Goodbye 2016, Hello New Year Crochet Resolutions

2016 has certainly been quite a year. I know a lot of it seemed so terrible, but there has been so many lovely things that happened this year. 

Pandas are no longer endangered!! I never thought I would see that in my lifetime. Manatee and humpback whale populations are growing as well. There were many new breakthroughs in medical research including a vaccine for Ebola and advancement in Alzheimer's prevention! World hunger has dropped and child mortality is down. This year was so, so hard but it's so nice to see that this year wasn't just really dour stuff.

(For more great things that happened in 2016, check out this wonderful list via Tumblr and this picture-laden Chive article.)

My First Vendor Fair... And Possibly My Last

This past weekend I tried my first ever Holiday fair - and it was certainly an experience. I have sold my artwork and various things at anime conventions in the past, but selling at a fair outside of an established convention was new to me. 

I really love making things and seeing them go to others. It brings me joy to make something that others love just as much as I did making them, haha. Ever since I started crocheting, I was inspired to do just that with my yarn items. I was hoping this new type of fair would enable me to do this more than once or twice a year.

I was under the impression that there was going to be a majority of crafters at this event, but the fair ended up being a mishmash of MLMs (multi-level marketing - read: Avon, Tupperware, Scentsy etc) with a few crafters here and there. It was a bit disheartening, but I wasn't discouraged. 

Recent Projects #3 - October

October is probably my favourite month of the year. As much as I adore late spring and early summer, Autumn is my true season to love. I also absolutely love Halloween. For someone that loves cute and fuzzy things, I have a weird interest in the morbid and eerie.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to crochet anything Halloween themed this month because I am preparing stock for an upcoming craft fair in November! The fair is Christmas themed, so this month was full of elves and warm things. It was a strange October for me. I might crochet some Halloween things later in the year so I don't miss out entirely!

I also released my first pattern this month! I'll spare posting it again, but if you're interested in taking a look at my Junco Elf hat, please take a look at my earlier post (and pattern instructions) here.

A good friend of mine wanted to make a Pokémon themed costume for this year's Halloween, so I gladly made her a big plush Poké Ball. I think it turned out a bit big for her taste, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. There are so many different patterns out there for this sort of project, but thankfully I found a really nice one to my tastes here. 

[ For more information, see the project's Ravelry Project Page ]

Thankfully, she did enjoy the plush I made her! Not going to lie, after I finished making it I had to fight all my temptation to throw the ball at people with its soft, plushy goodness!

Crochet Pattern - Junco Elf Hat

I wanted to make a nice and simple elf-themed hat for a local craft fair. I found a few patterns but they just didn't workup as quickly as I'd like them to. I ended up making this quick little pattern on a whim. Thankfully it turned out very nicely! I know it's a bit early for Christmas items - it is a few weeks before Halloween - but with all the snow I have outside it almost feels like Christmas!

This is a very easy pattern and great for beginners. It only requires two basic stitches - the single crochet (double in UK terms) and double crochet (treble in UK terms).

This pattern is free to use. If you'd like to share it with friends, please provide a link to this page here. (It helps support me and also gives me incentive to make more free patterns!) If you'd like to sell items made from this pattern, please do by all means!

18/10/16 edit - did a minor edit fixing a missing 'front loop only' in a step.

In this pattern, we will be alternating between front loops and back loops while crocheting. This can seem a little tricky to a beginner, but it is actually quite easy. 

Maggie's Crochet has a wonderful series called 'Crochet University'. To learn more about front and back loops, she has a video on learning this technique. 

Junco Elf Hat

This hat is named on behalf of the White-winged Junco, a very cute little winter bird.

 

Sizes: Baby and Child

Hook Size: 5.00 / H / 8
Recommended Yarn: Medium (4), Aran (10 ply)

I used Caron Simply Soft Party in Spring Sparkle (0003) / Fuschia Sparkle (0002) for the hat and Bernat Happy Holidays in Twinkly White (31709) for the trim.

You will also need: a yarn needle, straight pins, two bells (optional) and a pompom (optional)

Crochet Stitch Abbr. Used:
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
sl = slip stitch
ch = chain
flo = front loop only
blo = back loop only

American terms are used in this pattern. For US-UK conversion chart, see here. 

Crochet abbreviations are used. If you are unfamiliar with them, please see here. 

Value Village Yarn Haul

I am an avid thrifter. I absolutely love visiting thrift stores and antique malls. Not only do I get a bit of a 'thrill of the hunt' but I also just really like older things. There was a sense of style and imagination with a lot of older pieces that aren't really around anymore. It's also so much easier to hunt for things that reflect my style, as my love for early 20th century clothing (and even older clothing/style for that matter) really shows in my look.

I visited my local Value Village and discovered a little corner of knitting things. I've never seen a thrift store with crafty pieces, so I was very surprised. I feel a bit foolish now as I took the time to look online afterwards and discovered it's not exactly a rarity. Maybe it's just uncommon in my area! Who knows?

The yarn was priced fairly for what it was. I could tell a lot of the yarn was older, probably relics from an older relative that someone had donated, but it definitely still looked usable. No frayed yarn or tangled bundles, thankfully. I didn't feel like buying a bunch of 99¢ skeins so I just grabbed a random bag for $5.99.