On the Twenty-Fifth Day of Christmas...

Day 25:
Well here we are, folks. Christmas Day and my final crochet item of the season (well, for my Advent Calendar this year any way). I hope you and yours are having a fantastic holiday!

The final crocheted item is a little Christmas tree that I put together. Like almost everything else I've made this month, it's really easy to do both patterns and they work up rather quickly. The star was a bit new to me, though, since I had never worked with a steel hook or thread (which I still haven't, since I used cross stitch floss instead). The star was tricky, since I wasn't using the proper thread, but I think it came out quite nicely. It's a bit curly, but is beautiful none the less.
Yeah, that little white line on my tree is dog hair. Can't live in a house with three big dogs and not expect to get some hair on your yarn, right?

A happy little tree

The pattern for this is split into two different patterns. The pattern for the star is here, and the pattern for the tree is here. 

So, since this is my final day of the Advent season, I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I also want to thank each and every one of you who stuck with me all the way to the end of this Advent Calendar. I have gotten so many views that I think I may try again next year, with all new items and maybe even more features. I am so glad that I have had this chance to share my fun with you all, and hope you got some new patterns from this.

I will continue to post patterns and pictures all year long, so stick with me if you wish! I still have tons more to create! But, until next time, my friends!

On the Twenty-Fourth Day of Christmas...

Day 24:
Today is another project for the dogs. Or people, if you'd prefer. This cute pattern took me a while to figure out (because when I originally tried it, I was still trying to figure out the simple stuff), but I tried it again this year and I am so glad that I gave it a second chance.

I did this one in the school colors of my hometown (and unintentionally, the colors of my college), Copperas Cove, in honor of our mascot the "Bulldawgs" (yes, you read that correctly...). This pattern would be quite a hit back home! Though, if your school isn't "dog" themed, you could always take off the bone. In fact, down below is the pattern for this stocking; however there is a similar cat stocking pattern that instead of a bone, there is a fish! Cute, right?

This will probably be a stocking for my lovely Lady-Bug, since my husband and I have our own. I'll also make one, within the next year or so, for my mom's dog Daniel, and maybe even one for our other two dogs, Honey and Charlie. (And, if I'm really lucky, I'll get tons of orders for these adorable things!)

To make your own stocking, check out the pattern at Red Heart. They've got two links to this pattern, one being a "correction", but as far as I can tell, they are the same pattern (as in, the put up a corrected pattern, but then went back and fixed the one that was incorrect). However, if you're a bit worried about their being a difference, do try the "Pattern Correction - Dog Paws Christmas Stocking Crochet Pattern" (which is the one in the link).
If you're more interested in it's brother, the "Cat Paws Christmas Stocking Crochet Pattern", then simply check out this pattern instead.

On the Twenty-Third Day of Christmas...

Day 23:
Another day, another crochet cozy! Yes, like I said yesterday, I love these things and I wonder why I didn't make them sooner!

Today's cozy is a little different. It doesn't have a Christmas Theme to it, but it is a very special someone's Christmas gift. The eyes are pretty freaking awesome, if you don't mind me saying so. I spent a bit of time in Hobby Lobby looking for the right buttons to use for this project and finally found them.

It's a hoot!

Tip about this pattern that I used. This link (the "Woodland Owl Cup Cozy") has a small misprint. It says to sew row 24 to beginning chain; don't do that. Instead, sew row 30 to beginning chain. It makes it so much easier to understand.

The reason this is a bit complicated is because the "Woodland Owl Cup Cozy" is a bigger version of this Owl Mug Wrap (which is only 24 rows long). I just wanted y'all to be aware of this should if you are headin' to Red Heart's pattern from me.

On the Twenty-Second Day of Christmas...

Day 22:
Today is a pattern by Moogly (because they're fantastic and I love Tamara's endless pattern supply!) and it's a mug cozy!  It is ridiculously cute and it really works! I totally should have made one of these sooner. Now that I've made a couple of cozies, I fully intend on making tons more!

Not only was the super easy to make up, but the new stitch that Tamara introduces is actually a wonderful stitch that I wish I had known about years ago, when I first started crocheting. The linked double crochet is even good for scarves and other things that you want to make that you don't want to have gaps. It's super easy!

