dusting off the crochet hooks

Our crafting is sometimes influenced by the seasons. Fall is here so we've been in the mood to crochet and make quilts. We've been busy working on some cute projects. One of these projects are these adorable children's slippers. We found the pattern on Etsy in the Knot Sew Cute store and whipped up a pair. They were easy to make and super warm. We added a few dots of fabric paint on the bottom to prevent slipping on the hardwood floor.


Next, we tackled the cute monkey hat. We found this great pattern on Etsy and we've been whipping a few of these too.


Our church has been working on handmade items to send with some church members to Central America. One thing they asked for was crocheted dishcloths. Usually humanitarian groups give you very specific guidelines for handmade contributions, but this group was a little less formal and said we could use any pattern and color of yarn we wanted. The only guideline was that we use 100% cotton yarn, like Sugar n' Cream.

We've made several dishcloths so far and they've been so much fun! Dishcloths are a quick and easy project, and the best part is they give you the chance to practice lots of different crochet stitches. For example:

This is the textured dishcloth from CrochetMe, which helps you practice crocheting in back loops or front loops only.


This one uses the seed stitch. I found the pattern at Bron's Fiber Stuff. I was so exicted about the way the variegated yarn made this cool pattern! You never know what kind of pattern variegated yarn is going to make.


I can't find the pattern I used for this pretty one! I loved it because the stitches formed the pretty edging without having to go around the cloth at the end. If I find the pattern I'll post a link later.



Here's a pretty one from Call Her Blessed. I wonder if I did something wrong because mine is more lacy than hers. Oh well--I still like it! I added a little scalloped border by crocheting three dc's in every other stitch around the edge.



And this one is my particular favorite. It's the basket weave stitch. My pattern didn't have an explanation of a couple of the stitches, so I was doing it from memory and it was a little tricky to figure out. Once I remembered how to do it it was easy! Here's a pattern that explains the fpdc and bpdc stitches.



If you're looking for different patterns, try searching "crochet dishcloth patterns". You'll find thousands of them. I found many of my favorite patterns on Tip Nut's round up. A lot of them were more my style than the other stuff I was finding.

Do you also save some crafting for particular seasons? If so, what are you working on now?