Herbert the Owl

My middle son asked me to make him a stuffed owl.

He even specified certain details he wanted the owl to have: "black pupils and flappy wings."

And as much as I...don't enjoy stuffed animals as much as my kids do, in an effort to be the ever-doting mom I am (um, not really....), I decided I had a mission to accomplish and a challenge to complete. So I checked my stash of yarn and whipped this cutie right up yesterday afternoon and finished it this morning.

This owl worked up really quick and easy and it turned out completely adorable. I used a basic hat pattern (+ several simple increases and inches) to form the body, and simple crocheting techniques to do the eyes and wings.

I present to you, Herbert the Owl

Here's the pattern in case you're interested in making your own Herbert or "whooo"-ever!

Supplies:

• J10 hook
• Worsted weight yarn. For the owl body, I used just short of one skein of Vanna's Choice "Barley," which is a chocolate brown with flecks of cream and black. Perfect & owl-y, right? For the eyes, any white yarn will do. For the wings and black pupils and beak I just used scraps of black, forest green, and orange.
• Stitch marker to put at the beginning of each round to keep track of your rounds.
• Tapestry needle to sew in ends and to make beak and pupil details.
• A few handfuls of polyester stuffing you can buy at a craft or fabric store.
• The pattern assumes you know basic crochet terminology and stitches.

First, make the body:

Round 1: Start with magic ring and 6 sc in ring
 (This great tutorial is where I learned to make a magic ring a few years back).
Round 2: 2 sc in each st, around
Round 3: 2 sc in next st, sc in next st around
Round 4: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts around
Round 5: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts around
Round 6: 2 sc in next st sc in next 4 sts around
Round 7: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 sts around
Round 8: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 6 sts around
Round 9: 2 sc in next st, sc in next 7 sts around

Now you're done with the increases and you'll just continue to crochet around until you have a body shell that's as tall as you want it to be. This particular owl measures approximately 10"x10".

Don't tie off the body just yet. Leave it attached to your skein of yarn until it's time to stuff!

Set the body aside and make two eyes. 

Start with a magic ring and 6 sc in ring.
2 sc in each st around
2 sc in each st, sc in next st around
Go one more round of increases (2 sc in each st, sc in next 2 sts around) if you want the eyes to be bigger.
Tie off ends but leave a long enough tail to sew onto the body.

Next, make two wings--you can use two colors or one, it's up to you!

Start with magic ring and 6 sc in ring.
2 sc in each st around
2 sc in each st, sc in next st around
2 sc in each st, sc in next 2 sts around
2 sc in each st, sc in next 3 sts around
Tie off ends and leave a long tail for sewing the wing together and attaching it to the body.
Next, fold wing in half, and sew together from the top down the round side of the circle, only halfway down so that half of it is closed and half is open.

Approximate the placement of  owl eyes and wings and grab your tapestry needle. 

Attach the eyes to the body by sewing around the whole circle. I like to put the eyes right next to each other so they touch ever-so-slightly.
And the wings need to go on the front-ish sides of the body. Sew those on, too!
At this point, it's all coming together, you just need to add the details!

I'll be the first to admit—sewing in the details is not my biggest strength. There was a lot of guessing involved but I think it turned out okay.

Beak:
Take two strands of orange yarn and just...sew a beak, starting right between the bottom of the eyes and working your way down to form a triangle. Tie off and knot ends on the wrong side of the front of the body.
Pupils:
Then, take two strands of black yarn and sew pupils. I just guessed how to do this and it worked out pretty good.  You can use your magic ring circle to guide your needle! Tie off and knot ends on the wrong side of the front of the body.

Now that everything is sewed on, it's time to stuff and close!

Bring together the front and back of the body in a straight line. Take your long piece of yarn from where you left off with crocheting the body (the yarn that's still attached to the skein) and slip stitch through both the front and the back stitches—4 stitches total that you'll go through at each slip stitch. Stitch that sucker closed across the top of the body, about 1/2 way or 3/4 of the way across.
Take your stuffing and fill up your owl to the desired puffiness and fluff.

