Georges Dragon

Yes I think its pretty much official that my little brother is dragon obsessed. I made this over a month ago, but I haven't had a chance to post it up because life has been very hectic lately. I used a modified version of THIS dragon pattern. Once I realized it was all a matter of increasing and decreasing in certain areas I started winging it. Which may explain why my dragon looks slightly like a seahorse.


I would also recommend NOT asking picky six-year old boys their opinion or input. Right away they demand something impossible like "Can you make it breath actual fire?". Um. No. DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! I wish I could. Jeez. Also George wanted me to attach the wings in a way that I didn't really understand so I just attached them the normal way and when he saw the dragon he burst into tears and asked me why I messed up the wings. Hmph. This was after I had spent like two days working on it with him looking over my shoulder and being all like "Why isn't it done yet? Why are you eating instead of working on my dragon? Where are you going, you need to stay home and work on my dragon!". SHEESH. I threatened to take the dragon and then he was all like "NO! This is the best dragon ever! Thank you my wonderful sister, you are beautiful as well as talented...". Well I wish he said that. No but he did thank me and about five minutes later demanded a companion for his new friend.



I also left the embroidering of the eyes and so on to my mother, so this really isn't the finished dragon, but now that I am back at school I do not know when I'll have new photos of it. So here it is.

Pattern for my Slipper Socks

I have just taken off my Slipper Socks for the first time to examine/count the stitches to give you the pattern. I HIGHLY recommend using Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn as it is the perfect thickness for warm slippers, comes in great colors and since it is so bulky it takes only a few hours to whip these up. I used a K hook and basically only sc stitches.

(This pattern is worked in continuous rounds)

The Pattern:

Chain 3 and join together to form a ring by working a slip stitch into the first chain made

1. Chain 1, work 6 sc into ring [6 sc]


2. Work 2 sc in each of the next 6 sc [12 sc]


(An example of continuous rounds. Instead of slip stitching into the first sc, and then chaining one, I just sc'd into the first sc and continued single crocheting around and around. Does that make sense?)


3. Work 1 sc into next sc and then 2 sc into the sc after that and repeat into next 12 sc [16]

4. Work 1 sc into next two sc, and then 2 sc into the sc after those and repeat

5. Continue to increase stitches until you can put your toes into the circle and fold it and everything fits comfortably.

(Ahhh roomy but not too wide... a perfect fit)

6. Once you reach that point sc in each sc around and around till your sock reaches where the gray is on my sock (where your ankle starts).

( Check out where I am pointing! Thats where you should stop crocheting around. At the end of the gray yarn and coincidentally where my finger is pointing!)


7. Then sc in half of the next sc's. So lets say you have a tube of 20 sc's (the size of my slippers), sc in next 10 - 12 sc's. Then STOP. Do not continue stitching around and around, you are now making the bottom of the slipper and are working back and forth in rows.

8. Turn, Ch 1 skip first sc and sc in every sc

9. Turn, Ch1 skip first sc and sc in every sc


( Rows 7 through 9 are demonstrated by the dark orange yarn. The light orange is a good demonstration of Row 10. Especially at the end)


10. As you get closer to the end of the heel. Ch 1, 1 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of remaining sc, 2 sc in the Ch-1 at edge

11. Repeat row 10.

12. When your bottom goes past your heel, fold the heel end of the slipper in half, with the wrong sides together and join the back heel seam. I just sc'd through the two sides and fastened off.

13. You should have something that resembles a Turkish slipper.

14. Join the yarn to the top of slipper and continue to sc in every sc round and round till you reach the desired height of the slipper.

I hope this pattern was everything you hoped for and more. Comment if you don't understand anything, or if you need more directions, I know I'm not the best at writing out patterns.

I hope your feet will be as toasty and happy as mine are! :)

DRAGON SCARF! Finally!

It turns out my boyfriend had my camera in his room even though I called him before I even started searching and he said he didn't have it. So I searched my entire room, then I logged on to Craftster.org , read all the wonderful comments that were made on my Dragon Hat post and then I literally tore my room up all over again looking for the camera, so excited was I to show off my Dragon Scarf. So here it finally is! TADA:

Imagine that paired with my little brothers Dragon Hat. I think it will look cool. I also just realized that I am wearing the same sweatshirt in all of my photos but thats because that's my lounging gear. I often crochet when I lounge.

I crocheted this with my standard thick and quick wool-ease yarn. For the flame I crocheted the bottom flame in one piece and then layered some crocheted triangles and smaller crocheted flames on top of it. I can probably whip up the actual pattern but it basically consisted of a lot of increasing and decreasing. Here are some close ups of the scarf:

Also for the flame I found some old dark red yarn I had (not thick and quick) and slip stitched around the bottom edges and the top middle line twice and around the other edges once. I slip stitched twice around the bottom and top middle line twice because the orange showed through too much after I only slip stitched once, I thought. But then I got lazy and didn't end up slip stitching twice along any other edges. Also you can't see it, but I bought some shiny/sparkling metallic red thread and sewed it across the middle line.



