Squirrel Picnic

Handmade with Love and Stuff

Tag Archives: diy


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Football Jersey for Your Squirrel Friend Crochet Pattern

Squirrel Football JerseysSuper Bowl fever has made its way to Squirrel Picnic, which is after all located just outside of Denver. Hodge is planning a Super Bowl party for next Sunday and requested that I make an Elway jersey for him and a Peyton Manning jersey for Podge (she was torn between #18 and #24 for the longest time because she really thinks Champ Bailey is the cutest, but Hodge talked her into a Manning jersey). And I’m sure you’re not surprised that Eric wanted a Seahawks jersey. Currently no one at the picnic is talking to him, but that’s not much different from how things usually are around here. If he wants to be invited to the Super Bowl party, I think he’s going to have to do something extremely nice for Hodge.

Now you too can make a football jersey for your squirrel friend in time for the Super Bowl!

Note: This is one of those accessories for your squirrel friend that requires a detachable tail. My squirrel pattern includes instructions on how sew buttons to the tail to make it detachable. This way you can take the tail off, slip on your squirrel’s jersey, and reattach the tail to the squirrel’s bottom and head with the buttons.

Football Jersey for Your Squirrel Friend Crochet Pattern

Difficulty rating 2

Materials

(A) Small amount of worsted-weight yarn in your team’s color (for the Broncos use Caron Simply Soft in Pumpkin and for the Seahawks use Caron Simply Soft in Dark Country Blue)
(B) Small amount of worsted-weight yarn in your team’s second color (for the Broncos use Caron Simply Soft in White and for the Seahawks use Caron Simply Soft in Limelight)
C-2 (2.75 mm) crochet hook
Tapestry needle

Gauge

5 sc = 1 inch
5 rows = 1 inch

Instructions

Front:

With A, ch 12.

Row 1 (RS): Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in ea ch across, ch 1, turn. (11)

Row 2: Sc in ea sc across, ch 1, turn.

Rows 3-5: Rep row 2.

Beginning divide for neck:

Row 6: Sc in next 5 sc, turn. (5)

Row 7: Sk 1st sc, sc in next 4 sc, ch 1, turn. (4)

Row 8: Sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 9: Sk 1st sc, sc in next 3 sc, ch 1, turn. (3)

Row 10: Sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 11: Sk 1st sc, sc in next 2 sc. (2)

FO.

Second side of neck:

With RS facing, pull up a loop at the end of Row 5, ch 1.

Row 6: Sc in next 5 sc, turn. (5)

Row 7: Sk 1st sc, sc in next 4 sc, ch 1, turn. (4)

Row 8: Sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 9: Sk 1st sc, sc in next 3 sc, ch 1, turn. (3)

Row 10: Sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 11: Sk 1st sc, sc in next 2 sc, ch 1, turn. (2)

Row 12: Sc in next 2 sc, ch 7, sc in next 2 sc, ch 1, turn.

Back:

Row 13: Sc in next 2 sc, sc 7 into ch-sp, sc in next 2 sc, ch 1, turn. (11)

Rows 14-21: Sc in ea sc across, ch 1, turn.

Row 22: Sc in ea sc across. FO.

Sleeves:

Pull up a loop at the end of Row 6, ch 1 and sc in that st.

Sc in the st at the end of ea row over the next 12 rows, ch 1, turn. (13)

Sc in ea sc across.

FO, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Repeat on the opposite side.

Finishing:

Using the long tails, sew side and sleeve seams.

Using B, add a sc edging around the neck opening and a slst edge to the sleeves.

Using B, embroider your player’s number.


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4 Ways to Celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day

Squirrel Appreciation Day

How should you celebrate this most momentous of national holidays? Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Play a game of eye spy squirrels. You get a point for every squirrel you spot… the game could go on forever, especially if the squirrels in your neighborhood look pretty much the same.

2. Hang squirrel feeders. A few years ago, we stopped feeding the birds because the squirrels were always eating the food. So then we decided just to feed the squirrels instead and quickly found that the birds like squirrel food too. Everyone was happy!

3. Build a squirrel obstacle course.

4. Take photos of the squirrels in your neighborhood and share them with the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Watch.

Whatever you choose to do, have a great time with your squirrel friends today!


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Pen Friends: Greetings from Grace W. in Florida!

Mail Call 1

Hello to Hodge, Podge, Fatimals, Eric, MEAP, Deca Podge, and everyone at the Picnic!

Liv and Andy (Note Andy's Speedo. He's a professional swimmer!)

Liv and Andy (Note Andy’s Speedo. He’s a professional swimmer!)

My name’s Andy and I live in Florida, and this is my girlfriend Liv. I’m a swimmer, and my dream is to be on the U.S.A. Animal Olympic Swim Team (yes, there is such a thing). This team is usually made up of aquatic animals. That’s why I want the squirrels to be represented. I want to show the world that squirrels can swim, too!

