Magic Circle aka Adjustable Ring, how to

Posted on by

How to make a Magic Circle/Adjustable Ring

I start almost all of the hats I make with a magic circle.  It’s a fantastic way to start anything that is worked in the round if you want to be able to control the amount of “holey space” in the middle.  With the magic ring, you can pull the hole as tight as you physically can leaving no gaping hole in the middle of your hat.  If a pattern suggests you chain 2 then work a round in the second chain, replace it with the magic ring and you’ll be real pleased with the results.

I’ve seen this method called the magic ring, adjustable circle, magic loop and many other similar combinations.  Whatever you want to call it, it is a great way to start a hat or any other item that is worked in the round.

step1 (300x300)1)Create ring and position with working yarn on top.

 

 

 

 

step2A (550x550)step2B (550x550)

2) Insert hook into ring and pull up a loop.

 

 

 

 
step3 (550x550)
3) Secure with a chain stitch.

 

 

 

 

step4A (550x550)step4B (550x550)4) Work stitches of 1st round (sc here) over both BOTH strands of yarn and pull tight with the END strand.

5) Continue with pattern.

 

Stash Bust 2013 – update January

Posted on by

A Flapper, Patrick Star and a Frog

I’ve been steadily working on my Bernat CottonTots 100% cotton yarn stash.  This month I have three hats to share with you.

P1010745 (500x499)

Waiting for Spring Flapper Hat

The first is the Waiting for Spring, Flapper hat.  This is the first hat pattern I designed and offered for sale and have not made it in a long time.  While I was working on it, my husband said “going Old School on this one, huh?”  It’s an adorable hat and I guess I need to make it more often!  I made an XL which should fit most 3 yr. to small adult heads.

P1010663 (500x500)

Silly Hat

The second hat is my latest release, the Silly Hat.  It looks a little bit like my favorite starfish, Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants.  Patrick is such a goofball; no wonder SpongeBob is best buddies with him.  It is a version of the Candy Corn Hat.  This is a medium (most 3-6 yr. old children).  It’s too tight for my almost 11-year-old to wear so it should be perfect for a younger child.

P1010751 (500x500)

Crazy Frog Hat

The last is my buddy, the Crazy Frog hat.  This pattern is included free with every one of Crochet by Darleen Hopkins patterns I sell (Ravelry, Etsy and Craftsy); just an extra bonus and thank you for your purchase!  I made a small/medium to fit most 3-6 yr. old kids.

I’m saving these three to donate to Halos of Hope when they arrive in Atlanta for Stitches South.  They are collecting regular and sea themed hats to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Egleston & Scottish Rite and will be distributing them that same weekend.

My three hats weigh in just over 9 ounces.  Add this to the two I donated in December to Halos of Hope, New England Chapter and that’s a little over 1 pound (so far) of CottonTots crocheted into soft hats for Halos of Hope!  Five pounds to go! : )

Free Pattern Friday-Showcase Minecraft Creeper

Posted on by

P1010644 (600x419)Christmas Creepers

Every year I try to make my boys a handmade item as one of their holiday gifts. I’ve made gnomes, silly monsters and kitty cats. This year, due to their recent obsession with the Minecraft computer game, I wanted to make them a Creeper. I was so thankful to find this pattern by Emjay Bailey aka Nerdigurumi. As you can see in the photo, my boys loved the Creepers. Check out her site. If you or anyone you know is into video games, she’s probably written a pattern to go along with it.
Thanks Emjay!!

Resolutions

Posted on by

Crochet resolutions for 2013

1. Work from yarn stash and only purchase yarn when absolutely necessary for a specific project; don’t buy yarn just because it’s on sale!  I already started this with my Stash Bust 2013 Challenge.

2. Complete the Crochet Guild of America’s Master Crochet Program.

3. Complete at least 2 hats per month for Halos of Hope.

4. Self publish at least 8 new patterns.

5. Learn to crochet with my left hand.  I’ve been “in training” for this by learning to use the mouse with my left hand.

6. Complete that scrap felted throw rug I’ve been wanting to make for a couple of years now!!!

Stash Bust 2013-update Dec.

