Caterpillar Baby Cocoon Set with Video Tutorial

Crochet This Caterpiller Baby Cocoon and Hat set with me! This is sized for a newborn and perfect for newborn photography. Feel free to go up or down one hook size to accommodate if a bigger or smaller baby is expected.

Here is the link for the FREE PDF printable pattern. 

The Materials Needed:

You will need red, yellow, brown and three shades of green yarn in a size 4 worsted weight acrylic. Here is the yarn I used:

One Skein Each:
Red Heart Super Saver CHERRY (Red)
Red Heart Super Saver SPRING (Medium Green)
Red Heart Super Saver PADDY (Dark Green)
Red Heart Super Saver HONEY DEW (Light Green)

Small Amount of:
Red Heart Super Saver LEMON (Yellow)
Red Heart Super Saver COFFEE (Brown)

I Hook
F Hook 
My Yarn Scissors
Yarn Needles



This description includes affiliate links and I might get financial compensation if you choose to click them. I appreciate your support SO much. Thank you! (((hugs)))

Groovy Square - Free Crochet Pattern

I was recently at the Groovy Coop in McKinney. A magical place filled with retro decor. Vintage Pyrex. Furniture from the 60's. Decanturs. Linens. And oh my, the wall art! And there was a big pile of vintage crocheted afghans. That is when I saw this gem. I immediately asked Amber to take my picture with it. 

The blanket was only $28 but I just knew I had to make it. When I got home I tried to find the pattern. No luck. I looked and looked and could not find it so I sat down to recreate it. It took a few tries but here it is! I want to share it with you guys! 

So here goes!

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in two complementary colors. MC (turquoise) and CC (white)

Hook:

Additional Materials:

Size:

Notes: 
The Chain 2 and Chain 3 at the beginning of the row does count as the first stitch in this pattern.

Sue Pinner Multiwrap Magic Circle. Sue Pinner might not have invented this but she is where I learned it and her blog and patterns are so wonderful that I just have to give her credit. Wrap the yarn around one finger about five times and then proceed to work into these strands as you would into a magic circle. You only wrap around one finger because it does not cinch closed as much as a typical magic circle. If you wrap around more than one finger it will be too big of a center gap. This adds a little bulk, strength and structure to the eye of a granny square.

3dc cluster: Yarn over, insert hook into chain space, draw up a loop, yarn over and pull under two of the loops on the hook. Repeat all twice more. Yarn over and pull under all 4 loops on the hook. 

4dc cluster: Yarn over, insert hook into chain space and draw up a loop, yarn over and pull under two of the loops on the hook. Repeat all three times more. Yarn over and pull under all 5 loops on the hook.

Abbreviations:

ch - chain
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
ss - slip stitch
fo - fasten off

Pattern: 

1) In MC. In a "Sue Pinner Magic Circle" ch 2 and 15 dc into the center of the circle, ss into the second ch of the ch 2 at the beginning of this row. Cinch your magic circle.

2) Ch 3 (counts as first dc + ch1) *dc + ch1* around 15 times, ss into the second ch of ch 3. fo (a circle with 16 spokes and 16 chains)

3) Attach CC into any ch 1 space, ch 3 and 3dc cluster in the same stitch. *ch2 4dc cluster in each space around (16 clusters and 16 chains 2 spaces) fo CC.

4) Skip over all clusters and work in the ch 2 spaces only. Attach MC into any ch2 space. ch 2 + 2dc in the same stitch,  3 dc in each of the next 2 spaces, 3dc + ch 2 + 3dc in next space to form a corner, *3 dc in each of the next 3 spaces, 3dc + ch 2 + 3dc in next ch space* repeat * to * all the way around. fo (60 double crochet stitches and 8 chains)


5) Attach CC into any corner, ch 2 + dc +dc + hdc into the same stitch. dc into each  of the 15 stitches *hdc + dc dc + hdc in the corner, dc into each of the next 15 stitches* repeat to the end of the row. ss fo.

tada!

Conversation Heart Coasters

Crochet a Conversation Heart Coaster with Me!!

Here is a super chatty tutorial on how to crochet these cute little coasters to decorate for Valentine's Day!

I like to make my comments a little snarky.

Materials:

Size H/5.00 mm crochet hook
1/2 ball of Peachs & Creme Worsted Weight 4 Ply Cotton Yarn
Yarn Needle (here's my bent tipped Clover needle)
Scissors (here's my Knit Picks Steeking Scissors)
1 Stitch Marker (Optional)
Fabric Glue - I like to glue down my ends after I weave them in. This Glue is Machine Washable and Dryable and I love how it works!!

