Crochet Vertical Rib Infinity Scarf

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I have a fun crochet pattern to share with you today. A couple of weeks ago, Ballet Boy asked me to make him a long cowl, but I’ve been so busy with other projects that it took me a while to get done. I finally found the perfect yarn for the project and was able to get started. It only took a few days for me to make (it was one of two projects I had going at the time), and we are both so happy with how it turned out. He gets compliments on it everywhere he goes (so he tells me).

I used Big Twist Party yarn in the color Beach, but you could use any worsted weight yarn you’d like and it would turn out beautifully. The ribbing on the scarf is so well defined all the way through, and I think it’s a really nice texture for a scarf. It gives a lot of visual interest without being difficult to crochet. And because of the infinity scarf style, there are a thousand and one different ways you can wear it! Ballet Boy’s favorite way (which turned out to be a surprise to us both as it wasn’t something he’d been considering before I finished the creation) is to put it around his waist, cross it over his chest, and loop it over his neck. This gives him extra warmth around his body as well as up around his neck for those really cold days.

Crochet Vertical Rib Infinity Scarf

Chain 35.

Row 1: HDC in second chain from hook and each chain across. Chain 1; turn. (34)

Row 2: Slip stitch into the back loops only (BLO) of each stitch across. Chain 1; turn. (34)

Row 3: HDC into the BLO of each stitch across. Chain 1; turn. (34)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until scarf is desired length. I made Ballet Boy’s 55 inches, using a size I crochet hook. You use whatever hook and yarn you like, though, so long as they play nicely together.

End the repeat with a row 3. Loop the two ends together, right sides out, and slip stitch through the front loop of one side and the back loop of the other side to join.

Blessings,

Crochet Cocomelon Blanket

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When we were planning Bumblebee’s Cocomelon birthday party, one of the options for large banners really caught my eye. We chose a different banner for the party, but I couldn’t get the other one out of my head. I knew it would be pretty easy to create a crocheted blanket inspired by that banner, so I set out to do just that.

I started by making a rainbow chevron blanket. The chevron, or zigzag, blanket is a pattern nearly as old as crochet itself (the way I understand it), and almost every designer has their own take on it. The one I’ve always had the most success with is the version by Jayda in Stitches on YouTube. I followed her pattern exactly, except that I changed the colors and added 2 repeats to what she does on her tutorial. I wanted a decent size, so I chose to do 16 rows of each color. Because it’s a double-crochet blanket, that gave me about 8 inches per color, and my blanket ended up being about 40×48 – perfect for a toddler! My favorite border for a chevron blanket is a simple, one-row single crochet border. I love the design of the chevrons so much that I don’t want my border to detract from the blanket itself, so every time I make one of these blankets that’s the border I use. For this blanket, I chose white.

When it came time to make the Cocomelon logo, I referred to Google images for the inspiration. Rather than giving a specific pattern, I’m going to describe my method instead; if you want to make this, I hope it’s easy enough to follow. If not, feel free to leave questions in the comments and I’ll try to answer them.

I went back to Jayda to get started, making a solid granny square (10 rows around) for the main portion of my watermelon logo. When I finished making that, it was time for the green stripes. I finished the square off by making an eleventh round, but this time using single crochet stitches. I also did 3 single crochets in each corner instead of the standard sharp corner to get the rounded look I wanted. Then I lined the square with a row of white single crochets. I made 2 single crochets into each of the corner stitches from the row before.

When my square was done, it was time to figure out the watermelon stripes. I started with dark green. My square was 44 stitches on each side, so to get that “round” shape to the melon, I did 7 sc, 7 hdc, 16 dc, 7 hdc, 7 sc. I repeated this pattern for 3 rows of dark green and then 3 more rows of light green.

The top ended up having 46 stitches once I incorporated the corner stitches, so I divided that up into the 9 sections of the logo. The two on either end were technically continuations of the dark green side, so I did 4 stitches for each of those. That left me with exactly 6 stitches available for each of the other stripes. I used the method of joining as you go for these stripes (as seen in this video – again, thanks to Jayda in Stitches). I didn’t count my rows, but each one is about 3 inches tall. The edge stripes start decreasing about halfway up – decrease on the outside edge (3), crochet 3 rows, decrease on outside edge (2), crochet 1 row, decrease (1), crochet 1 row. The rows in the middle of the melon are only decreased at the top, either on the last row or second-to-last row of each stripe (again, I wasn’t super careful here, hence the variation). The main thing is to end each stripe with 4 stitches at the top instead of 6. This pulls it in a bit at the top and bottom to round it out a little.

After finishing all of that, I realized that I needed a bit more of the light green at the top and bottom on each side, so I took a moment to add those in – 1 sc, enough dcs to “feel” right, and another sc.

