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another successful flower appliqué

flower for spring hat

My daughter doesn’t really like wearing hats, unless it’s her Nebraska Husker hat. I bought this little bucket hat at Neat Repeatz, long before it would ever fit her. I just fell in love with the denim and unfinished edges. It finally fits, but I knew I’d have to come up with something special to get her to wear it.

I asked her if she’d like me to crochet a flower for it. Yes! What colors would she like? Red and white! (Husker colors, of course.) Would she like to pick out the flower pattern? Yes! Yes!

I whipped this up Sunday morning and she wore it to the zoo on Monday. I’d say she had it on about 95% of the time — a definite success!

wardrobe refashion, stash and pattern: Cotton yarn from my stash, left over from knitting baby bibs. Pattern from Crochet Adorned, which I received via Swaptree.com.

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she’s a very kinky yarn

recycled yarn

After working with my white sweater wool, which I took the time to soak and unkink, I’ve decided that I prefer its smoothness for granny squares. So, tonight is bath night for the rest of this sweater wool!

recycle: I’m also in the process of unraveling another sweater. Just because. Maybe I should start listing some in my shop!

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my creative space

granny square scarf

In my creative space today (and tomorrow and the next day…) are granny squares. I had no idea how relaxing these were until I stopped making them. Then I felt a hole, like something was missing, and I realized it was clusters of double crochet!

I’m using my recycled sweater yarn for this one simply because it’s so soft and nice to work with. Whenever I start to feel stressed, I take a deep breath and grab a square.

What’s in your creative space today? Why don’t you pop on over to Kirsty’s blog and join the fun!

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how to make a ruffle scarf in 3 easy steps

The other day I saw a woman wearing a cotton scarf that was layered and unfinished in the most beautiful way. She looked like she just walked off a catalog shoot. I’ve never been able to pull off that “I just threw it on and it looks perfectly ruffled” look, so I decided to design one that made it easy.

ruffle scarf tutorial

Step 1
Cut a large triangle of fabric on the bias. I chose a lightweight cotton, but anything with a nice drape would work. (Flannel would be nice for Fall.) My piece measured 80 inches across the base and 32 inches high. Run it through the washer and dryer to fray the edges.

Step 2
Fold the ruffles. I figured a diagram would be easiest to understand. I folded mine 8 times, but you don’t need to see that many steps to get the idea.

ruffle scarf tutorial

Step 3
Stitch the ruffles in place. I didn’t back tack and pulled on the threads to create a little gather before I tied them off.

ruffle scarf tutorial

That’s it! You can wear it with the ruffles hanging down or wrap it around a few times with the ruffles facing out for that perfectly unfinished look.

ruffle scarf tutorial

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happy little airplane

I attended a Baby Sprinkle over the weekend for Baby D2. It was like a Baby Shower, except when mom has a lot of what she needs from her first baby, you’re supposed to give things like diapers, lotion, baby shampoo, etc.

I didn’t follow directions very well. I believe every baby should have something new, especially when so much is being handed down from his big brother. Better yet, he should have something handmade especially for him.

amigurumi airplane

Isn’t this little guy the cutest thing ever? I especially love his smile.

amigurumi airplane

I also sewed him a lightweight blanket that coordinates with the quilt I made for his brother. I forgot to take a picture of that, but it’s a single layer of the same fleece trimmed with the Snoopy fabric. Maybe I’ll get a photo in a few weeks with a cute baby bundled inside? (Hint, hint, Lauren.)

stash: Everything came from my stash of thrifted yarn. The pattern is Happy Little Airplane from Amigurumi Two! by Ana Paula Rimoli.

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custom bag: tropical lunch tote

tablecloth lunch tote

When I posted pics of my Tropical Tablecloth Tote, I received a request for a lunch tote. The bag is a little smaller, but a lot wider to hold lunch containers and a water bottle. I think it’s pretty darn cute!

There are two more totes worth of fabric cut and waiting to be sewn. I admit that I wish I had this idea on my own. Anyone out there looking for the perfect tropical bag? Let me know!

. . . . .

Thank you for all of the great suggestions on the sweater upcycle. I’m seriously considering pillow cushions now, too!

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eggs in a basket + a candy strategy

crochet easter egg basket

The surprise eggs were finished with a few days to spare. I even had time to whip up a little basket for them. I just started with no plan in mind. The end result was a little flimsy, but a quick soak in some water followed by liberal amounts of spray starch got it right into shape.

My daughter loved the eggs. This was the first time she ever played along with one of our stories, though. She came running out of her room saying, “Mom crocheted me some yarn eggs!” We told her they were from Peter Cottontail and she’s all, yeah, sure, right, ok. If you ask her, she’ll tell you they’re from him, but she doesn’t sound convinced!

