Warp Pipe Scarf

My husband, the driving force behind many of my crafting adventures wanted a present for a friend who not so subtly dropped hints about loving the Mario crafts and an upcoming birthday. Inspired by enemyairship's Piranha Plant Scarf we decided that a warp pipe scarf would be perfect. I figured that a warp pipe scarf might be versatile enough to wear out (without drawing too much attention to its Mario-ness) while still being worthy of the geek-craft label. The lovely recipient even agreed to model.

Question Block Blankie

Way back in October, I started and finished crocheting this blanket for some friends who are bringing a new little person into the world.  Although I had every intention of sending it out once it was completed, it has been languishing away on top of my dryer for five months.  In a typical fashion, I could never get it together to iron out the edge curls and give it a quick wash.  Needless to say, my friends have had their baby and now that I am sending out the blankie (hopefully before the kid outgrows little blankets), posting about it seems safe.  I figure that even if my friends used to check the blog, taking care of a newborn probably doesn't leave much time for surfing.  Congrats to Jason and Kassie (on being the recipients of one of my hand made creations of course).

Miles checked out the blanket and I guess approved of it since she spent some time rolling around and sleeping on it.

Spiderman!!!

My nephew is totally obsessed with Spiderman!  For awhile, he carried around a headless Spidey doll and would stick out his hand in the web shooting pose and go "pshooo, pshooo."  Last year I made him and my husband (who is also obsessed with Spiderman) matching beanies.  This last weekend, they went to the Emerald City Comicon and got their pictures taken with Stan Lee.  Stan Lee awesomely put his arm around my nephew and struck a classic pose.

Nintendo Controller Scarf

My husband doesn't wear scarves, which is unfortunate for him because I make so many lovely ones... For his birthday, I decided to disregard his disapproval for scarves and make one he wouldn't be able to resist. For two weeks I hid my secret scarf project from him. I only worked on it when he wasn't home and made him call me on the phone before walking through the door so I could put it away. Even though he never wore a scarf before, the "Nintendo Controller Scarf" has become a daily item of clothing for him.



I originally made more red and black pieces to sew on the scarf to approximate the buttons of a Nintendo Controller, but eventually, I decided I liked the unobtrusiveness of the scarf without all the extra bits. From a distance, you cannot really tell it is a controller which, according to the wearer of said scarf, creates a better "wow" factor when people eventually realize that you have been wearing a controller this whole time.

Honeycomb Lattice Button Cowl Pattern

Honeycomb Lattice Button Cowl

Although this is not a beginner pattern, once you get the hang of the lattice stitches, it is not too difficult ; )

 Stitches used:

Single Crochet (sc), Double Crochet (dc), Front Post Double Crochet (fpdc), Lattice Treble Cluster (LTC), and Half Lattice Treble Cluster (HLTC).

Materials:

Approximately 500 yards of worsted weight yarn (I used one ball of Sensations Rainbow Classic); H 8/5.00 crochet hook; Two buttons (about 1” in diameter, although you could use slightly larger buttons); Large eye needle (or something to use for attaching buttons).

Special Stitches:

There is a super awesome hat and visual tutorial (mad props for the visual tutorial using different colored yarn) of the Lattice Treble Crochet (LTC) stitch at Rheatheylia.com

LTC: YO twice (3 loops on hook); insert hook under LTC two rows down*; YO and pull through (4 loops on hook); YO and pull through 2 loops (3 loops on hook); YO and pull through 2 loops (2 loops on hook); YO twice (4 loops on hook); insert hook under LTC in front of hook two rows down; YO and pull through (5 loops on hook); YO and pull through 2 loops (4 loops on hook); YO and pull through 2 loops (3 loops on hook); YO pull through all 3 loops.

* For rows beginning with 2 sc the first LTC you insert hook under will be slightly behind your hook and two rows down. For rows beginning with 3 sc, the first LTC you insert hook under will be directly below (or just slightly in front of) your hook and two rows down. The second LTC you insert into will always be in front of hook.

HLTC: YO twice (3 loops on hook); insert hook under LTC two rows down**; YO and pull through (4 loops on hook); YO and pull through 2 loops (3 loops on hook); YO and pull through 2 loops (2 loops on hook); YO and pull through remaining 2 loops.

** For HLTC the LTC you will insert hook under will be more obvious than with the LTC stitch because it will either be the first or last LTC of the row two rows down.

Pattern continues after the jump...

Eyeballs

At the office where husband works, someone started a Halloween treat swap thingy. Basically, you get a note that says, "You have been Booed" along with a treat. Then you post the sign on your door and pay it forward to two people. When husband was booed, he requested that I crochet some treats for his pay it forward (I think everyone else gave candy). So I crocheted these creepy little eyeballs...

The pattern is loosely based on http://www.scificrafts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Crochet-Eyeball-Pattern.pdf although after row 7, I tied on all the red yarn and let it hang from the outside while I finished the eyeball part. Then I threaded the yarn onto a tapestry needle and chain-stitched the bloody nerves to the back of the eyeball. As with most of my creations lately, these were gone before I even had a chance to really look at them, so I think I will make some more for myself.

International Bacon Day!!!

This coming Saturday, September 5th, 2009 is International Bacon Day. In honor of the celebration of such a glorious food, I am posting some recent works of bacon-art. Above is the "Breakfast Awareness Ribbon" modeled by my husband and below is the "Bacon Scarf" modeled by the blue chair. Although these treats aren't as delicious as edible bacon, they are crocheted in vegan and kosher yarn and can be enjoyed by all. For more info on Bacon Day, see http://internationalbaconday.blogspot.com/

Take care and enjoy the bacon.

Mario Mushroom Crochet Pattern

Mario Mushroom Pattern

By Yoshi Kumara

Here is the pattern for these cute little mario mushrooms. If you copy the pattern, please attribute it to me, thanks.

Materials

Worsted weight yarn in white and red or green.

Small amount of black yarn for eyes.

G hook

White Felt

Needle and white thread

Mushroom Cap

R1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook.

R2: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sts).

R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (18 sts).

R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (24 sts).

R5-7: Sc 24

Attach 5 felt circles (I sew mine on, but they could be glued on).

R8: In back loops only, *Sc 2, dec 1* repeat 6 times (18 sts).

R9: *Sc 1, dec 1* repeat 6 times (12 sts)

circle to 2sc, 2sc in same sc 24

Mushroom Stem

R1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook.

R2: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sts).

R3-6: Sc 12.

Stitch in eyes, I do this by using black yarn and making one vertical stitch.

Stuff and sew together.