Free Printable Pattern for this Project:
Crochet Heart Coaster PDF Pattern

I hope that you enjoy watching and making along. This is my very first video tutorial. It took me forever because I just had no grasp of my desired outcome when I first began. I am sure that my video tutorials will evolve and that I will someday look back lovingly on this one as my first.

With Love,
Melody



This blog post contains affiliate links and I might be compensated financially if you choose to click on them. Thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it!

MelodyCrochet Podcast 17! - The Christmas Episode

Hi guys! Hope you are all doing fine. Happy Holidys to you and yours. (((hugs)))

I posted a video yesterday and wanted to leave some links to what was on there and where you might find it. Just in case!

First off...the tree is real. Every year. My husband cannot fathom a fake tree. I let the family place the ornaments but I do everything else. It is one of my favorite things to do. I get so scratched up so I wouldn't want to make a career out of it. But, one tree a year and I have this permanent grin glued on my face. So, she had to be in the video!

The bear above my head is our "elf on a shelf". I crocheted him from the Amineko pattern in this adorable book. Its made from Gynx Yarns on her glitz sock base in the colorway "Naughty or Nice". Here is the project page! And here is the book:

And now for the things I am making:

Works In Progress!

Garter Squish knitted blanket for Errol!

These are the needles I used:



Holey Smokes crochet shawl

Ho's!

My gloves are my own pattern and I will link when I get the pattern written digitally. For now it is chicken scratch in three places. LOL But I used Encore by Plymouth yarn, Knitters Pro Cubic wooden needles in size 5. The X-Large gloves only take 36 grams of yarn each. I am so thrilled. I really thought I was going to need two balls of yarn for a set of gloves.

Finished Objects!

Cosy Cardi Crazy Christmas crochet sweater

Cozy Thermal Mitts knitted fingerless gloves for the husbeast! Here is the link to my favorite mitten needles!

Oh! The Tea!!! Red Velvet by Stash Tea is probably my favorite tea that I have found this season. I am just in love with it. I have found a few new favorites but this one I just cannot get enough of.


Their words:

Have your cake and drink it too! Rooibos combines with rich chocolate, caramel, and raspberry flavors to create the perfect cup to satisfy a sweet tooth. Pleasingly sweet with a distinctive chocolate taste and a beautiful red brew. Add a splash of milk and sugar for a creamy dessert in a cup.

Ingredients
Cocoa shells, rooibos, hibiscus, natural cream cheese flavor, natural caramel flavor, natural raspberry flavor

My words...its smooth chocolate raspberry but heavy on the raspberry. Like jam. I add a tiny bit of stevia and a little milk. I never bring tea to bed because I have carpet right now and two dogs. Its begging for trouble. But, I have brought this to bed to drink while I crochet TWICE this week.

Thank you for the love and support that you send through the blog and the vlog. If I don't see you until after Christmas I hope yours is merry and bright and full of things that make your heart smile!



As always, this post contains with affiliate links that I profit financially from. I so appreciate when you do. I hope that they prove to be as helpful to you as the profits are to me.

Filet Crochet Skull Jumper

Hi! I hope this post finds you and yours doing well! It's a blustery fall day here in Texas. I recently finished a project that I just could NOT wait to share with you. It has inspired me to do SO much more filet crochet that I am currently designing more to wear so I can continue this look after Halloween.

I love horror and the spookies. My inner child is a little goth left in me from the 90s and I cherish her. Friday the 13th is something I celebrate so I planned this project as my "Friday the 13th Project". So, that morning my yarn, materials and pattern were all set aside and ready to go. I even did a gauge swatch. I was not let down. This was the perfect celebration crochet.

The "Filet Crochet Skull Jumper" is a pattern by Pony McTate. Pony has a few other patterns on Ravelry, as well. I am going to need a rapture top. Maybe a scrappy one, too. And her new sweater might need to happen, too. I have a holiday sweater along coming up November 1st in the Ravelry group. This one is tempting!

So, lets talk about the pattern. It was originally found in issue 59 of Simply Crochet magazine. I get that on my phone every issue so it was easy for me to access. But, the pattern can also be bought on its own here for $4.75 USD. The pattern was clear and simple.

This is a picture of the original pattern:

My modifications:

First off...no band on the bottom. That would have stolen my zest for this project. Just leached the fun out for me right off the bat. I just chained very loosely for as many stitches as I would need, plus 3 and then double crocheted back. Keep in mind this is worked in two pieces. Front and back. And then you sew them together. You can then add sleeves. I chose not to. I made is so wide that it practically formed its own cap sleeve.