For the pink nubby thing at the top of the cocomelon, I started my yarn a few stitches in and single crocheted across the top, stopping the same number of stitches from the other side. I did a single crochet decrease on both sides in every row, and worked until I had just 4 stitches left.

To make the antennae, I attached my dark purple yarn and chained up (16 for one of them and 11 for the other). Then I slip-stitched back down and fastened off.

The blue circles at the top of the antennae were made separately. If you’ve every made a crochet hat, you’ll know how to do this. Work 8 DC into a magic circle. For the second round, work 2DC into each stitch. Round 3: *2DC, 1DC* all the way around. One of the circles was 2 rounds and the other one is 3 rounds. Set these aside.

For Cocomelon’s eyes, here’s the pattern (make 2 of these using black yarn):

Chain 5.

R1: 2 SC in first stitch. SC in next 2. 5 SC in last chain. SC in next 2 (bottom of chain). 3 SC in last chain. Total of 14 stitches.

R2: 2 SC in first stitch. SC in next 4. 2 SC in each of the next 3. SC in next 4. 2 SC in each of the next 2. Total of 20 stitches.

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Sew the eyes onto the face, referring to a picture for placement. For the nose and mouth, use surface slip stitches to add them using black yarn. Use the same method but with white yarn for making the “shine” in the upper right corner.

Now you get to put the whole thing together! Starting anywhere you like, single crochet around the entire Cocomelon in white. When you get to the top of the antennae, place your blue circles there and continue single crocheting around them, joining them to the antennae. Put the bigger circle at the top of the longer antenna. I recommend increasing your circles during this phase (*2SC in first st, 1 SC in next 2* around for the bigger one; follow round 3 above except using SC stitches for the smaller one). I didn’t do this, and my circles were a bit tricky to flatten out when I sewed them onto the blanket. When you’ve finished your final border, sew your (giant!) applique onto the blanket in whatever position you’d like. There are about a million ends on this project, but the good news is that you don’t have to weave in any of them! Just make sure they’re tucked underneath your applique as you sew and you’ll be good to go.

My Cocomelon didn’t turn out perfectly. It’s a bit wobbly and more square than rectangular, but it’s close enough to get the job done. And most importantly, Bumblebee loves it!

If you make this, please tag me on Instagram (@ladybugdaydreams) so I can see!

Blessings,

Recipe: Angel Chicken

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I have a recipe to share with you today. It’s so delicious, though probably not the healthiest thing in the world. It’s not that it’s full of “bad” things, but because of the cream cheese, butter, and pasta it has a lot of fat and carbs. You could counterbalance that by using a low fat cream cheese, butter substitute (or just lessen the amount of butter) and low-carb pasta (or skip the pasta altogether and serve with spaghetti squash or other “noodled” vegetables). You could also skip the “bed” entirely and just eat this sauce as its own dish (it’s definitely thick enough to pull that off) with a side salad or other choice of vegetables.

I originally found the idea for this recipe on AllRecipes.com. My version uses all the same ingredients, but I’ve modified the cooking method to make it easier to cook well. It’s not necessarily easier, per se, but whole chicken breasts can be tricky to cook well in the oven. The original recipe called for making the sauce separately, then pouring it over the chicken and baking it altogether. It could be because I have kids, or maybe because I get pretty frustrated when my chicken takes too long to cook, but I like to chop the chicken up and cook the small pieces. This saves the trouble of cutting them up for the kids later when you’re ready to serve. Also, baking chicken breasts can be hit or miss. Just a couple of minutes too long and your chicken is suddenly unpalatable due to dryness. So I’ve combatted those issues by cutting up the chicken in advance and cooking it in a skillet (you can add oil if you want, but I normally don’t need to) and then adding the sauce ingredients and cooking everything in one skillet. The other benefit of making it this way is that it’s just a one pot meal (excluding the pasta, but that’s an easy pan to wash later).

Let’s get to the recipe!

Angel Chicken

(serves 6-8)

1-1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, cubed
1 packet dry Italian dressing (find it on the salad dressing aisle)
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
2 cans Golden Mushroom soup
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
hot cooked pasta

Cook chicken. Sprinkle dressing mix over chicken and mix well. Add cream cheese and soup. Mix until cheese melts. Stir in butter and melt. Serve over pasta.

What’s your favorite chicken recipe? Pasta recipe?

Blessings,

Oregon Ducks crochet blanket (with graph / method)

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When I posted pictures of my Blazers blanket on Instagram, an old friend saw it and contacted me about the possibility of making one for her son’s upcoming birthday. His favorite team is the University of Oregon Ducks. I told her that was absolutely a possibility, so we worked out the details and I got started!