My tail is trimmed short because it helps me to swim faster. Grace says she’ll make me a shirt soon, and a towel that’s my size. I hope so, because it’s pretty hard to dry off on a towel as thick as my hand!

This is my message for Eric:
Don’t even think about it. Liv’s already taken!!!!!

Hodge and Podge, you would make great swimmers! If you’re ever in Florida, let me know, and we can get together for a swimming lesson! Grace has a giant casserole pan that she fills with water. It’s the perfect size to swim laps in :).

I have a problem that maybe you all could help me with. Grace and Liv taught me to crochet acorns, but they always come out smelling like chlorine (pool water) when I make them. How can I prevent that???

Sincerely,

Grace, Andy, and Liv! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Continue reading →


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2014: It’s a Good Plan

A sneak peak at the next Make It! Challenge. What is it? I'm not telling.

A sneak peak at the next Make It! Challenge. What is it?

Last year was an amazing first year for Squirrel Picnic, and I have you all to thank. I hope that I can continue to provide fun and interesting patterns for you and that the gang will have plenty of adventures to go on. To be honest, though, 2013 was draining on both my bank account and my personal life. I fell in love hard with Squirrel Picnic, much to my husband’s chagrin. Every moment that I wasn’t at my full-time job, I was working on the blog. I’ve learned that there’s nothing wrong with being passionate about the activities you love, but time spent with friends and family is very important too. So my big goal for 2014 is to create more balance in my life. That being said, you know me. I’ve already got big plans in the works for Squirrel Picnic… I just might have to work on them under the cover of night (don’t tell my husband). So in addition to that big one I already mentioned, here are my goals for 2014.  

  1. Tackle five Make It! Challenges. Congratulations to this year’s recipients: Shelby, Daniel, Becky, Brooke, and Diana!
  2. Publish more Squirrel Picnic comics: oh, the adventures we have in store!
  3. Publish free crochet patterns for each of the fatimals: starting with Mayor Snack Frog in the next month or so.
  4. Join the Counterfeit Crochet project: this looks like so much fun!
  5. Learn more knitting techniques with the intent of eventually offering more free knitting patterns here.
  6. Publish stories featuring your handiwork! If you’ve crocheted a Squirrel Picnic character using one of my patterns, I’d love to feature it on the blog. For more information, see the submissions section of my About page.
  7. Recuperate some of the costs of maintaining this blog. I spent way too much money on yarn last year… you don’t even know. So I’ve been pondering the financial aspect of blogging lately. I’ve decided not to sell ad space just yet, not until I can have complete control over what companies and products are advertized. (I know you don’t want to see that stupid belly fat ad here, and I won’t let that happen.) But I still need to make enough to support my blogging habit, so the plan is to stock my Etsy shop with squirrelly stuff and try to get some of my patterns published in magazines. I’m not expecting much, but it’s worth a try. Do you have any ideas? If you’re a blogger, what do you do to support your blog?
  8. Show you more of what happens behind the scenes: how I put together the comics, how I create my patterns, and reviews of the fiber arts books and fellow bloggers that have taught and inspired me.



Wow! That seems like a lot. I better get started! What are your goals for 2014?


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New Winter Banner: Snowsquirrels and Snowacorns

Winter 2014 by Squirrel PicnicIt seems like it’s snowing all across the U.S. this weekend, so I thought what better way to pass the time indoors than to crochet some snowsquirrels and snowacorns like those on our new winter banner. Read on to discover how you can make snowsquirrels and snowacorns out of yarn (in case you’re just not in the mood to make them out of snow).

P.S. It’s been brought to my attention that the New Year’s video didn’t show up in the email last Wednesday, which is a shame because it really is rather cute. If you’d like to see how Hodge and Podge and the fatimals rang in 2014, you can view the short film on the website. Sorry about that.

Snowsquirrels

To make snowsquirrels, use this snowman pattern by The Dapper Toad. To make a snowman into a snowsquirrel you’ll need a tail and ears too.

For the tail, make another snowman but replace “Rows 11-13: sc around” with “Rows 11-15: sc around.” Then continue pattern as written. Stuff lightly. As you’re stuffing the tail, rework the shape by flattening the bottom and rounding the top.  Sew the tail to the back of your snowsquirrel.

Make 2 ears from my squirrel pattern and attach to the top of the snowsquirrel’s head.

I also used The Dapper Toad’s pattern for the snowsquirrels’ scarves.

Snowacorn

To make snowacorns, use white worsted-weight yarn and my pattern for acorns.

Hats for Your Squirrel Friends

To make hats for your squirrel friends, follow my pattern for a squirrel head, Rows 1-8. Use a slightly larger hook: size H-8 (5.00 mm) or I-9 (5.50 mm) should do.


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Happy New Year!

What a wild night Hodge and Podge and the fatimals had. The video tells all! Hope your celebration was a success too. Happy New Year, everyone!

Learn more about the Squirrel Picnic cast here.