diy | Squirrel Picnic

July 10, 2014
by Squirrel Picnic 27 Comments

Make It! Challenge #9: Mr. Potato Head VIP (Very Important Potato) Edition Crochet Pattern

For Make It! Challenge #9, Daniel requested I crochet him a Mr. Potato Head doll. He was kind enough to let me decide on the accessories. I had a ton of fun thinking up new parts and facial features to make!

It is interesting to see all the different parts that Hasbro has come up with for Mr. Potato Head since he was invented in 1952. The first Mr. Potato Head kits came with ears, eyes (two pairs), facial hair (eight pieces of felt), feet, hands, hats (three), mouths (two), noses (four), and a pipe. Today, any Mr. Potato Head fanatic could show you an elaborate collection of accessories. Some of my favorites include party hats, pierced ears, handcuffs, bare feet, a pirate’s peg leg and eye patch, and a hockey player’s gap-toothed grin.

But with all the characters Hasbro has made into potatoes, I think there are a few opportunities they missed. What they need is a VIP (Very Important Potato) line of celebrity potatoes. Just picture it: Tiger Spuds, Morgan Fryman, Spuddy Holly, Elisabeth Shue-string Fry, Oprah French Fry, Vladimir Poutine, Mashton Kutcher, James Hashbrowns, to name a few (thanks to Becky for many of these ideas!). In the end, for this challenge, I decided on making Channing Potatum, Tater Swift, and Barack Au Gratin for my real-life celebrity potatoes. And then I threw in Harry Potater, because, well, Harry Potter’s name just screams make me into a potato.

Unfortunately due to licensing concerns, the pattern to make Mr. Potato Head: VIP Edition is no longer available. My apologies for any inconvenience this causes.

July 2, 2014
by Squirrel Picnic 19 Comments

A Squirrel’s New Tail

Doesn’t this squirrel look dapper with his new crocheted tail?

It seems my squirrel amigurumi pattern is a work in progress. You may remember before the Super Bowl this year, I cut the tails off of Hodge and Podge and added Velcro so that I could dress them in football jerseys I had crocheted for them. Well, I admit that wasn’t the best solution. Over time, the Velcro really tore up the backs of the squirrels. (Don’t worry. Luckily it’s their backs, so they haven’t noticed yet.) It was time to find another solution.

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to add instructions for a crochet tail to the pattern. This way people who don’t sew or don’t want to use faux fur will be able to crochet a squirrel friend too. I’d like to thank Grace and Tajana for all the ideas and inspiration that led to the new tail. You both rock!

The next step will be to create another detachable tail so that we can make lots of outfits and costumes for our squirrels. I’m experimenting with buttons and snaps at the moment. If you have any other ideas for how I can create a tail that can be easily taken on and off, I’d love to hear them!

Thanks to everyone for bearing with me on this pattern. I sincerely hope that these changes are improvements that will result in happy crocheters and even cuter squirrels for everyone.

June 26, 2014
by Squirrel Picnic 2 Comments

A Charm Exchange: Make Jewelry, Make Friends

Last week I promised to tell you a bit more about the charm exchange I’m involved in and how it works. A charm exchange is a great opportunity to make jewelry, hone your skills and try out new techniques, learn from your fellow artists, and make new friends. I bet you’ll want to start an exchange too!

Here’s how it works. Everyone chooses a theme for their bracelet or necklace, and over the course of the year, each artist will make two charms for each person based on their themes.

Maybe it will make more sense if I use myself as an example. I chose the theme coral reefs, so to start it off, I crocheted a starfish and attached it to my bracelet. At the first meeting, Annie worked up the exchange list (alphabetically ordered) and we all exchanged our necklaces and bracelets with each other. Now over the next two months, Rosalind will work on my bracelet, while I crochet charms for Erikia’s necklace. Erikia will work on Annie’s, Annie will work on Alexandra’s, Alexandra will work on Sylvie’s, and Sylvie will work on Rosalind’s. It’s a really good thing we have Annie to keep it all straight.

