My camera has died, actually, it died a few posts ago and I have been using my phone's camera ever since.  Therefore this blog may be infiltrated with more Instagram photos.  Here goes one now.

How much does a hipster weigh? 

An Instagram of course.

So please forgive me for my square photos and in the meantime crochet this snowflake; the pattern can be found at Better Homes and Gardens.

Fall is a comin'

Getting ready for fall with my first cold weather accessory; a crocheted infinity scarf!  I used this simple tutorial  and then tweaked it a bit by going through back loops for every other row.  This made the vertical lines a little more prominent though only on one side.  It's big, chunky, and only took me one movie, yay me!  The pattern is crazy easy so it's great for any skill level.

You can never make just ONE scarf so I've started a Pinterest board for knit/crochet scarves and cowls all with patterns.  Below are some of my first pins, clicking the picture will take you to the original website straight to the pattern.  Cheers!

1.) A Spoonful of Sugar   2.) the Purl bee   3.) Shibui   4.) JennOzkan.com   5.) jimmy beans wool

Cute-as-a-Button Mushroom

In honor of our Wild Mushroom Show visit I wanted to crochet a quick mushroom.  Although  inspired by the variety of shapes at the show I stuck with the good old button mushroom for my first stab at fungal amigurumi.  It was quick and easy and oh-so-cute, 3 characteristics which beg for a repeat.  So I did . . . repeat . . . 4 times!  A rainbow of adorable mushrooms!  This project is an easy way to use up extra colorful yarn laying around.

Cute-as-a-Button Mushroom Crochet Pattern

Materials:
worsted weight yarn (2 colors, one for base and one for cap)
size F/3.75mm hook
safety eyes (optional)


Stitches used: 
chain (ch)
single crochet (sc)
double crochet (dc)
front post double crochet (fpdc)
decrease (dec)


Start with a magic ring.
1:   sc 6 into the ring, pull tight
2:   2 sc in each sc (12 stitches)
3-10:   sc around 8X's (96 stitches)

          Tip: Change the number of repeats to lengthen or shorten your stem!

11:  ch 2 (counts as dc), fpdc in same, *(dc in next, fpdc in same) repeat  from * another 10X's
       join to top of ch 2

          Tip:  Row 11 sounds weird but it is really quite simple, just fpdc in every stitch and insert a dc between             each one.  You'll end up with 12 fpdc and 12dc (counting the initial ch 2 as a dc of course).  You'll be                 doing the same in the next row (Row 12) into every dc and fpdc resulting in 24 fpdc and 24 dc.

12:   ch 2 (counts as dc), fpdc in same, *(dc in next, fpdc in same) repeat from * another 22X's
         join to top of ch 2
13:   Switch to cap color.  ch 1, sc next 47, join
14:   ch 1 sc in backloop 0f next 47,  from here you'll be working in a spiral so no need to join or chain up

15:   sc in next 48
16:   (sc in next 4, dec) 8X's
27:   sc in next 40
28:   (sc in next 3, dec) 8X's
stuff stem firmly
29:   sc in next 32
30:   (sc in next 2, dec) 8X's
31:   (sc in 1, dec) 8X's
stuff cap
32:   (sc 1, dec) 6X's
finish stuffing
33:   decrease until closed, finish and weave in end


If you have any problems with the pattern just let me know and I will try to fix anything that's unclear.  There are so many different methods to expressing a crochet pattern and I'm working out my kinks and trying to find my style.  Happy crocheting!

Chevrons

        

They've been around forever but apparently chevrons are IN this season.  I've been seeing them everywhere! I think it was first apparent to me when the blogs were all-a-flutter with Missoni for Target where people flooded the stores and emptied Targets across the country of all their chevrons and 70's inspired glory.  Even Heidi Klum was wearing a chevron shirt on the latest episode of Project Runway.  I thought I'd join in the chevron fun and create something new as well as show you an old chevron project of mine.

Lets start with the old.  Coming up on 4 years ago was the first Christmas Aaron and I were seeing each other. I came up with kind of a crazy idea for his Christmas present, a handmade afghan. I say crazy because we hadn't been together that long, I don't think our families even knew about each other yet.  Maybe I knew it was going to last or maybe it's what made him fall in love, the world will never know.  After countless skeins of yarn, movies, and single crochets I produced my first ever finished afghan and sent it off to Gloucester, VA where Aaron lived.  I still love the afghan and we use it almost daily, my only regret is that I didn't make it bigger because I think it would be spectacular covering an entire bed.

