Patchwork Quilt

Try this at home!

I made a patchwork quilt for my son. I found block patterns online  and chose two, then I used seven different colors and as far as I can tell, no two blocks are the same! (Please don't burst my bubble if you see two the same) It was a great project and I could get a few blocks done every night, and store them away where he wouldn't see them. I then crocheted each piece together using single crochet in a cream color and used up leftover yarn around the edge. This quilt fits a little bigger than a crib. How fun, try experimenting with different block patterns, the sky is the limit. I want to do one for my daughter with pinks and purples!

Maniac Monster hat

Maniac Monster hat!

So this is not my original idea. I can't take any credit for the design, only give an idea of how to make a monster hat, and hopefully you can come up with your own variations to make him truly your own. One thing is for certain, he is CRAZY! And the crazier the better, after all he is a monster. For this hat you will need an f and  g sized hook, worsted weight yarn in black, orange, green, blue and white, a needle and a comb to comb his hair crazy after attaching his unruly mow-hawk. I used worsted weight for the black part of the hat, and chunky weight for the rest because that is what I had in my stash. It should be noted that I used the f sized hook only for the horns so they would be very tightly crocheted and stand up well. You could also stuff them with polyfill. Ok, enough rambling, here's the pattern!

using black worsted weight yarn and the g hook:

1) starting with a magic ring ch2. dc 11 stitches in round and join to top of ch 2. pull magic ring closed.

2) 2 dc in each st around. join (24 dc)

3) {2 dc in first st, 1 dc in next st} repeat all the way around, join. (36 dc)

4) {2 dc in first st, dc in next 2 sts.} Reapeat all the way around. Join. (48 dc)

5) {2dc in first st, dc in next 3 sts.} Repeat all the way around. Join (60st)

6) no more increasing on this round. ch2, dc in next st. dc in every st around join to top of ch 2. (60 sts)

7-14) ch 2. dc in next st. dc in every st around. join to top.  fasten off after round 14. weave in end of yarn. I recently learned how to do  invisible knot fasten off so you don't have a little ugly knot at the back of the hat. Learn more about that here.

Now for the eyeballs. You can do this in one of two ways (or any way you want really) The beauty of this hat is that nothing has to be sewn on straight. The wonky-er the better, and it just adds to his charm. So what I did, was

starting with a magic ring in black,  sc 6 times in the ring, pull it closed.

 Adding the second color (blue or orange on my hat) sc 8 in the next 4 stitches (2 in each previous stitch.)

2 hdc in the next st.

2 dc in each of next two sts.

2 hdc in next st.

slip stitch in next 8 sts.

2 hdc in next st. 1 hdc in next st.

{2 dc in next st, 1 dc in next st} twice

2 hdc in next st, 1hdc in next st.

This should bring you all the way around, if it doesn't experiment. You are just wanting an oval type shape so that the pupil, or black part of the monster eye is not centered.

Repeat with second color. Leave long tails for sewing. You could also just crochet circles and attach buttons for the pupils, just make sure not to get them centered (I'm good at that part.)

The horns, using white

start with magic ring. sc 5 in ring and pull tight.

2 sc in each st around. (10 sc) use a marker or count closely.

10 sc around. (this would equal three rows of white.)

CHANGE TO BLACK YARN. Do not break white yarn.

{10 sc around in black} twice.

{2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next st.} to marker

CHANGE TO WHITE

{Sc in each st around} three times

CHANGE TO BLACK

{SC in each st. around} twice.

{2sc in next st, 1 sc in next st} to marker.

CHANGE TO WHITE

{sc all the way around} three times, leave a long tail for sewing and fasten off. Make 2 and sew onto hat.

Using needle and chosen color for mouth, sew zig zag lines for mouth. Attach mow-haw tightly then comb out for fuzzy looking effect. I used two different colors and the rope method for the tassels, and even combed out the ends of those for extra crazy.

Have fun, this guy really has no rules, and would probably break them anyway! Try adding fangs, eyebrows, or monster spots.

For a list of crochet stitches and how to make them go here.

**You may use this pattern to sell items, but I request that a link or credit be given back to this site** This is a ©Knotty Knotty Crochet pattern, and may not under any circumstances be sold in whole or in part. Duplication is by written permission only.

