A housewarming gift

I had a hank of some old, heavy worsted weight green yarn that either came from my mother's stash or else the big bag of random yarn balls that Mika gave me when she and her wife moved to Wisconsin.

Now that Mika and Emmy are buying their first house, I wanted to make them something as a housewarming gift. Since green and black are colors they are planning to utilize in their decor, the idea for this knitted pumpkin/floral display started to form in my mind.

The yarn was too heavy to run through my Sentro machine, so I tried it on the Addi instead, and, of course, the Addi was able to handle it just fine. (Addi only grumbled a tiny bit about how heavy the yarn was.)

There was enough yarn in the hank to get a tube of 114 rows, plus leaving a long tail (about 3 yards long) for finishing and sewing the pumpkin's sections.

Fold the tube inside itself in half, as for making a double-thick beanie. Cinch and secure the ends. Stuff the interior. Then using the long tail, wrap around the outside and through the center to create "sections" of the pumpkin. As you create the sections, the bottom will cinch itself closed. You can secure the bottom with a few extra stitches, if needed.

I cinched the ends while keeping a finger in the top hole so it would remain open after assembling the pumpkin. Leaving the hole slightly open this way will allow me to use the pumpkin as a "vase" for holding some silk flowers, which I think will make a lovely display. 

I also cut a stem from piece of black faux leather, making it about 6 inches long by 3/4-inch wide. I used a yarn needle to punch 2 holes near the stem ends, and used those holes to sew the yarns ends through after tying down the pumpkin's sections. Having a stem there means the pumpkin could also be displayed plain, without flowers.

The flowers I'm using are in autumn colors, but Mika and Emmy should be able to switch out the flowers throughout the years to match the changing seasons, if they wish. I cut the flower stems at about 4-5 inches long and bent them to help the flowers curve toward the pumpkin after inserting the stems into the hole at the top and working around the leather stem.

JuliChu V-stitch Headband Re-created

About 10 years ago I discovered a lovely pattern for a V-Stitch Headband by JuliChu Crochet. JuliChu had a pattern page for it on Ravelry, which linked to the actual pattern on her blog site. I made the headband several times, loved it, and then moved on to other things for a while. 

In 2019 I decided I wanted to make another one of these headbands, but when I tried to go to JuliChu's blog from her Ravelry pattern page, to my dismay I discovered that her blog had been taken down. NOoooOOooOOOooo!!! 

Long story short: I learned from this experience that if I ever again find myself in love with a pattern that's only available on the designer's blog, I will always download a copy of the instructions to keep in my personal files, just in case. But I hadn't done that with JuliChu's V-stitch headband pattern.

I reached out to manmadecreationz on Ravelry, since he had project pages showing that he had also made JuliChu's V-stitch headband many times, with the hope that maybe he had been smarter than I and had downloaded a copy of JuliChu's pattern. Alas, although he replied to my message and thought that perhaps he might have a copy of the pattern saved, which he would share with me if he could find it, he never got back to me with the actual pattern, so I had to conclude that he hadn't downloaded it either. 

I even tried using the Internet Wayback Machine to see if it would recover the pattern page from Juli's blog, but no luck there, either.

It took me a few more years to find the time (and many failed attempts) to try to re-create JuliChu's design, but I think I just might have finally cracked it. I'm not saying this is an exact replica of JuliChu's design, but after carefully examining the stitches of a headband I made previously from her pattern, I believe this comes pretty close. You can give it a go and decide for yourself.

I like the way the shorter height of the edge stitches (versus the height of the V-stitches in the center of each row) creates a curve in the fabric, which conforms to the roundness of the human head nicely.

In my sample photos, the variegated blue headband is made from JuliChu's original pattern, and the solid blue headband is my re-creation of her pattern. As you can see, the solid blue headband turned out a bit wider than the original. But bear in mind that my original headband has also been repeatedly washed and worn, whereas my new headband is fresh off the hook, so those factors have an effect on the current appearance of the pieces.

This pattern re-creation is dedicated to JuliChu Crochet. We may never know why she took down her blog, but whatever her reasons, we still love her brilliant designs and hope to continue sharing them for many years to come.

JuliChu's V-stitch Headband Re-created

US crochet terms
5mm hook
Worsted/aran-weight yarn

Special stitches:
V-stitch: In st indicated - DC, ch 1, DC.
HDC2tog: HDC two together to decrease by 1 HDC. YO, insert hook in indicated st, YO and pull up a loop (3 loops on hook), YO, insert hook in next st, YO and pull up a loop (5 loops on hook), YO and pull through all loops. (1 HDC decreased)

Note: The “ch 1; turn” never counts as a stitch.

