A Sweater for Bruiser!

Earlier this month we got Bruiser, a Boston Terrier puppy.  Bruiser was just a little thing when we got him and he shivered every time he went outside.  Potty training a puppy in December is not my idea of a good time.  Apparently, Bruiser agrees.  He doesn't like the cold and prefers to leave me "presents" in the corners of my living room.  {Good thing we have wood floors.}  Being the problem solver I am I got right to work crocheting a sweater for our little pooch.

Boston Terrier Crochet Sweater

I promise, he really is thrilled about it.

I made this up as I went, so I'm sorry I can't provide an exact pattern.  {I learned to crochet watching YouTube tutorials.  What can I say?}  If you would like for me to describe how I created this sweater please leave a comment below and I'll do my best.

Boston Terrier Puppy Crochet Sweater Back

Boston Terrier Puppy Crochet Sweater Belly

Boston Terrier Puppy Crochet Sweater 2

Now all we need is snow!

Fun Crochet Hats!

This year for Christmas I got out my crochet hooks to make homemade gifts for my nephews.  I wanted to make them fun and unique hats.

Dragon and Owl Crochet Hats

My 4 year old nephew loves all things dragons.  I was able to find this pattern and modify it to fit my beginner skills.  I don't like to study patterns so I started with a basic beanie for both hats.  

Dragon Crochet Hat

And just for fun I made a beard hat for my brother-in-law.  Here's a picture of my husband modeling it before we mailed it.  Not perfect by any means (ended up being a little big) but fun none-the-less.

Men's Beard Hat

I'm still hoping for some snow days to stay home, snuggle up, and crochet some more.  

Goodbye Halloween, Hello Valentine's Day!

Hello F&F Fans!

I'm Amanda, aka Hooker #2! I'm really excited to contribute to Katie's blog!

Like Katie, I'm a teacher. And like most teachers, I LIVE for snow days! I might as well rename them "stay at home and make stuff days" because that's what I do. And take naps. With my cats. This week Mother Nature gave Oklahoma a snowy kick in the pants, and thus today is our third "stay home and make stuff day" in a row! Woo hoo!

These days off gave me the opportunity to finish some Valentine's Day projects and get them up on my mantel. The pathetic thing ... I had to take down my Halloween mantel! That's right, Halloween. I'm a little behind! You see, this year my husband and I were out of town for the holidays, so I decided not to put up Christmas decor, and the fall stuff never came down. Each time we've had friends over I've had to explain. I tell people Halloween is my favorite holiday - HA! So here's what my mantel looked like from October to yesterday:

So on Tuesday I got busy finishing my Crochet Hearts Garland that Katie and I started at our last craft date. I used 15 hearts and strung/hung them on a chain I crocheted with some random cotton stuff the hubby had in the garage. I had some mini-clothes pins on hand and they were perfect for attaching the little guys:


Next I made my first attempt at Subway Art! And that's just what it was ... an attempt. I created a major craft fail. The plan was: download a free V-Day Subway Art printable (found at Sprik Space), print it on transfer paper, iron it onto some pretty pink fabric. Everything went well until the final step:


The transfer paper didn't adhere to the swirly "damask" parts of the fabric. Sad! So, Plan B. I printed again and ironed it onto a different fabric. But the fabric was too busy and it was too hard to read the cute words:


So I moved to Plan C: print something new on cardstock (found this cutie at it is what it is), cut out with fun scissors, and glue to pretty fabric. Then the final step I'd been planning on all along - wrap fabric around an art canvas! Here's how it turned out. Not as polished looking as I had hoped, but I'm happy:


Then I made a V-Day wreath! I was inspired by a fun post over at tatertots & jello. I used a heart shaped foam wreath, red spray paint, about 100 cupcake liners and my hot glue gun:


When the wreath was finished I was ready to put it all up on the mantel! Wreath, garland, subway art, plus red, pink and white candles equals festive Valentine's Day decor! I'm pleased with the way everything turned out!


Now I will sum up everything I've learned with a Crafty Valentine's Day Poem:

Crocheting is fun,
Iron-ons are scary,
Glue guns solve problems,
Hope your Valentine's Day is merry!

Amanda

The Hookers' Club

Meet my friend Amanda.  She and I have started our own Hookers' Club.  At least that's what my husband calls us.  We call our meetings craft dates.  Less room for misinterpretation that way.  Anyway, on Saturday we got out our crochet hooks and spent the afternoon making heart garlands for Valentines Day.  I don't remember where I saw the idea first, but I found an excellent how-to video at Little Birdie Secrets.  This was perfect since I'm a novice "hooker" and this was Amanda's first time!  {Insert joke here.}

 We pooled all of our yarn and made lots and lots of hearts!  I especially love the larger hearts made from chunky yarn.

 After crocheting all the hearts I did a google image search to see how other women strung them on their garlands.  I found a few different ways to do it.  I also found some larger, multi-color hearts that I loved.  Don't you just hate finding great ideas at the end of a project?  {sigh}

Here is my finished simple heart garland.

I threaded my hearts on a long chain of color changing yarn.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!

Now for a challenge.  I'm using what I know about crocheting to add different colors to make another garland with bigger hearts.  I'm sure there is a great tutorial out there somewhere, but I don't like to read directions if I don't have to.  

For the first heart (above right) I followed the original heart directions from Little Birdie Secrets.  Then instead of fastening off I changed yarn and did an additional round of DC, adding extra DC stitches around the top curves and bottom point to keep the fullness and shape.  Not bad.  Knowing I could do better I made another basic heart.  This time, using the same multicolor yarn I added a second and third round of SC stitches.  Again, I added a few SC stitches around the top curves and bottom point.  For the forth round I changed colors and SC all the way around.  Round five I did TR stitches on top (as picture below shows) then DC down to the point.  When I got to the point I did one CH, TR, CH (just like the point of the small heart) and then mirrored what I did up the other side.  Does that make sense? 

The third heart (below center) is just another modification to add variation to my second garland.

I wrote the directions as I went this time.
Start with a simple heart.
2nd round- SC around, increase/add 1SC at top curves, 3SC at bottom point
3rd round- ch 3, TR 3, 2TR in next stitch, DC 5, ch 1, TR 1, ch 1, DC 5, 2TR in next stitch, TR 3, ch 2, sl st, fasten off

Repeat any or all of the above, string together, and garland two is complete!