"Mommy's Kisses" Pocket Friend

My four year old son has been having some difficulty at pre-school lately. I've gotten several notes from his teacher the last few days about him throwing tantrums, scratching himself, and hiding in the coat closet instead of participating in class.

A friend of mine suggested that I make him a lovey to put in his backpack so he knows my love is always with him. She used to kiss a hankie and put it in her daughter's backpack. I think it's a great idea!

So I got out a couple scraps of yarn and got to it. I asked my son what color a heart should be, and he said "black and white" so that's what I did.

The pocket friend is about the size of my palm, so it's a good size that won't get lost. It's made in three pieces, then sewn together. You will need to know tunesian crochet to make this. 

To make the main square:

With afghan hook, ch 11, then tunesian crochet for 20 rows. Finish off and weave in your ends. (alternately, you could  leave a really long tail to sew up the edges after attaching the appliques)

To make the heart appliques:

Ch 2

2sc in 2nd ch from hook, ch 1 and turn

2sc in ea st, ch 1 and turn (4 sts)

2sc in ea st, ch 1 and turn (8 sts)

hdc 4 times in 2nd sc from hook, sk the next st. Sl st next st, sk the next st, 4hdc in next st, sl st to the last st

Sl st each st along the edge down to the tip, ch 1, sl st up to the next hdc "hump". Finish off, and weave in

I made two heart appliques, one with worsted weight yarn, and one with sport weight yarn, and appropriate hooks.

Attach the hearts to the front of the square, fold it over with the appliques on the front, and stitch the sides up. Finish off the edges, and weave in the end of the yarn you used to sew up the edges. 

And there you have it! One backpack lovey for your munchkin. 

Picot Poinsettia

I've been looking for a nice poinsettia pattern for a bobby pin. Unfortunately, all the patterns I'm coming  up with are flat, or don't look like a poinsettia to me. At least, they didn't look like I wanted my poinsettia to look like. 

So I did what I do best... I messed around with some techniques and stitches until I found something that works. 

Introducing: Picot Poinsettia!

oh look! it's me again!

top down view

I found a five pointed picot flower pattern on Ravelry a while back, and I make those things like mad. They are so easy to do, and they work up fast. So I decided to apply that technique to a four petal design, and see what I could come up with. I must say, I am rather pleased with the results. 

This is my pattern.
I used a "k" hook and worsted weight yarn. 
You will need two colors, Your main color, and green. If you want a realistic looking poinsettia, use red, white, or cream with your green.

To picot: ch 3 then sl st to first st of that chain

• Ch 4. Sl St tog to make a ring ★ Sc once in the ring, ch 3. Repeat from ★ three times to make 4 loops. Sl st to first st
• ☆Petal☆ Sc in first ch3 loop. hdc, dc, tr, picot, tr, dc, hdc, sc  Repeat for all loops, sl st to first st.
• Turn flower over and ★ insert hook front to back and sc in center loop, ch 3. Repeat from ★ three times to make 4 loops. 
• ☆Petal☆ Sc in first ch3 loop. hdc, dc, tr, picot, tr, dc, hdc, sc  Repeat for all loops, sl st to first st. Finish off, and weave in
• With green yarn, attach a loop to the back of the poinsettia. ★ sc in the bar  between petals (see top down pic for regerence). Ch 3. Repeat from ★ three more times to make 4 loops, sl st to first st
• ☆Petal☆ Sc in first ch3 loop. hdc, dc, tr, picot, tr, dc, hdc, sc  Repeat for all loops, sl st to first st. Finish off, and weave in. 

To form your poinsettia, press the center down on a flat surface and gently tug up on each petal and leaf.

To make it a bobby, just slip a bobby pin through a couple loops of yarn in the back. No sewing necessary. 

And there you have it! I hope you enjoy making this lovely flower. 

Peace, 

Warm and fuzzy winter hat with swirly

It started out as a pattern for a toddler sized ear flap hat.....

Honestly, it did! But, it ended up being a me sized hat. So, you know, adult and stuff.

I started out with some Bernat yarn in a nice variegated brown and an "I" hook. Unfortunately, I threw away the label, and I think the color or line has been discontinued, but the Red Heart Soft line is similar, and the second yarn I used was Red Heart Soft in Guacamole.

