Snow Bear scoodie free pattern

After making my daughter a Just Enough Cape in two of her favorite shades of pink, I needed another project to use up the leftover yarn.

The Snow Bear Scoodie by Debi Dearest was a good option to use up the yarn I had left because it didn't require a whole lot of yarn to make.

 

 

Dark Mark armwarmers free pattern

These arm warmers, inspired by the Harry Potter books, are wicked cool. I made them for Rose Love's latest Christmas present, using the same Caron Simply Soft yarn in Dark Sage green to coordinate with her previous Slytherin gear xmas gifts.

This excellent free pattern, Dark Mark Arm Warmers Pattern and Chart, is designed Christa Casebeer of Nerd Girl Yarns.

I opted to knit this all in green and then add the black accents afterward, including a crocheted black picot trim to the top edge and application of the dark mark itself in duplicate stitch (on the left sleeve only!). For such a small applique, I think the mischief of duplicate stitch is a whole lot easier to manage than intarsia or other techniques.

BOO! My skull balaclava mask free tutorial

Boo! Happy New Year!

Sure, I might have my holidays a little mixed up, but I felt inspired to crochet a skull mask/balaclava on Dec. 31 while waiting for the clock to strike midnight for the new year. I got the idea from the ebook "Manly Knits."

I started out making a basic hat shape in double crochet.

I made the hat length a little longer than standard so that the bottom of the "hat" portion sat just below my eyebrows. At that point, I measured how many stitches wide I would need an opening to be to accommodate both of my eyes (side to side) and continued adding rows to the hat going back and forth (turning my work when I got to the end of a row) to build height on either side of the large space for my eyes.

I had to try the hat on several times during this process to tell by feel when the eye hole space was tall enough for me to see through easily. Then I chained across the gap (using the same number of chain stitches as the number of stitches wide my eye hole space was wide) and joined the chain with a slip stitch to the top of the next double crochet stitch on the other side of the gap.

Then I continued in the round to add a couple more rows of double crochet, making 1 dc in each chain across the eye space, then finished off.

To fill in the vertical space between my eyes, I tried on the hat and placed a stitch marker on the stitch in line with where the inner edge of each of my eyes was in relation to the top of the eye space. Then I reattached the working yarn to a stitch with one of the markers and worked double crochet stitches just until I reached the stitch with the other marker. Then I turned my work and added a couple more rows of double crochet until the height of the section I was working matched up to the total height of the eye space. I broke the working yarn, leaving a long tail, and whip-stitched the center piece I just worked to the bottom of the eye space.

For the finishing touches, I reattached the working yarn to the bottom edge of the mask and worked a few pointy teeth. Lastly, I used a small amount of black yarn to embroider on some nasal "holes," and voila. Creepy enough for you? Bwah-ha-haaa.

This means I already have my Halloween costume ready for when, 10 months from now, come Oct. 31, I will be handing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters. It even fits comfortably over my glasses.

Mistake rib neckwarmer free pattern

I needed a Christmas gift for my honey's mother, and I thought a smart-looking short scarf like the Mistake Rib Neck Warmer pattern designed by StitchyMama would be just right.

This was my first time working in mistake rib, and I found that I really love the extra-soft, extra-stretchy properties of the stitch. StitchyMama's patter was very easy to follow, and the project was quick to finish.

Now I plan to make a vest for myself using mistake rib. :-)

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!