Sunday, October 23, 2011

Finished Sock monkey

It's not my favorite post when my face is in it but I love how my sock monkey hat turned out and it's always cuter when modeled on a real life size head!
this is another order of mine. My friend ordered it for her daughter...I love it!
This was done with a g hook using 2 strands of yarn, 16 rows down and following my Little abbee instructions for size large.
The mouth and ears are my own pattern.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

this is why...

my friend came into work with her new baby!  And remember my latest owl  hat? Well it fit her perfect!
look how cute it is! those hats are 10x adorable when on a baby! Once everyone saw that the orders started pouring in!
here's one right here! I love these sock monkey hats! I'm selling them for $20. So far I need to make 2 more then I need to get busy fulfilling all my owl hats orders.

I use a half double crochet throughout and i started with pattern  but had to adjust it because I could not get the gauge right. I ended up using a b hook (i know tiny) and 2 strands of yarn just trying to get the gauge right.
And I struggled with the ears trying to follow a free pattern so I just bagged it and made up my own pattern for the ears. I wish I could share it with you but you wouldn't understand (because my instructions suck). You probably notice I have no tutorials on my blog...its because I'm horrible at trying to explain things and it is VERY TIME consuming. That is why i appreciate everyone who takes the time to write up free patterns and tutorials.

And this one is sold...yay! Thanks so much for looking! gotta run...


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

sock monkey progress

Ok, let me first say, these are so time consuming!!!
I told my friend that I would make one for her grandson and oh my did I ever think it would take this long.

The first thing I struggled with is the ears. I didn't need a pattern for the hat because I'm just using my owl pattern but I needed to know how the ears were done and there were several free patterns but I just was not getting it. by the time I got done with one ear it almost reminded me of a tooth? the bottom part looks like it is growing roots...?  After I while I came up with my own pattern that I will soon show you.


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Then once I got the ears on I noticed one looked bigger than the other? Of course I compared them before attaching them and it seemed fine...so then I had to rip them off. (well, that sounds violent...I gently removed them).

I also struggled with sizing. since I used two strands of yarn it was hard to find the right gauge so below I'm going to write little notes for myself.
size small, H hook used, followed the instructions for medium size,  did  15  hdc rounds

size medium: used b hook, followed instruction for size medium, did 16 hdc rounds

size small: used H hook. followed instructions for medium size. used soft red heart yarn.

So none of these hats are completed yet! Still a work in progress. But I would like to show you another owl hat that I made:

It's in newborn size...
Then I could not decide on what to do with the nose? I tried to crochet it and that didn't work. I then tried an orange nose and it seemed like it clashed with the other colors so I stuck with brown.

The hardest part of this hat is the placement of the eyes and nose....the most time consuming too.

It kinda seems like it is missing something to me? Maybe the nose should be orange? Oh yeah...its missing the baby!

Anywho,  I used a cotton yarn which is super soft and doesn't have all the lint thingy's. 
 I think it will be ADORABLE on a newborn!
Thanks so much for looking!





Saturday, October 15, 2011

MY cowl scarves

Here is the first one I made by accident. I actually think my daughter made it on the loom?
I found it in my yarn bin last year and just put it on and wrapped it twice and TA DA! It's so cozy and soft and I wear it all the time...even around the house it keeps me warm!
So I wanted to make another one just like it but before I got to it I came across this pattern:
And I couldn't wait to make my own...so here it is, it took me about 1 hour to make!

Its not exactly like the one on the models because the yarn i picked was thicker. I wish I had better luck picking out yarn but I do still like it.
I think it looks best with a brown shirt (not pictured)

but I do really like the fringe!

I'm going to try to make it again with a different  yarn

I will be joining in on the cowl crochet along and also these parties:
I heart naptime            














Thanks for looking!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

cleaning out my closet (yarn closet)

I have a really big bin of yarn that needed to be organized.
What is more irritating then trying to undo a knot when all you want to do is crochet?

So I cleaned up all the misc yarn and now I see I need to do something with all these left over yarn balls so the perfect project for this is a granny square scarf!

