Dynamite Cowl

Cowls are awesome.  It's like all of the warmth of a scarf, combined with the funky look of a crochet turtleneck sweater (but with, like, 1/10th of the work), AND it also counts as your jewelry, ya know, if you do it right.  

I didn't realize how much I needed one, until my friend Darlene asked me for some cowl suggestions.  And while I was inspired by the round-up of cowls that I did last week, none of them exactly spoke to my personal crazy style and I wanted to make one just for me.  I really liked THIS as a cowl idea (not a pattern, but definitely an inspiration source), but I wanted one that would button.

So this is my Dynamite Cowl.  I used the moss stitch, which made it go crazy fast, since you crochet into the ch spaces, not the stitches.  Awesome, right?  If you want to make one too, read on!

Dynamite Cowl
approximately 5"x 26.5"
Supplies:
Worsted weight yarn (I used a variety of colors from my stash, but they were all 100% cotton, which is warm enough for Southern California.  If you live in an area that snows, you will probably want to use wool...)
Size J crochet hook
Two 1 1/8" buttons

ch 82
R1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, (ch 1, skip 1 ch, sc in next ch) 39 times, sc in last ch (80 stitches)
R2-16: change color, ch 1, sc in first st, (ch 1, sc in next ch space) 39 times, sc in last st (80 st)
Fasten off.  Weave in ends.

Button Flap:
R1: Using the color you like the most, sc 17 stitches across one of the short ends.  (Women's clothing normally buttons on the left hand side.  This picture looks backwards, but it's just upside down.  Yikes!)
R2: ch 1, sc across all st (17 st)
R3: ch 1, 3 sc, ch 3, skip 3 st, 5 sc, ch 3, skip 3 st, 3 sc (17 st)
R4: ch 1, 3 sc, 3 sc in ch space, 5 sc, 3 sc in ch space, 3 sc (17 st)
R5: ch 1, sc across all st (17 st)
Fasten off.  Weave in ends.

Sew buttons on to the other short side, being careful to match them to the button holes on the button flap.

Button it up and enjoy!!

And, in a pinch, you can use it as an earwarmer/headband.  You'll be the cutest ski bunny or Shred Betty on the block!

I also made one in less-wild colors, because I realize that not everyone likes to dress hippy-bohemian.  I used a dark chocolate brown, and two colors of aqua.  This version makes me think more of classic Channel, herringbone and tweeds...  Way more appropriate for the office... 

So, which do you like better?  Would you wear the crazy multi-colored cowl, or would the more sophisticated colors make you happier?

xoxo

Top 10 of 2012~ Ta-dah!!

So, inspired by all of the other crafty bloggers in the world, I'm going to share my top 10 posts from 2012, you know, in case you might have missed one and will feel left out if we all show up and talk about it and you don't know what we're talking about.  See, I'm thoughtful like that.

Top 10 Posts of 2012: in order of Awesomeness 

(as determined by your pageviews!  Democracy in action!)

1. The Hook makes the Project (project: Jaime's Butterflies)
The project based on a crochet butterfly from my childhood is the number one most-viewed post of the year.  It's also the post that inspired my friend Kristy to find a way to used crochet projects into her work with childhood cancer patients and the homeless/motel families in Orange County.  I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people all over the world who have made incredible crocheted donations to help us as we try to make the world a better place with crochet.  Thank you!  We love you all!

2. Make a Hat Day (project: Dynamite Beret)
I love this beret so much! In fact, I loved it so much that I put it on the cover of my very first book, Crochet Dynamite: Fancy Schmancy (available in the Kindle Store on Amazon.com.  Software for your computer/tablet/smartphone is FREE!).  It looks soooo good on everyone!

3. Boho Hairstyle (project: Boho Headwrap - multi-stripe)
I had seen so many scarf-based head wraps all over Pinterest that I got all inspired to make a crochet wrap for Mims and me.  This was my first experience using Mims as a model, and she was delightful until I accidentally bobby-pinned her in the scalp.  Then the photo shoot was much less fun.  She still likes wearing the headwrap though, but as a headband now.

