Crochet Zebra Stripes

Z brings us to the end of the challenge with the beautiful zebra.

This month sure was challenging for me with trying to keep up four blogs for the A-Z Blogging Challenge, but I rose to the task.  Two more blogs to write after this one and I'm done!  If you want to get in on my challenge for May, check out the link below my signature (I'll be doing the new challenge with only one blog this time).

Photo by GermanGirl

Trying to crochet something that looks like zebra stripes can be a challenge.  Changing colors at the end of a row will give you stripes, but not random stripes of different widths like a zebra. I know Red Heart came out with a striping yarn in black and white that is supposed to resemble a zebra, but I haven't tried it yet.

Stacey over at Fresh Stitching has come up with a way that looks pretty cool, though.  Check out her instructions here and give it a try and see how it works for you.  I think it would make an interesting look, not just for making a zebra animal, but going for the animal print in a scarf or even a purse.

That's it for me this month.  I hope you enjoyed following me from A to Z.

~ Marie Anne

Click here to join in on the new Z to A in May Blogging Challenge.

Yellow Hat and Yarmulke

Wow, one more day to the A-Z Blogging Challenge.  I can't believe I was able to get this far with all four blogs! It's been challenging for sure.

Since we're into spring and summer will be soon to follow, I thought I'd look for free pattern for a sunny yellow hat that would be appropriate for the season.  I found this sunhat at Sugar'n Cream that I thought fit the bill nicely (no pun intended).  The cotton yarn will keep it from being too hot and the brim is wide enough to help shade the sun from your eyes as you're tending to your garden or cheering for the kids' soccer team.

Another Y that came to mind is the yarmulke.  You could probably start off with your favorite hat pattern and crochet just past the flat portion that makes the skullcap and then add a few rows, but I found this free Crocheted Yarmulke Pattern that looks easy to do.

That's the extent of my ability to come up with crochet projects for Y-day.  I'll be glad when tomorrow is over!

Click here to join in on the new Z to A in May Blogging Challenge.

X Marks the Spot With X-Stitch on Crochet

Since some people refer to cross-stitch as x-stitch, I'm claiming it for X-day on the A-Z Blogging Challenge!

Years ago I enjoyed cross-stitch quite a bit but got away from it when I started crocheting more.  For a while I stuck with crochet in winter and cross-stitch in warmer months, but it seemed no matter how many x-stitch projects I started, I never finished anything of significance.

I had a huge amount of floss in several containers that I spent good money on over the years that was really doing me no good.  Several years ago I needed to earn some cash as well as downsize, so I ended up selling it on eBay along with fabric and pattern books I'd accumulated.   I hated to mail it off to the lucky winning bidders, but sometimes you gotta suck it up and do what you gotta do.

You can cross stitch on finished crochet pieces, but it just doesn't hold the same allure to me that x-stitching on aida does.  I went on a hunt this morning and found these instructions to x-stitch on single crochet and another for doing it on the basic afghan stitch (Tunisian crochet I posted about here).

Have you ever cross-stitched on a crochet project? I'd love to see pictures of what you've done.

Click here to join in on the new Z to A in May Blogging Challenge.

WIP Wednesday for W-Day

I've slacked off on posting WIP Wednesday during the month of April due to the A-Z Blogging Challenge.  Many of my regular readers were disappointed, so since today is W-day in the challenge, WIP Wednesday definitely fits!

I'm not doing much crocheting right now due to writing deadlines, so nothing with hook and yarn for me to share.  What I am working on is keeping four blogs updated for the final four days of the challenge!

So how about you?  Got a WIP to share?




To play along on Work-in-Progress Wednesday, make your blog post for Wednesday be about something you're working on - some type of craft, renovation project, landscaping, even that novel you're writing. You can play along even if it’s not Wednesday; I leave each WIP up until the following week. Copy the code below Rosie's picture and paste it into your blog post so that others can follow too, and see the rest of the projects that are posted here.

<br /> <a href="http://macrochet.blogspot.com/" target="_top"> <img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/Ldyjarhead/Crochet/WIPWed.jpg" /> </a>

Make sure to click 'You are next' below to add your link here so my readers can follow it to your blog post.

