An oldie but timely! Make this snowman ornament from the Roxycraft.com free pattern vault. Check out Tamie's website for more free ornament patterns. Link
Materials:
TLC Essentials Yarn in colors:
Winter White
Black
Scrap yarn in black, orange, red and green
Size 5.0mm crochet hook
12mm black doll eyes
Polyester stuffing material
Embroidery Needle
Finished Size:
Approx:
4.5” from top of hat to chin
Abbreviations Used:
ch-chain
sc-single crochet
mm-move stitch marker
sc2tog-decrease single crochet two stitches together
Directions:
Head:
With Winter White
R1-Ch2, 6sc in 1st chain, mm
R2-2sc in each sc around (12scs) mm
R3-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next, repeat from * around, mm
R4-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 2sc, repeat from * around, mm
R5-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 3sc, repeat from * around, mm
R6-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 4sc, repeat from * around, mm
R7 thru 13-sc in each sc around, mm
R14-*sc2tog, 1sc in next 4sc, repeat from * around, mm
R15-*sc2tog, 1sc in next 3sc, repeat from * around, mm
R12-*sc2tog, 1sc in next 2sc, repeat from * around, mm
R13-*sc2tog, 1sc in next sc, repeat from * around, mm
Stuff and attach eyes half way down the face, set wide.
R14-sc2tog around, mm
FO
With Scrap of Orange
Stitch on a triangle shaped nose
With Scrap of Black
Stitch on a gappy grin, reminiscent of a coal smile
Top Hat:
With Black
R1-Ch2, 6sc in 1st chain, mm
R2-2sc in each sc around (12scs) mm
R3-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next, repeat from * around, mm
R4-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 2sc, repeat from * around, mm
R5-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 3sc, repeat from * around, mm
R6-Work in Back loops this round only-sc in each stitch around, mm
R7 thru 15-sc in each stitch around, mm
R16-Work in Back loops this round only-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 4sc, repeat from * around, mm
R17-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 5sc, repeat from * around, mm
R18-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 6sc, repeat from * around, mm
R19-*2sc in first sc, 1sc in next 7sc, repeat from * around, mm
FO
Weave in ends
Embellishment for hat: (optional)
With 2’ scraps of green and red yarn, create a two strand friendship knotted chain.
How to make friendship knots:
http://parentingteens.about.com/od/activitiesorteens/ss/friendship1_2.htm
Alternate red knots and green knots until you have a long cord.
Wrap the cord around the base of hat and up through hat to make a ornament hanger.
Stuff hat and stitch to head
I like to tilt the hat a bit to give him some flair
Merry Christmas!
I know, last week it was dogs. In order to be fair, this week it's cats. I love 'em both. A long time ago when I started making things for Etsy, I designed these sushi catnip sets. They're fun. They're frisky. They're laced with drool-inducing catnip. Don't forget to make the dollop of wasabi, too. Cats are picky like that.
Don't worry about the chopsticks. They don't have thumbs. Happy Thursday!
This month our featured Gues Artist is the incomprable Nicole Vasbinder of Queen Puff Puff and StitchCraft fame.
Nicole Vasbinder is the owner of StitchCraft, a hip sewing and craft studio in Petaluma, CA. Nicole has many years of teaching experience and was a longtime teacher at Stitch Lounge in San Francisco and continues to teach at Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley. She has designed the accessory line Queen Puff Puff since 2003 and sells her designs throughout the United States and beyond. Prior to starting her own company, she worked as a designer and merchandiser in the garment industry. She is an alumnus of the Academy of Art University and Otis College of Art & Design and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Craft Stylish, Adorn, JoAnn Magazine, CROQ Zine, Venus Zine and Craft.
1: What do you do when you're not working? I think I am always working! If I'm not actually sewing then I'm planning projects or surfing the web looking at crafty blogs and websites.
2: What inspires you? I am very into the the late 50s/early 60s aesthetic. I love the clean lines and bold colors. I am very inspired by everyone in the indie craft scene. It's a very exciting time!
3: When you were 6, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a fashion designer! I used to make little catalogs with fabric swatches and style numbers and put on fashion shows with my Barbies.