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The first thing I had to do was create the graphs for the corner to corner pieces (the logo O and the word banners). The O I found online by Googling “University of Oregon pixel logo.” The words were a bit trickier. For those, I got out my graph paper and chose a rough size for the graphs (I went with 11×70 pixels). I divided that space up into equal sections, depending on how many letters I needed to create. Then in that space, I drew standard bubble letters. Using those as my guidelines, I created my pixel graphs for the words.  

IMG-7169With my charts done, I crocheted the O logo and the two words using the corner to corner method. (See below for the row by row pattern.) I used my standard How to Border a C2C blanket to create white borders around all 3 pieces.

I used a size I hook (5.5 mm) and the “chain 3, double crochet” method for my pixels. This made my centerpiece 24 x 24 (it was a 32 pixel square graph) and my banners 11 x 60 inches. So I knew then that I needed to expand the center square until it was 60 inches wide. A little bit of math told me that meant I needed to add 18 inches to each side (60 – 24 = 36 / 2 = 18). I really liked the mesh stitch I’d used in my Blazers blanket, so I decided to do that again. (This will be an upcoming square for my sampler stitch blanket.) I talked to Ballet Boy, who has a keen eye for fashion, and he suggested that I do this expansion primarily in the green, rather than even green and yellow stripes. He though the O would get lost if the stripes were too even. I talked to my friend, and she agreed, so I went forward with that plan (wide green, narrow yellow). 

Because I had already made a simple border around the corner to corner design (one row of single crochet, one row of double crochet), it was easy to dive into the mesh stitch (a simple repeat of half-double crochet, chain 1, skip 1 for the first row and then the same for subsequent rows, just in the chain 1 spaces instead of true stitches). I worked the mesh for 13 rounds. This wasn’t planned so much as that was when the first skein of yarn ran out. I like nice sharp corners on my blankets, so I did this by chaining 2 between those HDCs instead of just 1 like the rest of the pattern. Every 3rd row, I doubled the corner to get it to expand flatly (hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 2, hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 1). I found that without some of the rows doing that, the blanket buckled around the design.

For the yellow stripes, I decided on something with bold texture. To begin, I worked a single crochet into each stitch and space if the mesh design. For row 2, I decided on bobble stitches. To make these, I worked 2 single crochets, then a bobble (essentially a double crochet 4 together, except all into one stitch instead of over 4 stitches), all the way around. Then I made one more row of single crochets all the way around (1 stitch at the top of each bobble and in each sc from the previous row). The corners on these rows were easier – just sc, ch 2, sc on all 3.

From here, I made another 13 rows of green mesh, then another yellow bobble stripe. By the time I had finished 11 rows of the final green stripe, I felt like I needed to measure. It was a good thing I did, too. It was basically perfect. 

I then used green yarn to whip stitch the banners onto the now-bigger center. 

And then it was time for the home stretch! To finish this blanket, I did a row of single crochets in green (sc, ch 2, sc in the corners), followed by 2 rows of yellow double crochets (dc, ch 2, dc in the corners), and one final row of green single crochets. 

Blessings,

ladybug-signature-3 copy

 

 

Here is the row-by-row pattern for the three C2C pieces.

O

1: 1g

2: 2 g

3: 3g

4: 4 g

5: 5 g

6: 6 g

7: 7 g

8: 8 g

9: 9 g

10: 3 g, 4 y, 3 g

11: 2 g, 7 y, 2 g

12: 2 g, 8 y, 2 g

13: 1 g, 10 y, 2 g

14: 2 g, 11 y, 1 g

15: 1 g, 13 y, 1 g

16: 1 g, 14 y, 1 g

17: 1 g, 9 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

18: 1 g, 4 y, 5 g, 8 y, 1 g

19: 1 g, 8 y, 6 g, 3 y, 1 g

20: 1 g, 3 y, 7 g, 8 y, 1 g

21: 1 g, 8 y, 8 g, 2 y, 2 g

22: 2 g, 2 y, 9 g, 8 y, 1 g

23: 2 g, 7 y, 10 g, 2 y, 2 g

24: 2 g, 3 y, 10 g, 7 y, 2 g

25: 2 g, 7 y, 11 g, 3 y, 2 g

26: 3 g, 2 y, 12 g, 7 y, 2 g

27: 3 g, 6 y, 12 g, 3 y, 3 g

28: 3 g, 3 y, 13 g, 6 y, 3 g

29: 3 g, 6 y, 13 g, 3 y, 4 g

30: 4 g, 4 y, 13 g, 5 y, 4 g

31: 4 g, 5 y, 14 g, 4 y, 4 g

32: 5g, 4y, 14g, 4y, 5g

Decrease from both sides:

33: 4g, 4 y, 14 g, 5 y, 4 g (31)

34: 4 g, 5 y, 13 g, 4 y, 4 g (30)

