The Magic of Crochet

Every time I crochet something, it amazes me how I can take a simple skein of yarn and make it into something. I can't believe that with the simple stitches that I've learned that I can stitch them up into a blanket, scarf, or whatever else that I may stitching up!

There came a point that I couldn't find a pattern for something that I was wanting to make. I searched and searched and just couldn't find anything!

Finally, I just decided to come up with something original. I had been crocheting for a couple years already and was fairly confident in my ability. Once I came up with the pattern, I had crochet friends help me out and make sure that the pattern was written so that everyone could understand and make their own. I started out simple and made a dish towel.

Here is the link to the pattern:

http://lindsaymayo.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-first-crochet-pattern-i-designed.html

Using these stitches I then designed a keyhole scarf, baby blanket, baby bib, and a baby hat. You can check out my blog for these postings if you'd like!

Now, if I want to make something that I can't find a pattern for, I feel pretty confident that I can come up with something on my own. If I have any trouble, I have friends in the crochet community that are always willing to help me out! Try it out! It's not as hard you might think :)

Wedding crochet

Wedding season is upon us! And, if you are a crocheter or even a crafter, there are many things that you can make if you or someone that you know is having an upcoming wedding.

When I got married in 2003 I made quite a few things. I hadn't learned to crochet yet, but between my mom and I, we did a lot ourselves. We made centerpieces for the tables with roses and little vases and that found at out local craft store. My favorite was the Hershey kiss roses. They were a little more time consuming but I loved how they looked! http://www.bridecraft.com/hershey-kiss-rose-favor.html is a site on how to do those. This site uses colored plastic but I used fabric in my wedding colors. (Image to the right is not mine. It's from the website I provided.)

About 4 years ago a family member got married and asked if I would help with a flower basked for her flower girl and a ring bearer pillow for her ring bearer. I was so excited! Of course, by this time I was crocheting almost everything. I had never made anything like these things, but that didn't stop me from wanting to try! Here are my end results.

For the flower girl basked I used this pattern, http://www.crochetspot.com/free-crochet-pattern-easy-basket/. I followed the pattern as written, just making the handle a little longer. I also wanted to make the handle sturdier so I used 2 layers and in between I put a pipe cleaner so it would keep it's shape. 

Next was the ring bear pillow. For this I just made 2 squares the size of the pillow and sewed them together over the little pillow. I just used a shell stitch for the square that had a straight edge as the end result so that I could sew the 2 sides together easier. I put scalloped edge around the pillow and decorated it in the wedding colors. 

I loved how these came out!

There are many other items from flowers, center pieces, to even a wedding dress that you can crochet yourself! If you have any questions or have done your own wedding crafts that you would like to share, please let me know!

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.

Traditions...

Families have many traditions. Whether it be holiday traditions, or just passing something down. In my family, one of those traditions is crafting with yarn.

For as long as I can remember my mom knit. When she found out that someone was going to have a baby she would get out her knitting needles and make them a blanket. She had her go-to pattern that she would make everyone. When she passed, I got all of her yarn and some of her knitting needles. When I was going through some of her unfinished projects I found a blanket that she had started. Since I didn't knit, I sent it to her best friend in Indianapolis who finished it for me to give to my son. I am so glad that she was able to do this for him. She would have made him all kinds of things if she were still with us.

I have tried and tried to knit like my mom did but have never been able to figure it out. So, I decided to try and crochet.

I always knew that my grandmother crocheted. She won all kinds of awards at fairs for her craft. I hope to one day be able to crochet as well as she did. Since I have started to crochet, I've learned that she isn't the only one in the family that crocheted. My Great-Great Grandma Briddle was also a crocheter! In fact, a few of my hooks may have actually come from her! I had no idea that my favorite hobby went so far back in my family. I am so glad that this is a tradition that I am able to carry on.

One tradition that my grandmother had is that she made everyone in our family a rainbow blanket and
a teddy bear blanket. Once I started crocheting, everyone was so happy that I could carry on this tradition one day. I have her patterns and yarn, but have not been able to do them justice like she did.

One tradition that I have carried on from my mom is that when I found out that a friend or family
member is going to have a baby I get out my crochet hook and start making them a blanket. My dad knows that I enjoy doing this so last year, he asked me to make an American Flag blanket for a co-worker who was pregnant. My family absolutely fell in love with the finished product and have decided that this will be my blanket that I should make everyone, just like my grandmother had her blanket that she made everyone. They understand that I wanted to have my own tradition and not try and copy my grandmother. I think that my grandmother would love that I have found a way to carry on this tradition and that I have chosen a design of my own. Carrying on a family tradition, just with a little uniqueness to create my own legacy.

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?

Criss-Cross Baby Hat

Lately I've been busy working on projects and haven't been able to write down my latest pattern. This week I took the time to write it down. It goes along with the theme of a few of my other patterns that I've done on here. You could make the Criss-Cross Baby Blanket, the Criss-Cross Baby Bib, and this hat and you would have a nice set for a baby gift!

Criss-Cross Baby Hat

Size 0-3 months

Size H hook

Baby type yarn

Row 1: Using a magic ring, CH 3, 11DC in ring. Join at top of CH 3.

Row 2: CH 3. DC in same stitch. 2DC in each stitch around. Join at top of CH 3.

Row 3: CH 3. DC in same stitch. DC in next stitch. 2DC in next stitch. Repeat this pattern around to the beginning of the row. Join at top of CH 3.

Row 4: CH 3. DC in same stitch. DC in next 2 stitches. 2DC in next stitch. Repeat this pattern around to the beginning of the row. Join at top of CH 3.

Row 5: CH 3. DC in same stitch. DC in next 7 stitches. 2 DC in next stitch. Repeat this pattern around to beginning of the row. Join at top of CH 3.

Row 6: CH 3. DC in next stitch and each stitch around. Join at top of CH 3.

Row 7: CH 3. Skip next 2 stitches. DC in next stitch. DC in previous stitch. 1 criss-cross stitch made. Skip next stitch. DC in next stitch. DC in previous stitch. Continue in this pattern all the way around. DC in first stitch skipped. Join at top of CH 3.

Row 8-15: Repeat rows 6 & 7

Row 16: CH 3. DC in next stitch and each stitch around. Join at top of CH 3. 

Row 17: Option 1 - CH 1. SC in same stitch and each stitch all the way around. Join at first stitch. Finish off. This is the option I did in the picture.

               Option 2 - CH 1. SC in same stitch. Skip next stitch. 5 DC in next stitch. Skip next stitch. SC in next stitch. Repeat this pattern around to the beginning of the row. Join at 1st SC. Finish off.

If anyone finds anything that I might need to change in the pattern, please let me know! Enjoy and please send me pictures if you do this pattern!