Cute and quick

Would you like to make your own tree mug cozy? Check out the Moogly's Blog and see how fun and easy this is! There are tons more fantastic things on her site that are perfect for Christmas or perfect for gift giving. And a lot of the stuff that she has grouped up for Christmas is quick and easy to make, takes almost no time at all!

On the Twenty-First Day of Christmas...

Day 21:

Three weeks strong and we're almost finished! Only 4 more days to go. Thanks for sticking with me for this long! I promise the next few days will be just as fantastic as the previous 20!

Today is our final feature by Nicole "Jazz" Bradshaw! She made these adorable little booties! She's got a bunch more of things she has made on her personal Facebook page, in her album called "Things I've Made". She is quite talented with more than just yarn! She makes quilts and jewelry as well! You totally should drop by and check her out! Let her know Julie "Dakota" sent ya!

I don't think she has a page on Facebook, but she does own her own Etsy shop. You really should drop by and take a look. I'm sure she'd love to make you and your little one something!

On the Twentieth Day of Christmas...

Day 20:
Only five more days until Christmas! (Not counting today, of course.) Are you excited? Five more days of crochet items made by yours truly! I am excited and proud of myself. I never thought I would made it this far. I'm super excited. I may even do this again next year. Thanks to all my readers who have been with me so far. Stick it out for a few days more! There are still exciting things to come!

The item for today is something I created myself! This is the second pattern I have created, though this one is from scratch (as in, no other patterns inspired me to do this). It's a Christmas collar for my youngest "kid", Lady (also known more affectionately as our Lady-Bug). I've been wanting to make her a collar for the longest time, but couldn't find one that I liked. One night while I was in bed, I was imagining this cute little thing for my Bug.

I did have a little help from Moogly.com on the border. To see the border I used, check out this link here. The bell is mostly for my husband and I so we can keep an ear out for her. She is still a "puppy" (only 10 months old), so she likes to wander through the house and get into things she's not supposed to be in. She does, however, love that sound and I swear she scratches her collar just to hear the bell go off. Silly dog, I love you so.

Lady loves her new collar. And pillows.

There is no pattern for this, or at least, not yet. I am in the process of writing this and taking pictures of it as I go. The pattern will be up on my Raverly account later (look for WyldWerewolf) for purchase. If you're following me here or on my Facebook page (KotasCrochetCreations), then I'll post the link to the pattern in both places.

On the Nineteenth Day of Christmas...

Day 19:
These are supposed to be mini stockings (sorry I have nothing to compare them to size-wise), but I'm not entirely sure I like how they came out. Maybe Claire, the pattern writer and owner, used a different yarn or somethin', but mine didn't turn out the way hers did.

The blue and grey one are used following her pattern exactly and the red and white one is used following her pattern more as a guideline. The red one looks a bit better than the blue and grey, but I'm not happy with either one of them. So, for now, they'll either sit in my house until I can sell them or I'll frog them for scrap parts later. I wanted to try something new, and I accomplished that feat.

Stockings

Remember that this is simply my opinion on them. It's up to you to decide whether or not you like this pattern. It was something that I tried and did not enjoy; however, that does not mean that you won't enjoy it more than I.
To make your own mini stockings, check out this pattern by Claire. She makes them so much better than I.

On the Eighteenth Day of Christmas...

Day 18:
These are cute little ornaments that took no time at all to make. They're super simple to make and Linda offers easy instructions to make them. Only two rounds, with a stitch I haven't used before (A picot stitch). If you're unfamiliar with the stitch, she offers easy instructions on how to create the stitch.

I made three of them: the red with a little dark/navy blue flower, the white one with red/green star/flower, and the green one has a star (sort of like the star of Bethlehem). Aren't they just cute? Linda doesn't have instructions for the chain on top, but I simply chained a strand until it looked long enough and then slip stitched into the first stitch of the top of the ornament. (This means I didn't cut the yarn after the pattern finished {green/white}, I left it attached.) Next time, I'll make them a bit longer, like the red one. (That one, I obviously used a different technique and color for that chain.) These are really cute and so easy! If I had a ton of yarn and nothing more to do all day, I would make tons and tons of these things!

