Crocheted Gingerbread Man Cookie Pattern

Crocheted Gingerbread Man Cookie Pattern

Another great seasonal crochet pattern.

These are so cute! They would look great hanging on a Christmas
tree. I'm going to get my yarn and make one right now! 

You can get the free pattern here....
Crocheted Gingerbread Man Cookie Pattern.

Snowflake Hotpad or an Ornament

I love this pattern, it's a crocheted snowflake hotpad but I used this pattern
and made it for an ornament. I did it in a 2 ply yarn and used white for the 
snowflake part and then 2 rounds of red, and the last round in green. 

I used mine as decorations to hang in my living room. These would also look
great done in crochet thread and hung on your Christmas tree. 

You can get the pattern here....
Crocheted Snowflake Hotpad. 

Crocodile Stitch Booties I made

I made these baby booties for a friend to give as a gift to their 5 month old granddaughter. 

You can find the pattern online here.
Crochet Crocodile Stitch Booties  

She did a great job in designing this pattern. She even has videos to show
you how to make them. 

There were several things I did change about the pattern. 

On the last two rounds for the foot part I altered it a bit to shape the heel a little
better so you wouldn't have to sew to shape it. 

My adjustments for the last 2 rounds: On the round before the last I did 7 hdc, then 
2 hdc tog twice, then 7 hdc. Last round I did 6 hdc, then 2 hdc tog twice, then 6 hdc. 

Another adjustment I made was I omitted the 20 sc at the top of the foot opening 
and instead I just made the 10 v-stitches all around the opening. 

The last adjustment I made was that I did the crocodile stitch in dc (instead of hdc) and 
I put 5 dc around the post of each v-stitch (instead of 4 hdc).

I thinks these slippers are so cute! She also has instructions on her pattern for other
sizes, newborn to 12 months, 5 to 8 years old, and adult sizes. 

 

Crocheted Boot Slippers

I have a new pattern, Crocheted Boot Slippers.

These slippers are made by holding 2 strands of worsted weight yarn
together, so they work up fast. 

You can get the free pattern here..... 
The pattern includes a link to a version that has instructions on how
to make them in different sizes. 

 

Halloween Wearables

With Halloween coming up I was looking at some patterns for the occasion and
came across these two awesome patterns. 

Skull Shaw

 
















This is really cute. The pattern has lots of photos to help you along. 
This would be great to wear on Halloween.

You can get the free pattern here.... Skull Shaw. 


Handy Spider Webs

These are so neat! I love them! Wouldn't take very long to make and would look
fabulous with a costume. Hmmm.... I don't dress up at Halloween but I think
I will make these in black and wear them as I hand out treats to all the little
spooks that come to my door.

This pattern is a free Ravelry download. You can get the pattern here....
Handy Spider Webs. 

 

Quick Baby Gifts

Did you ever get invited to a baby shower with only a week to get a 
gift? That is what just happened to me. One of my nieces decided to 
have a baby shower for her pregnant sister-in-law who is coming for
a visit next week as it's not often that they get the chance to get back
this way. 

Not enough time to crochet or knit a baby blanket or a sweater and hat 
set!! I'm sure some people could do it, but I can't stay at it for a lot of 
hours each day. 

So while I did go out and buy a few things as a gift, it still didn't seem
to be complete without some hand made items. So this is what I made
to add to my gift. 

I made the baby brimmed hat from the Cheri Hat pattern by Jennie Harrell. I don't
have a direct link to it, but you can find it on Ravelry.com as a free PDF download.
I did make a slight modification to the pattern on the brim part. On the first brim
row I crocheted 2 sc in the 4 middle sts rather than only 1 sc in each st. This gives
the brim a lift so it doesn't point downward so much. 

I used the Camouflage yarn as camo is quite popular in the rural areas and everyone
thinks it's so cute for a baby boy. This is the 3rd set of baby brim hat and socks that
I've made over the past year. 

The socks are made from my own pattern Crocheted Baby Socks (Worsted 
Weight.)

I redesigned this pattern to made with a larger hook to make them softer and easier 
to put on little feet. I left the old version on the pattern, below the new version.

The baby booties are made from own pattern as well, Crocheted Baby Sneaker
Booties. 

The only difference with this is that I decided to use black for the trim and laces
rather than the baby blue. 

So those are some quick gifts that you crochet up if you are in hurry. 

I hope this helps, and happy crocheting! 
(Check out my Knit Baby Slippers too, they are also quick to make.)

A Nice Crochet Curtain Pattern

I decided that I wanted to make some new curtains for a small window in 
my living room. I do have a free pattern of my own on my website but I
wanted something different. So I went searching and this is what I found.
I love it! 

