Friday Round-Up.

Crafting wise, it has been a busy week.  I finished three commissions in the last 7 days, and I got another one as soon as I finished the first two.  Those crocodile stitch booties are POPULAR.  Between gifts and sales, I've made 10 pairs of those booties!

I also completed a blanket for my mom, which I think turned out nicely.  It is based on the Milles Rings pattern, which I used first to make a blanket for my son when he was born.

E's blanket, Christmas 2011.  Done in cotton (too heavy) and acrylic rings.

Three of the four colors started for the second blanket.

Speaking of E, my big summer project is a granny square blanket for him.  Rather than purchase a whole linens set for his room, I wanted to make something special.  Once I'm done, I will  post the pattern / diagram here.  Until then (and it might be a while), here is a preview:

This ombre-like motif will be repeated in 5 other colors, plus a classic granny border.

Finally, I've been teaching myself tunisian crochet (AKA: afghan crochet or shepherd's knitting), which is a cross between crochet and knitting.  While you can do it with a regular crochet hook, you can also use a longer tunisian crochet hook.  I'm trying to learn how to change colors properly so I can convert a piece-in-progress to this technique.  Tunisian crochet is very thick, solid, and looks great with the intarsia technique.  Over at Moogly blog, Tamara recently stumbled upon a tunisian motif that looks like strawberries, and her site has been a creative beehive trying to figure out how to re-construct it.  Moogly has some of the best free patterns, round-ups from around the web, and really clear tutorials.  Her creations tend to be just my style.

- Crafts Ahoy!

My Life is Forever Changed!

Have you heard of the foundation-less double or single crochet?  Until tonight, I had not.

 I started making a mason jar cozy to dress up a gift I'm making, and the pattern called for a "foundation-less double crochet."

Pardon?

The pattern's instructions were not very clear about this special skill, so I went to Crochet Spot, which has some great tutorials, and I was on my way.  The link take you to the foundation-less double crochet tutorial, but the link under "Inspiration" is to the main page.

*Pictures when the project is completed.*

In other news, I finished TWO projects last night.  In my mom's circle of friends, I have become known for making Bonita Pattern's Crocodile Stitch Booties.  At Christmas, I was making a delivery via a Christmas party (classy, I know) and when another one of my mother's friends saw the finished product, she ordered two pairs (one boy and one girl) to have on hand "just in case."  She gave me no time-table, and therefore they are only now being completed.

"Boy" Booties (I also made little boxes for them)

"Girl" Booties

Here are some previous examples of the Croc Booties (I make different "rises"):

"High Rise" in Caron Country Spa

"High Rise" in Knit Picks Chroma Fingering "Guppy"

"Low Rise" in Caron Country Spa

"High Rise" in Loops and Threads Snuggly Wuggly Mini Dots

"Mid Rise" in Knit Picks Chroma Fingering "Guppy"

Love this pattern!

- CA!

Designers I Love: Heidi Bears Creative

There are just some people in the crafting / crochet world that I envy so much.  Anyone who can design their own patterns AND create beautiful works of art are just too good to be true.  I know they don't need my help getting their names out there, but I want to feature them from time to time to expose them to a whole new audience.




Heidi Bears Creative

Heidi creates adorable and totally snuggle-worthy creatures out of African flower motifs (of all sorts and sizes).  The first pattern of this kind was a sweet pink, jointed teddy bear, and it was followed with a frog prince, a hippo, and most recently, an elephant.

Not only does she sell these pattens, she also has free tutorials on how to make the flowers themselves, so you can practice before you commit to a pattern.  There is also a tutorial on how to join as you go with the flowers, giving the finished projects a cleaner look.

Courtesy of Heidi Bears Creative

Finally, she has a lot of tutorials and patterns for knitters as well that are just as cute as the crocheted ones.  It almost makes me want to learn to knit right away.

Courtesy of Heidi Bears Creative

I have a lot of other designers I'd like to feature, so stay tuned!

Question of the week: What other features would you like to see on this blog?  Comment to answer!

- Crafts Ahoy!