Crochet

The Best Bear

Posted on July 30, 2022July 30, 2022 by aboutyarntime

Okay, so, another order for a new baby arriving soon, and this time I needed to do a teddy bear.

Que Pinterest and YouTube search!

I found this fantastic free tutorial for the bear on YouTube. The original creator used chunky velvet yarn, but I knew I was going to go with this soft chocolate brown color for mine. She also used articulating connectors for the arms and legs, but I just sewed mine on.

Then there were the eyes. Okay. So this bear is a deep chocolate brown, so my usual embroidery route was not going to work here. The black cotton yarn I typically embroider eyes with just did not show up at all on the darker brown.

Que second Pinterest search!!

I found what I was looking for here. This handy video tutorial takes you step by step through how to make these eyes. I am so glad it exists! I am always looking for ways to make baby toys as safe as possible, and even though safety eyes are supposed to be safe, I always feel much better about crocheting or embroidering eyes on baby toys.

The blanket is a fantastic pattern by Yarnspirations and The Crochet Crowd called “From the Middle“. I LOVE this pattern for 2 different reasons:

1. It goes round and round in a square shape the whole time and is an easy repetitive pattern so I don’t have to think too much about it.

2. I often do projects to fit my yarn supply vs. buying yarn specifically for projects. That being said, this is a great pattern to use when you’re not sure how big your blanket can get with the amount of yarn you have available. No need to play yarn chicken! This blanket can just end when the yarn runs out. You may have to frog a bit at the end to get back to the beginning of a round, but that’s 100% better than having to go out and try to match your yarn.

I hope you’ll give this guy a try, and if you just want to order one instead of trying to make one for yourself, reach out to me and let’s talk about it!

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Cuddly Fox Lovey

Posted on July 19, 2022July 19, 2022 by aboutyarntime

So this project was inspired by and produced for my next great nephew who will be joining us soon. His older brother received an arctic fox lovey from me when he was born, and his mom is continuing with a forest theme for her second boy.

I did not know just how well this new fox lovey would match her new nursery theme – but it turns out that it matches perfectly with the bedding she has chosen.

I present to you: Chubby Cheeks Lovey Fox:

I think he just turned out so cute! He reminds me a little of the gopher from the movie Caddyshack, to be honest 🤣 but that’s okay!

So for the little blanket, I just did a granny hexagon and went round and round until I started running out of yarn. Then I finished off with single crochet all around the border of the blanket.

The free pattern for the fox is provided by YarnSociety and can be found here.

With a super helpful video tutorial here.

I hope you’ll give this little guy a try!

Patterns

It Is Finished….

Posted on June 22, 2022 by aboutyarntime

I just love all the texture and visual interest!

After hours and hours and HOURS it is finally done. I’ve scrolled through Pinterest so many times and seen so many fabulously textured afghans with layers of color and wonderful stitch work.

So, of course, I wanted to make one too!

I was so excited when I found a free pattern AND step-by-step tutorial to make this afghan, courtesy of Veronika’s Crochet Patterns.

Here is the step-by-step video tutorial. I had to ad-lib a few of the rounds because of miscalculations here or there – or forgetting where I was – or just because I wanted a bit more texture.

For example, my final round is alternating Front Post Double Crochet and Back Post Double Crochet stitches because I like the texture and visual interest that it gives the edge of the blanket.

Fields of Flowers….

But I feel more like mine would be a cute blanket you’d see on the back of an alpaca somewhere. I think it may be necessary to make a little amigurumi llama with a cutsie little matchy-matchy blanket to accompany this afghan!

Currently, this particular blanket is on sale in my Etsy shop!

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Tiny Bear Cuddly

Posted on April 11, 2022 by aboutyarntime

This little guy was inspired by two things:

A. I did not have a lot of this variegated pastel yarn

B. I saw a little pattern from Yarn Society with a tiny bear and I thought it was just too cute.

Granted, my little guy did not turn out exactly like theirs, due to some impromptu adjustments to the pattern on my part. Their bear stands about 5 inches high, and I wanted mine to be a little bit bigger.

I basically used their pattern as something to base my own pattern on.

That pattern will be featured in the “Patterns” category of this blog. For now, enjoy a cute, tiny, cuddly bear!

Of course, he is for sale, so if you’d like to purchase him, head straight over to my Etsy shop! If someone else has snapped him up, have no fear – I can make you another one, although there may be some slight variation on the color of the yarn!

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Duckie Lovey

Posted on March 30, 2022March 30, 2022 by aboutyarntime

Another one of my more recent creations. I found myself with a several shades of blue left over from a prior afghan project, but only had a little of each color left. Small lovey blankets are the perfect way to use up smaller amounts of leftover yarn, so I set to work on the little blue blanket. I used a granny circle pattern because I knew I wanted to top this with either a whale or a duckie, and I wanted it to look like blue water fading to dark in concentric circles.

I found a good “Granny Circle” blanket pattern on Connie’s Spot . As written, the pattern has loooooots of ruffle around the edges by having 3 DC in each stitch for the final round. I did not want that much ripple so I only did 2 DC in each stitch all the way around for the final round. Also, to add a little flare, I did a Front Post Single Crochet (FPSC) with light blue on every stitch from the ruffle round. Connie’s pattern also includes directions for how to make a bear to top this blanket, but I knew I was going with a duckie.

I just had to find a Rubber Duckie pattern.

