Better late than never!

April 25, 2014 by chelseacraft

The Easter Afghan Stitch can be made to any size you want or used for any crochet project, not just afghans. For more info or to purchase this pattern at ChelseaCraft Ravelry store just click the photo.

Well here it is. My second Easter design project which ran late. As you can see the bunnies multiplied and so did the eggs and baskets. That’s not all that multiplied this Easter! As luck would have it, a stray malnourished pregnant cat took up living in our hedges so I was tasked to get her into the house and try to fatten her up. She had kittens the Thursday before Easter (see photo below). That little one I named Bootsie had to be bottle fed because he was too weak. So between all the new cat & kittens ordeal I managed to finish this Easter Afghan Stitch pattern and publish it.

It has gotten a bit of attention by one of Ravelry’s editors who some of you may recognize, Kim Guzman. My design made her blog’s “10 Things This Week in Crochet” list. She gave it some nice compliments! I had a lot of fun making this pattern and wish I had the time to make samples of all the neat things you can do with the 3 separate stitches that make the repeating pattern. I got kind of carried away and made a 3rd project of an afghan square with 4 bunnies, 4 Easter baskets with beads for eggs, and a decorative border of Easter eggs. Unfortunately, when the cat made her appearance I quickly laid that aside & stuck to finishing this second project just in time for Easter. I will keep that project & my idea for a panoramic Easter Egg for next year’s offerings for Easter.

My husband named her Voyant because he calls the other feral cat outside “Claire”. LOL

For now, I’m moving on to Mother’s Day and still working on the butterfly scenic afghan square to match my hummingbird square. I’m kind of stuck on that project with too many choices for the butterfly. I want it unique… not just a copy of someone else’s butterfly. That’s kind of hard because I feel like everything’s been done in the butterfly range. So until I get over this creative block with the butterfly… I’m throwing myself full steam into the Mother’s Day afghan I’m making for none other than MYSELF! Yep, me with no kids is making herself a Momma’s Day gift for myself that will capture all the love I have for my pets. I can’t wait to share it with all of you! I promise… you’ve never seen anything like it! 😀

To purchase the Easter Afghan Stitch crochet pattern from my Ravelry store just click the photo of it.

Easter Awesome (even if I do say so myself)

April 3, 2014 by chelseacraft

Feeling rather springy, I had launched into a project I wanted to do for some time… a panoramic crochet egg. However, I ran into a stumbling block when the plastic egg I was going to use was discontinued by the manufacturer. So…. not to be deterred from my spring enthusiasm, I came up with something else. I made a short list of all the elements associated with this vernal season. I wanted to encorporate all these elements: baskets, eggs, bunnies, duckies, and, of course, baby chicks… plus I wanted a flower & some green grass. Who doesn’t love the smell of the first mown grass of spring? Then, I also wanted to revive a dead old vintage motif that had potential but its original version was pretty sad… and was thread crochet. After all spring is about rebirth, right?

So here you have it… an Easter Basket 8″ afghan square. You create the blocks that have the basket sitting in the grass then add your Easter appliques as you want them so each square is unique. I think it will make a darling afghan for the spring. And don’t forget that Mother’s Day isn’t far off either…

While this set is for sale on Ravelry & Etsy… I will be posting a FREE PATTERN for everyone that is a set of patterns for all these appliques (without the square). Also be watching because I have another bunny themed pattern coming really soon. For some reason I’ve gone nuts with the bunnies this year and they seem to be multiplying like rabbits! (That’s a hint for my new pattern… hehehehe)

Links for this pattern:

ChelseaCraft Designs on Ravelry

http://www.ravelry.com/stores/chelsea-craft-designs

ChelseaCraft Crochet store on Etsy

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChelseaCrafter

And now… Something REALLY different…

February 19, 2014 by chelseacraft

Can you imagine a bedspread with these?

Nope, this isn’t applique sewn on. This is OVERLAY!

The Hummingbirds in Flight is a brand new 12″ square made in crochet overlay technique that creates a 3D effect. This pattern is in testing and will be made available for sale on my Ravelry and Etsy stores. I’m hoping this will be just the first of a series of these overlay squares.

UPDATE ON THIS PROJECT 03/02/2014

Well, as I knew when I got the inspiration for this square, it’s a real hair puller. Not only have I totally tweaked the whole thing so the pattern has to be virtually re-written, but I’ve got to take a full set of photos as well for the tutorial bits so that intermediate skilled crocheters can tackle this lovely thing. I’ve become rather perfectionist on this project because I literally got the idea for it in a dream. So to make it closer to my dream I have now altered it to this:

I just don’t like the red throats but finding it hard to come up with an authentic looking ruby throat so people know it’s hummingbirds. I also didn’t like the weight and heft of this green yarn. But I finalized my pattern and that’s what’s important. I’m leaving some details optional so people can personalize the square more. Anyway, it should be finished within the week if all goes as planned. I think this is going to be my best design yet. I just can’t wait to make it into an afghan.