4: What do you want to be when you grow up now? A lady who lunches. Seriously though, I am really doing exactly what I want to do. I feel so incredibly fortunate to be able to support myself with crafts.
5: What's your favorite song? I don't know if I have a fav song but I love Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, the Go Go's, the Beach Boys, Blondie, the Smiths and Depeche Mode.
6: And what's one wierd habit you have? I still sleep with my baby blanket. It's just a rag at this point but I'll never give it up. My family is appalled by it.
7: Where are you on an average Tuesday night at 9pm? Teaching at Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley.
8: What's your greatest phobia? Snakes! Oh, how I hate snakes. Me and Indiana Jones, we have that bond.
Nicole has designed a fabulous free pattern for you guys to enjoy this week called "Shoes, Glorius Shoes". Anyone with even a remote love for shoes will flip for this free pattern with 4 different shoe designs!
Nicole has a bunch of craft fairs she is participating in that are super cool:
Capsule in San Francisco's Hayes Valley On Sunday, 10/19
Felt Club at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday, 11/16
Vintage Holiday Boutique in Petaluma on Saturday 11/22
Sonoma Artisan Faire in Sonoma on Sunday 11/23
Bazaar Bizaare in San Francisco's Goolden Gate Park on Sunday 11/30
Make sure you come out to see her this Fall at one of her shows, she has great special items that you can only get your hands on there!
Thank you so much Nicole for being our featured artist this month and giving us your fantastic design. We love it and we're sure everyone reading this will be head over heels (get it) for it too.
Interested in being or want to nominate someone to be our Featured Artist in the future? Email us and tell us about yourself/them.
It's my job as a Pimp Stitcher to search the web and find a fabulous free pattern to share here on the blog every Friday! I have a whole archive already saved in my favorites, but I also like to do the normal google and yahoo searches too, just for fun. Today I thought I would do something different and search flickr for free patterns. I found a whole bunch of fabulous finished products that took me in all different directions, but I was most excited about this group! It's called Hoop Love. You have to join the group to be able to see the images, but it is a collection of vintage embroidery patterns posted by group members. It's a great place to see everything from vintage kittens and veggies to the very simple flowery embelishments of long ago! I hope you have a flickr account and will consider joining this group and maybe adding some scans from your own vintage pattern collection. I know I'll be adding some of mine later this week :) If you don't have a flickr account, read on... I'm sure you'll be convinced you need one by the end!
I LOVE flickr. Here's a little bit of information about flickr taken from this post on Wikipedia:
"Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community platform. It was one of the earliest Web 2.0 applications. In addition to being a popular Web site for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers as a photo repository.[1] Its popularity has been fueled by its organization tools, which allow photos to be tagged and browsed by folksonomic means.[citation needed] As of November 2007[update], it claims to host more than 2 billion images."
In addition to being a favorite image hosting site, it's also a great place for us, as bloggers and crafters (of ALL kinds) to connect like stitchers are doing in the Hoop Love group. Pimp Stitch also has a flickr group where our readers are invited to post and share their pictures of finished projects as well as share pictures related to the topics we post here. It's so exciting for us to see stitchers post pictures of their finished works, and projects! You don't even have to have a flickr account (which is free by the way) to view the pictures, so be sure to at least check it out even if you don't have something to add... (yet :).
Yay FLICKR!!
One of the great things about blog-land is that we all get to know each other by linking back and forth! Some blogs become really well known because EVERYONE links back to them because they are just so fabulous. Wee Wonderfuls is one of these blogs. You'd be hard pressed to find a blogger that doesn't already know what cuteness you can find at Hillary's blog! This is a fabulous blog that is well written, full of creative goodness, has great pictures, and FREE PATTERNS (as well as a few others that you can purchase :)
So I thought I would post a link back to Hillary's adorable elf pattern, just in case there is someone that doesn't already know about the lovely Wee Wonderfuls. Even if you know the blog, you may not know about this adorable pattern that is available for free download. And it's perfect timing too, since you may want to start your holiday stitching now!
Please note: This picture is taken from the Wee Wonderfuls blog and is only intended to entice you to go there :) Please click here to go directly to the blog for all kinds of cuteness, holiday and other wise :)
This month our Guest Artist is Krissi Sandvik of Krissi's Stitchery and the creator of Skelekitty!