I made the scarf itself thin enough to wrap around Georges (my little brother) neck. I basically just single stitched two rows of one color, then two rows of the other and so on and so on. It was 8 stitches across total I think. I also lined it with green flannel, so that it wont be too scratchy (even though I don't think the yarn is scratchy at all, but you know little kids). It was my first time lining anything, but I don't think it came out too bad. A little bunchy perhaps.




I also embroidered Georges name into it but it came out crooked! I let it stay that way though because I was lazy and I am a very inexperienced embroiderer. Also the main reason I embroidered his name into it was because I didn't want him to lose it in kindergarten, though upon further contemplation I realized that probably not many other kids would have a dragon hat and scarf ensemble.I lined the scarf and mouth with yellow yarn because I wanted to hide the edges of the lining a bit and also because I wanted to make the mouth part a bit bigger so that it was more proportional to the flame.



I also crocheted two teeth/fangs with thick and quick wheat colored yarn but I'm not sure I like how the came out all that much. The mouth itself was made by increasing stitches after wrapping it twice around my neck and figuring it was time. So I increased stitched until it looked wide enough for the fire to come through (which was around 14 stitches I think). Then when crocheting the next row, I only crocheted 6 stitches, then turned then crocheted another 6 stitches and I did that until it was long enough for the scarf to get through. Then I slip stitched down the middle side, slip stitched in the 7th and 8th stitch of that row and then singled stitched 6 stitches, turned, and repeated until it was approximately the same length as the other part. Then when it was the same length I just did one full row of color (14 stitches), 6 single stitches on each side and two chains in the middle.

Actually what I think would work even better, (because my mouth came out a bit too big and I had to stitch the two sides together at the top and bottom and also had to slip stitch around the mouth area), was if you didn't even skip any stitches, if you just single stitched 7, then turned and single stitched 7, and so on and so on, following the instructions above. I think that might look better and not end up as big as mine did. Though in my defense I was making this pattern up, and it WAS easy to fix.

The yellow scales around the mouth were just made by single stitching triangles with the base of 5 stitches, then fastening them off on top and starting a new triangle. I tried just single stitching down the side of a triangle after I was done with it, but then they weren't as sharp and I didn't want particularly rounded edges.

So there it is, my imagination brought to life! I hope you like it. I also really really hope he likes it!

Georges Dragon Hat! Now with Pattern!

Thats him wearing it. Haha. I whipped it up in an evening, after visiting home and noticing that he is OBSESSED with Dragons right now. You should have heard the disgust in his voice after I offered to make him a Thomas the Train Engine hat. Apparently that's soooo 2 years ago.

By the way this is my little brother George. He is 5 (turning 6 in December). I am 20 and turning 21 in February. Fifteen years is a pretty big difference but he's one of my best friends.

I am also making him a Dragon Scarf, which as soon as I am done I will post photos up of.

I crocheted it using a K/ 6.5 MM hook and Lions Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn. Then I just crocheted some triangles in the same yarn just in yellow and slip stitched them to the hat. It sort of looks like a mowhawk.


I've had some demand for the pattern so here it is, (this is from memory since I'm back at school now and my lil bro is in Boston):

I used the Lemon-Grass and Cilantro colors for the hat and the Citron for the spikes. If you don't want to alternate colors then just don't switch colors every round, if you do then do! It doesn't really make a difference in terms of the pattern. This hat is worked continuously in rounds.

Hat:

Chain 2

Rnd 1: Work 6 single crochet (sc) in 2nd chain from hook [6 sts]

Rnd 2: Work 2 sc in each st [12 sts]

Rnd 3: Work 1 sc in next st then 2 sc in st after that, repeat [18 sts]

Rnd 4: Sc in each of the next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [24 sts]

Rnd 5: Sc in each of the next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [30]

Rnd 6: Sc in each of the next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [36]

Rnd 7: Sc in each st around [36]

Rnd 8: Sc in each of the next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [42]

Rnd 9: Sc in each st around [42]

Rnd 10: Sc in each of the next 6 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [48]

Continuing rounds: You can keep increasing stitches until the hat is the circumference you want, and keep repeating rounds till its the length you want. I don't quite remember what my brother's hat was, I think I made it a bit bigger because I'm planning on lining it with fleece.

Fasten Off.

For the EarFlaps:

The Earflaps are done working back and forth in rows.

