Crocheted Sweater Vest and Bow Headband

Thanks to Sarah Zimmerman of Repeat Crafter Me for sharing crochet instructions for this Sweater Vest and Bow Headband. I crocheted these for our granddaughter, Vivian for her 2nd birthday party on Saturday. I still need to add buttons to the vest. You can find the instructions for this sweater vest HERE. Sarah made it as a cute pumpkin vest. Something to think about for next fall!

When I saw coils of "self striping" yarn at JoAnn's last week, I could not resist!  This yarn is made by Premier and is called Sweet Roll. The color is called Bubble Pop.  It was on sale at JoAnn's: 2 rolls for $5. I bought 2 rolls and then went back for another 2 rolls. I used 1 roll and just a small amount of a second roll for the vest and headband. The roll label shows 5 oz/140g; 245 yds/224m.

I think the "self striping" would work better on an afghan. I am not happy with the way the "stripes" randomly start in this vest. I think it would look better if I had cut the yarn to make the strips start at beginning of rows. You can see on the front where the gray and pink do not match the opposite sides. Because I am not sure if this will fit, I will wait until after the party to fix this. I may just crochet another one. It was fun to make!

Sarah's instructions were sized for a 3-5 year old. I reduced the number of chains at the beginning. I wrote notes as I went along, but my notes do not match the stitches when I count them now. I think I started with 44 chains and I think I had 5 double crochet stitches between the 2 post stitch groups in the lower part. Heartfelt thanks to Sarah for all the work involved in creating crochet instructions! I found it difficult to keep track of  changes I made as I went along. It's not hard to make the changes, but very hard to write it down correctly. Thanks again, Sarah!

I did not add the "pumpkin coil" for a tie because Vivian is too young. 

Since I bought lots of yarn, I decided to make this bow headband, which Sarah calls her Griddle Stitch Winter Headband. Her free instructions are HERE. She has multiple sizes.

Addendum, Jan. 9, 2018- added 3 buttons

For the Button Loops, attach loop of  yarn on right side of gray SC trim.
Chain 1 then SC in same space
Chain 4, then SC in next stitch. Fasten off and weave ends into back of vest.

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Wishing you happiness and good health in the New Year!

Fleece Lining for Crocheted Hat

Thanks to Christina Ramirez of Love Stitch Love for her tutorial on how to add a fleece lining to a crocheted hat. I am blogging some photos I made to remember this process.

As Christina suggested, I made a pattern from the crocheted hat, which was folded into quarters first.

Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew 2 of the pieces together twice.

This gives you 2 halves. 

Then sew those 2 halves together creating the hat lining.

I marked the half way points on both the fleece and the crocheted hat. 

Then it was easy to line them up and pin together.

Put the fleece hat inside the crocheted hat, matching the sides.

Place the fleece earflap pieces so they match the crocheted earflaps.

Leave about 1/2 inch unsewn on either side of the earflaps when sewing them to hat.

Then you can fold that part underneath for a finished edge.

Pin the hem under on fleece earflap and all along fleece lining.

I machine topstitched that part of the earflap to make it stay in place.

Hand sew the fleece lining to crocheted hat using small stitches.

Stretch out the hat now and then so thread will not break with the normal use.

On an earlier attempt, I machine stitched the fleece lining to the crocheted hat, 

but I found it much easier to sew it by hand.

Thanks Christina for your great tutorial! 

Crochet for Baby Girl

My friend's daughter is having her first baby in May.

Here are some gifts I crocheted for the baby girl.

Baby blanket (and all the items shown here) are made from Caron Simply Soft yarn.

 Close up of the baby blanket

Sweater made with Aunt Jen Sweater pattern from Sandi Angels.
Apparently the Sandi Angels site is no longer available
but Ravelry had the link from web archive.

I started with  Alli's Crochet Hats patterns and then made some adaptations.
For this hat, added the open work and the scalloped edge.

Since baby is due in May, I wanted the booties to be more open.
Began with Earth Baby's Bootie
adapting it by adding a back and tie to help booties stay on.

Flower pattern is from Nichole Heady.
Used Internet Archive to search for Nichole's old blog post and found it here:
Nichole's Crochet Flower

Added a cuff to this hat.

Used Little Birdie Secrets Heart pattern.

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Crocheted Bunny Lovey

Finished crocheting 2 Bunny Loveys just in time for Easter using Amy Ramnarine's pattern from her blog: The Stitchin' Mommy.

You can always click on images to enlarge.

I used Caron Simply Soft yarn in white, light country blue, grey heather, soft pink.

For the eyes I used scrap acrylic black yarn.

I had a hard time making the arms, so I switched to a size "G" hook for that.

The pattern called for a size "H" hook, which worked great for the rest.

Made my granny square with 2 chain stitches on the corners.

Did not add a chain between the 3 double crochet groups on the sides of the square.

