Turtle Photo Prop

I’ve had a couple of people want me to crochet something for them after they’ve found a pattern.  Usually the pattern is from a new designer so I take a look around at other patterns to see if there are any other patterns I would like to get.  That’s kind of what happened with this creation, only I didn’t buy the pattern.  I wanted to try and figure it out myself.  And I did!  Although if I make one again, I do it a little bit different – more on that later.  (I can't remember exactly where I found the inspiration for this project, but if you search for crochet turtle photo props on Etsy, tons will come up.)

With a new baby coming and a niece that does photography, I wanted to make some photo props for newborn photos.  I love turtles so when I saw a turtle cape, I was in love.  It seemed simple enough, six pentagons stitched together and a little beanie to go with. 

I found a pattern for a hexagon afghan on Lion Brand’s website.  I just took this pattern and adjusted it down to a pentagon, made 6 of them and then sewed them together.  I opted to sew them together with a single crochet.  Here’s the first thing I would have done differently – I think if I make one again, I will use a whip stitch instead.  The single crochet left a ridge on one side that I’m still not sure that I’m in love with.  I’ll mention the other thing I would change after the pictures. 

My niece at Adrienne Danielle Photography took these pictures and I love them!  Check out here site and if you are local, set up a shoot.  She has a portfolio building promotion going on through March 31^st.

Love.  Cutest little turtle in the world, in my opinion.

The only thing I wish were a different is the size of the turtle cape.  I used Red Heart Soft yarn which is super soft, but on the small side.  So, by using only 6 pentagons, the cape is a little small as well.  Next time I would use a bulky or super bulky yarn which would make the pentagons larger while still using the same pattern.  Even so, I love it and the little guy in it.

R2D2

Since I’ve already made a Storm Trooper hat and a Princess Leia Hat (yet to blogged about), I decided I needed an R2D2 hat.  And eventually a Yoda and Boba Fett hat (look for these in future posts).  I found this pattern here at Funy Creation.  It looked fun so I bought it.  This pattern comes with a formula for sizing hats.  I haven’t tried it out, but maybe I should since this hat works up so small!!!!

I made this hat for my nephew who is about 7 months old.  I decided to go with the 12-24 month size since I crochet on the tight side and I wanted there to be room to grown.  Either the person who made this pattern crochets super loose or I crochet tighter than I thought.  I had to go up to the child size to make this thing fit and that’s with some stretch.  Geesh!

I had to do a lot of taking out stitches and starting over on this hat.  I think mostly because I didn’t print it out, I just sat at the computer to get started and then moved to the couch when I thought I knew what I was doing.  Whoops.  Part of the reason I didn’t want to print out the pattern was because it was so many pages long.  Printing out just the size I needed was not an option because each part of the hat was written separately according to size so basically you had to go through all the pages to make one hat.  Not a big deal usually, but when the pattern is like over 20 pages – yikes.  There are also lots of pictures, which usually are nice, but they add a lot of bulk to the written pattern too.

The pattern designer did an awesome job capturing the look.

I used Vanna's Choice for all the colors except the red - I used Impeccable by Loops and Threads for that.

All in all, it's a good pattern.  Just make sure you follow it to get the stitches right, but be warned about the size.  Let me know if any of you try it out.  I'd love to see how yours turn out.

Booties - Two Ways

I love booties on babies!  Little toes are cute, but booties on little feet - even cuter.  I posted about some booties that I found in a crochet book here.  I have made multiple pair for people totally oblivious that the opening was too small for any normal baby foot until I made a pair for my own baby.  Sorry to all those people I gave booties to that didn't even fit.  GRRRR!  I have since found a few different patterns that not only actually fit, they are a bit easier to make.  Win, win.

I found the Buccaneer Booties through Mamachee here.  As I have said before, love her patterns.  I made my first pair a while ago when I first got the pattern.  The bootie is made in two parts - first the shoe and then the buckle.  The instructions say to glue the buckle down - I didn't and I haven't had any problems with it.  Although, my little one doesn't move, so it might be a good idea for kiddos that are mobile.  I have only made the 0-3 month size and I don't see any problems with it actually fitting the entire 3 months.

