NYC

I recently went to NYC with my oldest daughter's school choir. I knew our first stop on the itinerary  we were to be at taping of the Today Show on NBC. To attract Al Roker's attention I crocheted a look-alike doll for him. To my surprise it was doppelganger day! I am happy I added a jacket while riding to NYC on our charter bus. It gave me something to crochet to pass the time and I think he looks great with it. We all truly enjoyed an awesome trip. Check out the videos of my daughter and her friends giving it to him on live T.V.

 Jezamyn giving Al his doll from Liberty Crochet

 captioned

slow motion: I just love the kid's smiles and can't get enough :)

What a doll

These little dolls are hands down the most adorable things I have ever made, besides my own kids, of course.
I owe credit to Beth, creator of By Hook, By Hand, for imagining such cute creatures and for sharing her Teacup Spirit pattern so we all can make our very own.

Her jointed arms and head.

Her top half is complete.

Every girl needs Christmas dresses and shoes.

Birthday Alice

Teacup Spirits are perfect size for the Cupcake Cradle Purse.

Another one of my favorite doll patterns is the Patchwork Doll Amigurumi by Irene Strange. I downloaded a copy from Ravelry for free!

Handlebar 'stache*

I don’t know where they came from, but there are mustaches everywhere. Have you seen the pictures of handlebars with the words “I mustache you a question.” And “I’ll shave it for later. I’ve seen stickers, shower curtains, and even pacifiers showcasing a variety of different style ‘staches.
Mustaches have also seemed to have had an influence on the crochet world as well. There are quite a bit of patterns for bearded beanies. However,pattern for a ‘ stache that can stand on their own are harder to come by. An easy one that still looks good is next to impossible, but that’s all about to change.

Handlebar ‘stache

Materials: small amount of ww yarn in desired color, G hook, weaving needle, and a bamboo stick

Make two pieces.  Mark the first stitch in each round. Do not join or chain.
Single crochet 8x into a magic ring. (8sc)

Round 1: 2sc in first st, sc, repeat to end. (12sc)

Round 2: 2sc in first st, sc 2x, repeat to end. (16sc)

Rounds 3&4: sc in each st to end.

Round 5: sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, sc11x. (14sc)

Round 6: sc2tog, sc 4x, repeat to end. (11sc)

Round 7: sc2tog, sc 2x, repeat to end. (8sc)

Round 8: sc in ea st to end.

Round 9: sc2tog, sc 2x, repeat to end. (6sc)

Round 10: sc in ea st to end.

Round 11: sc2tog, sc, repeat to end. (4sc)

Rounds 12-15: sc in ea st to end.

When I have completed round 4 of the second piece, I sew them together firmly using the tails ends. If the pieces are not sewn tight enough, the ends droop. 

You may enjoy my patterns for free, even sell your finished projects, but please DO NOT claim my patterns or photos as your own and DO NOT sell them.

Long braided beanie*

Here is a free pattern for a beanie that reminds me of a story about a girl with very long hair in a tower.  Don’t let this project scare you, it is simple to crochet. It does take more time to cut the strands of yarn for the long braids and to crochet the many flowers, but any little girl would love to have it added to their dress up collection. Just in time to be finished for Halloween, also.

Long braided beanie

What I used:  worsted weight yellow yarn, you can use any hair color, stitch markers, I (5.5mm) hook

What I did:  10 dc in a magic ring. Do not join; use a stitch marker to mark the first stitch of each round.

Round1: 2dc in each stitch. (20dc)

Round2: 2dc in first st, dc in next, repeat to end. (30dc)

Round3: 2dc in first st, dc in next two st. (40 dc)

Round4: 2 dc in first st, dc in next three st. (50dc)

Round5: 2dc in first st, dc in the next four st. (60dc)

Rounds6-10: dc in ea st. (60dc)

Round11: sc in first st, skip two st, 5dc ss, skip two st, sc, repeat to end, ending with a slst. Fasten off and weave in ends. (10shells)

Cut around 90 strands of yarn at 70” long. These are for the braids. I used 1/3 baby weight in a lighter yellow and the rest using the same ww yarn as the hat body. I used stitch markers to mark off the front middle four shells with the end shells being halves. This is my front, I do not tassel the yarn strands here, but in every double crochet stitch that is not in the front. I did not tassel the single crochet stitches.  Take three strands of yarn and fold them in half. Pull the middle through a stitch on the hat making a loop. Now, pull the loose ends through the loop. This is similar to how you would add tassels or fringe. Repeat around to the other side, but remember to only tassel in DCs, not the SCs.

After completing that, divide the hair in half and braid each side. I tied off with a rubber band and then a piece of yarn into a bow. I attached the flowers to clippies and barrettes. This way the braids can be undone and redid, or left undone and combed for play.

Sorry, I am not posting the flower patterns. There are already several beautiful, fun flower patterns available online and I am a busy mom of three with the next few weeks being busier than usual (I feel like I am always say that!). I am sorry, but I wanted to have this hat pattern online in enough time so it can be done before Halloween and I am out of my blog time….. for now.

Happy Hooking!

Jessica

 You may enjoy my patterns for free, even sell your finished projects, but please DO NOT claim my patterns or photos as your own and DO NOT sell them.

