PATCHES PONCHO

Patches Poncho

pattern picture

November 2014

Sometimes you run into a pattern and you just can not resist. Don't ask me how or when, but I found a nice poncho on Knittingsparadise.com. Made up of small patches, which seemed nicer than knitting on big piece.

So got my yarn and needles out and started knitting patches. The patches did not take too long.  I could knit them whenever I had a moment.

But 42 patches still is a lot off knitting and is a big stack of patches. I must say, I was afraid sewing them all together would be even more work, and I was worried it would not look as nice as in the picture.

The sewing however was not that huge of a task and took not long.  The patches looked like they were knitted together, so my worries were quite unfounded..

I opted not to put fringe on. I am not a big fringe fan and I do not think the poncho needed it.

I actually think this would be a good learning project. Learning how mix and matching purl and knit stitches makes different pattern stitches is good and having manageable pieces for a beginner would be good as well.

CAT HAT

CAT HAT

November 2015

Some patterns are so easy and so obvious. You can't help but want to make them.

I found this hat on Etsy. A friend needed a white hat for a whiteout....that is apparently a Penn State football thing. I searched for a Penn State hat but wanted something warm with ears. I did not find a Penn State hat, but Pixiebell on Etsy had this marvelous earflapcathat. I do not mind paying for patterns...especially one as perfect as this one.



I made a white one and notice how quick and nice they were to knit. It takes about a skein of super bulky yarn and a few hours.

I made a couple.....(learned never to sell stuff to your boss for material cost)...and made a few people very happy and warm.

It doesn't happen too often, but I kept one myself as well...It has kept me warm and kitty like.

Stuffed animals I made for Xmas

Stuffed animals I made for Xmas

December 2015

Little Bigfoot Elephant

After seeing a Facebook post about a Pygmy elephant, I had to make a little elephant for a coworker,  who has the luck of having her birthday a few days before Xmas.

The pattern was from the blog 'Amigurumi To Go' the yarn was some leftover Bernat yarn. The little scarf was just a way to make it fit into the season.
Putting this little fella together wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Although the ears did take me some work.

The trunk is filled with a pipe cleaner making it easy to form it into a nice curl.

Dearest Donkey

Not sure how I ran into this pattern, but I know both a friend of me and myself saw it at the same time. Since she owns donkeys, it seemed perfect for Xmas.


The pattern can be found on the Red Heart site and that is also the yarn I used for it. And since i had 2 colors of the same color type of yarn, I had to make two of them, a blue one and a tan one.

It required quite some assembling, even the neck is a separate part.
Stuffing the legs really full made the donkeys stand up easily.  I am really happy how they turned out, there big ears really make them the most adorable donkeys.

Teddy bear 

From the same pattern from the blog 'Amigurumitogo' I used for last years secret Santa Xmas bear, I made bears this year as well. 

I made 3 bears all from Red Heart super saver yarn. One bear got the hat and scarf, the two other ones I made into angel bears. The gold of the angel bear is from a simple gold crochet yarn. 

The patterns for the hat, scarf, halo and wings, I found on the blog as well.

The halo is form nice and round with the help of a pipe cleaner. The wings are so stiffly crochet that the will stay in place no matter what.

I made some people happy with the bears. 

ARM KNITTING

ARM KNITTING

November 2014

A coworker pointed it out to me...the new thing arm knitting. Pinterest and Fb were full of it...and honestly it looked like a fun thing to do.

 So me, always into learning something new, took my thick Icelandish yarn and started it.  It was not easy not ending up bound by myself on the kitchen floor, but after a few rows....I got the hang of it and made a scarf. 

I really liked making them...but I did not like the way it looked. But  I did not like the way it looked....You can't debate taste. 

I gave it for Xmas to a friend who really loved it, making it an even better exercise for me.

January 2015

This was not my last time. A craft buddy of mine had seen the post about hand knitting too.  And she wanted to knit a blanket.  I was all for and to show her how and what, I got my arms in the yarn again.
This time not one strain of thick yarn, but 3 strains of Lion Brand Homespun. I love Homes[un, whatever you make with it looks great.
The blanket was made in no time and my friends attempt was successful as well....But after testing the blanket on a recliner relaxing and reading night, I decided it just wasn't for me....So I undid the blanket, which was as easy as knitting it...and will probable knit a blanket from it with needles. :)

Still arm knitting is fun to do.

Stuff I made for Xmas

Stuff I made for Xmas

November and December 2014

xmas tree

 Of course I had to have a Xmas tree in my cubicle. I found a rather nice one. Crochet in the round and fitted on a plastic bottle.
I decorated it with tiny ornaments somebody gave me the year before...and the tinsel is a simple crocheted edging.

Little Owls

Not all crocheting though, I made some owls from fabric.
An idea I found on Pinterest.

Not even a sewing machine required, Sew two pieces of fabric together in a cone, fold the top, stuff and close and put on wiggly eyes.

