Wow, it has been waay too long.

My goodness, I am a terrible blogger. So much has been made and not posted. Commence image dumping.

An amigurumi frog I made for my brother's birthday. He has pose-able arms and legs. I will be putting this pattern up for sale in my shop eventually.

Some shell-stitch hats I made. The pink one is for my niece's cousin, the blue will be up for sale in my shop once I can get some better pictures of it. It's sized for 18-24 months.

A cute mesh top I made for summer. Last summer, actually, but I just now finished sewing in ends and lacing up the sides.

I have started doing cross-stitch as well!

Made this awesome little guy from a pattern on Little Yarn Friends. He got sent off for the Reddit Gifts Plushy Exchange to someone who said they would love a hand-made horse. 

Also check out my custom dice bags and pipe cases and a bunch of baby stuff.

Whew! So much stuff, and I know this isn't even all of it.

Super Simple Flowers and Leaves

So lately I've been crocheting a bunch of flowers for my sister-in-laws scarf (see Flowers For Joan ) and thought I would share some simple patterns with you all.
All of these are done with a size G hook and medium weight yarn.

Abbreviations:
Ch- Chain
ss- slip stitch
sc- single crochet (single stitch)
hdc- half double crochet 
dc-double crochet (double stitch)
tr- triple crochet ( this is done by yarn over twice draw up a loop and pull through two loops, *draw up a loop, yarn over and draw through two loops, * twice, yarn over a nd draw through remaining two loops.)

Five Petal Flower
Ch5, join to first chain with a slip stitch to form a loop.
Ch7, *Dc in loop, ch4* 4 times. Join with ss to 3rd ch.

From here I have done two different patterns. The Basic pattern is my own (I'm sure other people have done it but I didn't use a pattern I found)  and the Pansy pattern is one that I found on Ravelry.

Pansy
In each of the first 2 loops work "sc 1, hdc 1, dc 1, tr 3, dc 1, hdc 1, sc 1".
If desired, change
colors. In each of the remaining 3 loops work "sc 1, ch 3, tr 2, dc 1, tr 2, ch 3, sc 1".
Fasten off and weave in the ends.
Note: Note also: Just as the ch 3 (the first part of the ch 7 at the beginning of round 1) is a substitute
for dc 1, "sc 1, ch 3" and "ch 3, sc 1" (in Rnd 2) are substitutes for tr 1.

( Copyright 2010, Carol Schoenfelder, All Rights Reserved )

Basic
In each loop work sc 1, hdc 1, dc 1, tr 3, dc 1, hdc 1, sc 1.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

For the pansy I usually do two colors, and the Basic I like using variegated color yarn.

These four are all the Basic Five Petal Flower, done in white, rainbow, black grey and white, and variegated pink. (the white was actually done differently, sc10 into the ring before doing the spokes in every other stitch).

A pansy done with an F hook in read and white Patons Grace yarn.

Sorry I don't have pictures of any of my other roses that are not sewn to anything.

Leaves
Ch9, turn.
Ch1, sc, hdc, dc, 3tr, dc, hdc, sc into back loops only.
Ch1, now work into front loops, sc, hdc, dc, 3tr, dc, hdc, sc. ss to ch1.
Insert your hook into the gap in the beginning chain (which should run the center length of your leaf). ss.
Ss in all of the gaps (9 ss, one for each chain) and ss in the ch1 at the other end. Fasten off and weave in your end, or use it to attach to a pretty flower, or underneath a bug.
Try all different kinds of greens or any color. I even did one with white and light purple held together that came out rather pretty.

Here are four of my leaves with a rainbow flower. The one under the flower is a solid green. A brown, tan and green camo yarn was used for the far left leaf. The middle used a slightly fuzzy variegated green, and the far right leaf was a silvery light green sport yarn. I have also done a black leaf, a couple leaves that were purple and green Loops and Threads Impeccable ( I think Fresh Lilac is the colorway) and a red leaf that was longer as an experiment in the way of poinsettias.

Blessed Be and Happy Hooking!

EDIT 2/8/2012
I realized after posting and doing another rose that I wrote the pattern down wrong.

Rose:
The chain is a little trickier than I originally wrote. When I do the roses, I don't actually count the chains. I say, 'single stitch, chain, shell, chain, single stitch, chain, shell, etc," and chain one for each. So, for 8 shells (scallops, whatever) it should be 33.
I had to draw out a little thingy like this --*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*-- where the *'s are shells. hehe. You can do something along the same lines to figure out how long you want your chain. Basically, you ch2, ch(4 x number of shells), ch2, plus 1 to turn.

