Stash Bust Update: April/May 2013

Posted on May 30, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Stash Bust Update, April and May 2013

When I sat down to write this I realized I didn’t post an update for April. I guess it’s because although I made a lot of hats for Halos of Hope in April, I didn’t make any hats out of my Bernat Cottontots stash. But I do have 3 Stash Bust hats for May.

First, Hooper the Shark. I love this pattern by Monica Miles. She designed it for Halos of Hope and you can own it with a $10 donation to this great charity. The money goes directly to them and is used to pay for postage in shipping their hats. I made a couple adjustments to the pattern for worsted/aran yarn (it’s written for bulky). You can see my adjustments on my Ravelry project page. And if you have friends who knit, they have a knitted version as well!

My second hat is Oink! I made this one on the bus going to and from my youngest son’s field trip. We had a nice day-went to Chattanooga, TN and saw Ruby Falls, an underground waterfall and went to the aquarium. Three hours on the bus each way and I had more than enough time to finish this cutie.

My last one to share with you is a bucket style hat. I was playing around yarn and didn’t follow a pattern. It came out kinda cute. There may be a Bucket Hat pattern in the future…

The 3 hats together weigh in at exactly 12 ounces.

Total Stash Bust Yarn Weight to Date: just under 3 pounds! (almost 1/2 way!!)

Total Stash Bust Hat Count to Date: 13

And for kicks and giggles, here’s a photo of Ruby Falls. : 0 )

Eyes, Getting them Right, Part III, Crocheted Eyes

Posted on May 27, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Part III in Eyes, Getting them Right

Capturing the right eye look for your crocheted creation may be as easy as baby safe yarn stitched eyes or cute button eyes. Or it may require something a little bit more than either of these. For those times when you need just a little bit more, crocheted eyes are the solution. And, just like anything you make with yarn, your possibilities are endless.

Mix it Up! Patterns will include instructions on how to make crocheted eyes. But once you have made a couple, mix and match different eyes with different patterns for an endless variety of options. My Kissy! Kissy! Fish Face pattern comes with instructions for 2 different eye options. Same basic pattern but look at how different the two fish are with a small change in the eyes.

Add Twinkle! Probably my favorite part about crocheted eyes is the option to add a little twinkle to the eye. With the tiniest amount of white yarn, your eyes go from bland to laughing eyes. And you can use this twinkle to have the eyes looking in one direction. I use the beginning tail (white) and make two tiny stitches at about a 120 degree angle. The result is adorable. He can look up, down, to the side or cross-eyed with this technique. You do have to be careful. If the twinkle in both eyes isn’t lined up just right, your critter will look “off”.

Explore your Options! With crocheted eyes, you are only limited by your imagination. Keep a folder-physical or virtual-of all your different eye patterns. After you have a collection, start exploring. Mix and match or come up with something totally new and unique.

Pros: Endless possibilities!

Cons: Takes a little longer to do and you may need to follow a pattern to get the right look.

IN SUMMARY

Whichever eye option you chose, make sure you do the following:

Keep the eyes even. You want your hat/doll/whatever you are making to be silly, not odd-looking. I always add 1 eye, then follow the same round/row to the spot where the next eye should be. Also, I don’t work in the ends until I am certain the placement is correct.
For hats, eyes placed closer together is better than farther apart. Hats will stretch when worn thereby adjusting the placement of the eyes. Try the hat on before committing to the final placement (ie working in all ends).
Have fun with it!

Eyes, Getting Them Right, Part I-Yarn Stitched

Posted on May 14, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

“The Eyes are the Mirror of the Soul”

Getting the eyes right on your goofy hat, bib or doll can make or break the cuteness factor of your creation. Choosing the right eye may depend on the recipient of the item, it’s intended use or what items you have on hand. I have three favorite easy and inexpensive methods for creating eyes; yarn stitched eyes, button eyes and crocheted eyes. This series of blog posts will discuss the pros and cons of each method, as well as some overall tips to use and pitfalls to avoid when attaching the eyes.

Yarn Stitched

Just a little bit of yarn can convey an expression-happy, angry or laughing. Make your doll asleep or stitch an “X” and turn her into a zombie. Yarn stitching is a simple form of embroidery. My Happy Pets hat uses a real simple eye to create happy, smiling eyes. It’s basically a stretched out tip of an arrow.

Sleeping eyes are a snap with a little contrasting yarn.

