Yarnovations Creates Innovative Crochet Patterns — Page 20

Boston “B” – Photos of Each Row

February 14, 2014 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Crochet Boston B – More Details

Boston fans asked us for more photos on how we crocheted the B we blogged about on our post: Boston Red Sox – Crochet B Applique.

Here are some tips and photos that may help.

Tips:

First crochet this with a worsted weight yarn (4) and a J hook. Once you are comfortable with it, then switch to a C hook for a nice tight applique.
There are slip stitches that are worked into a chain and the side of a single crochet. If that’s too complex, just sl st into the ch.
Take liberty to wing it. If you aren’t liking how your B is looking…try inserting your hook in different places and using different stitches to get the look you want. It won’t hurt our feelings if you don’t follow our pattern to the letter. =)

Crochet Boston B Photo Help

“B” INSTRUCTIONS

Ch 13

Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook. Ch 3. Sl st into 2nd ch from hook. Ch 1. Work sl st in 1st ch made in the ch-3 and side of last sc made. 5 sc. In next st work sc, ch 3 and sc. 5 sc, ch 3. Sl st into 2nd ch from hook. Ch 1. Work sl st in 1st ch made in the ch-3 and side of last sc made.

Row 2: Work on the other side of the foundation ch. Sc inc. Ch 10, skip 4 sts, sc (in sp opposite of ch-3 sp), ch 10, skip 5 sts, sc, sl st on top of work.

Row 3: Turn, skip the sl st. 6 sc, ch 3. Work sl st into 3rd ch from hook and side of last sc made. 4 sc, skip a st, sc dec, 3 sc. Ch 3. Work sl st into 3rd ch from hook and side of last sc made. 6 sc, 2 sl st (last sl st will be on top of the B). Finish off leaving a long tail for sewing.

OUTLINE INSTRUCTIONS

There is no “right side” to the letter. Choose which side you want to be the top.

In the back loop only, loosely sl st around the outside of the “B” and the inside holes. If your sl sts are tight, the “B” will bunch making it harder to stretch the “B” to its desired form when pinning it to the hat. Finish off and weave in ends.

Attach the B to a little baby baseball cap. Check out the Baseball pattern set on Etsy.

Filed Under: Appliques · Tagged With: applique, b, boston red sox

Sock Monkey Toys and Gifts Crochet Pattern

January 14, 2014 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Sock Monkey Toys and Gifts Crochet Pattern

Hey all you Sock Monkey lovers out there….we’ve done it again. We’ve created some toys and cozies that you are gonna love and brought them all together in one set.

Mini Sock Monkey

This mini sock monkey is the perfect size for carrying around with you wherever you go. He can be made into a key chain, a backpack buddy or even an office accessory.

Sock Monkey Christmas Ornament

The sock monkey ornament takes on the shape of a traditional Christmas ball, but with the face of sock monkey! He loves hanging on the tree!

Sock Monkey Applique

The sock monkey applique is the perfect size for sewing to bags, scarves, hats and more. We’ve sewn it to a cozy…making it a fun gift idea!

Sock Monkey Cozies

We love cozies. This pattern includes two unique designs in three sizes each. There are directions for mason jars, mugs and tapered cups/glasses! That’s six cozy patterns!

There are two delicious recipes, too! You can make monkey bread in the morning and banana pudding for dessert in the evening!

Sock Monkey Toys and Gifts – Available in the Store

The Sock Monkey Toy and Gift Set is available in the store.

Sock Monkey Toy and Gift Set also available on Etsy.

That’s 9 crochet patterns and 2 recipes! See the store for more details.

Filed Under: Adult, Animals, Appliques, Child, Christmas, Cozy, Great as Gifts, Home, Kitchen, Mason Jar Series, Patterns for Sale · Tagged With: cup cozy, mason jar cozy, mug cozy, ornament, sock monkey, stuffed animal, toy

Sock Monkey Hat, Mittens and Scarves

January 1, 2014 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Sock Monkey Hat, Mittens and Scarves – Crochet Pattern

Love Sock Monkey? This crochet pattern has Sock Monkey Hats (Beanies), Mittens and Scarves to fit everyone in the family from newborn to adult men!

