Tag Archives: crochet

Free Pattern – Crochet Spider and Web Poncho

leave a comment

By Guest Blogger, Liz Meehan, from the blog, Crafty Woman Shop

Hi! My name is Liz and I’m the woman behind Crafty Woman Shop. I first picked up a crochet hook during the spring after my daughter was born. With the help of YouTube videos, I quickly caught on to the craft and began making items ranging from baby headbands to amigurumi. The items I made were either for my daughter, myself, or as gifts to others. Time and again, friends and family would tell me I should start sharing and selling my creations. After a few years of telling myself I would open up shop, here I finally am! I design both free and paid patterns, and today I am sharing a fun Halloween design that I hope you will enjoy creating!

Well it seemed like it was finally summer, but now fall has quickly rushed in.

Not that I have anything against fall. It is almost tied with summer for being my favorite season. Mild weather, fall foliage, holidays, deliciously scented candles (apple pie, anyone?), seasonal desserts (again, apple pie anyone?)…. I’m sure we can all think of many reasons why fall is so great. The only drawback is the winter chill that begins to creep in, but I guess a positive to this is having an even better reason to crochet!

Halloween is also creeping around the corner, which is a good reason to stretch my creativity into designing some bizarre creations. This week I decided to sit down and design a spider web poncho. I even took it a step further and made a black widow spider to go along with it.

Continue reading →

Create for a Cause – The Snuggles Project

leave a comment

Each month Think Crafts will feature an organization needing handmade items from crafters – like you! This month our focus is the Snuggles Project, a program of the Hugs Society – a nonprofit 501(3)(c) charitable organization.

What is a Snuggle?

The Snuggles Project definition is “a security blanket for shelter animals.” These blankets, or other comforting projects, provide a calming effect for frightened animals which in turn makes it more likely they will be adopted. As you can see below, some animals prefer their Snuggles to the bed the animal shelter provides!

The Snuggles Project website offers crochet, knitting, sew, and no-sew patterns. Snuggles may be small blankets to be used as a blanket, mat, or bed. They can be made of yarn, fleece, or fabric.

Suggested sizes are:

  • 14″ x 14″ for cats and small animals
  • 24″ x 24″ for cats and small to medium dogs
  • 36″ x 36″ for medium to large dogs

 

Not all the donated projects need to be blankets – some are “tubbies” made of yarn…

 

or toys.

Participants in the 22-year-old Snuggles Project program make Snuggles with the intention of donating them to an animal shelter to provide comfort and security to a homeless pet. The Snuggles Project website provides a state-by-state (and international) list of animal shelters accepting Snuggles donations. There is a printable donation form to accompany the Snuggle to increase awareness of the program. The Patterns FAQs answer many questions about appropriate projects and donation sites.

Why make a Snuggle?

There is joy in making and giving something which will provide physical and psychological comfort at a time when an animal feels the most vulnerable and hopeless. Snuggles can be a family, group, and intergenerational effort – the no-sew blankets can be made by children and seniors. The Snuggles Project does offer a membership (not required) which allows participation in the Snuggles Project Facebook Group and the Members Area.

Ready for a simple, fun project? Want a quick project to try out a new stitch or technique? Imperfections won’t matter to the animals. Someone is waiting for a Snuggle!

 

How to Make a Moss Stitch Washcloth

leave a comment

By Guest Blogger Barbara

My name is Barb, and I started doing crafts during high school while taking a home economics course. The class taught me how to crochet, knit, cross-stitch, macrame and sew. I have been doing these crafts for over 35 years and I still love to learn new techniques and challenging myself. I don’t know everything, but I love to learn and I’m always excited to try new things.

Visit Barb at her blog, One Crafty Gal today! 

