I finished another bear. Her name is Bloom. She is made from the same yarn as the bear in the last blog but I divided the yarn. The bear is made with one strand of knobbly variegated wool, and the dress is made with the other strand. The other strand was a thin acrylic eyelash yarn in white fuzz with black flecks.

I did not yet find a publisher for the hat in my last post, so I may sell the pattern myself. Not sure yet.

I found another bear I started two years ago and never finished. I also have the christmas ball bear from a workshop by Berta at threadteds.com that I need to finish.

What are you working on?

love, deBBie

Recent Projects.

A Baby Bunting Doll. This pattern can be found at

http://www.freepatterns.com/list.html?criteria=baby+bunting

It is on its way to France in hopes of bringing comfort to a friend and a smile to her daughter.

This silly bear is also on his way to France. He is made with a yarn called Nob Hill that I am really enjoying working with. It also divides beautifully and I am working on another bear with just the colored strand.

Another hat design. Hopefully the pattern will be available soon. I will let you know where.

I am also trying something new. I have taken the wool roving pictured below right and divided it several times into long stands about 1/4 inch wide. I have been crocheting and unraveling it and found it quite durable. I am hoping to make a small purse with it and then try felting it. I have seen a hat pattern crocheted with unspun roving but can't remember where.

If you would like to see a gallery of my bears they are pictured on my website www.debbittybears.com.

Have a great day!

love, deBBie

A few more hats

A few more hats that the fiber guild at my church has done for humanitarian. I am taking them to the "Babies in Need" day this Saturday. Both the bumble bee and the bunny hat came out of issues of crochet world.

Hats, Hats, Hats

I have been working on baby hats for a Babies In Need humanitarian project that our church is holding this Saturday. They are asking for donations of baby items as well as people to come and make items. Just for fun I timed myself this morning when making the hat above. It took 40 minutes. Not too bad. The pattern for the hat is from

http://www.savethechildren.org/publications/capstothecapital-kit11.pdf

The pattern did not include the flower, I just made it up. Email me if you would like the flower pattern.

Above are some more hats I made. The "tall" pattern is one I just created. The pattern is at the bottom of the blog.

Below is a piture of a hat I made a long time ago but was recently fished out of the halloween box. It is one of the first patterns I created without a pattern. And I didn't write it down, sorry.

My daughter didn't like wearing the hat very well.

Newborn Elf Hat Pattern

Materials: Caron Simply Soft Worsted Weight, Lime and Strawberry. Crochet hook size H.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, entire hat is worked in rounds that are not joined. All sc are worked in the Back Loop. In the last st of each rnd drop the current color and pick up the other color, keeping the strands to the inside of the hat.

Size: Newborn. (see note at bottom of pattern for suggestions on altering the pattern).

Rnd 1: With Pink Ch 3, work 3 sc in the first chain, drop pink and pick up green

Rnd 2: (work in back loops until otherwise noted) 2 sc in first sc of last round, sc in rem stitches, drop green, pick up pink (4 sc)

Rnd 3: 2 sc in first sc of last round, sc in rem stitches, drop pink pick up green

Rnd 4-31: repeat rnds 2 and 3

Rnd 32: repeat round 2 (34 st)

Rnd 33: *2 sc in 1st sc, sc in next, repeat from * around (52 st) drop pink, pick up green

Rnd 34-41: sc around switching colors at the end of each rnd (rnd 41 should be pink, then switch to green and fasten off pink)

Rnd 42: Joining round, with green sc around, jn with a sl st to first sc, and chain 2 (do not turn)

Rnd 43: (Work the last two rows in both loops) dc in next st and in each st around, jn with sl st to top of chain 2, chain 2

Rnd 44: (ribbing) *dcfp around next st, dcbp around next, repeat from * around, join to chain 2 with a sl st and fasten off.

Work in all loose ends.

Note: To make a bigger hat work more increase rounds after round 33. To make a taller and wider hat continue rounds 2&3 more times.

Please let me know if you make this hat!~ Also let me know please if there are mistakes in the pattern.

I also have a website with my bear patterns for sale. http://www.debbittybears.com/

Thanks for reading my blog, leave a note that you were here!

I finished another bag today. I am so enjoying making bags!! This one is made with voodoo yarn which creates the fuzzy, lambs wool effect. I did it in tunisiain crochet. i also used bleached sari yarn with the reverse side of the tunisian showing , and then switched again to create the fuzzy around the opening at the top. it was fun to make and i am planning on giving it to one of my daughters friends. i hope she loves it and doesn't think it is too weird. The reaction to my bags seems to sway between "That is so cool!" to "Well...OK...Hmmm". What do you think?

...love, deBBie

Follow up on Friend Bear....I sent him to a friend who had moved away last year. She reallly liked him. A few weeks ago her brother died in a tragic freak accident. I was glad that I had sent the bear to her. I hope it brought her comfort.

Helen won my trivia contest from the last post. Helen, please email me.

SARI YARN SAGA

I purchased 10 skeins of recycled sari silk yarn from 888kn on ebay. The yarn is made from the threads cut off the ends of looms where Sari's are woven. It is very beautiful and textural.
I LOVE the colors.