35: 3 g, 4 y, 13 g, 6 y, 3 g (29)

36: 3 g, 6 y, 13 g, 3 y, 3 g (28)

37: 3 g, 3 y, 12 g, 6 y, 3 g (27)

38: 2 g, 7 y, 12 g, 2 y, 3 g (26)

39: 2 g, 3 y, 11 g, 7 y, 2 g (25)

40: 2 g, 7 y, 11 g, 2, y, 2 g (24)

41: 2 g, 2 y, 10 g, 7 y, 2 g (23)

42: 1 g, 8 y, 9 g, 2 y, 2 g (22)

43: 1 g, 3 y, 8 g, 8 y, 1 g (21)

44: 1 g, 8 y, 7 g, 3 y, 1 g (20)

45: 1 g, 3 y, 6 g, 8 y, 1 g (19)

46: 1 g, 8 y, 5 g, 3 y, 1 g (18)

47: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g, 9 y, 1 g (17)

48: 1 g, 14 y, 1 g (16)

49: 1 g, 13 y, 1 g (15)

50: 1 g, 11 y, 2 g (14)

51: 2 g, 10 y, 1 g (13)

52: 2 g, 8 y, 2 g (12)

53: 2 g, 7 y, 2 g (11)

54: 3 g, 4 y, 3 g (10)

55: 9 g

56: 8 g

57: 7 g

58: 6 g

59: 5 g

60: 4 g

61: 3 g

62: 2 g

63: 1 g

 

 

Oregon

1: 1 g

2: 2 g

3: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g

4: 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

5: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g

6: 3 g, 2 y, 3 g

7: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g

8: 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

9: 1 g, 4 y, 4 g

10: 4 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

11: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 4 g

12: 1 g, 1 y, 3 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

13: 1 g, 2 y, 3 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

Decrease from top

14: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 3 g, 1 y, 1 g

15: 5 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 3 g

16: 4 g, 2 y, 1 g, 1 y, 5 g

17: 4 g, 4 y, 5 g

18: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 3 y, 4 g

19: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

20: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 2 y, 3 g

21: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

22: 1 g, 7 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

23: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 8 y, 1 g

24: 2 g, 8 y, 3 g

25: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

26: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

27: 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 3 g

28: 3 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

29: 1 g, 8 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

30: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 7 y, 1 g

 31: 1 g, 6 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

32: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 5 y, 1 g

33: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 5 y, 1 g

34: 1 g, 6 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

35: 6 g, 6 y, 1 g

36: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 2 y, 6 g

37: 3 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

38: 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

39: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

40: 3 g, 2 y, 4 g, 3 y, 1 g

41: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g, 3 y, 3 g

42: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

43: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

44: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

45: 1 g, 5 y, 3 g, 3 y, 1 g

46: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

47: 1 g, 3 y, 5 g, 3 y, 1 g

48: 1 g, 3 y, 9 g

49: 7 g, 1 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

50: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 1 y, 3 g

51: 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

52: 1 g, 7 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

53: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 6 y, 2 g

54: 3 g, 5 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

55: 1 g, 8 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

56: 1 g, 1 y, 3 g, 7 y, 1 g

57: 1 g, 6 y, 3 g, 2 y, 1 g

58: 1 g, 2 y, 4 g, 5 y, 1 g

59: 1 g, 4 y, 4 g, 2 y, 2g

60: 2 g, 2 y, 5 g, 3 y, 1 g

61: 1 g, 2 y, 6 g, 1 y, 3 g

62: 3 g, 2 y, 6 g, 1 y, 1 g

63: 3 g, 1 y, 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 1 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

64: 1 g, 2 y, 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 4 y, 2 g

65: 2 g, 4 y, 1 g, 1 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

66: 2 g, 4 y, 1 g, 4 y, 2 g

67: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g, 3 y, 3 g

68: 4 g, 5 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

69: 1 g, 1 y, 2 y, 4 y, 5 g

70: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

71: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

72: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

73: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

74: 1 g, 7 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

75: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 8 y, 1 g

76: 2 g, 8 y, 3 g

77: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

78: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

Decrease from both sides:

79: 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

80: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

81: 1 g, 8 y, 1 g

82: 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

83: 1 g, 6 y, 1 g

84: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

85: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g

86: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g

87: 4 g

88: 3 g

89: 2 g

90: 1 g

Ducks

1: 1 g

2: 2 g

3: 3 g

4: 4 g

5: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

6: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g

7: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

8: 1 g, 6 y, 1 g

9: 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

10: 1 g, 6 y, 3 g

11: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g, 4 g, 3 y, 1 g

12: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

13: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

Decrease from top:

