As I mentioned before, JoAnn’s sent me their new Cape Discovery catalog, which features 72 projects perfect for kids & teens to make as Summer projects! They asked me to make a project from the catalog and this crochet octopus just looked way too awesome to pass up! If you’d like to make your own, you can find the free pattern right here!

They encouraged me to add my own twist to the project so I made a few modifications. First of all, I used Caron Simply Soft (pagoda & passion) & Bernat Satin (aqua) rather than the yarns the pattern recommended. Also, I thought it would be even more awesome if I made the octopus bigger so I made the entire thing holding two strands of yarn together! He ended up being about 8 inches high and has a leg span (when they’re stretched straight out) of about 30 inches. I made his eye balls using embroidery floss rather than yarn.

I have a few notes about the pattern to share:

- The pattern calls for you to join at the end of rounds when making the head and I didn’t do that because I think it’s unnecessary and looks better without the seam.

- This pattern actually makes a heptapus not an octopus, which means it only has seven legs. I was kinda bummed about this and would have modified it had I noticed soon enough, but when I use someone else’s pattern I tend to just follow it and not think ahead. So he has seven legs! If you want to make one with eight legs, it’s a really easy fix. In the first round of the head it says, “7 sc in 2nd ch from hook”. Instead make 8 sc and everything will work out!

- It’s designed to be assembled so that the bottom is wrong side out and this sort of thing drives me nuts. I’m one of those people who hates to see inside out amigurumi! haha! :P I know, it’s really just a personal preference thing but it bugs me so I modified it to be right side out. It’s kind of hard to explain what I did so refer to the two pictures below:

I only partially made the bottom, and stopped at the part where you start chaining to make the legs. Then I made the legs by crocheting in the chain I made for the top part of the leg. Afterwards, I sewed the bottom in place and single crocheted along the edge with the purple to finish it off! A lot of extra work but I think it was worth it!

It was a somewhat time consuming project but he turned out so well that I think it was worth the effort! It’s one of the coolest looking octopus patterns I’ve seen, so I recommend it if you’re a slightly more advanced crocheter! And if you can’t crochet, I do have mine up for sale!

I would love to hear what you think of him! Will you try making one of your own?

JoAnn is having a contest on Pinterest where I could win a $100 giftcard if I get the most repins. If you use Pinterest, I would really really appreciate you repinning the photo below by clicking here. Thank you so much! :)

I recently reopened my shop on Big Cartel so that I could sell some premade goodies as well as continue to take custom orders (it’s just easier for me to use than my previous shop!). I made some hats and barefoot sandals that are available and ready to ship right away!

Above, I experimented with making the High Tide Skully in three colors! They’re for sale here or you can custom order one in other colors here, or get the pattern to make your own here!

Five pairs of Wildflower barefoot sandals premade & ready to ship! I can’t decide which ones are my favorite but I really love the blue/pink/orange and green/purple ones! They’re for sale here or you can custom order them in other colors here, or get the pattern to make your own here!

And some Sugar Cone Skullys! They’re for sale here or you can custom order one in other colors here, or get the pattern to make your own here!

A lot of people have asked me if the Waffle Cone Slouchy hat could be made by using two strands of worsted weight yarn, so I wanted to give it a try! Turns out it works pretty well! I might actually like it more than using bulky yarn because it’s less stiff, so it slouches better.

All of the hats in this post were made with Caron Simply Soft. In case you’re wondering about the colors, I used: Ocean, Blue Mint, Grape (I think!), Harlequin, and Passion.

This one is made using one strand of Harlequin and one strand of Passion.

What do you think? Have you tried making one with worsted weight yarn?

I’ve been having some frustrations with the fringe bags I’m working on. I started putting together the linings and zippers and when I sew them into the bag, it gets all weird. Kinda twisty like? That’s hard to explain but you can probably tell in the picture below, how the zipper gets all wavy rather than laying flat. I think the solution will be to try one with no lining, just a zipper. The bag really doesn’t need a lining anyway, I just thought it would be pretty.

Another thing I’ve been working on is trying to decide how I want to attach the strap. The first one I did was the green one below. I used little D rings, because I thought it would look nicer. But no matter how I attach the ring, it ends up turning so the pointy end is up. I would have tried O rings if any stores around here had them (I hate ordering supplies online, too impatient). So I ended up just attaching it to the top round on the blue one, which looks a lot nicer I think.

I really want to finish this pattern already! It seems too simple to be taking so long but I’m kind of a perfectionist! :P Anyway, I’m gonna keep working on it and I would love to hear what you think!

1. Crochet flowers - pretty, pretty!
2. Cupcake candy jars – Clever use of caulk!

3. Flower photo booth backdrop – This is so pretty, I’d put it on my wall just because!
4. Crochet skull motif - I want to sew one of these onto a hat or bag!

5. Leather tassel keychains – I want to try making these with various (non-fraying) fabrics.
6. Simple crochet bows – Simple but so cute! I need to find a use for these!

7. Striped slouch hat – I love this hat pattern and need to make one so bad!
8. Tiny clay pots – This is so clever! I’m going to try making some larger versions of them!