Ever wondered what’s in my crochet bag? Now you can find out!
Read MorePart 2: Behind the Scenes of My New Crochet Class | Makeup, New Designs, Tech Issues and Coffee
Wow, it was not easy to create and launch my first crochet course! Watch this vlog for a behind the scenes look at a day in the life of a creative course creator.
Read MorePart 1: Behind the Scenes - Creating New New Online Crochet Class
I'm launching my first online crochet class! 🥂 And this is my creative mess.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work from home in a creative field, then you’re going to like this vlog.
Read MoreFO Friday: Striped Baby Stocking Hat
Finished Object Friday
A few days ago all I had was this scribbled plan in my design binder. After one false start, a bit of frogging and lots of hemming and hawing and staring at the inspiration picture, I finally finished my baby beanie!
Click through the slide show below to see the process of my beanie creation. :)
My pre-crochet plan
I really hope this ends up fitting like it's supposed to! I'm not completely sure it's the right size for a newborn. But, I'm going to give it to my photographer friend and she can let me know if it needs to be bigger or smaller. Sometimes I get it right the first time, but not always!
It's so much fun to create a new design and then crochet it and bring it to life. :) Creative satisfaction!
What about you? What have you finished crocheting lately? Post links to pics so I can see! :)
WIP Wednesday: Striped Baby Stocking Hat
A photographer friend of mine asked me to design a hat for her to use as a prop in her photo shoots. She sent me this picture and said that she wanted something similar.
Looking at the picture, I'm pretty sure that this cap was made with double crochets, so I'm going to create my own version with single crochets.
I realized that I needed to add the pom pom to the end before the tube got too long. Otherwise, it would have been a big struggle to tie the pom pom on.
TIP: I used a Clover pom pom maker to create this perfect pom pom. I highly recommend them!
Photo by Flower Tree Photography
When I went yarn shopping for this project, I realized that there is no baby yarn in these neutral colors. Almost all yarn that is super soft and specifically made for babies is pastel pink, blue, green or yellow. There was some white, but no cream or gray. So, I decided to just use my favorite worsted weight yarn.
I started out the top of the hat with a small point and then created a striped tube.
After attaching the pom pom, I kept crocheting the stripes and started increasing rounds in order to grow the bottom of the hat to fit a baby's head.
Since I don't have a live human baby of my own to try this on, I won't be completely sure that it's the right size until I finish it and give it to my photographer friend. I'm hoping I get it right the first time! But, if not, I took good notes on what I did with this design, so I can start again if I'm way off!
What about you? What's on your hook right now? Tell me about it, post links to pics, brag, and share in the comments below! :)
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.
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!
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.
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!