Free Star Pattern!

Free Star Pattern

I have made another free pattern! Yay! My husband wanted a videogame inspired Christmas tree this year (since my son and I did the Legend of Zelda costumes for Halloween), so I made a cute star for the top of our tree. When I get more time, I want to make more ornaments for the tree, but this will do for now.
So here it is:

Acrylic yarn in yellow, black and white

Size H crochet hook

Stitch marker

Polyfil

Tapestry needle

Directions:

Star: (make 2)

Row 1 – Using yellow yarn and magic ring method, 5 sc in ring. Pull tail to close the ring. Place st marker to mark the beginning of the row (5)

 

Row 2 – Inc 5 times, crocheting in a round (10)

Row 3 – (Sc, inc) 5 times (15)

Row 4 – (2 sc, inc) 5 times (20)

Row 5 – (3 sc, inc) 5 times (25)

Row 6 – (4 sc, inc) 5 times (30)

Row 7 – (5 sc, inc) 5 times (35)

Row 8 – (6 sc, inc) 5 times (40)

Row 9 – (7 sc, inc) 5 times (45)

Row 10 – (8 sc, inc) 5 times (50)

Row 11 – (Stop crocheting in a round) 10 sc, ch 1, turn (10)

Row 12 – 10 sc. Ch 1, turn (10)

Row 13 – Dec, 6 sc, dec.  Ch 1, turn (8)

Row 14 – 8 sc. Ch 1, turn (8)

Row 15 – Dec, 4 sc, dec. Ch 1, turn (6)

Row 16 – 6 sc. Ch 1, turn (6)

Row 17 – Dec, 2 sc, dec. Ch 1, turn (4)

Row 18 – 4 sc. Ch 1, turn (4)

Row 19 – 2 dec. Ch 1, turn (2)

Row 20 – 2 sc. Ch 1, turn (2)

Row 21 – Dec. Bind off

Attach yarn in the next st. 

Repeat rows 11 through 21 four more times (5 points). Single crochet around the perimeter of the star.

Sl st to close.

With wrong sides facing eachother, sew the two sides together using the tails from the points.

When there is only one point left to sew together, start stuffing the star with polyfil. 

 

Finish sewing up the rest.

Eyes: (make 2)

Using black yarn, ch 4. Sc in second ch from hook, sc in next st, 3 sc in last st. Keep crocheting in a round instead of turning your work. Sc in next st, 2 sc in last st. Sl st in 1^st sc to close.  Bind off.

Eye highlight: (make 2)

Using white yarn, 4 sc in magic ring. Sl st in 1^st sc to close. Bind off.

Sew eyes onto the star, then sew the highlights onto the eyes.

 

If you want to hang it on your Christmas tree like I did, crochet a band to go across the back: 
Ch 11, sc in 2^nd ch from the hook. Sc 9, ch 1, turn. (10)
*10 sc across, ch1, turn. Repeat from * 2 more times (10)
10 sc across (10)

 Bind off.

Sew horizontally on the back of the star just on the sides.

 

Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!

XOXO

Hey Babycakes! And pictures of Halloween and my newly cleaned studio

First of all, let me start out with some pictures of our Halloween yard this year (the theme was scarecrows).

Pale Horse Cemetery

My husband is amazing.
Anyway...
Woo hoo! Mission accomplished! I managed to get our studio cleaned up before our Halloween party. So now I just need to find time to work in there. Right now I am making Christmas presents, so I don't have much I can share at the moment. Except for this adorableness:

My little Link

Anyway, here's my new favorite room:

Jesse painted this awesome room

Our chalkboard wall

This isn't even all of my yarn

This wall reserved for a Jesse painting

I love my house
Eventually we will get rid of the carpet.
So, Sam and I were at Bed, Bath and Beyond the other day and I came upon this little baby:

I am a fan of cake pops and made them for Sam for his 1st birthday, but they are kind of a pain in the ass to make. It is relatively cheap so I thought, "why not?" You can make doughnut holes with them too! DOUGHNUT HOLES!
I decided to try it out the other night, so I apologize for the crappy photos. Night time is pretty much the only time I can do stuff like this. I made French Breakfast Puffs in the recipe book, altering it slightly.
So you put about a tablespoon of dough in each pocket.

 

 Let them cook for 4-5 minutes and they look like this:

 

 While they are still hot, you roll them in melted butter and then roll them in a sugar and cinnamon mixture. I added a little of this to the mixture:

 

I got it from Target.

 Roll them and roll them and roll them...

