knitting | Squirrel Picnic

January 8, 2015
by JO 6 Comments

Announcing the Make It! Challenge Recipients for 2015

The response to my call for challenges was the best ever this year! As exciting as it was to receive so many Make It! Challenge proposals, with only three slots to fill, it also made for a very difficult decision. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted their ideas. I wish that I had the time and resources to pursue all of them. If your idea wasn’t chosen this year, please don’t be discouraged. Keep working on your idea to make it truly unique and resubmit it.

I think you will be very pleased with the challenges that I’ll be tackling. I’ll be trying a few new things and maybe even writing a knitting pattern! But before I ruin all the surprises, let me just announce the winners… Congratulations! I’ll be emailing each of you in the coming weeks to let you know my schedule for the year and when you can expect for me to complete your challenge. I hope you are just as excited as I am to get this new year of challenges rolling.

August 11, 2014
by JO 12 Comments

Bringing the Picnic to Cut Out + Keep

I’m so excited to tell you that I’m being featured as the Knit and Crochet Superstar on Cut Out + Keep this week. Each day they will release one of my original patterns for their fun-loving community to enjoy. I’m not sure they are quite aware of the extreme cuteness that is in store for them!

Cut Out + Keep is an online community of over 180,000 members who share free step-by-step crafting tutorials. I’ve had a wonderful time exploring some of the 69,000 projects available in a variety of craft categories like jewelry making, sewing, baking, even home décor and beauty.

As I mentioned, I was asked to select 7 of my patterns to be featured throughout this upcoming week. Boy was it hard! Trying to choose these patterns gave me the opportunity to think about what this blog means to me. At the end of the day, I really hope that I’ve added a touch of joy, and maybe a little silliness, to the world. My favorite patterns are the ones that continue to make me smile — so those are the ones I chose for their feature. I hope that being a member of Cut Out + Keep will help me make a few more people smile too.

Be sure to check out my interview and the super-kooky photograph I provided with Hodge and Podge. If you’d like to look around Cut Out + Keep, I recommend typing your favorite item (for me, it was robots) into their search engine. You’ll be amazed by what the members of their community have been up to. And of course, if you like what you see, you should become a member too!

August 7, 2014
by JO 11 Comments

SQUIRREL PICNIC (the comic): A Day at the Spa

Previous episode: Beatrix’s Perfume

So they checked into the spa and spent the day getting all the kinks worked out. Jelly Belly Bunny enjoyed having her ears rubbed. Rosa Robin got a seaweed wrap, which she ended up eating instead. Tina developed a crush on her masseur and bought a fifty-visit punch card on her way out. Hodge and Podge received paraffin paw treatments and now they’re ready to crochet up a storm.

Welcome the new and improved cast of Squirrel Picnic! They’re bigger and better. Can you tell the difference?

What do you do when your muscles ache from an overindulgence in needle crafting? Do you relax with a heat pad or get a massage? Try a different style of hook or needles? Do you take time off and explore another medium? If you’re suffering from a needle-crafting injury, I’m sending you soothing thoughts and some good wishes to get you back to your craft soon again…

Because next week, I’ll release the pattern for Tina Ballerina Bear and I know you’ll want to try this!

August 1, 2014
by JO 2 Comments

Calling All Crafters! You Could Be Featured on Squirrel Picnic

Susan uses croshades to turn urban sculptures into funny characters.

Margie’s Mr. Potato Head is amazing. She even crocheted the facial features!

Have you made a pair of croshades and used them to yarnbomb your neighborhood? Have you made a Batman mask, a Mr. Potato Head, or a Bowser sweater for your turtle? Do you have a Squirrel Picnic character that you’re proud to call your own? If so, I’d love to see it.

I’m in the process of putting together a roundup of crocheted awesomeness by fantastic picnickers like you. If you’ve had fun using one of my patterns, send a photo of what you made to squirrelpicnic{at}gmail{dot}com by August 22, and I’ll include it in the roundup.

I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to!

January 11, 2014
by JO 17 Comments

2014: It’s a Good Plan

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.

Tackle five Make It! Challenges. Congratulations to this year’s recipients: Shelby, Daniel, Becky, Brooke, and Diana!
Publish more Squirrel Picnic comics: oh, the adventures we have in store!
Publish free crochet patterns for each of the fatimals: starting with Mayor Snack Frog in the next month or so.
Join the Counterfeit Crochet project: this looks like so much fun!
Learn more knitting techniques with the intent of eventually offering more free knitting patterns here.
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.
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?
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?

October 4, 2013
by JO 10 Comments

We’re on Vacation

Looks like Hodge and Podge are already relaxing in the sun, while I’m still here stuffing my luggage full of yarn. It’s about time I join them for some much-needed R & R.

But don’t dismay, we’ll be back just in time for some Halloween fun. Join us on October 23 for an in-depth look at some of the creepiest crochet on the web and on October 30 for the very first Squirrel Picnic Halloween Comic!

In the meantime, I’ll be sharing lots of Hodge and Podge photobombs on Facebook and Twitter.