I used an Boye Ergonomic Size 3.75 hook (an F) instead of the 4.5mm hook suggested. It sounds odd. But, I sized down my hook because I sized up my yarn. I went with Aran weight "I Love This Cotton" yarn instead of the sport weight "Yarn and Colors Must-Have" cotton yarn. I don't have easy access to The Must-Have  but it looks to have very similar drape and texture to the I Love This Cotton that I used. And this yarn has been sitting in my stash for YEARS. I love the color and just couldn't make myself turn it into a dishcloth. The ideal swatch size was 4 inches. After downsizing the hook my swatch was 6 inches wide and having a 50% larger skull was perfect in my eyes. BINGO!

I used the swatch to do the math on how many squares I wanted in my top. I figured out that I wanted 6 blank squares below the design and 4 blank squares above. I needed 10 free squares on the right and left of the widest part of the skull. This was all just a quick doodle on some 10 squares per inch graph paper (buy it here or print it from here). Having this on paper makes creating any new designs very simple. I think I'll need a big rose for Spring.

Outcome:

I love it! Its soft and comfy and just enough festive to walk around in all month long before a holiday. This was a fast project, simple enough for a beginner. I could not recommend it more.

Have a great day! Love always,
Mel

As Always this post is full of links and some are affiliate links. I would so appreciate you using them if they help you at all. Just to be fully open and honest I do sometimes receive compensation when you click them.

Reflections Baby Blanket - A Free Pattern

Hello Friends!

Link to Pattern on Ravelry

I hope that this post finds you well and stashing. It's the closing of a beautiful summer full of surprises and crazy weather. I am here to post a little pattern for a baby blanket that I created for a friend that is expecting a baby any day now.

It is called the Reflections baby blanket. It is simple and catchy. You will have one done before you even realize you started it. I think we have all noticed the new fun yarn cakes that are popping up everywhere.

There are the Caron Cakes:

There are the Premier Sweet Rolls:

There are the Bernat Pops:

There are the Lion Brand Mandala:

And my most recent experiment ...the Yarn Bee Sugar Wheel. I was gifted with one cake and lucky enough to find another to match it.

Grab two that match and make one of these blankets. Even if yodon'tdont match just leave out the center contrast color and let the colors land where they will. It is still going to be gorgeous. Mine was made for a baby...but at 36" by 26" I think it would make a great lapghan for anyone.

MelodyCrochet Podcast Episode 4!

Did I mention that I started a podcast? No?! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to leave you out. But, the idea of starting was a little overwhelming. Very little organizing or admin was done because I didn't want to make it any more work than it was for fear that I just wouldn't do it. But I did it! And I'm really glad that I have. I also started a little ravelry group for the podcast, please come join us! It's my next bit of admin to attack. I would love to hear from you for support as I learn. 

I will be posting show notes there and here. I will just link to hear from the group. I tried to just do the notes on there but I am so much more used to formatting on this platform. I will also be posting more here about my projects. I have been making quite a bit. I just have not been writing much about my endeavors. What have you been working on? I'd love to hear! But here is the show notes for episode 4!

Finished Objects

Ripples of Happiness by Sucrette (she has the most amazing blog...it makes me want to crochet everything in my home!

Poppy Troll Hat by Tawnya Myers at Just Crafting Around

WIPS

Willowfall Testknit by Remade by Hand (Erin Kurup)

Mystery Machine Socks

Sunday Shawl by Alia at The Little Bee 

She has the most colorful instagram feed! She will make you want to crochet every pattern in every colorway that you see! So pretty. 

Bendy Arrow by Charlotte Bory of the Charlotte and Gus podcast!

Peachy Geometric by Sandra at Cherry Heart

housed in a bag that was gifted to me and made from this pattern:

Swirling Bag

Rose City Rollers by Mara Bryner

New Stuff!

In this episode I talk about these new-to-me items!

Chiaogoo Twist Interchangeable Knitting Needles in Mini needles and cable

Regia 6-Fedig Sport weight sock yarn 

Daiso Crochet Hooks 

Project bay from the Target Dollar Hot Spot. 

Dream Knitting:

Campfire Cardigan Jess Coppom

Blurre Addydae Designs

KALs/CALs

#Brontealong with LoveSockWool podcast

Summer of Romance Crochet and Knit along with Crochet Cakes Podcast and Crochet Luna Podcast (#SRCAL)

Bun Hat - a free pattern

Messy Bun Hat

There are a ton of bun hat patterns popping up everywhere. But they were lacking a little something for me. I went ahead and took the inspiration and made it my own.

I used Unforgettable Yarn from Red Heart 70 grams/200 yards total. That it is less than one ball but this hat is worked holding two strands together. I was making more than one hat (of course!) so I just held two strands together from separate balls of the yarn. If you are just making one hat I would divide the yarn prior to starting your hat...this is not a great hat to work from both ends of the ball on, in my opinion.

Surprisingly, since I worked from the outside of both balls the yarn colors changed in the same way at the same time so you can hardly even tell I held two strands together when looking at my hat. Next time I will be making one where I start on different colors. I love my Tealberry colorway and would love to see those colors play together even more.

