crochet found here. This character goes with the 12th book in the chapter book series I am working to illustrate with ami's. I have decided after this one to take a break and work on some characters other than Pokémon for a bit.

I received some wonderful patterns for Easter and I have already started one of them to replace the Easter toys decorating my husband's office.

Holiday Fridgies

I have been looking for a book of fridgie patterns that uses worsted weight yarn. I seem to be behind the times because I have seen a few at used sites, for more than I wanted to spend, but have had trouble locating new ones.

I was picking up some Easter patterns at Maggie's crochet and came across her Holiday Fridgies leaflet. As an added bonus, she had a sale on her Easter items so it was even a better deal than I expected.

This booklet has a great selection of patterns for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Easter. There are more limited selections for St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, and Patriotic themes.

This is exactly what I was looking for as it gives me items I can add to adult and children's packages to add something personal to holiday cards and packages.

KISS Dishcloth Swap

I recently participated in a dishcloth swap at Crochetville and mine arrived Friday. In the rush of Easter boxes I forgot to take a picture of the one I sent. However, I did get a beautiful one in return.

Pokeball

I had limited crochet time yesterday, so as I was working through the free patterns I had printed I decided to finish off the Pokeball. This is a free pattern offered by the author of one of my favorite crocheted food books, Tasty Crochet: A Pantry Full of Patterns for 33 Tasty Treats, a book I have written about many times.

The Pokeball works up quick and as the designer mentions is a much softer alternative for children than the hard plastic ones available in the stores.

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 permission.

Snorlax

Thanks to a generous free pattern designer I managed to finish Snorlax.

Snorlax is found in the ninth book of the Scholastic Chapter book series, Lapras the tenth. Pikachu was of course in the first book. Since I am shipping them all for a May birthday, my focus has been on finding patterns I can make for the characters that are in the books found in this particular 15 book series. I am only grateful some of the books combine characters from previous books.

My hope is to make the Snubull next, although not having read the directions I make no promises. That character is found in book 12. It appears I have to go back and either find or work on the patterns I have for the earlier characters.

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 permission.

Lapras

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am continuing to celebrate a younger relative's interest in an out of print Scholastic early chapter book series by making her the characters found in the series. I know little about Pokémon, resulting in confusion as I have told those who do know the list of characters I am pursuing. I have no idea, I am just going based on the titles and characters listed as a reward for reading them. The significance in terms of the actual Pokémon bigger picture is not as relevant to me.

I came across a free pattern for Lapras and got to work shortly after finishing Pikachu only to put him aside. I got assistance with his eyes. It turns out you can cut them out from felt or draw them on cloth and back them with felt. Drawing on the felt proved to be a bad choice. I also think my gauge changed because I was struggling slightly to get the under skin to fit as snuggly as I would have liked. I came back to this project after finishing my Easter projects and found a way to make it work.

The next creature up is the Snorlax. I have the bottom almost completed.

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 permission.

The Cat Afghan Heads Home

I started this pattern I discovered in the November/December 1997 Hooked on Crochet magazine for a Christmas present for 2011. I learned so many new skills along the way. I did not finish it for Christmas, but continued to work on it. Then I washed it back in February preparing to give it as a late present. I thought I had gone through and fixed the ends from my earlier work where I knew little about weaving in the ends. However, after the washing I was faced with tons of short ends that needed to be fixed to save the piece. I could not even look at it, so I put it away to be faced later.

This Easter we had a special visitor who has not been able to be with us for a while due to illness. She came to my rescue and used a crochet hook and a technique her Aunt had taught her to catch all those nasty loose ends. I was so relieved and touched at her act of kindness. The girl who got the afghan was thrilled. I was sure she had forgotten about the afghan, but the minute she walked through the door on Easter and saw it she asked if it was finally done. It took two generations, but yes it is finally completed and with its new owner.

Check out the Holiday Blogs and Special Event Blogs for More Patterns:

Afghan Patterns

Baby Blankets

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

St. Patrick's Day

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.

Happy Easter 2012

Happy Easter. I am amazed at how many Easter projects I completed this year.

Pikachu

I have a younger family member that has been struggling with learning to read. She developed an interest in the Pokémon game and I found a series of out of print early chapter Pokémon books that she decided to read. To encourage the process I decided I would start making some of the characters found in this series for her birthday and Christmas.

I used Wolfdreamer's free Pikachu pattern and it was very easy to follow. I really cannot thank those that donate their talents and provide free patterns enough. I am working on a Lapras pattern now. I have downloaded a few more characters from the book series. We will see how far I get with all the other projects I have going. At least there will always be Pikachu.

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 permission.

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.

Girl Duck with Egg

This was my second attempt at the "Easter Eggs" pattern from the April 2011 Crochet World. Since there are two boys and a girl now it seemed appropriate to make the girl duck for the girl in the group. The duck pattern worked fine, but even moving up to an I hook the egg still was not large enough to hold the duck.

While the boy duck has a shirt and hat, the girl duck has a bib front dress that was fun to make. The original pattern called for foam balls, I decided to stuff my ducks. Knowing these were going to have some rough play, I thought the stuffing would last longer.

I also chose to use safety eyes instead of gluing wiggle eyes or sewing eyes to the project.

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.

Duck with Orange Shirt and Egg

I love having my print copy of Crochet World, but access to the digital library makes downloading patterns so much easier. This pattern comes from Crochet World's April 2011 edition. The pattern is called "Easter Eggs." I downloaded a copy and put it in my holiday binders, only to come across it this year when I was looking for new Easter ideas.

While making this first one, I followed the pattern as written with the exception of the color. One of the box recipients is going through an orange phase, so I decided on an orange color scheme. Even following gauge, I found my egg was not big enough to hold the duck. However, while I could find a picture of the closed egg, I could not find a picture that actually demonstrated the duck would fit in the egg when it was closed. The example pictures looked more like a duck in a egg hoodie. I kept experimenting with my ducks and eggs until I got one to fit, but the egg at that point looked a bit oversized. However, the duck did fit. I will post pictures during the week.

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.