For a very special itty bitty someone.....

My friend welcomed a beautiful baby girl recently, and it was discovered that the baby had spina bifida.  
I pray these small gifts keep her warm and cozy while she recovers from surgery.

 

Welcome to the world - Lil' Bit! 

American Girl Chrismas dresses

My three daughters are all very much into their "American Girl" dolls, and so I decided to make them some home-made Christmas outfits for gifts this year.

My oldest will be receiving a red 'Santa-like' outfit - trimmed with white furry 'eyelash' yarn.  I also made a white mesh cap to go with this one.

My youngest will get a green dress, trimmed with sparkly white., and a matching white bonnet.

And my middle daughter  (who has the Native American "Kaya" AG doll) will be getting this ivory dress  - trimmed with cranberry and 'natural' colored wooden beads

 I just love the gold flecks in this yarn ~ It is so festive!

I hope to make a matching headband and perhaps some moccasins to go with this dress.

I used this pattern for the basis of all three dresses,
although I made several modifications to all of them so that I could personalize them for my girls.

http://fatcatcrochetcorner.blogspot.com/2010/09/autumn-celebration-dress_02.html

Butterfly hat

My middle daughter has been patiently waiting for me to make her a hat, and she really wanted one with a butterfly.

I thought about making her this one
http://whipup.net/2009/06/22/butterfly-crochet-hat/
It is so cute and it is a fairly easy pattern>  However, I got to thinking about how cold the winter wind is here, and so I thought that just maybe I'd better make a hat with no 'holes' in it so she stays warm.

I ended up not using a pattern for the hat itself - but to make the butterfly I followed this pattern which actually says to crochet a flower - and then fold it in half.
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/crochet/crocheted-butterfly.shtml

I think it turned out pretty cute  (but then I'm prejudiced about the model)  ;-)

R2D2 crocheted hat pattern.

A few people have asked me to share the pattern that I used for the R2D2 hat.  
I didn't write anything down as I was crocheting, so this is only my best guesstimate based on going back over the hat and counting stitches.


Also...I've never written a pattern before, so I pray that this all makes sense.
I've tried to take a few photos to explain when words fail me.   

R2D2 Hat

For this hat I used 2 strands of Red Heart acrylic yarn (worked together) and a size J crochet hook. Colors of yarn needed Light Gray, Blue, Black , Red

GRAY	Ch 4, join with sl st to form a ring, Ch 2
	9 DC in the ring, sl st to join, Ch 2
	2 DC in each st around (join) - switch to blue
BLUE	2 DC in each st around ( join), switch to gray
GRAY	2 DC in the first st, DC in the next 3 st, repeat and join
	2 DC in the first st, DC in the next 4 st, repeat and join switch to blue
BLUE	2 DC in the first stitch, DC in the next 5 st, repeat and join
	2 DC in the first st, then 1 DC in each st around - join
	2 SC in the first st, then SC in each st around, join, switch to gray, ch 2
GRAY	DC in each st around ( join)
	DC in each st around ( join)
	DC in each st around ( join)
	DC in each st around ( join)
BLUE	DC in each st around ( join)
	DC in each st around ( join)
GRAY	SC in each st around ( join)
	SC in each st around ( join)

Front panel: 13 HDC, turn HDC in 2^nd st from end, 12 HDC across, ch 1, turn 

(repeat 3x)   Sew into place using blue yarn.

Red and blue spots: Use a single strand of yarn and a smaller hook

Ch 4, join w/ sl st, Ch 2

6 DC in the ring, join, Ch 2

2 DC in each st around 

(red spot stop here...black spot continue with one more row)

1 DC in each st around, join, fasten off and sew into place with red or black yarn

To divide the blue rows into sections, join a single strand of gray yarn to the row below.

Chain 6, 

pull top loop of chain through to the inside of the hat and fasten off.

 To finish - weave in all ends.    

And that's it.   :-)

This hat fits a average 10 year old boy.  You can adjust as needed to fit larger heads.

I have been asked for the pattern for my minion slippers.   Unfortunately  - I didn't take very good notes as I was making them, so I apologize if this pattern needs a bit of 'adjusting.'
(Also - I ask that you please do not use this pattern for profit. )

Thanks,  

Michelle

R2D2 Where are you?

 This was my first 'free form' crochet project ever.

My son came to me one day and said that he wanted a R2D2 hat.
I had no pattern, but I had seen pictures of other hats online and I thought...How hard could it be?"

Apparently harder than I thought. 
I had to 'rip it out' several times until I got the size right, but once I got the basic size of the crown correct - things went much smoother after that.

This hat is a jumbled mix of DC, HDC and SC, and I messed up the tension a bit in the middle.
I'm not even sure if I could do it again, as I didn't write anything down as I went along.

But my son loves it...so I guess that's all that really matters.

Koala Girl

The girly counterpart to the little guy in my avatar.

I made this one as a birthday gift for my daughter's friend.

Patterns for this cutie can be found either in this book

http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Yarn-Animals-Amigurumi-Friends/dp/1557885303


  Or online here
http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Crafts....ures-Koala.html

Cloche to you

This week I worked on a couple of homespun cloche hats for a dear friend that recently found out she has thyroid cancer.