Skill Level: Easy

The colors of this set are gender neutral and look adorable on boys and girls. The sock monkey applique gives this set a touch of whimsy.

Sock Monkey Hat / Beanie

There are 6 sizes of hats in this crochet pattern fitting newborn to adult men.

Crocheted in the round, top down, this beanie has a ribbed brim crocheted in short rows directly to the work. Add a pom pom (pictured above) for even more charm.

Worked primarily in half double crochet, this hat whips up quickly.

Sock Monkey Mittens

There are 5 sizes of mittens fitting baby to adult men.

Crocheted in the round, top down, these mittens also have ribbed cuffs crocheted in short rows directly to the work.

Worked in single crochet, this is the perfect accessory for early winter or cool spring weather.

Sock Monkey Scarves

There are 3 scarf patterns fitting children to adult.

Constructed in rows, each scarf is a series of stripes. Each is unique with different width striping but equally fun with the addition of the sock monkey applique.

Worked in primarily single crochet, these will keep you and your family warm all winter long.

Sock Monkey Crochet Pattern

This Sock Monkey Winter Accessories crochet pattern is available in the store.

Sock Monkey Winter Accessories pattern on Etsy.

Boys and girls of all ages will love this set. There’s just something about sock monkey that makes people smile.

These are so much fun, you’ll probably catch the kids wearing them inside the house! If you do, just throw coats on them and send them out to play.

Filed Under: Accessories, Adult, Age & Gender, Animals, Appliques, Baby, Boy, Child, Girl, Great as Gifts, Hat, Mittens, Patterns for Sale, Scarves, Cowls & Shrugs · Tagged With: beanie, hat, mittens, scarf, sock monkey

Published in Love of Crochet – Winter 2013

December 14, 2013 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Published in Love of Crochet Winter 2013

We have another crochet pattern in Love of Crochet Magazine!

If you’ve been following our blog for any length of time, you know that we love cup cozies. We created a special design for Love of Crochet Winter 2013. It’s the last pattern in the issue…so if you read from back to front…well, it’s the first pattern you’ll run across!

Have you ever wrapped both your hands around your mug to warm up your fingers? If you have, then you’ll love this mug mitten cozy! This cozy allows you to tuck your fingers inside a pair of mittens…keeping your drink and your fingers toasty warm.

We love these mug mittens for soo many reasons.

They fit around mugs, cups and mason jars of various sizes (adjust with a pony tail band).
Your hands hug the mug and stay toasty warm in these mittens.
They are quick and easy to make.
The winter design makes them a great gift all season long.

These mug mittens are crocheted in CotLin yarn by Knitpicks.com in Swan and Nightfall.

The Cozy is a great gift idea for the holidays and it would also make wonderful thank you gift, too! We love that the design works for our family and friends of various faiths.

Filed Under: Christmas, Cozy, Great as Gifts, Mittens, Publications · Tagged With: christmas, cup cozy, mug cozy, published, snowflake, winter

Soccer Ball Bean Bag Chair and Soccer Blanket

November 30, 2013 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Soccer Ball Bean Bag Chair and Soccer Blanket Crochet Pattern

Soccer fans of all ages will get a kick out of this soccer ball bean bag chair and soccer ball blanket set.

The bean bag chair is a cozy around a bean bag chair we picked up at Walmart. It’s constructed with the same number of pentagons and hexagons as a real soccer ball!

The soccer ball blanket is shown four different ways – rectangular afghan with and without a border and circular afghan with and without a border.

