Free Lacy Granny Scarf pattern

crochet scarf

I’d like to share a new FREE pattern with you. It’s called “Lacy Granny Scarf”. The pattern is available on the Red Heart UK website here.

 

Lacy Granny Scarf
Lacy Granny Scarf

 

I designed this scarf about 4 months ago for Red Heart using their Red Heart “Precious” yarn, available in the UK. This yarn is a #1 weight yarn, made with 80% acrylic and 20% mohair fibers. I really enjoyed using this yarn and the scarf blocked up very nicely! As with any mohair yarn, you need to be careful with your stitches because ripping out can be a “challenge”!

 

The scarf measures 6″ wide x 60″ long and is made with 10 motifs, each measuring 6″ square. The motifs are joined as you go, so there is no sewing required. There is a simple single crochet edging worked around the joined motifs to give the edges some stability.

 

Since this pattern is published in the UK, some of the crochet terms are different in the pattern than the crochet terms we use here in the US. Here are the different terms used in this pattern:

 

UK “dc” = US “sc”

UK “tr” = US “dc”

UK “dtr” = US “tr”

 

It can sometimes be hard to wrap your head around the different crochet terms used in another country in a crochet pattern! I’ve rewritten patterns from the UK before with the US crochet terms in them to help myself remember which stitch to work when I’m making something from one of these patterns! And sometimes I draw a symbol crochet chart instead of using the written crochet pattern. I do whatever it takes to understand the pattern in order to make the project accurately!

 

If you love lacy crochet projects, I hope you’ll give this pretty Lacy Granny Scarf a try.

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

Dyeing Yarn for the First Time!

dyed yarn

First 2 skeins of dyed yarn in hanks

Last year, before Easter, I was reading some posts in some Ravelry groups about dyeing yarn with Easter egg dyes and Kool-Aid. So I thought I’d give it a try. What did I have to lose? Absolutely nothing! And I figured it would be a lot of fun, which it was! I’d like to tell you about my yarn dyeing experience, in hopes that you’ll give it a try, too.

Before starting, I read all the information I could get from library books, Ravelry groups and various websites, some of which were:

http://www.dyeyouryarn.com/easter-egg-dye.html

http://www.dyeyouryarn.com/Kool-Aid-dyeing.html

http://www.examiner.com/list/dyeing-yarn-with-easter-egg-coloring?cid=db_articles

Everything I read said to purchase the Easter egg dyeing kits AFTER Easter, when they are discounted. I waited patiently for Easter to come, so I could visit my local stores and buy the kits for pennies on the dollar! But I had to make sure I didn’t wait too long because they might be all gone (either sold out or shipped back to clear the shelves for new merchandise). I went to the store the day after Easter to buy my first batch of dyes and I bought more on subsequent days, as well. I bought several different kinds of kits with different numbers of dye tablets in them from several different manufacturers. I didn’t need all the bells and whistles in the fancy kits, so I bought the more generic kits instead, which were also less expensive. The kits I bought the week after Easter were 50% off and the ones I bought the following week were 75% off, so it was well worth the wait!

Approximately 2 months after Easter, I was finally ready to begin my yarn dyeing experience! If you’d like to ready about how I dyed this yarn and learn how to dye yarn with Easter egg dyes, check out my tutorial here. Because of the length of this tutorial/story, I have made it into a PDF file to download and read at your convenience.

I designed a crocheted scarf and a knitted scarf with my newly dyed yarn last year, but I’m not quite ready to publish them yet. Since I’m a perfectionist, I hate to rush into publishing patterns that haven’t been checked thoroughly because it’s too easy for mistakes to creep in. And it’s not fair to you to find mistakes in my patterns, which leads to frustration (believe me, I know how frustrating it is to try to crochet something from a pattern with mistakes!). I’ll let you know when the 2 scarf patterns are available for purchase. The crochet and knit scarves are both done in the mosaic technique, which is a technique that I LOVE!!! I used a solid color of yarn along with the dyed yarn because I hate color pooling with multi-colored yarn! The solid color eliminated any possibility of color pooling and the scarves turned out great!

I hope you enjoy my new tutorial on dyeing yarn.

Have a blessed Easter with your family and friends.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

P.S. I’d like to apologize for not posting free crochet patterns on the last 5 days of March, like I had promised at the beginning of the month to celebrate National Crochet Month. I had a death in my family (my brother passed away at 59 years young from stage 4 brain cancer that was originally thought to be a benign tumor). But I hope you’ve enjoyed the 26 free crochet patterns that I was able to post during the month. There are some really talented crochet designers out there!

FREE Baby Baseball Cap Crochet Pattern

crochet baby cap

In honor of baseball’s Spring Training, today’s FREE crochet pattern is a baseball cap for babies!