Krissi was raised by a pack of wild attorneys and a large console color television in the SF Bay Area of the 1970s and 80s. She was subjected to a liberal arts education as the Reagan years petered out, including a semester at Oxford University and two summer internships as Geppetto's assistant in the family workshop/shed.
In 1988, Krissi moved to San Francisco's Mission District where she masqueraded as a conservative legal secretary during the day and consumed copious amounts of sangria in the evenings. Following what she claims to have been a neuron misfire in 1998, she found herself in the Sacramento suburbs, caring for a plethora of rescued animals and breaking every rule she learned in sewing classes.
Krissi spends her days creating art quilts and what she calls "altared" clothing & "mixed-media Mexiphemera." She is most certainly best known as the creator of her character, Skelekitty, whose popularity grows rapidly in spite of Krissi's constant look of shock and awe.
Her daily blog, Krissi's Stitchery features tips, stories, tutorials & reviews for artists, crafters and collectors alike. She also formed and runs "Scary CRAFT," a group dedicated to sharing indie crafty knowledge, with her friend and partner in crafty crime, Yoli of Sacred Snatch Designs.
Krissi answered some of burning Pimp Stitch questions and I know you are all dying to know what she had to say...
1: What do you do when you're not (doing your day job)? Since my hobbies have become my 'day job' (yay!) what little time I have left over I spend blogging, caring for a menagerie of rescued animals including two macaws, three cats, a King snake and a California Gopher tortoise. I was also somewhat surprised to discover that I enjoy lifting heavy stuff, and do so regularly at Body Tribe in Sacramento.
2: What inspires you? Diffusing the power of negative thoughts and actions with laughter. There is so much intolerance and fear in the world that it is almost easy to let it consume and destroy you. Rather than allow those destructive people and beliefs to "win," I am inspired to find the humor in each situation and create art reflecting my point of view, in the hopes that others will laugh too.
3: When you were 6, what did you want to be when you grew up? Either a ballerina or a lawyer. I'm not sure which is funnier.
4: What do you want to be when you grow up now? I haven't decided if I'm going to grow up just yet.
5: What's your favorite song? I really love a variety of musicians and bands, so it's impossible to give one difinitive answer. However, for the sake of the interview, I'll say it would probably be a tie between Jimi Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower and Walking After Midnight by Patsy Cline. Of course, there's also my almost-secret love of the Bay City Rollers....
6: And what's one wierd habit you have? I habitually replace "and" and "of" with 'n' and o' (because it's tons o' fun 'n' stuff).
7: Where are you on an average Tuesday night at 9pm? On the fourth Tuesday of every month, I'd be packing up after "Night of the Crafters," a public craft night in Sacramento hosted by Scary CRAFT and Side Show Studios. The other Tuesdays you'd find me at home with Ron - my hubby, maybe watching Eureka on Sci Fi, or staring at the mess in my art & sewing studio. 8: What's your greatest phobia? Would you believe me if I said, "success?" ahem... Success.
Rubber stamps featuring Skelekitty are at the engravers and will be available this fall through Stampa Fe Art Rubber Stamps! Ron, Skelekitty and I are thrilled, and are planning a line of Skelekitty tee shirts and other items soon.
She has created this awesome free pattern for you guys called "The Cupcake of Guadalupe".
Thank you so much Krissi for all your hard work designing this for us and letting us pick your brilliant brain!
Make sure you bookmark all of Krissi's sites and if you live near Sacramento be sure to hit a Scary CRAFT "Night of the Crafters" for good craftalicious time!
We have great Guest Artists lined up through the end of the year...but we're always looking for more! Nomintate someone to be a Guest Artist on the Pimp Stitch Blog.
WOW! I was surfing the web this week and I found a fabulous blog that is so beautifully organized! It is Needlecrafter.com written by Andrea English. There's lots of fun and witty content, cute thrift store finds, and a great sense of humor. And guess what else? almost ONE HUNDRED free patterns!? I know... I was stoked too! So hurry on over to Neddlecrafter.com and go here to check out the free pattern section for yourself! Be sure to leave Andrea a comment thanking her, and tell her we sent you! :)
Here is a sample of just a FEW of the images that Andrea offers for free on her blog :)
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