Crochet Egg Cozy for Easter; Free Pattern!

Just in time for Easter, some fun bunny shaped egg cozies to dress up your holiday baskets!  A couple of years ago I made these cute little hens, made from this pattern, and now they have some new friends to keep them company!  The following is my first ever published crochet pattern, so I apologize if there are any mistakes.  If you do find a mistake, or if you find any part confusing, please write a comment below and I will try to address it.

Gauge
Gauge is important for this project because the cozy will need to fit around your egg. Because the size of eggs very, as well as your own personal crochet style (do you crochet more tightly or loosely?) you may need to adjust your hook size to accommodate these variables.  I use two different hooks to create these cozies; US size G and F.  If you are using the same or similar yarn as me (see below) try using the same size hooks as I do to start.  After about the 9th row or so of making the body, try it on your egg and make sure it fits well.  Adjust your hook size accordingly if this is not the case. (The photo below shows a cozy after completing row nine and my G hook.)

Yarn
All cozies pictured here have been made with Caron Simply Soft. If you do not have this yarn available or if you would like to use a different yarn, it is labeled as “medium 4” yarn (worsted weight?) on the package and the recommended hook size is US H. If you do use a different yarn I would recommend sticking with a 100% Acrylic, as you will not have any unwanted stretch.

Supplies

Yarn (Caron Simply soft in any color or other similar 100% acrylic yarn of your choice)
Size G and F hooks (or size to obtain gauge, see above)
Tapestry needle
scissors
small safety-pin or stitch marker
fork

abbreviations
st            stitch
sts          stitches
sl st        slip stitch
ch           chain
sc            single crochet
hdc         half double crochet
dc           double crochet
FPdc       front post double crochet

Now lets begin the pattern!

Body (make one)
The body is worked from top to bottom in joined rows. The chain stitch (or stitches) at the beginning of each row does NOT count as the first stitch of the row.

With size G hook (or the larger of the two crochet hooks that you will be using to obtain gauge)
make a magic loop
Row one-  5 sc into loop, tighten loop, sl st into the first sc of the row (5 sc)
Row two-  ch2, 2 hdc into the first sc of the previous row and each remaining sc of the row, sl st into the first hdc of the row (10 hdc)
Row three-  ch2, 1 hdc into the first hdc of the previous row and each remaining hdc of row, sl st into first hdc of the row (10 hdc)
Row four-  ch2, *2 hdc into the first hdc of the previous row, hdc into next hdc,* repeat from * to * until the end of the row, sl st into the first hdc of the row (15 hdc)
Row five-  ch2, 1 hdc into each hdc of the previous row, sl st into the first hdc of the row (15 hdc)
Row six- ch2, *2 hdc into the first hdc of the previous row, hdc into next 2 hdc,* repeat from * to * until the end of the row, sl st into the first hdc of the row (20 hdc)
Row seven-nine- 1 hdc into each hdc of the previous row, sl st into the first hdc of the row (20 hdc)
Row ten-  with size F hook (or one hook size smaller than you used for rows 1-9), ch2, 1dc in each of the hdc of the previous row, sl st into the first dc of the row (20 dc)
Row eleven & twelve-  ch2, *1dc into first dc of previous row, 1dc in next st, 1FPdc in each of next 2sts,* repeat from * to * to end of row, sl st into the first dc of the row (20 dc)

leaving a six-inch tail, snip yarn, tie off and weave in the end.

Ears (make two)
The ears are worked from top down. The first three rows are worked in a spiral, while the remaining rows are worked back and forth. Mark the first stitch of each of the first three rows using the safety pin or stitch marker so that you know where the rowed begins.

using size F hook (or the smaller of your two hooks to obtain gauge) make a magic loop
Row one- 6sc in loop, tighten loop (6 sc)
Row two- *2sc in first st, 1sc in next st,* repeat from * to * twice (9 sc)
Row three- 1sc in each st (9 sc)
Row four- flatten the bowl shape that you just made and work 4sc across, connecting the two sides, ch1, turn (4 sc)

Row five-eleven- 1sc in each st, ch1 turn (4 sc)
at the end of row eleven, sl st into the first sc of that row (creating a fold at the bottom of the ear), leaving a 10-12 inch tail, snip yarn, tie off, make second ear, position both ears on body and attach.

The photo below shows the completed ear before folding the bottom in half and slip stitching into the first stitch of the last row.

Tail (make one)

Using your fork and the tutorial found here, make a tail and attach it to your cozy.