Skill Level: Easy

Stitches Used: Chain, Slip Stitch, Half Double Crochet

Techniques Used: Crochet in the Round

Set Pattern Includes:

Bean Bag Chair Instructions
Rectangular Blanket Instructions
Circular Blanket Instructions
Edging for Blanket (Rectangular and Circular) Instructions
Pentagon Shape Pattern
Hexagon Shape Pattern
Half a Hexagon Shape Pattern

The Soccer Ball Bean Bag Chair and Soccer Ball Blanket is available in the store.

Soccer Set shown here with a two year old who’s ready to get into the game!

Soccer Set available on Etsy.

Filed Under: Afghan, Bean Bag - Pouf, Boy, Child, Girl, Home Decor, Patterns for Sale, Soccer · Tagged With: ball, bean bag chair, blanket, soccer

Vote for Mad Mad Makers 2013 Contest

November 15, 2013 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Vote for your favorite!

Mad Mad Makers is having a contest and giveaway. Vote for your favorite hand made item.

The Owl Set has been entered into the contest…might we suggest you vote for that?

Here’s how it works:

Enter the drawing…lots of ways to get extra changes of winning.
Scroll down (below the entries) and browse shops.
Click on heart in the top right corner of your favorite item.

VOTE by November 30, 2014.

Filed Under: Uncategorized ·

Owl Bean Bag Chair Crochet Pattern

November 10, 2013 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Owl Bean Bag Chair Crochet Pattern

This award winning bean bag chair is now available as a downloadable crochet pattern!

Kids of all ages go crazy for this chair. They love to sit on it, jump on it and fall over it.

Not only does it look great in vivid colors…but it looks fun in earth tones, too! The yarn used in both photos is Vanna’s Choice. There are sooo many great color in that line of yarn…the color combinations are endless.

The crocodile stitch wings and the spike cluster stitch transition give this design an extra feathery look and feel.

This is a bean bag cozy…meaning you crochet the owl and stuff it with a bean bag (we bought ours at Walmart).

Skill Level: Intermediate

Stitches Used: chain, slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, treble crochet

Techniques Used: crocodile stitch, spike cluster stitch, working in the round and in rows, crochet in both loops and front and back loops.

The owl bean bag chair won 3rd place in the Artistic Expressions category of the 2013 Crochet Guild of America Design Contest. Now you can have your own award winning owl, too! The pattern includes photos, written directions, supplies list, check boxes to mark your progress and more.

The owl designs are available as a set or as individual pieces.

Owl – The Complete Set
Owl Complete Set on Etsy.
Owl Bean Bag Chair
Owl Bean Bag Chair on Etsy.
Owl Hats and Baby Pants
Owl Hats and Baby Pants on Etsy.
Owl Stuffed Animal
Owl Stuffed Animal on Etsy.
Granny Square – Tree of Love Afghan
Granny Square – Tree of Love Afghan on Etsy.

Onesies pictured are from Chic Couture Boutique.

Filed Under: Animals, Bean Bag - Pouf, Boy, Child, Girl, Great as Gifts, Home Decor, Patterns for Sale · Tagged With: bean bag chair, owl

Frameable Non-Crochet Non-Knit Project Challenge

October 26, 2013 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Frameable Non-Crochet and Non-Knit Yarn Project Challenge

Our local knit and crochet group came up with another quirky challenge. Here’s a list of the criteria:

No knitting or crochet could be used in the project.
It had to be frameable.
It had to be between 8×10 and 11×14 inches in size.
It had to be 25% yarn or more.

Two people were up for the challenge and two people were up for the judging. Interestingly enough, each judge favored a different project…so in the end, it was a tie for first place.

bamboo

Bamboo Plastic Canvas Project

This mixed media piece was inspired by the panda bear, a native species in China. The black and white background is made of yarn stitched on the diagonal over plastic canvas. The bamboo is created with scrapbook paper. The Chinese characters is the word “Bamboo”, which is the common diet for panda bears.

Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Black and White

Measures: 11″ x 14″

This project was designed by Deborah, who also designed the free panda baby hats.