Rnd 1: Sc in next 9 stitches (increase stitches according to size of ears or the size you want the earflaps to be)

Rnd 2: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st and sc in next 8 stitches

Rnd 3: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st and sc in next 7 stitches

Rnd 4: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st and sc in next 6 stitches

Rnd 5: Ch 1, turn, Skip first st and sc in next 5 stitches

Rnd 6: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st and sc in next 4 stitches

Rnd 7: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st and sc in next 3 stitches

Rnd 8: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st and sc in next 2 stitches

Rnd 9: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, ad sc in last stitch. Fasten off.

Then skip as many stitches across the back of the hat as you need (depends on hat size). Then work the second ear flap same as the first.

I also like to choose a dark color and sc all around the hat and earflaps. I think it gives it a more finished effect.

For the Scales (scales or horns? I'm not sure):

I crocheted 5 triangles independently and then attached them with two slip stitch lines on either side, so that they would stand up. I'm sure there are other ways to do it, but this was fast and efficient.

My triangles had a base chain of 6, but it really depends on what size you want your scales/horns to be. Here is the patterns for my triangles:

Ch 6

Rnd 1: Sc in next 5 stitches

Rnd 2: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in next 4 stitches

Rnd 3: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in next 3 stitches

Continue repeating until only one stitch remains then fasten off.

Make 5 (or how many ever you want)

Then starting at the back of the hat, on one side of a scale/horn , slip stitch the scale/horn to the hat, then position another scale to line up with the previous scale, etc etc and keep slip stitching them to the hat until you are at the end, then slip stitch around the front of the last scale and slip stitch the other side of the scales to the hat. Then connect to the beginning slip stitch and Fasten off.

Weave in Ends.

This pattern is pretty accurate, message me if there are any problems. And keep and eye out for my dragon scarf!

Carlos's Hat

This is a hat I made for my friend Carlos following a modified version of Aarons Hat Trick #3. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn and size K hook. I also worked mainly in back loops to create the ridged effect which I think makes the stripes look more defined. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, it was my first striped ear flap hat! I'm just afraid that it will be a little tight on him, but I figure it will stretch out. Also it's machine washable so that's great!

Also since this hat was for a boy, I made it a bit longer and wider around. Usually my rule of thumb is to stop increasing stitches when you find your perfect width (trying it on helps) and then sc in every stitch around and around till you reach your perfect length. You could also try increasing sts one round and then doing one round even after that.

There is something wrong with my kidneys so I've been told to rest up and drink lots of fluids. You know what that means. Naps, CSI and crocheting. Hopefully I will finish my friend Roses Gloves this week and will have photos and a pattern up later.

Here is the pattern for Carlos's Hat:

Hat

Chain 2

Rnd 1: Work 6 single crochet (sc) in 2nd chain from hook [6 sts]

Work in back loops from here on

Rnd 2: Work 2 sc in each st [12 sts]

Rnd 3: Work 1 sc in next st then 2 sc in st after that, repeat [18 sts]

Rnd 4: Sc in each of the next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [24 sts]

Rnd 5: Sc in each of the next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [30]

Rnd 6: Sc in each of the next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [36]

Rnd 7: Sc in each st around [36]

Rnd 8: Sc in each of the next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [42]

Rnd 9: Sc in each st around [42]

Rnd 10: Sc in each of the next 6 sts, 2 sc in next st, repeat [48]

Rnd 11-19: Sc in each st around [48]

Fasten Off.

First Ear Flap:

The ear flaps are done working back and forth in rows. I switched off doing back and front loops on each row so that front of the ear flaps would be ridged.

Rnd 1: Sc in back loop of next 12 sts.

Rnd 2: Chain (ch) 1, turn. Skip first stitch, sc in front loops of each st [11 sts]

Rnd 3: Ch 1, turn. Skip first stitch, sc in back loops of each st [10]

Rnd 4: Ch 1 , turn. Skip first stitch, sc in front loops of each st [9]

Rnd 5: Ch 1, turn. Skip first stitch, sc in back loops of each st [8]

Rnd 4: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in front loops of each st [7]

Rnd 5: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in back loops of each st [6]

Rnd 6: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in front loops of each st [5]

Rnd 7: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in back loops of each st [4]

Rnd 8: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in front loops of each st [3]

Rnd 9: Ch 1, turn. Skip first st, sc in back loops of each st [2]

Keep repeating till only one stitch remains, then fasten off.

Second Ear Flap:

Skip 8 sts across the back of Hat. In next st, join yarn with slip st then follow the same pattern as for the first ear flap.

Front Flap:

Sc across the front of hat to the second ear flap, Ch 1, turn. Repeat the last row 9 times, alternating between stitching in front loops/ back loops. Fasten off.

Edging:

Join yarn in the front edge of an ear flap and then just sc around .

For the Ear Flap ties I just braided all the colors I used. But you can use any technique. You can braid, I've also done Monks Cords and so on.

That's my kitten playing with the braided tie of the hat. I will post more photos of his adorable face later