It will be so much fun to see how each piece progresses from beginning to end as we all add a bit of our handiwork. And I’m excited to be able to share our progress here with you. Are you excited to see what we’ve done so far? Here are some photos of everyone’s pieces at the start of the exchange.

Sylvie is really into eyes and hearts, which led her to create the clever theme “Eye Adore You” for her necklace.

Annie’s theme is birds and flowers. Can you spot all the birds and flowers she’s added so far?

Erikia’s theme is “In the Dark.” The charms Erikia created to start off her necklace include a bullet casing with an opal-colored glass crystal and a mini test tube with an iridescent green beetle inside.

Rosalind’s theme is “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” Bosch’s masterpiece will provide plenty of inspiration.

Alexandra’s theme is Japanese Kokeshi dolls.

My theme is coral reefs, including the animals and plants that call them home.

Sylvie’s box (left) for her “Eye Adore You” charm necklace and Annie’s box (right) for her Birds & Flowers charm necklace.

We can also make a box or bag, inspired by our theme, for our jewelry piece to travel from person to person in.

Sylvie and Annie made such nice boxes, I decided after the first meeting to try to make a box of my own. Inspired by the Smithsonian Crochet Coral Reef exhibit, I tried my hand at making a freeform crochet reef box. It was my first ever attempt at freeform crochet. You might guess, given my affinity for patterns, that this was a challenge for me, and it was at first. Eventually I was able to let loose and go wild. I’m not sure it’s a success, but it was sure fun to try.

A charm exchange is a great way to make fun things and make friends. You should start one too!

I have Erikia’s charm necklace next, so I’m off to crochet something dark and mysterious. Until next week… keep smiling, life’s a picnic. 🙂

June 19, 2014
by Squirrel Picnic 12 Comments

Itty Bitty, Teeny Weeny Crochet

A recent invitation to participate in a charm exchange has brought me the opportunity to explore the wonderful world of miniature amigurumi. An exchange like this brings artists together to collaborate in the making of each other’s charm necklace or bracelet. Our group includes artists in a variety of mediums: ceramic, mixed media, felt, beads, metal, and found objects. And I get to contribute crochet to the mix! Each of us gets to pick a theme for our jewelry piece, and I chose coral reefs. Imagine all the colorful things we could do with that! But first I have to make a charm myself to get my bracelet started. What reef creature could I make?

First things first, I’ve never crocheted anything this small. I think the smallest piece I’ve done is the picnic basket that is about 2” tall. Just to practice, I tried making an urchin, thinking it was a simple shape… but it was too simple and it just looked like a ball. After trying a few more sea creatures, I decided to make a starfish. First I attempted to convert a life-sized starfish pattern to this scale by using DMC floss and the smallest size hook I could find. But no matter what I tried I couldn’t get it small enough. It made me realize that miniature crochet has its own tricks and rules! I do have a lot to learn.

I needed extra-small materials and extra-small patterns. I went to my local craft store with all my crochet hooks in hand to try to complete my set of steel hooks. I love how inexpensive steel hooks are! For under $20 I was able to get all the hooks I needed, from size 00 to size 14. I was also able to find crochet thread and 100% Pearl Cotton Thread in Size 5. My friend Annie let me borrow her Size 8 thread to try. Now I feel sufficiently equipped for this challenge.

I also found some books about miniature crochet that are bound to help. Mini Amigurumi by Sara Scales includes patterns for a wide variety of cute little gems from birds to babies to fruits and vegetables. Some are as small as 1/2”! Itty Bitty Crocheted Critters by Erin Clark includes patterns for some really interesting creatures like a flamingo, gecko, and crocodile. I’ve seen works from fellow crocheters done from these patterns and I can’t wait to try them out too.

We’ll be making charms for this exchange and meeting every other month over the next year. It will be exciting to see if I can improve my skills over this time. And I can’t wait to see what everyone else makes too!

I’ll share with you more in the coming week about how the charm exchange works. Until then, here’s the crochet pattern for the starfish I made for my own bracelet. I’m wondering if any of you have tried miniature amigurumi. What’s the smallest thing you’ve ever crocheted?

