recent FOs

For Valentine's Day, I crocheted these fun hearts for my kids. You can get the pattern free from FreshStitches here. I made the medium size and added googly eyes to make them more fun. I hadn't planned on crocheting any toys for the kids but my son woke up late the night before and asked me if I had crocheted them new toys for Valentine's Day, he was pretty upset thinking that I didn't. He 100% made me feel guilty! Ha. So, I stayed up far too late crocheting these cuties.


I also finished up this hot water bottle cover, just in time for it to be of use! I used a free pattern that you can find here. I held three strands of Loops & Threads Woolike yarn together, the colors are charcoal, cool grey and beige. I love the fabric the three yarns created!


Thanks for stopping by :) Have a great day!

all the Christmas crochet...

Christmas is over! How was yours, I hope you all had a great holiday with your families. Ours was good, loud and fun, as it always is. I'm happy to be done with the chaos for another year though. I thought I would finally get a post up about what I crocheted this season, since I seem to have completely forgotten to get it done before!


I crocheted a fun Christmas Nelson Owl. I've been using a G hook for my amigurumi lately and I'm finding everything turns out so much more adorable! Maybe it's the tighter fabric or the smaller size of it but I love it, I think I may be sticking with the G hook from now on! This cutie stayed perched on our Christmas tree.



I loved the big owl so much that I decided I would make tiny Christmas Nel's for my kid's yearly ornaments. I finished crocheting all the pieces with plently of time to get them done before Christmas Eve when I give out the new ornaments every year, but I didn't actually sew them together until that day. I am a major procrastinator! I finished them with just enough time to get them wrapped up for the kids to open before we went out to look at Christmas lights. These are probably my favorite ornaments that I have ever given to the kids!


Another project I crocheted for Christmas is this adorable snowflake! It's a new FreshStitches pattern called Sally the Snowflake. I loved making this piece! She'll be up for the duration of winter, I love her so much!

That's all I have in pictures this year. I didn't crochet any gifts this year, I thought I would make toys for the kids but I never sat down to make real plans, so it never happene. I did knit a coffee cozy but forgot to get a picture of it. I really loved knitting it, so I'll probably knit a few more eventually! That's all I've got for today, I'll probably be back soon, probably before the new year, to share my December socks! I know I wasn't going to knit any this month, but the itch got the better of me!

Monster Tooth Fairy Pillow

My son has started loosing teeth, so far just one but he has another ready to come out soon! It's crazy to think he's gotten old enough for that, I supposed most parents feel that way about their kids, especially the youngest ones. He turned six last month... again, crazy!

With the first tooth, he used his sister's tooth fairy pillow but I wanted him to have one of his own. I planned on crocheting a pillow like his sisters have (here & here) but I wanted something a bit different for him. I decided to crochet a monster instead.


I am really happy with how he turned out! I was a bit worried in the beginning because he was looking a bit like cookie monster but after I added the horns and wings, he became his own monster!


I added yellow pointy teeth to the pocket to hold the lost tooth and money of course. I didn't write down the pattern as I crocheted him but I'm going to attempt it again, I think my girls might like a monster tooth fairy pillow also!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you all have a great weekend! Stop by and check out my shop on big cartel, It's Crochet. I'm just testing it out for a bit, so there are only five listings up right now. I do like how it looks better than etsy so far but there's a thing or two I need to figure out with it still. But, do check it out!

Christmas is coming!

Last year, I crocheted a snowman to send as a swap gift and I really wanted one for my own home but I never seemed to find time to crochet it. This year, I have one! I finished my own extra early and I'm so happy with him! The pattern is by FreshStitches, it's a build your own snowman pattern, so you can custom crochet him to your liking. It's a great pattern!


For his scarf, I thought it would be fun to knit it since I am much more comfortable with knitting now. I also knit the band around his top hat. All the yarn I used is Loops & Threads Impeccable, my go to for amigurumi! He stands at 11 inches with his top hat on.


I put up a listing for a Made to Order Snowman in my etsy shop, so I crocheted a toque to show as another option. I love a top hat on a snowman, so that's what I sewed onto mine!

Now that I have this cutie finished up, I am in a Christmas mood! All I want to crochet is Christmas fun! Too early??

recent customer orders & BIG weekend coupon code!

