Monday, September 26, 2011

Toy Hammock: Crochet!

My darling daughter loves all things snuggly. Unlike her mother who, as a child, had only a few very dear stuffed animals. Certainly not even close to the horde my little 7 year old has amassed. And it's so easy to indulge the dear when all she wants in the world is one more dragon, pony, bird, fishy, snake (yes, snakes)...

AND I like to crochet things for her...

So needless to say after seven years of collecting and being absolutely unable to give up any of those dear plushies to Goodwill, there is nary a place for her in bed for all the sleeping buddies she has.

Something needed to be done. Thankfully, I crochet. Thankfully,  I found this great pattern by Candance from Crafty Concoction. Because I used a very large, unmarked, plastic hook (I THINK it's a P) I had to make some adjustments. I needed to decrease 2 "squares" each row and then added my own edging with some yellow flowers so it looked a bit like a meadow for her plushies to live in :)

The Meadow: before inhabitants


The meadow: piled high with its denizens

So now there is at least a bit more room for the princess to lay her head at night :)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

DON'T PANIC: crochet!

When we got an iPad with a cracked screen I quickly learned just how delicate this sleek technology was. It took nothing more than the accidental slip of the hand and the tablet computer is no longer the sleek or even functional tool you no doubt have learned you cannot live without.

Thankfully, our cracked screen was replaced and once again it was restored to it's original glory. But I wasn't about to let the fact that we'd need to wait a while for a "proper" Apple $75 cover to arrive let me worry about the mean time. I was going to MAKE something that would at least cushion a fall, if (*gasp*) one occurred, in that mean time. Using a simple single crochet and working in the round here's what I came up with (I didn't write down the exact pattern, but a "guideline" is below):

I found that using a G hook and some red heart yarn worked great.
Ch 22 and work back onto fc with sc for a total of 21 st.
Start the round by continuing to sc on side of fc
Add 2 sc into 1sc at each of the four corners
Do this for 2 rounds.
Then sc around until long enough to cover iPad

I found matching buttons and sewed them on.
To make the button hole: ch 2 and sk 2 sc
before continuing on with the round.


Sew on cut felt pieces with matching thread


DON'T PANIC!



If you know Douglas Adam's Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy you remember that the tool used to help the protagonist on his journey to find the answer to life the universe and everything is much like our modern day iPad. So of course I had to add this appropriate appliqué :P

After trying to explain to my kids the marvels of Adam's books and the funny green guy that is featured on the book covers, my darling daughter presented me with her own version, which I find quite dear, indeed:

She's awesome.


Friday, September 2, 2011

Sweet Peas in a Pod: Crochet!

Two Sweet Peas in a Pod


These sweet peas were adapted from Ana Paula Rimoli's adorable 3 Peas in a Pod. I wanted to make something quite a bit smaller so instead of WW yarn I went with a lovely shade of green in a super soft crochet thread 10. Using a crochet hook size 5 (aka size teeny tiny) I made two peas and thought my hands were going to fall off. So I decided to make one a boy and one a girl and put them in their own little pod. They fit snuggly right inside and pop out easily.

The kids love to play with play food and there's just something special about food with eyes :) I have a special place in my crochet heart for these two...
She-Pea boldly leaves the safety of the pod
He-Pea ventures out as well...
Look at the flower in my "hair"!

Just a handful

(^_^    ^_^)