These can be made with yarn scraps

Linda has offered up her pattern for these here. You can add all sort of decorations on the top of them: beads, yarn, glitter: anything you can think of really.

On the Seventeenth Day of Christmas

Day 17:

Another new pattern today. Today I tried to make a poinsettia. Since my birthday is in the month of December, I wanted to crochet up my birth flower and this cute little pattern here gives you a couple of different ways to experiment with it. Below is my flower. I didn't add the center because I wasn't sure that's what I wanted on there. So if mine looks a bit different, that's why. They're really simple and easy to make.

Cute little flower

Want to make your very own poinsettia? Found this cute little flower here. Sher gives you three different style that she has done, with three different hook sizes and yarn weights. You can experiment with yarn weights and hook sizes to make your own different size poinsettias!

On the Sixteenth Day of Christmas...

Day 16:

Grandma Trees

My Grandma's Legs

Are large and wide.
People say they're trunks in disguise.

If this is the case,

Then I'm relieved to say

Her arms must be branches

That can hold me all day.

These are the cutest little Christmas trees I have seen out there. I had never seen or heard this poem before, and I love it so much. And these little trees are super easy to make. I need to block a few of them, but they look pretty good. I don't know what I'm going to do with them just yet, but they are so cute!

Cute little trees

Would you like to make your very own "Grandma Tree"? Well, look no further than this link here. There are photo instructions above the written instructions, so they're prefect for the visual learner. Also, it looks a bit confusing because she uses UK (Australian) terms with US terms in parenthesis. 

On the Fifteenth Day of Christmas...

Day 15:

I have more than one niece and nephew, directly related to me of course, so I decided to make another beanie. This time it's for my nephew Michael, who was born on the 12th, 2012. So, it's one of those Birthday/Christmas gifts. I hope his mom and dad like it! :D

This pattern was another first for me, and I feel like I did something wrong. The hat is a little chunkier than I'm used to and it was a unique pattern.

Nekkid baby butt crack. Oops.

While I am not fond of this pattern, don't let that stop you from trying it yourself! I tried and decided, so now it's your turn to try it and decide for yourself.

Want to make this pattern yourself? Check out this link here by Moogly. And while you're there, check out some of their other patterns and pattern round-ups. They've got some fantastic stuff floating around their site!

On the Fourteenth Day of Christmas...

Day 14:

Two weeks and still going strong! Today's reveal is something I have been working on for months, not because it was hard, but because I'm thinking hard about who I'm going to give it to for Christmas this year. My niece, Kaylee, is supposed to be the recipient of this gift; however, I'm not sure she deserves it this year. Oh well, it's still a nice gift.

This pattern was really easy to make, and I've done several scoodies in the past (7 to be exact), though 6 of them were horse scoodies (to which there is no pattern, which means I had to improvise on some of it). Can't wait to make more of these! :D

Purple scoodie blends into my bed

Want to make a cute little scoodie of your own? Why not check out Moogly's Cuddly Cat Crochet Scoodie here. And while you're there, take a look at the rest of her site. It's pretty amazing and she has patterns for almost every occasion!

(I did not realize until later that the purple of my bed sheets is almost an exact match to the scoodie I made. Oops! :D Happy accident there.)

On the Thirteenth Day of Christmas...

Day 13:

Today is one for my brother. He is in love with Doctor Who and bow ties (not entirely sure aren't related somehow). He's been collecting them for the past year or two now and this is the second one I've made for him. The previous one was much more colorful, less shiny, and much better tied. :P I couldn't tie this one right, but Mi Hijo (my teddy bear) is modeling it quite nicely. At least I tried, right?

I couldn't tie this one for the life of me...

If you would like to make one of these awesome bow ties, look for the pattern here. It's really simple and easy to make. If that one's not for you, there is also this pattern here (this is the pattern I used). I also used a foundationless chain, and then worked Part B on the back of the first tie (sounds odd, but if you look at the pattern, it makes a ton of sense).