One of my recent orders wasn't a toy! I was a little hesitant to accept this one, just because I'm just so used to toy orders but the pattern is too adorable to pass up. It's called the Baylie Bear Cowl by the Velvet Acorn. There are so many gorgeous knit and crochet patterns to find there!


I crocheted this out of Loops & Threads Cozy Wool in the mushroom colorway, the yarn is incredibly soft and nice to work with. I decided to try out a crocheted button instead of sewing a wooden one to the cowl, it ended up cuter than I imagined!


Another order I finished up recently was for these two sweet dolls. I used the Daphne Doll pattern but modify it slightly for the dolls to wear dresses.



If you're interested in anything in my shop, this weekend is a good weekend to buy! I've decided to offer free shipping (to anywhere!) for this weekend! You just need to type in 'FREESHIP' when you get to the checkout! This code won't come around too often because of such high shipping costs, so take advantage!

That's all I've got for today, hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Halloween banners

I decided to crochet and try to sell a few Halloween banners, another way to help save up for surgery. I have a little update on that, I finally have a consultation date in November and then I can find out the surgery date. Thankfully the pain has subsided quite a bit, so I'm not feeling near as miserable as I was!

Anyway, I crocheted some pretty cute banners for Halloween. Each banner has it's own spooky cutie on it! The pattern for the bats is Igor the Tiny Bat by FreshStitches. For the ghost and spider, I constructed them pretty much like the bats, I think they both turned out adorable! The letters are a pattern by Jenny Brown.

They're all listed on my instagram page for purchase right now, as of this very moment, they are all still available. Later today, I will probably add them to the It's Crochet etsy shop. If you don't want to go through either of those ways to purchase, just send me an email (itscrochet@gmail.com)!







Thanks for stopping by today!

shop update

I finally did an update in my shop with some toys I had leftover after my Insta-Toy sale. It was kind of a bust, no one from instagram actually bought anything from the sale. I honestly prepared myself for that before I even set it up, I just wanted to try out something new! I had family members buy things from me though, my cousin actually picked up 3 toys! I love that I've got family members wanting to give handmade toys now. These are the toys I have in the shop now, you can click each picture and it will take you to product page!

I have 2 of these available!



I have been working on some new ideas for toys and other things to try adding to the shop soon! Once my kids are back in school, I'm hoping to update the shop with something new every week.

Insta-Toy Sale!

I meant to pop in to share this a lot sooner than now. I'm moving next month and I want to clear out my in stock toys, send them off to new loving homes. I'm also planning on doing some new crochet, I have had an idea but I haven't gotten to it because of crocheting these toys all the time. After these cuties are gone, I will be crocheting them less often. So, if you've been wanting one of my cuties, be sure to check out the sale.

I'm holding it on my new instagram account @itscrochetshop tomorrow at 5:00pm CST. Be sure to follow the account so you don't miss it! You can also share that image and get a chance to win a toy of your choice!

Thanks for reading, I hope to "see" you guys over on instagram!

still crocheting!

I've really fallen in love with knitting lately and have been doing a lot of it lately but I am still crocheting! It's so satisfying to finish a toy, I don't think I'll ever get over my love of crocheting toys. I also still love crocheting the FreshStitches toys, they're always adorable! I thought I'd share some of my more recent finished toys using FreshStitches patterns.


I crocheted this dinosaur as a test for Stacey. It was so fun to crochet him, I especially love those buggy eyes! I took him with me to my craft sale, he didn't sell but my son was more than happy about that, he chose him as soon as I was home. You can get the pattern for Spikey the Stegosaurus here.


After my sale, I had a few custom orders to fill. This dragon was one of them. This pattern is a lot of fun, it was another that I tested for Stacey a couple years ago now. There are a lot of different dragons you can end up with using this pattern. You can get the Dragon pattern here.


This is the most recent toy that I've crocheted. Nelson the Owl was the first FreshStitches pattern that I ever crocheted, I still love it today! I made this owl for my cousin's newest baby, I was told that she was hoping I would make one for her, so of course I had to! I crocheted her a blue owl a couple years ago when she had her first baby. I'm excited to get this to her and meet that baby this weekend!