For my new project I acquired some discarded vases from the good ol' Goodwill.  The Goodwill closest to our house here in Seattle is the biggest one I've ever been in and has SO MUCH STUFF!  There's always a crowd when we go and always lots of new things.  The turnaround there must be incredible.  So I bought the  vases with the plan of crocheting or knitting around them.  At first I was going to do stripes but chevrons seem like they'd be more fun and since I already know how to crochet chevs it'd be simple to whip some up.  I made two but for the second, and larger vase, I made terrible color choices and crocheted the layers too thick so I won't be posting that failure online.

My original plan was to crochet all the way to the top but I got to this point and thought it looked great with the combo of clean glass and comfy yarn.  I think it's adorable and can't wait to get flowers for it.  The cozy comes off easy enough for when I need to wash the vase after use.  I also used acrylic yarn so it won't felt and will be easy to clean if need be.  I hope to make a little family of these vases but I need to go buy more and come up with a new game plan for the bigger one.

I Wish Totoro was MY Neighbor

I joined the Miyazaki fans of the crochet nation and made an amigurumi Totoro and his little friend from the film My Neighbor Totoro. Everyone and their mom seem to have crocheted a Totoro as there's a million posted pictures online.  A generous soul posted a free crochet pattern  but I decided I wanted to make up my own pattern.   For the most part I really like the way he turned out.  I love that I got the ears to narrow at the base yet still stand up but I'm disappointed that the nose isn't quite right.  I actually started him back in Portland where I finished his body, ears and face. He traveled to CA where I didn't do any work on him and then back up to Seattle where a few months after starting I FINALLY picked him up yesterday and finished him.  I even whipped up his little friend from the movie that perches on his head in the Studio Ghibli logo.  I would also like to make the little blue guy and some of Totoro's accessories like the leaf he puts on his head, his whistle or the umbrella.  All tasks for my never ending list of things I want to do. With all that said here is my Totoro contribution to the infinite abyss that is the internet.

Hooray! For another finished project!

"Lumpy"

I've been experimenting with new shapes and textures of crochet and today I came up with this.

His name is "Lumpy". Lumpy is a mistake but I'm happy to have him. The intention was to find a texture to crochet a sheep and I knew early on this wasn't working, but the intrigue was there so I kept going. I used a popcorn stitch for the lumps and threw in single crochets along with some increasing and decreasing the get the round shape. He's very strange and fun to hold. About halfway through I remembered some big bells I had and so I entombed one inside!

Now he's fun to hold AND he jingles. I don't know whether to give him to a cat or a baby! Both would love his jingle but babies benefit from the texture so I think baby wins. Now I want to make a bigger one, maybe the size of a grapefruit. Only time will tell if I follow through. Now I just need to figure out that sheep!

A New Necktie

I made something for Aaron yesterday, a necktie! I think it looks pretty great and I can't wait to go out sometime with him in it. He's more of a T-shirt and corduroy sort of guy so this will be a new direction. He's a great team player and was kind enough to model it for me today.

It was very simple with a little bit of trial and error to get the width right, although what is "right" is up for discussion. Some people say 2" some say 3". I stuck with 2" I like the skinny tie look for casual wear. I had originally started a knit tie with this free pattern from Lion Brand but I didn't like the way the edges were turning out. This was probably because I'm NOT a very experienced knitter but I AM an experienced crocheter so I figured, "Why not crochet a tie?" From there I went to my favorite, simple, cobblestone texture that's made by alternating double crochet and single crochet.

The following pattern is what I came up with. If the width is not what you like all you have to do is increase or decrease your chain by twos and then change the amount of times you alternate double crochets and single crochets accordingly. Also, I used 100% wool, worsted weight but I'm sure you could use other materials. I think it would be super cute to needle felt a heart in the bottom corner, I wonder if Aaron would go for that. Happy crocheting!

Men's Necktie

*ch=chain *sc=single crochet *dc=double crochet

use size E/3.5-4mm hook

chain 12

row 1. sc in 3rd ch from hook, alternate dc and sc 4x's, dc in last ch

row 2. Turn, ch 1, alternate dc and sc 4x's, dc in last ch

Repeat row 2 until your piece reaches ~25"

row 3. Turn, ch 1, decrease, alternate dc and sc 2x's, decrease, dc in last ch

row 4. Turn, ch 1, decrease, dc, sc, decrease, dc in last ch

row 5. Turn, ch 1, alternate dc and sc 2 x's, dc in last ch

Repeat row 5 until your piece reaches ~54". Finish and weave in ends.

I enjoyed the way it turned out so much I started another one today! The texture on this one is more apparent. What a simple way to make a piece more interesting.