Daisies and mermaids

I'm almost finished with my first daisies on purple afghan for my Etsy customer, Angela. I really like how the purples make the daisy pop. Two more rows of squares and then onto the edging...

(I used Caron One Pound lilac, lavender blue, jonquil, white and off white)

If you are new to the site, you can find the daisy pattern here.

My daughter, Tillie, said she would like to be a "princess mermaid" for Halloween. I had never done the "crocodile" stitch before, but I knew that I had to use it for her mermaid tail. I've decided to make a straight skirt with some kind of pleated fin (so she can walk!) I'm still working on mastering this stitch - so I'll figure out the fin when I get there...

I found this pattern at Bernat.com. You must sign up to gain access, but they have some really lovely free patterns at their site. The Mermaid Tears Purse was the exact size I needed for Tillie's skirt, so I did not need to figure out how to alter the pattern before beginning. 

By the way, this is a fun stitch to do. The only difficult part is manipulating your work for the first "5dc down..." It's such a great scaly looking pattern though!

Nice change

I'm very happy to work up all of these daisy afghans (although I'm looking forward to getting back to some smaller, kiddie-sized blankets), but it's a nice change to come up with a simple granny pattern for an Etsy customer.

Her daughter requested green and purple, so I worked up alternating rows with multi squares in between. Here's how it came out.

(I used Caron One Pound pale green, lilac and white.)

She asked for a scalloped edge, which I think added a very pretty touch. I hope she likes it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Another daisy blanket inspiration

A very nice customer named Leslie recently contacted me about creating a new daisy blanket in aqua/turquoise. She sent a photo of some lovely bedding, and was hoping to use that as a reference.

I sent over two samples (the photos are a bit dark). One using a light aqua and dark aqua:

And one with a green sc row as an accent:

She chose the second option. I'm excited to see how it turns out when they are all together. Other good news: the weekend is almost here! Have a wonderful day.

UPDATE: I have one more option. There seems to be so much blue, I thought I would try an option with a light blue and the green/aqua...

I think I like this one best with her bedding. We'll see what Leslie thinks!

A tough day

A year ago today my Dad passed away. I miss him every day. It seems like it was just yesterday - not a year ago - that we lost him. It's such an indescribable pain; it's a hole in your heart.

My mission today is to think of happy times, and remember him there.

A great book

Many people have asked about the pattern for the blanket below, and I just finished up a new one, so I thought I would dedicate a post to it. The pattern can be found in the book  "Beyond the Square: Crochet Motifs". 

It's a great book full of fun and unique squares and motifs. They also use amazing colors in the photos. The background of my square is slightly different as I used a simple granny square (3dc ch2 3 dc (corner) then 3dc in each space around). That's the only difference. I highly recommend the book. 

I took a few photos of the my latest, finished blanket. I also took a photo of the back in case anyone was interested in seeing what that looks like.

Have a relaxing Labor Day!

New daisy blanket

I've been quite busy with a steady stream of custom blankets over at tillie tulip. One request came in for a daisy afghan using purples, so here is the latest in the daisy granny square saga...

I hope my customer likes it!

Very grey and rainy around here today, but the precipitation is a refreshing change. Have a wonderful week!

Monkey business (updated)

About a year ago, I created this monkey applique for a custom blanket. During some file clean up, I came across it, so I thought I would share for all of you monkey lovers. (I typed this up from scribbles, so I apologize if there are any errors. I'm still a-work-in-progress when it comes to writing patterns.)

I used worsted weight yarn and a size I hook.


Monkey face (see chart below):

ch 4 join to form ring
round 1: ch 2, 13 dc into ring, join with slip st
round 2: ch 2, 2 dc into each dc around join with slip st
round 3: ch 1, skip 1, 7 dc into next st, skip 1, slip st in next st, sc into next dc, skip 1 dc, 7 dc into next st, skip 1, slip st in next 2 sts; 1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 2 trc in same st, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 2 trc in same st; 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc, slip into beginning stitch 
round 4: 1 sc, 7 hdc, 1 sc, slip st, 1 sc, 7 hdc, 1 sc, slip st, 1 sc, 2 hdc, 2 hdc into next st, 8 hdc, 2 hdc into next st, 2 hdc, 1 sc, slip st to beg, leave long tail to attach

Dark brown head:

ch 4 join to form ring
round 1: ch 2, 13 dc in ring, join with slip st
round 2: ch 2, 2 dc into each dc around join with slip st
round 3: ch 2, *1 dc, 2 dc into next st * (repeat around from *)
round 4: ch 2, *2 dc, 2 dc into next st * (repeat around from *)

Ears (make 2):

ch 4 join to form ring
round 1: ch 2, 6 dc into ring (do not join) ch 1 turn, sc in each, leave long tail to attach

Eyes (make 2):

ch4 join to form ring
round 1: ch 1, 10 sc into ring, slip to join, leave long tail to attach

Sew eyes to face with tail. Embroider smile of your choice. Center (pin if you like) and sew face to head. Attach ears by sewing them with long tail to either side of head. (I also did another option with a pink ear. You can create this by using the ear pattern with a smaller hook)

Please do not sell, copy/paste or display this pattern as your own. You may sell appliques or items made from this pattern, but please link back to this page or make note that the pattern was designed by tillie tulip. Thank you!

Note: Reminder **If you would like to sell items you have made with my patterns, please do give credit to Tillie Tulip. Thank you.

UPDATE 1/2/16: After several years, I have finally gotten back to monkey and Round 3 issues. As I mentioned in my original post, this was from my chicken scratch notes. I apologize for any frustrations the added stitches may have caused, but it is free after all :) I wish I could devote more time to this blog, but family and work keep me busy!

I charted out the face below, removed the extra stitches and hopefully, it will be a better experience!

As always, thanks for stopping by!