She requested brown on brown and cream on cream for the colors.  I was happy to oblige.

I just love Lion Brand's Homespun yarn.  It is so soft and silky and this particular pattern works up so nicely with it. 

I also printed up some little cards to attach to the hats.

Sending them off with hugs and prayers.

Cradle roll booties

I was asked by our pastor to head up the 'cradle roll' for our church, and part of my job is to prepare a welcome basket for all of the new babies.

I made these little booties to go in the baskets.
It's nice because they whip up really quickly and I can get several pairs out of one skein of yarn,
(or use up some of my odd and ends.)

I hope to make more of the little headbands for the baby girls, too!

Here is the pattern that I used for the booties
http://susan.kraus.net/pages/pattern6.html

Cute cut-offs

My middle daughter, is SO rough on her pants - she is constantly wearing holes in the knees.
Rather than just toss them out, I have been saving them to turn into cut-offs for this summer - but I decided to 'dress them up' a bit.

One pair of pants...cut to the desired length


Some fabric - (This was 45" across, but for bigger kids... or bigger ruffles...you could use 60" fabric.)


I cut two 4" wide strips and folded them over into 2" strips. Then I sewed two rows of loose threads side by side and I pulled on thread to 'gather' the fabric into ruffles. (Use strong thread or it will break!)


Keep gathering until it is the same length as the opening of your pants leg.


Then sew right sides together. I used several rows of the zig-zag stitch (to prevent the fabric form unraveling.)  It isn't pretty...but this part won't be seen anyways.


Then flip this part under and top-stitch near the seam for a nicer finish

Do the other leg and ....and...

Cotton mop cover

Washable, reusable....boring but functional.

I didn't have a pattern for this one...I just measured my Swiffer and added enough length to fold over the ends.   It's basically just a long rectangle.  I made a few rows 'ribbed' by crocheting in the back loops, so that it has more scrubbing power.

 
Then I sewed 3 sides closed, and left the 3rd open so that it's easier to get on and off the mop, and added strings to tie it in place.  

I made mine with 100% cotton yarn because I plan to use it wet,
but if you just want to use it dry for dusting hardwood floors, you could also make it with acrylic.

Crowns of Glory

I made my first couple of hats for my charity...which I have named "Crowns of Glory" based on
Isaiah 62:3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.


A good friend of mine told me that she had a friend going through chemotherapy,  and asked me if  I could please make her something special.

This is what we came up with

A nice cream-colored homespun with several different inter-changeable options for flowers

And a Fun Fur Juliette cap.
It has a more open weave, but the 'furriness' fills in the gaps.  I figure it will be a cooler alternative for summer.

I'd like to make more hats with the Fun Fur.
It's a nice, colorful alternative for those having 'no hair days.'     ;-)

Baby, Baby

My next hats were so fun to make!

Two of my friends had darling baby girls within a couple months of each other, and so I had to send them little gifts for their new blessings.  (I have since been dubbed "Auntie Michelle" - a title I quite enjoy - LOL.)


Since I don't have a baby of my own any more - a doll has to suffice for a model.  ;-)

And possibly my favorite hat ever  ( which is why it's my header...)

 I can't think of a better reason to crochet, than to welcome a new little one into the world with something soft and warm.

My inspiration

My next hats were made under much sadder circumstances.

A good friend of mine was diagnosed with leukemia the week after Christmas. 
Knowing that she would be going through chemo I wanted to send her something that would bring her comfort and warmth, and most importantly.... let her know that she was loved.

I wanted something soft and close-fitting, so I used Lion-Brand Homespun yarn and the Amelia pattern from YarnCat, and I made them in my friend's favorite colors...purple and blue.

I have discovered that this (easy) pattern is one of my all-time favorites.  It takes less than one skein of yarn, I can make one up in a few hours. I can dress it up or leave it plain, and it is pretty and cozy. 

Here are some more 'Amelias'  - (some I made with two colors worked together.)

Sadly.... my friend never had a chance to wear her Amelia hats.
She passed away just 3 short weeks after her diagnosis.  :-(

Now, I have been pondering starting a charity of sorts in her honor, and in honor of my own mother, (who also lost her battle with cancer many years ago.)


So...if and when I find the resources, (time and $ for supplies,) I hope to begin a ministry to donate these hats to those going through chemo and radiation.   
Right now it's only in the 'prayerful consideration' stage,
but I know that if the Lord wills it...it's bound to happen.

Putting my 'learning hat' on....

I have discovered that one of my very favorite things to make are hats.

When I started making hats earlier this year my first few attempts didn't quite turn out as planned.

My very first 'hat' was actually a basic 'bun cover
(The pattern came form the book Get Your Crochet On - Hip Hats and Cool Caps.

This was a FUN book, although I learned the hard way that it was mostly geared for 'ethnic' hair, 

(not thin/fine hair like mine.)   The bun cover turned out HUGE!

I wasn't quite sure what to do with it.... until my daughter offered a very creative solution.

One of my dear friends fell in love with the 'cloche' style of hats and asked if I could make her one.

I tried.

I failed

My next try = success!
(sort of ... it was still a bit too big for her)...

 

But at least it turned out the way it was supposed to, which gave me the confidence to try again.