Awesome new Craftsy crochet class!

I've blogged before about how much I love Stacey Trock's crochet classes on Craftsy.com. I've learned a lot of awesome little tips and tricks from Stacey and she is just so cute! She has that adorable Minnesota, mid-western way of talking and explaining the steps of her projects. Love her.

Anyway, I was so excited when she came out with this new class called Crocheting in the Round: Mix & Match Hats! 

Hats are my favorite things to crochet, so I was super excited to get some new tips and tricks from Stacey that I can try out in my designs.

I downloaded the patterns and previewed what the course covers. I really like how she starts by teaching a basic beanie and then includes diagrams and patters for adding details like ear flaps, slouchy fit and cloche. Many of these are things I haven't tried before so I'm excited to give it a shot!

So far, I've watched the first couple of lessons and saw a great demonstration on how to do color work, which creates the rainbow-striped hat and the blue and white heart hat pictured above. I've tried doing things like this before, but really had no idea what I was doing and it turned out a mess. Since I watched Stacey's demonstration, I feel confident that I can do it and it'll be awesome!

I highly recommend the Crocheting in the Round class on Craftsy.com. You are sure to learn some new tips and tricks for making and designing awesome beanies! And while you're over at Craftsy, you can connect with me here to share projects, patterns and ideas!

WIP Wednesday: Striped Broncos Beanie

Work In Progress Wednesday, August 6

When I was yarn shopping at Michaels, I came across Loops and Threads Charisma yarn in Nordic, and it screamed Broncos! Since the 2014 NFL season is just about under way, I thought it was a good time to test out this variegated (color-changing) yarn and see if it looked as good in a beanie as it did in the skein.

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Striped Broncos Beanie WIP

And, I think the (almost) end result looks great! I have only one stitch to go to finish, so this WIP will be an FO (finished object) in about 2 minutes.

I like how the stripes are so random and interesting. It clearly has the broncos colors of orange and blue, but also weaves in neutral gray and brown. Plus, I noticed that the brown is exactly the color of a football. Perfect!

Here's a close up view for you to see the striping a little better.

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I love working with variegated yarn. Watching the colors change is so much fun. So, if you'd like to make this hat yourself, stay tuned shortly for the pattern! I will be releasing it in the next week or so since I am oh so close to finishing this hat. Go Broncos?

What is your WIP this Wednesday?

WIP Wednesday: Infinity Scarf

You don't need to spend much time in the crafting world before hearing the popular acronym WIP, which stands for Work In Progress. Honestly, I usually have at least three WIPs going on at once! Some of which are over a year old. Ooops.

So, I've decided to participate in the WIP Wednesday blog thread and start sharing them with you on Wednesdays, in hopes that I'll follow through and finally finish them. Because...Friday is FO (Finished Object) Friday. I'm hoping that posting this WIP on Wednesday will help me end up with an FO to post on Friday. 

This week's WIP is about 9 months old. Embarrassing, I know, but I'm sharing to help get out of this cycle! I made up a pattern for an infinity scarf and I made a couple last winter. Then, I got a new color of yarn to make a third scarf and decided to write down the pattern as I crocheted and create a new pattern to sell.

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Somehow, I got totally derailed on this scarf and pattern writing. I think I'll blame it on the holiday rush of beanies that I had to make at the same time. So, I recently found it my box of WIPs and decided it was time to finish it, write the pattern and make my dreams come true! ;)

The only problem that I had with re-starting this WIP is that I had forgotten the pattern that I was using! The bulky, bumpy nature of this yarn made it hard for me to see the stitches I had been doing to get this far.

Fortunately, I had a notebook of pattern ideas that I'd been writing. I looked back and it was one of the very first ones in the book. So, I was able to figure out what I had been doing that looked so nice and continue crocheting. So far, I think it's looking great!

Unfortunately, I lost the label from this yarn sometime in the last year, so I have no idea what it's called. I'm sure that I got it from Michaels so I can only hope that they still carry it!

The best news about this scarf pattern, is that it actually works up really quickly! So, now that I remembered the pattern, I should be able to finish it in time for FO Friday.

Do you have a WIP that's a year old or more? Do you think you'll ever finish it? Tell me about it in the comments and post a link if you've posted pictures!

Why I love amigurumi!

Amigurumi is my summer obsession! Basically, it's a fancy name for crocheting stuffed animals. And it is so much fun!

I think everyone should try it, and this is why. Last summer I crocheted a baby toy for my sister-in-law's baby shower. It's a ring toy where the middle post is a snake and each ring is a different insect: a bee, a ladybug and a dragonfly. I was really proud of how it turned out and it inspired many other future creations.

