Cell Phone Case Pattern

A friend of mine asked me to make him a cell  phone case for his Blackberry. So this is how I did it. There are no exact measurements or stitch counts. It all depends on the size of your phone or whatever you decide to put in the case. This would be good for an IPOD too. I had to use another case for my measurements since I didn't have the phone.

Materials:

• worsted weight yarn
• size F hook
• velcro (sticky or sew on)
• a phone for perfect measurements

 

Abbreviations:

•  hdc = half double crochet
•  st = stitch
•  ea = each
•  ch = chain

Pattern:


Make a chain that goes across your phone, plus 1. Mine came out to 15 chains.

hdc in second ch from hook and in ea st across.
make a second hdc in the last st.
hdc in the next st and ea st across on the other side of the ch.
it should look like this

do not join. hdc in next hdc and ea st around.
the corners will bunch up which is what we want. 

just push the corner in towards you so you can continue crocheting on the outside of the case.

continue with hdc in ea st, spiraling around until it is the length of your phone. do not fasten off.

now we'll make the the flap. 
hdc in ea st across the back of the case.
ch 1 and turn.

hdc in ea st back down the row.
my count here was 12 sts, yours may be different.

ch 1 and turn.
continue making rows with the same amount of stitches until your flap is as long as you want it.

fasten off. 
to close the case, I used sticky back Velcro. You can use a snap or button or leave it as is. 

I cut about 2 inches of the felt part, rounded it off and stuck it on the case. Then I cut a smaller piece of the other part and stuck that on the flap. I made the flap piece smaller because if the little hooks catch on the yarn it will eventually get all fuzzy and felted. 

Here is a pic of the first case I made for my own phone. It is old, dirty and beat up, but it still does the job. The Velcro looks much better on the black because it blends in. I think a button would have been cuter for the blue one, but I don't think my friend was going for cute.

 I love seeing finished products from my patterns. If you want to be featured on my blog with your finished items, just shoot me an email. If you don't want to be featured but still want to send me pics, that's great too! Just let me know in the email if you want me to post your pics or not.

daperfectmix@gmail.com

Gifted Beanies

 Before Christmas, my husband volunteered me to make some of his gifts. How convenient, right? I didn't mind though. He wanted six beanies made. Four with their favorite NFL team colors and two customized beanies. The teams are Ravens, Dolphins, Steelers, and Cowboys. For the custom beanies, one is red white and  blue with an eagle iron on applique and the other has a Harley Davidson iron on. I didn't get pics of all of them right after I made them, but they got together and took a pic for me. The Steelers fan is missing. My husband is sporting a plain navy blue beanie on the right. Thanks for the pic, guys! You look great!

I did happen to get one closeup pic of the Harley beanie. I think it turned out better than I thought it would. I hear he likes it a lot too!

Newsboy cap order

 I've been working on this order for two newsboy caps. It's been a challenge doing the brim. The customer wants the brim to be stiff, so I've been playing with ideas and different brim patterns to be able to somehow put a plastic piece in the brim. The pattern that I used for the main part is the same one that I used before by Mimi Alelis. For the brim, I found a pattern here. I used plastic canvas for the insert. I think it came out pretty good, although it could probably use a little more tweaks. It still leans down a bit too low. What do you think?

2011 and a Stylish Blogger Award!

Happy New Year! Time is just flying by. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is well rested. I could use a little more rest, but the show must go on.

I was surprised to see in my comments that I had been nominated a Stylish Blogger Award! Can you believe it?!! Thank you so much Mindy! I'm so happy to accept! Mindy has a blog called In The Loop, where she showcases her beautiful crochet projects and shares herself with the world. Be sure to stop by her blog and leave a comment.

Now I must tell you 7 things about me and pass on the award to 15 other stylish blogs. Hmm, let's see...