Your done!

*** Feel free to make these cozies for your personal use.  You may also make and sell egg cozies from my pattern locally (not online).  Please do not copy this pattern and claim it as your own. Please do not re-publish photo’s as your own.***

If you make an egg cozy I’d love to see it!  Post a picture on the zween facebook page or link to your blog post in the comments below!  Speaking of Facebook, make sure to keep up with all things zween by following me there as well as on Pinterest.

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Two new friends for baby

Meet the two new softies that I recently made my future baby girl.  Both were made from free patterns that I found online.

The doll pattern is by Emily Martin of The Black Apple.  I’ve admired Emily’s work for some time and first learned about her through my favorite craft podcast CraftSanity (check out Episode 75).  Emily even demonstrated how to make this doll on the Martha Stewart Show and you can still find the pattern, tutorial and video on the Martha Stewart site.  For my own doll I made a couple of adjustments.  Instead of painting on the facial features I embroidered them and I also added some pigtails.

I’m really happy with how she turned out, but I do admit that the pattern was a little challenging to use.  It was a free pattern after all, so I’m not complaining, but if I were to make this doll again I would re-draw the head and body pattern pieces with a seam allowance.  There are no seam allowances in this pattern.  Emily addresses this briefly on the video and suggests tracing the arm or leg right onto the fabric than stitching on the line before cutting it out.  Well, this works great when dealing with the small arms and legs.  But when it comes to putting the whole doll together at the end I would have had an easier time lining things up had there been a seam allowance given.

The owl was created from a free pattern by Ruth over on Hammer & Thread.  The pattern along with the tutorial was very easy to understand and follow, so my owl came together much more easily than the doll, that is until I got to attaching the tail section.  To be fair, Ruth clearly warns that this is the most challenging part of the project and she isn’t lying!

So if you’re looking for a softie project I would suggest that you put these two on your to do list.  They are cute little items that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.  And although I really enjoy creating my own patterns and designs, I am a newbie when it comes to sewing three dimensional items like this, and I feel that following patterns can be enough of a challenge in this area.

Thank you for stopping by.  Happy crafting!

This post has been linked to:
Sew Cute Tuesday (6.5.12) on Creative Itch

Recycled Fabric Changing Station

The other day while at the Library, I came across Amy Butler’s book Little Stitches for Little Ones and got inspired to make this changing pad using only materials that I already had lying around.

Amy Butler creates some of the most beautiful fabric patterns that I’ve ever seen, but when I found this project I immediately got really inspired to do some upcycling.

I really like the look of vintage bed sheets and have amassed a good quantity over the last several years.  Most of the ones that I’ve purchased from thrift stores are full or queen sized flat sheets as well as some pillow cases, since fitted sheets don’t tend to hold up very well over the years.

Amy Butler’s Changing Pad Pattern calls for a piece of mid-weight printed cotton for the exterior and coordinating solid-color terry cloth for the portion where the baby will be placed down for changing.

For the mid-weight printed cotton I used a very retro butterfly bed sheet in browns, orange, and gray set on a cream background.  This was a sheet that I cut up years ago to make curtains with (note to self; curtains are probably not the best application for vintage bed sheets).

For the terry cloth I used an old brown towel.  I chose it because it was nice and soft but we don’t ever use it for showering, as we have about 6 really nice fast-drying towels that where recent gifts.  Also, I figured that the dark color would mask some of the inevitable stains.

The pattern also called for two pieces of batting for the inside, which I just happened to have from another project, but if I wouldn’t have had enough of that I would have used pieces of an old felt-like blanket that I’d already cut up to use as batting for another project.

My finished piece is just a little bit different from the original pattern.  For instance I ended up making the changing pad two inches longer to coincide with the width of the towel because I couldn’t see just wasting those two inches for no good reason.  The second thing I changed was the tie.  In the pattern you are supposed to make the tie with the printed fabric and this gets velicroed to itself around the mat when it’s rolled up.  Since I didn’t have any sew-on Velcro to use but did have a spool of brown grosgrain ribbon I decided to use two lengths of that and make it tie closure instead.

Now we’ve got a changing pad to use on the go that’s completely washable and almost 100% upcycled!

This is a great project for people who have a sewing machine but who aren’t that ambitious or who feel overwhelmed by the thought of following a sewing pattern.  I for one usually have a hard time following sewing directions, but even this wasn’t too much of a challenge. (bonus points for my first “quilting” project!)