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Day 12:

So, I know you've already seen this one, but I redid it to fix the star. Plus, it is going to someone as a Christmas gift. I just hope they love it as much as I loved making it.

Texas Headband

Sadly this little dear has no pattern; however, if you'd like to know more about this one, let me know and I'll put the pattern up sometime after Christmas. I was inspired by the Colorado Headbands to make one for my state and this is what I came up with.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas...

Day 11:
So one of my "sisters" had a baby almost a year ago, so for her birthday/first Christmas, I decided to make her a few toddler sized beanies. They're a bit big for the little doll I was using, but they should fit her for a bit.

Later on in the month, I'll have another little beanie up, but for my nephew. It'll be different than this one, so stay tuned!

Nekkid baby is wearing a bandana!

If you'd like to make this wonderfully easy pattern, then search no further than this site here! I used a lighter yarn and went up a hook size (K instead of J). They're still really big and roomy, so they should fit her for a bit.

Merry Christmas, Ariella!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

Day 10: Another feature!

Today I am featuring Vanessa Lynn Gomez-Sarmiento and her Facebook page: Bellas Yarn Creations.

Bella's Yarn Creations

She has tons more on her page, so drop on by and see what she can make for you! :D

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

Day 9:

A Santa Hat that I worked far too long on, over two weeks, when it was only supposed to take a couple of hours, a day at most. :P And I am also not fond of pom poms, yet I keep finding patterns with them.

Although I'm not happy with it, my husband is, so we'll keep it so he can wear it around the house (even if it is too small for him) for a little while. I'll probably sell it, so if you're interested in it, let me know.

Santa Hat in time for Christmas

While I'm not entirely fond of this pattern, I will share it with y'all! You can find it here. If I were to do it again, I might try it from the top of the hat down, and use the brim pattern here. That might be a little easier to work with. However, you don't have to take my advice on it. Totally up to you!

On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

Day 8:

Today, I'll be showing off my very first earflap hat. I've been wanting to do one of these for a while, and I finally had a reason to (it's cold outside!). I really love this hat and may have to make one for myself pretty soon!

Candy Cane edging. Yum!

The edging on this was different (only one strand, and in the color of your hat), but I decided to keep with my Christmas-y theme here and did a candy cane type of edging. It looks amazing and I just want to eat it up!

I found the pattern for this hat on Raverly.com. I changed up the stripes to match the ones found on my slouchy beanie, though without the wave to them. I also added more yarn for the braids to make them a little thicker. If I go back to remake this (or something like it), I'd make that pattern a wave pattern and make the braids longer.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas...

Day 7:
I have a "mom" who loves flip flops like no other woman I know. In fact, she's all about sunshine and flip flops and the beach and warm weather. I'm sure she'll love it, especially since it's a flip flop and it's got bright colors! She's also getting the Texas Headband I made last month (with a minor correction to the star placement). She loved it so much that I figured I could give it away. It needs a good home any way.

Oh, this is a dish cloth, if you're wondering. I'm not entirely sure if I'd would ever use it, but I know others who would. This lonely flop almost makes me want to do another one to that they're even. And I just might, if I have time!

Bright green and pink!

This pattern can be found here. It's super easy, even the odd edging, which is something I had never tried before.

Woo! Go me! A full week of Crochet Goodness for your viewing pleasure! Hope your week has been as fantastic as mine! Wish me luck on the remaining 18 days that are left. I am still looking for people who would loved to be featured. If you know someone who would, or even if you'd like to, be featured just send an email my way and I'll let you know information I need in order to feature you!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

Day 6 is here!

Today is my first slouchy beanie ever. It's really pretty neat, since I've never made one before. I'm guessing they're pretty popular, but I haven't ever worn one myself (well, I have tried this one on!). I'm not sure if I want to give this one up yet or not; though if someone really wants it, I'm willing to give it up.

Pretty good for my first, right?

If you want to make your own slouchy beanie with this wave pattern, you can use the one I found here. The pattern is a Halloween pattern, but I changed it to fit Christmas instead. How I made it work: red is the first color change, white is where it's supposed to be black again, and red is the final color change. It's pretty simple, really.