Increasing section:

Row 1: Starting with a long (12-14 inches)  tail below your slipknot (you can use this length to sew the button on later), FHDC 6. Alternatively, if you don’t like working FHDC stitches, chain 7, turn, HDC in 2rd ch from hook and in each ch to end. Ch 1; turn. (6 HDC)

Row 2: 2 HDC in first st; HDC to end of row. Ch 1; turn. (7 HDC)

Row 3: 2 HDC in first st; HDC to end of row. Ch 1; turn. (8 HDC)

Row 4: 2 HDC in first st; HDC to end of row. Ch 1; turn. (9 HDC)

Row 5: 2 HDC in first st; HDC to end of row. Ch 1; turn. (10 HDC)

Row 6: 2 HDC in first st; HDC to end of row. Ch 1; turn. (11 HDC)

Row 7: 2 HDC in first st; HDC to end of row. Ch 1; turn. (12 HDC)

Now we will begin the V-stitch section:

Row 8: SC in first 2 sts; [V-stitch in next st; SC in next st]. Repeat [] to last 3 st; SC in each st to end of row. Ch 1; turn. (8 SCs and 4 V-stitches)

Row 9: SC in first 2 sts; V-stitch in next SC; [SC in next ch space from V-stitch in row below; V-stitch in next SC from row below]. Repeat [] until last V-stitch and 2 SC remain from previous row; SC in ch space of V-stitch, SC in last 2 sts. Ch 1; turn. (8 SCs and 4 V-stitches)

Repeat row 9 until headband length measures about 18 inches from the first row (unstretched), then begin decreasing section. Even better: If you have the intended wearer’s head circumference measurement, use that to determine how many times to repeat row 9 before working the decrease section. The length of the initial increasing section you made will be about the same as the length of the decreasing section. Therefore, to estimate the total length of your headband (before you work the decreasing section) add the length of the increasing section to the total length you have, and compare that to the wearer’s head measurement to determine when you should begin working the decreasing section. Keep in mind that the headband will stretch a bit when worn, so if you want the headband to fit snugly, aim to make the total length about 1 inch less than the wearer’s head circumference.

Decreasing section:

Row 1: Working ONLY into the SC and ch-1 spaces of the previous row, HDC in each st across. Ch 1; turn. (12 HDC)

Row 2: HDC2tog over first 2 sts; HDC in each st across. Ch 1; turn. (11 HDC)

Row 3: HDC2tog over first 2 sts; HDC in each st across. Ch 1; turn. (10 HDC)

Row 4: HDC2tog over first 2 sts; HDC in each st across. Ch 1; turn. (9 HDC)

Row 5: HDC2tog over first 2 sts; HDC in each st across. Ch 1; turn. (8 HDC)

Row 6: HDC2tog over first 2 sts; HDC in each st across. Ch 1; turn. (7 HDC)

Row 7: HDC2tog over first 2 sts; HDC in each st across. (6 HDC) Do not ch 1-turn. Instead, we will now make a chain space for the buttonhole. Ch 4; turn. Join end of ch to top of 1st HDC of row 7 with a sl st. Ch 1; turn.

Edging: Now we will work a row of HDC around the entire headband to give the edges a clean, finished look. Begin by working 10 HDC in the ch-6 space for the buttonhole. Continue working HDCs around the sides of the headband, placing stitches as evenly as possible. When you get to the “corners” at the end where the project began, work 2 to 3 HDCs in the corners. When you have worked all the way around back to the start of the HDC edging stitches, join using the invisible join method and finish off. (On my sample, I got 8 to 9 HDCs along the side of the increase/decrease sections and 46 HDCs along each side of the V-stitch section.)

Use the long starting tail to sew a 1-inch button on the end opposite the buttonhole, weave in ends, button the headband closed, and enjoy wearing your new headband.

Another Big Mug Hug free pattern

I live in a humid climate, and I like to drink iced coffee every morning in my big mug. But my cold drinks always end up "sweating" with condensation, so I like to use cotton cozies to keep the drippiness to a minimum and water rings off my tables.

This is a quick and easy pattern I worked up to fit my large, square-bottomed morning coffee mug.

Another Big Mug Hug

U.S. crochet terms

Materials: Worsted weight 100% cotton yarn, 5.5mm crochet hook, yarn needle, scissors. (My sample uses Lily Sugar n Cream in the Light Blue colorway.)

