Covering The Fluffy Patoot.

I, as many other cloth diapering mothers, have faced the terrible fact that from time to time we have to cover those cute little fluffy bums. Putting reasons behind us, that's not the issue at hand at the moment, we've come to discover that all those adorable baby sized garments are not exactly fit for our fluffy patoots. This is where the maxaloones have come to play. I myself have found several WAHM creations that I've coveted, drooled over, and bid for. Well, today I decided I can make a pattern like that, even though I've been refereed to a free japanese  pattern online, I want to have my own design, that way I can say it's my creation, change what works and doesn't, possibly sell the pattern or finished product or both. With all that said, I've taken my mad skillz yo, and in an hour or so, However long Frozen is. I made a pair. Once the pattern is at perfection, I will digitize and perhaps offer it for download over a weekend. In the meantime, here they are, in progress. When I decided to sell, I would like to note, they will have a surged finish on the inside, will not be refashioned as this pair is, and I'm hoping be made of  organic cotton knit (I'm currently looking at fabric distributors.) 
First Draft Pattern 

Shirt That Lost It's Way. (It made me look fat) 

Ya'll don't know how much it pained me to cut right through Wolverine. 

The Finished Pants.

And on the Bum, whatcha think? 

 
I’ll have more updated and in action photos tomorrow on my facebook  page and twitter feed. Look me up!

A little Berry for Your Cup!

Ok, so it’s getting close to that ever wonderful hot cocoa time of year. To bring that full force I‘m going to share the pattern for my Berry Cheesecake cup cozy. I have one in Cherry and made my baby sister one in Blueberry. I know I have tons of early morning football games with my kids and I’m not the only one sitting on the sidelines with a hot cup. I like to distinguish myself from everyone else. I also have a reusable hot cup that the cozy will fit perfectly onto as well.

If you’re a beginner, don’t worry, this is simple and consists of mainly single crochet.

Berry Cheesecake Cup Cozy

Supplies

1 Skein Light Brown yarn (A) 1 Skein Cream yarn (B) 1 Skein Purple (Blueberry) or Red (Cherry) Yarn (C)
Size H Crochet hook
Tapestry or Yarn Needle
Scissors

Abreviations

Ch: chain
St: stitch
Sl: slip stitch
Sc: single crochet
Sc2tog: single crochet 2 stitches together
Rnd: Round

Cheesecake

With A ch 31, sc in 2^nd ch from hook, 29 sc. (30)
Row 2-3: ch 1, turn, 30 sc, cut yarn leaving 3 in tail. (30)
Row 4: join B, turn 30 sc. (30)
Row 5-9: ch 1, turn, 30 sc. (30)
Row 10: ch 1, turn, 30 sc, cut yarn leaving 3in tail. (30)
Row 11: join C, 4 sc, ch 4, 3 sc up ch, 5 sc, ch 6, 5 sc up ch, 3 sc, ch 4, 3 sc up ch, 4 sc, ch 4, 3 sc up ch, 6 sc, ch 6, 5 sc up ch, 2 sc, ch 4, 3 sc up ch, 6 sc, ch 6, 5 sc up ch, sl same st.
Lay sc strands down flat on cheesecake and sew down to resemble sauce oozing down sides. DO NOT SEW ENDS TOGETHER YET!

Berries

Make 3-4

Ch 3, 5 sc in 2^nd ch from hook. This will be first round. (5)
Rnd 2: sl to first sc, ch 1, sc in same stitch, *(2 sc) in next st. Repeat from *to end. (10)
Rnd 3-4: sl to first sc, 10 sc. (10)
Rnd 5: *sc2tog. Repeat from * to end of rnd. (5)
Stuff with yarn of matching color. Weave in ends to close and attach to matching color on cozy.
NOW! Sew ends of cheesecake together, making sure to match up stitches and color. Put on your next cup to give a bit of cozy flair!

Few and Far in Between.

I just wanted to share a few of the projects I’ve made in between drafts and pattern writing.

I made this adorable Whale Newborn Set a couple weeks back.

I had been asked several times to make a sock monkey hat. I’m not one to do a knock off, if and when I do  I like to do it my way. Here I finally made a few little Sock Monkey-ish hats which you can see in my shop.