Yummy! I approve! I can't wait to try actual cake pops. It satisfies my need to bake. For now.
So, I still plan on finishing my crochet zombie pattern now that we fixed my laptop (the pattern was saved on it and I thought I had to start all over again), and I will try to take pictures of the gifts I make.
Also, I will get some pictures of our sun room because I was able to get that room cleaned up as well. Woo hoo!! My house is almost organized! I ALMOST know where everything is. It makes me very happy.
This time of year is amazing. I love that people are a little nicer. I just wish they could stay that way all year long. But, I had a woman pay for my coffee today and it was so sweet. I am going to have to do the same for someone else.
I hope you all have a very happy turkey day! I am truly thankful for all I have and I hope you all are too (assuming there's anyone actually reading this, that is).
XOXO

The Best Time of the Year and new patterns

I hate to admit it, but I've been in a bit of a funk lately. I don't know if it's just from being uninspired or doing the same thing day in and day out. Lack of sleep hasn't helped.
The house is in a constant state of disarray and my little one keeps me constantly moving. I feel like all I do is entertain Sam and clean the house. The highlight of my day is when I get to take a shower.
I feel worn down to a thread and all I want to do is sleep for three days straight. The thought of having to get dressed, put on makeup and face other people is making me shudder like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons.

Don't get me wrong, I love that I get to stay home with my son and be my own boss, but sometimes you just need to do something different (since 98.9% of my time is spent watching Sam, that doesn't leave very much time for other things; in fact it's taken me two days to try to write these last few paragraphs).
On the "make-Cori-very-happy" side, Autumn is here! Pumpkin all the things!
This is my favorite time of the year, but unfortunately anymore has become somewhat of a burden. The stress has overridden my enjoyment of my favorite time of the year. I'm beginning to think I need to take a few things off of my schedule.
Admittedly, I do tend to take on too much so that my husband can "do his thing," and then I am stuck doing everything else. Especially now that we have a son.
Right now I am struggling to find time to make Halloween costumes and work on projects for my upcoming Bogeyman Art Show:

 

Join us if you are in the Denver area and can make it. Along with my crocheted zombies, I am going to feature at least one pumpkinhead and a ghostly gentleman. Jess will have at least one painting on display.

On that note, I am working very hard on getting my crocheted zombies and pumpkinhead patterns ready to go on sale for the holidays. Yay! Look for the pumpkinhead soon!

We are planning on having our annual Halloween party at our house and as much as I love doing it, it's starting to get really stressful. For one, I am extremely paranoid ever since having been robbed after moving into our house for only two months and having that many people in my house while not being sure if I know who everyone is really freaks me out. Plus, we've had some incidents with rude guests that make me want to strictly keep tabs on who comes to the party. Preparing for the party takes a lot out of me, especially when I am up late the night before baking. 

Also, while Jess is outside scaring the bejesus out of people I am trying to make sure that kids get there candy, make sure my dog isn't sneaking food or pooping on the floor, monitor who is in my house and trying to keep up with being a hostess. Moreover, the mess that is left behind always sucks giant, smelly monkey balls. 

Our yard October 2013

I'm sure it's nothing compared to Jesse's uncle Charlie's after Christmas Party mess (he has over 30 cousins, most of them live in Denver), but it's usually just me (unless Jess doesn't have to work) at 1 am trying to mop the sticky floor. It makes me not want to serve any food, but I probably will anyway. 

I'm trying to talk Jesse into handing out the candy so it's one less thing for me to do. Luckily family are always happy to entertain Sam for me.

Anyway, blah blah blah... Sorry this is kind of a bummer post. I guess I just needed to vent. 

My birthday is in October! Hooray! It's also my Moms, my Mother-in-law, my Father-in-law, a couple of friends, my friend's mom and aunt...

This morning I decided to try to work on typing out the pumpkinhead pattern and prepping the photos while Sam played in the sun room with me. Our laptop is broken, otherwise I would just use that while Sam is playing in the livingroom where most of his toys are. Yeah, I'll get a lot done, I thought. But we'll try it and see. Here is a photo of him trying to escape:

 

He did pretty well for the most part, despite constantly trying to sit in my lap so he could bang on the keyboard, and I'll tell you it felt pretty good to be doing something else and to be in a different room for a change. I decided that I was in the mood to try to get our sun room and studio cleaned up so we can actually use it. And make it childproof so Sam can't get into as much trouble.

So instead of doing the millions of other things I should be doing, I decided to organize (after I write this blog, of course. It has been far too long) our craft areas. I'm sick of looking at the mess.

So there.

I apologize to the wonderful friends and family I am neglecting right now. But anyone who knows me, knows how busy I am right now and will hopefully forgive me. I am trying to get to the point where I can enjoy my favorite time of year again.

Hopefully you will too :) 

Happy Autumn!

*Remember, keep an eye out for new patterns in the shop!