. . . . .

We don’t do a lot of candy at Easter, and this year I didn’t put any in her basket. Instead, I made candy part of our egg hunt. I filled little plastic bags (from the candy section of the craft store) with two chocolate kisses and ten jelly beans. Each bag was tied and labeled with a day of the week and hidden in a plastic egg. She found those special eggs along with the others.

So far this has worked great! She eats the whole bag at once, usually after breakfast, but when they’re gone, she has to wait until the next day for more. I can’t tell you how wonderful the holiday was without a sugar-crashing three-year old. Hope this works next year, too!

stash: Basket yarn and candy bags both from my stash.

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tropical tablecloth tote

I’ve started making some things for my shop again. There is some thrifted fabric in my stash that needs to be repurposed before I can go garage sailing again this year. I used a little bit of this tablecloth to make a small sock knitting basket a few years ago. Now I’ve gone in the opposite direction and made a big beach bag tote.

tablecloth beach tote

When I washed the table cloth, it lost a lot of the canvas-like stiffness that I liked, so I had to line it with something sturdy. I chose some heavy duty upholstery fabric to do the job.

tablecloth beach tote

I also tried something a little different with the gusset and added these vintage buttons on the side. Aren’t they cute? I love them!

tablecloth beach tote

I’ve got the rest of this tablecloth cut and ready for more totes. Not sure if I am going to make something different or make more of the same.

What do you think?

recycle: Tablecloth from the thrift store, lining from a garage sale, thrifted buttons. More photos in my shop.

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my creative space

I’ve been spending a lot of time with Country Living’s Crafting Vintage Style and have fallen in love with the thick and thin stripes of vintage tea towels.

Usually I see them with red stripes, but this book has a lot of blue inside its pages. I grabbed some navy and natural wool and started crocheting around some small plastic bottles destined for our recycling bin. This is the result.

vintage inspired crochet bud vase

I like that the bottles are plastic. I’m hoping to put some of these in my shop, and shipping will be less expensive than glass. I’m also hoping to get a picture with a real flower soon. Right now our garden is just starting to poke through the surface. I had to improvise for the photo.

Kirsty is rocking the blue and natural colors this week, too. Visit her blog for more creative spaces.

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tiny striped egg pattern

tiny crochet striped easter eggs

So here it is! After many eggs, I finally found the right hook/yarn combination that feels right. My first egg used a larger hook and Red Heart yarn. It was too big and looked a little lumpy. I finally settled on Plymouth Galway wool with a smaller hook. Both are labeled worsted weight, but the wool eggs seem less lumpy. Also, I decided on hdc instead of sc because I liked the width of the stripe better. I’m posting this in Ravelry. I can’t wait to see everyone’s eggs!

Tiny Striped Egg
worsted weight yarn
size D/3 (3.25mm) crochet hook
polyfil for stuffing
tapestry needle for weaving ends

ch: chain
hdc: half double crochet
hdcIncrease: half double crochet increase
hdcDecrease: half double crochet decrease
sl st: slip stitch

half double crochet increase: hdc twice in same stitch
half double crochet decrease: yarn over, hook through stitch, yarn over, pull through stitch, yarn over again, hook through next stitch, yarn over, pull through stitch, yarn over one more time, pull through all five loops

I carry the yarn up the inside with out breaking it for each stripe. Change colors at the slip stitch: hook through stitch, yarn over with new color, pull new yarn through stitch.

gauge: not important, but mine are about 1 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches finished

P=purple stripe, Y=yellow stripe

  • Make a magic ring.
  • R1 P: ch 2, hdc into loop 5 times, pull loop closed, join with sl st into second ch – 6 sts
  • R2 Y: ch 2, hdc in same st, hdcIncrease around, sl st into second ch – 12 sts
  • R3 P: ch 2, hdc in same st, hdc in next st, *hdcInc, hdc* around, sl st into second ch – 18 sts
  • R4 Y: ch 2, hdc in same st, hdc in next 2 sts, *hdcInc, hdc, hdc* around, sl st into second ch – 24 sts
  • R5 P: ch 2, hdc around, sl st into second chain – 24 sts
  • R6 Y: repeat R5
  • R7 P: ch 2, hdc, hdcDecrease, *hdc, hdc, hdcDecrease* around, sl st into second ch – 18 sts
  • R8 Y: ch 2, hdc around, sl st into second chain – 18 sts
  • R9 P: ch 2, hdcDecrease, *hdc, hdcDecrease* around, sl st into second ch – 12 sts
  • R8 Y: ch 2, hdc around, sl st into second chain – 12 sts
  • Stuff with polyfil
  • R10: hdcDecrease around, close up with tail, tie off both colors, bury ends inside with tapestry needle