Posted on by

P1010651 (600x600)P1010652 (600x600)Stash Bust Update!

I’ve been steadily working on my 6 pounds of Bernat Cottontots for my Stash Bust Challenge, 2013. I have two hats complete weighing just over 1/2 lb, only 5 1/2 pounds to go!! The two pink hats will go to Halos of Hope, New England Chapter. Erin has partnered with Halos of Hope to serve centers in the New England area. She is trying to collect 50 pink adult (female) hats by Feb. 1st, 2013.  I hope these two will bring comfort to a couple awesome ladies.

The Slouchy Newsboy Hat (bottom) is a pattern by Eileen Tepper and the other Cubed Slouch Hat (top) is a pattern I’m working on. All I have to do now is tag these two with yarn details and send them off!

Free Pattern Friday – Mr. Gnome

Posted on by

Mr. Gnome or Santa or Wizard Crochet Pattern

Mr. Gnome Crochet by Darleen Hopkins Pattern

Mr. Gnome Crochet by Darleen Hopkins Pattern

I plan to either offer or promote a free pattern on the first Friday of every month.   (I’m a day late this month due to an internet outage yesterday-don’t get me started on Windstream!) Last month I posted the pattern for my Slouchy Football Hat.  This month, I’ve decided to offer a Ravelry coupon code for a free copy of my Mr. Gnome! 

Mr. Gnome is an adorable little gnome I originally designed for my oldest son.  He was gnome crazy last year so I came up with this little guy as a Christmas gift.  The really neat thing about this pattern is you can make him into a wizard, a Santa or anything else that has a pointy hat!   I used leftover worsted cotton yarn but really any yarn will work; thinner yarn will yield a smaller gnome, thicker yarn, a larger gnome.  I used an old sock stuffed with plastic beans so he’d stay level.

I’d love to see the finished gnomes!  If you are on Ravelry, link yours up to the pattern.   Also, I love to post completed projects on my Facebook page, Crochet by Darleen Hopkins.  Get yours while you can and check out what else I have in my shop.  Remember, all patterns and pattern collections/eBooks are buy 2, get 1 FREE.  No coupon needed, Ravelry will automatically deduct the lowest priced pattern from your purchase.  The coupon code is “GnomeGiveAway ” and it expires December 31st 2012 at midnight, EST.   Find it here Crochet by Darleen Hopkins on Ravelry.

Enjoy!

What to do with 6 pounds of yarn…Stash Busting for Hope!

Posted on by

Stash Busting for Halos of Hope

Last week we were getting ready to meet my parents for Thanksgiving at the beach.  I was frantically running around with last-minute packing and realized I didn’t have a project to work on in the car (6 hour drive!).  I had just finished a baby blanket and had two bib patterns in testing.  My only other WIPs were Christmas gifts for the boys-not something I could work on in front of them.  I did a quick glance at my  yarn stash and made a Thanksgiving promise-I’m going to bust this stash and make some hats for Halos of Hope.

6 pounds of Bernat CottonTots. 2013 Challenge, crochet into hats for Halos of Hope.
6 pounds of Bernat CottonTots. 2013 Challenge, crochet into hats for Halos of Hope.

My yarn stash is stored in paper boxes (you know the ones, I think 10 reams of 500 sheets of paper per case).  I won’t tell you how many boxes I have, but it’s a lot.  I have one box full of just Bernat CottonTots 100% cotton yarn.  I love this yarn.  It’s so soft, perfect for chemo hats.  So, in that frantic last-minute packing, I decided I will crochet all of the CottonTots into hats for Halos of Hope-Stash Bust 2013 (although I have a head start as I started on our trip).   I weighed the yarn when we returned home and it’s over 6 pounds!  While sorting through the box, I found some hearts already made. I’ll be using them on some of the hats.  I’m excited about this challenge and plan to post updates at least once a month.  Please check back on my progress and if you like, join in!  Check this list for pre-approved yarns perfect for chemo hats and this Guidelines and Helpful Hints in making hats for those experiencing hair loss due to chemotherapy or radiation.

