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my first crochet scarf

lily chin nolita crochet scarf

Do you ever have an empty feeling after the big holiday gift/package/mail rush is over? Everything got done in time, but who knows with the weather if it will arrive on time. Now I don’t know what to do with myself. I should be doing all of the laundry I’ve neglected for crafting the past few weeks.

Instead, I crocheted a scarf for my daughter. It’s not a Christmas present. It’s just because I was gifted some yarn and it was fuzzy and cute and she needed a scarf that matched her brown hat and mittens.

The yarn is Lily Chin’s Nolita* and from my friend Amy. She destashed a lot of her fuzzy fibers and brought them to our last knitting guild meeting. It’s the perfect amount for a toddler sized scarf. It’s soft and cuddly, but a pain to rip if you make a mistake. I have another ball in green that I think would make a perfect cowl for me.

pattern: 16 double crochets across with a J hook. Final size was 4 x 30 inches after steam blocking.

*Don’t judge this yarn based on the awful photo on the website. It’s actually very pretty.

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my creative space

crochet apple cozy

Today my creative space is filled with finishing gifts. I can show you this one because I don’t think my daughter’s teachers read the blog. I just took the “apple for teacher” gift a little further and added a cozy. This idea is brilliant for those who throw a piece of fruit in their bag for a snack. The cozy keeps it from getting bruised. I really want to make one for myself, but not until after holiday gifts are finished.

crochet apple cozy

Creative spaces are going on holiday until 2010. Head over to Kirsty’s blog for your end-of-year fix.

pattern notes: I had to add a few rows for it to cover my apple. Adorable Apple Cozy is available as a free ravelry download.

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holiday blur

It’s interesting to view the Fall and Winter holidays through the eyes of a three-year old. There’s all this build up to Halloween and then after one night, it’s all over. After weeks of talking about pumpkins, witches and ghosts, we immediately move into Thanksgiving mode. There are still colored leaves and pumpkins, but now we’re all about Pilgrims and turkeys.

Then, to make things really confusing, people start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. There is a house on our street with pumpkins all along the entryway and snowflakes hanging from the roof.

Even more proof that all of this is confusing to a three-year old: today my daughter asked me if we missed Thanksgiving. I told her no, Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Why on earth would she ask if we missed it? Look at all of the Christmas lights, Mom. Are you sure?

I’m really trying to keep our house Christmas-free until after tomorrow, but my daughter is already asking for her little tree. In the meantime, though, she’s serving tea and candy to her Halloween friends.

undead tea party

Maybe I need to crochet a little turkey for her?

pattern: undead gang from Needle Noodles

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granny stars!

Once I decided to crochet some stars for a garland, I started seeing stars everywhere. Isn’t it funny how that happens? My favorites are these totally adorable granny stars.

crochet granny star

I’ve ditched my Chromium Blanket stars for these. They work up a lot faster and are so much fun! If you crochet, you should really give one a try.

inspiration: tutorial from The Royal Sisters, multi-colored stars by Lucy over at Attic24, Sarah London’s garland, and Emma Lamb’s wee flowers and stars.

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finished: granny square scarf

granny square scarf

Yay for pictures! I was so excited that the sun was out today, as we were expecting more rain. It’s still kind of chilly — perfect scarf weather.

lion brand wool ease scarf

Some squares were a little smaller than others. I’m not sure if it was daily life that messed with my tension or my learning curve. I arranged them smallest to largest for seaming and you really can’t tell.

woolease granny square scarf

I got 7 squares out of each skein for a total of 14. It blocked nicely considering it’s only 20% wool. I can’t wait to wear it tomorrow!

project details: here and here.

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my creative space

crochet holiday star garland

I think this picture of my creative space might be a little misleading. I’m not really in the Christmas spirit yet. November is my favorite month and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s just that I have finished up a lot of the projects on my needles and found myself with nothing to take to knitting group last night.

crochet holiday star garland

I’ve decided to crochet some stars for the holidays with this fancy yarn I got at my knitting guild’s trick or treat swap. I have no idea what it is, but it sure is festive! I’m going to work on these stars in between projects until I have enough to string a garland for the holidays. I should be able to have them done before December, when I actually will be in the holiday spirit.

Visit more creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.

pattern: I just working the first five rounds of the Chromium Star blanket.

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cupcake with chocolate icing, please

Last Friday my daughter noticed that the cork stopper on our sugar jar was shaped like a cupcake. (It looks like this.) She carried it around all day and wanted to take it to bed with her (so Puppy and Mickey could have a midnight snack, perhaps?). I asked her, “if you could have a cupcake with icing, what kind of icing would you like?” “Chocolate!”

amigurumi crochet cupcake

I whipped up this little thing before I went to bed and left it on the kitchen table for her. I love doing that! It’s so fun to watch her find it in the morning. It’s already starting to look well loved, isn’t it?

stash: Thrifted yarn and beads from my stash. Free cupcake pattern from BitterSweet.

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wardrobe refashion: dressing up a pair of flip flops

What kind of shoes should a three-year-old girl wear to a beach wedding in October? Will the weather be warm or cold? Should the shoe be casual or dressy? Should you invest in sandals that will probably be too small by next Spring? Where are you even going to find sandals this late in the season?

I decided to take some simple, casual flip flops and dress them up. Here is the before picture:

dress up a pair of flip flops

Step 1
I took four strands of embroidery thread and weaved them through the existing stitches with a needle.

dress up a pair of flip flops

Step 2
I crocheted a flower and stitched a button on the center. Then I sewed the flower onto the strap.

dress up a pair of flip flops

Step 3
I tried to get my daughter to wear them, but she wasn’t interested at all. In fact, she wound up wearing her sporty little sandals with her cute frilly dress. I guess I can always remove the flowers and put them on another pair of flip flops next season.

dress up a pair of flip flops

refashion: I used embroidery thread, cotton yarn and vintage buttons from my stash. The flip flops came from Once Upon a Child. The crochet flower pattern is from My Crochet Stuff.

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ghost of the past: crochet amigurumi pattern

glow in the dark ghost

Tomorrow is the first day of October. Are you ready for Halloween? I posted this pattern on my personal website last year, but I have so many new readers over here, that I thought I’d share it again. I think it would be fun to make a big pile of these and string them on a garland!

Glow in the Dark Ghost with Picot Ruffles

Materials
glow in the dark yarn or any worsted weight white yarn
size G/6 (4mm) crochet hook
two black beads for eyes
black yarn for smile
tapestry needle for beads and weaving ends
optional: polyester fiberfil

sc: single crochet
sl st: slip stitch

R1: chain 2, sc 6 in second chain from hook
mark the beginning of your row, move your marker up on each completed row
R2: 2 sc in each stitch around (12 stitches)
R3: *sc 1, sc 2 in next stitch* around (18 stitches)
R4: *sc 2, sc 2 in next stitch* around (24 stitches)
R5-7: sc around
R8 : sc 9, sc with bead, sc 3, sc with bead, sc 10
R9-15: sc around
R16: *[sl st, chain 3, sl into same st] sc* around for picot edging

Tie off, sew on a little smile, and weave in your ends.

I didn’t crochet a base because of the picot ruffle. Not to say that it couldn’t be done. This is more decoration than a toy, so I stuffed it with fiberfil to give it shape, but it’s open on the bottom.