Goodie Bag Giveaway Link!

Twinkie Chan is a crochet goddess. She inspired me from day one of my crocheting career when I was perusing amazon for crochet pattern books that did not include frail white doilies or chunky afghans. Once my eyes caught glimpse of her colorful wonderful food-iness, I was a goner.

Whether you know her awesome hooking skills or not, now's a great time to go visit because Twinkie Chan is having a fabulous give away right now! Go check it out TODAY as one lucky person will be randomly selected Jan 20th.

http://www.twinkiechan.com/blog/2012/01/13/lil-giveway

I want that cherry zipper pull SO BAD!

Candy Corn Scarf: Crochet!

I love candy corns. While it is true that there have been years where I go a little candy corn crazy and get utterly sick of them, each fall I still look forward to the sweet treats (it normally takes a good long year for that particular craving to return - thus I shun all Valentine's or Easter candy corns ^_^) To borrow a Bugs Bunny quote: "Why do I like [candy corn] so much? They don't have much meat on them...but I love them! I LOVE 'EM I LOVE 'EM I LOVE 'EM! LUNCH TIME!!!!"

But more than their goodie value, I think they are just so darn CUTE!! I love the color combination. I love the rounded triangular shape. I love that they are tiny. If you hop onto my pinterest page here you will see that I have a board devoted entirely to the Candy Corn!

So of course I needed a crochet version! Inspired by Twinkie Chan's food scarves, I crafted this one up to share with you all:

The Candy Corn Scarf:

Hook G
WW white yarn
WW orange yarn
WW yellow yarn

These are worked in rows - be sure to ch 1 at the end of each row

Begin with WHITE: (leave a long tail)
Ch 3
R1) 3 sc (3)
R2) 2 sc in first st, sc, 2 sc in last st (5)
R3) sc, sc, 2 sc in next st, sc, sc (6)
R4) sc, 2 sc in next st, sc, sc, 2 sc in next st, sc (8)

Change over to ORANGE:
R5) 8 sc (8)
R6) 8 sc (8)
R7) 2 sc in first st, 6 sc, 2 sc in last st (10)
R8) 10 sc (10)
R9) 10 sc (10)
R10) 2 sc in first st, 8 sc, 2 sc in last st (12)

Change to YELLOW:
R11) 12 sc (12)
R12) 2 sc in first st, 10 sc, 2 sc in next st (14)
R13) 14 sc (14)
R14) 14 sc (14)
R15) sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog (11)

F.O. and weave in ends

I made 11 candy corns and fastened them together tip to bottom until you have a scarf.
Length can be adjusted by adding or subtracting corns.

The best thing about this scarf is it won't give you a stomach ache ^_^

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

(^_^    ^_^)

Lil' Apple Pot

It is mid-August, the time of year the mommies and daddies are thinking back-to-school thoughts while the kiddies are treasuring the precious few days they have left of summer vacation. I admit that the seeds of school-y thoughts have indeed drifted down and found purchase in my mind and I can practically smell the chalk and erasers from the classrooms of my youth (does the same nostalgia come from dry erase boards?). I can nearly feel the weight of a backpack full of books and my new supplies up on my shoulders and almost taste the crisp morning air as I wait for the big yellow school bus. As I these thoughts continue to grow roots I find my eyes are drawn towards all things with primary colors: folders in glossy red, rulers painted yellow, and notebooks in brilliant blue! What a great time of year!

It is in this vein that I post my adaptation of Ana Paula's Amigurumi Apple Pattern.
 I call it: Lil' Apple Pot...

A fun little pot for rainbows of coloring crayons! 

Also, a perfect home for our Lil' Garden Friend...

I think Lil' Caterpillar and Lil' Apple Pot might just sneak her way into a backpack 

on the first day of school ^_^

Apples & Teacher Appreciation Banner

I am in charge of our teacher/staff appreciation Potato Bar Lunch at my kiddos' elementary school this week. I thought I'd decorate the teacher's lounge with a cute banner of some sort. Looking for inspiration, I stumbled upon this adorable website How Does She? with free printables for special occasions such as....teacher appreciation! I printed and trimmed up the banner letters and lay them out...

After a few moments of staring at the mini banner (they are sitting on a 12x12 piece of paper for size comparison) inspiration did, in fact, hit: I needed to string them together with yarn and punctuate it with crocheted apple slices!

So after a bit more searching I found a pattern for the type of apple slices I wanted and adapted it to fit my mini banner. You can locate the original pattern from lion brand yarn here. Below are my modifications:

G hook
White, Red, Black & Green WW yarns

Worked in the round

Apple Slices (using White)

Magic Circle (6)
Rnd 1: 2 sc around (12)
Rnd 2: *sc, 2 sc in next st* around (18)
Rnd 3: *sc 2, 2 sc in next st* around (24)
Rnd 4: *sc 3, 2 sc in next st* around (30)
Rnd 5: *sc 4, 2 sc in next st* around (36)
Change to Red
Rnd 6: *sc 5, 2 sc in next st* around (42)
F.O. and weave in ends

Embroider black seeds and fold in half and whip stitch together with red yarn.
The rest of the pattern is according to the lion brand website.




I really wanted to crochet into the paper banner and after a trial run I used this method:



Using a small hole punch, punch 2 holes in each banner letter (or banner apple).

Using an E sized hook, I inserted the hook into the left hole front to back and gently pulled through a loop.

yo and sl st

Ch 4

With yarn on hook, insert hook into right hole front to back.

yo and sl st

Ch 5

Take next banner letter and repeat this process, gently using the sl st to pull the yarn through each hole, chain 4 while on the banner and chain 5 when connecting banner letters.
















I chained an equal amount on either side of the banner and attached the apples. The end result made me smile! I can't wait to see it all hung up in the teacher's lounge, adorably proclaiming our appreciation of Walnut Grove Elementary's awesome staff!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nom-Nom....

Puffles love cookies! And what child's tea party is complete without a batch of these cute, crumb-free munchies? They are super quick & easy and guilt-free with 0 calories :)

As with all amigurumi, these cookies are worked in rounds

G Hook
A small amount of tan yarn (cookie rounds)
A tiny amount of darker brown (chips)
Yarn Needle

Cookie (make 2)
Magic Circle (5)
Rnd 1: 2 sc in each st around (10)
Rnd 2: *sc 1, 2 sc in next st* 5 times (15)
Rnd 3: *sc 2, 2 sc in next st* 5 times (20)
Rnd 4: *sc 3, 2 sc in next st* 5 times (25)
Rnd 5:  sc 25

Use darker brown and make chips on one (or both) sides.
Place both cookies with wrong sides together and whip stitch the edges together. No stuffing necessary.

P.S. I felt the need for rainbow chips for this batch! I love variety. Perhaps I'll make frosted cookies one day soon...