Crochet Critter Ears

My kids want to be animals for Halloween this year. Thomas has been insisting on being a bat for weeks. Zaylee recently decided she wanted to be a cat.

Bats and cats have ears.

Hence, this post.

I wasn't really in the mood for sewing last night, but I knew I needed to work on the costumes, our Halloween party is on Saturday. So I grabbed yarn and hooks and came up with these cute little critter ears. The black ones are bat ears for Thomas, and the light brown ones are cat ears for Zaylee.

And I even wrote down the pattern for the ears so I can make them again and again, and so I can share it with you!

Critter Ears
Materials:
Thick, fuzzy yarn for outside of ear (I used Lion Brand Homespun), or you can use two strands of worsted weight held together
Worsted weight yarn for inside of ear
Size K (6.5 mm) crochet hook
Size H (5 mm) crochet hook
Headband
Glue gun

Special stitch - sc2tog. (Insert hook into next stitch, yo, draw up a loop) 2 times, yo, draw through all three loops on hook.

For large outer ear, use size K hook and thick yarn. For small inner ear, use H hook and worsted yarn. Both sizes use the same pattern.

Make 2 large and 2 small.
Ch 9.

Row 1 - Sc in 2^nd ch and each across (8 sc)

Row 2 – Ch 1, sc in each across

Row 3 – Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 4, sc2tog

Row 4 – Ch 1, sc in each across (6 sc)

Row 5 – Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 2, sc2tog

Row 6 – Ch 1, sc in each across (4 sc)

Row 7 – Ch 1, sc2tog twice

Row 8 – Ch 1, sc2tog

Fasten off, weave in edges.

For the bat ears, I added a round of sc all the way around the outer ear. This is optional, it just smoothed out the edges of the ear. This was unnecessary on the cat ears because of the fuzziness of the yarn.

Use hot glue to attach small inner ear to large outer ear.

Wrap matching yarn around a headband, using hot glue to secure it periodically so it won't come unwound. Then glue the ears onto the headband.

Meow.

Linking:
friday fun finds at kojodesigns
Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
Weekend Wrap-up Party at  tatertots & jello

Tiny Toddler Shrug

This started as an idea for a crocheted sweater dress for my toddler. But I realized partway through that it would be a little too long and a little too narrow to work as a dress. So I scrapped that idea. I turned the rectangle I had made on its side, sewed a couple little arm seams, and presto-chango, I had made a little shrug! I think it turned out so super cute.

I've even put together a pattern, my first crochet pattern. How awesome is that!

Tiny Toddler Shrug

Size: 24 month. Make a larger or smaller rectangle for other sizes.

Materials:
Small amount worsted weight yarn, colors A and B
Size I crochet hook

Special stitch:
5 dc cluster: (yo, insert hook into next st, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through first 2 loops) 5 times, yo, pull through all loops on hook.

With color A, ch 46.
Row 1: 2dc in 4th chain from hook (turning ch counts as first dc). *Sk 2 ch, sc in next ch, sk 2 ch, 5 dc in next ch.* Repeat to last 3 ch. Sk 2 ch, 3 dc in last ch. Drop color A. Do not turn.
Row 2: Join color B with sl st in top of turning ch at beginning of row 1. Ch 1, sc in same st, *ch 2, make 5dc cluster, ch 2, sc in 3rd dc of 5dc group.* Repeat to last 5dc group. Ch 2, sc in last dc of previous row, dropping color A and picking up color B. Turn.
Row 3: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 2 dc in first st. *Sc in top of cluster, 5 dc in next sc.* Repeat to end, making 3 dc in last st. Drop color A. Do not turn.
Rows 4-38: Repeat rows 2 and 3.
Fasten off.

Make sleeves by folding the rectangle lengthwise, and sewing a seam 4 inches up each end, as shown. Turn right-side out, and put it on your little cutie!

Linking to friday fun finds at kojodesigns, and Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge.

