Granny Square Wall Hanging

There are a million and two different patterns for granny squares available for free. This particular pattern is one that I just made up while I was crocheting. You can choose any one that you like. As you can see I did this one in a solid white.

I went out back and got an old twig from one of the trees and broke it to size. I used a yarn needle to 'sew' the square onto the twig and then just made a chain to use as a hanger.

For the bottom I just wrapped yarn around a piece of cardboard 20 times and then tied the ends around the top to make tassels in different colors. I had a bunch of the little craft clothespins laying around on my desk and my son suggested attaching the tassels to the pins so that I could change out the colors if I wanted to. I think it would be a great way to add a splash of color for the holidays. Maybe some pastel ones for Easter, orange and brown for Thanksgiving, red and green for Christmas, multicolors for Birthdays ... that sort of thing.

However you choose to do this, always remember that if you are not having fun then you're doing it wrong! =)

Beaded Suncatcher

I just love working with beads. Love them! 

I saw some beaded wire suncatchers on Pintrest and was inspired. I just had to make some of these for myself. Here is my very first one. I don't think it came to bad. I really like it and it was super fun to make!

I am already nagging the hubster to get me a nice camera. I am so tired of my cell phone camera. What a pity that with as much power as these new phones have these days the camera can be so bad. Maybe it's just user error and I need a better camera that can compensate for my total lack of photography ability. I think I am going to stick with bad cell phone camera. That is my story, and I'm stickin' to it! HA!

So I didn't actually follow any real instructions when I made this. I just looked at some pictures from Pintrest and just gave it a shot. It is really simple to do and I'm sure that most everyone can do the same thing but I'll go ahead and throw down here some basic instructions just in case.

The materials come from the Dollar Tree and Walmart. I love me some cheap DIY! The beads were the most expensive part of this and I have plenty left over to put into other projects so I didn't really mind the $10 it cost me. Okay, that's a bit of a lie, I hate spending $10 on a single thing unless it's going to be an epic project but for this I went ahead and shelled out the money. 

Materials

Beads

Thick wire

Thin jewelry wire

Pliers - jewelry pliers are best but regular pliers will work

Yup, that's all there is to it.

I used the thick wire, in this case the Dollar Tree only had it in black so that is what I used. It came curled up already and I just snipped off a bit of wire and then grabbed both ends and pulled a little to make it elongate into a spiral. Then I just worked the wire a bit to make the curl at the top and bottom a bit smaller and widen it out in the middle. You can work your wire however you want it. Super easy, no measuring and no having to have a form to wrap the wire around. 

Then I chose what beads I wanted. For this I went with a rainbow theme. That took the longest amount of time, separating down the beads into the different colors. The package I bought was one of those all mixed together glass bead packages. There were a lot of beads that are unfortunately unusable because the hole in the middle is clogged. But they came from Walmart so it's not like I was expecting high end beads. I will just find something else I can hot glue them to. Oh, the hubster was thrilled about that. lol

To put the beads on the thick wire I used the thinner jewelry wire and snipped off about a foot and a half of wire. I tried other lengths at first but longer than about a foot and a half and the wire started bending and crimping up on me. It was a mess and I was frustrated. When I wanted to add another length of wire I just wrapped it around a couple of times and kept on movin' and groovin'. The whole point of this is to look hand made. If I wanted factory production quality I would have gone out and bought any number of suncatchers. So I embraced my handmade'ness (if that is not a word I am officially making it one). 

I fiddled with the top for a good long while before I found something that I liked. 

For the bottom I just strung a couple beads on some jewelry wire and hung them. Presto! A suncatcher is born. (cue angels singing)

There really isn't any one set way to do these. With the free form of the wire you can make these however you want. I hope you have fun with this and I would love to see pictures of your beaded suncatchers. 

Rainbow Scarf with Curlicue Clouds

I love this scarf <3 It is a fantastic project for someone just learning crochet to take on. Because the stitches are so simple and repetitive it is an excellent way for a beginner to really get the hang of basic stitches. It is also a great way to let your creativity start to flow because each color can be done in any stitch you want. This pattern is how I made it but feel completely free to change each color to whatever stitch you want.

I made this scarf super long just because I like the way it hangs down to my knees. It is so incredibly warm and because it is a little wider than most scarves I can wear it over my shoulders and let it drape around my back and arms if it isn't cold enough to wrap it around my neck.

Materials
8 skeins yarn - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Purple, Black
Hook size J

Abbreviations
st - stitch
ch - chain
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
tc - treble crochet

Pattern

Red

Foundation chain - ch 203

Row 1 - in 4th ch from hook dc. dc in all chains, turn

Row 2 - ch 3. Beginning in 2nd st dc in each st to end. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Black

Row 3 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Orange

Row 4 - ch 4 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st tc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Black

Row 5 - ch 3 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st dc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Yellow

Row 6 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st across, turn.

Row 7 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st to end, turn.

Row 8 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st to end. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Black

Row 9 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st hdc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Green

Row 10 - ch 4 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st tc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Black

Row 11 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Blue

Row 12 - ch 3 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st dc in each st to end, turn.

Row 13 - ch 3 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st dc in each st to end. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Black

Row 14 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Indigo

Row 15 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st across, turn.

Row 16 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st to end, turn.

Row 17 - ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st to end. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st..

Black

Row 18 - ch 3 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st dc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Purple

Row 19 - ch 4 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st tc in each st across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st.

Using a yarn needle, weave in all ends.

Edging 

Black

ch 2 for first st. Beginning in 2nd st sc in each st across. In last st, sc, ch, sc to create corner.

Turn scarf and sc along the edge. 1 sc for each sc, 2 sc in each dc, 3 sc in each tc. In last st, sc, ch, sc to create corner.

Turn scarf and sc in each st. In last st, sc, ch, sc to create corner.

Turn scarf and sc along the edge. 1 sc for each sc, 2 sc in each dc, 3 sc in each tc. In last st, sc, ch, sc to create corner. slip stitch to ch 2.

Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st. Weave in end.

Curlicue Clouds

Across one short edge

Red

Row 1 - ch 2 for first st. sc in same stitch. 2 sc in each stitch across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st. Weave in end.

Orange

Row 2 - ch 2 for first st. sc in same stitch. 2 sc in each stitch across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st. Weave in end.

Yellow

Row 3 - ch 2 for first st. sc in same stitch. 2 sc in each stitch across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st. Weave in end.

Across second short edge

Green

Row 1 - ch 2 for first st. sc in same stitch. 2 sc in each stitch across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st. Weave in end.

Blue

Row 2 - ch 2 for first st. sc in same stitch. 2 sc in each stitch across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st. Weave in end.

Purple

Row 3 - ch 2 for first st. sc in same stitch. 2 sc in each stitch across. Cut yarn with 3-4 inch tail and pull through last st. Weave in end.

I really hope that you have fun with this. If you make this or a version of this I would love to see pictures and let me know how you enjoyed doing this!