Tag: free pattern

When Creativebug asked me to come in and shoot an Easter-themed project on their Facebook livestream, I wanted to bring something just a little bit unconventional. I have a tiny love/hate relationship with the cactus/succulent trend in the craft world, so I decided to embrace it and make some cactus-themed egg cozies. I love how they turned out, and the pattern is so easy! It’s a colorful cactus egg-stravaganza (and really the perfect hiding spot for your Easter egg hunt)! I totally can’t wait to see all your individual takes on this project. I know you’ll have a lot of fun with it! You can also easily use this pattern to make a lil cactus that doesn’t have to have an egg inside. I made a PDF for you, and here’s the link! Pattern and photos are below, too! If you want to watch me do this live and be totally dorky at Creativebug HQ… here is the link! (I think?!)

So…do you guys remember how last year I sketched a project for my Auntie Mary? This is highly representative of how I unfortunately prioritize my crafting work: my friends/family come dead last, and all my business stuff comes first. So poor Auntie Mary has waited over a year for this cozy she requested for her bathroom box of disposable hand towels! I’m the worst!!! I hope she still uses them? But I think it came out super cute! I was still in kind of a rush to finish. I was sewing on the grass just minutes before she arrived at my parents’ house on Christmas Day.  I probably would have put another window on the sides of the house and worked on those green shutters, but those are pretty easy additions for future projects. I also skipped the chimney due to time, but I don’t think the finished project really needed it. I am really NOT the world’s greatest or most experienced embroiderer, but I gave it a shot with these wee flowers. It was pretty fun! I am sure you could get wildly more creative here  if you’ve done more embroidery before. All I basically know is straight stitch, satin stitch, and the french knot! I’m not sure how many people buy these disposable hand towels, but if you do, now you can make a cute lil cover for it! This reminds me a lot of fairy houses and gnome stories. I kind of want a little adorable village with different shapes and sizes of Kleenex cottages… would be a fun group project…! Here is the box in a slightly different setting. I went a little crazy snapping photos really quickly before putting this in a gift bag! Unfortunately, I don’t have step-by-step photography for this one, so please rely on the photos to figure out what goes where. I think it should be pretty straightforward! Can’t wait to see your unique versions!

I don’t know what it is I like so much about anthropomorphic plants from movies (baby Groot, anyone?), but after I saw Fantastic Beasts, I definitely wanted my own Bowtruckle, which is described on Pottermore as a “small, twig-like creature that guards wand-wood trees.” In my first attempt to crochet him, I tried to stay very true to Pickett in the movie images, and I wanted his long, thin limbs to be posable with wiring. However, he kept looking kind of weird and creepy to me while I was crocheting him, so I decided to shorten his body and limbs and make him cute, stumpy, and little! (Here’s an animated gif of my rough sketches.) I hope you enjoy making your lil plant babies! He’s also a good size for a brooch, so you can easily keep him on your coat for all your adventures!

Ask (for cake) and you shall receive! A lot of people have asked me if I could release the Strawberry Cake Scarf pattern that I put together for classes taught at Michaels in 2014. Here is my original blog post about it. The Craft Yarn Council owns the rights to the pattern now, but since the class is no longer available at Michaels, I asked if I could share the pattern here, and they said yes! Yay! This Strawberry Cake Scarf is super sweet, fun to wear, easily customizable to your favorite cake colors and flavors, and perfect for crocheters of all skill levels – even beginners! So let’s eat our cake and wear it, too! I made my first cake scarf back in 2007, and it looked like this: I didn’t change much except for the strawberry. (Should I cut my hair again!?) Unfortunately, both of the yarns I used in 2007 do not exist anymore, but I’m sure you could find similar if you wanted to. The cool thing about this pattern is how flexible it is. Pretty much any worsted weight yarn will work, and you’re basically just crocheting a bunch of rectangles :).  If you’re not inclined to crochet your own, I’m also selling a finished version of the scarf in my Etsy shop.

