Trick or Treat Tree & Jack O'Lantern Crochet

The JCS Halloween ornament issue has so many cute designs for Halloween that I would love to just stitch them all. I wish I had more little kids in my life to stitch for. I picked the "Trick or Treat Tree" by Pat Thode for my first finish from the magazine. A bit of a wonky finish, but that's par for the course when I do these things. I added a few cute buttons from a Dress It Up pack. The rick-rack worked out ok after hand basting first. And one more use for the crocheted treble chain as a hanger.


I was searching for Halloween motifs to crochet, and it occurred to me that I could use potholder patterns but crochet them in bedspread weight thread instead of using worsted weight yarn. So I tried it with this Jack O'Lantern pattern from Leisure Arts and turned it into a needle case. It has a clear plastic snap for a closure. I'd never tried the plastic ones, but I think I like them. I added it to few things I sent to Cathey (Ms Pumpkin Patch herself). I'm sure I'll use this idea again.

Penguins everywhere & the Crochet Lagoon

I stitched up this cute freebie penguin ornament, "Chilly's Gift", from Stitchy Kitty mostly because I was looking for a way to use the little crocheted penguin motif I had made. I had everything I needed in my stash: Cape Cod Sky fabric from Sassy, blue piping for the trim, a cute heart button for the 'gift', blue crochet thread for the hanger (yes, it's the treble crochet chain again!) and the blue backing fabric. The cutie pie penguin appliqued onto the back is another of the motifs from "Crochet a Little".




And for a quick visit to the crochet lagoon courtesy of Crochet A Little once again, take a look at these creatures. Now I have to think up uses for them! I think I'll try one more mermaid. That was the first one I made using those diagrams with much help from Kirsten. Maybe I can do her a little more neatly the second time round.

Summer Love shirt and other critters

When a designer creates a design especially with you in mind, you really can't do anything but take up the challenge. That was the case for me with Kirsten's "Summer Love". Modell's had an oversize shirt that was perfect for Jazzercising and part of a summer clearance for only five bucks. Who could resist? I tried to pick colors that would show up nice. That's always a challenge. The design elements may be a bit small, but I'm pretty happy with the results on this one, although my stitches are never really nice enough on a t-shirt. I've come to accept that!




And for those of you thinking of running away and joining a crochet circus, I have two friends you can join. These are my latest from the Crochet A Little blog:

I heart reindeer

The "I Love Reindeer" design in the July/August issue of JCS was such a cute idea that I had to stitch it up. The design is by Deborah Thorpe of Midsummer Night Designs and is stitched on Vikki Clayton linen. It has three cute little reindeer overlaying a background of snippets from the first verse of "The Night Before Christmas". Of course, that poem was not suitable for me so I changed up the background to be snippets from "Jingle Bell Rock"! You can listen to Bobby Helms, the original singer, sing it here or read the words here. For the finishing I used the same crocheted border from the heart sachet in my last post. It's backed with a red cotton fabric and thanks to a tip from Lee, I used two pieces of felt between the stitching and the backing to act as a stiffener, a quick substitute for quilt batting.




And the mention of Lee is a nice segue to show you the beautiful gift I received from her as a winner in a drawing she had on her blog. Lee is really a master needle worker and she has been making variations on this friendship heart idea. This little piece made my jaw drop when I opened it. It is so expertly done with the gorgeous beading, a delicate buttonhole stitch border, a teeny bullion rose and a dragonfly charm. A little "made with love" charm is attached on the back. It's so deliciously exquisite at only about 2.5" high. I absolutely adore it.