Also, to prevent the square from being lopsided I turn the piece over after each row, when starting the new row. This tip is from Katie's Kitchen Blog Post: 

How To Crochet a Large Granny Square (so it stays square) Wish I knew this tip a year ago. That granny square afghan came out a little lopsided. 

The bunny lovey on the left has this picot edge-3 chain picots with two stitches between each.

For the right one, I just added a row of single crochet for the edge.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Ninja Turtle Hats

I am "into" Ninja Turtles...well, actually Ninja Turtle Hats! My younger daughter used to love the Ninja turtles. Making these hats has brought back sweet memories!

Used Alli's Toddler earflap hat, without making the earflaps, for this green and blue Leonardo hat. It's for our neighbor, Brandon. I used post stitches in the last 2 rows.

The pattern for these eyes are from Jennifer Reaves Knottz of Yarn blog. 

My neighbor shared this link with me. Jennifer also has a hat/beanie pattern. I used Alli's hat patterns because I was more familiar with them and she had more size variations. 

The pattern for the eyes in the orange section above are from Monica's Chucks For Chancho blog.

Monica has a great method for changing colors, with a great photo tutorial. 

Used Alli's 6 month baby earflap hat for this green and orange hat, except without the earflaps.

Here is our little grandson, Gavin, wearing his Leonardo hat. 

I tend to make things too large, as you can see. 

Maybe I should rip out a row?

Thanks so much for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Crocheted Striped Baby Sweater

Made this crocheted sweater using

Simone Jaeger’s instructions on her 

6/15/12 Tutorial: simple crochet striped hooded baby jacket

My hood came out too big, so I made a collar instead.

Made the 3-6 month size with Red Heart Soft yarn and a size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook.

Dorky Bird Baby Card and Crocheted Sweater Set

Made this baby card to send with a baby sweater set that I crocheted for my friend's daughter

who is expecting a baby boy in April.

I just love the little dorky bird stamp made by Judith.

Here is my favorite crocheted baby sweater set that I like to make.

Crocheted Lacy Circle Scarf

Thanks to Hillary and Jessica of Domestic Bliss Squared for sharing their cute Lacy Circle Scarf and crochet instructions. I made the short variation (18 rows) using soft "Red Heart With Love" yarn and a J crochet hook (6.0 mm).  I will use this as a hostess gift.

NOTE...I noticed as of July 31, 2023, that my scarf images are not displayed. So I tried to add them again. I hope they "stay" in the post! Not sure why they disappeared.

Also, Domestic Bliss Squared is not longer available online.  So I can no longer give you the link to the instructions for this very fun and easy scarf. 

Also, I see I have images missing from other blog posts of mine. Will try to fix as I have time. I have no idea why this is happening. 

Thanks for visiting.

Peace and all good!

Crocheted Baby Sweater Set & Afghan

Crocheted the white sweater set and afghan for Baby Caroline, our friend's new baby.

Click on the photo to display a larger view.

Thanks for visiting!
Peace and all good!

Baby Ripple Afghan

I have been working on a baby afghan since before Thanksgiving. Was hoping that this would be a quick project. However, after switching patterns, this took longer than expected. It is for my daughter's friend, who likes yellow and gray.

These online instructions were my inspiration. However, I used all single crochet, instead of alternating double with single crochet stitches as the pattern shows. I used a size "H" crochet hook with Bernat Softee Baby acrylic yarn, as suggested in the pattern.

Thanks for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Graduation Cascading Cards

More cascading cards...this time for graduation.

Instructions for crocheted heart
Instructions for "brad bow" ala Tim Holtz. Scroll to Step 18.
Stamps by Dawn Houser/Inkadinkado, Hero Arts, Stampin' Up!
Distress Inks: pumice stone, scattered straw, tattered rose

Day 4 - Card Captain at Michael Strong's Group

It has been fun making a card a day for the enjoyMichaelStrongstamps Yahoo group. Today I used Mike's Cloisonne Dragonfly on my Happy Birthday card, stamping it in crushed olive distress ink, then embossing it with clear embossing powder. The Happy Birthday (Hero Arts) is stamped with distress embossing ink then embossed with some gold embossing powder, manufacturer unknown. The center layer is the back of a piece of corrugated cardboard from a coffee sleeve. The green layer is cut with a nesta die and distressed with vintage photo distress ink. I crocheted the flower with some old Knit-Cro-Sheen (size 10 cotton thread). I added a bit of tulle to a large brad, then placed that brad in the center of the crocheted flower. You can find the crocheted flower instructions here:

Since making that crocheted flower, I have learned that stores now sell a size 3 cotton thread that's thicker and easier than the Knit-Cro-Sheen.

Valentine Tag

Working on Valentine Tags in the Tim Holtz style. Stamps by Hero Arts, JudiKins, PrintWorks, PSX, Savvy Stamps, Stampers Anonymous. Here is the  LINK for crochet flower instructions. I made my crochet flower with cotton Knit-Cro-Sheen. I may have to try crocheting a heart with these INSTRUCTIONS for crocheted hearts.