Nordic Snowflake Cowl

Posted in Finished Object, Free Pattern by

I’m not sure how many of you know but I teach crochet classes down at my LYS (local yarn shop) Lisa’s Sew Crafty. We started with a basic dc infinity scarf and have just finished up a bunch of snowflakes. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do next. It was then that R from Sit n Stitch mentioned she’s never done color work and would be interested. LIGHT-BULB!! What if we did a tapestry style cowl?? What if it was winter themed?? Off to Ravelry I went!

SnowflakeCowl1

But I wasn’t happy with what I was finding. Off to Excel I went! After fiddling with those pesky squares for what seemed like hours (ok it was probably only one in reality) I had ended up with my Nordic Snowflake design! All that was left to do was grab some yarn and figure out a gauge. I used Ella Rae Cozy Soft Chunky in Forest Turtle and White Rocking Sheep with a 5.5mm hook. After a little math and some re-configuring my graph, I came up with a finished dimension of 25″ around by 7.5″ high. Perfect!

SnowflakeCowl2

So without further ado, here is my very own Nordic Snowflake Cowl!! I hope you all have fun making this and feel free to share your finished projects here or on Ravelry!

Materials:

  • 5mm (US-I) crochet hook
  • Any aran weight yarn in two colors (I used Ella Rae Cozy Soft Chunky)
    • Color A (main color): 150 yards / 115 grams
    • Color B (accent color): 65 yards / 50 grams
  • Tapestry / yarn needle

Gauge:

  • 16.5 sc x 4 rounds in BLO = 4” x 1”

Terms Used:

  • St = stitch
  • Ch = chain
  • Sl st = slip stitch
  • Sc = single crochet
  • BLO = back loop only

Notes:

  • This pattern is worked one round at a time with a slip stitch join to the beginning of every round
  • The ch 1 at the beginning of each round does not count as a stitch
  • After round 1, every round is worked into the back loop only
  • Rather than changing, cutting, using bobbins, and weaving all the ends, the yarn is carried throughout the cowl. The active yarn is worked over the inactive yarn. This technique is called tapestry crochet
  • Graph is started at the bottom right corner. It is then read right to left and down to up. This is so that as you crochet your finished project will look like the graph
  • Each row of the graph is done twice in order to achieve proper circumference

Finished dimensions:

  • Circumference – 25 inches
  • Height – 7.5 inches

Instructions:

Color A: ch 104, sl st to form a ring. Be careful not to twist the ch!

Round1: Color A: ch1, sc in each ch around, sl st to first sc – 104sts

Round2-30: Working in BLO, read chart switching colors when needed – 104sts

NordicSnowflakeCowlGraph

 

Saffron Sweet Shawl

Posted in Finished Object, Paid Pattern by

The wedding from a couple of posts back was in early September so I wanted to make something for me to wear in case there was the odd cold front. I did not get it done in time and the weather that day was really hot so thankfully I didn’t need the shawl.

SaffronSweetShawl1

I needed something to match the dress I planned to wear so I headed over to the LYS to see what she had. I grabbed some Ella Rae Cozy Soft in Royal and Big Splash. After some pattern digging I kind of fell in love with Cre8tion Crochet’s Saffron Sweet Shawl. I grabbed my 6mm and went to town!

SaffronSweetShawl2

I’m somewhat happy with the size but I still don’t really know how to wear it as it’s pictured in the listing. I wish someone would show me how. I also don’t think mine is long enough to do the tie thing. I did end up wearing it for Easter this past year with one of my Lilla Rose flexis to help hold it in place.

SaffronSweetShawl3

I’m still not sure I’ll ever give shawls a chance. Maybe some day…..

On The Hook:

  • Baby Boy things
  • Mr. Melty
  • Snowman Wallhanging

Diglett Pokemon #050

Posted in Finished Object, Free Pattern by

I didn’t play the card game as a child but my brother did. Between his cards and the little fake ones on the back of Lunchables (anyone else remember those? Nope, just me?) the only Pokemon I truly remember from my childhood was Diglett. So I couldn’t leave him out!! I used Nichole’s Nerdy Knot’s Diglett Pokemon Pattern. I also used RHSS in Coffee and Heather Gray with a 4mm hook. He stands at 4 inches tall.