The #YarnHeroes has its own site now, YarnHeroes.com! Check it out! I think it’s pretty cool if will be year-round movement! Here’s a link to my original post about the Yarn Heroes and our mission to help you crochet for charity. You can also find my pattern for Candy Cane Wristwarmers. Below you’ll find a pattern for some cute and easy puffy crocheted bows that you can turn into hair accessories, corsages, belts, Christmas tree decorations, wreath decorations, shoe clips, purse-pins, pretty much anything and everything! I originally designed these bows to make shoe clips for a Bee and Puppycat outfit, but they are really great for holidaytimes, too. You can create a cute embellishment for a wide range of your charitable crocheting, and you can also make the bows themselves for charities such as BowDazzling. So far, Bow Dazzling has delivered over 29,000 bows and headbands to children’s hospitals. Pretty amazing! AND NOW: Giveaway info! Lion Brand will send TWO winners each 2 balls of yarn of your choice (PLUS a pack of Lion Brand BonBons) to make your own pair of Candy Cane Wristwarmers and a bow or two. I made my wristwarmers with Kitchen Cotton in Bubblegum and Hot Pepper, but each winner can choose whatever Lion Brand yarn and colors you like. I think Vanna’s Choice would also be perfect! My green bow is made with Bonbons, and the white one is Vanna’s Glamour. To enter to win, simply comment my blog with one of your own Yarn Hero moments, whether it was someone who was a Yarn Hero to you, or a charitable cause you crafted for, or what future Yarn Hero plans you might be cooking up! You have one week until Wednesday, December 7th at midnight PST. Please note that this giveaway is open only to USA/Canada, and you must be 18 or over to enter. I will choose the winners randomly with Random.org. Please only one entry per person. Also at the Yarn Heroes website, you’ll find information about a $250 yarn giveaway happening this month. AAAAND don’t forget, while shopping at LionBrand.com, you can use code YARNHEROES16 for $5 off any order that’s over $20 or more for your charitable crafting, only until December 15. AAAAAND, don’t forget to check out the blogs of the other 14 Yarn Heroes for their free patterns, plus some of them are hosting giveaways of their own! [Moogly] [Mama In A Stitch] [All About Ami] [One Dog Woof] [Sewrella] [Delia Creates] [Underground Crafter] [Sh*t That I Knit] [Kristy Glass] [Two of Wands] [Make & Do Crew] [A Crocheted Simplicity] [Little Red Window]  [B-Hooked Crochet] Tag photos of your charitable crocheting/knitting with #YarnHeroes so we can see all your awesome work! Now, onto some cute bows! Cute Puffy Bow Crochet Pattern!

This holiday season, Lion Brand Yarn and an awesome team of crochet/knit/yarn bloggers are combining their super powers to form the Yarn Heroes and encourage all of you to craft for your favorite charitable causes! My Yarn Hero name is Captain Candy! I use my crochet powers to bring sweetness, color, and light to the world. As you may know, I have my Tissue Box Bakery site with free patterns and a small shop to help benefit one of my local charities called Food Runners. For this Yarn Heroes campaign, LB is helping me introduce you guys to two more amazing organizations: Mittens for Detroit and Bow Dazzling. LB challenged the Yarn Heroes to create fun super-hero outfits and characters using fairly basic patterns to share with all of you, so that you can create your very own super-hero characters and also use the patterns to help out your favorite charities. People have asked me for the Candy Cane Wrist Warmer pattern for years, and I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to give it to you. There are so many deliciously cute color combos you could use and so much warmth and color you could spread to your friends, family, and hopefully a cause such as Mittens for Detroit. Don’t forget to tag #YarnHeroes on your social media if you make my project or any charitable project for the season. AAALLLLSOOOOOOOO, Lion Brand is offering $5 off every purchase at or above $20 of yarn for your charitable projects using the code YARNHEROES2016 in their online store from November 15 – December 15. Show me photos of your Candy Cane Wrist Warmers, and I’ll make a blog post with a cool collage! Coming soon: I’ll post some cute patterns for crocheted bows AAAAANNNNDDDDD………….. LB and I are teaming up to bring you a cool giveaway. Stay tuned! EDIT: Here’s the link to the crocheted bows pattern and giveaway! Pattern for wrist warmers below!

On the 4th of July, I showed up to the family bbq with this giant crocheted hot dog. In all honesty, the hot dog was an extremely belated birthday present for my nephew who turned three. I was in L.A. for Vogue Knitting Live during his bday party, and then I kept making the wiener part of the hot dog too big, and now I have 2 extra wieners lying around  the house. Anyway, I was FINALLY able to deliver my present! Giant hot dog: here’s why. I made a big ol’ strawberry pillow for my mom a while ago, and for some reason, my nephew kept saying “thank you” to me for making it for him, so I thought I’d make him a giant food pillow, too. Also, this kid loves a barbecue, BUT, he actually only wants to eat the bun, not the dog. WE LOVE BREAD. I didn’t have time to take a quality photos of the hot dog before I wrapped it up, so these phone pics will have to do for now (you know what a hot dog looks like anyway) until I happen to make another one again.  Maybe for YouTube? Also, I didn’t have time to take down all the yardage info. I used Red Heart Super Saver for this project, so that should give you some idea. And just, like, a lot of stuffing…    I spend a lot more time than I should trying to determine what the perfect hot dog color is, so I hope you enjoy Red Heart Super Saver in Coral. I enjoyed it a lot. Hotdoglicious. (Please note that this pattern has not been tech-edited or proofread by anyone, so if you find any typos or errors, just let me know!)