Halos of Hope is a fantastic not-for-profit organization that distributes handcrafted hats to chemotherapy patients.  They work directly with chemo centers across the country .  Pam, a survivor, started the organization in 2006.  I’ve not yet had the pleasure of meeting her or the other volunteers in person, but hope to in the near future.  For now, I will continue to make hats and send them to Illinois.  Read some to their Stories of Hope .

Do you have some yarn in your stash that’s not on their soft enough for chemo hat list?  Try this stash buster pattern Made with Love, Heart Baby Blanket.

.

New pattern-Made with Love, Heart Baby Blanket, a STASH Buster!

Posted on by

STASH: to store in a usually secret place for future use

Stash Buster Pattern

Use a mix of similar fiber yarn in colors that blend well together

For those who crochet, STASH equals possibilities.  Will this skein be a hat or scarf to keep your son warm while he plays in the snow?  Maybe a market bag for weekend shopping?  How about a baby blanket for your co-worker’s newest family addition?  But sometimes a crocheter’s stash becomes overwhelming.  Do you have boxes or bags full of lone skeins or partial skeins?  Not enough for that sweater you’d like to make or not quite the right fiber for a hat?

Beautiful use of bright colors with Caron Simply Soft.

I’d like to introduce my latest pattern, the Made with Love, Heart Baby Blanket.  I designed this pattern to be a “stash buster”.  I’m a collector of sale or clearance yarn.  It’s hard to pass up a good sale.  Eventually the skeins build up and a stash of yarn ends up taking over the closet.  This blanket is designed to use only 1 or 2 skeins of each color.  If you don’t have full skeins, you can substitute different colors in place of 1 color.  For example, the pattern is written using 2 full skeins of Vanna’s Choice solids as the darker background color.  You can substitute the 1 color with 2 or 3 or more colors of similar shades.  As long as the colors work well together, you can use your stashed yarn to make a lovely blanket for someone special.

Here is a beautiful example.  Jennifer had only partial skeins of 2 different darker blue yarns.  So she combined the 2 and ended up with enough yarn for the darkest background color.  She alternated the 2 shades where the pattern called for 1 and used up some of her leftover yarn.  The result is gorgeous!

Jennifer’s stash for Patchwork Heart Baby Blanket.

Adorable! Jennifer subsituted 2 colors for 1 (background dark)

This beautiful pattern can be found on Ravelry, Etsy and Craftsy.  Intermediate skill required as you must be familiar with changing colors mid-row.

Thank you and Enjoy!

Darleen

Handmade Holidays-Winter Crochetvolution is a great place to start

Posted on by

If you are like me, and if you are reading this blog about crochet, it’s likely you are, you like to include handmade items in your holiday gift giving.  I’m always looking for something unique to make and to give.  It’s also nice to be able to gift something special that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.  One great place to start looking for gift pattern ideas is Crochetvolution (it’s FREE!).  This “new” eMag has been growing over the last 14 months; both in readership and in pattern offerings.  The latest issue, Winter 2012 is fantastic (yes,  I’m a little biased as I contributed an article and a pattern).  But I’m talking about the other fantastic patterns, beside mine.

There are too many patterns to highlight them all here, so you’ll just have to take a look yourself, but here a few of my favorites and the ones I hope to incorporate in my gift making this holiday season.

Mitten Bookmarks!  Adorable!!!! 

I’m making 4 sets of these to give as teacher gifts.   Best part, each one uses only about 5 yards of yarn!

Anastacia’s Textured Scarf is a unique twist on a warm winter scarf.  The yarn she chose for this project is gorgeous and works wonderfully with the pattern.

Sarah Jane’s Cowl is gorgeous too!  How can I choose which one to make???  And she has a fingerless mitt pattern to match  (see above), both can be made with just one skein of yarn, fantastic!

Last, but not least, my contribution to the issue, the Snowflake Ice Scraper Mitt.  The mitt part is made from a damaged wool sweater (instructions on felting here) and the snowflake can be made with just scrap yarn. Upcycle an old sweater and give a great gift!

This issue is jam-packed with fantastic gift giving ideas, from quick projects to larger ones for the very special individuals in your life.  Check it out, read the articles too and sign up to be on the mailing list (it’s FREE).