Free Pattern: Dish Towel Hangers

Hey everyone! Today, I have a FREE crochet pattern for you! :D This is easy enough for beginners and make a great gift paired with the best crocheted potholders ever!

These are a nice alternative to the crocheted towel toppers that are permanently stuck to the towels. Keep reading for the pattern. :)

Crafting for Christmas

Kyle's family does a Secret Santa every year for Christmas. And it's a lot of fun.

Except that I haven't been in the family for..2? 3 years? I don't know them well enough to really shop for them, and Kyle's just not good at it. I don't know why. He has some good ideas sometimes but..pretty much, it's up to me.

So when his cousin's boyfriend showed up at the Thanksgiving shindig with a bearded beanie, I had an idea.

I've been wanting to try making a dead fish hat for..a long time. Ever since I found the pattern a good 4 years ago. I just never had the perfect time to make it.

The time is NOW.

I honestly don't want to give it up.

If anything, it's a great conversation piece, yes?

His girlfriend says he'll love it, so I'm going off her word.

But if he doesn't love it, I'll gladly take it back and wear it.

Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy.

Okay. Not really dreadfully. That's a lie.

Thanksgiving happened. We ended up spending it at my parents' house early, then at Kyle's aunt's house. That's always a fun time, his family getting together.

Then we got home and Christmas sort of exploded in my house.

This is the upstairs tree.

This is the tree in our bedroom. Yes, we have two trees. What can I say? I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

Also, we got this one via FreeCycle. Love that.

This is a sofa table in our living room. Also free, but via Craigslist.

The decorations came from Kyle's Papa, again, free.

This was, again, from Kyle's Papa. Kyle's uncle Paul, the one who cornered me and asked me about my Facebook name upon our first meeting, made this. I love it. His name is Dolph Lundgren.

This ornament tree sits ontop of our DVD rack. We got it from my in-laws 2 years ago for Christmas. I love it.

SPEAKING of our DVD rack. Let me tell you a little story.

We had seasons 1-5 of FRIENDS, which happens to be one of my favorite shows.

Keyword here, HAD.

We were planning on selling them and saving up the rest of the money to get the box set of all the seasons. Good plan, huh?

Well, Selena made these friends on the school bus that lived down the street from us. Their mom came by from time to time, we had polite chit chat, whatever. 

These people screamed white trash, but who am I to judge? I just tried to look past what their outward appearance and actions put off. There's good in all people.

So, one night she comes over. Kyle's at work. I'm home alone with the kids. Before leaving, she asks if we can swap movies for a couple nights. No biggie, they live down the street. She goes home and grabs seasons 1-3 of True Blood. They're mangled.

She grabs all my seasons of FRIENDS. I treated these things like gold.

About a week passes by without any visits from the kids or the parents. I grow concerned, but I figure it'll be okay.

Kyle goes to their house with their True Blood DVDs to swap back.

They've disappeared.

Their landlord is there, and he's mad. The house has been destroyed.

The glass in all the windows has been broken out.

The carpet is ripped up and/or burned.

And the icing on the cake?

These people left their pets, dead, in the basement. In Wal-Mart bags.

What kind of people do things like this?! It's disgusting that people can be like this. Even more horrifying that they have kids. These kids didn't ask for a life like this. They deserve more than that.

Needless to say, I don't have my FRIENDS DVDs anymore. And when I found out, I admittedly about cried. I know, it's so petty and small and easily replaced. It could've been so much worse. The LANDLORD has it far worse than I do. I know.

Now, I'm not so mad. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm upset and hurt and disgusted at these people, but I'm to the point now where I almost feel sorry for them. What kind of life is that, so empty that they act this way? What kind of future is happening for the kids? My heart hurts for them.

I keep telling myself that they need the money they would get selling the DVDs more than I need them for watching. They need good food on their table, or Christmas presents for their kids. I don't know or believe that they would be spending the money on that, but if I think that the money will go towards good things, I'm not so mad anymore. I can handle it. It's not a huge loss.

After that huge blow to my emotional side, I got busy.