I have something else that is quite similar to this pattern later in the season. I loved the color pallet so much that I just moved it to another pattern. I won't give away which one it is, since that wouldn't be any fun, but it's pretty awesome.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

Day 5: Today's craft is a pair of cute little bows that I made for a friend of mine, since she's so into Pokemon (even today). Her nickname at camp is Ash, so there are perfect for her.

Aren't these just so cute?

Aren't they just adorable? And my stuffed animal, Puppy, is modeling them for me. I can't wait for her to get them. She loves bows almost as much as she loves Pokemon, so this is the perfect gift for her.

Of course this is one gift I won't be able to post without her knowing they're for her, just because I wouldn't make them for anyone else! (Unless it's an order, of course! :D) She's special in that way. Heck, if these go well, I may make some more bows later for others. They are really cute.

For this pattern, I used this pattern, but I just used the instructions on the main part. The 2 red rows are half double crochet, there are 2 black rows that are single crochet, and the 2 white rows are half double crochet again. They're cinched tight with single thread of yarn, and then the "button" in the middle is made up of 6-8 half double crochets in a magic circle in white, followed by single crochets in black (2 per stitch). Honestly, it's a try-and-see-what-works-for-you kind of thing. If I make them again, I'll have to either remember how I did it (and remember to write it down), or just experiment to get it right. And, of course, if I write it out, I'll be sure to post it somewhere.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

Day 4: A post that was supposed to go up a while back. Oops, oh well! :D
I've finished both orders that I was commissioned for back at the beginning of November, and they are well on their way to their new owners (or will be when Christmas time comes around) and I've started on my Christmas gifts already. The photo below is one of the orders I finished. The other is just a Colorado headband. I have a feeling, after Christmas, I'll be making quite a few of those.

Beautiful headbands!

I am still in search of others willing to participate in my Advent Calendar for a bit of a feature.
You can also see these on my FaceBook page or my personal page. Let me know if you'd like to be in my calendar, or if you'd like to see something in particular.

For the flowered headband pattern, check out this link by RedHeart.com. They also have this pattern in knit, and all you have to do is search for "knit flowered headband" in the search bar above. They're really quick and you can even layer the flower in different colors if you'd like (I have and it looks lovely). Really simple and quick to work up.

Until tomorrow!

On the Third Day of Christmas...

Day 3 - I'm shakin' things up a bit!

Today I will be featuring our first fantastic guest on my blog. Her name is Lisa Graff and she is the owner and creator of Baubles and Yarns both on Facebook and Etsy.

Below are some of her amazing crochet creations that you can find on both her FB and her Etsy shop. They are so adorable and cute, the first four being baby sets that any mother would love to adorn their little angels with these cute beanies and booties!

Please go visit Lisa's pages and let her know I sent you her way!

Continue watching for another day of fantastic craftiness!

On the Second Day of Christmas...

Day 2 of Kota's Christmas Crochet Creation Advent Calendar. I'm on a roll here, y'all!!

So, I know you've seen this before (if you've been keeping up with my blog at all), but that's alright. It's a good repeat. I've made a couple of Colorado Heads for a few of my friends back in Colorado. They both wanted one, so I figured, why not for Christmas?

More headbands for my Colorado buddies!

Aren't they just awesome!? I really love these things. I want to try making a Colorado beanie next. They look pretty cool too.

Check back tomorrow for Day 3 of my crochet Advent Calendar! I'm on a roll here!

On the First Day of Christmas...

And we're off to a good start! :D Today is not only my birthday, but it is the first day in my Crochet Creations Advent Calendar!

This little beauty is going to my cousin Ashley in Missouri. She loved it when I first posted the photo on Facebook, and she even adores the color. She sort of knows she's getting this for Christmas, since she asked for it, so it's not a true surprise, but that's okay with me! :D I'm glad to make my "customers" happy!

                                       

If you're interested in making this headband for yourself, check out this handy link. She has a full series of "Amazing Grace" patterns that are just adorable and fantastic to make. I'm going to make a couple more things I've found on her site and I may even have them finished for my Advent Calendar!

Check back tomorrow for Day 2!

October/November Orders!!