SO, now that the not so difficult, but a bitch to explain part is over ~sigh~
Ss across your entire chain, turn
again, ss across. (you could also dc if you want. you basically just need a base for your 'petals' and to sew through.)
Now, ss, ch1, skip one st, 5dc in next stitch, ch1, skip one st, ss, ch1, skip1, 5dc, etc. you should end on a single stitch. If you still have a stitch or two left at the end, don't worry. Just ss into them, then fasten off. Leave at least 5-6 inches of tail for sewing.
Starting at the end opposite your tail, begin rolling your rose. I find it helps to roll it around your thumb a little. when it's all rolled up, thread your tail through a blunt, large eyes yarn needle, and sew through the bottom of your rose. Make sure you go through ALL the layers of your base row, or your rose will fall open and apart. This takes some practice. I like to sew zig-zagging across the base.

There you have it!

Blessed Be and Happy Hooking!

Pretty (Useful) Christmas Granny Pentagon Trivet

I am in love with these colors... I currently have three projects lined up with this Cream and Burgundy Caron Simply Soft. This green is Bernat Satin, which is exactly like Simply Soft. I love it <3  The other three projects also have a light grey, kinda silvery Simply Soft. There will be pictures later. Promise. :)

Two five-sided grannies are single stitched together with wrong sides facing each other. I was lazy and didn't actually darn in my ends, I simply left them kinda long and tied them together in bunches, then made sure they were stuffed inside when I stitched the grannies together.
Which I did with the cream yarn, as you can see. To make the grannies, follow a basic granny patter, but with five beginning clusters instead of four.
Granny1
Row1-Green
Row2-Cream
Row3-Red
Row4-Cream
Row5-Green

Granny2
Row1-Red
Row2-Cream
Row3-Green
Row4-Cream
Row5-Red

Now lay your grannies with wrong sides facing each other. Insert your hook in a corner. ALL OF YOUR STITCHES WILL GO THROUGH BOTH LOOPS OF BOTH GRANNIES. It comes out lumpy if you don't. anyway, hook in corner? good. Holding your border color yarn, yarn over and slip stitch. Single stitch once in the corner, then in the top of each DC. For the CH1 spaces, you can stitch into the chain stitch, but it's much easier to just stitch into the space, and it separates your clusters better.
Do this all the way around. You can do either 1 or 2 stitches in the corners.
If you want a hanging loop, when you get to the corner you started in, single stitch, then chain about twice as long as you want your loop. Slip stitch in the first stitch and fasten off.

 My mom was so happy when she saw this brightening up her china hutch. Apparently I'm talented. XD I'm just glad when things turn out the way I want them to.


Blessed Be, and Happy Hooking during the Holidays!

Under the Sea Crocheted Pendant Necklace

This gorgeous double-strand necklace was inspired by a glass pendant of unknown origin. I have lots of jewelry-type things that I have no idea how I got.. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft Paints, colorway is Oceana (I believe). Two cabone rings make up the clasp. (see Softy Baby Bracelets ). I really love this necklace. The pendant hangs to cleavage (I don't measure things...) and the top strand is a loose choker. This beautiful necklace is completely metal free! (except maybe inside the glass pendant, I don't know how they make those)

Decorations are courtesy of craft time with the nephew. I did more crafting than he did, but oh well. Maybe I'll take pics of those and post them, even though none of them are crocheted <3
Blessed Be and Happy Hooking!

This necklace is now for sale in my Etsy shop!

Awesome Camo Dicebag for teh Brother

My sister-in-law got this cool camo yarn and used most of it for..... something. So I asked if I could steal it for a dice bag for her husband, my brother. This is the result! It's tall because I wanted to use up as much of the small ball as possible, but wanted it to work quickly. I hate working in large rounds, it takes forever haha. Also, I was at my best friend's little sister's Hallowe'en sleepover. 5 eleven-year olds, 3 nineteen-year olds. I needed sanity.

All those dice fit in there!

Close up of the drawstring.
If you want the pattern for my dicebag, see my 2-Hour Dicebag, and just make it taller.
Background decorations courtesy of craft day with the nephew <3
Blessed Be and Happy Hooking!

Softy Baby Bracelets

Super soft pastel baby yarn and two sizes of cabone rings (little plastic, or other things, rings that you crochet around) come together to create this adorable bracelet for a baby girl.