I made Riah and Dot Monster some owl hats, which I posted a picture of once before. Here they are again.

After I made them, Riah decided she wanted a pink one instead.

You know kids.

So I made her a pink one. The purple one went to her cousin, along with a matching small purple one for her baby cousin. Then I made a small pink one for their half-sister.

Then, after being told by MANY people MANY times, I posted a photo on a Facebook "garage sale" group with prices, to see what kind of response I'd get.

Well..I'm up to my ears in crochet projects right now.

I was overwhelmed. I'm still overwhelmed, actually. As it stands, I have about 9 owl hats that need to be made, along with a few other hats. I'm getting them done, but with a quantity like that it takes a bit longer.

Plus Gabe's an animal.

So, I may not be blogging so much lately, but I do have a banana bread recipe I want to post because, well, I love me some banana bread.

In parting, here's another photo.

This was a specific order for someone for a pink and grey sock monkey hat. Um. I want one. In my size.

Carpal Tunnel - I blame Kia.

So I have this friend. Her name is Kia. She's one of the most amazing people I know.

I met her through Kyle and, apparently, he hadn't wanted me to meet her back in the day. He was worried that a cat fight would ensue. He had no idea she and I would hit it off as well as we did, which was pretty effing well.

So, when I found out she was pregnant, I started going nuts. Even before finding out the gender.

Her sister, Sam, situated her baby shower. I made things.

Like this super adorable hat.

I took pictures at the shower, too.

I also made this blanket. This blanket is known as the Blanket That Would Never Be Finished. It's done in complete single crochet with sport weight yarn. It took MONTHS.

And now?

NOW POOKA'S HERE AND SHE CAN WEAR THINGS I MAKE!

Pooka came a month early. She's an itty bitty.

I was worried that the rainbow hat would be too small for her, that she'd never wear it.

I'm now told that it's one of the only things they have that actually fits her. 

But THEN.

Then I saw these little boots online and I HAD to make them.

Now I gotta find a way to get to see my lil' KittyKat. I haven't met her yet but I love her so much, just like her mommy.

Homespun Yarn, part deux.

I caved.

I got more homespun yarn. I know, I know. I'm just asking for more headaches.

I fell for it. I love the way it feels once it's worked. I love that it's easily maintained. I love the color blends. I just love it. Way to go, LionBrand. I once hated this stuff, but now I think I found a new addiction.

This time, I made a different photography prop.

This is a "hanging" stork pouch. I use quotation marks because that is exactly what you're NOT supposed to do.

The yarn is very soft and cozy, and stretches very well (not enough that the baby will get stuck in any stitches, ofcourse).

The opening has a diameter of about 21 in. 

The pouch itself is 9 in., top to bottom.

Okay, now here's the deal. That photo with the baby doll? That's just to show you how it'll look.
In reality, you DO NOT hang a newborn in ANYTHING. Spotter or no spotter, NEVER.
The typical use of these are for composites. To take the image with the infant in one, you will tuck the newborn into the pouch while it's curled up into the fetal position. You then lay the newborn, pouch and all, onto a bean bag. Make sure you have someone standing by the newborn at all times. Remember, safety is IMPORTANT. You then have someone tug slightly on the "tail" part, to make it look like it's being hung, and then take the image from a bird's eye view. You can then composite the image so that it looks as though it's been tied onto a branch..or whatever you want. The main thing is you DO NOT HANG THE NEWBORN EVER.

I can't tell you how many people I've seen sell these saying "it'll hold the newborn safely and it's completely okay to hang a newborn in this with a spotter!" No. No it's REALLY not. There are so many things that could go wrong, I can't even begin to list a few. Please, photograph responsibly. :)

Also, if you'd like to make this, the pattern can be found here.
I ended up using a K hook and having to crochet around a few more rows after row 10.

Homespun Yarn.

Have you ever tried working with homespun yarn? Because I have. And it's a PAIN for me. It keeps unraveling and fraying and..ugh. Maddening, really.