14: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

15: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

16: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

17: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

18: 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

19: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 1 y, 3 g

20: 1 g, 1 y, 4 g, 2 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

21: 1 g, 6 y, 4 g, 1 y, 1 g

22: 1 g, 2 y, 4 g, 5 y, 1 g

23: 1 g, 5 y, 4 g, 2 y, 1 g

24: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

25: 1 g, 3 y, 5 g. 3 y, 1 g

26: 2 g, 2 y, 9 g

27: 8 g, 3 y, 2 g

28: 3 g, 2 y, 8 g

29: 7 g, 3 y, 3 g

30: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 7 g

31: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

32: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

33: 1 g, 11 y, 1 g

34: 2 g, 10 y, 1 g

35: 1 g, 9 y, 3 g

36: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 8 y, 1 g

37: 4 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

38: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 3 g

39: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

40: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

41: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g, 5 y, 1 g

42: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

43: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2y, 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

44: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 3 g

45: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

46: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

47: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

48: 2 g, 3 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

49: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 2 g

50: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

51: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g, 4 y, 3 g

52: 4 g, 8 y, 1 g

53: 1 g, 7 y, 5 g

54: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

55: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

56: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

57: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

58: 1 g, 7 y, 5 g

59: 4 g, 8 y, 1 g

60: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 3 g

61: 2 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 1 g

62: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

63: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 3 y, 2 g

64: 2 g, 3 y, 5 g, 2 y, 1 g

65: 1 g, 1 y, 5 g, 3 y, 3 g

66: 3 g, 4 y, 6 g

67: 5 g, 4 y, 4 g

68: 5 g, 4 y, 4 g

69: 3 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

70: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 4 y, 2 g

71: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 5 y, 1 g

72: 1 g, 6 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

73: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 7 y, 1 g

74: 1 g, 8 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

75: 3 g, 9 y, 1 g

76: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 3 g

77: 2 g, 3 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

78: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 2 g

79: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

Decrease from both sides:

80: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 1 g

81: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4, y, 1 g

82: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

83: 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

84: 1 g, 6 y, 1 g

85: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

86: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g

87: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

88: 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

89: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g

90: 2 g

91: 1 g

Here is the downloadable file if you’d rather do that.

Ducks row by rows

Adding a Border to a Corner to Corner Blanket

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Most corner to corner blankets that I’ve seen are made either really big (like my Mickey Mouse blanket), or small like a wall hanging or baby blanket. In neither case do you usually see them with a border. But I’ve discovered recently that one of my very favorite ways to make crochet afghans is by making a small or medium sized motif and then adding lots of wide borders until my blanket is a size I like – or until I run out of yarn, whichever is first! What I’ve never seen before, though, is how to add a border to such a blanket, so I thought I’d share the how-to on that today. (And the method will be handy in a few days when I post my next project/pattern.)

When you create a corner to corner blanket, look at it carefully. You will see that the design is made with squares – sometimes called pixels – of different colors to create a picture. These pixels, because if the nature of stitching back and forth in rows, go in opposite directions. You can see this clearly in my picture above. So the first thing to do is to examine your blanket and see which way the pixels are slanting. Some will be normal, where your double crochets are up and down, and some will be sideways, where your double crochets are stacked atop one another. Once you can see the difference, you’re ready to go!

Step 1: Make a slip knot from your border color yarn and place it on your hook. Slip stitch to one corner of the blanket (doesn’t matter which one) and chain 1. Single crochet, chain 2, single crochet. Corner made. 

Step 2: Look at your blanket and determine whether your double crochets are vertical or horizontal. In the pixels where they are vertical, make a single crochet in the top of each one (you will have 3 SCs). In the horizontal ones, make 2 double crochets around the outermost stitch. So for every 2 pixels, you will be making 5 single crochets. 

Step 3: Continue your sets of 3 and 2 all the way across the edge. At the next corner, SC, ch 2, SC.

Step 4: Repeat around. At the end of the last side, remember that you already made that corner so don’t make another one. Instead, join to that first SC with a slip stitch. If you want to continue your border in the same color, you can start your main border pattern now. If you want to change the color, cut your yarn and fasten off. 

That’s it! I hope this was clear enough. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below. 

Blessings,

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Tomato Plus Soup (recipe)

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We’ve been eating a lot of soup for lunch recently, and I wanted tomato soup one day. Problem was, I didn’t have any canned tomato soup. I did, however, have lots of canned tomato products and boxes of broth, plus some veggies in the fridge. So I came up with this recipe.

I’ve made tomato soup in the past, but only blended recipes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t careful enough that day and ended up covered in hot soup. Not fun, and not something I wanted to repeat, so I left the vegetables intact – and in fact embraced that aspect by including diced tomatoes as well as the sauces. This aspect is where the soup got its name. When I served it, my husband said, “It’s like tomato soup, plus.”