Oops!   I had the linky tool set to only accept 2 characters instead of 25.  Sorry about that!  It's fixed now.

Crochet a Vampire for V-Day

It's V-day on the A-Z Blogging Challenge and that means vampire!

Photo by emilbacik

No, not the creepy guy in this photo, but a more whimsical amigurumi crochet version of a vampire bat.

Vampires and bats are certainly more common around Halloween, but I think you'll find that Aluajala's free pattern for her little purple cutie is appropriate for any time of year.

Click here to join in on the new Z to A in May Blogging Challenge.

What's an Uglee?

Do you crochet uglees?  I know some of my finished pieces have turned out pretty ugly, but I'm talking uglee - little critters that are so ugly they're cute.

An uglee is basically a simple amigurumi shape (square, rectangle, triangle) that has oddball facial features added.   Since the whimsical little monsters are more fun than ugly, someone coined the term uglee.  A cyclops with one big eye in the middle or eyes that don't match are common uglee traits.

Photo by Christine

Christine over at The Kansas Hooker has a cute uglee family collection of patterns to share.  This photo is of Baby Uglee, but she also has:

Lil Uglee
Rectangle Uglee
Triangle Uglee

I'm still a novice at ami, but I'm pretty sure even I could come up with a pretty cute uglee of my own.  Have you tried to crochet an uglee?

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

What is Tunisian Crochet?

Tunisian crochet is needlework done with a crochet hook that is longer than normal, more like a knitting needle with the curved hook on the end.  It is worked with only the one needle like regular crochet, but you work each stitch across the row, leaving all stitches on the hook like knitting, until you get to the end of the row and work them off, two at a time, similar to the DC (double crochet).

There are many stitches that can be worked in Tunisian crochet, but the basic stitch is often called the afghan stitch.  It looks more like knitting, but results in a thicker piece since you work back and forth on the same row.

I found these instructions to be very clear in how to perform the basic Tunisian crochet (afghan) stitch.  The larger hook used leaves a much more open and lacy appearance, but a smaller hook will look more like knitting, like the piece shown here.

Have you ever done a Tunisian crochet or afghan stitch project?  I think I had an afghan hook years ago when I first learned to crochet as a kid and did a scarf or some other small piece, but haven't thought about it since then.

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Sunny Side Up!

Since I have my own laying hens (plus new baby chicks!), I have eggs on my mind every day.  I'm not sure why Sunny Side Up popped into my head for S-day on my crochet blog for the A-Z Blogging Challenge, but I guess it fits.

I'm always on the lookout for cool new patterns to share and found these adorable fried eggs to crochet.  They would be great gifts for your little one with a play kitchen, or to use as whimsical as well as useful items in your own kitchen.

Here are two fried eggs, sunny side up:

Amigurumi Little Fried Egg

Little Fried Egg #2

And two that are more useful:

Fried Egg Potholder

Fried Egg Potholder #2

How do you like your eggs?

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Gotta Love the Ripple

The ripple is one of the most widely recognized crochet patterns to make afghans and baby blankets and is very easy to learn.  Even someone just starting out should be able to crochet a simple ripple with minimal instruction.  Switch it up by combining cool colors and the timeless ripple can become a spectacular finished piece.

There's something satisfying about a ripple afghan across my lap as I add row upon row, like so many women from generations past.  Here are a few of my favorite ripple patterns for you to try:

Variety of Ripple Patterns to Crochet

Do you have a favorite ripple pattern?

Can You Crochet a Quilt?

A true quilt is two pieces of fabric with some sort of batting or other filler between them, which is then stitched through to hold it all in place.  A patchwork quilt is made up of fabric squares sewn together and then quilted (stitched through batting and backing), but a quilt can be made with solid pieces of fabric as well.

It would probably be difficult to crochet a true quilt that is stitched through, as crochet pieces normally aren't made with a backing, but you could crochet blocks and sew them together in patchwork fashion to resemble a pieced quilt.  That wouldn't be a quilt in the strictest sense, but many people think quilt when they really mean patchwork, so if it's the look you're going for as opposed to the actually quilting process, you certainly can crochet one.