1. I'm half Filipino, and Puerto Rican and been to both islands.
2. I was in the Army for almost 8 years. (missing all my old buddies)
3. I met my husband 12 years ago, training in the military and I didn't like him much.
4. I love to sing.
5. I played the trombone and xylophone in the marching band and piano in the jazz band in high school. (I was the coolest band geek, really ;)
6. I went to a Catholic school and wore a uniform.
7. My Jr and Sr year of HS, I worked at Chocolate World in Hershey, PA, and had a sweet discount (literally).

If you'd like to know more, feel free to ask! I pass this award to the following stylish blogs! These fabulous blogs are just a few of my favorites. Be sure to check them out too.

1. CraftFro
2. Centsational Girl
3. Arm Candy For You
4. Crafty Gemini
5. Crochet and Other Stuff
6. Pittypat Paperie
7. Futuregirl Craft Blog
8. Moon's Creations
9. Stitch of Love
10. Handmade by Lilacanglia
11. Double Equis
12. Where Did U Get That
13. Fireflies and Jellybeans
14. craft eNVy
15. Craftaholics Anonymous

For the nominees, accept your award by linking back to my blog, writing up 7 things about yourself, nominate 15 others, and let your nominees know about the award. Congrats, and have fun!

One week left until Christmas!

Only one more week left to Christmas! I've been busy trying to get ready, and I still have some shopping to do. I got a few handmade gifts done. Here's what I've done.

A hat and scarf set made with super bulky Hometown USA Lion Brand Yarn in Billings Chocolate. I used the galaxy stitch to make the scarf.

Here is another scarf I made with Red Heart acrylic yarn in violet and lavender. I used the  Mile a Minute Scarf pattern by Mary Jane Protus.

Here is a handmade, custom Yankee's Beanie requested by a friend.

I also made some jewelry. I used silver beads and  Beyond Beautiful crackle lime and metallic green beads.

Are you ready for Christmas?  I hope everyone has a happy, merry Christmas!

My brother, the Professional Wrestler

Remember the post where I showed you my funky boot covers?

There was actually a reason that I made them. I don't think I would just wear them casually. I wore them on Black Friday for a show. My brother is a professional wrestler and guess who his lovely manager is? That's right, I have many faces. My stage name is Lolita Loca and my brother is Lobo Loco. He wrestles for Classic Championship Wrestling (CCW). Here is a pic of the whole outfit:

So, what do you think? If you want to see more pictures and the videos from the main event, you can go to my brother's website, here.

Handmade Gift Exchange Gift

 I had a great time making a gift for my new friend Savannah! I forgot to take pictures of the scarf and earrings I made for her, but I did get a chance to get a picture of the hat I couldn't resist making for her baby girl.

Ok, now check out the cute new bag she made for me!

Isn't it lovely? Thank you Savannah! She even put some peppermint kisses inside the bag. Sweet! I love seeing other people's crafts and what people can do with their own hands and creativity. I think it makes a gift worth so much more.

I also want to thank Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous for hosting the Handmade Gift Exchange. You can go to her link party to see all the handmade gifts people have given and received.

Earring Inspiration and Funky leg warmers

I bought an earring kit from Walmart. I kinda felt like it was cheating, but I thought I might learn something new and get new ideas. So here is the kit packaging.

Here are the earrings made from the kit:

 

My favorite:

You might see some more in the future similar to the last one. Maybe a little shorter. So I got something good out of it. It wasn't totally cheating, I still put them together, right? I made all of the earrings from the kit except for one. For some reason there wasn't enough parts to make it. Oh well, I can still use the supplies.  ...I just noticed that the pink earrings are missing from the picture. I did make them and they're cute. They are just MIA right now. 

I did a little sewing recently. Check out my funky leg warmer/ boot covers! 

I got the idea from seeing some costumes that hoop dancers wear. I was into hooping for a while and even made my own hula hoops. If you're interested there is a ton of info about hooping at www.hooping.org.

