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: diy
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 →
Hodge & Podge No. 3
Hodge: What in the world happened to your tail?
Podge: There was this one hair that wouldn’t go straight so I thought I’d just trim it off. But then that made these other hairs look funny, so I trimmed them too. That made my whole tail all uneven, so I cut a little more… But it doesn’t look that bad, right?
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?
Hodge and Podge’s Easter Egg Hunt at the Laundromat
Easter or not, Hodge and Podge still had to do their laundry yesterday. To make the chore a little more interesting, they decided to hide plastic eggs with quarters in them for their fellow laundry patrons to find.
Hodge and Podge Blow Up Some Peeps
Happy Easter!
