Monster and Bear Hats (crochet)

Monster Hat!!!!!!  Even though it's a monster, it's hard to not think of it as cute. :D  I was asked to make this hat for one of my nieces and I was more than happy to do it.                                                The pattern is from www.emiegracecreations.etsy.com and was well-written to follow and make it look exactly like the one in the Etsy.

I can see where it would be very simply to make variations on this hat for a million different looks. :)

And a bear hat!  This one is actually my own pattern/design.  I was asked to make a bear hat and although I have patterns for several different animal hats for kids, bear hat is not one of them.  When googling images of other bear hats to get an idea of what they look like, this is about what I was seeing...in various colors.  I like this one but I think I might like it even more if it was a dark brown with tan accents. (the opposite it is).  

This particular hat will be a give-away item on another blog soon- stay tuned for more info!! :D

Crochet Candy and Clay Gnome

Good afternoon! Wow two posting days in a week...I'm shocked at myself. :)  And I even have a bit of the flu going on today, so I'm amazed anything is getting done at all.

Well for starters, sharing a cute little candy...uh..thing.  I didn't have a pattern for this, just made it up.  It became part of one of my niece's birthday gifts last month and she can put it on a necklace or barrette or whatever she likes.  Or add it to her play kitchen foods! :)  One of these days I'll write up a pattern for it hopefully!

Another garden gnome pick to add to my growing collection! This time he actually IS a gardener, complete with watering can and a flower behind his ear. :D  I do wish I'd gotten a better picture of the back..he is one of the only ones I've made without a jacket because he is wearing over-alls with suspenders and I wanted to see that.  But anyway, he is living with the rest of the gnomes now and he makes an even dozen so far that I have managed to keep. :) I'll have to get pics of the whole set soon to share.

Pie Afghan of many colors (crochet)

 This is one of those projects I couldn't wait to share!  I bought a Leisure Arts book called "Great Grannies: 7 scrap afghans" from Amazon.  I want to say it was around $8 or $9 but definitely worth it because all 7 of the creations are now on my to-do list.  Not like some books you buy and only want to make one or two of the things inside. 


One of the best parts, aside from the wonderful photos and unique blanket ideas that aren't in every single other crochet book... is that they are all made using only small bits of yarn for each motif.  And you don't have to be an extremely experienced crocheter to do these!!

 The blanket I chose to do first is called "Piece of the Pie" and you can probably see why.  Instead of all squares, it is all triangles!  136 to be exact!  I didn't even care about which particular colors I put together, just used up every bit of scrap I had and then started in on make dents into new skeins.  The whole project is using Red Heart Super Saver yarn. Normally it would take me a while to finish a blanket, but I was so excited to see how this one turned out that I completed it from start to finish in only 13 days!

The only problem I ran into were making the white circles that attach the points together (in the center of each hexagon).  That part is done after the whole blanket is sewn together and for some reason, the pattern wasn't telling me quite right how to do it...so I just made up my own way and it worked out just fine.  Maybe the pattern was wrong...maybe I was.   ??  Either way, you do that, then add the outside border and voila! All done. :)  

It's just over 4' by 5' or so... great throw for the couch or use as a bigger lap blanket. :)  
Haven't decided wether to sell or keep this one yet...I suppose if the right offer came along, maybe.  But for now it is living comfortably in a clear bag (so I can still admire it) next to the couch. :D

Angry Birds, Mike Wazowski, and Beanies! (crochet)

Good evening!  I can't believe it was actually 62* outside today when just a couple weeks ago it was snowing and 15*! Crazy weather can't make up its mind.  No matter what kind of weather it is, it's always fun to make hats. :)

The pattern for this awesome Angry Birds hat came from a youtube.com user by the name of "tjw1963".  She has a video showing how to crochet it as well as links to the written pattern.  I made this particular one for one of my SIL's husband. 

These six were for family members.  I'd asked each of them before Christmas what their 3 most favorite colors were and here we are.  Now they all have their own custom colored hat!  Just basic beanies. :)

And finally for tonight.... an amigurumi Mike Wazowski toy (from Monsters, Inc. movie).  I don't know why the photo came out with him looking a mustardy-green color... he is actually more like lime-green.  Like the cartoon!  Silly camera!

I made him for one of my nieces who just turned 3 and is going through a "Monsters, Inc." phase.  Unfortunately I did not write down how I made him as I went along, though I really wish I had because he isn't from a pattern- I just made him up.  I do think if I made another one, I'd make his head/body bigger.  But for a first try, I think he came out pretty good!

His mouth, by the way, is crocheted grey underneathe, but the teeth are cut out of felt and craft-glued on.  I tried crocheting the teeth in several ways and it was just not happening....so felt it was!! What do you think of the final guy? :)


Off to work on more projects!! :)  Hope everyone enjoys the pictures above and maybe get inspired to make some as well. :)