crafts | Squirrel Picnic

March 20, 2015
by Squirrel Picnic 10 Comments

Welcome Back, Spring! Squirrel Picnic’s Banner Diorama Explained

Spring, how we have missed you! I put the spring banner back up for the blog header a whole month early because the snow and cold temperatures were starting to depress me. I hope that, wherever you are — even if it is warm there — you have enjoyed the image of Hodge and Podge having a little picnic in their garden.

I get a lot of requests from people around the world for the patterns to make the items in this banner. What better time than the first day of spring to share with you where you can find the patterns to make some lovely flowers, birds, and butterflies. Continue reading →

March 17, 2015
by Squirrel Picnic 8 Comments

St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Hat for Your Squirrel Friend

Hodge and Podge are wishing you a very happy and festive St. Patrick’s Day. To celebrate they crocheted leprechaun hats for themselves. Don’t they look dapper?

Now with my free pattern, your squirrel friend can join the fun. As an added bonus, if you don’t have anything green to wear today, let your squirrel wear it for you and take them with you everywhere that you go. I bet they’d look really cute with just their head and giant green leprechaun hat poking out from the breast pocket of your shirt or peeking out from a pocket on your backpack or purse.

Share photos of your squirrel friend all decked out for St. Patty’s Day at squirrelpicnic(at)gmail(dot)com or on social media. We’d love to see them! Continue reading →

March 13, 2015
by Squirrel Picnic 84 Comments

Sleepy Bear Crochet Pattern

I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name is Sleepy Bear.

“Hey, Sleepy Bear, wake up. There’s someone here who would like to meet you. Sleepy Bear?”

Well, you’ll have to excuse him. He’s a really sound sleeper. Since he can’t be disturbed, I’ll just tell you all about him.

I’ve been working on this pattern for almost a year now. I don’t think I’ve ever fiddled with a pattern that long! And I’ve made almost a dozen bears in the process. The first one I ever made I gave to a friend who had been hit by a car while riding his bike to work. He said the bear, which he named Buster, brought him a lot of comfort while he was recovering. I made another for my cousin’s first child and another for a friend out of yarn she had given me. The rest I plan to donate to the Children’s Hospital of Denver where they can bring some comfort to the patients.

This bear pattern is unique in one key way: the head and body are crocheted together. I have trouble sewing on heads, especially on larger animals like this one. It’s really hard to get them on perfectly straight. Do you have that trouble too? So with this pattern, you crochet the head, do a round in the front loops only to create the neck and then continue with the body. I think you’ll really like this detail.

Another distinguishing feature of this pattern is the way the appendages are sewn on. Each includes instructions to close up the end. By crocheting the arms and legs and ears closed, you are able to sew them on through that row of single crochet loops. It’s easy! I like for my bears arms and legs to face forward when they are sitting down, so I sew the legs on at an angle on the bottom and the arms on the sides so that they point forward. I’ve included photos to show this placement in case you want to make your bear like mine, but feel free to play around with the placement to find the positioning you like best.

I hope you enjoy making a Sleepy Bear.

Update: This Sleepy Bear pattern has been carefully revised and expanded into a complete PDF pattern. The updated version includes the original bear plus the naptime accessories, along with clearer instructions, embroidery photo tutorials, and a C2C color chart. You can find the updated pattern here.

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Sleepy Bear’s Naptime Accessories

Any nap just wouldn’t be complete without a nightcap and blanky.

Check out these new free crochet patterns for Sleepy Bear accessories.

Sleepy Bear Crochet Pattern

Continue reading →

March 6, 2015
by Squirrel Picnic 20 Comments

How to Add Faces to Your Amigurumi: Sleepy Eyes

My series on how to add faces to your amigurumi continues with one of my favorites: the sleepy face. It doesn’t require many materials — all you need is yarn, a needle, scissors, and your crochet or knit toy. In just a few quick steps your adorable toy will have an equally adorable face. Let’s begin… Continue reading →

February 19, 2015
by Squirrel Picnic 32 Comments

Squirrel Picnic’s First Book: The Journey Begins

Hi everyone,

Hodge and Podge agree that this new book adventure is the most exciting one they've ever embarked upon. Even better than the trip to Fruita we took last year for the Headless Chicken Festival.

Hodge and Podge agree that this new book adventure is the most exciting one they’ve ever embarked upon. Even better than the trip we took last year to Fruita, Colorado, for the Headless Chicken Festival.

I just wanted to take a moment to give you an update on my progress with Squirrel Picnic’s first book. My thought is that by making it a habit to keep you all in on the adventure of creating and self-publishing this book, I will be even more motivated to get it out on time (March 1, 2016). Just knowing you all are out there looking forward to it (I so appreciate your encouragement) will help keep me accountable. I’ll try to do an update post every month or so. That should keep me on task.

This past weekend, I was able to get a lot of work done. I now have a pretty solid story and even a title. Woohoo! Are you ready for this? Cue the fanfare! Here it is… Continue reading →

February 12, 2015
by Squirrel Picnic 19 Comments

Make It! Challenge #11: Thumb Wrestling World Championship

When I held my call for submissions last year, I received two suggestions that happened to coincide. Sharon and Shane from Melbourne, Australia, challenged me to make a ninja, and Vanja from Osijek, Croatia, challenged me to make a sumo wrestler. After musing on what a ninja vs. sumo match might be like, I decided we must find out, and so the first ever joint Make It! Challenge was born.

For Make It! Challenge #11, I crocheted contestants to compete in a Thumb Wrestling World Championship. In addition to the ninja and sumo wrestler, the contestants include a luchador and Hulk Hogan, the famous WWF personality.

To play, you simply pop one of these contestants onto your thumb, lock hands with your opponent, say “One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war,” and wrestle thumbs until someone’s thumb is pinned or the crochet thumb wrestler falls off. Whoever is left “standing” with their crochet thumb wrestler intact is the winner.

If you get really good at it, try holding two matches at once.