Mouse head lovey*

It seems like loveys are the new fall fad, and why not? They are as simple as they are versatile. There are as many lovey ideas as there are cartoon characters, but with your imagination, or a child’s idea, you can make a lovey of your very own. I chose a simple design, traditional Mickey and Minnie. I love the idea of getting my blanket fix on a much smaller level. Loveys don’t take that much yarn either. To alleviate boredom, I usually chose a different blanket pattern for each head. It keeps it interesting. Click here to see my last lovey, the frog.

Mouse head

Materials needed- small amount of worsted weight black yarn, G (4mm) hook

Do not slip stitch or chain. This pattern is worked in rounds. Use a marker to keep track of your stitches. Stuff with washable, baby safe material as you go.

In a magic ring, sc 6x.

Rnd1: 2sc ss 6x. (12sc)

Rnd2: *2sc ss, sc, repeat to end. (18sc)

Rnd3: *2sc ss, sc 2x, repeat to end. (24sc)

Rnd4: *2sc ss, sc 3x, repeat to end. (30sc)

Rnd5: *2sc ss, sc 4x, repeat to end. (36sc)

Rnds6-11: sc in each st. (36sc)

Rnd12: *sc2tog, sc4x, repeat to end. (30sc)

Rnd13: *sc2tog, sc 3x, repeat to end. (24sc)

Rnd14: *sc2tog, sc2x, repeat to end. (18sc)

Rnd15: *sc2tog, sc, repeat to end. (12sc)

Rnd16: *sc2tog repeating to end. (6sc)

Make sure the hole is not too big for the stuffing to come loose.

Repeat to round 5 twice for the ears and sew firmly in place. Sew the head firmly onto the lovey and weave in all ends.

For Mickey I used a variation of this square. For Minnie I used a variation of this pattern from Bernat. You will need to log in to view.

 You may enjoy my patterns for free, even sell your finished projects, but please DO NOT claim my patterns or photos as your own and DO NOT sell them.

Misty flower hanging towel*

Misty flower hanging towel

Materials: H hook, stitch markers, a button and small amounts of 5 different colors of cotton yarn, I used Lion Brand.

You will need to make 2 flowers from the misty rag pattern. Mark the top stitch of every fourth petal with a stitch marker, pin, etc.

Attach green colored yarn to any marked stitch with a slst, ch6, 3dc in joining st, *ch1, skip the next petal, 3dc in top st, ch1, (3dc, ch3, 3dc) in next marked st, repeat around, ending with 2dc in the first st to complete pattern, slst to third ch. Do not turn your work.

Round2: ch1, (slst, ch6, 3dc) in ch3 space, [*ch1, 3dc in next ch1 space, repeat from * 2x. ch1, (3dc, ch3, 3dc) in ch3 sp] repeat inside brackets around, ending with 2dc in first st to complete pattern. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Round3: attach chocolate colored yarn to any stitch and sc around each square. With back sides together, sc through both squares down one edge. Do not fasten off. Continue to sc around the entire rectangle shape. Fasten off and weave in ends.

I added a sc row of orange on top.

Not the easiest way, using a magic ring.

For the large granny rectangle, I needed Crochet Cabana’s help. Click here for different ways to crochet a granny rectangle. I used method 4. Sc along top edge with orange and sew to the bottom of the flower rectangle.

Still looks like a square to me.

Whew! OK, It's a rectangle.

At this point, I knew I wanted to keep it.

 

Strap: sc foundation row of 5. Ch1,turn. (5sc)

Rows1-2: sc 5x. Ch1, turn. (5sc)

Row3: sc, ch3, sc in last. Ch1 and turn. (2sc, ch3)

Row4: sc, 3sc in ch space, sc. Ch1 and turn. (5sc)

Rows5-19: repeat row 1.

Row20: 2sc ss, sc, repeat acoss. Ch1, turn. (8sc)

Row21: 2sc ss, sc 2x, repeat across. Ch1, turn. (11sc)

Row22: 2sc, sc 2x, repeat across. Ch1, turn. (14sc)

Row23: 2dc ss, dc 2x, repeat across, adding an additional dc in last stitch. Ch1, turn. (19dc)

Row24: 2dc ss, dc 17x, 2dc in last st. Ch1, turn. (21dc)

Row25: dc across. Ch1, turn.

Row26: with purple,  dc, 2dc ss 2x, dc 15x, 2dc ss 2x, dc. Ch1, turn. (25dc)

Row27: 2dc ss, dc, repeat across. Ch1, turn. (38dcs)

Rows28-29: dc across. Ch1, turn. Fasten off and weave in ends. Sew to the top the flower rectangle with orange.

The stitch marker indicates where I started.

Trim: with chocolate, attach yarn to first sc on the left bottom corner of the flower rectangle with a sl st. Single crochet down along the edge of the granny rectangle. 3sc in the ch3 space. Single crochet along bottom edge. 3sc in the ch3 space. Single crochet up along side of granny rectangle. Continue to sc in BLO up along the side of the flower rectangle, marking the first stitch made on that rectangle. Single crochet in both loops around the strap. Single crochet BLO down the side of the flower rectangle. Continue to single crochet in BLO to the marked stitch on the opposite side of the granny rectangle. Fasten off and weave in all ends.

 You may enjoy my patterns for free, even sell your finished projects, but please DO NOT claim my patterns or photos as your own and DO NOT sell them.