The beads and diamonds pattern has been on my radar for several years now. I thought it would make a wonderful recycled plastic bag project. I wanted to recycle the black plastic bags that I have for the project. I have been saving black bags up in hopes of having enough to crochet the complete pattern, but sadly I didn’t have enough.
So I added some of the pink salmon plastic bags that newspapers come in. It added a nice contrast allowing me to finish the bag. I did have to shorten the top due to the lack of black plastic bags.
Many people ask me about the yardage when using recycled bags as plarn. These black retail-sized bags results were: 4 bags cut 3/4″ wide = 50 yards of plarn.
The free crochet pattern is found here. The original pattern is written for regular acrylic yarn or cotton so if crocheting with plastic bags isn’t your thing, use something else.
Here is one more photo of the bag hanging up.
This is a new teddy bear pattern that I have been working on. I wanted to create a pattern that was crocheted all in the round that was simple and quick with less seams and fewer joins. After several test bears and tweaks to the crochet pattern, I present In the Round Teddy Bear!
Please enjoy the free crochet pattern and a big thanks to TeaLover (Jan) from Ravelry who was so kind and patient with me as I developed this pattern. She was extremely helpful with her knowledge and crochet skills helping me perfect this pattern. It is our hope that this pattern will comfort and bless each child who receives a bear made from the pattern.
In the Round Teddy Bear pattern
8.5 inch tall bear with Red Heart Super Saver (RHSS) yarn
G (4 mm) hook
Pattern uses less than 2 ounces of total yarn (RHSS = 1.7 ozs) and is written in US crochet terms.
Legs:
Rnd 1: Chain 8, turn and SC down chain, work 2 SC in end, SC around the corner working on the other side of the chain, work 2 SC in the last stitch. (16 SC sts)
Do not join. This pattern is worked in the round without chaining, joining or turning unless otherwise directed. Place a stitch marker to mark beginning of round if desired.
Rnd 2-10: SC in each stitch. (16 SC) Leave a tail to join legs at crotch. Make 2 legs, on the 2nd leg don’t FO yarn.
Position the two legs next to each other, so that the yarn tail of the first leg is between the two legs and the working yarn of the 2nd leg is to the side.
Use the tail of the first leg to join the 2 legs together at front center at crotch. Use a yarn needle to stitch 2-3 joining stitches of the two legs together at center. Don’t stitch too tightly, as you need to work into these on the next round. (see photo below)
Here is my last hat I crocheted for 2024 for Warmth for Warriors. It is a basketweave hat pattern by Breann Mauldin. This easy crochet pattern features a basketweave brim that works up into a good looking hat.
The only changes I did do was add one additional round before starting the basketweave brim portion of the hat. I wanted a little larger hat and this is a good way to do that. I also do count the chain-2 as a stitch throughout as I think it looks better for the basketweave to keep the stitches even in appearance.
Using an H (5 mm) crochet hook, my hat is an XL adult size measuring 22.5 inches around by 9 inches long. A nice roomy size for one of our Veterans to receive this winter to keep warm.
Here is the pattern link to the
I tried out a new mini Christmas stocking pattern. The Alpine Christmas stocking pattern features 4 different sizes you can crochet. The jumbo stocking is about 22 inches long and the sizes go down to the mini stocking which is about 6 inches long. The mini size is perfect for the Warmth for Warriors stockings that I crochet each year.
Here is the first little stocking I crocheted using the mini stocking directions.
This stocking is a bit wonky as the red yarn was very thin and the white yarn was much thicker but it still turned out to be a cute stocking. Plus I learned and got better with the Alpine stitch as I worked through this stocking.
Once I figured out the specialized stitch, I moved on to another stocking and used yarn that was of equal thickness. This green mini stocking turned out much better looking and I think I have crocheted the Alpine stitch pattern more actually now. I also crocheted the toe in the same color as the main stocking which I thought looked better. Check out the photo below and let me know what you think?
Here are a few potholder towel combo ideas. First is a Fall themed potholder from the Dollar Store that I added a towel to the bottom of the potholder.
The towel is folded in half and I used a needle and thread to run a baste stitch through the center for gathering. I then gathered the center of the towel to match the bottom of the potholder.
Below is a photo of the front with it pinned in several areas. You can either machine stitch the towel to the potholder or hand stitch it in place. For this project, I hand stitched the towel to the bottom edge of the potholder. I was able to hide my stitches using brown thread and pulling up under the red trim edge of the potholder. I secured the towel tightly by doing many stitches and making sure it wasn’t going to pull loose. See photos below for more details and you can click on them to supersize the photos.
There has been a renewed interest in an old pattern of mine so I thought I’d crochet a few of the jar opener helpers to revisit the pattern. I haven’t crocheted any of these jar helpers in years.
These jar helpers are the handiest things to have and so easy to make yourself. They really do help you get a good grip on a jar lid so you can open it easily. I use shelf liner and you can make a lot of them from just one roll. Then just under a half ounce of yarn and you have the materials to make a jar opener helper. Plus you can color match the jar helper edging to match a dishcloth or potholder to crochet a pretty matching set.
The free crochet pattern for the jar helper is found here.
I have an option now for my original crocheted helmet hat pattern. This option allows for a seamless crocheted hat so you don’t have the noticeable seam down one side.
Seamless hat option:
Start with a magic circle or you can chain 3 to create a ring to crochet into. You don’t join or work any chain 2 to begin each round. You simply crochet into the next stitch of each round without turning or joining.
Round 1 – 6 DC in magic circle (6) (corrections made 1-30-2024)
Round 2 – 2 SC in each stitch (12)
Round 3 – 2 DC in each stitch (24)
Round 4 – Now starting with original hat pattern, work round 3,
I picked up a few of the Halloween kitchen towels at Dollar Tree to add towel toppers to them. These themed towels are a fun and quick project that I am using for a upcoming fundraiser.
The towel topper is added to the towel by simply folding it in half and crocheting along the top edge. No cutting or sewing is needed. The first row is challenging but using a fine point steel crochet hook really helps. Once that first row is complete, the rest of the pattern works up very quickly. The free crochet pattern is found
A few years ago I posted a free basic cabled hat pattern for adults. Its a quick and easy pattern to crochet. I decided I needed a child’s size hat for an upcoming gift. So I downsized that original crochet pattern and created two different sizes. One for a baby (1+ years old) and another for more of a toddler’s size (2-3+ years old).
The free pattern is below and you can always go up or down a hook size to adjust for a different child’s head size as needed. Enjoy and happy crocheting!
Child’s Simple Cabled Hat Pattern
H (5 mm) crochet hook = 1 year old baby (16” cir by 7.5” long) for baby hat
or 18” cir by 8” long for child size 2-3 year old
Yarn – 2 ounces worsted weight (medium) 4-ply (100-110 yards) baby; 2.4 ounces (120-130 yards) child
Note: Ch 2 at beg of each round counts as DC.
Ch 56 for baby hat or Ch 60 for child size. Join to make a ring and making sure your chain is not twisted.
(You will be working in the round and not turning your work as you crochet this hat.)
Rnd 1
Ch 1, Sc into the 2nd bump loop in the back of the chain to create a smooth edge.
This is done by working Sc in back bump of each chain across. Join with sl st to beg ch-1. (56 Sc for baby or 60 Sc for child size)
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