The Shtick I Do

I've been sick this week and haven't completed any projects to share with you but I do want to reshare a simple and quick pair of fingerless mitts that you can whip up in just a couple of hours. It's a downloadable PDF from Ravelry! Now I'm headed back to my cough drops and tissues ... you guys stay safe. ~~Karen~~ ==================================================================== ==================================================================== This time of year I'm a bit prone to achy joints, especially my wrists. You can guess from that how much I love fingerless gloves. This is a pair I made last night. I was just crocheting while watching TV and <BOOM> they were done! It took about 2 hours including the time it took to weave in all the ends and make adjustments for a better fit. Now these are no where near glamorous but they are comfortable and they will keep your wrists nice and warm and loose for hours of crafting work! The instr...

Here's an adorable Bunny Hat I completed this week for a friend of mine that has a 9 month old daughter. I followed the pattern for the ears from this pattern by Ira Rott available on Ravelry. (This is a paid pattern) However, I did not use the hat pattern in this download because it seemed way too small when I was working it up. The hat pattern I used is a basic HDC stitch and I followed the sizing from Bev's Country Cottage hat sizes . Her sizes are more accurate in my opinion. I was (I thought) following the pattern for the flower but it somehow ended up with six petals instead of five. That's what I get for watching Netflix and crocheting, huh? =D I did make the flower detachable so it can be used as a hair clip (which is what it's glued to) or as an accessory for a scarf, purse, basically anything you want to clip it to.   My yarn choices are: Red Heart Super Save in White for the hat and part of the ears I Love This Yarn Metallic i...

Some of you may have heard about the Walk to Emmaus. Some of you haven't. It's a rather difficult thing to describe in just a few words; suffice it to say that it may be called a Walk  to Emmaus but it's definitely a Waddle Home .  I've had the joy of being on two of these Walks, one as an attendee and one as a presenter. I was overly blessed both times. This last time, after being a presenter, I was so inspired by the ladies that attended that I had to just MAKE something! Have you ever been that touched?  I came home and decided to make Delores DeColores! (Those of you that have been understand that DeColores part!) My beautiful daughter Maeghan models for me. The body of the hat has a lot of room and give for those with long hair while still laying nicely for those of us with shorter locks. This hat is quite easy to make and will match a myriad of styles and colors. The small heart-shaped button at the top adds a bit of whimsy to the piece. It c...

Anyone remember this beanie that I made last year? It's alright if you don't. That's not the point of this post =D I finally got an on-going issue with Ravelry resolved and this pattern is now available as a FREE PDF download! Follow THIS  link and look to the RIGHT you'll see a box that says "ravelry downloads free ". Click on the word " download " that follows the green arrow and it's yours! I own this pattern in its entirety and you DO NOT have permission to reproduce this pattern in whole or in part on any website, blog or internet or written avenue. You DO NOT have permission to print this pattern for resale or free distribution  in whole or in part in any format.  My permission is granted ONLY for SELLING of and PERSONAL USE  of the COMPLETED WORKS from this pattern. I f you sell the completed item online,  include a link to this blog  post . 

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...

There are many, many wonderful fingerless glove or wrist warmer patterns out there. All you have to do is Google it or hit up Ravelry . Recently, I found a simple yet beautiful pattern from CrochetSpot . I made a pair for my sister in Florida, she doesn't really need gloves in Florida of course, but having something to keep your wrists warm while working at the computer in an air-conditioned office is nice. The pattern at CrochetSpot calls for size 10 crochet thread. I have several colors of thread to choose from but instead I went with Patons Silk Bamboo . It was so much softer and well, silkier, than the cotton thread.  And when I chose the Patons over the thread, it lead to the topic of this blog post: why crochet is the perfect craft. Read on ... The Patons is a bit larger than #10 thread so I had to decrease the initial starting chain to 42 instead of 78. When you do something like this, adjusting the starting point of a pattern, make sure you understand what th...

I like to make things and create things out of stuff (usually my husband calls it rubbish) that's laying around the house. Like taking the rings from the gallon of milk, crochet around it in festive colors, add a bow and call it a Christmas Wreath (and hang it on the tree!). I walk around in Cracker Barrel and see things . . . I take pics of them with my iPod and think to myself I can make that!  Drives my husband crazy. I'm on  Ravelry   and in a group called  Amigurumi of the Month . I just joined, but find that I like it a lot. I made the Monkey with a Banana and absolutely fell in love with it! (That's him up there - I named him Chip) I plan on sending him to Florida for my niece. If I can part with him that is.