My Pattern Experience: Roll Up Armadillo Crochet Pattern

Hello all!  

Welcome to another edition of My Pattern Experience - where I write about a pattern that someone else designed and I tried it out.  I always try to be completely honest about the pattern and how it worked up.  

This week, I'm writing about a totally adorable amigurumi.  My daughter has always been obsessed with small animals.  Especially of the stuffie variety.  I decided to make her this little armadillo because I thought she would love the way it rolled up.

The pattern is Roll Up Armadillo by Kati Galusz

To make this adorable little guy, I used Red Heart Super Soft in wine as well as Red Heart Super Soft in Cream.  Let me start by saying that I am not an expert in amigurumi.  I have made a few pieces, but nothing too crazy - and this guy was surprisingly easy!  The body works up very quickly, and the shell even quicker.  I think the only part that gave me a little difficulty was the feet, but even that wasn't too hard.  I sewed on the eyes using embroidery thread to give it a little bit of texture and a nice blue pop.  The most magical part of this pattern is after you get it all completed and can roll it up!  It's amazing that the simple shell can do that!

  

Overall, this was a great pattern.  I think it would be great for an advanced beginner or intermediate crocheter to give a try!

~L

My Pattern Experience: Sponge

I love making bath items for my friends and family.  I know for myself, I don't ever go and buy myself nice washclothes or scrubbies unless I'm on a whim.  When I make bath items I use great cottons like the I Love This Yarn cotton and they're silky soft!

I made this sponge and it worked up really easily and was super cute.  I made mine in lime and blue and stitched it so the green showed through on the solid blue side.  I highly recommend using this pattern to make your own sponges, for use dishwashing, cleaning your house, body and more!  Just throw them in the washing machine and they'll be good as new for the next washing!

Find the pattern for the Sponge here!

My Pattern Experience Raspberry Buttercream Scarf {Crochet Pattern Review}

My Pattern Experience: Raspberry Buttercream Scarf

I made this scarf as something quick to add to my Christmas gift stash, and it really worked up quickly and easily.  The variegated yarn adds a nice bit of color throughout and the lacy pattern is very nice.  It's a very simple and easy pattern to pick up, and since you only have to remember the repeat for one row, it is a good pattern for beginners or for taking on the go.  My only complaint is that the website takes a bit of time to load, but once you're there you are good to go.  You should definitely try out this nice pattern!

Find the Raspberry Buttercream Scarf Pattern here!

My Pattern Experience: Scalloped Wristlets {Crochet Pattern Review}

My Pattern Experience: Scalloped Wristlets

I have to say, I LOVE this pattern.  These are so cute, and so simple to make, and even vary!  I bet I made at least 4 pairs of them last year for Christmas and made them in an array of colors and styles.  I found that they look totally different when done in two tones or plain.  It is a super simple pattern to make, and can be made in one piece.  They also work up very quickly, I can whip up a pair in about an hour.  I highly recommend this pattern!!!

Find the pattern for Scalloped Wristlets Here!

My Pattern Experience: Racing Arrows Hat [crochet pattern review}

For Christmas this past year, I decided to make a set of 6 hats that would all go together yet each one be unique and different. It was because of this that I found this Racing Arrows Hat on Ravelry. This was the perfect hat to tie in to the set and I loved working the pattern up.  It was fairly easy to do if you are familiar with working the front post dc (fpdc), and the color patterning is very visually striking so people are always wondering "how long did it take you to make that!?!"  I have plans to make many more of these hats!
Overall, an easy to work fun hat with great detail!

My Pattern Experience: December 7 Snowflake

My Pattern Experience: December 7 Snowflake

I am gonna be completely honest here.  I don't really remember the actual making of this particular snowflake.  Which means it probably went well with no real issues.  I love the angles involved in it and I wish that I had blocked it a little bit better.  I do remember for blocking, since I knew these would be tree decorations and not used for tables or general use, I blocked them in this manner.  First I washed and soaked them in warm water, then pinned them to my blocking mat.  After they were dry, and while they were still pinned, I brushed them with a solution of white glue and glitter (for a little sparkle).  Then I let this dry and unpinned them, flipped them over and gave them the same glue and glitter treatment on the other side.   I have a dream of having my tree completely covered in these - all different kinds of snowflakes!  You can find the pattern here:  December 7 Snowflake

Have you worked this pattern?  Have you made snowflakes before?  Leave me a comment below!