Hat Sizes Chart

Here is a basic guideline for the hats that I make. I always measure my crown before continuing onto the non-increasing rows. You might have to play around with hook size depending on how tightly you crochet. I use worsted weight yarn for the monkey hats and a chunky yarn (size 5) for the owl hats, but use the same scale. If anyone has any other suggestions of how to measure finished hat sizes before finishing and finding out the hat is too big or small, let me know and I'll add the info in! Hope this helps!

*When I say "crown size" I mean the size of the circle before continuing with the non-increasing rows measured from one side to the other. When I say "hat height" it is from the centre of the first row to the bottom of the hat.
It should also be noted that this is a use at your own risk chart, as it makes sense in my little pea-brain, but might not be accurate for everyone.


AGE            HEAD CIRC.      HAT HEIGHT    CROWN SIZE     # of increasing rows on
                                                                                                            owl and
                                                                                                         monkey hat

0-3 month       13-14"                  5.5"-6"            approx 10.5 cm           4 rows G hook

3-6 month       14-17"                  6.5-7"             approx 11-13 cm           4 rows H hook

6-12 month     16-19"                  7.5"                approx 13-15 cm           4 rows I hook

12mo-3 year     18-20"                 8"                   approx 14-15.6 cm           5 rows H hook

3-10 year          19-20 1/2"           8.5"                approx 15-16 cm           5 rows I hook

Alternately you can try experimenting with the math equation C=πD  where d stands for diameter, and c for circumference. For example if you want the circumference of the hat to fit a 41 cm head you want your diameter of the crown to be approx. 13 cm because (π)(13) would equal a 40.82 circumference. But thats just the math geek in me talking :) You tube has a great little tutorial for the mathematically challenged.

Hoot Hoot! Owl hat FREE PATTERN!!

Hoot Hoot! This was a request from a friend of mine who's 18 month old daughter loves owls. I will try to post the pattern that I used, However, I just made it up as I went along. I apologize to anyone who has a similar pattern, after a quick google or etsy search I realized that most owl hats looked the same~ish. I would suggest using google images or etsy and seeing what other embellishments you might want to use to make your Owl unique and special for the little kiddo in your life! So starts the pattern.

I used Bernat Softee chunky yarn in hot pink, grass, pumpkin and white.

I also used an H/8 - 5.00 mm hook, and 2 black buttons, and a needle for sewing all the peices on.

This hat will fit a 12 - 18 month old baby.

So here it goes:

HAT

using pink

1) starting with a magic ring ch2. dc 11 stitches in round and join to top of ch 2. pull magic ring closed.

2) 2 dc in each st around. join (24 dc)

3) {2 dc in first st, 1 dc in next st} repeat all the way around, join. (36 dc)

4) {2 dc in first st, dc in next 2 sts.} Reapeat all the way around. Join. (48 dc)

5) {2dc in first st, dc in next 3 sts.} Repeat all the way around. Join (60st)

6) no more increasing on this round. ch2, dc in next st. dc in every st around join to top of ch 2. (60 sts)

7-14) ch 2. dc in next st. dc in every st around. join to top.  change to green yarn for rows 10-14 (4 rows) fasten off after round 14. weave in end of yarn.

ADDING EARFLAPS


1) From fastening off point count 9 sts. join yarn. ch 2, dc in same st as ch 2. dc over next 9 st. (11 dc, as ch 2 counts as dc) ch2 turn

2) dc2tog  dc over next 7 st. dc2tog. (9 sts)

3) dc2tog over next 2 sts. dc over next 5 st.  dc2tog.  (7st)

4) Dc2tog over next 2 sts. dc over next 3 st. dc2tog. (5 sts)

5) dc2tog over next 2 st. dc. dc2 tog over next 2 st. (3 sts) fasten off.

for second earflap, count 9 sts in the opposite direction from fastening off point on hat and repeat.

EYES
make2
Using white

1) starting with a magic ring ch2. dc 11 stitches in round and join to top of ch 2. pull magic ring closed. 

2) 2 dc in each st around. join (24 dc)

3) {2 dc in first st, 1 dc in next st} repeat all the way around, join. (36 dc)

4) fasten off leaving long tail for sewing on eyes.

VARIATION OF THE EYES:
If you would like to do the variation shown in some of the other pictures, complete row 1 using black yarn. When doing row 2 change to desired color and do 2 SC in each stitch around. (still a total of 24 stitches.) Do row 3 as stated above using white yarn. You will now have an eye with a large pupil, and colored "iris". (row 1 with DC, row 2 with sc and row 3 with DC.) Make sure to leave a long tail for sewing on.