So, you need two yarns. Your main color, and your stripe color.
An "I" crochet hook
Blunt needle for weaving in ends and attaching the swirly.

Don't forget, if you need to look up the abbreviations, check here: http://www.needlecraftuniversity.com/libcrochet.htm

Start with a magic circle, make 6 sts into the circle. Pull it tight and sl st to the first st

• r1) Ch 1. 2sc ea st around (12 sts) sl st tog & ch1
• r2) 2sc ea st around (24 sts) sl st tog & ch1
• r3) sc ea sc around (24 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r4) 2sc ea st around (48 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r5-8) sc ea st around (48 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r9) sc in same spot, [1sc, 2sc] around (72 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r10) sc ea sc around (72 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r11-21 sc in spiral
• r22) switch colors. Sc ea sc around, sl st & ch 1 (72 sts)
   You can carry the first color along the seam if you don't want to cut it, that's what I did.
• r23-25) sc ea sc around in spiral. remember to carry your first yarn along the seam if you didn't cut it in the last step
• r26) switch back to first color. Sc ea sc (72 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r27-33) sc ea sc in spiral. At the end of r33, sl st to the first st of the row and finish off
• Weave in all ends.

The spiral embellishment is a pattern I got from another blog called ZoomYummy

I adore her patterns! So simple to read, and easy to do. 

So there you have it, a nice, warm, fuzzy hat for winter. I can attest to the fact that it's super warm, and blocks a fair amount of wind.

Applesauce bread

I have been saying for a while that I need to make some applesauce bread. The reason? I have eight ... EIGHT! ... cans of apple sauce that are just sitting around.

So, tonight, I got out the loaf pans, found a recipe, and I am in the middle of baking some bread.

Here's the recipe I used: Applesauce bread

It smells delicious! I'm baking three loaves because my bread pans are a little smaller than it called for. I'll make sure I edit this post when it's done and I've tasted some!



**edit**
Well, the flavor is good, but if I make this recipe again, I'm leaving out the oil all together. The bread is over moist and didn't rise at all. The main complaint my husband had was that there wasn't enough apple flavor.

I know it's been a while.....

I'm having a very hard time in my life right now. The stress is starting to get at me.

But I'm still doing crochet.
Crochet makes me happy.
Crochet, and the smile on my little boy's face. Even when he's being a butt.

I'm trying to bust out this afghan I promised my mother-in-law for Christmas. As it is, I have about 18 hours into it, and about five or six left to go.

It's a pretty simple ripple afghan, but I'm doing blocks of color instead of stripes. The ends have 4 rows of cream, 4 rows of white, then it switches to the main color, which is a nice grey tweed.

The pattern is pretty simple. I got it online, and if you google "Ripple afghan" it should be the first link. The author of the pattern doesn't allow mass sharing, though, so I can't link it.

The blanket is working up very nicely too. My mother-in-law has seen it in progress, and she thinks it's beautiful.

I really hope to have it done this week or next, but I'm really not sure of a time frame. I started the blanket in late spring, then our air conditioner broke and the summer was so very hot it was uncomfortable to work with. So I just picked it up again last week..... after my husband reminded me that it was November already, and almost December at that.

I hope to be able to share pictures soon.

Duct tape wallet/pouch

I found myself in need of a new wallet pouch thingy the other day. I was just putting too much into the card holder pouch that came with my wallet.

So, I decided to grab some Halloween motif duct tape on the cheap (around $1.50 for the whole roll), take some measurements, and get to it.

This tutorial is my own design. Any similarities to any other pattern is purely coincidence.

This is the end result:

Made with paper fill ^                            ^ Made with only duct tape

Made with paper fill ^                            ^ Made with only duct tape

Duct tape only pouch wallet with goodies

On the one with the paper fill, I made the tab a little wider. I was just trying different things, and that's how it ended up.

Here are instructions on how to make your own.

You will need:



A roll of duct tape
An exacto or razor blade
(Paper or cardstock is optional, it makes a stiffer wallet.)