I love to make washcloths, not only because they are useful and are so much better than the rough ones you buy at the store, but because they give me an opportunity to try new stitches. Whether it’s crocheting or knitting, making a washcloth allows you to practice a new stitch or one you have not used in a while without making a huge commitment. You can make a small mistake here and there and no one will ever know. Once you finish the washcloth you can confidently take on a larger project because you’ve gotten some great practice.

Continue reading →

Crocheted Back Packs

leave a comment

By Guest Blogger Jasmine

Visit Jasmine at her blog, PinkOlay Crochet, on YouTube here, and be sure to visit her Etsy shop today! 

   

So me and my daughter’s were walking through the mall and they saw these cute little back packs that they wanted, looking at these back packs I said I could make these so I set out to make my own pattern for these back packs, as well as my own graphs. My younger daughter want something simple just zigzags, ( which you can get here) and my older daughter want Bendy and the it Machine, ( mind you I had know idea who this was I had to do a whole lot of research, you can get that here) my daughters love there back packs and can’t get enough of them. Now you can use any graph you like on the front of your back pack these are just the ones my daughters like. I hope you enjoy this pattern as much I did making it. Also don’t forget to check out the video here

Continue reading →

Rainbow Easter Bonnet Hat Pattern

1 comment

By Guest Blogger Crystal

Hi, my name’s Crystal!  I’m a wife and stay at home mom to two kids, E & O and we’re expecting baby P very soon.  I have been crocheting ever since my oldest was born.  I had tried to learn for years by reading books with little success, but then one day I came across tutorials on the internet and it finally all made sense!  I’ve never looked back.

I started my blog, Marching North to share what I’ve come up with, as well as things I’ve made following patterns I’ve found online from all the super talented crocheters out there (giving them all due credit of course!)

Easter is right around the corner! My kids have been making me aware of that for a couple of weeks now. My daughter is a big fan of rainbows and colorful things so I thought this rainbow Easter bonnet hat would be perfect for her. I imagine she’ll be wearing it any time it’s cold enough, not just at Easter time! It makes me feel so good when I make them something and they actually want to wear it!

Continue reading →

Create for a Cause – Head Huggers

1 comment

I can’t lie, the first time I created for a cause when Disney was giving away free tickets for community service. I was stocked when I found that I could use my love for crochet to make hats, and get free Disney tickets! So for about a month, whenever I was relaxing in front of the tv to watch a movie or tv program, I was also making hats for newborns. I sent in way more than I needed to, and I never did use my free day pass, but I was so thankful to find a simple way to help others.

If you would like to Create for a Cause, I would love to help you, and to do that every month I am going to share an organization that would love your help!

 

Head Huggers

Do you knit? Crochet? Sew? Would you like to use this skill to help someone who has lost their hair due to chemotherapy, brain surgery, or burn wounds? Sue Thompson started Head Huggers to do just that, and would like to invite you to join her.

Sue started Head Huggers in December 2001 after meeting a wonderful lady who had a cold head while going through chemotherapy treatments for her then recently diagnosed breast cancer. Her one and only apparent side effect was that she had lost her hair. While they were out shopping and having lunch, this neat lady chose to wear a baseball cap to keep her head warm, even though the weather was mild.

A frequent side effect of chemotherapy, brain surgery, and burn wounds is hair loss and there are many folks out there with cool heads as a result. To provide needed hats for warmth, comfort, and dignity, Sue is building a workforce of craftspeople to create caps by knitting, crocheting, and/or sewing. These caps will be distributed to hospitals, oncology offices, hospices, etc. so that they can more readily be available, without cost, to those who have lost their hair.

If you are interested and would like more information (including patterns and ‘Head Huggers Guidelines’), please visit the Head Huggers website for information and patterns.

 

        

CREATE Paper Mache Letter Fun – Part 2

leave a comment

 

Explore several ways to decorate paper mache letters and spell CREATE in rainbow colors. Today’s posting, a follow-up to Part 1, will cover ways to embellish the A-T-E of CREATE with the Green – Blue – Purple colors of the rainbow.

Continue reading →

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...