What’s the one thing you should do when you finally clean all your dishes for the first time in months? Throw a party to celebrate of course! After a day spent up to her elbows in suds, Tina invited all her friends over to make good use of her newly cleaned china with plenty of delicious food.
Tag Archives: crochet
Make It! Challenge #5: Crochet Bowser Sweater for a Turtle
For Make It! Challenge #5, Lisa Egolf challenged me to crochet a sweater for her turtle, Myrtle, so that he would be easy to spot when she lets him loose to play in the courtyard of the school where she teaches science. “I think bright yet manly colors would be best,” she said, because after all this Myrtle is male (don’t judge). So I set out to design the most masculine turtle sweater I could.
I don’t know about you, but when I think of a beefy, manly turtle, my first thought is of Bowser. If you’re familiar with the Super Mario Bros. video game franchise, you undoubtedly remember Bowser as the game’s super villain. The object of the ’80s Nintendo game is to get the main character Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom, survive Bowser′s attacks, and save Princess Toadstool. Running into Bowser, with his spiny shell, pug nose, and domineering height, is enough to make little Mario shiver.
Myrtle definitely looks like he could do some damage in his Bowser sweater. Go on, Myrtle! Go get your princess and take back your Mushroom Kingdom.
Crochet Bowser Sweater for a Turtle… Continue Reading →
Challenge Me to Make Something Awesome
There’s no doubt about it. Friends of Squirrel Picnic, or fellow picnickers if you will, are some of the most creative, innovative, and humorous people I’ve ever met. You have big imaginations, and you’re not afraid to try new things. Best of all, you agree that the world needs a lot more fun.
Through the Make It! Challenge over the past six months, some of you have inspired me and pushed me to my craftiest. You’ve challenged me to make a toddler’s hat in the shape of a roast turkey, a Christmas pickle ornament, a felted sloth, and a Batman mask. And I’ve had a blast exploring your ideas and creating each one. But I want more! I have a few more challenges lined up for the rest of the year, but I also have several open slots. Now’s your chance to be included in this one-of-a-kind project.
The concept is pretty simple. If you have an idea for an awesome item that can be created through knitting, sewing, or crochet, email a detailed description and any sketches, photos, or links to me at squirrelpicnic{at}gmail{dot}com. Keep in mind, the more information you include, the better the chance that I will accept your challenge. And if I do accept your challenge, I’ll publish the pattern here at squirrelpicnic.com so that others can make my original design too. Best of all, I’ll send you the sample, free of charge, as a thank-you for your idea.
For more information and to see the Make It! Challenge Hall of Fame visit the new Make It! Challenge page. I can’t wait to see what you think up next!
Hodge & Podge No. 4
Podge: Do you remember the first time we saw a yarn-bombed tree?
Hodge: How could I forget. You said it was so sweet that someone had knit a cozy for a tree.
The Fatimal Forecast for Today Is…
Sleepy with a Chance of Thundersnores
Easy to Crochet Butterfly Pattern
As I’m writing this, it is snowing for the third straight day here in Denver. It’s not uncommon for us to get spring snowstorms, but they always come as a shock to me. Just as you’re starting to get pumped about springtime, a foot of snow gets dumped on your excitement. Lucky for me, I have my own little patch of springtime at Squirrel Picnic, where their crochet garden continues to bloom.
This week I’m making butterflies. I found a lot of complicated butterfly patterns online and in books. Though the complex butterflies were gorgeous, I didn’t have time for all those steps, so I wrote this pattern for a simple and fast and cute little butterfly.
Easy Butterfly Pattern… Continue Reading →
Things Are Blooming at Squirrel Picnic
You may have noticed the new spring diorama grants us a rare look through a garden of crocheted flowers onto Hodge and Podge enjoying a picnic. It will be an ongoing project throughout this spring and summer to update, revise, amend, and polish it. By the end of the summer, I’m hoping that every item in the diorama will be knit or crochet. Keep checking in each month to see how it’s changing. I’m planning on adding birds, butterflies, and a few more flowers. What else do you think I should add?
Your World Needs More Cuteness: Spring Daisy Crochet Patterns
Daisies are one of my favorite flowers. They’re simple and cheerful and the ultimate symbol of cute. Just name something Daisy and its cuteness rating goes up exponentially. Take for instance Daisy the world’s cutest cat, Daisy Duke, Daisy Duck, Daisy Buchanan, Daisy Fuentes… the list goes on. But my favorite Daisy moniker is Daisy the Pterosaur, named for the nine-year-old girl who found this dinosaur’s bones in the sand while on a family visit to the beach.
Okay, daisies are cute: you get the point. Now you know why I included daisies in my spring diorama for Squirrel Picnic and why I have to restrain myself from embellishing everything within arms’ reach with these little flowers. If you too would like to add a little cheer to a headband, spring sweater, or Easter table setting, whip up a few of these easy crochet daisies.
Continue Reading →
A Friendly Little Squirrel Stops by the Picnic
A friendly little squirrel by the name of Stoney stopped by Squirrel Picnic on his way from the East Coast.
He had traveled 1,500 miles from North Carolina (that’s 8,025,600 squirrel hops!) to come to Colorado in search of adventure. And he says so far it’s the best place he’s ever been. He especially loves the city and all the fun people he has met.
Within minutes of arriving in Denver, he met a very nice lady who was so taken with him that she offered him a job as a mascot for her company, Keep It in Colorado. What luck!
He was very excited and anxious to wrap up his journey and get to his new job, but we couldn’t let him leave without a party. It wasn’t the same as the barbecues back home, but he said that it was awful kind of us. This fella really does like barbecue. He wouldn’t stop talking about how the first thing he’s going to do at his new job is to find the best barbecue in Denver.
Best of luck, Stoney! And welcome to Colorado.
Happy St. Patty’s Day!
“Frogs are really leprechauns. That’s why you always see so many of them after it rains — we’re all out looking for rainbows and pots of gold.” – Mayor Snack Frog