This lovely Patches Crochet Quilt is made up of many small squares in four colors perfect for fall cuddling, but I think it would be equally as pretty in pastels. The Baby Blocks Crochet Quilt shows two different variations, with and without solid blocks. What new parent wouldn't love such a gift for their new baby?

I've never made a quilt before, either crochet or fabric quilted piece, but I've often thought of making a tied quilt, maybe baby-sized as a first project.  Some day ...

Oops, almost forget.  Do you love Amish quilts?  Don't miss my post about an Amish quilt giveaway on Marie Anne's Missives. 

Crochet for Your Pets

A lot of people treat their pets like their children and many dress them up for either fun, function or fashion. Crocheting for your pet seemed like a good choice for P-day on the A-Z Blogging Challenge.

Crochet some fun things for your pet to play with

Ball of the Belle Dog Toy
Puppy Play Puffy
Fish Cat Toys
Sunshine's Cat Toy

Some functional as well as fashionable things to crochet for your pet

Dog Booties
Kitty Cuddles Felted Cat Bed
Urban Granny Dog Sweater
Rosie's Doggy Sweater
Raspberry Fool Dog Sweater
Doggy Vest With Bow Tie

I made this crochet candy corn for Boo last Halloween, but unfortunately I didn't write down the pattern as I went along.

Do you crochet cute things for your pets?

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Crochet an Octopus

(design by k_vohsen)

More amigurumi today, but this time it's O for Octopus.  I came across several free patterns to crochet an octopus but thought these were the cutest.

Sara Delaney's Octopus and Starfish

Lion Brand Amigurumi Octopus

Knit1mag Amigurumi Octopus

If you make an octopus using any of these patterns, please share the pics!

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

N is for Ninja!

It was tough coming up with a post for this blog for N-day of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, but it hit me this  morning - Ninja!

Amigurumi crochet is hot and ninja's are cool, so why not crochet a turtle or two for your favorite TMNT fan?  Atsuko has an awesomely cute free pattern for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles here.

If you make your own ninja's I'd love to see pics of how they turned out.

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Marking Your Spot With Stitch Markers

Do you use markers to keep your place when you crochet?  I'll confess, I've never used a stitch marker even once.  The only stitch markers I've ever seen in the store are those that are a continuous circle that you slip on over your knitting needle; how would something like that work in crochet?  I don't get it.

Looking on Etsy, I see that some are made with a small clip and that makes more sense to me as someone who crochets.

Many are beautiful works of art created with fancy beads or polymer clay, and others are more whimsical and fun.  These chicken stitch markers would be perfect for me (I have nine laying hens and just bought six baby chicks), but made for knitting needles which do me no good (they're also from a crafter across the pond, so shipping costs would put them out of my range).

I suppose you could put any little doo-dad on a tiny clip and make your own stitch marker, and I probably shouldn't have looked through Etsy because now I'll want to make some myself and know I'd never be able to pull it off.

So what about you, do you use stitch markers when you crochet?  Do you make do with a safety pin or do you have some cutesy little bauble that reflects your personality?

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Lovely in Lavender

One of my favorite colors to work with recently has been Red Heart's lavender.  I've paired it with several different colors and have come up with some interesting combinations.

I did this toddler-sized blanket with lavender and another shade of purple with white in smaller squares and joined using the flat braid join method.  I gave it to a friend whose daughter loves purple.

Jethro approved

... as did Reggie Redneck

I'm working on a single granny square baby blanket in lavender, cornmeal and white that I'll list on Etsy when finished.

I recently finished this one with lavender, white and honeydew (another favorite).  It is for sale and I'll list it on Etsy as soon as I tie in the ends.

This blanket was crocheted in one large granny square with lavender, cornmeal, honeydew and white and another friend bought it as a gift for her niece for Easter.  I think the colors are perfect for spring!

Do you find yourself falling in love with a particular color of yarn and wanting to make many things with it?  Do you get sick of it after working on a large project, and never want to see that color again?

I earn free amazon gift cards by using SwagBucks.  Did you know that you can buy yarn as well as knit and crochet books on amazon.com?

Knit One, Purl Two

I know this is my crochet blog, but I needed a word for K-day in the A-Z Blogging Challenge and after skimming all K entries in the dictionary and not finding much, knitting it is.

