Tiny Crosses for Easter

I initially started fiddling with cross designs when a young coworker of mine was leaving the pizza industry to persue a brighter future in the direction of ministry. It was my intention to give one to the lad, but didn't finish before his two week notice was up. Now it seems appropriate to post for Easter instead, sort of in his honor I suppose.

Smallest Cross Pattern:

Finished size: 1 1/2" tall x 1" wide
Crochet thread size 10
Steel hook, size 8 (1.5 mm)

Chain 12. 1 SC in 2nd ch from hook and next 3 ch. (Ch 5, 1 SC in 2nd ch from hook and next 3 ch) twice, for a total of 3 short arms of equal length.
For open center cross, 1 SC in 7 remaining ch, finish off and weave in ends.
To close center, insert hook into side loop of closest SC in center arm, y/o and pull loop through. Repeat with first arm made, but pull loop through both loops on hook to make HDC. 1 SC in 7 remaining ch.

Coming soon, directions for how to kale this little cross into a dainty bookmark, pendant or charm for a bracelet.

Larger Cross Pattern:

Row 1: Make magic ring, 12 DC in ring and pull tight.  You can probably get the same effect with the usual ch 3, 11 DC in 3rd ch from hook method, but I can never get it to work right.

Row 2: Ch 9, DC in 4th ch from hook and next 5 ch. Skip next DC, (slip st in next 2 dc, ch 9, DC in 4th ch from hook and next 5 ch, skip next DC) twice, slip st in next 2 DC, ch 15, DC in 4th ch from hook and next 12 ch, skip next DC, slip st in lat remaining DC and finish off. Weave in ends.

It helps to block these with a little glue to help them keep their shape.

Doorflake for Christmas

It's almost Christmas, and everything on my to-do list is so far behind that I've forgotten most of what was supposed to be on it to begin with.
My husband and I will be spending our first Christmas in our first purchased home this year, and after nearly ten Christmas's with not much beyond each other, we're excited to really make this home ours.
To celebrate, I thought I would make our first outdoor decoration since funds are low from remodeling a foreclosed home. I love making Snowcatcher's beautiful flakes so much that I decided to try making a giant flake using this snowflake.
Here it is on the blocking board, ready to be stiffened. I should note that my flake has a few mistakes, namely that my thick head was misreading part of the pattern and added extra spaces and picots on the final row. After messing up several times and just wanting the thing done, I decided the extra bits didn't look so bad, and it was time to move on to other projects.
If you like making snowflakes, definitely check Snowcatcher out. Her patterns are absolute genius and are relatively easy to follow as long as you're a practiced hooker, so to speak.
Happy holidays everyone!

Update: simply blocking this giant flake with glue alone thus far has not made it stiff enough to hold its own weight; the side spokes sag and flop forward. My plan is to try even more glue (the back of the flake still feels soft in places) and will probably use wax paper on my blocking board instead of tinfoil... I spent an aggravating amount of time peeling it off in tiny slivers when I was already running late for work, so one can imagine the distress that ensued.

12/21/17 update:
IT'S UP!

For now, it has to come inside every time it rains, because we've yet to get around to building a roof for the porch... eventually it may get a coating of clear polyurethane, but for now what we have left is going to other projects, and I'll just have to be careful with the doorflake. :)
Merry Christmas!

Crochet Heart Buttons

For the last two or three months I've been working on the playful hooded cardi from Redheart.com (http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/hooded-playful-cardi is the URL if the listed link at the bottom doesn't work). After improvising to make up for my mistakes, running out of pink yarn, and having small stitches in general, I realized I didn't have buttons or money to buy buttons for it... so I made some.

I used an F sized hook with worsted weight yarn.

Make a magic circle (I'm not sure how well it works with the chain 2 method, but it may).

For a heart shape:

Work 4 SC, 1 HDC, 4 SC in ring. Finish off, but do not join. Pull the first end from tightening the magic circle to the bottom of the heart, right through the middle of the HDC. Pull the finishing end through the exposed loop of the magic circle (you may need to pull the first and last SC apart a little to see it).

That's it! Round buttons are as easy as working an even number of SC or HDC into a magic ring and joining before finishing off. I've also used DC and linked DC as well for a more interesting look.

When crocheting buttons, consider the size buttonhole you are working with. If your buttonhole is only one chain wide, or is very small, making your own buttons may not be a viable option for you, but different sized buttons can be achieved with different hooks and even by pulling apart 4 ply yarn to make 1 or 2 ply yarn.

Happy hooking, and be safe during the holidays!

Hooded Playful Cardi from Redheart

Introduction and Rules

I've created this blog with the intention of sharing the few original crochet designs I've come up with. Most of my work can easily be copied by anyone with a decent amount of crochet knowledge without a pattern, so these will be very easy beginner type projects. If you do make use of my patterns, you may of course sell your product. If you feel like mentioning me, that's super awesome. If you repost my pattern elsewhere, please give me credit and link to this blog. I don't think that's too much to ask.

I have difficulty with some delicate work due to my poor vision as well as a detached ligament in my left hand and damaged tendons in both forearms. This also means that it can take me a long time to complete a project or a pattern because I have to take breaks to rest my hands, so in advance I ask for patience and decency. 

In return I will avoid treating this blog as a LiveJournal or other social media used to whine about life problems. We're here for crafty fun stuff, not "omg my life is so hard". I will only go so far as to say that I crochet, craft, and garden for therapeutic reasons. I will also limit it to free patterns, both my own and those I've found and enjoy. I will not post pictures of cats unless they refuse to get off my work. I will not post gardening advice or pictures here, I intend to make a separate blog for that and mostly to help myself keep a record of the garden.

And yes, I'm aware that most of these rules are for myself.