My nephew Andrew was born in November and I got to visit him when he was a couple of weeks old. My brother and his family live in Pittsburgh, so seeing the new baby was a very special occasion.

When I went to Pittsburgh, I saw Andrew's room and my amigurumi ring toy was sitting on the shelf. I was glad it was on display, but I wondered if he would ever play with it. 

Then, a couple weeks ago I got this picture from my brother.

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My nephew Andrew with his amigurumi ring toy

The feeling I got when I saw this adorable picture of my nephew playing with the toy that I crocheted for him... there's nothing like it. I love seeing pictures of people wearing my beanies, but this was a whole new level of love, pride and fulfillment.

So, I want to share the amigurumi love. I've been creating lots of boards on Pinterest, so click here for some free patterns and amigurumi inspiration. And, this week I've been working on designing my own patterns, which is loads of fun and I'll be sharing those very soon!

Peace, love and amigurumi!

My favorite crochet class...ever!

Craftsy, one of my favorite crafting sites, just celebrated it's 3 year birthday. As a birthday gift for Craftsy, I decided to write about my favorite Craftsy class. Really, it's my favorite crochet class that I've ever taken.

Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster

If you didn't know before, amigurumi is a term for crocheting stuffed animals. I have always loved stuffed animals, so when I found out that I could crochet them, I was ecstatic! 

Aside from my love of stuffed animals and all things crochet, I really especially like this class for the following reasons.

1. Stacey Trock is the instructor. Stacey makes amazing amigurumi designs and has a fun, bubbly personality. I subscribe to her blog and follow her on Pinterest.

2. In this class, Stacey totally nerds out on crochet and talks about the pluses and minuses of various techniques and stitches. She answers questions that I've been wondering about for years but never knew who to ask! Is it better to crochet under the back loop only or both loops? How do I measure my yarn in yards? and How do I write my pattern as I go so I remember what I did?

3. Even though this class is about designing amigurumi monsters, I have found it incredibly helpful with designing beanies. I learned a lot about how to shape my crochet projects and how to plan them out from start to finish.

Pssst...This class is not for total beginners. If you're new to crochet or to amigurumi you can watch the Amigurumi: Woodland Animals class on Craftsy first.

Crocheting amigurumi projects and beanies are very similar techniques. You use a magic circle, single crochet and increase, just like beanies! Watching one or both of these classes on Craftsy will help you make adorable amigurumi animals and crochet better beanies! 

How to Crochet a Beanie: Increase

Today you're going to learn one of the most important steps in crocheting a beanie, the increase. An increase does just what the name implies, it makes the beanie bigger. You use increases to make the top of the beanie about as big as the crown of your head (or the head of the lucky recipient of your handmade awesomeness). Then, once you've reached the desired size, you stop increasing, turn on your favorite TV show and tweedle away until your beanie is finished perfection.

So, check out the video below and learn how to do this important step and you're on your way to crochet greatness.

When you master the increase, you can use it in all of my crochet beanie patterns:

Click here for beanie patterns

With this video I'm drinking red clover blossom tea, and I mentioned that I had a funny story about this tea. 

I bought the tea when I was doing a health cleanse, because it's supposed to help clear out your system. I ordered it online because I couldn't find it in the store and I wanted to buy the loose leaf variety. Little did I know that when you buy a pound of loose leaf tea it comes in a huge bag! Check out the picture below. I've been drinking this tea for 4 months and I've barely put a dent in this huge bag of tea leaves. So, if anyone wants to try some red clover blossom tea, I've got plenty!

Loose leaf tea in a mason jar

One huge bag of tea leaves!

How to Crochet a Beanie: Single Crochet

Welcome to Step 2 of crocheting a beanie, the single crochet. In crochet patterns, single crochet is abbreviated as sc.

I love to make beanies with single crochet. The stitches look smooth, tight and beautiful. (Hmmm, that sounds a little dirty, but I'm talking about crochet here! ;) Anyway, single crochet is a basic, easy stitch and it creates awesome results. I use it in most of my patterns so once you nail this stitch, you'll be on your way to making tons of fun projects.

To start your single crochet beanie, you first need to make a magic circle. Now you're ready to do some single crochets into the circle to start the very top of your beanie. See the video below for step-by-step details.

For some people. the magic circle and the first single crochet stitches are the hardest part of the entire beanie. So, take your time and don't get frustrated. Watch the video a few times and follow exactly what I do. Rest assured that your effort is worth it because your beanie is going to look awesome! And, once you've got this part down, the rest of the hat will be easy peasy.

How did it go? Were you able to successfully execute a single crochet stitch? Tell me about it in the comments below! ;)

My dog has cancer. Crocheting = Coping.

About a week ago, I found out that my dog, Gravy, has cancer. He’s five years old and is a Boston terrier mutt mix. He’s the dog love of my life.