THAT was a chore. I needed something substantial enough to go on top of my little blanket without being too small. I also wanted it to look like an actual Rubber Duckie toy. There are a LOT of patterns out there, but the one that I found that worked the best was on Monkey House Crochet Patterns. This one actually looked just like a Rubber Duckie toy and it was going to be big enough to suit my needs – as long as I upped the hook size. The pattern called for a 3.5 mm hook, but I used a 4.5 mm instead to make my duckie a little bigger.

I also crocheted eyes that were round and added eyelashes rather than embroidering them on.

For the eyes (make 2 – unless your duck is a pirate): SC 5 into Magic Ring, sl st to first stitch, cut about 4 inch tail of yarn, pull through and sew the eye on. Use part of the yarn tail to make the large stitches for the eyelashes.

I hope you are inspired and equipped to make this little guy. Of course, as always, you don’t have to make it to own it! I’d be happy to make one for you. (Blue colors on the blanket may vary)

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Bunny Luv Lovey

Posted on March 29, 2022March 30, 2022 by aboutyarntime

I felt like Spring would be the perfect time to design this pretty little Bunny Luv Lovey. She turned out so cute! I used the same Lotus Blanket pattern from Hooked by Robin that I used on my Unicorn Lovey This blanket pattern is so handy, and whips up very quickly. Again, I only did about 20 rows, but that’s the perfect size for a little security blanket.

I make these little blankets when I have found some cute yarn at a thrift store, but I don’t really have enough to make a whole afghan or big amigurumi project. Usually I’ll make the little blanket and then decide what kind of animal to put on top. I recently started a Facebook page: “About Yarn Time Shop” for my crochet shop and sometimes I’ll post my newly constructed blankets and let my followers vote on what to put on top!

My Facebook followers also get to have first dibs on any of my creations posted there before I post them to Etsy 🙂

The bunny topper pattern for this little luvvy comes from Alanna O’Dea and was shared on Bella Coco Crochet here. The pattern is very easy to follow, and the author also has other variations of the pattern to create different animals to top the blanket.

Their bunny did not have bows for embellishment, so I had to design those myself. Just chain 11, turn, *sc in the second loop from the hook, sc 9, Ch 1, turn* and repeat for 5 rows. Ch 1, cut the yarn and pull through. Weave in ends, and then scrunch the center and secure with yarn looped about 6 times around. Sew to each ear, and there you have it! Little Bitty Bows 🙂

I hope you will give this Bunny a try. If you just want one and don’t want to have to make it, you can always order one from me directly – colors may vary depending on yarn availability – or you can order custom colors!

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Unicorn Lovey

Posted on March 25, 2022 by aboutyarntime

Isn’t it just adorable??

The blanket itself is a much abridged version of the Lotus Blanket as published on Hooked by Robin. While the pattern goes on for ages and ages, I stopped after about row 20 or so. The blanket ends up being about 18″ in diameter. A link to the first video tutorial for this blanket can be found here. This tutorial covers rows 1-10. Subsequent rows can be found here.

I love making this blanket, and as you will see on my next post, I used it for a Bunny Lovey as well.

For the Unicorn, I had to make my own pattern, which will be posted under the Crochet Patterns category once I get it written 🙂

If you don’t want to have to make this yourself, you can always order one through my Etsy shop! If I don’t have one made already, you can have one made to order with custom colors.

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A Roving…. Hooker?

Posted on March 4, 2021February 2, 2023 by aboutyarntime

So yeah… I am a roving hooker. I know, it’s shocking. Most people just don’t do it these days, and there’s certainly not a lot of money in it for me as of right now, but honestly I’m working on that. I just really love to travel and I am a self-confessed crochet addict.

Wait… what did you think I was talking about?

Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up.

Five years ago, my husband and I both worked full time and then some, trying to stay on top of our bills and keep up with our house and the pool and the 4 acres and the barn and the stuff…. so. much. STUFF. You get the picture… busy, busy, busy. Then my husband – who had no history or family history of heart problems, suddenly and inexplicably went in to heart failure. It was then that we had one of those moments where we both came to the realization that we wanted something different out of life. We were officially done with the “American Dream”. We wanted our own dream. We wanted to travel like we used to. We didn’t want to be tied down. We wanted freedom.

So we jumped.

Well, when I say “jumped” I really mean, more like we “rode the escalator”. There was a LOT to do to get to the point where we could travel full time.

So, what about the crochet?

It’s amazing how much time you have to spare when you don’t have to take care of a house anymore. My mom taught me how to do the basics of crochet when we first started downsizing into an RV. I made her a big bedspread with the skills that she taught me. Nothing fancy, just simple stitches, row after row. It had its imperfections and I’m sure if I got it and looked at it now I would be able to easily point them out. But it was a great learning piece, it will keep her warm, and it will last for a long time.

When we finally moved in to the RV I found I had even more spare time. I started to look for simple crochet projects that I could make and that would be useful. I don’t like to make things that people are not going to find useful. When Coronavirus hit and schools got closed down (I’m a teacher by trade, by the way), I had EVEN MORE SPARE TIME. It was awesome. An introvert’s dream. With plenty of time on my hands, yarn, hooks, and some crochet tutorials, I was in heaven. I started making,

and making

and making.

I ended up giving everyone in my immediate family a handmade, crocheted, but most importantly: USEFUL gift for Christmas that year. It felt so awesome! I found that I have a passion for making things: things that others will enjoy, things that will last for a long time, things that will help reduce waste, and things that may even be passed down from one generation to the next. I mean, I still have the baby blanket that my mom crocheted for me.

So that’s me, the roving hooker. I like to travel and I like to make things. Now I want to show others how to make things and also sell the things I make. Mostly so I can buy more yarn and make more things….

Look! I have an Etsy Shop!

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