If you are using paper:

1. Cut a piece of paper about 3in x 6in. You will end up folding it in half, but for now, you will work with it flat.
2. Cut a piece of duct tape about 6in long and wrap it around the paper short ways keeping the edge of the tape even with the edge of the paper. 
3. Repeat step 2 keeping the edges of the duct tape even with each other until the entire piece of paper is covered in tape. There will be a little excess, that's ok. Do not trim the excess. This will be your fold over.If there is little to no excess, go ahead and add another piece of tape to the end. 
4. Fold your wallet in half leaving your excess out, and using the same method as in step two, wrap the wallet in another layer of tape. This seals the edges. Leave the end open with the excess from before out.
5. Figure out how long you want the fold-over to be, Without the tab, mine is about an inch long. I just used the excess from when I was wrapping the paper. 
6. Cut another piece of tape about 6in long, and lay it sticky side upon your work surface.
7. Cut a smaller piece of tape, about 1/2 the width or so of the tape, and line it up with a long edge of the tape. Stick it evenly along the edge. This makes the pocket for the tab.
   
       This piece is a little smaller for demonstration purposes
       You can make the "pocket" portion as shallow as this, or as deep as half the strip of tape. Just make sure you make your tab length to match.
   
8. Keeping the "pocket" about center, wrap the tape around the wallet just below where your fold over ends, making sure you are on the correct side so the tab you will make on the fold over can be inserted in the pocket.
9. Cut another piece of tape about 3in long. Tape it to the top of the fold over so that just less than half of the new strip hangs over. 
10. Snip the new strip of tape about an inch on each side right next to the edge of the fold over. This leaves about an inch for the width of the tab. Fold your snipped edges sticky side to sticky side with the center portion to make the tab.
11. Slide the tab into the pocket , and you have a finished wallet, you can now fill it with goodies.

If you are not using paper:

1. Cut a piece of duct tape about 8in long. Lay it sticky side up on your work surface. 
2. Cut a second piece of tape the same length and place it sticky side down length wise covering only half of the other piece of tape
3. Cut a third piece and repeat on the other side of the first piece.
4. Fold the sticky edges in on themselves to make a solid, non sticky strip
5. Trim the very ends of the strip so they are even
6. Fold wallet in half, leaving about an inch and a half to two inches for the fold over.
7. Wrap the wallet in another layer of tape keeping the edges of the new layer even with the bottom of the wallet and with each other. This seals the edges of the wallet. Leave the end with the fold over open.
8. Cut another piece of tape about 6in long, and lay it sticky side upon your work surface.
9. Cut a smaller piece of tape, about 1/2 the width or so of the tape, and line it up with a long edge of the tape. Stick it evenly along the edge. This makes the pocket for the tab.
   
       This piece is a little smaller for demonstration purposes
       You can make the "pocket" portion as shallow as this, or as deep as half the strip of tape. Just make sure you make your tab length to match.
   
10. Keeping the "pocket" about center, wrap the tape around the wallet just below where your fold over ends, making sure you are on the correct side so the tab you will make on the fold over can be inserted in the pocket.
11. Cut another piece of tape about 3in long. Tape it to the top of the fold over so that just less than half of the new strip hangs over. 
12. Snip the new strip of tape about an inch on each side right next to the edge of the fold over. This leaves about an inch for the width of the tab. Fold your snipped edges sticky side to sticky side with the center portion to make the tab.
13. Slide the tab into the pocket , and you have a finished wallet, you can now fill it with goodies.

Poppy Bobby Pin - Veteran's Day

I decided to look up a crochet poppy pattern since it's Veteran's Day.

I found this one (Poppy Brooch). Although it doesn't have a clear cut pattern for the center, I was able to fudge one by making five puff stitches in a circle.

Make 2.
Ch 6. Slip stitch into first stitch to form a ring.
24 single crochet into ring.
Single crochet into each single crochet, increasing every other stitch to get 36 stitches.
1 ch [1 single crochet, 1 double crochet, 7 treble, 1 double crochet 1 slip stitch] 3 times with last slip stitch into 1st ch.
Fasten off.
Join the two pieces.

So the pattern I used for the center: chain 6, then sl st tog to make a circle. then 5 puff stitches into the circle. Fasten off.

And when I sewed it all together, and added my bobby pin, this is what it looks like:

(crappy cell phone pic)

So happy Veteran's Day. And if you are a veteran, please accept my sincerest thanks for serving your country and helping to maintain my freedom.