Monster Crochet Hook Case

Last week, I showed off my new crochet hooks with polymer clay hook grips.   Well, now that I had the new hooks, I needed a new crochet hook case.  (I had been toting around my hooks in a plastic Ziploc baggy, so it was time for something a little nicer.)

 Supplies:
--yarn for monster body
--yarn for eyes
--2 plastic safety eyes (optional)
--crochet hooks of a couple different sizes (I used F for the body and D for the horns and eyes)
--button

Directions:
Step 1:  I started out by using this monster pattern as the template.  The only parts I followed were the beginning telling the number to chain and how to know where to put the mouth.  (I think her hook case is really cute with the stripe running down it.)

Step 2: Crochet your foundation chain (about 22 SC), and go all the way around it.  Then, I went around it with a DC.  Increase base to make it as big as you want/need.

Step 3: SC rounds until crochet hooks fit inside and only the tips stick past.

Step 4: Create your mouth.  Figure out how big you want your mouth to be, and crochet that amount of SC.  (Ex:  If you want it 14 SC long, then make a 14 SC chain, then count 14 SC and attach at the new spot)  Continue SC rows until you have desired height (minus closing).

Step 5: Closing your monster head.  There are different ways to do it.
--The way I chose was to do decrease rounds until I reached 6SC total, and then close using a decrease stitch using first and fourth SC.
--Another way to close would be to just sew across the top or to reduce some and sew across the top.  The across the top sewing would be for a more boxy shaped head.

Step 6: Decorate your monster.  I added horns, arms, and eyes.
--To make eyes: Ch2; Rd 1= 4 SC in ch that is second from hook.  Increase until you have the width you want.  (I did 4, 8, 12) Then, 1 plain SC round to make eyes pop out.  For the eyes, I'm pretty sure I used the smaller D hook.  I added plastic safety eyes, but you could also do yarn, felt, etc.
--To make the horns, I used a smaller D hook.  I think I started with 4 SC, but I cannot remember.
--To make arms, I used the same size hook as the body (F), and did the following: Ch 2; Rd 1= 6 in ch that is second from hook; Rd 2= 2 SC, Sc (9); Rds 3-9= SC (9)

Step 7:  I added a button and yarn to close off my monster's mouth, so that my hooks wouldn't fall out easily.

Update: This post was featured on We Made That Linky #53.

Space Themed Party

We don't have any kids yet, and my husband didn't really have big birthday parties as a kid, so I have been throwing him a birthday party for the past couple of years.  It's fun coming up with the theme and components for the party, and it's a chance to see family and friends.


Last year, I threw a gnome themed surprise party for my husband.  Here are a few pics:

My husband loves astronomy, so this year the theme was space.  It was pretty easy, and we kept the price down by serving hot dogs and hamburgers.  I bought a constellation pack, painted the planets, and strung them like a garland.  The crochet decorations were projects that I had previously done and can be seen in other posts.  Most of the serving dishes came from the dollar store.

I took some pics of the party food and decorations, but I'm not exactly a great photographer, so some are a little bit blurry.

We had star crunches, asteroids (cheese balls), and star burst candies for snacks.  The snacks table was decorated with the constellation garland.

There was a filling station where party guests could make their drinks.  We had sodas, teas, water, etc.

I didn't take a picture of the space discs and satellites (hamburgers and hotdogs), but here is a pic of the condiments and buns section.

For sides, we had flora & dip, Jerry space taters (Jerry potatoes, aka super cheesy yummy potatoes), and crunchy space taters.  I used a rocket ship amigurumi as a decoration for this section.

Finally, we had a dessert table.  I made cupcakes, and my sister-in-law made her pumpkin roll (which is really good).  I embellished this table with a planet and space monsters.

This party was a lot of fun.  We had a great time spending time with our family.

Amigurumi Monsters

I recently decided to make some amigurumi monsters, and I am sharing those projects this week.  I found other monsters that I wanted to make, but I ran out of time.  There will probably be another monsters post in the near future, but my attention will next be turned to making an amigurumi rat for my nephew (by request and I finally found a good free pattern).

Here are the 3 monsters all in a row:

 All three monsters were made using patterns by Stacey Trock.  They can be purchased from her website.  The striped monster, Mixtro, is available for free on Ravelry.


Mixtro

To make Mixtro, I used 4 colors of acrylic yarn, a G sized hook, needle, stuffing, and 12 mm eyes.

First, I used 2 main colors and switched back and forth to make the main body.  This pattern is a little bit different from others I had previously done for a couple of reasons.  It is done in the round, but it is started by using a chain, rather than a magic circle.  The ears required me to learn a new trick as well, only going partway through the round, but they were relatively simple.

Next, I added the eyes.  They are just a simple crochet in the round, 12 mm eyes placed in the middle, and then the eyes are stitched onto the body.

Then, I added the mouth.  I just stitched across with black acrylic yarn.

Finally, I stuffed my monster and sewed it shut across the top between the ears.


Mr. Toothy

The original Mr. Toothy has a felt tooth, but I chose not to add the tooth.  It's all made in the round, and is fairly simple to make.  (I'll show more of the parts with the Yeti below.)  It includes 2 ears, 2 arms, and 2 leg parts.

I made this monster using a size H needle, 2 colors of acrylic yarn (body and mouth), 12 mm eyes, stuffing, and a needle.

First, the legs are made to a certain point, and then stitched together.  Next, stitch around the body for some rounds.  Then, the arms are stitched into one of the rounds, and then a couple more plain rounds.  Finally, you do reducing rounds until closed.  The ears are stitched onto the head, rather than being stitched into the round.  The mouth is just a plain stitch using black yarn.


Yeti

For this Yeti, I used a cotton blend yarn for the body and a gray acrylic yarn for the face.  I also used 12 mm eyes, stuffing, crochet hooks, and a needle.  For the body, I used a size K hook, and I used a size H hook for the face.

You can see all of the parts and the yarns in the following photo.

It is easier to see in the above photo how the legs were started separately, and then later joined together.  As you can see, I am still using my super cheap paperclip stitch markers.  I like them.

You might not see it at first glance, but I used the same pattern for the Yeti as I did for my Mr. Toothy.

The only differences are the lack of ears and the face.  For the Yeti face, I just did a number of increase rounds.


I have to give a shout out to my wonderful husband.  He did a great job for my birthday this year.  He got the bike that I had requested, but also surprised me with my favorite flowers.  Soooo pretty! We also had a great evening going to dinner and a movie.