I hope if you try it, you like it. 

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Tomato Plus Soup 

1 medium onion, chopped 

2 carrots, peeled and sliced 

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)

2 cans (6 oz each) tomato paste 

1 box (32 oz) vegetable broth 

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried parsley

2-3 teaspoons sugar, to taste (this keeps it from tasting like spaghetti sauce)

Saute the veggies in a bit of oil until the onion begins to soften, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Let soup cook 15 minutes or more to give the herbs time to soften. Serve with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich!

Blessings,

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Ruby Dress pattern

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I posted about the Ruby dress I designed and made last week, but I hadn’t yet written out the pattern. Well, now I have, so I wanted to post it here so other people can have the opportunity to make this cute little dress!

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Full disclosure: I tried to find people to test knit for me and didn’t get any takers, so this pattern hasn’t seen anyone’s eyes but mine until now. If there are any mistakes (which I don’t think there are, but you never know), please feel free to let me know so I can adjust them.

I did not include a pattern for the flower because I didn’t write one. Any crochet or knit flower (or even a decorative button or felt/silk flower) will do. You could even leave the dress plain, but I think the flower adds a little “something special.”

Here is the pattern.

Ruby

Knit Toddler Dress

Size 12-24 months

Gauge: 18 stitches and 26 rows using larger needles in stockinette = 4 inches

Yarn: Worsted or chunky, whatever you like to get gauge. I used Caron Latte Cakes in the color Strawberry Flambe, which is labeled as a “chunky 5,” but felt reasonably thin (worsted) to me.

Needles: Any to get gauge, plus one set a couple sizes smaller. I used size 8 for the ribbing and size 10 for the rest. Interchangeable circular needles are preferred because of the rapidly increasing skirt. It starts small (a 16” or 20” cord will do) but increases to double its size, so you’ll need up to a 40” cord before you’re done. You’ll also need a cable needle as well as a set of DPNs in the smaller size.

Construction: Dress is knit top down starting with the collar, which is worked in rows. A button is added at the end to close the opening. Then it uses raglan increases for the shoulders. Once the sleeves and body are separated, you’ll knit a couple of inches. Then a garter stitch band is knit, followed by the skirt, which increases rapidly for the open, flowy feel. Cables are knit in the skirt between the wedges of increase.

Using smaller needles, cast on 68. Turn work.

Work 1×1 rib (k1, p1) for 1 inch. Work in rows, not in the round.

Increase round: Place marker and join for working in the round. Increase 4 stitches evenly as you knit one round.

Marker setup: Knit 12 (back left), place marker, knit 12 (left sleeve), place marker, knit 24 (front), place marker, knit 12 (right sleeve), place marker, knit 12 (back right).

Setup round 1: *knit to one stitch before marker, yarn over, knit two, yarn over* Repeat from * to * until one stitch before last marker (8 stitch increase). Be careful not to increase at the beginning of round marker.

Setup round 2: knit around

Repeat these two rounds a total of 8 times. You should have 144 stitches on your needles.

You will now work even (no more increasing) until your yoke measures approximately 5.5 inches from the cast on.

Separate body and sleeves: Knit to first marker. Place all stitches between first and second marker (the sleeve) on hold using waste yarn or a stitch holder. Using backward loop method, cast on 4 stitches. Knit to next marker, then repeat the process of placing sleeve stitches on hold. Knit to beginning of round.

Bodice: Knit every round until work measure approximately 2 inches from the underarm.

Waistband: Work in garter stitch (knit 1 round, purl one round) for 8 rounds, or until your belt measures 1 inch.

Increase for skirt: KFB (knit front and back) into every stitch

Marker setup: Knit 10, place marker, *purl 2, knit 8, purl 2, place marker, knit 20, place marker* Repeat from * to * around. Knit last 10 stitches. This establishes where your cables will go, as well as the increase points of the skirt.

Round 1: Knit to first marker, *purl 2, C6B, purl 2, yarn over, knit to one stitch before next marker, yarn over, knit 1* until last increase marker. Knit the last 10 stitches (being mindful not to increase at the BOR).

C6B: Move three stitches to cable needle, hold in back of work, knit 3 stitches, knit 3 stitches from cable needle.

Rounds 2-3: Work as established, knitting the knits (and YOs) and purling the purls all the way around.

Repeat Rounds 1-3 until your piece measures about 17 inches from the shoulder to the bottom (or 1 inch shorter than what you want the total length to be). You may need to switch to a longer cable as you go.

Switch to smaller needles and work 1×1 rib for 1 inch. Bind off.

Sleeves: Pick up sleeve stitches from waste yarn using DPNs (or magic loop if you prefer) in the smaller size. Knit one round.