Gravy has had a pretty dramatic life. I adopted him from a shelter in 2011. He had extreme separation anxiety issues and destroyed the carpet in my apartment on many occasions. He even jumped out my second story window a couple of times and I had to break him out of doggy jail at the animal shelter.

What a pain in the ass, right? He totally is. But look at this face. Could you be mad at this?

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Gravy dressed up for Christmas 2013

The thing is that he’s so freaking sweet when he’s with me. He loves to cuddle and give sweet doggy kisses anytime my face is within reach. You would never think that he would turn into a destructive demon dog as soon as I left the house.

Gravy loves to lie in the cool grass on a hot summer day

After two years of dealing with his anxiety problems with doggy Xanax and behavior training, I realized that I couldn’t meet his needs. I worked 10 hour days and couldn’t afford doggy day care. He was just alone for too many hours a day and couldn’t cope. On Valentine's Day, he destroyed the air conditioning unit in my apartment. And I knew that I had to do something different. So, I asked my parents if he could live with them on the ranch in Montana.

Living on the ranch has been the perfect solution for Gravy. My parents have a puggle named Mabel who is his best friend. (See video of them playing at the end of this post.) They do everything together and she keeps his anxiety at bay. Plus, he’s free to run and run as far as he wants.

I miss Gravy every day, but I do get to see him when I go home to see my parents. And I know that I did the right thing by sending him to Montana because he is sooooo happy there. Case in point, check out his incredible energy in the video below!

How does this relate to crochet? I’m getting there.

About a month ago, my mom sent me this picture of a strange growth on Gravy’s torso, under his left leg.

The vet tried to treat it with antibiotics but they didn’t help. So, they had to do surgery and remove the growth for biopsy. Turns out, it’s cancer.

The prognosis is hopeful because the vet thinks that she got it all. Some dogs have these cancerous growths, then get treatment and they never come back. Others have more cancerous growths and have to keep getting them removed. In the worst case scenario, the cancer would move from his skin inside to his lungs or heart.

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Gravy's strange growth

What’s a girl to do when receiving news about her doggy soul mate having cancer? Crochet! I must admit, I’ve been extremely productive with my crochet work since I found out about Gravy’s cancer.

I’m really not sure how to handle my emotions about Gravy’s health. He’s so far away from me that I can’t really see him or find out about how he’s doing. My parents assure me that he seems fine and full of energy. There’s hope that this won’t be a problem going forward, but then there’s the worry that it will get much worse. Crocheting really helps me to cope with these conflicting emotions.

Crocheting keeps my hands and mind just busy enough that I can’t sit and fret and worry about the future health of my pooch. It makes me feel productive. Like I’m doing something. Even though I can’t do anything for Gravy right now. The act of crocheting helps me feel more peaceful, even though the activity that I'm doing doesn't relate directly to my problem at hand. Plus the repetitive motion of creating stitch after stitch soothes my body and mind.

When I crochet, I have greater perspective on the situation. I know that Gravy is happy and will enjoy his life in Montana, no matter how much longer he has to live. He spends every day with his best friend, Mabel. I know that I did the right thing by rescuing him and sending him to live with my parents. I look forward to seeing him this summer for some fun camping trips with my family. And I think about him being happy and energetic like he was in this video that my brother took last winter.

What a goofball! I love my Gravy boy, and I when I crochet, I know that he'll be alright.

Working on my crochet projects has helped me cope with various challenges and struggles in my life, and I know it’ll help me get through whatever happens to Gravy.

What about you? Have you ever used crochet as a coping mechanism during a hard time? Tell us the story in the comments below!

How to Hold Your Hook and Yarn

For most novice crocheters, holding the hook and yarn correctly makes all the difference between success and frustration. I believe that crocheting should be a stress-relieving activity and not a stress-inducing activity. So, I want to help you get started right!

There are many different ways to hold your hook and yarn. I teach a crochet elective to the middle schoolers at the school where I work and the 7th grade boys told me that this is the easiest way to hold the hook and yarn. So, I have it on good authority that this is the best grip for you to use when you first get started hooking.

Yes, left-handed hookers, this is for the righties! But I promise your version is coming soon!

First, let's look at a picture of the positioning of both hands, then I'll break it down into steps.

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When you're ready to start crocheting, your hands should look like this

Ok, we're going to start with the left hand because I think that it's the hardest part to master. Basically, with the left hand you're going to be controlling the tension of the yarn that you're feeding to your hook. If you don't hold the yarn at a consistent tension, then your stitches are going to be all wonky.

When you look at the picture above, you'll noticed that I'm using ALL the fingers on my left hand to hold onto the yarn and my work (the piece I've already crocheted). This is key to keeping things stable and the tension reliable. So, let's break the left hand down into steps.