Pick up your hook again, and continue the slip stitch until it's all closed. Tie off and weave in ends!

And...you're done!

Enjoy!

A Little Somethin' From RoyGBivs!

Hello again! I have a special Handmade, but not by me.

My craftiest-crafty friend made these for me and I'm in love. Deep, deep love.

She's a paper master and is simply brilliant and original. Check out her Etsy shop!
You're sure to find something that's perfect for your next party, event, and even your home decor!

Cheery Rainbow Scarf

Find this cutie here!

Yellow Headboard

For Sale: 

Distressed yellow twin headboard.

I love it! 

Do you? 

Rehab'd Green Army Trunk

Trunk is selectively lined with designer fabric.
Measurements:
12" tall
16" deep
30" long
In addition to original leather front handle,
there are two metal handles on side of trunk. 

 

Music Cabinet

BEFORE: 

Oak Music Cabinet 

with Scalloped-Framed Mirror

 

AFTER:

Painted & distressed.

Red & Aqua Bookshelf

BEFORE:

Dark Wood Corner Bookshelf

 

AFTER:

 

Candy Hearts Baby Beanie

Size 12 months.  

This sweet little yellow and pink hat is perfect for your little valentine.

Love it?

Brown Beanie Pattern

I bought some of my favorite yarn to make some hats for my Etsy store, and here's a little something I designed. It is size 2T-5T and measures with an 18" circumference and is 7" from ribbing to crown.

Even though it's a touch time consuming, the colorwork is fun, easy, and it creates an amazing effect and pattern. 

This assumes that you have knitting experience + some stranded colorwork experience and know how to switch colors and carry the strand along the back of the work.

Materials needed: 

16" circular needles, size 6. 

I use two sets of circulars for my decrease, but you can also use 4 double pointed needles to accomplish the same thing.  

1 skein KnitPicks Comfy Worsted yarn for the main color. 

Approx. 1/4 skein for the contrasting color(s).

I used Bison for the main color and Light Blue, Carrot, and Creme Brulee for the contrasting colors.

Abbreviations:

K=knit

P=purl

MC=Main Color

CC= Contrasting Color

st=stitch

sts=stitches

K2tog: Knit two together

Directions:

With MC, cast on 88 stitches. Join to knit in the round, being careful not to twist.

For the ribbing, K2P2 around until the ribbing measures approx. 1"; this will be about 8-10 rounds. 

After ribbing is finished:

1. K 3 rounds with MC
2. *K1 MC, K1 CC; repeat from * all the way around 
3. K 3 rounds with MC
4. *K1 CC, K1 MC; repeat from * all the way around

Repeat 1-2 so so that you then have three rows of CC sts.
Switch to your second CC and do the same thing, making sure that you have 3 rounds of MC in between your CC rounds and that you have three rounds of MCst, CCst

Continue this until hat measure 5" from bottom then start the decrease.
I got a total of 8 stripes of alternating MC/CC sts before I started the decrease.

For the decrease, continue in the pattern and...

*K6, K2tog; repeat from * around.  

K around

*K5, K2tog; repeat from * around.

K around

*K4, K2tog; repeat from * around.

K around

*K3, K2tog; repeat from * around.

K around

*K2, K2tog; repeat from * around.

K around

*K1, K2tog; repeat from * around.

K around

K2tog all the way around. 

 Cut off a long tail, and string it through the remaining sts on needles. Pull tight. Weave in all ends. 

Valentine's Wreath

Tutus are not in my future wardrobe options, but I needed to use tulle on SOMEthing. Plus, I had this really cute pink fabric in my stash that could be paired with white to make something really cute. So....I created this wreath. It is most certainly a Valentine's Day wreath, but would also be amazing hanging in a little girl's room.

The flowers are made out of tulle and pink fabric, and there are two green fabric leaves tucked under the tulle.

Love it?

Tie Quilt Experiement

I haven't had a permanent place for my sewing machine in ... ever ... and I finally set up a sweet little craft room in an extra bedroom upstairs. My sewing machine is now accessible and can be used without clearing off the kitchen table and hauling it downstairs! Yay! It's the little things, right?

