Current Projects

The Ariel-esque mermaid tail is finished! It turned out pretty close to what her tail would probably look like with the sun shining on it through the water. It has already arrived at it's destination and the customer and the recipient of the gift are both pleased with it. It makes me happy when people are satisfied with their purchase and my work. It fuels my love for crochet.

I love this pattern and Country Loom yarn. There are a few colours I wish I could buy and have in my yarn collection, but alas, yarn is too expensive to purchase and just to have it lay around. I already have too much just sitting around, waiting for the right projects to pop up.

My husband's birthday was at the beginning of November. He said I didn't need to get him a gift, so I didn't. I made him one instead. He did not have a toque for winter so I quickly whipped one up with the yarn I had sitting around. I'm not sure how warm it is as the weather is still fairly nice for Canada in December.

I have made another a Paw Patrol hat for a mother for her son for Christmas. It took me only a couple days to make.

These slipper boots by MJ's Off the Hook Designs work up so quickly. I made a pair for a mother who had been in the hospital with her 3-month-old baby and I thought she would appreciate a bit of comfort during their stay, but by the time I finished them, she was back home. I have also made another pair as a Christmas gift for someone. I do not have a photo of the ones I have made but I will get one up as soon as possible.

I have been asked to make three more mermaid blankets and one shark blanket. The shark blanket is also written by MJ's Off the Hook Designs. I haven't made one yet, but judging from her other projects which I have tried, it should be pretty easy to follow and figure out. The mermaid tails will be purple, dark purple, and turquoise. The shark will either be grey or dark blue, depending on if I can find the right colours in the right brand of yarn.

In between commissions, I've been working on my retro circle squares for the blanket I hope to piece together. The yarn will be Loops&Threads Impeccable in colours Pumpkin and Teal with an off white border. I would like to make it large enough to fit a double size bed or a couch throw. Perhaps I'll put it up for sale when it's finished.

That's it for current projects. What are you working on?

~Em

Yarn, Yarn, Yarn

I love yarn. I could spend hours upon hours in the yarn section at Michaels, dreaming up projects and ogling the beautiful colours, shades, and combinations. Sales and coupons are the bane of my existence as a crafter. I used to pick up a new colour every time I would go. As a result, I have several balls of yarn just sitting around, waiting for me to pick them up and make something from the long strings.

Adele, the author of 3 Beans in a Pod provided links to some sites where she purchases her yarn. I have just spent a good 45 minutes perusing the stock and wishing I won the lottery and could buy the site out of stock. I am not sure if the price is comparable with Michaels prices (with use of a coupon), but I will be looking into it more and considering purchasing yarn from Deramores for my next baby blanket project. The site has more colour and style options than Michaels does. Plus, I could just order the yarn and have it shipped straight to my house! No more bundling up my baby and carting him around to the craft store. A dream come true.

Now you know one of my obsessions. What is one of yours?

~Em

Mermaid Tail Blanket

I finished the mermaid blanket for my niece last Sunday. The pattern written by MJ's Off the Hook Designs was easy to follow and quick to crochet. It took me a few days to fully complete the blanket, but if I had worked on it continuously, the blanket would have been finished in a single day. The yarn - Loops&Threads Country Loom - for the tail is so soft and thick making it a warm blanket. I made the children's size and I fit into it so my niece will fit it for quite a few years down the road.

I posted my photo to Instagram and Facebook and I received a commission off of it. We're going with Ariel-esque colours. The customer asked that the fin be sparkly if possible. I'm still looking for a sparkly green that will go well with the tail colour. I may have found one, but the Michaels I was shopping at was out of Country Loom Solarium tail colour.

I need to pick up a few more balls of Solarium to finish the tail so when I go pick it up, I will compare the two and find the best match.

I also want to make a blanket like the one found here at 3 Beans In a Pod. I love the colours she uses in the blanket pictured in the tutorial and this one. Grey is a favourite colour of mine. After perusing the website further, I discovered she is the author of the same blog I followed to find the pattern when I made my harlequin blanket. Her colours were what drew me to the pattern. (The original pattern can be found on this website.) I'm looking forward to browsing this blog further as she seems to have many beautiful patterns.

That's it for now. Hope you all are having a fantastic Monday.

~Em

Paw Patrol Hats Completed

I finished the hats for my sister's children last week. Here are the finished products.

My next project is not a commission work. I found a pattern for a mermaid tail lapghan and know my niece would love her own so I decided to make her one for Christmas. The pattern can be found on here at MJ's Off the Hook Designs. I will be using Loops & Threads Country Loom Kiss Me for the leg portion and Loops & Threads Impeccable Cherry for the fin. 

~Em

Paw Patrol Hats

"No job is too big, no pup is too small!"

My niece and two nephews are in love with the Paw Patrol show. They talk about it often. My sister asked me if I would crochet each of them a paw patrol hat for the cool autumn weather and I said if she could find a pattern, I would give it a shot. She found this pattern by Briana K Crochet.

I am making a pink one for my niece, and a blue and a red hat for the boys. I still need to pick up the red yarn as it was the only one not currently on sale at Michaels. One hat takes about an hour and a half to work up. In the photo on Pinterest, it shows felt paw "badges" on the hats which I will attempt to make. That part might be the trickiest as they would need to be sewn on. I enjoy the challenges I face while crocheting though, so I'm excited to see how it will all work out and look in the end. For now, here are a couple pictures of what I've completed so far.

