My New Model

As fun as designing patterns is, when it comes to hats and other clothing that isn't one size fits all, it's also stressful. I'm not great spatially, so if I don't have the person I'm making something for right next to me as I'm crocheting....there's a good chance it won't always fit. 

Then, no matter what size I've made, there's the fact that not everyone who reads my pattern is going to be the same size. But I don't really know what size I've made, and trying to figure out how to "adjust" patterns to fit others is overwhelming. 

Yes, I realize most patterns are not going to have sizes for absolutely everyone, but I'm a bit OCD, and if I'm going to consciously try and include people of more than one size, I'm going to feel bad about not making it do-able for everyone. Even if this is completely outrageous expectation.

So! In order to fight the OCD anxiety of making something that will fit everyone, I had the genius idea of switching my model to someone that is always available for fittings, as well as the same size as many crochet-wearers across the world. 

Her name is Addy, and she is my American Girl doll. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. First, I made her a matching hat & scarf. (If you're interested, the pattern is available here.) I also just finished an afghan for her bed.

Hat & Scarf

All ready for bed.

Zzzzz....

Another Pattern, and a bit of News

The Pattern

Everyone has to keep warm in these cold cold months. Especially your little ones! 

I made this hat for a family friend of mine and decided to write a pattern for it as well. Isn't it cute? The ridges are my favorite part, but it also is doubly warm over the ears because the black portion is flipped up! 

It also combines my favorite yarns in one project. The top part is a gorgeous blue sock yarn that's good and stretchy, while the band is super soft and cozy. 

If you'd like to make a hat like this for your little guy or gal click for a link to the download the FREE pattern.

The News

At the beginning of the year, my goal was to write and publish five crochet patterns. This is the second. As my life stands right now, I should be at five in no time at all. 
Some of my patterns can get a bit complicated though, and just from personal experience I know that visuals are always a benefit when reading patterns. So I did a little research, and found this great program that is set up specifically to diagram crochet patterns! How cool is that? The issue, is that it costs $50. $50 that I don't have right now, but I have a plan. 

The Plan

• Write 5 patterns and publish them for FREE so other crochet artists can see my work. 2 down, 3 to go. (These patterns will always be free.)
• Continue writing patterns, but put them up for sale. (I may continue to publish freebies now and then.)
• After sales reach $50 or more, I can get the program and my patterns with be THAT much nicer and easier to understand.
• Retroactively update previous patters to make all of them equally awesome.

In the mean time, if you want to help out - and help me get the program sooner - I've added a donation button on the left! Any and all contributions are appreciated. 

So if you download one of my free patterns and think to your self, "This pattern would be a lot easier to understand if there were some diagrams," just keep in mind that I think so too! I  don't have the tools to do that right now, but I'm working on it!

freezing cold update

Winter is finally here! and in case, this isn't true where you live, you're missing out. Well, except for the awful roads riddled with accidents and slide offs, white out conditions, and the bitter single-digit windchill that requires at least half a dozen layers on just to take the dog out, but it's really pretty outside!!

So I mentioned in my first post of the year that I'm working on a latch-hook rug, and it's just about half way done!  

The bottom ball of yarn was originally a gross salmony pink in the pattern, but i cut my own yarn so it could be purple. I'm also tweaking the cat so it's more solid gray and looks like Izzy. 

In other yarn news, I'm working on a new crochet hat pattern for sometime next week. This time it's toddler sized!!

My First Pattern!!

I wrote a pattern!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

I'm not sure how many exactly, but I've made at least 25-30 hats in my crochet history. Over half of them have been along the same lines as far as a pattern. In fact, the first thing I ever crocheted was a hat!! I'm not sure where that particular hat is, but the majority of the hats I've made since have been an evolution of that pattern. It's not really anything like the original anymore, since I've tweaked it a bit every time I made a new one, but I'm really proud of it's most recent reincarnation. And now I'm sharing it with the world!!!

Ta-Da!!

Here's the link to download the pattern!!
I used Deborah Norville Collection Serenity Garden Yarn in Hibiscus. 

Since this is the first pattern I've written for the public, comments and feedback would be wonderful!! Happy Crocheting!

Have I Gone Mad?

"Have I gone mad?" -The Mad Hatter

 "You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." - Alice

If you've been paying any attention, this is the first post that is more than a week after the last. Technically only 8 days, but lets face it, I thrive on technicalities. Since my goal was one or more posts per week, and Thursday is still part of this week (technically), I don't really have to fret. 

What I really need to do is nail down what day of the week I will always post by, but I really like flexibility, so I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. My last few were on Wednesdays, so I'm going to say that that's my goal, but not 100% all the time (I'll probably shoot for Tuesday next week to make up for this week being "late").

ANYway. The reason I didn't post anything yesterday is because I spent a lot of time this past week finishing up the plans, and actually starting my secret project -which of course is secret so I cant give you any details :( -and don't have anything finished to show you.

So instead, I'm going to tell you a little story. About how I went crochet crazy. 

I learned how to crochet my first semester in college when my roommate found an easy pattern for a hat made from 5 granny squares stitched together like an open box. I didn't like all the fuss of 5 pieces, so I tweaked the pattern for my own purposes, and proceeded to make (at least 6 more). 

To the left is just one example. (yes, my hair is in about a zillion little braids under the hat. but hey, it's college. also, i'm a natural blonde. who woulda thunk?)

So after I went mad from hatting, I went looking for something a bit more challenging. I was rushing Kappa Kappa Psi (National Honorary Band Fraternity) and thought it would be the coolest thing ever to give my Big Brother a plush Psyduck (the pokemon) with greek letters on his chest.
Kappa Kappa Psi-duck. Get it? 

Anyway, a quick Google search brought me to the fabulous blog by Wolfdreamer who had written a pattern for Psyduck!! So that definitely happened. 

I also used Wolfdreamer's pattern for a Raichu, and a Mario Mushroom, though I don't have pictures for those. But the point is I was hooked. I started to make up my own patterns (toys and clothing alike) and I haven't looked back. I absolutely love giving people gifts, and it's just so much more fun when they're handmade. Don't you think?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2012.

At the moment it feels exactly like 2011, except it has 365 more days of potential. 365 because it's leap year and there are a total of 366 days this year. Fun fact. 


Along with the new year comes my (hopefully) regular updates to this blog. My goal is to put something new up at least one a week, but I'll be posting a bit more often until I get all my Christmas crafting up here.







First up is  a crocheted penguin hat I made for my brother. Simplicity at its best, it's my own design (as are the majority of my crafty creations) and made 100% of my favorite brand of yarn, Caron Simply Soft.