One of my summer job coworkers was expecting to have a baby soon (a boy! the baby was born after I had left to go back to school). On my last day of work, I gave him a little something for his future offspring. I didn’t know what the baby’s name was going to be, or else I probably would have done something fancy (or attempted to). Instead, I made a little crochet hat.

The hat was made in Bernat Super Saver in White (100% acrylic) and Red Heart Super Saver in Turquoise (100% acrylic).

The hat was a simple pattern that I made up as I went along (increase of 6 stitches evening throughout until I got to the size that I wanted). The hat was 14″ in circumference, so I’m hoping that it fit as I didn’t get a chance to ask after the baby was born.

I’m hoping to get the pattern up soon, I just need to write it up and crochet another hat to test the pattern out before putting it up here.

I’m a sucker for cute things. I really do enjoy crochet cute things with big eyes. Goomba was no exception. For Mario fans, you should recognize this little cutie. I made him for a gift a while back and never got around to posting photos of him. He was about 10cm (4″) in height. I used 5 different types of yarn (mostly Bernat Supersaver or Red Heart Supersaver; the feet were out of Bernat Satin).

I did not use a pattern (I made it up as I went along) and I will not be publishing a pattern for him (mostly because I don’t remember what I did and because Goomba is a trademarked character by Nintendo). I hope you like him.

It was a friend’s birthday recently and I needed a gift. With work and being lazy (hah!) I decided to craft something. Armed with the knowledge that she’s a fan of cute and appreciates handcrafted goods, I decided to make her a bundle of cute. Because everyone loves cute things, right?

I started with the head/body with big cutesy black eyes. Safety-eyes are fantastic.

Then I crocheted a little leg and another and another until I had oodles of little legs. At two ends per leg, also with two ends for the head/body, it’s a lot of ends for one little cutie.

But with a trusty yarn needle I sewed and sewed and tucked and tucked until all the ends were tucked away into a stuffed little ball and he looked like this:

But he’s not as cute as he is when you can see his cute little face! World, meet Baby Octo. Baby Octo, here’s the world:

A pattern for Baby Octo is currently in the works, I just need to edit it and make sure it’s correct!

I have a ‘thing’ of scarves. I’ve made a lot of them, in both knit and crochet (and possibly even one fleece one somewhere). I own quite a large amount of scarves (and cowls!) – including the ones that I’ve made, some silk scarves, some scarves that had been gifted to me. That thing of scarves somehow always ends up with me not wearing them though. When it’s cold, I never seem to have one on, despite the large collection that I have.

My first ‘real’ project in knitting was a garter stitch scarf. Not a square, but a scarf. In garter stitch. (I got very good at knit stitches after that, by the way.)

My first ‘real’ project in crochet was a variegated blue messenger bag that I somehow manged to design myself. I still use it from time to time. It was done completely in single crochet and used nearly a pound of worsted weight yarn (I may as well had done a scarf, it probably would have taken the same amount of time).

I never understood why projects geared towards beginners just showcase one single stitch (generally garter or single crochet, depending on your craft of choice) and it’s always a freaking scarf.

But this is one beginner-friendly project that is all about the different stitches. Not only do you get some practice with chains and single crochet, but the scarf also features half-double crochet, double crochet and triple crochet stitches. Which makes for a not-so-boring project and a great new scarf addition to your wardrobe.

The scarf in the pictures is about 7.5′ long with 32 repeats of the pattern. It has a fringe (which is entirely optional, as is the length that you want to make it). This scarf was designed for practicing the different stitch types in crochet beyond single crochet (hdc, dc, tr – US crochet terminology).

Want to make your own Crochet Sampler Stitch Scarf? The pattern is free! Click to download a PDF copy of the Sampler Stitch Scarf pattern.

Filet crochet is all about having filled spaces and empty spaces. You accomplish this with double crochet stitches and chains. You can ‘draw’ with your empty and filled spaces, a lot like piecing together tiles of different colours – only you use yarn and your imagination.

A Little Filet Crochet Scarf is a scarf that I designed and made for my friend’s birthday gift. I had the yarn, I had the time and I had a hook. All I needed was an idea. So while I was flipping through a stitch dictionary that I have, I came across filet crochet. I’ve done a few small projects with filet crochet and love it. It’s easy to get the hang of, once you understand the concept, and it can go by pretty quickly (if time is an issue), plus it’s fun to make a pattern with your squares.

The pattern is written up as a one-size-only scarf, but you can easily add on more repeats to lengthen the scarf to your liking.

Want to make your own scarf? Click to download a PDF copy of the A Little Filet Crochet Scarf pattern.

Difficulty Level: Easy