My Pattern Experience: Bohemian Shawl

My Pattern Experience: Bohemian Shawl

I made this shawl in about three days, near the end of fall getting ready for winter wear.  I love it!  I get a million complements on it, no matter which way I wear it.  I used just one color instead of a variegated yarn to bring out the pattern and love wearing it with a greatly contrasting shirt underneath.  The pattern is really easy, and when I made it, I learned a technique new to me- a single crochet foundation row.  I love this technique now and often not only use it, but also double crochet foundation rows to start large pieces.

After you get the first five rows worked, it's just three rounds repeating which decreases as you go, which means that it gets easier as you go along.  When you're done, you just work the edging and you have this beautiful shawl to show for it!  

I used a larger hook, I think it was an "I", and I used Caron Simply Soft and love the way the shawl drapes.  The other great thing about this pattern is that you can wear it in many different ways and it is quite warm.

My Pattern Experience: Bernat Diamonds and Tweed Blanket

My Pattern Experience: Bernat Diamonds and Tweed Blanket

This was one of my first large crochet projects.  I started it YEARS ago.  Literally YEARS.  I enjoyed the pattern of the blocks because it was unique yet easy.  I remember getting through a large chunk of the squares and then putting it aside.  When I picked it back up, I finished the squares but never seamed them.  Then, about a year ago, I started seaming but I chose to be lazy and try and cover up a bunch of ends with my seaming.  It didn't work so well, so I ended up setting it aside. I pulled it back out when I was going through all of my WIPs that I had thrown off to the side, knowing that if I could just buck up and finish it, that I would have a complete blanket with minimal effort.  I ripped out all the seams, sewed in every end, and reseamed it.  I still don't like how the seams turned out, and if I were to start it all over, I know that I would be able to do it better this time around with many more years of experience under my belt.  I gave it away though, got it out of my house and hopefully the recipient likes it, because I don't want it back in my house!!  Pretty pattern, but so glad to be done with it! :)

My Pattern Experience: Yes Yes Shawl Crochet Pattern Review

My Pattern Experience: Yes Yes Shawl by Vickie Howell

I had originally made this shawl for one person and then changed my mind and gave it to another at the last minute.  I regret not having taken a picture of it, it really works up beautifully!

The pattern is just 13 rows, which means that it works up pretty quickly, and I opted to use a larger hook- I think I used an I or a J rather than the G that the pattern called for.  I used Caron Simply Soft yarn, which I frequently use for crochet shawls because sometimes they don't have a very good drape with other similarly weighted yarns but the simply soft just has a gorgeous drape, especially when you go up a hook size or two.  My only complaint on the pattern is that it's a little on the smallish side, which means that there isn't much versatility in how many different ways that you can wear it.

Regardless, it's a beautiful shawl and I do have plans to make at least one more... if only for myself!

My Pattern Experience: The Vortex Hat {knit pattern review}

When I do my Christmas crafting, sometimes I know exactly what to make someone and other times it takes a sudden hit of inspiration to get there.  Last summer when I went to Stitches Midwest, I picked up a pattern for The Vortex Hat from the Halos of Hope booth.  You can download the pattern free on Ravelry.  I didn't do anything with it at the time, just added it to my "someday-to-try" pattern pile.  When I needed some inspiration for the holidays, I flipped through it and saw this hat.  Instantly I knew it would be perfect for my brother in law.  I had a great shade of grey, so I went straight to work.

Let me just say, this hat works up super fast!  I've only ever knitted up a handful of hats (I usually crochet them) but this hat was very easy to do and a delight to see the pattern show up before your eyes!  I was able to finish this hat in just a couple short hours of knitting and the results were great!  It's a nice stretchy hat, and fit every head that I put into it.  This will definitely be a hat I do again!

My Pattern Experience: Hermione the Unicorn {crochet pattern review}

My daughter is just crazy for small animals.  I knew from the moment that I decided to make her something that I would make her an animal for Christmas.  I looked through a lot of patterns, because I didn't have the motivation to make a new pattern myself and I found a pattern for Hermione the Unicorn.

As part of a new series for the blog, "My Pattern Experience", I decided to write a review on this pattern.  It was very easy to work up, and I had it completed in a short three days.  I made a few small changes, using different colors, a different set of eyes, and then I modified the hairline, removing the ruffle around the hair and the tail.  I used a grouping of one strand of white eyelash yarn, one pink sparkly yarn, and one variant eyelash yarn in varying shades of pink.  I expanded the hairline too because I wanted the head to be fuller of hair.  I kept the ruffle around the neck as well.  I was super happy with the result and so was my daughter!  She has named the unicorn Claire.

If you want an adorable and easy amigurumi, go for this one.  You'll learn a few new techniques, and you'll have fun and feel rewarded when you finish it!