Wilson County Fair

 I finally did it! I entered one of my creations into my local county fair!

I did not win anything but I’m inspired to enter even more creations next year. 

Here it is:

.

If you are interested in purchasing one of my bears, or any other animal just email me at lindsaymayo@gmail.com!

Animals

I've been making a lot of animals lately. They seem to be very popular and are fun to make!

Here are a few of the ones that I've completed.

These two bears use the same pattern, I just didn't change colors on the garnet and gold one. I've made quite a few of these bears and plan on making more! I loved the pattern! Here it is:

Bear Pattern

This is a white tiger for my son, his favorite animal. I love this designer and have quite a few of her patterns. I have 2 more already started! Here is a link to her website for all of her patterns, including the white tiger.

https://jesshuff.com/

This bear is using the same Frontline Bear pattern as above, I just used 2 strands of Red Heart Super Saver yarn and a J hook. It was a gift for my son's teacher at the end of the school year.

Bear Pattern

A bloodhound puppy for my neighbor. They have a bloodhound named Rose so she wanted a crocheted version of Rose. Here is the pattern I used:

https://willowcrochet.com/basset-hound-amigurumi/

I had an order for a llama. I love how it turned out but all of those loops were not fun to make!! I would make it again, just maybe a smaller version. Here is a link to this pattern:

Llama Pattern

I saw this dragon pattern on Ravelry.com and had to make one for my son!

Dragon Pattern

I make my son an Easter Bunny every year for Easter and I usually let him pick the pattern. Well, this year he said he wanted a Captain America bunny. This is what I came up with. I think he turned out cute! I used this pattern and just did color changed to make it look like Captain America.

I heard my neighbors talking about how much they liked Groot so I decided to make one up really quick. He turned out cute!

It's a free download through Ravelry.com

Baby Groot

My nieces turned 13 on June 18th. Their mascot at their school is an eagle so I decided to make them one for their birthday. The school colors are green, grey, and white. Here is a link to the pattern I used:

Eagle Pattern

I love making these! If you would like to order one, or have a question about a pattern that I have listed, please let me know! You can email me at lindsaymayo@gmail.com

Summer Vaction

It's officially about to be summer at my house. Although, my son has been acting like it's been summer for a little bit longer.

As usual, I will bring back Crafts with Lucas for the summer! Fortunately, I have a child that loves to sit down and do crafts. 

I have also been busy crocheting since I've had more time on my hands so soon I will show pictures of all of my quarantine projects. 

Hope everyone is staying safe during this time. Remember now is the perfect time to be crafty!

Spring time!

It's spring time!

That means flowers blooming, sunshine, and playing outside. To us crocheters it also means it is time to make Spring time items.

At this time of year I don't always like to make big afghans and blankets. I like to find smaller projects to make like hats and amigurumi.

Here are a few of my favorites that I've made over the years.

Just this year I wanted to make Easter bunnies for my son and nieces. They turned out so cute!

Here is the pattern for these cute bunnies http://www.yarnplaza.com/blog/crochet-easter-bunny/

Here are a few sun hats that I've made also. They turned out nice. I don't have pictures with the girls wearing them so here is my kitty modeling them :) 

Here is the pattern for this sun hat http://mymerrymessylife.com/2012/04/crochet-sun-hat-granny-stitch-free-crochet-pattern.html

Amigurumi crochet is also something that I have made at this time of year. I'm just getting started making things like this so to me, they don't always turn out as good as I would want. (I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to my crocheting!) Here are a few items that I've made.

Sock monkeys

These are little sock monkeys that I made. They are based on this pattern http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/basic-crochet-sock-monkey.html but smaller since they were for smaller children.

This is the above pattern http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/basic-crochet-sock-monkey.html done as it's written. As you can see, I did like making these. They were fairly easy!

Kitties

I have made a few different kinds of kitties. Here is one:

Pattern here http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70585AD.html (think you have to subscribe to the Lion Brand site to be able to view it)

My favorite kitty pattern is this one

As you can see, I've a few of these :) This isn't even all of them that I've made! Here is the pattern http://marmaladerose.blogspot.com/2009/04/crochet-kitten-pattern.html. It is so easy!

I hope you like these patterns as much as I do! If you have any questions about any of them, please don't hesitate to contact me or the creator of the pattern that is listed on each site.

Enjoy!

Starting & Storing Your Projects

Starting a project is my favorite part about a project. You basically get to start with yarn and make it into whatever you want it to be.