I have a fun summer-time pattern for you guys! I saw a cute photo of somebody’s actual frozen treat, which was a chocolate-covered frozen banana, decorated to look like a bear. The snout was a little cookie, and I can’t remember the other decorations. I tried Googling it, but couldn’t find the same image again, but I did run into THIS tutorial to make “polar bears.” You know I love me some color, so I imagined that instead of just using white chocolate to coat your frozen banana, you could use colorful chocolate/candy melts and have all different colors of bears! Also, I shot photos in my new popsicle dress and felt like a lil popsicle bear would be the perfect accessory. Unfortunately, most of the photos I took with the popsicle turned out focused improperly…….doh. Here is my initial sketch. And here are the finished blue and pink versions! I wanted to make a brown one, too, but I’m also still working really hard on prepping for Renegade. I hope you guys enjoy these cute goodies! My favorite part is crocheting the mini-marshmallows! I think they’re really funny and cute. I apologize in advance if there are any errors in this pattern. Nobody else has edited or looked at it, and I just dashed it off really quick! Let me know if there any issues! 🙂

I originally wrote this pattern to appear in Craftseller Magazine out of the UK, but apparently the magazine doesn’t exist anymore, and neither does the link to my free pattern! Thanks to a reminder from one of my readers, I’m posting it here now. The pattern is super easy, great for beginners, and you’ll have a plate full of delicious sandwich cookies in no time!

OKAY, I know it’s only like the day before Mother’s Day, but I posted a YouTube video for a Mother’s Day project anyway. You know how it goes with me … I’m a terrible planner when it comes to videos and holidays, and you can always use a bunch of older projects for this year’s present, and then you can use this one for future presents! 😛 I need to shoot better photos of the scarf and of me wearing it! But anyway, as I explain in the video, I have a store-bought scarf that I wear all the time and that is getting kind of old-looking, so I wanted to make myself a new one. I figured, you might want to make one, too. There are a lot of patterns and tutorials out there for chain link scarves already, so this isn’t a new-new idea, and I don’t even know if there is some cool tip or trick I’m missing out on. It’s just something I made for myself in real life. If anything, it’s just inspiration to start digging around in your stash and putting together yarns you might not have normally put together! In my scarf, I have some Madeline Tosh, Lion Brand, Knit Collage, and handspun from Etsy. The other fun thing (for me) about the video is that I lit my hands with my new OttLite (that you can win, too!). You’ll notice that the light changes throughout the tutorial portion of the video, because I kept changing the light settings around. I like whatever setting I had it on for the very last tutorial shot! I think that was the cool temp at full blast. Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, whatever it is that you’re doing! <3

Let’s squeeze out one more heart-shaped pattern before Valentine’s Day! I got a couple requests for a Ricardio the Heart Guy from Adventure time. I had to look him up, and he looks like this: Kinda freaky, right?! Anyway, I figured this was also a good opportunity to make heart-shaped throw pillows, and then you can put a Ricardio face on it, or a happy/cute face, or make a set of conversation hearts with your own messages. Lots of opportunities here!! I will put arms and legs on mine, but you can leave out the limbs. The world is yours! There are a few ways to create a throw-pillow-type project. You can either work in the round, or you can crochet two flat pieces and sew them together. We are going to work this one in the round, kinda like a jumbo version of my heart lollipop necklace. I normally like to use single crochet for items that are stuffed, but I wanted to bang this out really quick, so I used double crochet! Let’s go crazy!!! (p.s. I’m sorry that the photos here are just screen grabs of the YouTube video….. I changed the way I decided to work the pattern, and all the photos I took were no longer valid. I will work up another pillow this weekend and shoot proper progress photos!)

I still need to copy all of my Michaels.com patterns back over to my blog here, so bear with me! Someone recently requested the Chocolate Truffle Scarf, so here it is! I will try to update all the old links, too! Eat your chocolate and wear it, too! I designed this scarf of candy truffles so that you could feel like a walking box of chocolates — cute and scrumptious! Mix and match yarn colors to create your favorite truffle flavors, then decorate with dots, hearts, swirls, or stripes. Guaranteed to satisfy any sweet tooth, this scarf makes an enjoyable and decadent treat!