Work 1×1 rib for 6 rounds. Bind off. Repeat on other sleeve.

Weave in ends and block your dress. Then find a pretty little girl to put it on and share your pictures with me on Instagram @ladybugdaydreams!

I am working on developing this dress in larger sizes, so stay tuned for that – though it will likely be quite a while. If you’re a knitter who’s interested in helping me out by making this dress in other sizes, contact me and we’ll work something out!

Blessings,

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Adjusting a Sweater Pattern

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I’ve been knitting long enough now to have some confidence in what I’m doing. It’s rather a nice place to be! Today I’m going to talk about how I took a standard pullover sweater pattern (the Flax sweater, a free pattern of which I’ve made numerous iterations) and turned it into a cardigan for Dragonfly. Let’s start with a picture of the sweater I made:

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The sweater pattern in its original form is knit in the round from the top down. This means that starting at the collar and working the neckline, then shoulders, then body, you knit a large tube of fabric that fits around a person. You then come back up to the armpits and knit the sleeves from pit to cuff.

The Flax sweater starts with ribbing at the collar. I changed this to garter stitch, which does two things. First, it matches the texture on the top of the sleeves. Second, because I was working flat instead of in the round (I wanted my sweater to be open in the front, so making a tube didn’t make sense), garter stitch is easier than rib because it’s knit every round (no purl stitches anywhere in sight). I did this for 1.5 inches.

For my sleeves to line up with the front of the sweater, I couldn’t put the markers (indicating where I needed to place my increases for the shoulders) in the same spots as the original pattern. To accommodate the change, I looked at the original pattern and determined which numbers were for the front and back, and which were for the sleeves. I took the front/back number and divided it in half. This gave me the number of stitches I needed for the left half of the front and the right half of the front. I then knit the first half, placed a marker, knit the first sleeve, placed a marker, knit the entire back (no need to divide this one in half), placed a marker, knit the other sleeve, placed a marker, and finally knit the second half of the front. From here on out I was able to follow the pattern as written, with the exception of working in rows instead of rounds.

The yarn I used on this sweater was partially freshly dyed wool for this specific project, partially leftovers from other recent sweaters. I incorporated all of the other colors as stripes in the sweater, and I chose to divide the stripes using a thin stripe of brown. I used that same brown for the collar, waist, wrist cuffs, and button bands.

When knitting the button band that would have the buttonholes (rather than the solid one where I would sew buttons on later), I chose to make a buttonhole at the approximate middle of each color stripe as opposed to placing them evenly all the way down the sweater. Then I found buttons in my stash that matched the colors of the stripes and placed a matching button on each stripe.

That’s it for this sweater! I’ll be starting another “Flax Hack” sweater tonight, so there’ll be another post in a few weeks explaining that one (it’s an adult size sweater for Scorpion, so it’s going to take a while to make).

Blessings,

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Crochet Pig (free amigurumi pattern!)

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It’s no secret that I’ve spent much of April and May making crochet toys (also known as “amigurumi”). After making so many, I got the idea stuck in my head that I wanted to make a pig. I loved the patterns from Jess Huff so much that I decided to base my pig off of her design. Hers all follow the same basic pattern, and they really are some of the cutest I’ve ever come across. The parts of the design that are my own I will give a pattern for here. Those that are hers, I will link to (it wouldn’t be right to republish her pattern).

The pig can be made two ways: like a “farm” pig, or more like a “teddy bear pig.” Everything but the legs (and arms, in the case of the teddy bear style) are the same for both. The main difference is the direction in which you sew on the head. Whichever way you choose, it’s sure to be a cherished gift!

Crochet Pig pattern

Supplies:
Worsted weight pink yarn (I used JoAnn brand Big Twist in the colors bubblegum and light rose)
Worsted weight brown yarn if you’re making the teddy bear style pig (I used Red Heart Super Saver in the color cafe latte)
Size E (3.5 mm) crochet hook
Yarn needle
Fiber Fill (I used Poly-fil)
12-15mm safety eyes

Key:
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
inc = increase (2 sc into one stitch)
blo = back loop only (single crochet using only the back loop of the stitch, not both loops like normal)
flo = front loop only (single crochet using only the front loop of the stitch, not both loops like normal)
dec = decrease (one sc over two stitches – I use the invisible decrease)
R[number] = round

Note:
This pig, in either style, is made in continuous rounds (a spiral). In order to know where the beginning of each round is, you can count very carefully, or you can use a stitch marker to help you keep your place. I don’t recommend trying to find your spot based on seeing the increase pattern, because you can’t really see it due to the increases being shifted slightly from one round to the next. I used to just count really carefully, but now I use a stitch marker when I’m making amigurumi. It’s much less stressful to use the marker!