Diglett

Only a couple very minor changes were made. I added a very slight change to Round 18 on The Body, the popcorn round. I put a chain between each one. I’m not sure if it was because my stitches were tight but it really helped. The math on Round 20 is wrong. You’ll end with 10 not 12 sc. I decreased around on Round 21 and ended with 5 sc. The math on The Nose is wrong too. Round 3 should end with 10 sc and not 8

Look at how cute they all are!! I now need to make every. single. Pokemon so that I have an army of them!!! mwahahahah

PokemonGroup

On The Hook:

  • Tea Tray Doily
  • Knitted Beanie

Pokemon Egg Pouch

Posted in Finished Object, Free Pattern by

I wanted to surprise my sister with some of the Pokemon so I decided to hide a couple of them in some Egg Pouches. This way it would be like she hatched them! Keeping with the theme I used Nichole’s Nerdy Knots’ Pokemon Egg Pouch pattern. I used RHSS in Aran and Vanna’s Choice in Sweet Pea with a 5mm hook. It turned out to be 5.5 inches tall.

So my Pokemon didn’t fit inside the egg the way it’s written. So I modified it so they would fit. I’ll share those modifications with you all if you find your Pokemon also don’t fit.

EggPouch1

The Pouch: I did the dc rounds up to 12 rounds total for Mew and up to 13 rounds total for Dratini. I kind of had to squish Dratini in there but he made it.

I wanted my spots to look like the spots on the eggs in the game as much as possible. So I went off of those from what I could see and just made up the others/back sides as I saw fit. These directions for the spots are of my own design

EggPouch2

Main Spot on the egg in the game
Rnd1: mr 6sc
Rnd2: inc around
Rnd3: *sc, inc* around
Rnd 4: 2sc, inc, 2sc, inc, 4hdc, dc, (dc, tc), dc, hdc, sc inc, 2sc, inc

Bottom Spot:
Rnd1: mr 8sc
Rnd2: *sc, inc* around
Rnd3: *hdc, inc* around
Rnd4: 2sc, inc, 2hdc, inc, 2dc, inc, 2hdc, inc, 2sc, inc, 2sc, inc, 2hdc, inc, 2dc, inc

Back Spot:
Rnd1: mr 7sc
Rnd2: *hdc, inc* around
Rnd3: *hdc, inc* around
Rnd4: 2sc, (3hdc), 3hdc, 2sl st, sc inc, sc inc, sc, inc, 2sc, inc, dc inc, hdc, sl st, 2 sc, inc

Medium Spot:
Rnd1: mr 6sc
Rnd2: *sc, inc* around

Small Spots (2):
Rnd1: mr 6sc

I followed the pattern for the string and it made the perfect little drawstring pouch! I freaking love it!! This would be great for making and leaving as little gifts in parks as Random Acts of Kindness for other players!

On The Hook:

  • Mom’s Beanie
  • Tea Tray Doily
  • Knitted Beanie

Psyduck Pokemon #054

Posted in Finished Object, Free Pattern by

Next in the line up of Pokemon for my sister was Psyduck. I found him completely adorable so I couldn’t pass up making one for her. I again used Nichole’s Nerdy Knots’ Psyduck Pokemon pattern. I also used RHSS in Gold and Vanna’s Choice in Beige with a 4mm hook. I only made a few minor adjustments to this pattern.

Firstly, I did NOT stuff the arms. It wasn’t mentioned to stuff or not so I started by stuffing and then pinning in place. They were waaaaay too bulky. Made it look like Psyduck works out haha. So I took out the stuffing and it was perfect. The arms can either lay flat or be squished to puff out a bit. I also sewed them on along round 9 and way down at the bottom

psyduck

Two things with The Beak. First, it mentions removing a stitch marker but there was no mention of were to place the marker to begin with. I discovered that the marker should be placed at the first stitch of every round. It worked for me anyway. Second, I found the beak to be waaay too big. So what I did was take out 1 chain in the very beginning. So Round 1 started with ch8 and ended with 16 sc. Everything else is the same except that there is one less sc when there’s a few in a row. So Rounds 3, 4 and 6 have 5sc instead of 6. Round 7 has 4sc instead of 5.

On The Eyes I added in a black french knot BEFORE sewing onto the head. It worked out a lot easier.

The Feet really freaked me out. They looked super weird and I did not get why they were little tubes at all. I did Rounds 1-5 as written. But I finished them like The Arms. Instead of doing a row of sc to close it I just made the toes/fingers through both layers at the same time. I then sewed them on flat on the bottom/underside of him

I added a 5th round to The Tail so it would look more like the game. It went like this: 2sc, 2sc inc, 2 sc (8)

Because of all these changes I gave the pattern a 4 out of 5 stars and a medium difficulty rating.

On The Hook:

  • Mom’s Beanie
  • Tea Tray Doily
  • Knitted Beanie