My friend and I had a lot of fun making them. I had them all over my house that Xmas.

Seamus the Owl

And I knitted one as well. I found the pattern of Seamus the owl on the Natural Suburbia blog.
 I used a blue white yarn for it, just because blue and white were the Xmas colors of the year for me.

 Sleepy sheep

Then some gifts for coworkers. I made two sleepy sheep as stress relief for two coworkers. That seemed to be a really effective tool.



I got the pattern from the blog Harugurumi. The sheep are made from 2 types of yarn. A fluffy baby yarn from Bernat, I happened to find at Walmart and a less fluffy yarn in a complementary color.

Xmas Bear

For my secret Santa I crocheted the Xmas bear from the blog 'Amigurumitogo'.
A beautiful little bear made from brown Red Heart yarn. I hope the recipient was happy with it....She never bothered to tell me.

Hoods

A friend of mine requested something special. A fox hood. I had found the pattern and posted it on FB and she fell in love with it.

I bought the pattern from The Velvet Acorn. Wonderful patterns, you can use for kids and adults. And such a breeze to knit on large needle with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick.....Any super bulky yarn should do, but Lion brand had the perfect colors. She was very happy with it .....and warm

Unfortunately, I could not find the right orange that year to make another one.  She was very happy with it .....and warm.

I made another cowl, so I could stay warm that Xmas...and well that winter. I had found really cheap really thick yarn.  It was in a simple basket weave stitch, but it looked neat and was sooo warm.

Penn state Lion

Penn state Lion

January 2015

Not so strange to know Penn state fans here. One of my coworkers is a big one, so I thought why not try to make something for his very empty cubicle.

I bought a pattern for a Lion on Etsy (PeachUnicornCrochet).
 I tried to find a free one, but it had to look like the Penn state mountain lion, and the pattern was perfect and in that case...no problem paying a few dollars for it. And I think the result was more than worth it.

I made my lion from Red Heart Supersaver yarn, which is always good if I can use that...cause the selection around here is hardly anything but that.

I studied the mascot in detail and decided no manes for my lion...and a straight tail. I studied the mascot in detail.

The lion is actually a pillow which makes it that he can sit and lay and look totally awesome doing it.

STAR WARS CHARACTERS

STAR WARS CHARACTERS

(2015) 

The Star Wars Crochet kit was definitely a good buy for me.  Until I found good yarn for it ...I was dependent on the little in the kit and what i could make do with here and there.

But after I found Palette yarn...no reason to not surprise random people with a little doll.

C3PO and R2D2

I started with the robots. I was really surprised how easy they were to make.

The yarn I used for C3PO was gold crochet yarn, which means light brown yarn with a gold metallic thread added to it. It is not in the light brown yarn, but loose with it. Which did not make it too comfortable to work with. Still the fella looks good.

R2D2 needed some wiggling to make him able to stand. I attached his side legs rather stiff.

YODA

 Yoda hiding behind the cupcakes the recipient of Yoda made. He is a tiny doll and the coat is separate.  The yarn for him came with the kit, which is good, cause he is a weird kind of green.

STORM TROOPER

I actually made him from thicker yarn than the pattern called for....but he still came out looking good, just slightly bigger.

Star Wars Wreaths

Star Wars Wreaths

February 2016

I bought a Star Wars crochet kit and when we started making wreaths at our craft night, I thought it might be nice to use them in it.

Getting the right yarn for the dolls around here is absolutely not easy.  Especially in the winter....somehow fine yarn is scarce in the winter. But the kit came with a bit...most of which I had already used....and I found that Palette Yarn at Knit Picks was perfect for it and it comes in tons of colors.

 Valentine

 So first came Valentine...never even celebrated it but no reason not to make a wreath for it

of course with Han and Leia!

The Wreath is white and pick burlap. YouTube has some very good burlap-wreath-how-tos.

The roses I made from a very easy pattern I found online, basically you roll up a crochet strip of 4 rows.

And the little dolls make it just perfect.

St. Patricksday

No not even a wreath holiday. But I had an idea with Chewbaca and Ewoks being real Irish...O'Malleys.  I simply made Wicket's hood and Chewbacca's bag green.

The palette yarn was really good in brushing out. Making Chewbacca nice and fuzzy.

I crochet clovers and a clover edging as decoration and used green striped burlap.

St. Patricksday never looked so decorated in my house.

It's a Hoot Owl Container

It's a Hoot Owl Container

 (May 2014)

Red heart has a nice and easy basket pattern (http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/its-hoot-owl-container).

 I made one for a basket raffle. In nice fall colors.

The basket was fairly easy to crochet and with using super saver yarn from Red heart....plenty of colors available.

The putting together was not much work either. Determining where to place the eyes was the most work.

We stuffed it with a mug with owl cozy, some coffee and other stuff.

After that I made them for two coworkers kids.....yes, one a boy one a girl.