I bought some Lion Brand Homespun Yarn in Lagoon with the intentions of having it become the start of a blanket. That ended QUICK when I started using it, so then it stayed in my craft room.

And stayed.

And stayed.

And stayed.

I haven't touched it since January.

Until today.



I figured I needed to get some destashing out so I'd have an excuse for more yarn.

And the yarn was/is SO soft. It'd be a shame not to make something of it.

So I made this.

It's a baby cocoon/baby basket/babypod/a lot of names. It's a photography prop for newborns. They go into it like they're still in utero, but some are still small enough to be able to stretch. I wanted to make sure I used something soft when making it, and I didn't have any wool. The pattern called for that homespun yarn so I figured, "Why not? If it doesn't work out, I frog it and it goes back in the craft room."

It worked. By some miracle, it worked. I'm SUPER happy with the results and the way the yarn feels. SO happy, infact, that I want more of this yarn.

Seriously.

I know, I know, I'm /facepalm-ing it up enough for myself right now. But I want more in different colors. It's just SO soft. And SO pretty. And SO...GAH I WANT MORE.

Someone shoot me.

OH. Pattern for the cocoon can be found here.

Random Crocheting

Since I *finally* figured out the whole hooking thing, I've been trying to find relatively easy patterns of things to make.

I found a diaper cover.

Kind of hilarious, right?

Quickie: Crafting Practicality

I have a hard time finding potholders that I like/go with my kitchen. So, needing a craft, I decided to crochet. Again.

My tension is still a bit wonky (it's HP weekend on ABC Family, excuse my words please) but that'll even itself out with practice.

These were crocheted using Peaches N Creme 100% cotton (I small ball at WalMart will make 1, and it's a little less than $2). You don't want to use ANY acrylic yarn, because acrylic is plastic. Plastic + Heat = Melt.

Pattern found here. And quite honestly, I won't be paying for new potholders anymore, unless it's the supplies to make more of these. These are the BEST potholders you'll get. They're double thick (I'll admit, I struggled with the pattern as a beginner crocheter) so NO heat goes through these babies!

I'm inlove with my potholders.

First Crochet Project - Done!

I can't believe it. I really can't.

Quickie: I'm A Hooker!

I never thought the day would come.

I really didn't.

I'VE LEARNED TO CROCHET!

My tension is still pretty off, but I'll get better as I go.

This ninja is super stoked.

The Stash.

I'm always curious about what people have when crafting.

You might not be. But I know there's others out there like me. 

There's something about seeing the raw material they're working with and then seeing a finished product that is so awesome, it's hard to find words to describe it. Part of it is probably due to the fact that crafters know what kind of work goes into making things. 

So I thought I'd share pictures of what I'm working with, yarn, knitting, and crochet related.

This is my odd and end box. It's got my scissors, stitch markers, some embroidery thread, gauge reader/ruler, yarn bobbins, darning needles, etc.

This is my yarn. And it's constantly changing and growing or shrinking. It's made up of Red Heart brand (which I honestly don't like, I think it's too rough for much of anything) and I Love This Yarn! acrylic worsted weight. After taking this picture, I got two things of Peaches & Creme 100% cotton. My kitchen needs some potholders.

These are the only two sets of circulars that I have. They're size 8 and 10, both 29". Needless to say, I use a LOT of the magic loop method when knitting on these.

Theeeeese are my knitting needles. Thanks in large part to my best friend, Kristy. Her mom had moved into a house that had a mess of things left over, including a large amount of knitting needles. I've got a pretty good amount of 14", then a couple sets of 10", and then a few sets of DPNs.

These would be my crochet hooks. I had, literally, ONE before Kristy. I also have a big assortment of pattern magazines and books for crocheting, straight out of the 70s and 80s. My house would be retro-fab right now if it wasn't for Kyle stopping me.

And, you know, if I could actually crochet. >.<

So, that's my knitting and crocheting stuff. Not a lot, but it's mine and it works for me.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to show you my craft room.

If only someone could get it done...

(Kyle, if you're reading this, HINTHINT.)