90289AE1-80D1-4AC0-9955-4EC836CAE3CDSnout and Head

R1: 6 sc in magic ring
R2: inc around (12)
R3: *sc, inc* (18)
R4: sc, inc, *sc 2, inc* 5 times, sc (24)
R5: in blo, sc around (24)
R6-9: sc (24)
R10: in flo, *sc 3, inc* (30)
R11: sc 2, inc, *sc 4, inc* 5 times, sc 2 (36)
R12: *sc 5, inc* (42)
R13: sc 3, inc, *sc 6, inc* 5 times, sc 3 (48)
R14: *sc 7, inc* (54)
R15: sc 4, inc, *sc 8, inc* 5 times, sc 4 (60)
R16-24: sc around (60)
R25: sc 4, dec, *sc8, dec* 5 times, sc 4 (54)
R26: *sc 7, dec* (48)
R27: sc 3, dec, *sc 6, dec* 5 times, sc 3 (42)
R28: *sc 5, dec* (36)
R29: sc 2, dec, *sc 4, dec* 5 times, sc 2 (30)

At this point, stuff head ¾ full and shape eye sockets (this post shows you how; just scroll down to the right spot on the page). Insert safety eyes (or embroider eyes). 

R30: *sc 3, dec* (24)
R31: sc, dec, *sc 2, dec* 5 times, sc (18)
R32: *sc, dec* (12)

Finish stuffing

R33: decrease around (6) 

Finish with ultimate finish.

C85C37C1-C9D7-442D-A8F3-07F576C14765Ears (make 2)

R1: 6 sc in magic ring
R2: sc, inc (9)
R3: sc (9)
R4: sc, inc, *sc 2, inc* twice, sc (12)
R5: *sc 3, inc* (15)
R6: sc 2, inc, *sc 4, inc* twice, sc 2 (18)
R7: *sc 5, inc* (21)
R8: sc 3, inc *sc 6, inc* twice, sc 3 (24)
R9-11: sc (24)
R12: inc, sc 23 (25)
R13: sc, dec over 3 stitches, *sc 2, dec over 3* 4 times, sc (15)
R14-15: sc (15)

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To make an invisible decrease over three stitches instead of two, simply insert your hook into the front loops only of three stitches, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, and finish the stitch.

Fasten off. Flatten and slip stitch closed (do not stuff). Sew to head.

Body

Any of the bodies from Jess Huff (except the giraffe) will do. Although, I do recommend making the neck (the later rows of the pattern) shorter than written if you’re making the farm style pig. I didn’t do this, and I wish I had. If I make this again, I’ll likely stop after round 27.

41EB5B02-3B75-41C0-93FF-339AECC296E4Arms and Legs (teddy bear style)

Again, any of the patterns from Jess Huff will do; they’re all the same.

 

 

D5FDCD0E-B254-4A02-8872-A0BF77BD1EFELegs (farm style) (make 4)

R1: 6sc in magic ring
R2: inc around (12)
R3: *sc, inc* (18)
R4: sc, inc, *sc 2, inc* 5 times, sc (24)
R5-9: sc around (24)
R10: sc, dec, *sc 2, dec* 5 times, sc (18)

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing onto body.

Tail

Ch 29
dc into third ch from hook
dc twice into each chain all the way down. Fasten off, leaving long tail to sew onto body.

The tail can be made longer or shorter according to your preference (just chain more or fewer chains).

When all the pieces are made, stuff them and sew them all together.

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I loved designing and making these pigs, and I hope someone out there will make one and love it too. If you do, would you let me know?

Blessings,

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Ground Beef Sausage (method/recipe)

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We don’t eat pork, which means no traditional sausage. Usually I just buy turkey sausage, but with the quarantine and grocery stores being slow to restock, I can’t always find it these days. After looking around online a bit, I hobbled together a few different recipes for making your own sausage out of ground beef. It was based partially on what I had on hand, as well as what I know to be the flavors my family likes. 

Ground Beef Sausage

3 pounds ground beef

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons fennel seeds

2 tablespoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

1 teaspoon garlic powder 

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon (or more to taste) crushed red pepper

Place all ingredients into a large bowl. Use your hands to mix all the spices through the ground beef as thoroughly and evenly as you can.

Divide the mixture into food storage bags in whatever portions make sense for your family (I do 2 meals out of this recipe, but we have a large family). Put the bags in the fridge to cure for at least 24 hours. After this time, you can either use or freeze your sausage as you would any other bulk sausage (spaghetti, biscuits and gravy, etc).

4B197F7C-A7D6-4598-A6CE-0B58C7917306While this tastes pretty much just like a traditional sausage, it still behaves like and has the texture of ground beef. For that reason, it might take a time or two before your mouth understands what it’s experiencing!

Blessings,

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