The yarn had a very musty smell...so I hung it outstide for over a week, it looks lovely hanging on a line on my front porch but it didn't help dissipate the smell. I think it gets musty because the women (or men?) who spin it, also wash it well and then perhaps it isn't quite dry when twisted into skeins and shipped. I still really enjoyed working with it. And when I finished the first purse I washed it in the washing machine and line dried it. It still smelled funky so I washed it in a bowl with just a drop or two of bleach and now it smells fine. AND, for being washed and bleached the purse still looks OK. Here is a picture of my oldest daughter with her new purse. I enjoyed making my daughters purse which was basically two squares in tunisian.
But I wanted something a little more funky and stiffer for myself. Below is the purse I made for me. I haven't bleached it yet, but i am already using it a lot. It weighs quite a bit. I am beginning to see why plastic handles are popular because the crocheted ones stretch so much. I reinforced my purse handle with a reverse single crochet around the edge.

The entire thing was crocheted in back loops with bobbles and a flower. It also has a tie to close it. There is also a flower, but I don't know if you can see it?

Hope you enjoyed my Sari Yarn Saga. Have a great day!


Love, deBBie

Visit my web site at www.debbittybears.com

The Trivia Question is at the end of this post.

I needed a headband for my 3 year old daughter...so I crocheted one. It took less than an hour. The one above I made the next day for my baby.

They were really easy to make. I just did crochet ribbing by sc in the back loop of each row until I made a band that fit their head. I had to remove a few rows from the first one because it was too loose. The next one I made more snugly. And added an extra row of flower petals.'

The flower is the pattern found in the book called "Crocheting School" but any crochet flower pattern would work. I simply left two yarn tails hanging from the first round and tied the flowers on.

Now...for the TRIVIA QUESTION....

look closely at the TV in the background of the first picture. Can you name the movie that is playing?

The first person to reply by comment on this blog with the correct answer will win a free Humphrey pattern, OR

you can choose another pattern.

The patterns are located here...

http://debbittybears.com/?page_id=5

Enjoy!

Coming soon....My Sari Yarn Saga!

BBB

Blue Bedtime Bear

I finished this bear yesterday. That leaves only two bips left. (bears in progress)

He is about 5 inches tall and is made of a fuzzy crystal palace yarn and a variegated chenille that was such a pleasure to work with! I purchased both items at the flock and fiber festival in Woodburn last year.

My husband thinks he looks like he has a headache! What do you think?

Friend Ben

New Bear.... I made this little guy for a dear friend who moved away. I haven't come up with a name yet.

He is made from the daisy pattern that was written by Berta from www.threadteds.com. (Except the ears)

I made him from mohair which I bought from a yarn shop (now defunct Darhma's yarns) on the Oregon coast.

I ran out right before I got the ears done. Not one inch to spare. So I used a different mohair (from my friend Bobbie R.)... for the ears.

I don't know why I couldn't leave him a bare bear. I always feel a need to adorn my bears with SOMETHING....this one got a scarf knit from a fabulous thin mohair i purchased from a toni a http://www.desertsrose.com/ He is also my first bear jointed with Steel thread that she carries...it was slippery but very strong. I had to modify my usual jointing technique but am please with the joints.

Sometimes when I see a bear looking back at me I know there is something special about them. I can't help saying 'Well...hello!". This was one of those bears...something about his sad eyes but funny smile....he is a good little bear...I can just tell.

Maybe it is because so many friends "helped" make him. His name just came to me....Ben....

Friend Ben.

have a great day!

love, deBBie

www.debbittybears.com

This is my first real attempt at a free form project. My older daughter really wanted her turn posing with my work.

FRONT OF BAG

BACK OF BAG

The bag was a lot of fun to make and pretty easy because I cheated.

How did I cheat?

Well, all the yarns are the same brand and were next too each other in a display. They are all different textures and gauges but simliar hue. (Or is it shade?) Anyway...and the yarn did most of the "work" for me.

Here is a close up of the stitches..

It actually started out as a scarf with the dangling "scrumble" and some real free formed loose stitches. Then, when I reached a spot where I realized I wanted it to be a purse I started making the squares. The back I did to match size wise with the front but I did it in stripes and fun stitches.

Thanks for looking. I had planned on selling the purse but I don't think my daughter is going to give it back.

Do you think I should try to make some more purses? Let me know what you think.

My website is www.debbittybears.com

Love, deBBie

This is a little dress I made for my brother's baby. It is a christening dress pattern. The hardest part was trying to find those little ribbon roses for the bonnet and dress. I ended up buying roses with the wire in it, took the wire out and sewed it to the dress.

www.debbittybears.com

Here is the Old Man Bear. He is made from several different fibers including mohair and wool. He is supposed to look like he has patches of fur missing. He is probably about 9 inches tall. The biggest deBBittybear I have done. I am thinking of calling him Mr FitzWitz or something. I am probably going to list him in on ebay.