Big Bold Chevron Curtain

It is fast to make and very pretty!

The pattern calls for a size 6.50mm hook but I am using a 6.00mm and I 
making the 2 panels.

So, if you are looking to crochet up some quick and easy curtains, head on over to
the Moogly blog and get this pattern.

Have a great day! 

Sue

Entrelac Crochet

I've been playing around with Entrelac Crochet. It is done with the afghan stitch,
also known as the tunisian stitch. You can do it with your normal size hooks as
you are only putting a small number of stitches on the hook to make small
squares that you put together by interlacing them as you go.

I began by watching and following along with this video.

So the picture below is my first sample experiment. 

I used light weight cotton yarn and a 4.50 mm hook just to play with as I will be 
unravelling this. I think this stitch would make a nice dishcloth too. But you would 
want to use the lighter weight cotton as the 4 ply would be too thick. 

As you can see that video, this version starts with the one square in the middle 
and you work around it. 

So next I watched some of this lady's videos. She has a 17 part series of 
videos that are 5 to 7 minutes long. 

She begins by making 2 squares and working around those. I like this version
better than starting with the 1 square.

I did as she did, I didn't cut the yarn and slip stitched up to start the new color so 
I didn't have a lot of ends to sew in. 

The following video is Part 1 of her "How To Entrelac Crochet" series. You can
find the other parts listed in the right hand column on Youtube or you can click
on her name to go to her Youtube channel. 

Here are a couple photos of my sample piece made by starting with 2 squares. 

The 2nd photo is my attempt at squaring it up. But, I think I need to work on those
corners, they are a little pointy looking. In the videos she does give 2 ways to do
the corners. 

I found Entrelac Crochet a lot of fun. Once you get the method it goes along 
quite fast. I think there could be many uses for this type of crochet, more 
than just for making blankets. I think a sweater would look nice done this 
way, but I can certainly see how difficult it would be to design a pattern for
one, not impossible but it would be time consuming. 

So if you are looking for something a little different to do with crochet, give
Entrelac Crochet a try, I think you will enjoy it!
 

 Happy Crocheting! 

Sue

Foundation Double Crochet

This is very interesting. The quick video below shows how to make your foundation
row in double crochet rather than starting with a row of chains.

Combining Stitches

I made this dishcloth by combining the moss stitch and star stitch. I think it's very
pretty. I call it Pretty Flowers in the Moss. 

I used the lighter weight cotton from Knitca.com and a 4.50 mm hook. 

I have a post here about making the Star Stitch.
http://suescrochetknit.blogspot.ca/2014/01/the-star-stitch.html

The Moss Stitch is very easy. It is simply 1hdc, 1 slipstitch and you repeat that to
the end of the row. On the next row you make 1 hdc in each slip stitch and 1
slip stitch in each hdc of the previous row. Here is a video showing how to 
do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR2GfDB80tE 

I enjoy experimenting with different stitches for dishcloths. This combination would 
also look very nice if used for an afghan.

The Houndstooth Crochet Stitch

I decided to make a dishcloth in the houndstooth stitch. I hadn't tried this stitch
before but my daughter uses it a lot and I think it's beautiful. 

There are some different ways to make this stitch. You can see how to make
the larger houndstooth design here.
http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-houndstooth-stitch-2/

I thought that was a little too big for a dishcloth, so I chose the smaller version which you
can see how to do on this video.

Here are photos of my Houndstooth Dishcloth. I used the ligher weight size 3 cotton 
yarn from Knitca.com

As you can see, each side of the dishcloth looks a little different. I'm not sure which
side I like better! 

Reversed the "Tears"

Here is a photo of slippers I made from my new pattern, Apache Tears Slippers
where I reversed the directions of the "tears". In these slippers the tears are 
slanting to the back of the slipper rather than the towards the front. 

I have included the instructions for making these with the "tears" reversed on the same page
as the original. 

Photo of another pair of Apache Tears Slippers

This is a photo of a pair of my new slippers pattern, Apache Tears Slippers
that I did in brown, camo and green. I changed colors every second row
instead of every third. 

My new pattern - Apache Tears Slippers

I love the Apache Tears Afghan. I had made a couple of them years ago from
this pattern - Apache Tears Afghan.

Here is another neat one with different spacing that makes a great effect,
http://sarahlondon.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crochet-apache-tears-free-pattern/

 Those are beautiful patterns but the down side is each row is worked from
right to left, and that makes it necessary to leave a fringe unless you want to 
sew in ends on every row, and that is not very fun!

So I decided to see if I could work this design into a slippers pattern. Since
it's done in rounds, there are no yarn fringes or ends to sew in on each round.