What have you made for your little one out of recycled/ reclaimed materials that you have found indispensable as a parent?  I would love to hear about it!  I’m looking for some more things to make and would love some inspiration!  I think that one of the next things I’ll try making are some fitted crib sheets (there’s a pattern for those too in the book mentioned above).  Something tells me that you can’t have too many of those!  I’m thinking that my vintage bed sheets would be a great application for baby bed sheets.

*This post was just added to The Inspiration Board Link party over on Homework!

I heart artichoke hat

Here’s a fun little project that I’ve been tackling the last few days.  The inspiration for this hat came this past Saturday from my table neighbor at the November Cleveland Craft Coalition Bazaar.  She had a beautiful scarf crocheted in a variegated fall color way using a crochet stitch that I had never seen before called the crocodile stitch.  Since I love learning new techniques,  I decided that I had to teach myself how to make this stitch.

The process of learning the technique was fairly easy with the internet.  All I had to do was google “crochet crocodile stitch” and I got tons of results.  I started with learning the basics from this video on YouTube.  After I learned the basics of the stitch I was ready to put it to use.

Though I think a scarf is a great application for this highly textured stitch, I wanted to try a hat, which is how I found this free crocodile stitch hat pattern.  What’s interesting about this pattern is that it’s worked from the bottom up, which is opposite from the way I am used to crocheting.  Along with becoming very familiar with the crocodile stitch by making this hat, I also needed to learn how to make a half double crochet foundation row, for which I used this YouTube video.  Unlike a regular chain stitch foundation row, the half double one allows for much more stretch.

As soon as I saw the pattern online I knew right away that I wanted to make my hat look like an artichoke.  I mean this stitch just screams ARTICHOKE to me!  Luckily, I had nearly an entire skein of Caron Simply Soft yarn in Dark Sage from the shamrock garland I made last March.

It was very easy to adapt the before-mentioned pattern to look more artichoke-like.  All I needed to do was create a stem on top to complete the look.  Easy!

Have you made something recently that utilizes a new technique?  I’d love to hear about it, or better yet see it!  You can post a photo of a finished project using a new technique that you learned on the zween facebook page, or just tell me the story of a project in the comments below.

Halloween How-To: Crochet Bear Ears

Here’s some fun, last-minute bear ears I made last night.  They only took about a half hour to make!  So, if you know how to crochet and need a really quick costume for next year, this is something to keep in mind.

How to make cute head band-style Halloween ears;

First crochet around the head band in single crochet.  I left just a little bit of room on each end where it tucks behind my ears.  Once you have single crochet along the whole band fasten off.

Now decide were you want your ears to be.

Ears (this pattern is for making rounded, bear-like ears, but could easily be adjusted to make triangular cat-like ears, or long bunny-like ears)

First ear

Row one- With the RIGHT SIDE facing and a new strand of yarn, single crochet into 6 sts (please note that I used a fairly thick yarn, so if you are using finer yarn you may want to adjust the number of stitches.) Ch 1, Turn. (6 sts)

Row two- 1sc in each st, ch 1, Turn . (6 sts)

Row three- sc 2 together, 1 sc in next 2 sc, sc 2 together, ch 1, Turn.  (4 sts)

Row four- 1 sc in each st, fasten off yarn

Second ear

Row one- With the RIGHT SIDE facing, repeat row one through four of first ear.  (this means that you will be starting from the right side of each ear and working left)

Finishing

With the RIGHT SIDE facing and starting on the right side of the right most ear; sc around ear, 1 slip stitch in each sc between ears, sc around second ear, fasten off.  Weave in all ends.

Inner ear (optional)

At this point you have ears!  If you used a fairly bulky yarn and crocheted it fairly tightly, they should have nice structure and stay up all by themselves.  Now you can add a little bit of pink to the centers to make them look more authentic.  For this part you could just cut little pieces of pink felt that are the appropriate size and shape, or, you can crochet them like I did.  To crochet the inner ears I used a finer yarn and a smaller hook and I followed the same pattern as for the outer ears but did a single crochet around the entire shape to end it.  After that I just used some black thread to sew the inner ears to the outer ones.  Easy!

I was working on some plarn owls last night and suddenly had the idea to make these.  I wasn’t sure if my co-workers would dress up for Halloween so I wanted to have something just in case.  Turns out nobody did, so they ended up staying in my purse all day.  Oh well!  I think these would look really cute with a matching crochet tale and mittens complete with little claws!