Happy Valentine's Day

This year's Valentine Box:

First the traditional Valentine themed items:

A non-traditonal theme for the Valentine box this year I made breakfast food.

My new holiday projects:

As always what better way to celebrate than by remembering what I finished for the holiday.

St. Patrick's Day Cupcake

I know it isn't even Valentine's Day and I am already posting about St. Patrick's Day?? Well the reality is that if you are going to make stuff and mail it you have to start well before the holiday in question. COVID has only made the mailing situation more challenging so getting these projects finished and ready to be mailed is even more essential.

I was quite surprised to find this pattern in Kawaii Crochetas St. Patrick's Day patterns aren't all that common. This is a color themed book and I guess green was a good time to introduce a St. Patrick's Day themed item.

This pattern is designed for lighter yarn but my stock of light green cotton yarn in multiple shades was limited so I went with acrylic worsted weight yarn and I wasn't disappointed with the outcome. I used an e hook for this project.

I hope to finish a couple more St. Patrick's themed items and a few more breakfast items and then have this package on its way so it hopefully arrives before the holiday.

Maple Syrup

With my mailing deadline fast approaching this is the last of the breakfast items to make the Valentine box. I chose it because again it adds to the pretend play aspect of the set to not only have pretend maple syrup and butter for the pancake and waffle but now you have a bottle to "pour" the syrup from while playing.

The syrup pattern is part of a larger breakfast set and you can purchase it here.

This pattern works up really quickly and easily. The largest challenge for me as always was the lettering for the bottle. I was thrilled to discover I had red felt left over from an earlier project and I dug into some extremely old embrodiery supplies for the thread to letter the bottle.

I went up to a g hook for this project. As the size of the bottle emerged when I used the suggested hook I frogged it and started again with the larger hook. I wanted the bottle a little larger. I also added an extra row for the cap. I debated this but it was easier to fit and sew with the extra row.

I don't think I'm done with play food or even breakfast food just yet. St. Patrick's Day is coming and it seems like a good time to add some extra food to this set.

Breakfast Egg

I love adding items to a play set that creates encouragement for imaginative play. This cracked egg set is such an item. The pattern comes from Tasty Crochetand it would work with a breakfast set like I'm putting together or a play baking set where a child wants to be able to "crack" eggs for mixing.

The pattern works up quickly and the egg tucks nicely into the finished egg.

I am starting to get close to the deadline for mailing so I'm going to have to finish up the projects, get them boxed and into the mail. It seems breakfast will be continued on into St. Patrick's Day.

Steak Dinner

I bought the Grilled Steak Dinner pattern with birthday money back in the summer. I finished the baked potato and then put the pattern aside as other projects were needed first.

Along with the magic hat, I wanted to add some play food to the April birthday box. Having finished the baked potato, I decided I'd work on the rest of the steak dinner. I didn't do the desert or drink, but I will get to those eventually.

While the baked potato was my favorite item, the peas and the carrots are a close second. I couldn't get the mushrooms and onion rings to come out quite the way I wanted, but I love the idea of crocheted kebobs. As I set this out on a plate to take the picture, I was pleased with finishing my first complete dinner. I have made a few complete breakfasts, but this was my first dinner.

Hamburger Amigurumi

This was the pattern that convinced me to purchase Simply Amigurumi: 10 Crochet Projects. I received a request for more play food for a pretend kitchen for Christmas. While I have some food patterns, this cheeseburger pattern was the best I have seen so far.

The pattern calls for Bernat Satin, Caron Simply Soft, and Red Heart's Soft. I am in a destashing mode and I used Caron One Pound, Red Heart Super Saver, and Vanna's Choice that I had on hand.

What I found original about this pattern is the way the items were put together. The cheese was not made as a traditional square, which is what I had anticipated. The burger was created in one piece but had an upper and lower piece to give the burger depth without stuffing it. The lettuce was a fun pattern to work on and the tomatoes were different from what I previously seen.

I still have not found a burger bun pattern I like. I pinned the buns together and this helped with shaping them a bit.

One criticism I do have about this pattern is that it does not have all the directions written out. Some people will state this is the sign of a lazy crocheter, but I like having my directions written out line by line. I am not a fan of a math project in the middle of my crocheting. I ended up writing out the directions for the increases and decreases in the book for future reference.

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

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

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

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Patriotic

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