Craft Trade!

At the end of last month, one of the clubs that I'm in went on a field trip and I made the awesome discovery that one of my friends knits. We decided that since I crochet we should do a craft trade. So she knitted me a scarf and I crocheted her a hat!

The hat is made with super bulky yarn. However, the yarn I used still wasn't bulky enough for the pattern that I used. I ended up adding three of the dc rows and three of the sc rows. I didn't increase any stitches around, but if I make this hat again I definitely will find a way. The other modification I made was starting the earflaps with 8 stitches across instead of 6.

Me modeling the hat

When we traded the final projects, we discovered the yarn I used for her hat was the exact same yarn her sister had used to make her a scarf! It was destiny.

I am completely in love with the scarf she made me (I'm wearing it right now)! It's so fluffy and does a good job of shielding my neck/face from the bitter winter weather.

Minion Hat

Every once in awhile I get a PAID commission. And those make me happy, because being a broke college student kind of stinks. What happened was that a friend needed to get a secret Santa gift, but they only thing she knew the girl liked was Despicable Me. So what better to make than a minion hat? I managed to get it done in three evenings, which is pretty good since it was during the last week of class.

I made a couple of modifications to the pattern that I used. I added two additional rows of yellow at the end, and made two black rounds in the eye instead of one black and one brown.

The eye sits a little higher than I'd like. So, if I make this again, I think I will also make one more round of yellow before switching to black.

After crocheting for almost two years, I've decided it's a universal truth that I crochet tighter than patterns expect. There is something fun about experimenting with crochet, but I should probably learn to properly use a gauge!

Batman Hat (Free Pattern)

This is one of those times of the year where I get really busy/ make a lot of crochet Christmas presents. As such, internet, you are about to get A LOT of posts in a short amount of time. First I would like to share the Batman hat that I created for my friend. Louie's Loops has this great Batman bat pattern that I'd been wanting to use for a long time, and this was the perfect chance. The beanie is my own original pattern created with the bat in mind. So here goes!

Batman Beanie

Materials:
I hook
Red Heart with Love in Daffodil and Black
Tapestry needle

Note: repeat instructions in **
         ch counts as 1 dc throughout pattern

In black
1) Make a magic circle, ch 3 (counts as 1st dc), 9 dc in magic circle, join with sl st to chain (10)
2) Ch 3, dc in same st, *2 dc in ea st* around, join with sl st (20)
3) Ch 3, dc in same st, 1 dc in next st, *2 dc in st, 1 dc in next st* around, join with sl st (30)
4) Ch 3, dc in same st, 1 dc in next 2 sts, *2 dc in st, 1 dc in next 2 sts* around, join with sl st (40)
5) Ch 3, dc in same st, 1 dc in next 3 sts, *2 dc in st, 1 dc in next 3 sts* around, join with sl st (50)
6) Ch 3, dc in same st, 1 dc in next 4 sts, *2 dc in st, 1 dc in next 4 sts* around, join with sl st (60)
7-11) Ch 3, *dc in ea st* around, join with sl st (60)

In yellow
12-16) Ch 3, *dc in ea st* around, join with sl st (60)

In black
17) Ch 1, *sc in each st* around, join with sl st, FO (60)

All that's left is to sew in the ends, create the bat, and sew it onto the yellow stripe of the hat!

Drogon (A GoT post)

The nice thing about dragging my crochet around to class with me is:
A) I stay awake easier in class
B) Sometimes people ask me to make them things AND offer to pay for all the materials

B is exactly what happened last semester. I had someone that sat behind me in our Native American History class. It turned out we were both part of many of the same nerdy fandoms. I had been bringing my Avatar blanket squares around with me to work on and he asked if he could pay me to make something. After deciding that it would be something based on Game of Thrones, I found a wonderful pattern for the Khaleesi's dragons. My friend's favorite is Drogon.

Even though the pattern called for assembly as you went, I prefer to finish all the pieces before putting them together. First step after completing all the pieces was attaching the head to the body

Next was getting the wings in working order.

Pinning the wing-bone to the actual wing.

Finished! Then I could assemble everything!

Yay! Also, super cute. To make the eyes I wound black thread through the button holes on red buttons in an attempt to recreate slit pupils.