 

Spring Training Cap
Spring Training Cap

 

This Spring Training Cap pattern was designed by Linda Permann for the Mar/April 2012 issue of Crochet Today magazine. The pattern is available for FREE here.

 

Isn’t this baby adorable? Of course, this baseball cap would look great on any baby!

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

FREE Crochet Duck Pattern

crochet duck

In keeping with the Easter theme, today’s FREE crochet pattern is an adorable duck!

 

Crochet Duck
Crochet Duck

 

This duck pattern includes a removable bonnet! How cute is that? And the facial expression on the duck is priceless!!! Jackie Laing from the website, Amidorable Crochet designed this cute duck. You can find the free pattern on her website here.

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

Bunnies, Bunnies, Bunnies Everywhere!

crochet bunny

If you love bunnies, you’re going to love today’s FREE crochet pattern!

 

Spring Bunnies
Spring Bunnies

 

This is the Spring Bunnies pattern by Stephanie Jessica Lau of the All About Ami website. You can find this FREE pattern here. I think this is the 3rd FREE crochet pattern of Jessica’s that I’ve shared this month! I really like Jessica’s designs! She has a great style of designing and her projects are so cute!

 

I hope you’ll enjoy this FREE crochet pattern and make a spring bunny for someone you love this week!

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

FREE Baby Chicks Crochet Pattern

crochet chicks

Since Easter is coming, I’ve got another FREE Easter crochet pattern for you today. These chicks would work up in very little time (at least for one of the chicks, not a dozen of them)!

 

Baby Chicks in Eggshells
Baby Chicks in Eggshells

 

This is the “Baby Chicks in Eggshells” pattern by Lani Herschensohn of the Red Hot Fibers website. You can find this adorable pattern here. This is what Lani wrote about the pattern:

 

“This pattern is a great way to make a game for young children. Mix up the baby chicks and the shells and the child learns to match their colors. It helps with their fine motor skills as they match up the correct chick with the eggshell.”

 

The pattern doesn’t say anything about stuffing the chicks, but I think I’d stuff them with some polyester fiberfill to help them keep their shape.

 

I hope you enjoy this FREE crochet pattern.

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

FREE Sheep Crochet Pattern

crochet sheep

Today’s FREE crochet pattern is for an adorable amigurumi lamb, designed by Stephanie Jessica Lau from her “All About Ami” website.

 

Chinese New Year Sheep/Lamb
Chinese New Year Sheep/Lamb

 

I just love this cute sheep/lamb that Stephanie designed to celebrate the Chinese New Year. You can find this FREE pattern here.

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

FREE Amish Puzzle Ball crochet pattern

crochet puzzle ball

I love jigsaw puzzles and crochet puzzle balls are fabulous! Dedri Uys has designed a lot of them (she’s a pro with these designs!). Today’s FREE crochet pattern is one of Dedri’s patterns that is available on her website.

 

Amish Crochet Flower Puzzle Ball
Amish Crochet Flower Puzzle Ball

 

It’s her Amish Crochet Flower Puzzle Ball. You can find this FREE pattern here. The pattern includes a LOT of step-by-step photos. This puzzle ball is made with DK weight yarn and a size G (4 mm) crochet hook.

 

Dedri also has an Amamani Puzzle Balls book that is published by Annie’s. These other puzzle balls are made in the shape of animals! They’re adorable!!! You can read all about Dedri’s Amamani Puzzle Balls book in the book review I wrote in my blog post last September here.

 

I hope you enjoy this FREE crochet pattern and have lots of fun crocheting this flower puzzle ball!

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

FREE Cheery Crochet Coaster Pattern

smiling face

If you need a little cheering up from the weather, why not make my Smiling Face Coaster! The FREE pattern is available right here on The Crochet Architect website.

 

Smiling Face Coaster
Smiling Face Coaster

 

You can download this FREE pattern here. I designed this coaster for crocheters to learn/practice working in the round. The coaster is made with worsted weight cotton yarn and a size I (5.5 mm) crochet hook. The finished coaster measures 4 3/4″ diameter.

 

I hope you enjoy this FREE pattern!

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan

 

FREE Spring Blanket Crochet Pattern

crochet baby blanket

Let’s think “spring”, shall we? Today’s FREE crochet pattern is a beautiful blanket made with Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable, which is one of my favorite yarns to use because of the gorgeous colors!

 

Spring into Summer Blanket
Spring into Summer Blanket

 

This is the Spring into Summer Blanket, designed by Susan Carlson, who owns the website, www.feltedbutton.com. You can see more photos of this beautiful blanket on Susan’s website here. You can find this FREE crochet pattern in Susan’s Ravelry store here or in her Craftsy store here.

 

I hope you enjoy this beautiful, FREE crochet pattern!

 

Happy crocheting,

Susan (Lowman)