Stash Bust Update-March 2013

Posted on March 10, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Stash Busting for Hope, Update March 2013

Phew! It’s been a busy month and it’s only the 10th! I spent this last week finishing up a few hats I had started but hadn’t gotten around to completing. My incentive was to get the Kissy Fish Hats out to Halos of Hope ASAP. I also heard about a little girl in Michigan who could use a few hats. This is what was written about her on a facebook page I stumbled upon.

(From Debbie Fry Kruse via Crochet Club Facebook Page)
This is Kaelee, (on the right) and her twin sister. She is in the 3rd grade. Kaelee just had to shave her head as she is fighting cancer. She is from a small town and I’d like to show her no one fights alone! Her teacher will post pictures of the hats from around the world! If you would like to send a hat to her at school, the address is: Hopkins Elementary School, 400 Clark St., Hopkins, MI 49328 attn: Heather Fuss

and this article about an upcoming fund-raiser for her family.

So this month, two of my Stash Busting for Hope hats will go to Kaelee (green with flowers and pink stripes with heart) and two (fish) of my hats will go to Halos of Hope. The four hats together weigh in at 13 ounces.

Total Stash Bust Yarn Weight to Date: just over 2 pounds! (1/3 done!!)

Total Stash Bust Hat Count to Date: 10

Pattern Testing for Hope

Posted on March 6, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Thank You Amazing Pattern Testers!

Whenever I’m ready to release a new pattern, I always tech edit and pattern test it. There’s a great group on Ravelry where individuals volunteer to test patterns, for free. They work through it and let me know if anything is confusing and could be worded better. Or if stitch counts are wrong, if I missed a “ch 1 and turn” or even typos. I usually ask my testers to list final yarn usage so I know if my amounts listed are accurate. It’s a great group and everyone wins. The testers get a lot of free patterns and the designers get a lot of free help from the very people who use the patterns.

When I was ready to test my Kissy! Kissy! Fish Face Hat, I tried something different. With the help and blessing of the group’s moderator, Chris, I made an unusual request of the test that the tested hat be crocheted in chemo friendly yarn and then mailed to me to be donated to Halos of Hope for their Under the Sea Campaign for Atlanta area hospitals. I wasn’t sure what to expect-postage is expensive and a lot of people don’t have the extra $$ for postage, but boy did this great group of ladies step up to the challenge. I had 16 volunteers in a short period of time. From the 16, I received 26 hats for donation! What a great, giving group!

Check out these amazing fish! I included the 3 that I’ve made so far. I’ve got a couple more fishy hats I plan to finish up this week (Stash Busting for Hope!). Once they are done, I’ll be packing up all 31 hats to send to those brave young fighters.

Find out more about Halo’s Under the Sea Campaign. It’s not too late to make a hat and get it in the mail to them. I’m offering a 50% off coupon on my Ravelry site for the Kissy! Kissy! Fish Face Hat pattern. Use coupon code “HOHFishFace” to save $2.25 on the pattern, then, apply the savings to your postage. You’ll be so glad you did. : )

Coupon code expires 3/15/2013 midnight EST

Enjoy!

Stash Bust Update – Feb. 2013 Stash Busting for Hope

Posted on February 28, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Stash Busting for Hope, Update – Feb. 2013

Kissy! Kissy! Fish Face Hat.

This month I have one hat to share in my Stash Bust Challenge-the Kissy! Kissy! Fish Face Hat. This is a new pattern of mine. I was able to make one this month with my CottonTots weighing in at 2.75 ounces putting my total yarn usage to 1 1/4 pounds. (I promise to have more to share next month as I have 4 hats about 90% complete.) This cutie pie will be donated to Halos of Hope for their Stitches South Under the Sea for the Kids in Atlanta collection.

If interested, you can find the Kissy! Kissy! Fish Face Hat on Etsy, Ravelry and Craftsy!

Totally Free Crochet and Craft Books

Posted on February 23, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

How to get TOTALLY FREE Crochet and Craft Books

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. You can earn free craft books just by searching the internet with Swagbucks, seriously. Swagbucks is a search engine that randomly issues points for searches. Collect 450 points and you can turn them in for a $5 Amazon gift card. Get $25 in gift cards and you get free shipping on most of Amazon’s books. And if Amazon isn’t your favorite, there’s gift cards for Walmart, Target, Barnes and Noble, Starbucks and a ton more. Magazines and eBooks are available with points, You can also “buy” tangible goods with your points-a Conair hair straightener is 2,625 points or you can save for an Apple iPad Mini for 41,250 points! Or donate your points to a charity.

It’s that easy.

I found out about Swagbucks in January 2009 and have been using it ever since. To date I have earned 28,974 points or 64 gift cards for $320. I tried to do a screen shot of my recent activity. It didn’t come out great but hopefully you can see all my redemptions. There are more ways to earn points than just searching the internet. You can also earn points by using coupons-the same coupons you get from coupons.com, just thru their link. You can earn points by shopping at Walmart.com or Target.com just by going thru their links. If you download and use their toolbar, you’ll get 1 point a day. If you have the time (I don’t) you can complete surveys and watch videos and earn points. It’s really amazing. So WHAT IS THE CATCH?? None really. I don’t receive soliciting emails from them-at all. I might get one or two a month telling me about a new SwagEvent, but that’s it. However, there are ad links on the search results and the search engine isn’t the most comprehensive. But it does serve for most of my searches. If I can’t find it with Swagbucks, then I pull up Google and look there. So if you want to try it out, click the link. If you decide to sign up and try it out, I’d REALLY APPRECIATE if you used my link as I do receive referral points.

If you haven’t started using Swagbucks to search the internet, it’s time to start.

Duct tape and Crochet

Posted on February 6, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Duct tape really can fix just about anything.

I recently switched from Boye crochet hooks to Clover Soft Touch hooks. I’ve been having problems on and off with my right arm and I found having to have a tighter grip on the Boye hooks (thinner handle) contributing to the problem. The Clover hooks aren’t cheap so I’ve only purchased a few when I had coupons to help reduce the price. A couple weeks ago I found myself in a crochet pickle-I needed a 4.25mm hook to get gauge. My Clover G is a 4.00mm and I was short on gauge. Using my Boye G which is a 4.25mm, I was able to get gauge but my arm started hurting after just a couple of rounds. So what is a crochet addict to do….DUCT TAPE!

I placed a pencil grip on the hook and then covered it with duct tape. I wasn’t long enough so I added some poly fiberfill and then covered it in some more duct tape. The result is great! I was able to crochet for an extended period of time without my arm aching!

Although this worked in a pinch and I was able to finish my hat, I still prefer the Clover hooks as the Boye seemed to “catch” a lot on the yarn. I’m not sure why; I’ve used them for years without a problem. Maybe I’m just used to the weight and balance of the Clover hooks now. I’ll probably continue to purchase a couple more of the sizes I use often but this was a great, inexpensive fix.

Magic Circle aka Adjustable Ring, how to

Posted on January 23, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

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.

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

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

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 January 19, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

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.

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.

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.

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 January 4, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

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 December 30, 2012 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

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 December 26, 2012 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

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!

Crochet By Darleen Hopkins

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