The pattern called for floral wire (inside straws) to steady to wings and help hold them up. I found straws just fine, but I could not for the life of my find the right kind of wire. So I improvised and bought giant paperclips and undid one, and frankly it worked pretty darn well.

I was super happy with how he turned out (I spent more time than I'd like to admit on him). Also, my friend seemed super excited which made me happy. I was worried for a second that I wouldn't be able to get it to him though because I was showing another friend before church and suddenly five other people were admiring him and passing him around!

This was the first pattern I have ever purchased, and as a result I can't share the pattern directly, but here is the link to the Ravelry page: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dragon-wyvern-game-of-thrones-style

Birthday Goodies

This is the year. The year where my peers and I turn 21. Let the parties begin! One of the first birthdays belonged to my very lovely best friend of 14 years. Now let me tell you something about her. She LOVES owls. And so the theme of her present was decided and a plethora of owls were created.

First up where these two guys. They're adorable, but I felt like they needed a purpose other than to sit around somewhere.

I resolved this by chaining them together so they can hang over the rearview mirror in my friend's car. It's like having fuzzy dice, except better. Because owls.

Another thing she loves is coffee. Maybe too much sometimes ;) 

Now she can sip her coffee and think of owls at the same time!

This was a super easy pattern and only took an hour or so to work up because I was distracted and watching the Avengers.

Lastly, she always has her iPhone with her.

My iPod fit perfectly when I checked it, and this is also a super easy pattern. I originally sewed on beads for the eyes, but I didn't like the way it looked so I hot glued button eyes on. Much better.

Then they all got stuck in a box and sent!

Unfortunately it was the smallest box I had.

I also drew her this very lovely furbie card....it's a long story. So happy birthday, sissy! :)

Want to make something in this post?

Tiny owls (Ravelry download)

Owl cozy

Owl phone case

Baby Dragons

Another request I got for my boyfriend's rats were toys. My first thought was balls. Because what pet (of the furry, fluffy variety) doesn't love a ball? I used a pattern for a perfect sphere and made four of them!

However I decided that this wasn't enough. I needed something else. I'd always seen patterns for tiny stuffed animals on Ravelry, so I decided to try one of those. Originally I had planned on making a teddy bear, but I found a pattern for a tiny dragon and I made up my mind.

The original pattern didn't include wings, but I felt like it looked too much like a dinosaur-hybrid. I used the wings from a tiny cthulhu pattern (same person whose pattern I used for my Cthulhu earlier), and they worked quite well.

After seeing this little guy, Alex decided it wasn't fair that his rats got one and he didn't. So I made another one. 

If you want to make this dragon, make sure to make your circle for the nose large enough. The snout turned out better on the second dragon when I wove yarn through a third of the head. (If you read the pattern this comment will make more sense).

I am currently working on some updates to my blog (I'm way behind!), so there will hopefully be a couple more new posts within the week!

Fire Nation

So this is a little delayed due to packing, cleaning, moving out, and moving in, but I finished the third square!

This square was more challenging than the other two because you have to switch between colors more often, but the results are awesome. This is also my favorite square to date.

With the completion of this square I am 60% done with the entire blanket! ONE MORE SQUARE!

Rat Hammock - Free Crochet Pattern

Yes, it's a little random, and probably many of you won't be able to use it, but I'm going to put it up anyways!

My boyfriend got two rats this weekend and I made a variety of things for them, all of which will show up in a post together after the rats are brought home, but this is the hammock. Whenever I write a pattern it's because I can't find one I like or one doesn't exist, and this time was no different. I wanted to make sure that the hammock would be strong enough to hold two rats as well as minimize the risk of having tiny feet fall through the bottom, and this is what I came up with.

Shown with pillow

Rat Hammock

Materials:

I hook

fice colors worsted weight yarn

yarn needle

scissors

Directions:

With first color, ch 38.

Row 1: Dc into 4th ch from hook, dc 34 across (35)

Row 2-4: Ch 3, turn, dc 35 across (35)

Row 5-8: Repeat rows 2-4 with second color

Row 9-12: Repeat rows 2-4 with third color

Row 13-16: Repeat rows 2-4 with fourth color

FO

With fifth color sc around. There should be 33 stitches on the long sides, and 28 stitches on the short sides (two sc in each row), and four stitches in each corner.

