WIP Wednesday - Doll Clothes Pattern by Red Heart

I'm still crocheting don't worry but I'm totally obsessed with knitting doll clothes right now! 

With Valentines coming I thought this fun 

Love My Doll Sweater from Red Heart Yarns 

was perfect. 

I was able to practice color changing which was a challenge. 

The Sweater pair's nicely with the Sparkle Christmas skirt too! 

I want to make more of those skirts in some neutral colors! 

This next set was so fun to make! My Daughter (age 6) and I like to browse Pinterest and Raverly for Doll Clothes! I have a million things saved! She picked out this next set 

Doll Robe and Bunny Slippers pattern also from Red Heart Yarns

I love that it used worsted weight yarn. I used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in the Colorway Lemon Ice. She requested I leave off the hood, which was good because I totally messed up when I made it. I just didn't read the directions correctly and I had to unravel it! oops! I still like it with out it. 

My favorite part was making the fun little bunny slippers. 

They were so easy to make. 

Worked up supper fast too! I'll have to make more of just the slippers for her dolls. 

They slide right on and fit perfectly. Some of the shoes she has are difficult to put on and 

I could use lots of scrap yarn to make lots of slippers or boots! 

It's easy to adjust the height of the slippers.  

I think the set turned out great! she requested a 2nd set in another color for her other doll but I have something else on my needles already for Valentines Day! I can't wait to show you once it's finished! 

Red Heart has lots of cute crochet and knit patterns for dolls! Check them out below! 

Crochet 

Bed Time for Dolls 

Walking the Dog for Dolls 

Summer Frills for Dolls

Debutante Doll Dress 

Doll Wedding Dress

Party Time Doll Outfit

Retro Doll Accessories

Doll Witch Costume

Just Like Me Doll Shrug

Knit

Dolls Day at School 

Doll Size Cowl and Beanie

Floral Knit Doll Accessories 

This isn't a sponsored post. I just really liked the fun selection of free patterns for dolls Red Heart had to offer! 

Thursday Yarn Talk - Unforgettable

I love trying new yarns. I've seen lots of gorgeous projects lately using Red Heart Boutique's Unforgettable. The colors are lovely. I was drawn to the Fall colors of the color way Sunrise with it's Jewel toned brown, oranges, reds and deep blues. The yarn is soft and silky feeling even though it's just acrylic. 

I had a pattern I wanted to make. I recieved it at when I went to my local yarn shop for a knit/crochet in night. Someone won a kit but she didn't crochet so she kept the yarn and gave me the pattern. You are in luck though because I found it on Raverly and it's a free pattern.  It's called the 

Cloudgate Cowl. It's a freebie from Cascade yarns.  

I love the texture of the stitching and the fun ripple. The colors just pop with it! It's a cozy little cowl and doesn't take to much time to work up! The pattern was great. I just would have preferred stitch counts on the rows but once I got it figured out then it was all good. Some times with the ripple stitch it's easy to miss or get and extra stitch and I had to frog several rows because I messed up. It's happens.  It's worked flat, back and forth and then you sew it together for the cowl. I think you could easily make it with a chunky yarn for a nice thick warm cowl and it would still come out a good size! I think I shall try that next! 

What do you think of this yarn? Have you made a project with it? 

Drops Waistcoat Pattern Review

This summer I came across a lovely crochet pattern from Drops. They have 100s of free patterns in lots of languages so it's a really great resource. The Pattern is called simply Waistcoat Pattern. 

I wanted a new top to wear over some of my Sunday dresses.  I was drawn to some extra skeins I had of Red Heart Shimmer in Black. I liked this yarn for this project because I was able to match gauge with it and it was sparkly. Its kind of hard to see that in the pics though. It's not heavy and drapes well. I don't completely remember but I took about 3 skeins. If you make one I would reccommend a light worsted yarn. I think regular worsted could work but you might need to crochet tighter. 

I made the XL but as some of you know I've been loosing weight so it's a little big in the back portion. I wished I taken out a few rows but I was afraid it would be to small. I think I'll make a few adjustments to my finished product for a better fit and maybe a lacy cuff sleeve, but over all I'm happy with how it turned out. 

FYI- It is hard to take pics of yourself :) LOL! I used the video function on my iPhone and then did screen shots so these aren't the best pics, but I really wanted to show it to you on. 

Would you make one? What do you think? Have you made any Drop Designs? 

Yarn Eater Throw Update

Well It's been 6 months since I started my Yarn Eater Throw. 