4. Better Than a Sock Bun (project: Bun Shaper)
This came out of my love of crazy colored hair.  I love my completely unnatural pink/red hair, but it's hard to find styling aids that 'blend' in and look, um, natural... I know how it sounds, just let me have this.  So when my bright pink bun was looking a little wimpy, I created this add-in to boost the oomph of my little bun so that it would be as dramatic and impressive as my personality! LOL!!!

5. Monster Beanie (project: Newborn Little Monster Beanie)
Jake's cousin Ro was having a baby shower, and I wanted to put a handmade present in with the stuff that I had picked out from her registry.  Her baby, A, was due at the end of September, so I knew that he'd need a cozy hat for most of October whenever they left the house, so I created this Little Monster beanie to make Halloween Month more fun.  It did!  He even wore it as part of his Halloween costume!

6. Lipbalm Keychain (project: The Lipbalm Keychain - Quick and Easy)
My sister-in-law S, not to be confused with my sister S, had a cute sewn lipbalm keychain that she carries everywhere.  It had a zipper and was completely adorable.  I wanted to see if I could make a crochet version that would be just as cute and functional.  Turns out, it looked better (and worked better!) without the zipper!  And now that I've been using mine for 6 months, I don't know how I lived without it!  It's a must-have!

7. The London Crochet Bag (project: London Crochet Bag)
This is the first project that I made that went viral.  It showed up everywhere!  There was a while where I couldn't go on Pinterest without seeing it several times as I scrolled through the DIY & Craft section.  This pattern's success was what really gave me the confidence to keep designing and creating and building Crochet Dynamite.  It also inspired the Tardis Bag, which is so awesome that I believe The Doctor himself would approve!

8. Life at the Old Farmhouse (project: Kitchen Door Bumper)
Okay, if I'm completely honest, I made this project because I was annoyed.  I saw this cute idea three or four different places but as a sewn project.  Of course it's a great idea and I would have wanted to make a crochet version anyway, but one of the versions that I saw (that looked just like all of the other sewn versions, btw) had a threatening note attached to the picture, claiming legal action if anyone 'stole' their idea.  How do you steal an idea that's been around for decades?  We had bumpers on the doors when I was a kid.   Of course, my crochet version looks NOTHING like that person's sewn version,  but it still makes me happy every time I see it.  I'm perverse that way...

9. Star Spangled Everything (project: Star Amigurumi)
I like a project that you can use lots of different ways.  A multi-tasking project, if you will.  Something that is fast and easy, but still impresses the heck out of all of your friends.  This is one of those projects.  Mims still wears them in her hair!

10. Gratitude Stones (pattern: Gratitude 'Stones')
This project came out a very bad week, in a very challenging year.  In fact, it was one of those weeks where it was hard to remember that good things happen too.  I had watched a documentary about the positive things that happen when you focus on the positive things in your life, and I thought it was worth a try.  I'm glad I did, because when I started carrying this little beanbag around with me, it reminded me to be grateful  for what was going right in my life.  And somehow, the stuff that was going wrong didn't seem so bad.

Okay, so there you've got it!  The Top 10 of 2012!  Had you seen them all?  Did YOUR fave make the list?

I hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's Eve and I'll see you next year!

xo Jaime

Button Swap! Are you in??!

So some of you who follow the Crochet Dynamite page on Facebook might have seen a post I did last night about adding advertising to my site.  I've been reluctant to do it, honestly, since I didn't want to bombard you lovely Dynamos with ads that are obnoxious and irrelevant.  But it has occurred to me that some of you lovely Dynamos have lovely businesses and you might like a place to promote them!  Especially if that price was so good you couldn't NOT do it!!!

That post promted a very long online chat with my good friend Aunty Teeni, of MadCrochetLab.com, about where this site is going, and what my plans for the future are.  Do you have your 5 year goals written out?  Yeah, me neither.  But I'm going to make a resolution to do it next year...  Anyway, back to my point, after talking with her about my future plans, I'm pretty sure that advertising will make it's way onto my site in the future sometime, but not right now.

Why? Because I thought of something better, of course!!!

For the month of January, let's have a button swap!  Grab my button from the sidebar over there and put it on your site, then come back and tell me about it.  I'll go grab your button and add it to Crochet Dynamite.  Sounds fun, right?!  Free advertising for both of us!  Besides, it's only for a month.  And if we really love it we can keep the button love goin' on and on!