I work in rounds for the body of this hat. I do not slip stitch, chain 2. I just work in a spiral all the way up. The decreases I make are taken at the seam in back. To make this easy to see I put a locking stitch marker so that I have a mental reminder of where the back seam is.

So here is what I used!

1 ball of Unforgettable Red Heart Yarn separated into two balls.
I hook
H hook
Locking Stitch marker 
Yarn Needle to weave in the ends

I used these stitches and abbreviations!

sc - single crochet
sc blo - single crochet through the back loops only (when looking at the top v that a stitch makes, you are working only in the branch that is farther away from you.
hdc - half double crochet
dec hdc - decrease half double crochet
yo, insert into next stitch, yo, pull back, yo insert into the second stitch, yo, pull back, yo and pull through all of the loops on the hook.

And here is what I did!

We will start by making a long strip of sc in the back post only that will fit around your head. It will be 70 rows of 8 single crochets.

With your I Hook while holding 2 strands of yarn together chain 9, turn
sc in the second chain from the hook and across (8sc)
*ch 1, turn, sc in each stitch across (8sc) in BACK LOOPS ONLY*
repeat * to * 68 times. Do not Fasten Off.

This ribbed band of 70 rows should fit nicely around the head of most teens and women. Its stretchy!

When your band is complete place fold in half lengthwise (like in the picture above) with right sides facing and single crochet these together to form a loop. This is your hat band and will look much neater in a color changing yarn that it would if you used a Back Post/Front Post Double Crochet. I make alot of baby hats this way too because they grow so quickly. This stretchy band makes it so they can wear the hat longer.

Now to make the body of your hat!

Continuing with the same I hook and the same yarn strand (still held double) that you had not fastened off after seaming up the band.

1) chain 2 and HDC in each stitch along the side of your hat band across (70) place marker as the start of the next row.
2) *hdc across until the last 4 stitches before marker, half double crochet decrease 2 times*
3-7) repeat * to * 5 times. Change to H hook
8-10) repeat * to * 3 times

We have decreased 2 stitches per row for 9 rows now. We are down to 52 stitches and the hat is nearly done. We will now decrease a bit more aggressively so it really hugs the top of your head to show off that messy bun!

11) hdc, dec hdc around to the marker
12) dec hdc around to marker.
13) sc around to marker, slip stitch into the first stitch of the row and FASTEN OFF! *confetti*

Weave in your heads, take a picture, post it to Instagram and tag me (Im MelodyCrochet).

Keep warm guys!

With love,

Melody

There are affiliate links in this pattern. Thank you SO much if you use them. I only link to things that I have used and enjoy.

Izzys Pom Pom

Hello and thanks for stopping by!

I had the best time at the "DFW Its a yarn crawl, Y'all"! I can't wait to share each of my experiences.

But first. A hat. I stopped into the yarn shop with my little guy and he got bored. Yeah, not a surprise. To amuse him I had him go pick out the yarn for a winter hat because winter is coming. I directed him toward the Encore yarn. He went over and to a huge section and chose the brightest and most neon yarn they had...and a matching pre-made pompom. I tried to keep it positive.

1. I won't lose him in the park in this hat.
2. I can probably make this hat in the dark. Literally. I think it has its own light source in there.
3. He chose TWO skeins so I get to make matching mittens!

So, I got to work making him a nice big pom pom hat in two colors (in a low light environmont...to protect my corneas).

Finished product...

I found the link to the yarn just in case you NEED your own. They sell it at amazon.com. Here is my affiliate link to the yellow and Here is the link to the green! They do not have the pompom but I will do a tutorial soon on how to make hat pompoms.

I am so excited that recently I have had the chance to get the yarn stash organized and accessible enough to start shopping for more yarn. I cannot justify buying yarn that will be stored in bins. I have to see it to be inspired by its softness and color. But now its out! I have taken on several (too many?) crochet-a-longs. I am just loving it! Plus it gives me the opportunity to have more to blog about! Which is awesome because I have really missed it. I don't like blogging on "MelodyCrochet" when I don't at least have a little crochet madness to toss in between the recipes, knitting, family stuff, reviews, etc. I will get a chance to play around with blog gadgets and sharing all aspects of our lives! My goal is to work on my pattern writing my social media. I have never really made a pattern beyond writing it out on the blog and I know that can be hard if someone wants to print it out. I am so lucky to have such a great group following me and sharing with me what they are up to. They are so supportive and encouraging! I want to be that for them, too. So, I would like to get better about blending the social media, too. I use it all but I pick and choose what will go where instead of sharing everything everywhere. Ok! Back to the fun stuff.

I did not receive any money or merchandise to write this but I do use affiliate links in my posts. Thanks for your support.