Pencil Covers

We are in Kindergarden countdown around here.  I have become school obsessed.  I wanted to make something fun for myself, since I'm getting ready to start a new class too!  

Remember my Fancy Pen covers?  Well, I made a fun version:

The Pencil (Pen) Cover!
Supplies:
Embroidery floss in 4 colors (I'm going to give you the DMC floss color numbers to make a classic yellow pencil, but you can use any color for the body of the pencil.  The colors for the ends are what sells it as a 'pencil')
Wood: 437 (light brown)
Body: 972 (yellow)
Metal: 415 (light gray)
Eraser: 3326 or 894 -they both look good! (pink)
Size C crochet hook
Tapestry needle
Ballpoint pens (I used a Papermate Eagle, but I think a Bic Stic would work too.  Make sure you get one that has a black plastic tip holding the ink in... Which means that you're going to have to get a black ink pen...)

R1: With Wood color, make 6 sc in a magic loop.  Don't pull the loop tight, but close it enough that you can sl st the last sc to the first to join the round. (6 st)
R2-3: (from now on, the rounds are going to be done amigurumi style, continuously in one long spiral without joining) sc in each stitch (6 st)
R4-?: Change to Body color, sc in each stitch (use the entire skein - you'll know it's long enough when you run out of embroidery floss) (6 st)
R?+1-4: Change to Metal color, sc in each stitch (6 st)
R?+5-8: Change to Eraser color, sc in each stitch (6 st)
Sl st in next stitch. Fasten off.  Leave the Eraser and Wood ends, but weave in any other loose ends.

The tube is going to be very long and skinny.  It isn't easy to slide the pen into it, but I'm going to quote Julia Child here and say, "You just have to have the courage of your conviction" and shove it in.  I promise, it will fit, and if we made it bigger it would be too loose and wouldn't stay on.

Once you've got the cover on your pen, use your tapestry needle and the loose ends to really snug the cover onto the pen as you wind the ends in.

The 'pencils' would look great in a Pencil Case...

Okay, now I have some business I need to ask you about.  Jake and I have been knocking this idea around for a while, and we can't make a decision, so I thought I would ask YOU, Dynamos, for your opinion.  Quite often, for my posts, I make several versions of the item that I'm making.  I have to make the extras to pattern test before I unleash the pattern-y awesomeness on you guys. (For example, I have 2 of these pens earmarked for a present, but the rest??!)  So my house is starting to fill up with unused crochet goodness, and I'm running out of room.  I was thinking of starting an Etsy shop to get rid of share the extras, but we're not sure that anyone would even be interested.  What do you think?  Even if you don't normally leave a comment, I really would appreciate it if you would go ahead and leave one this time.  Think of it as a donation to my site.  In fact, I'll sweeten the deal, leave me a comment saying if you would be interested in my Etsy site or if I should donate/garage sale my leftovers.  Either way, I'll enter you to win one of my Pencil Pens, any color you want (I'll make it for you special!).  So leave me that info too.  So, since this has gone on so long, and just to clarify:
Please do me a solid and leave me a comment with your opinion about what I should do with my leftover crochet goodies (to Etsy, or not to Etsy), and the color Pencil Pen that you'd like if you're selected. (I will ship anywhere, international shipping is no problem)
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll select the winner next Friday, September 7th.

xoxo

A Giveaway and My New Cards

They're here!  They're here!  They're here!!!!  My new business cards arrived, and I am so excited!

Okay, so you might remember this post where I talked about how unnecessary business cards were for someone like me, and they were, back then.  But times have changed!  Increasingly I am finding opportunities that an actual real business card would be so handy to share my information.  (In particular I am thinking about an especially embarrassing exchange I had with the owner of a shop that I would love to teach classes/workshops for... Oh well.)

I really wanted a card that would stand out, and would have value of some kind. I wanted a card that you wouldn't want to throw away, or stash in the bottom of a desk drawer (to throw out later).  I wanted a card you'd want to USE... Ideally, I wanted to put a pattern on the card.  I played around with that idea for a while, but it wasn't until I had streamlined my mini wishing star pattern that I knew what I was going to do...  So (drum roll, please) here are my cards.

It has the pattern for the Wishing Stars on it and a QR code!  Rad right?!  I am so excited!