Anyone want in?!

If you don't have a button on your site already, it's really easy to make one yourself!  I used THIS tutorial from Code it Pretty.  It was simple and fast and I was able to make it work, which is 100% better than all of the other tutorials that I tried (and failed at!).

Ideas? Opinions? Anyone done this before?  I'm still learning, so any/ALL feedback you can give me would be amazing.

Okay, I'm off to enjoy my cold and rainy Saturday.  Hope your weather is nicer than mine is, and that a stranger tells you you're pretty today!

xoxo

A search for a simple cowl

I got the most wonderful letter last night from my friend Darlene asking me about easy cowl patterns.  She was working on some scarves for the homeless outreach program that I am a part of, and wanted to make some simple cowls to add to her donation.  Woo hoo!!!    Awesome, I'm all over that.  Since I don't have any cowl patterns on my site, I told her that I'd look around and see what there was out there.

**First of all, the simplest and easiest cowl pattern in the world is just sc-ing the last row of a long scarf to the first row and making a long circle that can wrap multiple times around your neck.  Easy peasy, works with any pattern, and it's awesome for balancing that warmth to choking ratio that tight things around the neck sometimes get.  That's just a tip from your old pal Jaime...**

I love this Hour and a Half cowl at NaturallyCaron. It works so quickly because you use four strands of worsted weight yarn at a time and a U hook!  Awesome!  It's only 22 stitches per row!

Stephanie at The Crimson Owl made the most beautiful convertible cowl that has a hood!  She designed it for a beginner class that she taught, so you know it's easy, but it's so awesome EVERYONE (even advanced and adventurous crocheters) is going to want to make one!!!

Liz at Crochet In Color accidentally made this gorgeous chunky-yarn cowl instead of the poncho she started!  Her story is cute, and the cowl is amazing, and very easy and looks like it would work up quickly.  

Jay over at Jay's Boutique Blog has this delightful Light n Lacy Cowl pattern.  She uses my awesome stitch the scarf together at the ends technique (see guys, it's really a thing!). And since it doesn't even use a whole skein of yarn, you know it's going to be quick to finish!

Bernat.com has some awesome free cowl patterns.  My favorites were this too-cute buttoning baby cowl:

and this hooded cowl:

So now that I've spent the last hour looking at cowls I'm all inspired to make one of my own.  Hmm.  There will be a Dynamite Cowl coming soon...  But in the mean time, do you have a favorite cowl pattern that you always use?  I know there are a ton of patterns out there that I didn't see on my shallow Pinterest search...  Feel like sharing? 

xo Jaime

Holiday Greetings

Okay, so imagine that I had remembered that I needed to make holiday cards, had sent them to a printer, and got them addressed and mailed in enough time that they arrived in your mailbox this morning (I know there's no mail service today, but play along).  Now look at the picture again.  Ah, fills you with the warm glow of knowing that you're loved by all of us over here, doesn't it?  Yeah, that was what I hoped!

I'm going to go play with all my new toys now!!!  Have a really special day!

xoxo

5 hour stocking and tinsel purse

Okay, so I am the first one to tell you that I'm a little disorganized.  I'm a creative-type, not an everything-in-it's-place-type (I know that it's possible for some people to be both, but I am not). So I have no idea where I put our Christmas stockings from last year.  I know, I know, they should have been with all of our ornaments and decorations, but they weren't.  I was going to buy Mims a new stocking just to have it done and not have to worry about it, but when I went to the store I just couldn't bring myself to pay $25 for it, especially since I was just being lazy.

I found THIS pattern over at RedHeart.com that I really liked, so I grabbed my hook and 2 skeins of yarn and streamed a documentary on Netflix.  I wasn't done with the stocking when the documentary finished, so I put on another one.  And then I watched a movie.  5 hours later, the stocking was done.  It wasn't quick, but it was easy and it turned out really cute.  I added a butterfly that I made with an I hook and worsted weight yarn.  