I mentioned I lost my harddrive last week...Many Many pictures and documents. It is still very sad for me. I found out that my dh had not given me a new hard drive but my old drive, so I lost a LOT of things...so many photos...so sad... we ran recovery but the data cable fried the hard drive to the point that there is just nothing. On his computer which I had been using since mine was "being fixed" there were some things saved (that he had written over) that I was able to recover.

On the crochet side we were able to recover most of my bear patterns. I did lose the pattern for an afghan that I designed a few years ago. Someone else is looking at it so I need to retype it in. (thank goodness i have a hard copy.) I took some pictures of it today. I think it is beautiful...even if I did design it myself.







The yarn was SO expensive. I bought it for a contest so I justified it. Even then, the price was twice what I thought it would be. Over 100 dollars. OUCH! So I tried to make the nicest afghan I could and it was a pleasure working with that nice yarn and having it work up like it did. I wanted it to look like pieces of vintage chenille fabric pieced together.




Here is baby wrapped up in the blanket. (with big sister) She is the first kid to be wrapped in it. I have taken it out of the Cedar Chest for Photos today. But it went back in.

I have also been doing some tunisian crochet. I LOVE it. It works up so fast and looks really nice. I love doing striped scarfs with it. It creates this really cool reverse effect.

I also have a FREE pattern posted at Craftbits.com It is for a mohair thread bear. The link is....

http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=1694

It is listed in their top ten.

Happy Crocheting!
love, deBBie

http://www.debbittybears.com/ This pattern is now available for free at http://www.crochetpartners.org/PatternLibrary/CPpat262.html

My spiral purse pattern was also picked up by another site...

www.craftbits.com.

I may do some more work with them.

It is a pretty good pattern. Several members of crochet partners tested it for me and liked it a lot. Best of all it is FREE.

I finished my bear, he looks like an old man. I will post him tomorrow, IF my hubby gives me back my old hard drive. My new harddrive died two days after installation. I can only hope I haven't lost too much stuff created between the old drive and new hard drive when I was working on my hubby's computer. Please...not the christmas photos!! ACK!!!

Oh well...at least I will always have this one...

I have a web page as well.... www.debbittybears.com

I got out a bear I started before my baby was born...so over 7 months ago. Couldn't do it. Note to self.....ALWAYS store the hook you are using WITH the project...or at least leave yourself a note!! Since I wasn't using a pattern I am not sure which hook I was using...so I need to do some experiementing. It just needs the last of one leg and two arms. It will be a big bear with fuzzy patches everywhere, made with voodoo yarn and some other fibers.

Also finishing a second washcloth. I made up the gingham pattern and a way to do it without leaving any tails and making it fully reversible. Of course I really didn't make it up. I found out that it has a name! Tapestry Crochet. I joined a yahoo group with the same name and my work is very rustic compared to the beautiful work some are doing with tapestry crochet. There is also a book (or two) written on the subject by Carol Ventura. Gonna have to check those out.

Over Christmas we spent two weeks with family and friends. I didn't bring my hooks and didn't miss them at all! Kind of scared me. Thought maybe I was getting burned out. But I am definitely itching to start up a new project. I know I should finish all the old ones first...yeah...like that is going to happen.

Question of the day..
What do you enjoy more? Starting a new project of finishing an old one? And with that...do you have very many projects lying around waiting or do you just do one at a time?

deBBitty Bears Crochet

I have been crocheting since I was a grandmother-taught child. My first project was a rusted orange colored hot pad that I never finished! I remember giving it to my mom on mother's day half-finished with a half hearted promise to finish it later! I took up my hooks again in college.

I made a huge blue monstrosity of an afghan for a current boyfriend. I think the whole thing was just single crochet. His mothers comment? "Wow she must really like you." I think that guy is a physicist or something now.

That summer, my boyfriends ( a different one by now) mother was kind enough to try and teach me to read a pattern. I made this brown and cream, huge (again!), granny-type square, afghan. Only I didn't quite get the whole starting chain counts a first stitch thing...and it was a mess. I gave it to my husband when I finally got it done about a year later. WELL! (he was my next boyfriend FIRST). but he never really used it. It was a very loose stitched thing and held no heat whatsoever. AND, thanks to my inexperience it began to unravel in the middle of the squares.

My skills have improved over the years....and my first published pattern was an afghan in Crochet World Magazine.

My hubby and I now have 8 kids and I don't get as much time to crochet as I would like.

My favorite crochet groups....

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/threadanimals
also at www.threadanimals.com

This is a group that I created with a friend and helped grow to over 800 members. After the birth of my eigth I gave the ownership over to a friend ....and she is doing a great job. Toni also does the web sites for this group and........

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/threadartistbears
also at www.threadartistbears.com

This group is where the members of threadanimals can list their items for sale.

This bear was made from my humphrey pattern. (available at www.debbittybears.com). I didn't use a pattern for the dress.

I also love ....

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/crochetpartners

It is the BEST place to meet other crocheters and hob nob with the BEST in the business and learn something new practically every day.

Question of the day?

What is the difference between imitating someones crochet work and being inspired by it?

-deBBie