Have you crocheted any of the FreshStitches designs? Which are your favorites?

hello!

Well, I really can't believe I let two months go by without posting here! I'm not sure I'm going to get much better about posting too soon, summer holidays are coming up fast (3 weeks!) and I have a lot of family trips I want to do. I don't want to stop blogging at all, it's going to be sporadic for a little while though, hopefully you'll stick with me! I post a lot on instagram still, follow me there if you don't already, my username is @caseyplusthree. Here's some things I've been up to lately.


I'm still loving socks, I started a pair of stitch surfers! I've been moving super slow because of some crcoheting that I have to get done but I still love these and hopefully I will have a pair before the end of the month. I'm using a kit from Must Stash yarn in the Elsa & Anna colors, the yarn is so great to knit with.


I'm doing my second local sale on June 21st, so I've been crocheting toys for that! This time, I'm sticking to having just toys on my table plus a few baby blankets. I'm really nervous about this upcoming sale, it's supposed to be much larger than my first sale. These are just a few of the toys, I have 26 finished right now, I'm not sure exactly how many I need, I'm just not sure what people are going to want to see or buy. Hopefully I sell a few things!

I hope everyone is having a great day and that you're having nice weather. Be back soon!

killer whale

My daughter recently became really interested in killer whales, she spent most of a weekend looking at pictures and finding out facts about them. She said that having a killer whale toy would be really cool, so of course I crocheted one for her!


It's not a big toy, it's 4" tall and 6.5" long. It is a good size for her to just carry in her hands, I would like to eventually make a much bigger one like this killer whale. I didn't follow a pattern for this one but there is a free pattern for one similiar to what I crocheted here.


I think this killer whale turned out pretty adorable! I love to crochet things for my kids that they really want!

happy weekend!

This weekend, I plan on finishing up my lacy hexagon blanket. I've joined all the hexagons into what I think will be the finished size, I'm having a hard time just making a decision! It will be finished this weekend though.


I had planned on doing a craft show at the end of this month, so I was crocheting new toys, some still aren't finished. I ended up having to back out, so there are new toys up in the shop! They feel very spring like to me! You can find my shop here.


Hope you all have a great weekend!

latest happenings

Happy March! At the beginning of every month I wonder how it's gotten here so quickly, days fly by so quickly now that I'm older. I swear they didn't move this fast ten years ago! Anyway, I've got a bunch of random things to share today. Hope you're having a nice weekend!


After I crocheted the first flower doll, my daughter wanted me to make another so she could give it as a birthday present this weekend. I used different shades of green and pink with this one, I think she turned out as cute as the first. I think it's really awesome that my kids want to give my toys as gifts to their friends, it makes me so happy!


Speaking of birthday presents, my mom's birthday was this week and I crocheted her a pair of fingerless Tardis gloves. She's a Doctor Who fan, so I thought she'd like them. The pattern makes a much longer pair than what I made, I left out a few rows.


I had a really great mail day this week! I bought myself a sock bag from Chubby Cloud, the fabric was just too cute to pass up! Both sides are so cute. I also bought a little triangle bag, I'm planning on using it more in the summer for quick trips to the park with the kids, I don't always want to lug a big bag with me.


I also bought some yarn from SpunRightRound after Amanda posted a link in the My Sister's Knitter KAL/CAL group on ravelry. I couldn't resist it, it was screaming at me to buy it! The colorway is called Graffiti, I can't wait to knit up another pair of socks with this yarn!


And speaking of socks, I finished my first pair!! They are not even close to perfect but I love them and don't care! I'll share a big post next week with links to everything I used to make these. After knitting this pair, I really feel like I could be on the verge of sock knitting addiction. A slow moving sock knitting addiction but that's okay! Maybe by the end of the year I can have a few pairs knit.

little flower doll

This is the custom order I was crocheting over the weekend. It's a little flower girl. I searched for patterns and I did find one but I wasn't really happy with its look, so I decided to crochet her on my own. She stands at about 13" tall, that's to the top of her petals, so she's a decent size.