That got me in a crafty Christmas mood.  I saw THIS post over at Aunt Peaches (it's the Citizen Kane of craft blogs... Which I am so jealous of.  I think I'm the Breakfast Club of crochet blogs... Milk WILL be made available...).  It's a tinsel purse.  It's sparkly and fabulous, and I desperately needed one.  Mine cost $2, because I got clearance Target tinsel instead of dollar store tinsel, but it was worth the buck to me to not have to go to another busy store...  I grabbed a purse that I hadn't used in almost 2 years (see, disorganization in action!  A normal person would have donated/discarded it by now.) and my trusty hot glue gun and decorated away!  I added a Holiday Gift Bow for extra beauty.

This picture doesn't do the purse justice.  It's so blindingly sparkly, one might call it Disco-Ball-esque! 

And last (and least, because alas, it didn't include crochet) I made some Reindeer bottles for the carolers that came to visit us this year.  They appreciated not having to eat another giant plate of cookies, and I appreciated that I could get them done in less than an hour with materials I had in my craft stash!  Win, win!

What kind of crafty fun are your guys up to today?

xoxo

A Gift of Love

You guys have heard me talk about the awesome work that my friend Kristy does with homeless/motel family outreach, and you know that I collect crochet donations for her program.  Well, she came by the other day to pick up several boxes of donations (once again, THANK YOU!  She is always so grateful and amazed at the love and compassion and generosity that you've shared with us this year!) and mentioned that there just weren't enough masculine items to keep up with the amount of men that needed assistance.  She wondered if there was a very simple, very plain, very basic scarf that could be made in 'boy' colors so that she would have something to offer to them.

Of course I can do that!  I made a bunch for her, and (if you're interested) you can too!

Super Simple Men's Scarf
approximately 4" x 50"
Supplies:
Super bulky weight yarn - approximately 80 yards (I used Lion Brand Hometown USA 100% acrylic super bulky weight yarn)
Size N crochet hook
Scissors
Yarn needle

ch 10
R1: dc in 3rd ch from hook, dc in each ch across (8 st)
R2-54? (just go to the end of the skein!): ch 2 (counts as first st), skip 1 st,  dc in each st across (8 st)
Fasten off.  Weave in ends. Mail it to me at:

Jaime Maraia

13210 Harbor Blvd. #371

Garden Grove, CA 92843

...that last part was completely optional! LOL!!

You can also make the scarf with 2 strands of worsted weight yarn:

While Kristy was here we got to talking about the other things that she was trying to get donations for too.  Toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant, coats, hats, sleeping bags, and my personal favorite, hand warmers!  Did you know that you can pick up a box of 40 pairs of hand warmers (80 total warmers!) for less than $20?!  Each warmer provides 7 hours of warmth in a sleeping bag, and that might mean the difference between a miserable night, and a good one.  It was too awesome, I had to get her a box!

If you're interested, THESE hand warmers at Walmart.com are cheap and can make a real difference in someone's life.  You can send them to me at the address above, or you can even have them sent to the Westminster, CA store!  Free shipping for you, and she'll be so happy to pick them up! You can ship them in care of Kristy Belton Bleau (you can leave a comment or shoot me an email so I can let her know to look for them!).

I hope I tell you all enough just how much your support and love means to me.  I am so grateful for all of you lovely people who have become more than mere readers or followers, but true friends.  I am sitting here getting all nostalgic and sappy (as this time of year tends to encourage), and just felt like I needed to say it.  You are special, kind, wonderful, beautiful and perfect just exactly the way that you are.  And I love you!

Yes, even you.

xoxo

Oooh!  Today is your last chance to enter my Facebook contest to win a Princess Leia Headphone Beanie (just the beanie and headphones, not the iPod)!

Go HERE to enter! (It's super easy, 'Like' Crochet Dynamite and leave a 2 word comment on the picture!) I'll be using Random.org to pick a winner tomorrow at noon PST!  Spread the word to your sci-fi-lovin' friends, it'll bring you good luck! ;D
Update 12/23/12: Thank you so much to everyone who entered!  The giveaway is now closed and a winner has been chosen. If you'd like to get blog updates, random pictures, and chat directly with me, join me on Facebook by clicking the LIKE button over in the right hand side bar.  xo Jaime