Starfish Charm Crochet Pattern

(Inspired by the work of Julia Kolbaskina)

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June 12, 2014
by Squirrel Picnic 19 Comments

The Sleepyz Blanket Crochet Pattern

The Sleepyz Blanket is the very first of what I’d like to call my story patterns — patterns that help to tell a story in both the finished piece and its creation. What I found through this project is that the story behind the piece continues to entertain as you’re crocheting. Each step in the pattern contains little prompts that will delightfully remind you of the story.

The story behind the Sleepyz Blanket, “All Tuckered Out,” is a creative take on why we get progressively sleepier as the day goes on. In this picture story, little creatures called Sleepyz climb up on you throughout the day with the intention of driving you back to bed.

The blanket illustrates the picture story in several ways, first by having you crochet several dozen Zs, the mischief-makers in the tale. The next part of the pattern has you crocheting the blanket and sewing on the Zs, which represents how the Sleepyz join forces by weaving themselves into a blanket. Each stitch in the blanket even corresponds to one of the methods employed by the Sleepyz to send you to dreamland. The resulting super soft and cuddly blanket makes you want to curl up and go to sleep.

This Sleepyz Blanket project has been quite a journey. And I’m so thankful to everyone for following along and having patience as I tried out yarns and tinkered with ways to construct the Zs and join them. Thanks so much for all your support and advice! I hope you enjoyed this series and the finished blanket and story.

The Sleepyz Blanket Crochet Pattern

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May 30, 2014
by Squirrel Picnic 19 Comments

Crochet Picture Frame: A Pattern for Father’s Day

Photo Frame Crochet Pattern by Squirrel Picnic

My dad playing the bugle! That’s me on drums.

My dad loves photography. There’s a wall in my parents’ house that is covered with all his photos from their various trips around the world. I thought I’d crochet a frame to go around a photo of us together when I was a kid.

I bet your dad would love a crochet framed photo of you both together too!

The key to this project is the photo frame itself. The clear acrylic frames I chose to use are inexpensive, versatile, and easy to load your picture into. Each comes with Velcro and a magnet on the back, so you can hang your finished piece on your cubicle wall, file cabinet, or even your fridge.

As for the crochet pattern, it’s so much easier than it looks! I’ve been reading up on intermeshing crochet patterns a bit lately. I got the inspiration for this one from The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet. Check it out for some really cute intermeshing patterns and ideas. I did my frame with a different color for every row, but I bet two contrasting colors would look great too!

Picture Frame Crochet Pattern

Finished size: 5 1/2″ by 7 1/2″

Materials

Worsted-weight yarn: try using two contrasting colors or a different color for each row.
Here are the yarns I used for this project:
* Caron Simply Soft in Country Blue, 6 oz [170 g] / 315 yds [288 m])
* Caron Simply Soft in Sunshine, 6 oz [170 g] / 315 yds [288 m])
* Caron Simply Soft in Dark Country Blue, 6 oz [170 g] / 315 yds [288 m])
G-6 (4.00 mm) crochet hook
Yarn needle
4” x 6” acrylic photo frame with Velcro and magnetic backing

Instructions

Photo Frame Front

Ch 89. Careful not to twist the chain, join with slst to 1st ch.

Rnd 1: For this rnd, feel free to crochet into only one loop of each chain (so much easier). Ch 1, sc in ea of next 12 ch, (sc, ch 2, sc) in next ch, sc in next 18 ch, (sc, ch 2, sc) in next ch, sc in next 25 ch, (sc, ch 2, sc) in next ch, sc in next 18 ch, (sc, ch 2, sc) in next ch, sc in next 12 ch, join with slst to 1st st.

Rnd 2: Ch 4, sk 1st st, * (dc, ch 1, sk next st) rep to turning ch. (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in turning ch. Rep from * to end of rnd. Join with slst in 3rd ch of beginning ch.

Rnd 3: Ch 2, * (dc into next sc of Rnd 1 that had been skipped in Rnd 2, ch 1) rep to turning ch. (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in turning ch. Rep from * to end of rnd. Join with slst in 1st st. FO and weave in ends.