Here is what I came up with.

 You can get my Free Pattern here - Apache Tears Slippers.

I am working on another pair done in brown, camo and green. I'll post a picture when
it's finished. There are a lot of great color combinations that you could come up with,
which makes this pattern a lot of fun. I changed colors every 3 rows, but you could
change colors every 2 rows, or even every row. Wouldn't these look great done
in the colors of the rainbow?!

Bubbly Slippers (Crochet)

I've just designed another slippers pattern, Bubbly Slippers.

I used black yarn for the soles and white yarn for the rest of the slippers. But they would look great in any color.



Click here to get the Free Pattern.... Bubbly Slippers

Star Stitch Slipper Boots

Since I liked the Star Stitch so much and had some fun making dishcloths with it, I then
decided to see if I could work this stitch into a slippers pattern. 

This is what I came up with, Star Stitch Slipper Boots. I think they are cute!
These are women's size 7, which is a 9 to 9.5 inch foot.

To get the Free Pattern, click here..... Star Stitch Slipper Boots.

The Star Stitch

I was looking at some different crochet stitches and came across the 
star stitch. I love it! There are some different ways of doing it but I found
this lady's version the best, How To Crochet: The Star Stitch.

She has photos to illustrate how to do it, and for left handed people if you 
roll your mouse over the images they will change for you. I am right handed
so I didn't have to do that, but of course I had to check it out! 

I decided to do a small sample using this stitch just to try it. Her 
instructions are very good but there is one thing I found that she 
should of added. 

On Row 3 when you work in the hdc's you need to go through 
the loop under the top loops plus the front loop only and not the
back loop, otherwise you will get a line or ridge between your star 
stitch rows. If you look at her photo, you see no ridges. 

Here is a photo of my sample piece:

                       

Look at the rows on the bottom. You will see a line or ridge across
the tops of the first and second pink star stitch rows and the green
row of star stitches. That is because I went through both top
loops as you normally would when crocheting through hdc's. 

Now look at the top rows of star stitches. There are no lines
or ridges. This is because I went through the loop under the 
top loops plus the front top loop. 

Here is a photo where I show where the loop under the top loops
are. 

The hook on the left is going through both top loops. The hook
on the right is going through the loop under the top loops and the
front top loop. 

As you can see at the link I posted above, her photo of the 
star stitch piece she crocheted is done without any lines or
ridges between the star stitch rows. 

I like it best without the lines or ridges but for certain projects it
might add an interesting effect. 

I really like this stitch. I'm going to use it for a dishcloth and I'm thinking
of also doing a star stitch afghan. Now to decide what colors I should
use. So many choices! 


------------------------------------------------------------

Update: Jan. 25, 2014

I made a dishcloth using the star stitch. This time I only went through
the one loop, the loop under the top loops as shown in the photo 
above. The front still looked the same but it made the back of the
dishcloth look better than if I had of went through 2 loops. 

The front of the dishcloth.

The next photo is of the back of the dishcloth. It formed a neat 
line or ridge across the rows of star stitches. It actually looks like 
a row of knitting. 

Basketweave Slippers

I just completed a new pattern, crocheted basketweave slippers. 

Here is the link to the free pattern Basketweave Slippers.

I have some more pictures there. I made the second pair in grey and black to test the 
pattern so hopefully there aren't any mistakes or typos. 

This pattern was fun to make and I really like the look of the basketweave. 

Lightweight Cotton Yarn

When I crochet dishcloths I use a lighter weight cotton yarn. I find the standard 4 ply cotton yarn makes the dishcloths too thick and harder to wring out, especially if your hands are small. 

You can buy the perfect cotton yarn for crocheted dishcloths online at Yarnsbay! It is 100% cotton, lightweight (2 - fine), about half the thickness of standard cotton yarns. They are located in Ontario, Canada. They also ship to the U.S. 

Some New Dishcloth Patterns.

It's been a busy time for me, as it has probably been for everyone else too. Christmas was a 
lot different for me this year with my daughter, son-in-law and 2 yr old granddaughter living
with me for awhile. 

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year. 

I designed two more dishcloth patterns. I call them Right Angle Rows Dishcloths and the newest
one that I completed today is version 2. This pattern is so much fun. I have more ideas for other
versions already. 

I like to make a lot of crocheted dishcloths to give to my family and friends. They all like them
much better than the type you buy at the stores. I do too! 

This is my first version. 

You can get the free pattern here - Right Angle Rows Dishcloth

This is the second version. It has ridged rows which I think adds a nice effect. 

 
You can get the free pattern here - Right Angle Rows Dishcloth Version 2