Recently my husband started a new job in the city. Being in Chicago and right off the lake, I knew that he’d be needing something extra warm this fall and winter for the daily walking he does downtown. With this came the creation of the Jon Hat. Continue reading The Jon Hat
Now that fall weather is FINALLY upon us, I couldn’t resist the urge to dive into more spooky creations! Each and every year, the cooler months begin my busy season for Etsy orders and craft fairs. I find myself with very little time to sit down and design patterns, which is shame because Halloween-Christmas are also the times I feel most inspired to design things! I promised myself that each and every year I’d at least make time to design one fun Halloween toy and I’ve been true to that promise for the past three years now! My first year was Peter Pumpkinhead inspired by my oldest daughter’s love of pumpkins. Last year was Witchy the Witch created entirely off of a description my youngest daughter gave to me of her favorite imaginary friend, a little magical, friendly witch. And this year? Meet Frankie Frankenstein!
For as long as I can remember I have always been terrible at plant upkeep. I love the idea of gardens and flowers blooming in my yard and I’m amazed at the beauty of houseplants, but such never came to be for my own home due to my lack of green thumb. Everything I touch seems to die despite countless research, advice, and plant enthusiasts in my corner. However, something finally changed this year. I’m not sure why this summer has been any different, but I’ve been able to keep cacti and succulents alive! Even in the past, despite being told how easy those two types of plants were to care for, I’d never get them past a season. Maybe there is a shade of green showing on this thumb of mine after all? Whatever the change may be, I’m just happy that I can finally have a little army of succulents and cacti on my window sill to happily greet me every day. So naturally, I’ve had cacti on my mind and to celebrate, why not make a hat? I couldn’t resist!
Back in the days of renting my husband and I found ourselves in an older home built in the late 1800s. It was a cozy little place with all of the cute little nooks and crannies that often times bring charm to older homes. As with many rental homes, however, came quirks as well. One of those quirks were hidden holes in our walls leading to outside, as our landlord had failed to repair portions of the house before we moved in. Much to our surprise, we quickly discovered that we were not the only tenants of the house, but rather, a wild squirrel had previously claimed ownership of the place! That squirrel was quite the character with a big attitude and seemingly large annoyance with us being his new roommates. The squirrel became so much a part of living at that house that we affectionately named him “Baxter”. Every now and then we’d hear a scurrying sound in our attic or walls. We knew it was Baxter. Occasionally he would pop up from the outside of our house and hit our windows as if to say, “Hey! Get out! I was here first!” and always came a big startle from such occurrence! It was crazy how much this squirrel really began to test our limits. If ever I put a plant outside, he’d quickly dig it up. Every single morning while my husband left for work there would be a chatter from the trees above. My husband would look up and there Baxter would be, angrily waiting and throwing nuts at him! Sometimes he even hit him!
Despite numerous calls and complaints to our landlord, no fix ever came to keep this squirrel out of our living space. The last straw came when we arrived home and found our loyal orange tabby cat staring a hole into our kitchen cabinets. No matter what we did, he refused to leave the strange stare down he was having. Soon we figured out why. There was a crash from inside one of the cabinets and in no time it was very apparent that Baxter had found another way into our house! Luckily, we moved out a week later and gave up the house to Baxter, opting to buy and thoroughly inspect a new home instead. While at the time it was a very stressful and frustrating situation, we can now look back and it all and laugh at how ridiculous it was. Because of this outlandish tale, the inspiration of a new creation came to be. So I present to you Baxter the Squirrel. Continue reading Baxter The Squirrel
On this dreary (and snowy, bleh!) spring afternoon, I can’t help but envision the potentially perfect days of warmth ahead. The trees are beginning to show signs of buds eager to blossom with all sorts of spring flowery goodness. Soon the dead brown earth around us will become a vibrant green. What I am most excited for are the lilacs, their scent so intoxicating that it fills my entire backyard with its natural perfume. When I think of spring I think of fresh flowers and when I think of flowers the thoughts of life’s busiest workers comes to mind… Bees. I have a special place in my heart for bees. I absolutely LOVE them. I love studying them. Honey is my weakness. I use it in everything. I love watching bees busy themselves in their hives. Heck, I’ve gone to plenty of beehive displays/demonstrations in my day and I can honestly say that maybe I’m becoming a little bit obsessed… Not a year goes by that my husband and I don’t seek out a local beekeeper and their glorious honey, getting lost in discussions of saving the bees and the utter fascination over how various types of honey come to bee (ha, see what I did there?)! What’s even better is the fact that my aunt and uncle took up beekeeping a couple of years ago, so we always get to hear their exciting tales of beekeeping (as well as taste test all the honey!!!!)! Needless to say, beekeeping is one of our life goals. For now though, I’ll have to settle on being creative with my crochet. So with that said, let me introduce you to the beehive hat, my most favorite hat creation yet! Continue reading Beehive Hat
With Valentine’s Day just a couple of days away I couldn’t resist making up a pattern for one of my favorite Valentine’s Day treats. Whenever February comes around I can’t help but think of Hershey’s chocolate Kisses. They’re everywhere on the candy shelves and just so sweet to pass around! If you’re like me this year though and can’t really enjoy the chocolately goodness this year due to diet restrictions, why not enjoy a Kisses Buddy instead? 🙂
Halloween is drawing nearer and nearer! All of the trees are changing to vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows finally after this extra warm fall we’ve been having. The chilly days are now here and it’s the perfect time to crochet after a day out at the pumpkin patch. And what better thing to crochet than this cute little pumpkin patch inspired toy? Meet Peter Pumpkinhead 🙂 Continue reading Peter Pumpkinhead
We’re halfway through October and Halloween enthusiasm is everywhere! I love it! As I’ve said in previous posts, my family is always BIG into Halloween and I do mean BIG. So big, in fact, that my youngest daughter Iris had an imaginary friend based off of a sweet little witch her mind came up with when she was three. She called this friend “Witchy” and oh the many stories she would tell us about her! Sometimes Witchy would fly along our car as we drove, other times she’d spend the night next to her keeping all of the monsters away. Her love of that witch knew no bounds! One day she approached begging me to create a crochet version of Witchy. She described her every detail making sure to always tell me that Witchy was a “nice” witch and a “good friend”. Of course I had to come up with this sweet little witch for her and now I have it available for you to share with any little one in your life! So… Meet Witchy the Crochet Witch Doll! Continue reading Witchy the Crochet Witch Doll
