The Shtick I Do

So, I'll explain this first since it was the first question that I got from my mother when I told her what this was. What's a "texture toy"? I don't know if the term has already been coined or not, so if I'm stepping on toes by calling it that, my bad. I call it that because that's exactly what it is. It's a toy that a baby can touch and feel and experience different textures. It's important for a baby's development to be able to feel different sensations of touch. Another note, I know it's a bit plain. I'm adding some different things before I call this a finished product. The pattern I'm giving you will get you to this point, and from there you can customize. It's just like the New Born Beanie Pattern  I did a couple of weeks ago. Materials : 2 colors of ww yarn Size 7/4.5mm hook Scissors Yarn needle for weaving in ends Stitch markers (optional) Abbreviations Used : sc - Single Crochet st - Stitch sl st -...

I'll start this with the same question everyone else does: "Ever find a knitting pattern that you love , but you crochet?" This is the part where they tell you to pretty much just play with it. How irritating, right? Well, I am here to help! I'm going to give you a knitting pattern, convert it to a crochet pattern, and... and tell you why it works. Before we start, a disclaimer: This will not   be an exact replica . This is simply because these are two VERY different crafts. You can replicate knitting closely, and to the untrained eye, there is no difference. However, to someone familiar with both crafts the difference is very obvious. So let's train your eye. The first thing I learned to knit was a potholder from my 8th grade teacher. I'm actually one of the founding members of my middle school's Knitting and Crochet Club. It's not much, but I'm proud. Anyway! Ms. Jones taught me this pattern, so any similarities to another pattern...

So I failed once again to do this last week. I know, I suck. Eventually, I will get this mommy/blogger/crocheter/knitter/business owner/homemaker/home educator thing down. If I'm wrong, don't tell me! Anyway! One of the many, many, many, many (MANYMANYMANYMANY) things I've been working on lately has been a stitch sampler blanket. Different crochet stitches all worked into one afghan that will eventually be a plethura of beautiful weavings for a lucky someone's Christmas present. Now, I say this is a pattern, but what I'm really doing is a brief overview of each stitch I've done so far. So you can replicate the blanket if you like, but mainly I would love to hear about your favorite stitches, how you use them, if you've used THESE stitches, if so for what? You see where I'm going with this? Good, let's do this: Each stitch is a link to a video on how to do the stitch, and you can also sign up for the New Stitch A Day Newsletter, which I HIGH...

>_> Anyway!... Yeah, you read right. I decided to do an app review! It's for an app called Feed Baby Pro. All of that stuff that Karen said during her book review about being painfully honest etc. It applies here, too ;) So! Feed Baby Pro is pretty phenomenal. It is an app designed to help you keep track of how often and how long your baby is eating. If you start letting your baby nurse on the right breast, you unlock your phone, open the app, and hit a button to start a timer. You hit the stop button when baby's finished an, voila! You have a feeding entry. You can also add bottle feedings - how many ml or oz and how long it took baby to finish. AND you can add little notes along the way like "Paused to relatch" or "Paused to burp". Wait wait! It gets better. You can add solid foods. You can keep track of diapers - wet, bowel movement, both. You can keep track of growth, keep journals about baths, ...

I promised this last Friday, and then made myself a liar. Rather, the hospital made me a liar. Happy Valentine's Day, but in lieu of recent events detailed at my blog  Kat Knap , I have decided to present you with the pattern for my basic newborn beanie instead of a Valentine's Day oriented pattern. I realize that this pattern is simple, but there are a couple of reasons I'm choosing to give this to you as opposed to something a bit more extravagant. One, I have a newborn, so I know  that this size will fit him, and he is about the "average" newborn size. The circumference of his head at the time I tested this pattern was 13" if you would like to use that as a reference. It fit him well, and with a small margin for growth. Second, this is quick and easy. It would even make a great starter project for anyone who is just learning crochet. Lastly, you can take this pattern and turn it into WHATEVER YOU WANT. Innovation - also covered on my most recent blog post...

Yes, everyone, it's FINALLY HERE !!!! Happy 2014, Shtickers! (What do you think of that one, mom? ;) ) I previously did a post on my blog,  Kat Knap , detailing a few of the New Year's resolution that I have for my business, so I thought I would start the year off with you all by announcing my resolutions for The Shtick I Do. By all means, feel free to keep me on track with these via your comments and feedback! I am going to provide a free pattern once a month. Who knows what it will be? No one... Not even me, haha! I plan to start this resolution today at the end of this post. I'm going to help you knock out one of what I know  has to be one of your resolutions.... Organization! I am going to talk more about all of the different crafts that I do. There are a lot, so trying to develop a schedule for them will be a constant work in progress I'm sure! Embroidering, knitting, looming, crocheting, maybe even make some book recommendations, but most of those go through ...

Do you remember when  +Karen S Vaughn  wrote for you all the Cluster Stitch Scarf Pattern ? If you didn't catch it then, you should definitely look at it now! This gorgeous scarf scored me a custom order from a family friend at this month's Holiday Open House Market. Our friend said that her mother was a very  difficult person to shop for. After some brief consideration over the scarf that my mother had made and given to me to sell or to keep my friend decided that she did indeed love the scarf. It was so soft  and so beautiful and she thought her mother would just absolutely adore it. However, she wanted to order one done in purples. (I was particularly relieved about this... I was having a really hard time keeping that scarf up on my rack for sale. I ended up keeping it for myself. *shakes head* I'm a sucker.) Here's what I came up with: The lighting in this picture is atrocious, and I apologize for that. I assure you, it is purple. I made it from Deborah No...

I believe that  +Karen S Vaughn  has covered copyrights once before, but I've recently had my own experience with it that I would like to share. My boyfriend's co-worker recently showed me  this  picture and asked if I could make her a hat like it for her nephew who will be born in February (sounds like my son, Daeus, will have a playmate!). Of course I agreed, gave my price, and then set about trying to create my own pattern for it. Here's what I came up with: She was thrilled with it. I realized, though, that I didn't want to call this a "Sock Monkey Hat" because... I  made it! And I want to be able to sell these. Is there a resemblance? Sure, but only slightly . I've decided on another name. I present you with Nom Monkey. This name came about during an entertaining banter between my boyfriend and I. I picked up the hat and using it as sort of a hand puppet said, "Mrawr rawr rawr monkey!" To which my boyfriend responded, "Nom nom monk...

Check this out! It's a sock loom! Sock looming? Yes, it's a great craft. I love to encourage fellow artists and crafters to expand their horizons by expanding their arsenal. Add some knitting needles to that bag of yours. Learn to use them, and you'll find that there are many many  ways to incorporate them into your crochet repertoire. Like when making a broomstick lace stitch (sometimes referred to as peacock lace). Neat, right? Here's   another video for you. It will teach you the basics of sock looming. "Well that's a short blog post..." Nah, don't be silly. I want to tell you the story of how this sock loom was made. My boyfriend up-cycled a wooden band that broke off of an old laundry basket of his. (I know, I didn't think men had laundry baskets either! *wink*) He soaked it in water for about a day and a half. Soaking it in water allowed the band to be pliable without breaking, so he formed this nice little ring with it and put a cl...