Starry Night – Fauxchet Hook Rug

starry-night-hook-rug

This hook rug project was created with a fauxchet tool and a variety of medium and bulky weight yarns. The image was drawn onto canvas with a marker, then hooked right from the skeins of yarn. The cut loops and the color and texture of the yarns simulate the impressionist style of the original painting.

This frameable piece would require the use of a 3D frame, though the judges thought the softness of the piece would make it better suited as a pillow.

Supercoloring.com has a free coloring page of Starry Night which was used as the template for this project.

Yarn: Lion Brand: Vanna’s Choice and Homespun

Measure: 8″ x 11″

This project was designed by Dana who also designed other free fauxchet patterns.

Filed Under: Challenges & Contests, Fauxchet, Plastic Canvas · Tagged With: challenge, fauxchet, hook rug, plastic canvas

Published in Love of Crochet – Holiday Issue 2013

October 14, 2013 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

Published in Love of Crochet – Holiday Issue 2013

Once again we’ve got some cute crochet patterns published in the Holiday issue of Love of Crochet available in stores October 14, 2013. We are so thrilled to bring you these fun designs.

We’ve created some beautiful patterns that can be crocheted as gifts for him, for her and for dog lovers!

While all the patterns are easy, the his and hers cowl were specifically designed as beginner projects. With just a little tweak, the masculine gaitor designed for him transforms into a beautiful cowl for her.

If you want to pamper your pet and crochet something for those who love them, then there are a few patterns just for you.

His and Hers Cowls

We’ve created a simple cowl design for him and her that’s perfect for beginners. Check out the “Learn to Crochet” section for the “Ice Fishing Gaitor” and the “Grey Lady Cowl”.

We specifically wanted to make a pattern that a beginner could use for masculine and feminine projects. One that would be easily modified so that a new crocheter can get two very different looking garments from one simple design. Reading a pattern can be stressful, particularly for a new crocheter. We’re alleviating the stress this holiday season with this His and Hers design.

Pictured with the “Grey Lady Cowl” is an alternative yarn: Red Heart Boutique.

Pet Lovers Trio

Update 5/15/2014: These patterns are now available in the store as a set or individually!
Dogs Days Trio – Dog Bone Pillow – Paw Purse – Pocket Organizer

Dog Days Trio pattern on Etsy.

Dog Bone Pillow pattern on Etsy.

Paw Purse pattern on Etsy.

Pocket organizer pattern on Etsy.

This set was born out of practicality and my (Dana) love for my dog, Joy – a white lab. The dog toys, treats and medicines were spilling out of one of my kitchen cabinets and it was driving me crazy. So, I created a pocket organizer that hangs by my back door.

Once I started crocheting dog stuff, well, I couldn’t stop. Thus the treat purse and dog bone pillow!

I chose pink to compliment the brown on the set because the dog and I both love pink. (Ok, she’s probably color blind, but it makes me happy.)

Choose Your Color

The great thing about all five of these projects is that they would look great in any color you or the guys in your life prefer. If, for example, you’re making a cowl for a boy…when they pick camo colors, the gaitor will look great! Or if they want team colors, it’ll look even better!

Filed Under: Publications · Tagged With: holiday, love of crochet

Top 6 Favorite Things about the CGOA Knit and Crochet Show 2013

October 11, 2013 by Yarnitect (Dana) ·

My sister and I attended the Knit and Crochet Show in Charlotte, NC last week which is sponsored and/or organized by the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA). Wow, what an experience. This was our first time attending such an event. Here were 6 of our favorite things about the show:

1: Design Competition

The CGOA has an annual design competition that is open to all of its members. And since friendly competition inspires us, we couldn’t resist entering 4 crocheted items.

deborah's entries

Congrats to Deborah for taking 3rd place in the Artistic Expressions category with her owl bean bag chair. And for receiving honorable mention in both the afghans category (granny square blanket) and artistic expressions category (lamp and faun outfit).