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Step 1: Pinch the long end of the yarn between your middle and index fingers. 

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Step 2: Turn your left hand counter clockwise, keeping the yarn between your first 2 fingers

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Step 3: Hold onto your work with the left thumb in front and your ring and pinkie fingers behind

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Step 3 (different angle): Hold your work firmly with your thumb, ring and pinkie fingers.

So, now that you have your fingers in the right place, let's talk about the working end of the yarn. You pinch it between your index and middle fingers, but not too tight. It has to be able to move between your fingers as your crochet. Hold your fingers steady and at the same distance from your work at all times to keep your stitches consistent.

Also, notice that the working end of the yarn goes from between my pinched fingers to the little circle created by my thumb, ring and pinkie fingers. Keeping the yarn running up through this circle will help you to keep control too.

Now, let's talk about how to hold the hook with your right hand.

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Hold your hook with your thumb, index finger and middle finger. The ring and pinkie fingers touch the hook very lightly or not at all.

You can move your right hand up toward the hooked end or down toward the plain end of your hook. Play with it a bit to find out what feels natural and comfortable for you.

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Ready to start hooking!

What about you? Do you hold your yarn and hook in a different way? Please share in the comments. 

Crochet Pattern: Gumdrop Baby Beanie

This week my brother Drew went to Pittsburgh to visit my other two brothers, Davey and Danny. I know, we're all D's, isn't that cute?

Anyway, Davey and his wife just had a new baby girl. Since I haven't seen her yet and I probably won't be able to meet her until we all go to Montana in July, I wanted to whip up a little something special for her so she knows that her auntie loves her. I was on deadline since I wanted to be able to finish her beanie in time to send it to Pittsburgh with Drew. Even though I was in a bit of a rush, I ended up being very happy with the result.

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Gumdrop Baby Beanie for my niece

I don't normally write baby patterns and I didn't intend to share this one. But when Drew delivered the hat to the family and my sister in law sent me a picture of my niece wearing it, I knew I needed to share the love and share the pattern.

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My niece at 2 weeks old. Adorbs!!

I'm feeling full of love looking at the pictures right now, so here's a free pattern for you!

Gumdrop Baby Beanie Crochet Pattern

Materials:

• G hook
• Red Heart Gumdrop yarn in Smoothie

Abbreviations Used:

• rnd - round
• mc/r - magic circle/magic ring
• ch - chain
• sc - single crochet
• sl st - slip stitch
• sts - stitches 
• dc - double crochet

Size: Newborn- 3 months

Pattern:

Rnd 1: mc/r, ch 1. Work 6 sc into the mc/r. Join with sl st. (6 sts)

Rnd 2: ch 2, 2 dc in same st. 2 dc in each st around. Join with a sl st. (12 sts)

Rnd 3-4: ch 2, 2 dc in same st, dc in next st. *2 dc in next st, dc in next st, repeat from * around (18 sts)

Rnd 5: ch 2, 2 dc in same st, dc in next 2 sts. *2 dc in next st, dc in next 2 sts, repeat from * around (24 sts)

Rnd 6-12: ch 2, dc in each st around (24 sts)

Fasten off and weave in the ends.

Make pom pom and sew on the top.

Note: When I start the rounds 2-12 of dc's with ch 2, I make the first chain a normal size and then I stretch the second chain so that it's about at the height of a dc. I don't count either of these chains as a st in the rnd. I do it this way because it makes less of a seam and rows look straighter. Try it and let me know how it goes!

P.S. I didn't get a chance to measure my gauge before I sent it off to Pittsburgh. So you'll have to play around with it a bit. Sorry! But the pattern is free so don't complain too much ;)

How to Crochet a Beanie: Magic Circle/Magic Ring

How do you start to crochet a beanie? Never fear, your question is answered here. I'd wager this is the hardest step of the whole process, so be a bit patient with yourself if this seems difficult at first.

Even though this might take some practice to learn, it will be worth it and you'll see why in my video. Using the magic circle makes your beanies look awesome!

In my patterns, I write this step with the abbreviation mc/r. In some patterns, you'll also see MAL, which stands for Magic Adjustable Loop. These two techniques are the same, so this tutorial can help with whichever pattern you're working with.

The magic circle/magic ring technique will result in a beanie with no hole at the top! It really is magic. Use this to start all of your beanies for a clean, neat appearance with no odd hole in the top.

The first step to starting your crochet hat

How did it go? Were you able to start your beanie with the magic circle? Let me know in the comments below!

Want to try your hand at using the magic circle to crochet a beanie? Grab my FREE Mens One Hour Beanie Crochet Pattern here.