I randomly decided the other day that I needed to make myself Holly Golightly’s sleeping mask from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and I figured I’d share the pattern so that you guys can make one, too! The cool thing about this pattern is that you can turn the basic sleeping mask into anything you want…. like a bunny mask, a kitty mask, a teddy bear mask… there are tons of possibilities for customization! I made 4 other kinds of masks, which you can see in the intro of my YouTube tutorial! I have no idea how many people actually use sleeping masks on the daily, but while I was crocheting one at my parents’ house, my mom revealed that she uses them! Who knew!? Also, I was making a pink mask, and she asked what it was going to be, and I told her a bunny mask…but actually it was this eye-ball-falling-out-of-the-socket mask. Sometimes, you have to tell a white lie so that you don’t sound crazypants around your folks. This pattern will focus on the Holly Golightly mask, for whenever you have the blues or the mean reds!

I polled you guys on Facebook to see what kind of Thanksgiving-themed crochet tutorial you’d like to see, and I got a lot of votes for a turkey drumstick as well as some form of pumpkin pie. The turkey drumstick would be easy, as the pattern already exists and I wouldn’t have to write anything, but hey, I like a fun(ny) new project and thought maybe you would, too! I decided to turn this little pumpkin pie brooch (or hair clip, for the adventurous) into a hiding place for some sheets of tissue, and the tissue also doubles as the whipped cream dollop for the pie! You know, this will come in super handy at your holiday feast, if someone randomly drops some stuffing on the floor, or if someone has some gravy on their face. YOU COULD BE THE THANKSGIVING HERO. YOU’RE WELCOME. (Pattern also includes the option of stuffing the brooch with Polyfill and not having any tissue come out of it…) There’s also a video tutorial on YouTube for ya.

Hello Kitty Con 2014 is here! I am in LA, meeting up with my friend Candace from Super Good For You to check out the con for the first two days. I really didn’t have time to plan an outfit or make anything super interesting to wear, but I figured I’d whip up some cute shoe clips for my boots! I wanted them to be kinda square but kinda puffy, too, so that’s how I decided to work in joined rounds to make more of a 3d bow! The joined rnds with the turn in direction also help keep that seam in check. I was going to put a little stuffing in them to make them poofier, BUT, I totally just plain FORGOT, and I just went with it because I had to go to sleep to wake up for my plane. If you are not really into the whole shoe-bow thang, you can always use this in your hair, or strung as a cool statement necklace, or as an embellishment to your sweater, dress, purse, or murse! I have yet to walk in the bows, so I’ll see if they are too big and if they just fly off my boots! (Sorry for the really crappy photos!!!!! I’ll try to take better ones at home!)

(You have to watch this .gif while listening to Awesome Mix Vol.1) I saw Guardians of the Galaxy last weekend because Manda and our friend Ehren both wanted to see it.  A lot of my friends have been over the moon about it, but I’m really not a comic book person, and the trailer wasn’t really catching my attention. I said I would see it if someone bought my ticket :P. My takeaway from the movie was that WE ALL NEED A BABY Groot, so here is your free crochet GROOTORIAL! If you haven’t seen the movie, Groot is this tree-like alien who is really big and strong and can grow stuff off his body and is basically like the Giving Tree on steroids. I don’t want to spoil why there is a baby Groot and why people are going crazy about him if you haven’t seen the movie yet, so go see it and then it will all make sense! I put pipe cleaners in his arms so that he could “dance.” I tried wiring his body, too, but was running into complications with figuring out how to put stuffing in him AND a wire….plus the pipe cleaner wasn’t really strong enough to support his head and body and pipe cleaner was all I had in the house… so I need to play with that more at some point! Anyway, now you all can have your own baby Groot! And I am sure you guys will each put your own little spin on him!! I used online images of the Funko bobble head as my inspiration, cuz I think it’s super adorable! Also, here is a step by step video tutorial on YouTube to accompany the written pattern below. P.S. Thank you for all your kind and excited inquiries about whether I will be selling finished baby Groots. I’m really so happy that you guys like him so much! I will not be doing so, since I currently do not have permission or a license from Marvel. I do plan to have a giveaway soon, though, so stay tuned! (And no, I will not be doing a giveaway directly to you only, which is something someone asked!)

It was my birthday on Wednesday, and it seemed like a really great time to share my cupcake/mini-cake hair clip pattern with you guys! I designed these little cakes to be somewhat short and low profile, so that they look good as a hair accessory. The best part of all is that you can use real cupcake toppers to decorate your mini cakes, which gives you tons of options for gifts and holiday outfits! The video tutorial is also up  on my YouTube channel! The typed-out pattern is below. For a printer-friendly PDF with more how-to photos, please check out the pattern in my Etsy shop!