Base is worked in continuous spiral (don't join at end of rounds).

Round 1: In magic circle, HDC 8. (8 HDC)

Round 2: 2 HDC in each st. (16 HDC)

Round 3: 2 HDC in next st, 1 HDC in next st. Repeat around. (24 HDC)

Round 4: 2 HDC in next st, 1 HDC in each of next 2 sts. Repeat around. (32 HDC)

Round 5: 2 HDC in next st, 1 HDC in each of next 8 sts. Repeat around. (36 HDC)

SC in next st, then sl into back loop only of next st to join.

Base of cozy is complete. Work next round in back loops only to turn the corner and start working the sides. Sides are worked in joined rounds.

Round 6: Ch 2. DC in BLO of each st around. Join with sl to top of 1st DC. (36 DC)

Round 7: Ch 2. DC in each st around. Join with sl to top of 1st DC. (36 DC)

Round 8: Ch 2. DC in all but the last st. Leave last st unworked and do not join to 1st st. Turn work. This is leaving an opening for the bottom of your mug handle to pass through. (35 DC)

Round 9: Ch 2. DC in each st back to beginning of row. Turn work. (35 DC)

Round 10: Ch 2. DC in each st to end of row. (35 DC) Now we are going to add stitches to make the tab for the button closure. Continue row by FDC 6 times. (Row is now 41 sts long)

Round 11: Ch 2. DC in each st to end of row. (41 DC)

Round 12: Ch 2. DC in each st to end of row. (41 DC)

Finish off. Weave in ends. Slip cozy over your mug, placing the long tab through the mug handle. Because DC stitches are so tall, you will use the space between the DC stitch in the center row at the end of the tab and the next stitch in as the buttonhole. Mark where that space sits over the body of the cozy and sew a button in that spot. (My button is about 3/4-inch diameter or about 18mm.) Refer to photos if you need guidance for button placement. Your cozy is now ready to use. Enjoy!

Coasters in 316 Stitches - free pattern

I love this pattern for making coasters. They are very quick and easy to make. I made this set of four coasters all in one evening. The free pattern, Oval Table Lace Placemat and Coaster, is by Red Heart.

We needed a few new coasters for our breakfast nook table, and I thought this set made in Lily Sugar N Cream cotton in the Faded Denim colorway would look nice.

These coasters are made with a mere five rounds, and just for fun I counted up the total number of stitches as being 316 per coaster.

I also made these coasters back in 2012.

Handy little earbuds pocket - free pattern

Here's a super-quick to make little pocket to help keep your wired earbuds wrangled and hopefully less tangled.

I keep a set of wired earbuds near my chair in the living room so they are handy whenever I want to listen to a video on my laptop or phone while my husband is next to me watching TV. That way I can listen to my thing without competing with the sound coming from the TV.

But the problem with wired earbuds is: How do you keep them neatly coiled and out of the way when you aren't using them? I would wrap the wire around my hand into a neat roll, but after I set it down, the wire would inevitably come unrolled and turn into a tangled mess.

So eventually I thought if I crocheted a little pocket to tuck my rolled-up earbuds into, it would hold everything together until I was ready to use them again.

You could make this with just about any yarn or hook size, but I used a worsted weight cotton (Lily Sugar 'n Cream Ombres in the Faded Denim colorway) and a 6mm hook. If you use lighter or heavier yarn, you would need to alter the stitch count to make a pocket that's approximately 2.5 inches in diameter at its widest point.

Setup: I started with a magic circle and worked in a continuous spiral (no joining at the end of rounds).

Row 1: 6 SC in magic circle. Use a stitch marker to keep track of the beginning of the rounds and move up when you start each new round. (6 SC)

Row 2: 2 SC in each st around. (12 SC)

Row 3: 2 SC in next st, 1 SC in next st. Repeat around. (18 SC)

Row 4: 2 SC in next st, 1 SC in each of next 2 sts. Repeat around. (24 SC)

Rows 5-6: 1 SC in each st around. (24 SC)

Row 7: Dec SC over next 2 sts, 1 SC in each of next 2 sts. Repeat around. (18 SC)

Row 8: Dec SC over next 2 sts, 1 SC in next st. Repeat around. (12 SC)

Row 9: SC in each st around. (12 SC)

Finishing: Sl in next st. Use an invisible join technique and finish off. Weave in ends. Enjoy your handy little earbuds pocket.