(Photo by NOnnahs)

I learned to both knit and crochet as a young girl, but never did much with either of them.  I gave up crochet almost immediately because I couldn't do the intricate things my sister and aunt worked on, the real lacy-looking pieces.  I guess I thought that's mostly what crocheting was, so put up my hook and walked away.

Knitting seemed much easier to me at the time, and I had no problem with the basic knit one/purl two to make a scarf, and I think I even made a pair of cable mittens once.  I didn't venture beyond that, in fact, didn't pick up needles and yarn again until after I was in the Marine Corps for several years, probably around 1980 or so.

A civilian co-worker always brought some sort of needlework to the office to work on during lunchtime, and she got me hooked again.  I found a pattern book for an afghan with wide stripes of four different colors, each color stripe being made with a different pattern stitch.  Because it was worked in one piece, it had to be done with a circular knitting needle, which was a first for me.  Even though it's been more than 30 years, I still remember that afghan (I guess because it took me over a year to finish it).  It was white shades of blue and it was huge!

I never knit anything after that, but I carted that big old thing from duty station to duty station for many years, until it was ragged and raveled beyond usability.  Thinking of it today makes me smile, though.

I think I have a pair of knitting needles in my stash.  I wonder ...

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on (hopefully) all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Crochet Jewelry?

I've been crocheting for many years and have completed a lot of baby blankets, afghans, scarves and dishcloths in that time but I've never attempted to crochet jewelry.  I don't like working with thread and a tiny crochet hook and I'm sure anything in the jewelry category would require that, so I never ventured into that territory.

While trying to come up with a word for J-day in the A-Z Blogging Challenge, jewelry was the only thing I could think of that would fit my crochet blog, so off I went to find free patterns to crochet jewelry.

Not knowing what my readers might like for jewelry patterns, instead I'll provide you with the link to Crochet Pattern Central's free jewelry patterns page.  There you'll find free patterns for bracelets, necklaces, pins, earrings - you name it.  Honestly, after browsing through some of the links, maybe I will try to crochet a piece of jewelry someday.

Do you crochet jewelry?  What is your favorite piece?

I is for Inspiration

Photo by Jaymarr

Where do you get your inspiration for what you're going to crochet?  Do you visit your LYS and spy a pretty color or new type of yarn that you just have to try, without knowing yet what it will become?

Do you try out a neat new pattern and decide later what to do with it, be it to list for sale on Etsy, or gift to friend or family?  Do you crochet just when there's a particular reason to, like needing a gift for a new baby or housewarming?

I'm inspired by all of the above.  Sometimes I'll head to the store to pick up a particular color of yarn to finish one project, then end up with several other skeins in my basket just because I love to pair up interesting colors.

Other times I'll find a cute pattern during my internet travels and have to check my stash to see if I have the yarn needed to give it a try, which often results to another visit to the store.

And then of course a new baby in the family means whipping up a baby blanket.

Sometimes seeing a piece of clothing or fabric in a store will give me inspiration because the color combination caught my eye.  Are you inspired by colors around you?  Here are some ways I get Yarn Color Ideas for Knit and Crochet Projects.

How about it ... what inspires you?

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on at least one if not all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

How To: Crochet Tutorials

I've probably posted about these crochet tutorials in the past, but today is H Day in the A-Z Blogging Challenge, and it was definitely a challenge to come up with something significant for the letter H for this blog.  I'm doing the challenge with all four of my blogs, so yep, I'm cheating a bit today!

I've published photo slideshows for how to do the following:

How to Do a Cable Stitch in Crochet

How to  Do a Front-Post Double Crochet (FPDC)

How to Join Yarn:  Russian Join Method

I hope you find them helpful!

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on at least one if not all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

Gertrude Gerbera Daisy

Compliments of schansen

I much prefer daisy-like wildflowers to roses, so when I came across this free crochet pattern for a cute Gerbera Daisy, I knew I'd found the perfect post for G-day of the A-Z Blogging Challenge.

The instructions for Gertrude Gerbera state that she is made with cotton yarn - green for the leaves and your choice of color(s) for her flower petals. Gertrude's face (center) is yellow with stitched-on smile and other facial features.


If you give Gertrude Gerbera  a try, I'd love to see pictures of how she turned out.

I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on at least one if not all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.