Here’s another pattern that was originally on Michaels.com in Dec 2013! “I wanted to round out our craft-tastic 2013 with a pattern for one of my yummy food scarves, so I asked my Facebook fans for advice on which holiday pattern they’d like to see most. The winning votes went to this Snowflake Sugar Cookie Scarf, which I really love because it celebrates the season and has a sugary elegance without being too over the top. For a quicker project, you can work up a single snowflake sugar cookie and turn it into a brooch or hair piece. Happy Holidays and a sweet New Year!”

I think some of y’all are thinking really far ahead for the holidays and already asking me to re-post the turkey tissue box cozy pattern :). I like your style! “In my family’s house, holiday time means Turkey Time! And you know me: I like my crochet decorations to be useful, so here is my pattern for a Turkey Tissue Box Cozy, complete with roasted veggie accents that you can turn into pins, hair clips, or magnets, plus a ruffled lettuce garnish that is actually a dish cloth. This tissue cozy will be a savory and festive accent for your home and is also a fantastic hostess gift!”

Here’s another crochet pattern I wrote for Michaels.com last year to promote their Loops & Threads line. The photo above shows yarns from KnitPicks (Brava worsted) because I think the colors are a bit brighter. But this pattern is really versatile, and any worsted weight yarn will do ya! I actually worked up a totally different jelly bean motif – worked in rows instead of rounds – a few weeks ago for a secret Yummy You! collab sample, so I may share that soon as well. (Is it weird to have two different patterns for jelly bean scarves? :P). “I recently polled my Twitter followers about what kind of crochet pattern they’d like to see for Easter. One gal said, “Something with jelly beans!” I loved this idea, so I designed this multicolored jelly bean scarf for you to wear on Easter egg hunts. Use the combination of worsted weight colors that remind you of your favorite jelly bean flavors. This pattern is the ultimate stash-buster—the more variety, the better!” New in: video tutorial on YouTube!  

Bread Loaf Letter-Organizer: That Thing You Never Knew You Needed…. Until NOW. I know this is late for Mother’s Day makers, but I couldn’t decide what to make my mom this year. I finally decided to attack this funny desk-top bread loaf last night! It’s a squishy adorable faux loaf to help you organize your mail, postcards, and stray pieces of paper. My video is more like a vlog than a tutorial, I think. I didn’t know how it would all turn out, and you can see me change my mind about certain things and try different methods for stuff. I hope it’s interesting and not frustrating :). In the end, I decided I would take this loaf apart, and use a styrofoam sheet in that center section, so that I can stab the wire arches through the crochet and into the styrofoam. This will aid not only in stability of the whole loaf, but also stability for the wires so that they’re not just swimming in Polyfil.  I would also use a stronger wire than jewelry wire, because jewelry wire is SO soft and malleable, but I need to do a bit more research on that. Without further ado… here is the free pattern (which I might keep tweaking later, who knows!).  

I came down with a funny case of spring fever after I searched the Internet for “spring vegetables” and saw so many photos of cute asparagus. What results from being inspired by asparagus? A crocheted pen cozy, of course! I also made him a couple of crisp and crunchy friends. This vegetable medley works up quickly and is a fun way to celebrate nature’s bounty and the arrival of Spring. Make a bunch and place them in a lentil-filled mason jar for a uniquely homegrown, handmade gift! For those who don’t crochet, I also sell finished cozies in my Etsy shop!

I created this pattern for Michaels.com last year for a Mother’s Day promo. When I crochet gifts for my mom, I like to make cute things that she can use around the house. One of the first projects I ever made for her was a cake-themed tissue box cozy. So, this month, I had my mom in mind when I designed this crocheted chiffon cake with colorful strawberry, blueberry and kiwi topping. I remember eating delicious cakes just like it when I was little. I hope you have fun creating this yummy piece of my childhood memories. Consider making one as a gift to sweeten a special someone’s Mother’s Day!

There’s only one thing that comes to my mind when I think of college, new adventures, and dorm life: PIZZA. This crocheted pepperoni pizza garland is a colorful and festive dorm room decoration for walls, windows, or doorways, and it’s really easy to make as long or short as you want. I love garlands as a statement of celebration for every day. Give a home-away-from-home a bright, playful, and cozy touch with these tasty slices! (Obvs, I originally designed this pattern for Michaels.com as part of a back-to-school promo for Fall, and they asked me to create a project to decorate a new dorm room. But I think any pizza-lover of any age would get a good giggle out of this gift!)