Doughnut Buddies

These Doughnut Buddies toys are so sweet (pun intended) and quick and easy to make. Each one can be made in an evening (about 4-6 hours each max, depending on the level of detail). Watch out -- these are fun and addictive. 😊

The only reason these project took me multiple days was because I had to wait for an order of safety eyes to arrive in the mail. 😄

Rachel Zain, the designer of all these adorable Doughnut Buddies, generally doesn't tell you in the patterns which colors to use at each step -- and that's fine because it allows for individual creativity. I made my Baby Yoda buddy on a burlap-brown base doughnut to represent The Child's robe, with green icing (of course) for his face and ears. (Rachel used the same green doughnut base on her alien as the icing, which is perfectly all right, too, of course.) 

And, of course, I simply HAD TO make a Mandalorian to go with my Baby Yoda. 😜

Tip: Leave a 14-inch-long tail before chaining to make the icing layer. This gives you the length you need to attach the center ring of icing to the doughnut.

I freehanded a couple of Doughnut Buddies last year as a gift for Lilliana, but it's fun to now have the official patterns to learn from and use as a jumping-off point for more creativity.

The Fairy Slippers Blanket free pattern

This free Fairy Slippers Banket pattern is a variation on the Which Way Filet blanket by Fiber Spider that works up quickly and easily from the center outward.

This Lion Brand Mandala yarn is soft and light, and the colorway is reminiscent of soft rainbow colors that would make a precious, cuddly keepsake blanket for a “rainbow baby.”

I had been hearing the term “rainbow baby” getting used a lot around knitting and crocheting circles, but I didn’t know what it meant, so I finally decided to look it up. According to Google, “A rainbow baby is a name coined for a healthy baby born after losing a baby due to miscarriage, infant loss, stillbirth, or neonatal death. The name ‘rainbow baby’ comes from the idea of a rainbow appearing in the sky after a storm, or after a dark and turbulent time.”

Which means that I am a rainbow baby myself, according to the modern parlance, because my mother delivered me after previously enduring seven miscarriages. I had no idea that I was born under this lovely, colorful label. Ha! 🌈

This filet blanket pattern is also ideal for a rainbow baby because the infinite paths winding and spiraling outward from the center symbolize the infinite potential contained within each new life.

This also means that maybe instead of giving away this baby blanket when it’s done I should just keep it for my rainbow-baby self. 😁 I could get another skein of this Honeydukes colorway, whip up another blanket just like this one, and then sew them together to make a nice and light but colorful, funky, and boxy rainbow poncho!

If I finish this as a baby blanket, I’ll edge it with 1 round SC followed by 1 round RSC. But if I keep this to be a poncho, I’ll end with 1 round SC before sewing the panels together.

Quick baby girl gift idea: Angel Popover Dress free pattern

Gosh, I know I should post here more often, I really do, and I apologize for being so random and infrequent about posting. At least I do a better job at keeping my Ravelry project notebook up to date. Sigh!

We got a surprise phone call on Saturday afternoon from great-granddaughter Lilliana’s dad saying he has a couple of vacation days coming up soon and he wanted to bring his family down for a quick visit. Activating excited great-grandma mode in 3 … 2 … 1!!!

I needed a quick pattern to make Lilliana (now 16 months old) a sweet little dress to celebrate getting to meet her in person for the first time, and the Angel Popover Dress (free pattern) filled that need quite nicely. This size 2T version worked up in just a few hours of work over two evenings.

I threaded a 3/8-inch pink satin ribbon between the stitches of the first row and tied a bow in the center front, added a pink tank top and miniskirt from the store as a liner beneath the lacy white crochet dress, and voila!

Sweet baby shoes

My friend Jeanie shared this video she found of some really sweet crocheted baby shoes. Awwww!

Ahoy, Owl! Pirate Hat

I saw a hat for sale that looked just like this, but the original designer wasn't selling her pattern, so I decided to improvise a version for myself: I call it the Ahoy, Owl! Pirate Hat.

This will be perfect to give to young buccaneer Nathaniel for his first Christmas, because his parents decorated his nursery in a pirate theme.

However, I think I will die from looking at the sheer cuteness of this hat for baby buccaneer Nathaniel if I try to keep it in my house until his first Christmas. Therefore, I believe I shall have to deliver it to him early. ASAP!! Bah-ha-ha!!

This one took me about 10 days to complete — about six to seven actual work hours because of the hat's complexity. A simple, plain beanie (on the other hand) I can work up in about two hours.

Baby boy hat and loafer set

My friend at work is having her first child -- a boy! -- due this summer. Ah, babies ... so much fun to craft for. :-)

To start things off, I made the Simply Spiky Hat and Loafers pattern designed by Britta Graham.

Newborn owl hat

I knitted this sweet newborn owl hat for my friend Rose's baby boy Dominic.

I didn't really use a pattern for the hat portion. I just cast on with blue on 4mm needles and started knitting the ribbing, then switched to gray for the stockinette part at the top. A "sack"-style hat like this is knitted straight (no decreases for the crown), so it's very simple to do. I grafted the top seam and added a strand of each yarn color for the long tassels at the "ears."

I followed the instructions for the crocheted eyes and beak from Sarah Zimmerman's free Owl Hat pattern.

Hello, Baby Cardigan free pattern

I had a random skein of Caron Simply Soft Paints in Baby Brights Ombre 9801 sitting around and needed to find a project for it.

