Squirrel Picnic

Handmade with Love and Stuff


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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 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!


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Easy to Crochet Butterfly Pattern

Butterfly Crochet Pattern by Squirrel PicnicAs 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 the 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.

I can think of several great uses for these butterflies: Sew them onto bags, towels, pillows, or afghans. Glue a magnet on and attach them to your fridge door. Pin them to a bulletin board. They add a little touch of spring wherever they go. What will you do with your butterflies?

Easy Butterfly Pattern

Difficulty rating 1

Finished size: 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″

Materials:

Small amounts of worsted weight yarn in any two colors you like.

(For this pattern, I’ll call the lighter color A and the darker color B.)

Size 00/3.50 mm steel crochet hook

Tapestry needle

Instructions:

Wings

With A, ch 11

2 dc in 4th ch from hook.

Ch 3 and slst in next ch.

Butterfly Step 1 (800x600)

Ch 4, 2 tr in next ch, ch 4 and slst in next ch.

Butterfly Step 2 (800x600)

Ch 4, 2 tr in next ch, ch 4 and slst in next ch.

Butterfly Step 3 (800x663)

Ch 3, 2 dc in next ch, ch 2 and slst in next ch.

Butterfly Step 4

Fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing. Using the tail, loosely sew up the center of the wings. Work in ends.

Butterfly Step 6

Body

With B and leaving a tail at least 6″ long, ch 7. Sc in 3rd ch from hook, slst in each of next 4 ch. Fasten off, leaving another 6″ tail for sewing.

Butterfly Step 5 (800x797)

Finishing

Place the body on top of the wings so that the tail ends of the body and the smaller wings are on the bottom. Sew the body to the wings by using the left tail to sew the left side of the body and the right tail to sew the right side of the body. When you get to the head of the butterfly, tie the two strands together in a knot and trim to make the antennae.

Butterfly Step 7


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Squirrel Week 2013 in Review

If you’ve noticed an uptick in the amount of squirrel chatter across the web this week, you can thank journalist John Kelly and the good folks at the Washington Post for devoting an entire week to the humble and fun-loving squirrel. This week, I’ve seen some of the cutest, most intelligent, determined, and acrobatic squirrels in the world. It was hard to choose just five, but here they are: my top five stories to come out of Squirrel Week 2013.

5. Cute Overload

Cute Overload put together a photographic collection of some serious squirrel cuteness.

Photo: cuteoverload.com Visit http://cuteoverload.com/tag/squirrels/ for more squirrel cuteness.

Photo: cuteoverload.com

4. Nancy Rose’s Squirrelography

Photographer Nancy Rose sets up miniature scenes in her backyard and photographs wild squirrels interacting with them. What a hoot!

Photo: Nancy Rose

Photo: Nancy Rose

3. Supermodel Sugar Bush Squirrel

Supermodel Sugar Bush Squirrel has modeled current events as the anchor for SNN (The Squirrel News Network) in over 5,000 photos. She’s posed as Yassar Arafat, Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, and Michael Jackson to name a few.

Photo: Ms. Kelly Foxton www.sugarbushsquirrel.com

Photo: Ms. Kelly Foxton
http://www.sugarbushsquirrel.com

2. Finally a Movie a Squirrel Can Relate To

On Thursday, it was announced that a squirrel movie is in the works! The Nut Job, to be released January 2014, is the first animated film to come from Open Road Films. Based on director and co-writer Peter Lepeniotis’ 2005 short “Surly Squirrel,” the story is true to squirrel nature: forced out of the park and into the city with the threat of winter upon him, a mischievous squirrel named Surly plans a nut-store heist of outrageous proportions. An impressive cast has signed on too: Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl, Brendan Fraser, and Will Arnett.

The Nut Job

1. Squirrel Fishing!

After all the squirreliness I witnessed this week, it was really hard to pick a number one. So I’ll just leave you with the one thing that made me laugh the hardest. Leave it to the Japanese to think of creating a game show called Squirrel Fishing. Don’t worry, no hooks were used… just nuts as bait of course. Enjoy!


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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?

Hodge & Podge No. 3