So, I've been busy since my little witch hat was posted. I've gotten a couple of orders and they look lovely, let me tell you!

So, in Colorado, a new style of headband/beanie/etc has been quite popular lately. Since they don't have a pattern for it and everyone is simply selling said items, I found a simple headband pattern (through Google, of course) and created my own. The hardest part was the red and yellow "C", but even that was pretty easy to figure out.

Colorado Flag

I finished one and was almost instantly commissioned for yet another one! And I plan on sending two of them off for Christmas gifts! After I'm done with those two, I'm going to work on getting a Texas Flag headband worked on. It'll pretty awesome, I hope. I'll post pictures of that one too when I'm finished with it!

I've also been working on a couple of headbands similar to the one below. An order for three of these, two with red flowers and one with a pink flower, along with the Colorado Headband came in. I need to finish one headband and then sew the last two flowers and single button on them before I ship them off soon. So easy to make and put together.

The flower is red, I promise!

I also finished working on a nifty pattern by Stitch11 (pattern on link), and finally got them right. I bugged the wonderful, and patient, owner of this marvelous pattern so much, but I just wanted to make sure I got it right. And I did, so it was nice to finally get them done and just in time for the "cold" season to hit in Texas. Well, what we call the "cold" season. It's still pretty warm on random days (such as today!), so we take each day as it comes!

Lovely arm warmers!

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll be back later, hopefully this month, with all the pictures of the finished products I have made for my customers and even a few I have made for Christmas!

Until next time, then! :D

Little Witchy

So, I finally finished my witch hat and I love it! It took me two different hook sizes to figure out how to make it fit me; however, it still doesn’t. The pattern found here, is sort of a liar… It says to use an “F” sized hook, but that only works if you have an uber tiny head. I tried an “H” sized hook and it fits a little better, but it’s still too small. Oh well, on to the next one! (Yes, this will be a repeat pattern, that’s for sure!)

Isn’t it just lovely? I’m off to make another, though in a different color. And, of course, a bigger hook. I’m going to try an “I” or maybe even a “J” sized hook. I’m really hopin’ I can get this to work. It’s just so cute!!

This post seems a little short today, so I’m going to throw in a picture of my lovely German Shepherd Dog Lady modeling the unfinished hat:

Been a While

I know I haven't updated in a long while (almost a month to be exact). But I'm here today to fix that. It'll probably be a long one, filled with pictures from all over. So sit back and relax! :D

Remember that "cunning hat" I was talking about? Yeah, that one, down there.

Jayne is cunning in this hat

I did actually make it. I didn't post the WIPs because 1) I had forgotten to and 2) I was quite busy with school and trying to make sure I'd finish the darn thing on time. (No worries, I got it done!)

I'm not nearly as cunning as Jayne

 There is is. Finished and ready for Sept. 20th (Browncoat Day). And I did wear it to class, along with my brown coat and I felt rather proud of myself.
In fact, this hat became quickly popular and I've already been commissioned for one! Working on it now for a Christmas present in fact.

Since it is the month of October and Halloween is only 30 days away, I'll be busy for the next couple of days working on my very own witch hat!

Isn't this just neat?!

It's not going to quite look like this, since I am skipping a couple of "color changes" that I don't think work well with the hat at the very top. Mine is going to be two colors instead of three. (You can barely see it up there, but I promise the odd color out is there...)

The pattern can be found here and you can see exactly what I'm talking about. Or you can even make one of your very own. If you do, I'd love to see what y'all have come up with! Send me pictures, give me links!

Until next time, my dear friends. Keep crocheting away!

Firefly & Serenity

So, I’m sure y’all know what those are (and if you don’t… Google it and explore the new world you’ve discovered!). Well, I just wanted to let y’all know that I am working on… Yup, you guessed it: Jayne’s Hat!

 

Lucky for me, since I’m not a knitter, I’ve found a couple of crochet patterns to make myself one! But wait… It doesn’t look right at all. Something about those crochet patterns aren’t quite working… Hmm, time for a new strategy? I think so.

