AIDELEK

You've seen them everywhere, faux taxidermy heads are hot home decor right now! Unfortunately, they can also be pricey. Now is your chance! Go immediately and get a holiday deer head on clearance! Doesn't matter what it looks like because as long as it can be spray painted, it's all good. I found mine at Walmart on clearance for the bargain price of(drum roll) $3.49!! Can't find a deer head? Check the craft store for a paper mache head.

So I've noticed white is the common color for these heads, but I like to be different and also my home accents are mostly dark colors. I also think it would be cool to do the antlers a different color than the head. Maybe a white head with teal antlers or even a metallic color. Whatever your color pallet, you can find spray paint to match.

So my head is glitter. It took MANY coats of spray paint to get all this glitter covered. This is an exercise in patience for me because I HATE to wait for paint to dry! So that's it! Covering something in spray paint couldn't be easier right?

Fast and cheap way to make a mermaid tail blanket

My daughter has been wanting a mermaid tail forever! Crochet mermaid tails have been making the rounds online, but I haven't had any desire to jump on the trend. I finally broke down when she asked for one for Christmas. When I went to the store to get the yarn to crochet one, I passed by a bin of cheap fleece blankets and changed my plans.

These woman's gloves fit small-medium depending on your tension. For larger size, use a larger hook. The top of the glove is worked in turning rows and then stitched together up the back. I tried to make this pattern as easy to follow as possible. Please drop me a note if any edits need to be made. I would not recommend this project for beginners.

Here is a helpful Celtic weave video tutorial from Pattern Paradise.

US crochet terms
Worsted weight yarn
Hook size G(4.25)
BPTC= Back Post Treble Crochet
FPTC= Front Post Treble Crochet

Wristband
Ch 16
1. Sc in second from hook and in each chain to the end. Ch 1, turn(15)
2.-28. 15 sc in BLO. ch 1, turn (15)
Join last row to beginning chain with sl st to form the cuff. Turn inside out so that the sl st seam is on the inside. Rotate to work top of glove along the sides of the rows.
 *Note: I have 28 rows for the cuff and then I say to work 30 hdc in row 1 top of glove. I did this because I have skinny wrists and preferred my cuff to be tighter. It means you will have to work 2 hdc in a couple of the stitches for row 1 top of glove. If it makes you more comfortable, you can increase the cuff to 30 rows for it to come out even.

LEFT GLOVE
Top of glove
1. Ch 2, work 30 hdc into ends of sc rows on cuff. Join with sl st to first hdc. Do not turn yet.

2. Ch2, 1 hdc in same as join, 8 hdc *(sk 2, FPTC around next 2, FPTC around 2 skipped) Repeat from* 2 more times. 9 hdc. Ch 2, turn

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I really, really like to crochet. I'm constantly finding patterns I want to try or yarn I can't wait to make something with. Today I'm sharing some things I've been working on for the last couple months. I also post finished items on my Ravelry project page. I find it so helpful to see other's finished items for a pattern that I like. You can also see any new WIPs on my Instagram. Anything I don't keep or that I gift to someone else goes to my Etsy Shop.

Crochet trends come and go. Some of them I try, some I don't. This planned color pooling was too cool for me to pass up! If you follow any crochet groups on social media, you would have seen multiple projects using this method by now.  If this is your first time, prepare to be amazed at what you can do with variegated yarn!




First off, I'm not an expert with this method. This is the first and only project I've done with color pooling. Different yarns will give different results. Everything depends on the width of your project, the length of the repeating pattern of the yarn, your stitch count and your personal tension. What worked perfectly for me, may have to be adjusted to work for you.

So basically what happens is, most variegated yarn has multiple colors that repeat regularly. If you plan it just right, you can get the colors to "pool" together forming a color pattern instead of coming out random. An interesting website you can experiment with is called Planned Pooling. I'd actually seen this kind of scarf before it recently hit Facebook. Amy Solovay has a pattern here that I had come across on Pinterest a while back that you should check out.