Head warmer

Here's another head warmer that I made from my pattern. I added a flower and a border of single crochet to match the flower.The pattern for the flower can be found here.

Classic Cloche Pattern

Do you remember my post about my Classic Cloche? Well, someone left a comment and asked for the pattern. Unfortunately, I did not write the pattern down as I made it. (That's not the first time for that. Maybe I'll learn my lesson this time.) I sold the hat so all I had were pictures to re-create from. I think it came out pretty close, if not the same.




Materials:

• Size I crochet hook
• 4ply worsted weight yarn

Abbreviations:

• ch = chain
• ea = each
• hdc = half double crochet
• st = stitch
• rep = repeat
• rnd = round

Instructions:

Start with a magic circle, ch 1
Rnd 1: 7 hdc in ring, join with a slip stitch(7hdc)
Rnd 2: ch 1, 2 hdc in ea st around, join (14hdc)
Rnd 3: ch 1, *1 hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st* rep around, join (21hdc)
Rnd 4: ch 1, *1 hdc in next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st* rep around, join (28hdc)
Rnd 5: ch 1, *1 hdc in next 3 sts, 2 hdc in next st* rep around, join (35hdc)
Rnd 6: ch 1, *1 hdc in next 4 sts, 2 hdc in next st* rep around, join (42hdc)
Rnd 7: ch 1, *1 hdc in next 5 sts, 2 hdc in next st* rep around, join (49hdc)
Rnd 8: ch 1, *1 hdc in next 6 sts, 2 hdc in next st* rep around, join (56hdc)
Rnd 9: ch 1, 1 hdc in ea st around, join (56hdc)
Rnd 10-17 : rep Rnd 9 (for a longer or shorter hat do more or less rows)
Rnd 18: ch 1, in back loops only, *1 hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st* rep around, join
Rnd 19: ch 1, 1 hdc in ea st around, join.
Rnd 20-21: rep Rnd 19, fasten off.

Adornment:
You can adorn your cloche with strands of yarn or crocheted flowers or anything you want, really. Here are examples of how I did it with the strands.  It's actually the yarn I had left over.

Here is a picture of my first Classic Cloche if you missed that post:

I don't remember how much yarn it was, but i just folded them evenly, wrapped it around the hat and tied it in a knot. Then I twisted the yarn around itself to make the shape and I secured the yarn with fabric glue. I didn't glue it to the hat itself because I wanted the adornment to be removable.

You could also let the strands hang down for a different look. These strands came out to be about 3 feet long. I counted 8 strands, but I didn't cut the yarn, it's just folded. You can play with it and come up with something new.

 I love seeing finished products from my patterns. If you want to be featured on my blog with your finished items, just shoot me an email. If you don't want to be featured but still want to send me pics, that's great too! Just let me know in the email if you want me to post your pics or not.

daperfectmix@gmail.com

Handmade Gift Exchange

  I meant to post about this earlier, but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to. Today is the LAST DAY to sign up for the Handmade Gift Exchange that is happening on Craftaholics Anonymous blog. Basically anyone who wants to participate signs up, after sign up is over (midnight tonight), then everyone will be assigned a partner. Then you and your partner will exchange a handmade gift. Exciting, isn't it? I think it's a great idea! For details and to sign up for the US Exchange, click HERE. For the International Exchange details and sign up click HERE. Hurry and sign up before it's too late!

Hilltop Playground Fundraiser

 My first time selling in public was a great learning experience. There are quite a few things I still need to work on. Overall, I need to be a better sales person. I need to get over my shyness and just do it! I also need to display some of my work on myself! Duh!!! Well, I think my biggest fear about this was not selling anything at all. That didn't happen so I'm very grateful for that. I also had lots of compliments. I probably should have handed out my card more too. Next time will be better, I hope. I didn't get too many photos, but here are a few from the day.

This is my jewelry table:

 

Here is the hat table:

Here I am taking a break with my mother.

While getting ready to pack it all up, a few people took a last look.