I gave her some girly eyelashes that I just love! And she's sporting adorable pigtail braids. This was a fun doll to crochet, I'm so happy with how she turned out.

this crafty weekend

My first sock is off the needles! I'm so happy with it, small mistakes and all! It felt like it took so long to finish just one sock, it look a little over 2 weeks but I got sidetracked by custom orders, so I don't expect the second to take as long. I hope not anyway, I really want to be wearing these socks soon! I hope to be casting on the second sock today!

Now that I know I can knit socks, I've been eyeing up lots of sock yarns. Not that I wasn't before but now I have an actual reason to buy some of it! I just treated myself to a skein of Spun Right Round yarn, I can't wait to get this amazingness in my hands!


Before I cast on my second sock, I have an order to fill using those colors up there. I'm pretty excited to see this one come together, I started last night and already it's adorable! I'll be sharing what is is next week.

Have a great weekend!

crocheting doubles

I have been crocheting some doubles of previous projects this week!


Turns out the Backson is a really popular character! I finished up my second Backson for a customer recently and as soon as I finished, another order came in, so I'm working on a third. I did write out the pattern while I made the first Backson but I somehow didn't write out the pattern for his head. It wasn't too hard to figure out luckily, I think I got it looking the same. I remembered to write it out this time though, so this third guy shouldn't take too long.


My sister had a birthday this week and she gave me a small list of things she'd want me to make for her. I decided to crochet another big hanging owl for her, she has mentioned more than once that she likes mine, so I decided to finally make one for her. The pattern for this owl is called Macramé Style Hanging Owl. To make it bigger, I used the Navajo plying method.

dead fish cat toy

A few months ago, we got a kitten to add to our family. We named him George, he's an adorable almost five month old orange kitty with a crap ton of energy! He tires us out long before he tires out. I call him our gentle, vicious kitty, he never claws but he will rip you up with his teeth. We love him though.


I decided I should make George a toy, so I made him one with a rattle and catnip inside. I found this cute Skelly Fish toy but since I don't have the book, I just crocheted him from looking at the picture. I think it turned out super cute!


I'm planning on crocheting more for George in the future. I started working on this Nest pattern using a few colors of yarn held together. I will probably be starting over though, I'm not loving how it's looking right now. He needs a bed soon though, he finally trashed the box he's been sleeping in since he came home. He still loves sleeping in it but it's not nice to look at!

I hope you're all having a great Tuesday!

first amigurumi & custom order of 2014

I finished my first amigurumi and first custom order of the year this week! The request was for a pink cat. I searched through patterns and thought I had found a few I might use but I ended up making it up as I went. I'm really happy with how the cat turned out. I really like crocheting as I go without patterns now, it's fun to see an idea come to life!

If you're interested in ordering any custom toys, you can send me a message through my etsy shop, It's Crochet. Most of the orders I get are for custom toys, I definitely don't mind, I've gotten some really fun orders! At some point, I hope to have a portfolio page up too, I get questions all the time about what kind of toys I have made in the past, it would be nice to have a page to send them to.

Hope you're having a great Saturday!

sleepy owl sleepover

My oldest daughter turned nine on Friday and we decided to let her have her first sleepover party this year. I knew we would be letting her have this party for quite some time, so I had been browsing pinterest for months looking for fun ideas for the party. We decided to have a Sleepy Owl Slumber party.


The invitations were really fun to make. I found a sleep mask template and used Gimp to make a fun invite. I printed them out and backed them with cute scrapbook paper, I sandwiched ribbon between to make a tie for the sleep mask. We then added some eyes, ears and a beak. I loved how they turned out! I tied the ribbon before sending them out.


And of course, I had to do some type of crochet for the party. Since it was sleepy owl themed, I thought some little sleepy owls would be a cute favor for the girls. I used Nel the Tiny Owl to make them. I made them in all the girls favorite colors, so no one would be disappointed. The girls were all happy with them, nine year olds give awesome compliments!


I managed to get everything ready with a few hours to spare before the party. My daughter had a really great time. I'm glad I braved her first sleepover for her.

My second daughter turned seven on Sunday, we had a family party for her that day. We're hosting an art party with her friends next weekend, she wants to do Christmas crafts, so it should be lots of fun! I think I might whip up a small crochet ornament as favors for that party. I'll be sharing that next week along with the fun invitations I made for her.