I needed a business card holder.  I wanted something pretty.  It had to be crocheted, because it's so important to me to represent my brand in public!  And even if it was simple, I didn't want it to look too simple.  So I made a holder in shell stitch.  I did it in the round, which created some 'how am I going to write this as a pattern' problems.  So I made a second one.  My questions were still not answered.  So I made one flat, which was easy and beautiful and fit just perfectly!  Awesome!  But now I wanted to make another one in case I needed to show how I stitched it together...  So I made another one.

I got inspired and made a different design, thinking that you might like the option of choosing a different look, if the shells weren't your thing.  So I made one with bars...

Then I got it in my head that I wanted to make a shell-stitch business card holder out of size 3 crochet thread, since the weights of the yarns weren't THAT different.  Ahahahaha!!!  Yeah, I had to re-do the case three times, but I'm putting the pattern on too, since crochet thread is cheap and comes in tons of colors.  I mean, why WOULDN'T you want to have one in every color?!

This has left me with a ridiculous quantity of business card holders that all look the same. I will never use them all.  So I'm going to have a giveaway!

I've got 5 business card holders, which each contain a set of 4 of my new fancy-schmancy business cards, available for the giveaway!  But here's the catch, if you win, you have to promise to give 3 of the cards away to crochet-crafty friends to share the love, Dynamo.  Sound like a deal?  Cool!

You have to be a Dynamo (which means you follow me!) to enter.  Leave a comment on this post telling me how you follow: Google Friend Connect or email** and I will enter you to win one of the business card holders!  There will be five (5!) winners!!!  (Everyone is welcome to enter, I'm happy to ship internationally!)

** You may have noticed I've got a new following option now.  I've gotten some sad lamentations from friends that they wished I would offer a follow-by-email option, since they keep missing posts, so I've now included that in my side bar.  So, if you check in regularly, but haven't wanted to use Google Friend Connect, this is your chance to become a full-fledged Dynamo, with all the rights and privileges!**

The giveaway is going to be open until 11:59 pm Tuesday, July 31st.  If you follow by email AND Google Friend Connect, feel free to enter twice, just let me know you're following both ways.  I will pick winners from a random drawing on August 1st!  Good luck!!

(Whew, this post got LONG!!! I'm putting the patterns up tomorrow!)

xoxo

Update 7/31/12:  Comments are closed now.  Thanks for playing!  I will announce winners on Wednesday, August 2nd.

My First Giveaway!

Happy May Day to you all!  I am so excited that today my blog is being featured on Craft Gossip.  I want to share the love and happiness with everyone that comes by today, so I think it's time for a Crochet Dynamite Giveaway!

I recently purchased a metal punch, which has solved the problem that I was having with my mason jar lids  (unsurprisingly, a crochet top just doesn't protect the carpet very well when your jar of iced tea gets kicked over, assuming that the crochet lid doesn't fall into the tea all on it's own.).  Amazingly enough, if you punch a straw-sized hole in a canning lid, you get all of the convenience of a fast-food cup, but it's super eco-responsible (except for the straws, but that's something we'll address at a later date...).

So I would like to giveaway a set of 4 punched lids, so that you can enjoy Playdoh-free iced tea all summer long, with no worries about what will happen if the dog knocks over your jar...

I think you need a Jar Sock (still not sure about that name...) to go with the lids.  I'm not going to actually send the wide mouth quart-sized canning jars because I don't want them to break, and I have no confidence in my shipping skills.

I made the bee set to go together, so I have to send a Fancy Pen to go with the Jar Sock and lids!  It would be weird to separate them. I really like how the pen turned out with the bee charm.  Very fancy!

If you would like to be entered in the giveaway drawing, please leave a comment below.  Of course, I would love it if you wanted to follow my blog, so I will enter you twice if you follow me (and become a Crochet Dynamo!). If you want a third entry, you could like it on Facebook, +1 it on Google Plus, or blog about the giveaway.  Let me know in your comment which of the things you have done!

I am going to keep this giveaway open until 11:59 pm Friday, May 4th, so let your friends know (I bet they would share the prize with you!).  I will do the random drawing on Saturday morning. Please make sure that you leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win.  

I am so grateful that you've taken the time to look at my blog.  I hope that my patterns are fun and easy to follow, if they aren't, please leave me a comment or send me an email (CrochetDynamite@gmail.com) so that I can update the pattern to make the instructions more clear.  I would also love a picture if you actually make something from one of my patterns! I would love to post it, so everyone can see what you made (with your permission, of course)!  Thank you so much, Crochet Dynamos, you have made my day!

xoxo