Three Days of KCWC and pin-did

This past week has been Kids Clothes Week, over at elsie marley! The challenge was to spend one hour every day working on clothes for the kids. I have been cheerfully participating - my kids have really been in need of some new clothes to carry them into the cool fall season. I'm posting the work of three days in one post, because I bought a new camera (imagine a huge choir singing "hallelujah!") but it didn't get here until today (Thursday) so I couldn't take pictures. My old camera has finally finished biting the dust. I couldn't even see any picture I took with it until I uploaded it onto the computer. And forget about adjusting for focus, lighting, etc. Hooray for my new Fuji S1500. :)

Also, every item I've worked on so far this week has been something that I have pinned on Pinterest. So this also counts toward the Pin-Did challenge at The Modern Marigold. This challenge is to once a week actually do something that you have pinned on Pinterest. What a novel idea!

Monday:

Audrey needed new leggings. She has so many cute little dresses, and with the weather getting cooler (we can see snow on the mountains!) leggings are the perfect thing to keep those cute little legs warm. I used the tutorial from make it & love it (pinned here) to make some super simple leggings. It's such a simple pattern that I was able to make four pairs in part of an evening. Now those little legs will stay warm when Audrey is dressed up for church. Or wherever. :)

 

Tuesday:

I headed in a different direction on Tuesday - crochet. Using this pattern from Christina's Crochet Haven (pinned here), I made a darling sweater coat for Zaylee. She loves wearing sweaters, and this one just looked so cute and fun. I didn't have enough of any one colorway to do the whole sweater, so I ended up using three different skeins - one for the top of the bodice, one for the bottom of the bodice, and one for the sleeves. I actually really like the way it turned out. Besides, color blocking is a pretty trendy look right now, so I can probably get away with telling people I did it on purpose.

 

Just a quick note: I love working with Lion Brand Homespun. It's so soft and chunky, and very comfortable. And the mild color gradations are just so fun and so pretty. Plus the texture is great for hiding little mistakes (nothing too major, just wonky tension and stuff like that). I always keep an eye out for it at thrift stores, because I'm too cheap to buy it retail. But when I do find it, it's like I've found a pirate's treasure, that's how excited I get. I just really like this yarn.

Wednesday:

Thomas' turn to get in on the KCWC action. I recently got my little guy a few new dress shirts for church. Naturally this led to the desire to make new ties to go with his new shirts. I loosely followed the tutorial to make a skinny tie from see kate sew (pinned here). I didn't follow the pattern/tutorial exactly, because I wanted the ties to be a little bigger. I went ahead and made several ties, assembly line style, so we can have a variety to choose from each week. I love dressing up my kids, it's so fun.

Also linking to:
Feelin' Feminine Friday at The American Homemaker
friday fun finds at kojodesigns

Easy Cat Toy

This is about the easiest cat toy ever, short of cutting a length of yarn. And it's cheap too, it just uses fabric scraps.

Basically, just take three long strips of fabric (can be knit or woven). Tie them together on one end. Braid the strips together, then tie off the other end. Simple as that.

Then just let your cat chase it around!

Baby Wrap for my new Nephew

My little sister is having her first baby in a couple months. Gah, so excited! In honor of the new arrival, I made a wrap for my sister so she can wear her baby around hands-free. I love baby wearing, and own two slings, a mei-tai, and a wrap, all homemade.

For my sister's wrap, I used this great tutorial that I originally found on Pinterest. I like this wrap because it's made with three yards of fabric instead of six, saving me some money. And it features a personalized panel, for an extra splash of cuteness.

 

Linking to:

Friday Fun Finds at kojodesigns - because it's Friday and babywearing is fun.

Feelin' Feminine Friday at The American Homemaker - because motherhood is fantastically feminine.

Weekend Wrap up Party at tatertots & jello - because it's the weekend and the baby is all wrapped up.

The pin-did challenge at The Modern Marigold - because I pinned it and I did it.