crochet - journal - knitting - patterns & tutorials

H2O Slinger Duo ReRelease:: Free Yarn Craft Pattern!

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You see my bike has a sloping high bar – which makes it great for when I want to wear a skirt and am riding somewhere, but also makes it so there is no place to put a holder for my water bottle. Awesome and lame all at the same time. So I made myself a knit water bottle holder that I could sling over my shoulder and have water whenever I needed it. A few years later I made another one – crochet this time!

crochet - knitting - patterns & tutorials

The Black Swan :: Free Crochet Hat Pattern!

Black Swan
I’m really growing fond of combining crochet and knitting together. It is the perfect coupling of techniques. Crochet is organic and thick and has a much different drape than any knit fabric. While knitting has stretch and give and is wonderful for so many garment structures – you can do ribbing with knitting that is perfect for keeping caps on tight. I named this beret the black swan because, just like a black swan it’s all black with a few flecks of white.

crochet - patterns & tutorials

Guest Pattern :: Itty Bitty Anything Bag

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I worked mine up using two strands of sport weight yarn and it is just perfect for putting all my scraps of yarn into and hanging up on my tool rack. I’m loving hanging things up on my rack lately. I use the yarn scraps to tie tags to my hand dyed yarns and handmade goods. Enjoy this sweet little project!

crochet - journal - knitting - patterns & tutorials

Switchy Swatchy Swap

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While working at the yarn shop I mostly came into “knitting” questions and troubleshooting so that increased my progress exponentially when compared to crochet. So I make little swatches. Sometimes from a stitch dictionary, sometimes from my head. Then I put a border around it. I try to do a different stitch and a different border each time. Or if I have a hard time with a particular technique, I do it again and again until I get it right. It has helped so much and I highly recommend this practice for anyone trying to get comfortable with new techniques. Mix and match crochet and knit borders to get an idea on how to work with the two techniques. My knit/crochet version of a sampler.

crochet - patterns & tutorials

Summer Button Treat

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I have been wanting to make a new summer head wrap for myself for quite some time. Something that buttoned up, something a little lacy, something red and crocheted. This turned out just right and I am so happy to finally get it written up for you. It’s the perfect compliment to any summer outfit, whether your hair is long or short, up or down it will look just great and keep those wispy hairs out of your eye when running around outside.

crochet - knitting - patterns & tutorials

Oopsies and Toofsies

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I love my tréo and he loves his iTouch and we are pretty happy using our little gadgets. It’s getting pretty banged up already in my bag. This is an issue that needs some solving. So here we go, a little tréo pocket! Best of all it only takes about 25g of any sport weight yarn! Hooray for using up scraps and half skeins!

crochet - journal - knitting - patterns & tutorials

Fingerless Mitten Duo

I wear my lady moss mittens on walks, outdoor excursions, going to class, etc. Basically when I know that I will be outside for more than five minutes. It’s my fingerless mittens that I wear just about everywhere else. To the store, in class, in my apartment, to the mail […]

crochet - journal - knitting - patterns & tutorials

Dynamic Duo

My couch is well, a broken down futon inherited from a friend who got it from a friend and so on. It doesn’t stay in the grooves, so is perpetually sunk in with the bend resting on the floor. When you sit on it your knees can be all the way to your chest (or at least that is how it feels to me anyway). Needless to say it’s okay for sitting cross legged on or on the edge if I’m working on things on my coffee table, but not really just for sitting. My friends avoid it. I don’t blame them. So I need to fix that, or get a new couch, but the latter won’t happen. So the solution? Pillows! I didn’t have enough of the same yarn to make a full knit/crocheted pillow, so I backed them with a sturdy decor fabric. I needed more than just one, so two it is. One is knit and one is crochet.

crochet - journal - patterns & tutorials

Crocheted Sun Tea Spot

For one of the first times of the year I sat outside on the front stoop with my drink to work on some research stuff on my laptop. As I put my drink down I had a deep seated fear that I was going to put my glass down to hard and crack the bottom on the concrete… no good. So what to do? How about crochet my own little spot for my sun tea.

It’s also heating up around here, finally, and condensation is getting everywhere, so they will be coming in handy for that too!

And so this week’s Craft Leftover pattern was born.

Unfortunately, today is not one of those “sit outside in the glorious bliss of the sun” so here it is keeping my external from getting wet.

crochet - embroidery - patterns & tutorials

Fancy Fricking Napkins

You can embroider them with wool or cotton, either way they are Fancy fricking napkins. Easy enough to make, they add that special something to your fancy fricking dinner. Depending on your dinner, you can fancy them up or fancy them down style.

The pattern also includes a how to on making a crocheted napkin ring. Sewing and crochet! My favorite!

crochet - journal - patterns & tutorials

Think Spring

Oh it is so cold out and I really wanted something to help me think spring. I grabbed some of my spring time colored yarn and had a go at it. I figured a little shoulder bag would be the perfect thing, then I could take it with me wherever […]

crochet - journal - patterns & tutorials

The perfect dishcloth

It’s crocheted, it’s half felted, and it’s just perfect. Download the pattern here (pdf). I just want to be clear about the fact that I didn’t write the stitch pattern. It is a pretty common one and is called an interlocking block stitch. I just thought it was great for […]

crochet - journal - patterns & tutorials

Oscar’s

Well the first pair that I made of these reminded me so much of Oscar the Grouch’s fur, so I decided to name them after him. They are Crocheted fingerless gloves, super warm and super quick to crochet up. Plus, they only take one skein of bulky yarn to make. […]