I used Vanna's Choice yarn in chocolate.

The buttons are from Making Memories - I like the square buttons but circles would work just as well.

Here's the best thing about this pattern - it's like a two-fer.  The bootie made as written is more on the masculine side.  But, leave off the buckle and viola! you have a dainty slipper for a girl.  Then string a little ribbon through a back loop and you have some ballet slippers!  Love it.  Since I don't have any girls of my own, I'm passing these cute things on to someone that does.

The yarn is Bernat Satin in Sea Shell

The ribbon is Offray, 1/4 inch wide in pink.

Seriously, these work up very quickly and are fairly easy to make.  Just make sure you count and use a stitch marker.  If you want some for yourself but don't crochet, as always, I'd be happy to help you out!  Also, be on the look out for a giveaway post in the next little bit.  I received a free pattern from Mamachee thanks to some help from some Facebook friends and now I'm passing the love on to you!

Reindeer Hat

I know that when you think of reindeer, especially ones with red noses, it's usually around Christmas time.  So, yes, this post is a little late but I really wanted to post a picture of my newest little one wearing the hat.  I actually made this hat way back in like Septemberish I think and looked at it almost everyday waiting to put it on our little boy.  Anyway, enough of that.

I bought the pattern for this reindeer hat on Etsy from BeezyMomsCreations.  I have quite a few patterns from this shop.  They are all super cute.  This pattern comes in sizes newborn to 12 months, but if you are comfortable in increasing with hats, you can easily make this hat in any size you like.  I actually made an adult size hat and a couple toddler sizes as well for my fave ladies at the fabric store that have been keeping my busy the past couple of months.  As all of BeezyMomsCreations patterns, this one is easy to follow with lots of pictures to help with placement of the embellishments.  The yarn suggested is a super bulky weight which makes the hat itself work up very quickly.  I used Country Loom by Loops&Threads in Regal Earth.  The longest part in making this hat is all the embellishments that are added on.  Sewing these on has always been the hardest part for me in making a hat but I have been getting a lot of practice in this department.  Recently I realized that I need to pin the parts in place before sewing them on so they don't get all wonky.  Duh - I always pins things in place when I sew so I don't know why it took me so long to realize that I should do the same thing while crocheting.

Okay, on to the pictures.  My wonderfully talented niece at Adrienne Danielle Photography took newborn photos of our little one and they came out beautiful.  You can check out more of her work here and on Facebook.  You'll see some more of her great photography in a few of the posts to come.

Here's the cutest model ever!

This picture is added so you can see the cute little ears and antlers.

So there you have it, a cute little reindeer hat to keep you nice and warm.  If you don't know how to crochet, there is plenty of time for you to learn before Christmas 2013 or I will make you one!  I'm working on a site where I will showcase my crochet work and have it available to purchase.  I'm super excited about it and will post here when it's up and running!

Snowman Hat

Boy has it been cold in my neck of the woods.  We're talking overnight lows below zero and highs barely in the teens.  Brrrr.  That meant a new hat for Josh.  I made him a simple striped hat last year following this free pattern by Mamachee.  I have said before that it is my go to pattern for hats.  We talked about a few options - a watermelon, a minion from Despicable Me, R2D2 - but he decided on a snowman hat.  

The pattern is from my new favorite site for free patterns, Repeat Crafter Me.  This pattern calls for a bulky weight yarn for the main part or the hat, then changes to a worsted weight towards the bottom.  I didn't have enough of the bulky weight yarn so I just followed the Mamachee pattern for the basic hat using a worsted weight yarn for the whole hat.  I did start making smaller version of the snowman hat following the snowman hat pattern as written with the bulky yarn and found that it ran a little small.  I crochet a bit tight so if I were to make this hat exactly as written again, I would definitely go up a size to compensate.  No gauge is given with the pattern, so if you crochet a bit on the tight side, you my want to go up a size as well.  The pattern is well written and easy to follow.  My favorite part is the top hat that is sewn to the top of the hat.  It gives the hat that little something extra.  