I, also, have an adorable orange dreamcicle colored one that needs to be pieced together.

Then my favorites, so far, have been my twashii’s and scrubbies! I began making these because my wash clothes were looking really ragged.

I may appear to be busy with my yarn and crafting 24/7. Truth be told I wouldn’t bother with it if I didn’t enjoy putting my imagination on display. If you’re following along to learn to crochet during your lessons we will be making a cup cozy, a simple tawashii, and a the swiffer sock! All are best if using cheap acrylic yarn. Be ready!

TGIF! The First Avenger

Welcome to the first Favorite Friday post! I will be posting a craft every Friday that I have handmade with the link and purchase information or pattern to said item. I know it sounds a little much to sell some of my crafts. But, really I make and make and make, I can only give away so much, AND yarn does cost money. Well that is until I convince Stephen that I need a small flock of sheep and spinning lessons XD!!
For my first Favorite Friday I thought that I would make something that would help showcase one of my favorite Christmas presents! My Captain America Shirt! I’m extremely blessed to have family (shout out to my Amazing in laws, Steve, Rita, and Danielle!) that accepts me for all my goofy little dorkiness, and still be treated as a responsible, growing adult.  Seriously, to my comic book fans, is the shirt not AWESOME in the realm of awesomeness!!!

Now, for my favorite part where I rant about how awesome Captain America is, and let you know how much I know about him. First lets get to what I didn’t have to research…

Captain America was first published in Febuary or March of 1941 by Timely Comics. He was originally going to be named Super American, because of the already famous Superman, artist Joe Simon decided that Captain America sounded better. 
  “After all there aren’t too many captains out there.” Is what I believe he was reported to say on the subject.
Captain America’s alter ego Steve Rogers was pretty much super enhanced to help with the war efforts and fought against the Axis Powers or more commonly known now as his nemesis Red Skull, during war time WWII. Even though he is basically super human altered, he carries an indestructible shield that he throws as a weapon. (Better than Xena’s weird Tron disc looking thing she throws[wow how many dorky things can I fit in this post?]) It’s well known, at least I think it is that Captain America was killed in 2007, and later discovered to still be living. But, his side kick Bucky has now taken up the role of Captain America.

There is a movie on way, Captain America: The First Avenger. The role of Steve Rogers is being played by Chris Evans of Fantastic Four fame.  I am so glad that the rumors of Mathew McConaughey playing Steve Rogers was only that a big fat ugly scary rumor! And WOW I just now found this  While putting the hyperlinks on here.

This is a photo from the movie, not sure if it’s being used as promo but, WOW! They are introducing Steve Roger’s love interest as Peggy Carter. Though I was under the assumption that was Sharon Carter’s (Agent 13) older sister. Sharon Carter being his original love interest.  It’s confusing, seeing as in the comics he’s dated both and I’m guessing they just meshed them together to forego confusion. That’s Hollywood for you. It was rumored that Joss Whedon was one of the screen writers and it appears that is so. And naturally, Samuel L. Jackson, will be reprising his role as Nick Fury! I’m thrilled that the movie starts off in 1941, and will do so through the entire film. So far the movie is set to open in July 2011. I’m psyched! Hope you are too!
So, let us get to the craft, I made this simple, adorably awesome (I’m really using that word a lot. But, let’s face it, Captain America is pretty close to Captain Awesome!) Captain America Shield headband. As soon as I get the proper color blue I will be making another identical headband and giving it away with some other Captain America themed goodies, keep following to find out when!

Captain America Shield headband
First you want to start with the star seeing as it can be a different size each time depending on how consistent your crocheting is.
Star
supplies:
size h hook
white yarn
tapestry or yarn needle
scissors
pattern key:
ch – chain
st - stitch
slst – slip stitch
sk - skip
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc- double crochet
() – crochet amount indicated in same stitch
[] – repeat pattern number of times indicated
pattern:
round 1 ch 3, in 3rd ch from hook do (10 hdc), slst in top of first hdc to join
first point. ch 5 slst in second ch from hook, sc in nect ch, hdc in next ch, dc in ch, sk hdc in rnd, slst to next hdc in rnd.
bind off and weave in all ends
points 2-5 do the exact same thing until you have five pointed star in your hand! It’s pretty simple and goes really fast once you get the hang of it.