Sometimes, with a doll, all you need is a tiny eye and a French knot would be perfect in this case. I have a future pattern in mind where I will use this simple knot for the eye. In the meantime, I found this great resource if you want to give it a try.

Attack eyebrows

You can combine yarn stitching with other forms of eyes to add emotion. My Attack Sock Monkey combines a button eye with a simple yarn stitched eyebrow slanted downward to show he’s in attack mode.

The hardest part about this method is working in ends so they aren’t noticeable on the outside or bumpy on the inside. It is a very safe baby option as there is no choking hazard at all. Do an internet search for “embroidered eyes” and click the “images” button for ideas. You’ll find some beautiful, amazing, complex options but also some real simple variations that will be easy for you to duplicate with your own projects.

Pros

Uses left over yarn.
Baby-safe, no choking hazard.
Great option for items that will be washed a lot.

Cons

Can be tricky to learn the more complicated stitches.
Ends need to be worked in securely, invisibly and without bumps on the inside of the hat.

Muno by Michelle Vass

Here are a couple examples of other designer’s patterns (Rattle Monsters by Kristi Tullus and Muno by Michelle Vess) that use simple yarn stitched eyes. I love the creativity! Click on the photos to learn more about the pattern.

Rattle Monsters
by
Kristi Tullus

Next, Button Eyes…

Eyes, Getting them Right, Part II-Buttons

Posted on May 11, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Part II in Eyes, Getting them Right

My last post described yarn stitched or embroidered eyes. Another super easy method to adding character to your creations is with button eyes.

Buttons

Buttons are easy, inexpensive options for eyes and one of my favorites. You can find projects that use a simple basic black button sewed with black thread to projects that use three different colored buttons stacked one on top of the other and backed with felt. You know the saying, “Cute as a button”, well, there’s are reason for it! Buttons are cute and crocheted critters with button eyes are even cuter.

I prefer buttons that have four holes for attaching rather than two. They are more secure and I find the four holed buttons look better. Maybe it gives a slight illusion of a pupil, not sure, but it is a preference of mine.

TIPS

Use yarn to sew on the buttons. If your yarn is worsted weight or thicker it will be too thick to use to attach the button. A simple option is to split the plies of the yarn and use just one. Try sewing on the button with a coordinating color. For example, Mr. Springy has button eyes that are sewed on with the contrasting yarn used for his stripes.

Watch out for the types of buttons that attach at the back only. If they both aren’t secured tight enough they will hang uneven and ruin the look of a project. You may want to avoid using this type of button on a hat unless you used very thick yarn to crochet the hat. It is possible for the back of the button to poke thru and irritate the scalp.

Be careful of your placement of the buttons on a hat. If the hat is a gift or for donation, try the hat on after you placed the eyes to make sure they lay properly and are positioned in a natural way-not too far out to the sides. Hats stretch when worn and sometimes what looks good laying flat doesn’t look so great when worn.

Have fun with buttons. I made a Goofy Spider hat-he was purple and I wanted to give him red eyes. I had two mismatched red buttons in my button bin. I think they made him perfectly goofy looking.

Get creative with your button options. I had a hard time finding the perfect buttons for Blockhead Man. I want flat shiny black buttons and all I had were ones with ridges. So I flipped the buttons over, used the wrong side and they worked out perfect!

Pros

Cute, cute and more cute. I love the homey feel button eyes give a project.

Cons

#1 Con, buttons are a choking hazard. Do not use on items that will be given to babies younger than 3 yrs. old.

Next, Crocheted Eyes…

Celebrate my birthday with me!

Posted on May 6, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

You’re HOW OLD??

I’m starting to get to the point where, although I’m happy to have birthdays (better than the alternative) I’m kinda not liking getting older. I’ll be 44 in 10 days and I know, that isn’t old. But it seems like yesterday I was in my early 20’s going to college and seems like just last week I was in pigtails and climbing trees. It’s all relative, I know, but it’s still odd having sore knees and seeing the grey hairs and not-so-fine wrinkles popping up. So, to help me celebrate, I’m offering 44% OFF of any pattern purchases greater than $16. (I’ll be 44 on the 16th of May) Valid on Crochet by Darleen Hopkins purchases at Raverly.com only. Use coupon code BirthdayBash2013 to receive the discount. Valid now until midnight May 16, 2013 EST. You can also access the patterns via my new Patterns page. Please check it out and let me know what you think (there’s are really cool new Contact form on my About/Contact page).