So I went to the fabric store. It had been awhile since I bought fabric, and honestly, I didn't really have anything specific in mind. After browsing a little bit and choosing some fun colors & patterns, I managed to leave having spent ... a lot... on varying yards of 10 different fabrics.

My grandma used to make quilts that were scrap fabric—typically old shirts—just pieced together and tied to a backing and batting. She literally made hundreds of them. They are amazing, and I love that we have three of them. I haven't ever tied a quilt, so I thought I'd give one a shot. 

I had enough yardage for a quilt using the teal, red and aqua color palate that I bought, and so I started cutting 6" squares for the quilt top.

 I laid it out on the floor and made sure that no two alike were side by side.

I sewed the squares into long strips and pinned them to my wall so I could  keep better track of my place. I then sewed the long strips together to make the complete quilt top. In between all the sewing, I pressed the seams open. I'm not entirely sure that's what you're supposed to do, but it made it look better. Or maybe it was my imagination?

I used 88 squares for the quilt top, which ended up being about 42"x59". It's not quite big enough to be a twin size, but makes a good sized lap quilt.

1-5/8 yards of red fabric made up the the backing and I bought 1-3/4 yards for the batting.  It was 44" wide. I did cut off some batting off the sides and ends, but am glad I had too much.

Seam binding (is that what it's even called?) scares me so bad,  so I just folded over an inch of the backing fabric onto itself and sewed it all together from the top. The corners were....interesting, but they work.

The last step was to tie the quilt. I used three inch pieces of thin crochet yarn + a tapestry needle to sew a small knot in the middle of each square of the top, making sure I went through all three layers of the quilt. I snipped off the extra, so about one inch of string was left on the top.

This quilt took me about 8 hours spread out over three days.

Things I learned for next time?

• I need to get better at iPhone pics. Seriously. Or I need to keep my better camera in my craft room. Yes. Probably that.
• I hate pinning the fabric together, but it really is crucial to keeping lines straight and other important things like that. I'm just lazy.
• I need to change the blade on my rotary cutter. 
• Folding tables shake too much when you sew too fast.

The Chevron Problem.

So. I think I have a problem. And really, when you think about it, there are worse problems to have. However. This one is growing a little out of control.

The problem? Chevron. As my friend would say, I'm "gently" addicted.

Okay.

Maybe not so gently?

Here's why I love it so:

• It's classic. 
• It's easy to crochet, but not boring.
• It works up relatively quickly. 
• It's versatile.
• You can do a lot with color and stripe work.
• It's always a hit.

And...as a bonus, (maybe not? I'm not sure yet?)

Chevron is really popular now. My first chevron afghan I made back in August 2011 and I haven't been able to stop! But it's everywhere. Rugs, dresses, necklaces, fabrics, paper...everywhere! I LOVE IT!

I've made two adult-size afghans, and am on my third baby blanket.

Here's one I made back in July for sweet baby J.

For sweet baby J's, I used KnitPicks (my fave!) Comfy Sport (my fave!) in Creme Brulee (that lovely mustard yellow) and Whisker (the amazing gray).

For each baby blanket, I use the Sunshine Baby Afghan pattern, which can be found here.

I always buy extra yarn but really need to keep better track of how much yarn I used for each blanket. With Comfy Sport, I used  probably 5-6 skeins of each color. Each skein makes one of the big stripes.

Currently on my hooks is a blue and white one for baby C due in February!

b&w stripey hat

Wow. It's been almost a year since my last crafty post.

Just. Wow.
 
I've been keeping busy crafting though, and am excited to share some new things here!

This hat I knit for an Etsy custom order, and it turned out really cute. The only direction I had from the buyer was that she requested the colors. She left the design up to me.

I used my basic adult sized hat pattern, and this Mother's Day Flower from Lion Brand website. I knit 3/4" black and white stripes, and the hot pink flower makes the stripes pop!

It turned out very adorable and hope that the recipient loves it as much as I do!