Shield Base:
This is simple too. It’s just the basic flat circle, it will look a little wavy at times but all you need to do is shape it a little. Because, lets face it, there’s no such thing as a perfect circle.

Supplies:
red, white, and blue yarn preferably the same weight you used on your star.
size h hook
tapestry or yarn needle
scissors
pattern key:
ch – chain
st - stitch
slst – slip stitch
sk - skip
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc- double crochet
() – crochet amount indicated in same stitch
[] – repeat pattern number of times indicated
Shield Pattern:
With blue yarn ch2
Rnd 1 (6 sc) in second ch from hook, slst to first sc to join
Rnd 2 ch1 (2 sc) in every sc around  slst to first sc to join (12 sc)
Rnd 3 ch 1 [sc, (2sc)] repeat all around slst to first sc to join (18 sc)
Rnd 4 ch 1 [2 sc, (2sc)] repeat all around slst to first sc to join (24 sc)
Rnd 5 [3 sc, (2sc)] repeat all around slst to first sc to join (30 sc)
  OK, here is where you want to take your star and see if you need to continue with another round of blue or not by sizing it with your star.
Rnd 6 you can ch 1 or join the red yarn , [4sc, (2 sc)] repeat all around, slst to first sc to join (36 sc)
Rnd 7 join either your first row of red here or your white  [5sc, (2 sc)] repeat all around, slst to first sc to join (42 sc)
Rnd 8 join white or your last row of red, [6 sc, (2 sc)] repeat all around slst to first sc to join (48 sc)
Just in case you needed that extra row
Rnd 9 join red, [7 sc, (2 sc)] repeat all around, slst to first sc to join. Bind off and weave in all ends.
You can now sew your star onto the center of the shield base you have yourself a Captain America Shield*. *This shield is clearly not indestructible and should not be used as a weapon, as you are most defiantly not Captain America!
There are clearly a million and one options with which you can do with this. I will give you two simple handmade options and you just do what ever tickles your pickle!

You can make the three strand headband like I did. You can find the pattern over at Creativeyarn (she’s one of those that you have to keep going back to)
Or you can go with Chloe, my 7 year olds favorite which is the single crochet or double crochet headband.

Depending on your yarn, regular worsted weight yarn will run about 14 sc to 4 inches, I prefer to use lily yarn, it’s cheap and soft to work with it runs about 17 sc to 4 inches. My head is about 22 inches…
With the H hook (my favorite) ch 94 for sc and 95 for dc. Now just sc or dc evenly across, sew ends together and weave in all lose strands.That’s really all there is to it.
I hope this was either informative, inspirational, or board line clinical to someone out there!

Magic Mondays

So, for my first Magic Monday I thought I would introduce you to not one but two of my favorite Witches. The first being quite possibly the most famous. Elphaba Thropp as portrayed below by Idina Menzel in the Broadway musical Wicked.

Or more commonly known as The Wicked Witch of the West immortalized by the late Margaret Hamilton.

I came across the idea of dedicating this small handbag to Elphaba when I posted it to my facebook photostream and my BFF noted it looked like something she would wear. After doing a wee bit of research I discovered that Elphaba wore a hat with some similar stitching.

 

Even though her hat is blue I like that this purse is in her traditional Wicked Witch black and green.

I really like this color wise and though it looks good on film, it has small flaws in it that I find that bother me. It made me think of the first number Idina and Kristin do together in Wicked.

“What is this feeling fervid as a flame, does it have a name, yeeesss, loathing, unadulterated loathing”

 

Elphaba’s Bag Crochet Pattern

Supplies:

Lily Sugar n’ Cream yarn in Black

Lily Sugar n’ Cream in Hot Green

Size H crochet hook

yarn or tapestry needle

Abbreviations:

ch: chain

st: stitch

sk: skip

sc: single crochet

dc: double crochet

slst: slip stitch

 

Instructions:

Purse Bottom

With The Black Yarn ch 26

Row 1 in second ch from hook sc evenly across (25 st)

Row 2 ch1 turn sc evenly across (25 st)

Row 3 ch1 turn, sc evenly across (25 st)

Row 4 ch 1 turn, sc evenly across (25 st)

ok, now were going to start working in the round… Not hard I promise.