I have all ready started putting random colors together. I just recently made one for my niece with really bright colors. This one is going to be for me so i'm going to try to use muted colors.

And ANOTHER exciting project that I can't wait to finish is this scarf...
I just bought the pattern! I'm so excited...i love accessories, this will probably only take about 2 hours. I'm going to get started on it tomorrow!
I also have another owl hat to show you, I just want to wait to get the beak attached.
Until then....

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

crochet accessories

I went to DownEast Basics the other day and they had the cutest accessories. If you have ever been there then you know exactly what I mean, i love there clothes too. Everything is so unique and hand made looking, its like a boutique. Anyway...I love there necklaces and they had one with 3 crochet flowers on it for $14.99. I looked at it and thought...Why buy it when I can just make it!
So I crochet 3 flowers using this pattern  I used a G hook and just place it on felt with adhesive on the back then start cutting it out so you can't see the felt...you can see I started cutting the left side then took a pix so you can see.

here it is on the right side..  Then I attached ribbon in between the felt and the flower.


And here we are! you can't even see the felt can you? but I didn't have anything to put in the middle of the flowers and i thought the buttons would make it look too "Crafty"
So I ended up just tying knots of little bits of yarn and gluing it in the middle of the flowers.

And here it is all complete! I am very happy with it! The skein of yarn was $2.50 (with my coupon of course)
Not bad when I could have paid $14.99!

Hope you all like! If you love crochet then check out this owl hat I just made!

I will be linking up to these parties:




 Somewhat Simple
 


Before I go I want to tell you about a Crochet Along I found on:

luvinthemommyhood          I'm so excited! It couldn't have come at a better time. I have a cowl scarf that I made last year that I absolutely love and I want to make another one then I came across this and they are doing a cowl crochet along! Yay...if you don't have a cowl you need to make one and  you will fall in love. I just love how you just put it over you neck like a necklace but you don't have to worry about the loose ends. and it's so cozy, its like wearing a loose turtleneck but without the bulky-ness of a heavy sweater!
Hop on over and join the crochet along if you love to crochet!

Monday, October 10, 2011

owl hat

here it is...my owl hat!


I bought the pattern from Little Abbee She gives great instructions and the pattern was reasonably priced
and if you have crochet hats you know how fast they work up!
so once your finished with the hat then  you put the face on. It reminds me of that game/toy Mr Potato Head.
the pattern does give instructions for the nose but I decided to just use felt.
and here it is! it looks so much cuter in person.  I really need to practice my photog skills
I made this for my nephew and his birthday is this weekend...and those are the best photo's!
You can't really tell how cute it is until someone is wearing it. And my nephew is so cute. He is turning 3. I'll be sure to get a pix of him wearing it.
And if you love crochet then check out this blog: 
Thanks so much for looking! I will be participating in these parties:
Keeping It Simple 








Confessions of a Stay At Home Mommy

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

granny square scarf

I wish I could come up with creative names for my projects....I'll have to give this one some thought..
It kinda reminds me of bubbleyum gum! so this is my bubbleyum scarf! A bunch of girls at work were putting together granny squares then attaching them to make a scarf. They are so cute so I had to make one!
I didn't have a scarf pattern but I had a granny square pattern from my "complete guide to needlework" book then attached them together with a single crochet stich



They go by so fast! I did three rows and I crochet 2 strands of yarn at once.  It's just hard for me to get a good picture...I'm not good at taking pix of my self so Zuko was willing to help me.
He's not happy! haha, maybe because its a girly scarf?

"Okay, thats enough" he says!
So I will have to settle with a crappy grainy photo!  
And here is the owner of the scarf, my beautiful niece, it was her birthday, doesn't it look just beautiful on her?

Thanks for Looking! and if you like crocheting keep coming back! I'm in the mood to crochet...check back for my next finished project...I just bought a pattern to make this....
not the baby but the hat! (i wish I could make the baby too)   I will be working on this precious owl hat. I'm so excited to get it done and share with all of you!  
Thanks for visiting!
I will be linking up to: 
sew many ways





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