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Celebrate the End of the Year with 2012’s Top 100 Christmas Crafts

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The end of the year is such an exciting time! Not only is Christmas less than a month away, but New Year’s is right behind it. For Christmas crafters, this means putting up the last of your decorations and finally handing out the handmade Christmas gifts you worked so hard on. For all of us at AllFreeChristmasCrafts, this is also a great time to review what all of you crafters out there liked the most this year.

We’re excited to share our big, year-ending collection of 2012’s top 100 Christmas Crafts with you! You’ll find links to all of the projects that on many wish lists this year. See if your favorite on there, and find a new craft to start off the near year.

Christmas Ornament Ideas – Nothing has been more exciting than to see what new kinds of handmade Christmas ornaments bloggers have been working on. We’ve seen everything from sewn Christmas ornaments like the Birdie Ornaments to projects made out of toilet rolls!

Homemade Christmas Decorations – Many of you came to our site in search for more budget-friendly Christmas craft options for your own Christmas home decor. You can plan ahead for next year with some eco-friendly options that are just as stylish as they are thrifty, like the ever-popular Dollar Store Glass Hurricanes.

Homemade Christmas Gifts – Crafters this year were especially generous with the heartfelt and creative gifts they created this year. You, our readers, were big fans of practical projects like the Christmas Treat Jar that loved ones can use all year.

Free Christmas Patterns – Crafters with many different talents such as crochet and knitting provided plenty of Christmas patterns that many of you used as DIY Christmas decorations and homemade Christmas gifts for others, such as the Candy Cane and Gingerbread Pot Holder.

Christmas Crafts for Kids – There are many little crafters out there, and we wanted to make sure they had a winter full of Christmas crafting fun. The Melted Snowman Ornament alone received a huge response, showing that crafters of all ages were working hard this year.


Christmas Characters – From Santa to Frosty, this was an excellent year for new ways to create Christmas characters out of all kinds of materials. The most popular craft of the year, the Pasta Angel Ornaments, shows that it doesn’t require money to create something long lasting and beautiful during the holidays.

Recycled Crafts – We were happy to see so many Christmas crafters embracing eco-friendly and green Christmas craft ideas. One of the most beautiful crafts we saw all year was the Embossed Soda Can Snowsicles. It’s hard to believe these crafts are made of reusable materials, because they always look brand new.

To find out what other Christmas crafts people couldn’t stop making this year, take a look at the rest of 2012’s top 100 Christmas crafts. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year!

 What was your favorite Christmas craft this year?

Just Released – Free Men’s Beanie Hat: Free Crochet Pattern

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The Crochet Crowd's Design Hat

A new pattern released by Michael Sellick.

 

Winter is now coming and I am in full winter mode for making crochet goodies to match Daniel and I’s winter wardrobe.

I created this pattern using Bernat’s Mosaic Yarn Line. The colouring in the picture is called “Into the Woods”. I used two balls of yarn at one time to give extra thickness for those cold winter days.

I used a size H hook or 5.5 MM. This was done in less than 2 hours. It fits Daniel like a charm. There was a bit of research & development involved to ensure the sizing would properly fit a grown man.

This Men’s Beanie Hat is a completely free pattern by Mikey; follow along with this pattern right now.

For more free hat patterns, be sure to check out AllFreeCrochet’s Hat Library.

Kristin Omdahl – Crochet and Knit Designer

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Kristin Omdahl - Crochet & Knit Designer
Kristin Omdahl – Crochet & Knit Designer

I’ve just got a new crochet pattern book scheduled for world wide release in September 2011. It’s called “The Best of Crochet” by Interweave. A collection of our favourite designs. ISBN 978-1-59668-302-0

 
At the time of this blog posting, only Amazon is selling advance orders for this book. I’ve have opportunity to run my fingers through this book and one of the patterns just hit every last creative nerve for me. It was the Infinity Wrap by Kristin Omdahl.
 
I’ve seen Kristin’s patterns before and there is something so magnificent about her patterns. The flexibility and ease of reading her work is outstanding. It’s like she’s thought of every possible question that we may have while working on her patterns.
 
One of the biggest things that appeals to me about patterns is the usage of diagrams. Some women may claim that us men need like a map to follow along. Maybe that’s true, but diagrams to me help me understand the words. Not only has she written down her directions, her straight forward diagrams allows someone like me to be successful.
 
It occurred to me that it’s the common element of her designs. She gives us exactly what we need to be successful. She presents it in a straight forward, no nonsense manner. To me… I admire her abilities to work with patterns and create the most outstanding peices.
 
Some of her patterns are free as well. While others are so specialized they appear in pattern books. Take a look at this Belize Wrap and you can see the ideas she is presenting.
 
I’ve officially added to my list of people I would love to meet on my crochet journey. She has an official Facebook Fan Page too that is worth checking out.
 
 Don’t forget to check out lots of free crochet patterns at http://www.allfreecrochet.com.
 

Mikey Launches More Tutorial Videos At AllFreeCrochet

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This week, Mikey from Mikeyssmail has posted more videos for you to learn on the AllFreeCrochet You Tube Channel. There are two tutorials to follow along with:

Tutorial 1 – How To Filet Crochet – Part 1 and Part 2

  1. If you have ever wanted to learn how to crochet your name into your projects using Filet Crochet ideas, this is for you.
  2. The tutorial is highly informative showing you how to read the graphs.
  3. Don’t limit yourself on just names, you can do numbers, and shapes.
  4. Mikey has provided a side link in the information. It will take you to his website where you can print your own graph paper to make your own shapes, numbers, and letters. There’s even a link for CrochetKim who is giving away free graphing on letters. She even provides basic shapes and a few names.
  5. This filet crochet will awaken your creativty with a brand new challenge.