Here's how I made my scarf:
Yarn- Red Heart Super Saver Variegated, Antique
Hook- 5.5(I)
Stitch- Moss/Granite stitch from Moogly, they even have a video.
Beginning Chain- 22

I first tried a beginning chain of 24. It was close, but not quite right. I pulled it out and went down to a beginning chain of 22. Yay, 22 was my magic number! Remember to keep your tension consistent or it could skew your color pattern. This scarf is one whole skein of Red Heart yarn and it is 4.5 inches wide. I love how it has a cool argyle pattern, I'm definitely keeping this one for myself!

*UPDATE- I recently made this scarf again with the same color yarn. It wasn't working out the same as my first scarf. I realized the Red Heart variegated yarn has dye lots and it makes a difference! The colors were noticeably different as were the length of the different color sections. I did end up having to change the number of my beginning chain to get it to work.

Well, I never would have thought of crocheting a whale. I mean what the heck for? I don't have a special affinity for marine mammals or live anywhere near the ocean. But when my family asks for something, I do it. I started searching for patterns and sending them to my brother to figure out what he had in mind. I knew he would have a very specific idea of what he wanted. Now here's what you get when a man is shopping for his male friend's new baby, of the few possibilities I found, this is the feedback I got..."Not the one with the blue eyes. Make them black and angry looking, I'm trying to scare his baby."





I ended up choosing a pattern from edafedd. The pattern says it uses bulky yarn to get a whale about 11.5". I have a ton of grey worsted weight that I might as well use up so I started with that using a 4.5mm hook. After the beginning increase rows, it seemed that it was going to come out pretty small, which looking back, probably would have been just fine. Note to self: Stop second guessing everything and just go with it! I decided to start over and double strand this to make it bigger. Well it certainly did that, it's at 17" now! I also changed the eyes from what it says in the pattern. I thought this hooded eye looked a little more creepy.


Amigurumi always makes my hands cramp up. I guess I hold it too tight. Add on to that single crocheting 2,482 stitches with two strands plus sewing on all the parts...my poor fingers may never recover! It should go without saying, but I will anyway...I'm not making another of these giant whales for my shop!

This cape was made with this free pattern, Red Riding Hood & The Wolf pattern from Red Heart. What a difference a color change makes right?

**I'm not sure if something is going on with the Red Heart website, but tons of people are having a hard time getting this pattern. Try this direct download link

One of the reasons I love Ravelry is that you can see other people's finished projects and read their comments or tips on the patterns. I post a lot of my projects there. All the comments on this pattern kept saying how small it was, small enough to fit a toddler. I thought, well, great, that's what I'm going for! This little cape is for my 1 1/2 yr old niece. I did the whole thing with my new 5.5 mm hook and guess what? It was big enough to fit my 7 yr old! Oh, all that time wasted...I had to pull it all out and start over again.

I realize the pattern calls for a 5 mm hook but I didn't really think it would make that big of a difference. Before I pulled out my project and my hair, I got my niece's measurements and compared them to what I had done. Since the hood needed to be a bit smaller, I decreased my center section to 60sc instead of 70. I added 5dc onto each of the side sections. My starting ribbing is the same 126 rows called for in the pattern. Sizes for crochet always depend on a person's own tension, you could get a different result than me as far as size goes.



This cape is really simple. It's all worked in one piece, then folded in half and sewed up the back. A great way to keep track of your rows when you first start is to use stitch markers. I marked every 50 rows of the ribbing so I wouldn't have to keep starting over my count. When I got to the main cape section, I used 2 stitch markers throughout the project to mark where my sc section began and ended. Another great way to use the stitch markers is to stick them in the beginning of your short row A so you don't loose track of how many sections you've done. I'm always picking up and putting down my projects, so these short rows would have gotten really confusing if I didn't mark it somehow.

I used two balls of Michael's Loops & Threads Impeccable Yarn and a 5.5 mm hook.