Then along came the pattern for this sweet baby cardigan at the Spud & Chloe Blog: Hello, Baby. Here's the link to my project page at Ravelry.

When I first stared working the pattern, I struggled a lot with getting the increases on the yoke portion to turn out right. I don’t think the pattern was written poorly; I was just having a difficult time concentrating and getting the correct stitch counts. After starting over four times, though, I finally got the stitch counts right. Whew! It’s such a sweet little cardi, I didn’t want to give up on it.

Update: Now I’m basically just stuck on the last step, which is a knitted-on I-cord edging. I’ve never done I-cord before, so … until I have the time to study up on how it’s done, this project is going to hibernate at 95 percent done. Sigh!

SpongeBob child's hat free pattern

A friend of mine is going through a rough patch financially this Christmas season, and since her grandson loves SpongeBob, I went looking for a free pattern to make him a nice warm hat that looks like his favorite character.

I found this really great looking SpongeHat design by Ashley Phelps on Ravelry. I hope my friend's grandson loves this hat as much as I do!

Jughead beanie free pattern

If you are of a certain age, you might recall a comic book character named Jughead, who wore a distinctive cap with a flipped-up jagged brim that kind of looked like a crown.

Well, my daughter had a wild-n-crazy college roommate who was graduating and about to depart the apartment, and my daughter thought it would be great to give her roomie a couple of hats in a few wild-n-crazy colors that her friend liked. And I thought a Jughead-style crown beanie would be just the thing for a wild-n-crazy college grad to wear.

So after searching the 'net and learning a whole lot more than I ever realized there was to know about the Jughead beanie's iconic place in American history, I came upon this free crochet pattern, Prince Jughead, at Nik's Knots blog.

The free pattern is well written and includes a lot of helpful photos, but what makes it even more awesome is that Nik included instructions in her pattern to fit sizes from newborn to adult!

The pattern can be adapted in so many fun ways to suit both boys and girls (or men and women) of all ages and tastes. For example, below is a photo of how I adapted the pattern for the newborn grandson of one of my friends who happens to be a Pittsburgh Steelers fanatic. Crochet the beanie, add a button, and voila:

Read about the football hat to the left of the Jughead beanie here.

On the cover

Hey! It only took me 6-1/2 months to notice that a Yarncraft by Susan hat (that's me!) made the cover of the Appeal-Democrat's annual "New Neighbors" special section gracing the sweet newborn head of Leticia and Eric's grandson, Jacob. *woo-hoo!* Go me! LOL 🙂

For Grammie Laura

My friend Laura and her family are Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Laura's first grandchild is expected to arrive in time for football season, so I made this set just for them! 💜

Are you ready for some football?

Naturally, I had a reason for exploring conical shapes: Football season begins soon.

And here's another adaptation for the newborn grandson of my friend who is a Pittsburgh Steelers fanatic:

Read about the Jughead beanie to the right of the football hat here.

I made a matching rattle for the brown football hat by adapting Jessica DiPaolo's free Simple Rattle pattern with football stripes and top stitching.

I also added a matching bib to the Pittsburgh Steelers set. Too fun! I adapted the free Crochet Bibs pattern from the Yarnspirations site.

Another toddler cardi

I couldn't resist making a second cardigan and hat set for my grandniece. The cardi pattern is Crochet Baby Cardigan (formerly Abby's Jacket) and the hat is Flower Power Cap; both patterns are by designer Britta Graham.

These pieces are made with Lily Sugar-n-Cream cotton yarn in Panorama.

Infinite Granny Square Baby Blankie no pattern needed

This is a simple baby blankie made with ever-increasing rounds in a classic granny square cluster stitch pattern. You can make it as large or as small as you like. I stopped at 30 rounds, making the blanket about 40 inches square, then added a basic shell trim around the edge.

 I made the blanket as part of a set for my grandniece Morgan, with a matching cardigan and hat.

The cardigan is Crochet Baby Cardigan (formerly called Abby's Jacket), and the hat is Flower Power Cap, both designed by Britta Graham.

These pieces were made with Lily Sugar-n-Cream cotton in Kaleidoscope.

Elise's Ripple Baby Blanket free pattern

We have a new grandniece in our family, and her nursery is decorated in purple, green, and pink, so I needed a pattern to make a sweet little blanket to welcome sweet Baby Elise.

This is the Delicious Colors Baby Afghan by Lion Brand Yarn.

Hats for baby Elise

A shell-stitch earflap hat, a little pink cotton sun hat, and a white christening bonnet for new baby Elise! 😍

The earflap beanie is based on Britta Graham's lovely Shell Stitch Cloche pattern.

I unfortunately lost track of what patterns I used for the sun hat and christening bonnet, but I know there must be dozens of similar crochet patterns to be found online if you do a quick web search.

Sock Monkey Blanket free pattern

I used the free pattern by Linda Cyr, available at the Yarnspirations website, to make this cute hooded Sock Monkey Blanket for baby Caleb. Here is my boyfriend modeling it:

I followed the pattern as written, but since I tend to be a tight crocheter, the finished blanket turned out way too stiff for my liking, so, sadly, I ended up frogging the yarn to use for another project.

This design IS super cute, though, so hopefully I'll try it again sometime, knowing that I definitely need to work with a larger hook.