make something beautiful every day
Joining rounds is my favorite technique for making hats, amigurumi and baskets! The 'slip stitch & chain column' (highlighted in red below) allows me to work without a stitch marker. For some reason I always lose count of my stitches when I work in continuous rounds, which results in lots of frogging. Pros no stitch …
Who would have thought that the humble black bean could produce such beautiful colors? This is a cheap and (relatively) simple alternative to the complicated indigo dyeing process. For around $6 you can make your own natural dyes and have lots of beans left over for a tasty taco dip! Here's a before and after …
I hate to throw away yarn scraps. I go through bouts of collecting scraps followed by periods of purging my messy workspace. To break this cycle, I sorted through my pile of odds and ends. I created these llama bobbins to organize and display my favorite yarns and threads! There are two files. One has …
This has got to be my favorite crochet ribbing so far! It looks quite similar to a knitted fisherman's rib stitch (which I have always been a fan of). I tried out this stitch with an aran weight yarn and worsted weight yarn. I'm really happy with the way that the stitch looks and feels …
Since I started crocheting I've had a sort of fascination with ribbed stitches. I love the plush texture and elasticity they provide to crochet accessories and garments. This year I'd like to explore all the possibilities of crochet ribbing and create a resource for crochet pattern designing. Every week I'll be exploring a different …
I found this free crochet llama pattern in German and I couldn't resist making it! This is the first time that I've ever successfully completed a project written in a different language and I feel quite proud. I figured that I'd share my insight on following the German pattern for any English speakers who'd like …
Lately I've been plagued with a massive amount of scrap yarn thats been creating a mess on my desk. I hate wasting yarn, even if it's just small scraps. I did a little Pinterest digging for different ways to use my scrap yarn and soon became captivated with the multicolored pom poms I found in …
What is an invisible decrease? An invisible decrease is such an easy way to improve the overall craftsmanship of your crochet amigurumi. You might come across it abbreviated as invdec in a written pattern. The technique is worked in the front loop of your stitches resulting in a tinier stitch that is uniform with the …
For some reason, the correct way to use stitch markers totally eluded me. My frazzled beginner crochet brain just couldn’t understand it! Using a stitch marker is actually a super simple concept. Stitch markers are ESSENTIAL to crocheting in a continuous round. Only very experienced crocheters can spot the beginning and end of a crochet …
When I started making amigurumi, I was disappointed with the lumpy finish at the end of my amigurumi. The ends of my amigurumi ended up with large gaps which stuffing popped through. I had no idea how to finish off my projects. I'd even run into the issue of my amigurumis falling apart! I wanted …