Purple, blue, yellow, pink and white medium weight baby yarn is crocheted around two cabone rings, one smaller than the other, which slips into the larger one. Completely metal free, this makes a great baby fidget bracelet. I have done a few of them now, this was the first. I tried it in my nephew, and he absolutely loved it. He cried when I took it off of him, so I had to make him one. I used emerald green Caron Simply Soft (not the actual name of the colorway, sorry), and now he never takes it off. Unfortunately, Simply Soft isn't made to stand up to noodles, mud, Nerf sword-play, trips the park, etc., etc., in a day of the life of a 4-year old. This just means I try to salvage the rings and make him  a whole bunch of "power couplets" (he will be an engineer, I just know it. That's what he calls them.)

And here's one I made with my Serenity Garden yarn. I think it's name is Heathers or something. It's like a pastel rainbow with white and no blue.

 I couldn't get it to lay flat. Isn't it pretty though? They come out so cute, and they only take about 10-15 minutes, and tiny amounts of yarn. I don't have much scrap yarn yet, because I'm still fairly new to crocheting and buying yarn, but these are great scrap-busters. Annnnnnnnd, yes, I will post the pattern!

Choose your yarn, hook, and cabones. They can really be any size, so long as the smaller one fits through the larger one after being crochet around (which roughly doubles with a fine yarn, and triples with a thicker yarn).
Tie a slip knot, insert your hook.
Insert your hook through the hole of either cabone ring. I usually start with the larger.
Single stitch around the ring, as if it were a magic circle. (If you don't know how to do a magic circle, look up The Art of Crochet by Theresa on Youtube.)
Stitch halfway around the ring. If you want it to be exactly half, crochet all the way around, counting stitches, then undo half.
Chain roughly 23. This will depend on how long you want the bracelet and the thickness of your yarn. Experiment!
Insert hook through the other ring.
Single stitch aaaaaalllll the way around till you get to the chain again.
Single stitch into the last chain (the one closest to your hook), and across the chain to the other ring.
Insert hook into the first ring, and crochet the other half (remember how many you did for the first half?).
Slip stitch into the first stitch (it may be helpful to transfer your loop onto a smaller hook to make the slip stitch easier.) Finish off and your done! Do a ton of them to make a play chain for your kid/s, or for a mother or mother-to-be you know. With such a huge variety of yarns and rings, you could even do a dainty, beaded one with a fancy clasp.
My overall favorite thing about these, though, has to be that they are metal-free. I have somewhat metal-sensitive skin, and I have a friend that cannot have metal touch her skin at all, so these make great alternatives to traditional metal jewelry and clasps. I have more crocheted jewelry to post, too! I'm so excited XD.
Blessed Be and Happy Hooking!

Super Simple Square Washcloth Potholder Thingy

I love cotton washcloths, and they take so little time to make. This one was done in Lily Sugar&Cream (nearly the only cotton I use, since it's grown in the U.S.A.). This one was a basic square with a hanging loop at the top. I just love the colors! So I suppose I ought to write up the pattern for you all, hhmmmmm? Please excuse any errors, I'm new at the writing bit. American crochet terms used.
Materials:
Lily Sugar&Cream/Peaches&Cream yarn (about half a ball for the main color, and a very small amount for the contrasting color on the hanging edge)
US sizes G/6 (4.25mm) and H/8 (5 mm) hooks
Yarn needle
Directions:
With the G hook Ch 5 or 6. join with a slip stitch.
Ch2 (counts as 1st DC, now and throughout). 2DC. *Ch2, 3DC* 3x. join to 1st DC.
Ch2. DC in next 2 stitches. *DC, Ch2, DC in Ch2 space. DC in next 3 stitches.* 3x. DC and join.
Follow this pattern for as many 'rounds' as you like, until its big enough.
Finish off BEFORE you add the edge with the hanging loop. I did this edge in two strands of cotton yarn held together.
Tie a slipknot in the yarn and put in on your H hook. Insert hook through the first stitch of whichever side you choose. Single stitch (SC) until the middle of your row (you should have an odd number of stitches in the row. You're going to skip the middle stitch). Chain until your chain is twice as long as you want your hanging loop (I did about ten). Skip the middle stitch and SC into the next one. SC across until you reach the end, finish off.
Alternatively, you could leave off the loop and do an extra row of double yarn SC for a scrubby edge, or SC all the way around for a cute border! Really, the possibilities are endless. Blessed Be, and Happy Hooking!