Gentleman Octopus - Amigurumi

I crocheted this little bugger for my sweet baby nephew.  I used a free pattern for the octopus from Esshaych, and then sort of winged it with the top hat since I couldn't find one that was exactly what I wanted.  I used a pattern from here as a guide, but that hat is more for a toddler.  It is my first design, and I'll try to post the pattern below, but you'll have to bear with me if there at any issues with it.  The octopus is dinky, about the size of my palm, and frankly I'm pleased as punch with how it turned out!

Mini Top Hat Pattern

I used regular Sugar & Cream thread, and pulled two stands out.  There id probably a better way to do that, but I improvised with what I had.  I also used a size D-3.25mm hook.

Magic ring 10
Inc (2sc in each st) (20)
SC 20
Back loop only - SC 20
SC 20
SC 9, SC2TOG, SC 8, SC2TOG (18)
SC 18
SC 8, SC2TOG, SC 6, SC2TOG (16)
SC 7, SC2TOG, SC 5, SC2TOG (14)
Back loop only - SC 2 in 1, SC in 1 repeat around (22)
SC 22
SC 10, SC 2 in 1, SC 10, SC 2 in 1 (24)
Fasten off

Good luck, I hope I wrote it all down right.  Let me know if I need to make changes.

Being 13!

So, after almost a year in the works, I finally finished the "all about me" album I made for my niece who turned 13 last April.  It's made using the Basic Grey round chipboard album (though I added an extra page).  Each page has a place for her to journal, add a photo or add momentos about her thirteenth year.  There are pages about her, her family, friends, pets, school, hobbies.  There is a page for the things she loves, her hopes for next year and what she is into now.  This book took an enormous amount of effort and time.  I really hope she uses it and treasures it for years to come.  Below is a slide show of the pages in the book.  You can pause and skip around in the book by clicking the controls.  Enjoy.

Red Puff Hat

My first hat!!  I don't know why I can't ever do anything simple!  This hat only took me a few hours to finish off, and I was so proud of myself since I had to make the hat shrink from an adult to a child size with out any direction.  I did this by eliminating one of the increase steps and for decreasing the amount of rows of puffs.  I learned how to do this hat thanks to Teresa at Crochet Geek on YouTube.  I altered the design a tad to make it my own (I wanted the band to be wider to cover my daughters ears) and I added a nice little rosette (that I learned how to make on this blog, my first written pattern project!) and a pearl button for accent.  You can see the Puff Stitch Hat video here.

Butterfly Headband

I've decided to teach myself to crochet.  Crazy, the things you can learn on YouTube!!  I have officially learned how to crochet on YouTube, thanks mostly to the Crochet Geek.  I started out with Barbie blankets, and got lucky with a few mistakes that turned into a Barbie hat and a Barbie shawl.  I then profected the art of a simple Wrister set for myself and my daughter (thanks to this video) using the same yarn that I used in this headband.  Then I had to make a matching headband to go with the wristers...of course!  After I finished I added a fun little butterfly that I learned to make using this video on YouTube.  I am quite proud of my first real accomplishment!!