PLEASE!! MAKE SURE THE BUTTONS ARE SEWN ON WELL SO WE HAVE NO CHOKING BABIES!!

EARS

make 2

1) start with magic ring and sc 5. do not join place marker if needed

2)2sc in each st around (10st.) move marker.

3-5) continue 3 more rows of 10sc each fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. attach onto hat.

cut 2 lengths of each color 6 " long. tie in the middle using main color and sew on the tops of ears.

BEAK

make 1

using orange 

1) ch 6. turn

2) sc in second ch from hook.

3)hdc in next st

4)dc in next st

5) tr in next st.

6) dtr in next st. fasten off leaving long tail for sewing. 

cut 2 lengths of pink, green and white each approx 18" long. fold in half and loop through bottom of earflap. sort colors and braid, fastening off with a knot at the bottom.  Trim ends to be even. 

Voila! I added a little flower on the top in the orange color, but she was just as adorable without it. You could go really girly and do a bunch of flowers in matching colors and sizes and do an arrangement of  them. They sky is the limit! Have fun with this, I'm going to figure out mittens and scarves to match this next! You can find a flower pattern here.



**You may use this pattern to sell items, but I request that a link or credit be given back to this site** This is a ©Knotty Knotty Crochet pattern, and may not under any circumstances be sold in whole or in part. Duplication is by written permission only.

Here are  more pictures of  variation of the owl hat.

Funky Monkey Free pattern

My 4 year old son LOVES red. He loves anything red. He has even changed his name from Ben to Lightning McQueen, because McQueen is red. He is a ball of energy and fun, and so I designed this hat with him as my inspiration. This is just the basic sock monkey pattern with a few variations. The sock monkey hat can be found on this blog or by clicking here. Everything is done the same up to the first round of row 7. Then I alternated rows of sc in red and dc in black. (After row 6 which is 2 rows of sc in red) There is a total of 5 rows of black dc with 4 rows of red sc in between. I gave him crazy eyes because plain black buttons didn't show up on the black yarn very well.
The black pupil is the same as the first round as I use to make the ears, and then I did 2 sl st in each st around with white.

To do the faux-hawk, I used 6 strands of yarn (2 of each color) and looped them around each dc post of the crown of the hat. I left them longer than I needed then I trimmed them all to the same length. They do not stand up if they are too long, so play around with the length.

I really hope my variations make sense to read, because the sky is the limit with color combos you could do with this crazy monkey!! have fun, and I have started a new album on my facebook page called inspirations. I would love to see any other variations of this guy or any other creations you have on there!
Happy crocheting!

For a list of crochet stitches and how to make them go here.

**You may use this pattern to sell items, but I request that a link or credit be given back to this site** This is a ©Knotty Knotty Crochet pattern, and may not under any circumstances be sold in whole or in part. Duplication is by written permission only.

beware of moths!

And beware of 2 year old boys! My little guy just loves anything knit or crochet, and always has! How exciting for me as a crochet addict to be so appreciated. However, I think he likes the soft cuddly blankets for more than one reason.....he likes to pick them apart! The other day when I couldn't find his favourite "ganky" (blanky) as he calls it, my husband suggested throwing a ball of yarn in his bed with him! (as a joke of course) I wanted to share a picture of little Willie with his very favourite bedtime and anytime friend, the beloved ganky. (Sorry, no pattern this time, this was actually knit by a friend for my first son Ben, but was hand-me-downed to little Willie)

Wowza!

Well I wasn't expecting to have followers....now I feel obligated to find more free patterns and offer them to you. I just completed this dress for a baby that I LOVE! You will love this too, its so cute. I used a simple halter style top like the pattern I found here. Then I used strips of inexpensive tule I bought in the $1.97/m bin at Walmart (that is when our Walmart still carried fabric). I had purchased this with a different use in mind, and then never got round to using it. Anyhoo, I cut approximately 8-10 inch long strips about 3 inches wide. Then I folded them in half and using a H hook pulled the fold part through the original ch of the halter. Then I pulled the loose ends through the loop and pulled. So easy. I will try to add pics of this later! This is the final product! a little ballerina dress for your little princess!