You can read about the start of it and grab the free pattern in my previous post : 

Yarn Eater Throw

I got excited at the start to learn bavarian crochet but after the 1st few rounds I got distracted. I rarely do large projects. So I knew this would be a long process. The stitch is now burned into my mind and it's very easy even though you kind of have to pay attention or you will miss stitches.

Right now it's measuring about 32 x 32 inches. I have 10 skeins of yarn left and the wheel stitch rounds (2 rounds) now take about a full skien. My goal is to finish this by spring.

I'm slightly disappointed in the way the variegated colors are working. I love the yarn but I wish it had more blue and that the red/cream didn't look so pink. I originally went with the variegated because I'd hoped it would mean less yarn changes but you have to fasten off every other row anyways because of the way the stitch works. I think in the end I'll still like it but I'm to far in to start fresh. It's still a special project to me!

I think I may need to block it. I must have done something weird at the start or crocheted with looser tension because it won't lay flat. It kinda pokes up in the center. Unless I stretch it out, like I did for the picture. Anyone else have that problem? Any advise?

Hand Chain Scarf Crochet Pattern Review

Hand chain Scarf in Sashay Golden

During the business of the Holiday's I hurt my hand and couldn't crochet for a about a week. I'm not really even sure what I did. I play piano too and I think I actually hurt it practicing not crocheting. Hand and finger exercises are soooo important to your hand health. You can read more about that in a previous post I wrote: Breathing in and out while you crochet.

Anyhoo. Not being able to crochet for a few days well wasn't going to happen. I tried to rest but still needed to whip out a few gifts some how. So, I cheated and found a pattern on how to crochet with your fingers as the tools instead of a hook. I thought maybe if I was relaxed and not gripping a hook that might help the pain.

I had two skeins of Sashay yarn I'd bought at Michaels that I thought should be used. The pattern I found was a freebie on Red Hearts Website called Glam-It Up Hand Chain Scarf.

This is a wonderful beginning project. Even if you've never crocheted this would be a great place to start. Or if you teach it may be a great project for you to get your students started with the basics of chaining and tension with out having to worry about a hook.

 Working with the mesh yarn can be a bit frustrating otherwise. I'd made several ruffles scarfs the previous year and I prefer to knit those rather than crochet and I don't knit well!

These scarves worked up in about 20 minutes, so I made two and really could have made more! The colors were gorgeous and I loooove the way they turned out! I used Red Heart Sashay Metallic in Rubies and Golden. They are so sparkly and pretty in person. I also love the fact that the scarf is super light! It's not heavy at all! I will for sure made more of these in the future.

I used two fingers and kept my tension pretty loose. I left a decent amount at the end and after I tied the ends together I made a little bow detail (see golden image) That way I could make it adjustable. The golden one has different lengths wrapped. The red one they are all about the same length. I like options! So will you try a finger/hand chain scarf?

Hand chain Scarf in Sashay Rubies

Beginning of a Yarn Eater Throw

Happy July! If you know me I rarely make afghan unless I have too. I've actually made 5 this year, but none for me. So with us in our new home I've been trying to add some personal touches.  

My living room decor is Americana themed. Love the warm shades of Red, White and Blue. I'm planning on making some valances for the windows, pillows and an afghan. 

I fell in love with this yarn. It's Deborah Norville's Everyday Worsted in American Hero. Perfectly warm shades of the colors I was looking for and it's variegated. I don't usually like variegated but this with the project I have in mind it should work up great with out color changes!!! 

Long story short. I ordered 18 Skeins from Joanna's during a 40% off sale. Sadly they emailed me back and said it was out of stock and was being discontinued. I never believe the "it's being Discontinued" line. I've been told that at least 3 times and every time it was a lie!!!! I think mostly the store workers didn't really want to do there job and help me find it or just say it's backordered. Every time it's mysteriously reappeared on their shelves.

So I decided to go directly through Premier yarns. Guess what I found it! Not as on sale as I wanted but I got it :) I hope I got enough!! LOL

I'm going to make a Wool Eater Blanket. It's also referred to as 

Bavarian Crochet or Catherine's Wheel Stitch.

I found a free pattern from Red Heart

Fall Comfy Throw

This is just the start and I have a feeling it will be fall/winter before I actually finish it, but I'm excited to tackled the project. It is quite the yarn eater and you better like triple crochet because there are a lot of them! It's an intermediate pattern but I don't think it's too bad! I think you could easily learn it! 

I've seen many of these and they are always gorgeous! I'll post more of my journey here and in my Raverly projects.

Living Room Throw/Blanket

With all this talk of Red, White and Blue I'm going to wish you an early 

Happy and Safe 4th of July since it's only a few days away!