Here's Josh with the hat.  He smiles like my husband's side of the family. ;)

And a little closer view.

So that's it.  A fun little hat for those cold, snowy winter months.  When it warms up a bit, I'll have Josh venture out and make a real snowman and do a photo shoot of them together.

Penguins and Polar Bears

I took a crocheting class through continuing education at the local high school a couple of years ago.  By the look of my first wash cloth, you would think I should never crochet again.  But I kept at it and I love it!  I enjoy making things for family and friends and pouring over craft sites and Etsy to find new patterns.  A few of months ago while at the fabric store, the hubs was looking at a picture on Facebook of a little girl wearing an owl hat I made.  He asked if I made the hat and the lady cutting my fabric had to sneak a peak.  She thought it was cute and asked if I could make her some hats for her twin grandsons.  I brought a copy of some of my hat patterns by the store a few days later and left with orders for six hats!  They have been keeping my busy over there ever since.  It seems whenever I drop off a hat, I get orders for more.  The hats I'm posting about today are not the first hats I made for these awesome ladies, but I have pics ready so the others will have to wait.

My most frequent customer's grandsons first birthday was coming up and their mom picked the theme of penguins and polar bears.  And since their mom loves hats, they needed new hats!  I searched the web for some patterns and found my new favorite site: Repeat Crafter Me.  She has tons of crochet patterns, crafts and crockpot recipes.  The best part about her patterns - they're FREE!  Woot!  They are totally cute.  This is where I found the pattern for the penguin hat.  This pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn, but they wanted their hats a little chunkier so I went with a chunky weight yarn instead.  There's not too much to say about the pattern - it's easy to follow, turns out a great product and it was free!

Here's the penguin.  I always ask my 3-year-old what it is to make sure it will be recognizable.  

I found a pattern for a polar bear hat on Etsy in Simply2Irresistible's shop.  The pattern sells for $2.99.  I ended up not buying this pattern since I figured I could work something out on my own.  It was a good pic for inspiration.  I did tweak the eyes by using buttons instead.  She has some other patterns as well that look pretty cute and for cheaper than I have seen other patterns out there.

Here's the polar bear.  

And here they are together.  I'm hoping they had a fun birthday and enjoyed their hats.

In my next few posts I'll have an owl hat (if we're friends on facebook, you my have seen a sneak peek), a reindeer hat, a turtle cover for a newborn photo shoot, a Minnie Mouse hat and more!

Elise Hat - Linked to a Contest!

I'm back!  And this time I'm linking to a contest - holla!  I'll start off with the project at hand and then I'll show you where to link to the contest where you'll have a chance to win this super cute hat or one of many other cool prizes.

The pattern for the Elsie Hat comes from one of my favorite designers - Mamachee.  I have almost all of her patterns and am never disappointed.  You can buy the pattern for this hat on her Etsy shop here or at her Raverly shop as an instant download.  Okay, so on to the hat.  I love it.  I made one for myself last year near the end of the season and was almost sad to see the spring come.  When I was asked to participate as a prize giver for the contest below, I knew this was what I wanted to make.  This pattern is for an intermediate crocheter.  The instructions for the special stitches are easy to follow and understand - just remember to count and pay attention.  This hat it meant to fit slouchy style but can definitely be worn beanie style as well and be just as cute.  That's one of the reasons I love this hat so much - it's so versatile.

And here it!  Using a bigger hook makes this hat light and airy, while still being nice and toasty.  It also has some nice stretch to it, which I love.

How can you win this hat, you ask?  Well, just head on over to delighted to write and enter the 12.12.12 essay contest.  All details about the contest, as well as other prizes offered can be found there.

If you decide writing's not your thing or you don't win my totally awesome hat but still have to have one, I'll be more than happy to make you one!  Just leave a comment and we can work something out.  But remember, this blog is not doing the contest so don't comment here to enter.  I'll have a giveaway here pretty soon - I'll be a little busy with next few weeks taking care of a new baby.  But I'm hoping to post a lot of the fun stuff I've been making for the new little one.  Good luck!