I’ve always loved the traditional granny square pattern and how adaptable it is. I’ve seen some lovely granny square earrings and wanted to do my own take on the pattern. These earrings are super lightweight but add some fun movement to your outfit. I love dangly earrings, but sometimes they’re too heavy and hurt my ears after a while…not the case here! They’re made of two granny squares joined together at one corner, with some extra scallops on the bottom. Super easy and lots of opportunity for color variation. They’re named after the dog who walked past me right when I was looking for naming inspiration.

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It’s graduation season! I just graduated college myself, and I wanted to celebrate the occasion with crochet, as always. This little graduation cap is what I came up with. You could make this hat in your grad’s school colors and include it with a graduation card, or stick it on a hair clip for a photo prop. Use your imagination and I bet you’ll come up with all sorts of awesome uses. It’s the perfect size for Barbies, so my helper Adele is modeling it for you. But it’s also the perfect size to perch atop a guinea pig or bunny. My sister just got an adorable bunny and I’ve been making lots of hats for it, so stay tuned for more miniature hats in the future if this is something you like. What sort of hat should I design next?

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You’ve probably seen tutorials on how to make pom-poms. They’re one of my favorite things to decorate with. But have you ever tried making a tassel? Lots of companies sell “tassel-makers,” but unlike pom-poms, you can make a completely respectable tassel without any fancy tools. All you need is some yarn, scissors, a yarn needle, and something to wrap the yarn around. Today I’m going to show you how to make a basic tassel that you can add to the end of scarves, bookmarks, gifts, or anything you can think up.

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I was inspired by the delightful rainbow creations of many other crafters this time of year and wanted to make something to celebrate Pride month. This rainbow pencil case is easy to create and I love how bright the colors are. You don’t have to make it in rainbow colors, though…you can pick any color combination you desire. How about making it in college colors, or in the colors of your favorite sports team? I use this for holding pencils, but you could add a zipper at the top and use it to hold coins, beads, buttons, whatever you can think up. How about a crochet hook case? Or add a strap and use it as a mini purse. The possibilities are endless. Whatever you choose to do with it, I hope you have fun making!

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When I was a teenager I did intensive ballet. This involved dancing several hours a day, six days a week. For ballet, you need to have your hair away from your face, so I got really good at whipping my hair into a bun. However, it got boring wearing my hair the same way every day, so when I learned to crochet I started crocheting bunholders for myself. I designed this basic pattern when I was 14 years old and thought it should see the light of day. Make a few for the dancers in your life, or just for people who like wearing buns. It’s a great hairstyle for when you don’t want your hair in your face, and putting a bunholder on means that nobody can see if your bun is messy.

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I used to have a pet chicken named Harriet who was such a wonderful companion I wanted to make something in her honor. So here is a miniature version of my special bird. Harriet was a Plymouth Barred Rock, which are known for their striking black-and-white stripes. I chose a yarn that was black-and-white variegated to mimic her stripes, and I really like how the result turned out. This chicken is the perfect size to fit in your hand and would make a great keychain or fidget toy. You can use little safety eyes or small black buttons like I did. And you could use different colors of yarn to make different breeds of chickens. Try white yarn for a Plymouth White Rock (the classic chicken), tan yarn for a Buff Orpington, or black yarn for an Australorp. You can make your very own flock!

For those unfamiliar with chicken anatomy, the comb sticks up on the top of the head, and the wattles hang down from the beak. All chickens – both hens and roosters – have combs and wattles, but they look different depending on what breed. They are also bigger on roosters.

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I had a lovely deck of cards that needed a home, so I whipped up this matching card bag. My deck of cards was purple with gold edges, so I chose matching yarn colors to make them go well together. You can pick any color combination, use up scraps, and do as many stripes as you like. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. The bag closes with a drawstring, using the Stretch-Free Crochet Cord I developed a few months ago. The whole thing works up in just a few hours.

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This Barbie ball gown was born from my stash of tiny balls of yarn left over from previous projects. I had many shades of blue and wanted to do something with them, so I created this ball gown with scallops that ended up reminding me of the ocean. This gown is a great way to use up yarn scraps. You can mix yarn weights when it comes to making the scallops: I used a mix of worsted and DK. You certainly don’t have to use the colors that I did…I’d love to see what color combinations you choose!

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I’ve always loved mitten gloves (glittens)… normal fingerless gloves with a mitten top that flips on and off your fingers. Sometimes I get irritated with wearing regular gloves because it’s so clumsy to try to do anything. And if you’re wearing mittens, there’s basically no functionality. But fingers get cold in the winter, so what is a person supposed to do? Mitten gloves have been a lifesaver for me. Just flip off the mitten top if you need to send a text or find something in your purse, then flip it back on to warm up your fingers when you’re done.

I chose this chenille bulky yarn because it’s incredibly soft and warm. I highly recommend using it for the most luxurious mittens ever. But you could experiment with different bulky weight yarns to make your own dream pair of mittens. Let me know what you come up with!

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While working in the San Juan Islands a few summers ago, a camp counselor had a super cute hat that I was always scrutinizing, trying to figure out how it was made. One day I found her hat in the lost-and-found and finally figured out the pattern before returning it to her. I found a ball of yarn in the art workshop and made my own hat to test out the pattern. Next time I ran into the counselor, we were both wearing our beanies, and she looked at me and said, “Nice hat.” She didn’t mind that I had copied her. What else can you do, when you see an awesome crochet pattern? It was perfect for chilly island evenings and works equally well for the changing temperatures of fall and winter. Although I made my version with worsted-weight yarn because it was available to me, I think this hat would be extra cozy if made with bulky weight.

Do you ever study people’s crochet accessories to figure out how they’re made? It makes winter a lot more fun for me!

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