For the ends: Sc into corner stitch on short side.

And sc across the top (32 sc)

Ch 1, turn, sc2tog twice, sc 24, sc2tog twice. (28 sc)
Ch 1, turn, sc2tog twice, sc 20, sc2tog twice. (24 sc)
Repeat, making four sc2tog per row until you get to 12 stitches across. FO
Repeat on other end

Now you need to cut 24 pieces of yarn, mine were about 3 ft long. Fold in half, and in every other loop on your 12 sc row, knot two pieces of yarn.

It should look like the above picture when you've completed one side.

Last, but not least, knot all the yarn together like in the picture below.

Repeat on the other side and now you're done! I know this is a difficult pattern to follow, so if you have any questions or something you'd like me to clarify, don't hesitate to let me know!

Bilbo found the hammock!

Earth Kingdom

After making multiple projects while working on this square, I've finally finished. I present, the Earth Kingdom square!

I think it turned out well. With the completion of this square I am approximately 40% of the way done. Yay!

Now that summer is upon us, I'm hoping I will have a little more time to work on the blanket and that I can have it done by the beginning of August. Even if I don't though, I'll definitely have it done by the time it starts to get cold.

The swirls might be my favorite part.

And of course Appa's gotta pose with the square.

EDIT: Here's the first post of this blanket saga. I did not write the pattern or create the charts. The link to the pattern is in the first post.

Cthulhu

The stuff of geek legends..The terrible, mystical beast, best described as a sea demon. Who this? Why, Cthulhu of course!

Looking quite adorable and cuddly, really. Last year I made my boyfriend a d20 for his birthday, and this year I had to try and match that by making him some equally geeky and cool. I had seen this pattern on Ravelry and decided it was perfect, and I am very pleased with the results.

The pattern calls for an F hook, but I decided to use a G hook to make him cuddlier (it's also easier to work with.) The pattern was relatively easy to follow, and the wings were definitely the most difficult part.

In order to get the ribbed, more wing-like look, I crocheted in the back loops only on the way back from the chain. This means you only crochet in the back loops in one direction, aka every other row.

My boyfriend was very pleased and his nerd friends jealous, so I suppose I accomplished my goal!

Rainbow Scarf Pattern

Well blog, it's been about a month. I promise I have been crocheting, it's just all my projects seem quite large and time-consuming right now. But...I do have a new pattern! This one was created in collaboration with my friend who had the idea to make a rainbow scarf and I played off her idea. So here goes (it's pretty short).

Rainbow Scarf

Materials:

I hook

6 colors worsted weight yarn

scissors

yarn needle

Directions:

With red ch 200 (check length and adjust as desired)

Row  1 - hdc across starting in third ch from hook

Row 2 - ch 2, turn, hdc across in back loops only

Row 3 - pick up orange, ch 2, turn, hdc across in back loops only

Row 4 - ch 2, turn, hdc across in back loops only

Continue with the remaining colors (each two rows wide)

At the end of the purple rows FO and weave in ends.

See! Super simple. Crocheting in only the back loops creates more texture which is definitely a good thing in this case!

Waffle Hats

Over spring break I was walking around in Hobby Lobby while waiting to pick up my boyfriend from class and I saw some bulky yarn on sale. Now, if you partake in the fiber arts you know that this yarn is more expensive than "regular" yarn, so I jumped on the opportunity and got green, gray, and teal. I'd been wanting to make some hats that needed bulky yarn and now I could make some!

These are waffle hats! Aka they have a mesh pattern.

I made the green one first, following the pattern exactly and it took me one sitting (while watching Skyfall). Only problem was, the hat didn't slouch.

Probably because I crochet tighter... So I decided I needed to make another one.

For the gray hat, I added about 5 rows to what the pattern calls for...

And huzzah! It turned out! 

The pattern was very easy to follow, and like I said before, very quick! It was a nice breather from the blanket. (I'm halfway done with the earth (2nd) square!)

Some clarification for those of you out there who might be in the dark like me: apparently slouchy hats are hipster.

Waffle Cone Hat Pattern: http://www.gleefulthings.com/blog/?p=3258

Don't have bulky yarn? Sugar Cone Hat Pattern: http://www.gleefulthings.com/blog/?p=5569