Tutorial 2 – How To Crochet A Jumbo Fan Pattern – Part 1 and Part 2

  1. Both of these two tutorials are available in Left & Right Hand so everyone can follow.
  2. Mikey takes a regular fan, jumbo sizes it to quadruple crochet techniques.
  3. This would be the type of project that would grow really fast. It’s an interesting pattern and changing colours would be fairly easy to take an already “WOW” pattern and make it “Fabulous!”
  4. Good Luck with this one… it’s a very simple idea and Mikey believes beginners have an opportunity to be able to do something like this.

See you next week where we will launch 2 more tutorials for AllFreeCrochet.

Crochet tips your mother never told you

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I have been crocheting since I can remember. Just a few years ago I realized that I could make things other than blankets. Since then I have been working on creating my own designs and patterns. One of them is the Baby Crochet Monkey Hat. It is my first hat made with ear flaps, and my second animal themed hat. I really enjoy making my own designs. You can find more of them in my Etsy.com shop and on my Blog. I encourage everyone to make their own patterns, it really isn’t that difficult. Just make sure you keep a piece of paper and a pencil next to you and write down every step as you go.

I am going to share with you super super secret crocheting tips. The kind of tips I wish someone would have told me years ago when I first started. These are tips most older crocheters know, but don’t tell anyone.

1. Go to the library! I cannot tell you how amazing the library is for me now that I found the craft section. I think I have rented all the books in the crochet area at least twice. It is worth the money… or lack of money, to go and see what they have.

2. Try new stitches! I made an awesome discovery while at the library. There are books about different stitches. I now use them a lot! They can really spice up a boring pattern.

3. Roll your yarn skeins into balls. It is time consuming and seems like it is not worth it, but it is in the long run when you don’t have to stop every 5 minutes to untangle your yarn.

4. Don’t be afraid to try new things. I didn’t follow a pattern for years because I didn’t know how to read them. Once I learned it was like a huge door opened. There were so many more things to crochet!

5. Try to stay organized. It is really easy to let yarn and crochet hooks go wild. I keep my yarn in a big duffel bag, and my crochet hooks all in a little clear makeup bag.

No matter what just enjoy crocheting!

Help a Reader: Trinity Knitting Stitch

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Can you help this reader? The best answer wins a craft prize!

“I am looking for a knitting stitch called Trinity Stitch. It is in a book about prayer shawls. Could you help me find the pattern. Thank you.”

Do you know the trinity stitch? Describe the stitch in the comments. Best answer will win a special craft prize.

If you are an expert knitter, don’t forget to check out this awesome free form Beret Knitting Pattern.

Help a Reader: “Idiot’s Delight” Knitting Pattern

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Can you help this reader find a knitting pattern or supply a similar knitting pattern? Sandy writes:

I have lost my “old” pattern for a knit sweater made from the neck down on round needles. It is called “Idiot’s Delight” & is very easy even for a beginner. Hope you can help. Thanks, Sandy

Best answer will win a special craft prize.

Help a Reader: Valentine Dress Crochet Pattern

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Can you help this reader find a crochet pattern?

“Several years ago I bought a crochet magazine, I think it was Quick & Easy Crochet that had a pattern for a girls dress or jumper for Valentines Day. It had hearts crocheted into the design. I have moved several times and can’t seem to find that particular book. I would like to crochet this dress for my grandaughter. Can you help me find this pattern?”

Help her out! Best answer wins a special craft prize from the FaveCrafts team.

Bow Bag Sew Along: Part 3

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This is part 3 and final part of the bow-bag sew along. Find previous parts here:

Part 1: Materials, Measuring and Cutting

Part 2: Sewing and Lining

Bow Bag Continued

  1. Press the bag (again!) and topstitch around the top of the bag, as close to the edge as possible.
  2. Measure from the top of the bag to the opening of the ribbon casing. Mark where the casing needs to be at each side of pocket and sew around the whole bag, like tram-lines (avoiding the pocket, don’t want to sew that baby shut!)

    Bow Bag 15

  3. Measure across your body to determine the length of the handle and cut two strips of fabric as long as you need (plus 1″ seam allowance) by 2″ wide.
  4. Sew a point on one end of the handle, and half the point on the other (this will make life easier later) and trim the seams.

    Bow Bag 17

  5. Use a knitting needle to turn the handle the right side out (Keep going, nearly done…)

    Bow Bag 18

  6. Press the handle flat.
  7. This is where you’ll be glad you half sewed the second point! Push the excess fabric inside to form the second point and press.
  8. Topstitch the handle as close to the edge as possible.
  9. Line up the handle with the outer side seam of the bag and stitch across, following the topstitching on the bag. The handle should overlap the edge of the bag an inch or so, for decorative effect.
  10. Sew a decorative vintage button to the pointed bit.

    Bow Bag 23

  11. Tie your ribbon to a crochet hook and thread through casing.

    Bow Bag 24

  12. Gather the top of the bag slightly and tie a bow and you’re done!

Cute Crochet Explosion: Buzz the Bee

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His name is Buzz and he wants to live on your desk, maybe peeking out from some flowers to give you a smile.  He’s an amigurumi bee, more stuffing than stinger. Ok, perhaps I’m not very creative in the name department, but I just love this little guy. My boyfriend is absolutely obsessed with the idea of keeping bees someday so I think I’ll make him a few of these. Ya know, something to practice on. Check out the free Cute Bee Crochet Pattern.

Crochet

Jewelry

Knitting

Paper

Sewing

Thrifty