My go-to place to look for a pattern is www.ravelry.com. The way I like to describe it is that it's almost like a Facebook for crocheters and knitters. They have patterns for almost anything you can think of. You can also search through other members' projects and see how they may have worked up a certain pattern. It has been very helpful to me if I'm questioning how to crochet a certain pattern.

When you search on Ravelry, the patterns are from all over the internet. Users, like myself, can also post their own patterns that you may not be able to easily find if you just use a normal search engine. I have found many patterns that have become some of my favorite patterns because of Ravelry!

You may or may not have decided on the color and type of yarn before finding the perfect pattern. One of my favorite yarns to use is Red Heart. They seem to offer a variety of colors so no matter what color I want to make my project, they seem to have it available.

Red Heart has many different types of yarn also. Just a few that I have used are:


Red Heart Super Saver - Super Saver solids have No-Dye-Lot so if you end up needing more yarn than you anticipated, it’s not the end of the world, just the end of that skein. It is durable enough to last year after year and wash after wash. Make something for charity, yourself or as a gift that will be cherished for generations.

Red Heart Soft - Soft yarn is made with premium acrylic fibers that make it one of the softest yarns in the market. Ideal for knit and crochet projects for the entire family, from apparel to accents for your home.

Red Heart Baby TLC - With an ultra- soft hand and shimmering luster, it's perfect for blankets, layettes and kids' wear.

Red Heart with Love - perfect for blankets, throws, hats, scarves and more! Over 30 colors that include mixable multis and no-dye-lot solids.

All this information was taken from www.redheart.com.


Storing your project

Once you get started on your project, you will need to have somewhere you can store it when you aren't able to work on it. That is, unless you are doing a small, quick project like a hat or a washcloth.

I use a large reusable grocery bag. It seems to work for almost any project that I work on and keeps my son from being curious. He knows not to mess with what is in this bag:

I hope I may have given you some tips on how to start and store your crochet projects! if you have any tips of your own feel free to comment below and let me know.

Why I crochet...

Why do I crochet?

Well it all started when I found out that I was going to be an Aunt to twins. I thought, what I wonderful thing for me to do for them! Make them something special from their Aunt Lindsay. So I asked a friend to teach me and since then I've made them so many things. From blankets, to hats, even sock monkeys!

It has since evolved into so much more. When I lost my mom back in 2009 it became a way for me to cope a little with that loss. My mom was a knitter so it is kind of a way for me to carry on what she did, even though I have never been able to knit.

Then in May 2012 I found out I was pregnant! My first thought was, what should I make this baby

first! I started making things right away even before we found out boy or girl, pink or blue. Since both my husband and I are Florida State University Alumni I started with the obvious colors, garnet and gold. By August it was time to find out boy or girl. I told my husband after the doctor appointment I wanted my next stop to be the craft store so that I could get my yarn! I was anxious to get things ready for this little one! And what color did I get? Blue!

This was after my trip to the yarn store :)

My son is now 3 years old and I have made everything that I can think of for him. Blankets, hats, booties, bibs, animals, even coasters (at his request)!

OK enough about my little guy, I can talk about him all day! Back to why I crochet. Back in 2013, after my son turned 1, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This diagnosis has been a lot

for me to wrap my head around; I still don't think I have fully come to terms with this fact. It took me a lot to just type that out.

One thing I want people to realize is that having MS doesn't mean that you are sick. That's probably why I haven't said it out loud (at least not online). I don't want to be treated differently because of this. Crocheting has helped me get through this though. It makes me feel normal to do something that I loved to do already.

Bottom line, crocheting helps me relax and not think about it for just a little bit. And at the same time I get to make gifts for my friends and family! I would love to try and grow this into selling my items online one day, but for now I'm keeping busy making baby gifts, Christmas gifts, and birthday gifts for everyone. 

So why do you crochet?

American Flag Blanket

For the last few months I have been working on an American Flag blanket. It's slowly coming along! I used this pattern for the flag http://www.allfreecrafts.com/crochet/afghans/american-flag/. For the stars I just used the pattern that is on the site with the flag. Right now I'm sewing on all of those stars so I'm hoping to be done soon! Here is what it has looks like:

I love how it is turning out so far! I will post pictures of my completed blanket. It's for a baby that was born in September, but this blanket is big enough that the baby will be able to use it for many years to come!

Once I get this completed, be looking for a new baby hat pattern!