~Em

Toothless Amigurumi

Toothless, that lovable black dragon from How to Train Your Dragon, makes a great companion on and off screen.

I spend a lot of time on Pinterest pinning patterns and crochet inspiration. When I pinned this Toothless pattern, a friend commented saying she would pay for me to crochet him for her. I told her I would and she asked for him in either purple or blue. As she has a little girl, I chose to make him in purple.

It was my first time crocheting amigurumi and I enjoyed figuring it out. Thankfully, I had also found a visual tutorial to help when putting him together. He turned out well, though when I finished I knew there were things I would do differently if I were to make it again. More stuffing in the head and use a smaller hook so the stitches would be smaller and tighter. I also sewed the felt eyes on instead of using fabric glue. They sit closer to the head than they would have if I had used the fabric glue.

Well, I did end up making another Toothless. My nephew saw the photo above as I had sent it to my sister. He immediately wanted asked for a Toothless of his own. Every time I saw him, he would climb into my arms and say "You make me a Toofless?" so I promised him a Toothless for his birthday (half a year away).

I used the smaller hook and he turned out better than the purple one. The stitches were tighter and he wasn't as large. I also stuffed each piece with more fiber fill than I did the first one and he was less flimsy.

He took less time to make due to already having worked the pattern once. I finished him over a month before my nephew's birthday and it was so hard not to bring it to him right away. I held out though and when he opened the bag on his birthday, he didn't react as I had imagined. I thought there'd be excitement and he'd say "It's my Toofless!" But he didn't. He did, however, say "no" when my 11-year-old brother asked to see it. He had just had too much birthday excitement. Once his guests had left, he took Toothless to the table and was playing with him quietly. He still would not let others touch or play with him. I think it's safe to say he likes his Toothless.

~Em

Little Veggie Mobile

My sister-in-law also had a baby this year. She had bought a pattern for a baby mobile along with the materials and asked me if I would crochet it for her. I said I'd give it a shot and took the materials home.

There were five pieces to crochet. 

Ethel the Eggplant.

Ruby the Radish.

Piper & Pete the Petite Peas.




Carl the Carrot.




Roux the Rabbit.

All in all, they were pretty easy to make. I didn't stuff Ruby enough so she was a little flimsy. The peas were tricky because the greens were two different types of yarn, causing the peas to be smaller than they should have been for the pod. When assembling the mobile, they weren't heavy enough to counter the weight of Ethel. I had to stuff some of the fiber fill behind them in the pod and to add more weight, I put an extra crochet hook I had in the back of the pod. It worked beautifully! The hook added the weight needed and gave a firmness to the pod as well. 

Carl was the easiest to crochet. He worked up quickly and I had finally figured out how to sew the eyes.

Putting it together was tricky. The pattern said to hang the mobile from a hook so as to get the proper weight distribution between all the veggies. The only problem was I did not have a hook on which to hang it. So I did the best I could holding it up every time I attached a new piece. When they were all attached, I needed both my hands to adjust and so I employed my husband's help. Like a champ he held it up for me as I moved it around and once it was perfect, he held it so I could get a picture of it.

I would make it again if I were asked, but would buy all the same type of yarn to avoid size and weight differences.

~Em

Shades of Grey Baby Blanket

Shades of Grey was the first commission blanket. The mother wanted different greys in the blanket and sent me a photo to use as an example.

I followed the colour scheme in photo, but I had to figure out how many rows of dark grey to rows of light grey and how many rows total I would need based on the gauge to make it long enough. The blanket worked up quickly and was fun to make. I'd love to make this pattern again with colours.

~Em

Coral Reef Baby Blanket

This blanket was one of the commission blankets. The mother asked for chevrons and so I used this pattern for the stitch style. The colours she chose were coral, yellow, grey, and a bit of teal. I wasn't sure the order in which they would go. I pulled out my pencil colours and sketch book and drew out what I pictured in my head. This was the result.

I sent it to the mom and we added another portion of teal between the coral and grey.

As I worked the blanket, I still wasn't sure I liked the yarn I had picked out, but I kept going. My husband came up behind me at one point and I held it up for him to see. When I asked him what he thought, he said it was a very neat and reminded him of a coral reef. I was so caught up in making the blanket and making it so the mother liked it, that I had difficulty liking it myself. Once I got a second opinion from someone not involved I was able to see it differently.

It turned out quite beautiful. I can't wait to meet the baby girl who will be wrapped in the blanket.

   

   

~Em

Introductions

Hello!

I am excited to begin this blog. I love to crochet and this site is where I will share project progress and photos. Snuggles by Em was inspired by how much one of my nephews loves the blankie I made for him when he was born. Babies like to be warm and what better way to do that than wrapped in a blanket snuggled close in his or her mother's arms. My 5-week-old already likes his blankie.

My hope for Snuggles by Em is that as I gain more experience I can take commissions and eventually become a small business. I've already completed two commission works for a couple friends expecting this autumn and winter. I enjoyed figuring out templates and coordinating colour schemes and look forward to making more.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for the next post!

~Em