The photo’s not great, but Doris is!

The event was organized/directed by Doris Chan. We tip our hats to her for making it a seamless and enjoyable event to participate in. Organizing 100 entries is a big task. And we are beyond thankful for her efforts.

Photos of all the entries and the winners can be seen at dorischancrochet.com.

2. The CGOA Dinner & Fashion Show

We were particularly moved by Rita Weiss’s acceptance speech as the newest inductee into the Jean Leinhauser Crochet Hall of Fame. She is truly a gifted writer and hearing about her advocacy of crochet was inspiring.

Rita Weiss (right) with Margaret Hubert

One humorous highlight in Rita’s speech was hearing her describe the different between crochet and knitting to a former boss as being a matter of working with one pencil vs. two. I’ve never heard it described quite like that. Her speech inspired us to want to pick up a pencil and crochet (or at least, write down a pattern or two).

The Dinner ended with a beautiful fashion show of crocheted (and knitted) pieces created by CGOA members. The diversity was splendid and included elegant wraps, intimate apparel and cozy afghans.

A special thank you to Marcy Smith for MCing the event and making us chuckle a time or two with her creative interpretation of the hand written descriptions of the fashions.

3. The Friendships and Comradery

Being a shy pair, the friendliness and encouragement everyone showed toward each other came as a bit of a surprise. And a pleasant one! It’s exactly what we’ve been needing and longing for…to be among people who understand and love being crochet designers.

The support and encouragement that CGOA members share with each other is, in a word, heartwarming. I arrived underestimating its value, but left understanding how priceless it is.

We met several well known designers and lots of lesser known ones.

Lilly Chin called us out in one meeting for not wearing a crocheted items at the event…but she was mistaken because we sported our “Twin 1” and “Twin 2” bags (inspired by The Cat in the Hat) with us everywhere we went. We love the spunk that this Queen of self promotion has.

Love that hat, Mikey!

Mikey from The Crochet Crowd was a lot of fun to chat with. The King of video impressed us with his business savvy. If he’s ever speaking at a crochet show…I definitely want to attend!

Forgive the crazy eyes! Dana apparently needs more sleep!

We stopped Margaret Hubert in the hall to rave about her sweaters…not realizing that we were talking to the Goddesss of free form. Her work is breathtaking and she is super sweet.

4. A Buddy for Newbies

Being newbies, we requested to have a buddy at the show, someone who could answer questions and show us the ropes. We thoroughly enjoyed our buddy group. We enjoyed lots of laughs and many pleasant conversations about crochet. We love these ladies and look forward to meeting up with them at future shows! Thanks, Nirmal, for taking care of us. It was great hanging out with you Barabara.

Awesome buddy group: Barabara, Nirmal and us.

A big hug goes to Kate Steinke for coordinating the buddy groups. She is a ball of energy full of laughs and encouragement. Such a doll.

5. Knowledgable Instructors

We took a few classes while at the event. The instructors blew us away with their knowledge of their craft. The samples they brought that showcased the techniques we learned was impressive.

Jennifer’s designs are definitely beyond the basics!

A big thank you to Jennifer Hansen (Craftsy Instructor I’ve blogged about in the past), Vashti Braha, Karen Klemp and Dora Ohrenstein for sharing your passion with us!

6. Editor Meet and Greet

It was a treat to meet and chat with several magazine and book editors. We shared some of designs and learned a bit more about their submission process. We so appreciated that they took the time to attend the show to meet us newbies! Thank you Leisure Arts, Red Heart, Crochet! and Interweave Crochet!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

A special thank you to all the sponsors of the show. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting several people from Lion Brand, Red Heart, Annie’s and Crochetville, as well as the goodies we got from several other companies.

I’m not quite sure who to thank for all the behind the scenes work. There were a myriad of volunteers who helped create a smooth and delightful experience. Thank you all for everything you did.

Filed Under: Events ·

Yarnovations