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Post-Creeper Crochet Ideas

My giant Minecraft-inspired crochet Creeper project gave me some more ideas. Here are a few from my studio “vault.”

In the first three photos (top row), the head is partly assembled. On the far left I see part of a hood. For example, a muffler or wide scarf seamed at a right angle to the scarf sides to create a hooded scarf. In the middle photo I see what a Creeper backpack might look like, and in the rightmost photo, a square bottomed bucket-style tote.

Gamer crochet amigurumi: giant Minecraft Creeper
I saw other projects and uses before I finished the full-size Creeper. View full size image.

In the bottom left photo, I don’t know what YOU see but I see an ipad/laptop sleeve. I threw in the next photo so you could see what the individual pieces look like before seaming. They could be joined to create lots of useful items. Besides the obvious baby blanket, how about patches on jeans or pockets on sweaters? A bathmat might be just the way to startle awake first thing in the morning.

And finally, there’s the happy recipient in the last photo. He was 13 here. The completed Creeper head could double as a throw pillow, literally. (He threw it around a bit like he would while playing with a cubic ball in Minecraft.)

I love how big and sturdy it came out. Single crochet stitches are so versatile! (Double crochet in the UK and Australia). As with this Creeper crochet toy, it was the perfect stitch for Gallon Friend, a classroom aid for my son’s third grade teacher.

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New Crochet Yarn Preview Photos

Want to see some preview photos I took of my new crochet yarn? I’m adding two new yarns to my shop: Treat and Lotus Snacks.

Top row: Treat fine merino wool yarn! I couldn’t resist a special purchase of this premium hand dyed crochet yarn in a gazillion colors. It comes wound as a Hook Ready™ center-pull cake-shaped ball. This means it sits flat while you crochet. It’s packaged in its own clear protective project bag. Hook Ready™ means just add crochet hook and crocheter, and go!

Second row: Lotus Snacks: cupcake-size balls of our original DesigningVashti Lotus yarn. They’re shown in sixpacks below but they’ll be available singly too.

More about Lotus Snacks: All 14 colors of my Lotus yarn in cute cupcake-like balls! They’re a third of the size of the large 256-yard Lotus center-pull cakes. That means 85 yards per ball (approx. 33 g or 1.16 oz).

More about Treat Medium-Z: It’s a standard worsted weight single ply z-twisted pure premium imported merino wool. A luscious new crochet yarn. I’ll also be adding more kinds of Treat in other thicknesses, colors, and plying.

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Crochet Glow-in-the-Dark Yarn Idea

I crochet pretty little things for my bedroom that glow. The one pictured here is from about three years ago and it has kept me from bumping into this bedpost every night since then.

Glow in the dark crochet bracelet pattern
Glow in the dark crochet “Jasmine Rope”

I like to sleep in total darkness. This puts me at risk of bumping into something if I have to get up in the middle of the night, but even the dimmest night lights are too bright for me.

My favorite solution is a bit of crochet that glows in the dark! It glows just enough in the middle of the night that I don’t notice it while I’m in bed, only if I’m walking around in total darkness. I can make it any size, shape, and color.

I also crocheted a snug mesh cover for the bathroom doorknob in the same yarn.

(Pattern and yarn info: the yarn is Bernat Glow in the Dark, discontinued. Other glow in the dark yarns or carry-along threads should work. The soon-to-be-published pattern, Jasmine Ropes, has a project page that you check in on to find out when the pattern PDF is ready.)

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I Wore Starwirbel as a Ponytail Lace Veil

I’ve been waiting for photos to surface from this summer’s CGOA’s Chain Link crochet conference (end of July in Manchester NH). Here’s the only one I have from the night I wore a crochet lace funnel cowl as a short veil covering my ponytail! You can barely see it in the first photo. In the second photo is Starwirbel – the flaring star stitch spiral of fine sequined mohair and silk.

It was fun and judging from the comments I received, it worked! I wouldn’t have thought of pinning a lace capelet as a veil-like hairpiece, but I was dressed in mostly black with some paisley and a sparkly silver belt. I wanted to include Starwirbel, but not as a cowl…and…voilà: un voile!

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Lab Experiment: I’m Customizing a Tank Top with Crochet

Pink Tank Top in Progress, Close Up

This is my first attempt at customizing a tank top with crochet, so I’m using a $4 scoop-neck tank top from Walmart (White Stag brand).  Update: It’s coming along well! See this followup post.

It looks dowdy on me straight off the store shelf, so I’ve drastically cropped it and turned the neckline into a deep V.

The crochet you see adds length along the bottom hem. I’m using standard sport weight yarn and a US/F (3.75 mm) crochet hook. The steel hook shown in the photo above is the largest sharp-headed crochet hook I have. I wish I had one that’s slightly bigger for pulling through loops of sport weight yarn.

The Real Reason I’m Doing This

Fancy triple-treble stitch clusters in a zigzag pattern add drama to the picot hem of the peplum I added to a storebought tank top.
Crocheting the bottom hem.
Armholes & neckline next.

What is it like to crochet DesigningVashti Lotus yarn onto t-shirt fabric? Is sport weight yarn a good match? (If I have to use lace weight yarns, I might as well just crochet the whole darn thing.) What does the texture of this yarn look like with a plain cotton machine knit fabric? 

I have mill ends of this “Pink Sugar” color; the dyeing looks more tonal than solid (not in this photo though). Do I like it? What is it generally like to pair Lotus colors with my tee shirt colors?

Can I use a super sharp crochet hook when customizing a tank top with crochet? I want to be able to start crocheting right onto fabric and get a result I like. Would I enjoy doing it more than sewing along the cut edges first? (I sealed the cut edges with an invisible permanent washable no-fray liquid.)

Customing a tank top with crochet to give it a well defined v-neck and picot-trimmed armholes.

How will it all hold up to wearing, machine washing and drying, and the Florida sun? Will the no-fray liquid add enough strength to the edges?

How will I like wearing it? Will I find I have a preference for customizing a tank top with certain kinds of crochet stitches? What if the crochet adds too much weight to the top?

Lots of what-ifs. Will I want to do something similar with my cashmere sweaters? ::gasp::

I have a few pullovers that I want to convert into cardigans. Ideally, give them a roomier fit while I’m at it. Heck, add beads. Cashmere love is a many splendored thing.