Round 1 sc into the last sc from Row 4, rotate, 4sc down the side, now your at the bottom side of Row 1, sc evenly across 4sc up side, you’re now at the top of Row 4, sc evenly across (51 st)

Continue to work in the round for four more rounds. Finish off by slst to the first sc on the last round, weave in ends with tapestry needle.

Purse Body:

Add on the Green yarn starting at the far right corner and sc evenly around once, slst to first sc to join the ends.

Row 1 {ch 5, sk next 3sc, sc in next sc}17 times,  ch 5, sk 1 sc, sc

Row 2 {ch 5, sc in ch on previous row}18 times.

Row3-Row 11 repeat Row 2.

The purse should now measure around 7 inches. Bind off the green and weave in the ends.

Join the black on the far right corner sc, sc in same stitch you joined the yarn, in the ch 5 do 3 sc, sc in the next sc and repeat all around the top for three rounds. Bind off and weave in the ends…

Handle

Here is the only place where is can get a little tricky. Lay your on a flat surface and find the middle of the side and mark it with either a stitch markers or a piece of left over yarn. Like so,

Count four sc to the right of the stitch marker and join your black yarn. 8 sc across.

Row 1 ch 1 turn sc evenly across (8 st)

Row2-Row 75 ch1 turn sc evenly across (8 st)

Attaching the handle to the left side.

Now this is where it’s important that you had both sides evenly marked. (as I obviously did not. apparently my lap isn’t flat, as my handles came out lop sided) Line up the handle and slst evenly across the 8 sc. Bind off and weave in all ends.  You’re Finished!

Next week, I’ll be putting the lining in with a possible pocket and zipper.

 

 

My second witch that I would like to honor is Galinda! Which is my personal favorite and preferably as played by Kristin Chenoweth.

But also, the Billie Burke version we all know and love.

Galinda’s little clutch is a fairly similar pattern as Elphaba’s bag, just shorter with a small wristlet handle. I <3 it!!!

Galinda’s Munchkin Clutch

Supplies:

Lily Sugar n’ Cream yarn in Hot Pink

Lily Sugar n’ Cream yarn in Hot Green

Size H hook and F hook

yarn or tapestry needle

Abbreviations:

ch: chain

st: stitch

sk: skip

sc: single crochet

dc: double crochet

slst: slip stitch

Instructions:

Clutch Bottom

With green yarn and H hook, ch 26

Row 1: starting in second ch from hook sc even across (25 st)

now working in the round as we did with Elphaba’s Bag rotate your work to the bottom of the row you just stitched. Sc evenly across (25 st)

Continue working in the round for 6 rounds your piece should measure around 1 1/2 inches on both sides. Slst to meet ends, bind off and weave in all ends.

Clutch Body

Using the F hook, join pink yarn in far right corner

Row 1 {sc, ch 5, sk 2 st, sc} repeat 24 times, sc

Row 2 {ch 5, sc in ch from previous row} repeat 24 times.

Row 3 – Row 8 repeat row 2. Bind off and weave in all ends.

Join green yarn at far right corner. This is similar to how we worked the top of Elphaba’s Bag with one exception, Alternate one sc with a dc. a Stitch in all the sc and three in the ch 5 all the way around the clutch. Do three rounds, bind off and weave in all ends. Your piece should measure around 5 inches on both sides.

Wrist Strap

First lay your bag on a flat surface and mark the middle of the right side, Generally this will be right where is folds. Using a stitch marker or left over yarn (as I do many times). count two stitches over.

Join your green yarn in this place. 4 sc. At the end of this row ch 44

Row 1 in second ch from hook sc evenly down chain bind off, leaving enough yarn to sew your strap to the beginning of your first 4sc row . (43 st) The strap should measure about 5 1/2 inches. You’re now finished.

Next week, I’ll be sewing the lining in and adding a zipper. All with snazzy pictures and some info on our actresses that play theses witches of harmony and wonderment.

To my readers wanting to see more geekdom, My Next Wizard is Willow Ufgood! Can’t wait to see what I do with that! Look for it week after next!