Well, once more, I got lucky. There’s this stitch out there called the Tunisian Knit Stitch. It’s a fantastic stitch that looks like the work is knitted, when it’s really not. Now the hard part was finding a pattern that would work the way I wanted it to. (Just remember to keep your stitches loose!)

This time, I’m improvising. I found a good pattern here and am working on making it into the coolest Jayne Cobb Hat ever! I don’t have pictures yet, but I’m working on that. In a day or so, if I can/have the time, then I’ll post a Work In Progress picture or two. It should be finished before September 20th, since that is Browncoat Day!

What is “Browncoat Day” you ask? Well, just click this nifty link and find out! We’ll be waiting for all Space Cowboys to join! And let them know Julie Thorpe-Hornaday sent ya!

Contest Giveaway!

So, over at AllFreeCrochet, they've got a contest goin' on. It's got some pretty awesome vivid green and blue yarn. I have entered, of course, and hope that you will too.

You can make all kinds of things with it and you could make this really cool Shocking Mandala Rug! It's pretty awesome! In fact, if I don't win, I may even go out and buy some of this yarn and make the pattern any way. I love the way this rug looks and I think it would look fantastic in my house.

Shocking, right?

The contest can be found here: http://www.allfreecrochet.com/. Go on and enter! Take a chance!

Also, there is another give away! This one can be found here: http://www.allfreecrochetafghanpatterns.com/ and  you can win some more yarn. Though it isn't as vivid and the Red Heart yarn, it's still really pretty.

This yarn looks beautiful!

If I find any more contests, I'll be sure to post them here. Make sure you keep up with my blog so that you can enter all the contests sponsored through Facebook and the other crocheting/knitting sites that I follow! And good luck to you all!

So... 4th of July Creations

Well, I didn't get around to making anything for the Fourth of July this year. I forgot and didn't have time to finish the bag I started the day of. I wanted to make this All-American Granny Bag; however, I forgot all about it. So, I've decided that I'm going to make it any way and post pictures of it later, maybe for Labor Day. It's a cute bag and I'm super excited about making it! In fact, I'm tempted to make it in different colors. Dunno which colors yet, but when I do, I'll let y'all see it!

This is the bag I'm in the process of making!

So, for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, I'm going to get a head start on those projects. Not sure what I'm making yet, but I can't wait to make a ton of stuff! For Christmas, I'm going to make a bunch of gifts and give them away. I may even make something Christmas themed. And if I don't get to it this year, there is always next year!

Hope all y'all are enjoying the holiday with your families; I know I am! In fact, my niece Sakura wants to learn to crochet! She even had Mimi (her grandmother/my mother-in-law) help her buy her own yarn. I had to go and buy Sakura a hook, but that's not a big deal. I just hope that when she takes it all home that her momma isn't going to take it away from her.

Until next time, dear readers. Hope your holiday is going well and that you're enjoying the summer. I know I am!

Beanie into Bearded Beanie!

In my last post, I threw this picture in and asked y’all to guess what it could be (besides a beanie, because that was too obvious).

But, I didn’t get any guesses. Oh well. The reveal is this: a bearded beanie! My little brother wanted one (green and brown) so I finally got to make one! I’ve been dying to work on this pattern for a long while now (for a couple months) and I was so excited to finally have someone ask for it.

The pattern to the bearded beanie that I used. It is a free pattern, of course. She says in the beginning that  she modified the pattern from another (which didn’t give any hook sizes, so if you try that one: good luck). Personally, between the two, I love this one! It looks really good.

Helpful hint: make sure the beanie covers the ear completely. That way the beard will fit a bit better. Of course, you need to make sure it works for the person you’re making it for. (For example: the beanie fit my and my hubby perfectly and, if I followed the pattern, so would the beard. Except, the beanie was smaller on my brother so I had to up the hook size [from I to K] to make it work for him.)

Also, if you don’t know how to “Front Post Double Crochet”, “Back Post Double Crochet”, and “2dblcrochet cluster” you should look them up. They’re super easy stitches to learn and they look really awesome! YouTube has some good videos and Google has some good sites where you can learn how to do them.

Well, that’s about it for this post. Until next time, where I’ll be posting the start up of a massive order of crochet horse scoodies (and one horse hood)!