Once Upon a Cheerio: Crochet

Crochet

Showing posts with label Crochet. Show all posts

The One With Monica's Peephole (Frame) Crochet Pattern

The One with Monica's Peephole Frame FREE Crochet Pattern

Did you know that the first episode of the Friends TV Show aired 25 years ago of this month? That's crazy and kind of makes me feel a bit dated.

Fun fact: I'm a huge Friends fan. I own all 10 seasons on DVD and have watched it a countless number of times.

I've always identified myself as a "Phoebe Buffay". I love how she's not afraid of being who she is. She can be a little weird sometimes, but who isn't? I love letting that part of me shine because that's what makes me who I am.

Unfortunately, my husband is kind of on the other side of the spectrum and doesn't enjoy the show as much as I do. He's probably a "Ross Geller" 🤣. So I don't get to watch it as often as I used to.

But hey, guess what?! I got this whole week to myself at home because I have vacation time from work to burn, so that means Friends marathon all week while crocheting with no pants!

Who's your favourite character?

What You Need / Materials

### Most of these items can be purchased through our affiliate links. Purchasing items through these links will not cost you any extra money. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

Worsted Yellow Yarn
4.5 mm Crochet Hook
Yarn Needle
Scissors

Stitches & Abbreviations

ch - chain
st/sts - stitch/stitches
slst - slip stitch
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
BLO - back loop only

Pattern

Long Sides (Left/Right) (x2)

Ch 37
Row 1: Slst into the second st from the hook and into the next 24 sts, leaving the 11 ch unworked

Row 2A: Ch 1, turn. Working in the BLO, 5 sc, 5 hdc, 5 dc, 5 hdc, 5 sc

Row 2B: Slst into the turning ch from the row 1 (does not count as a st), ch 12

Row 3A: Work 3 sc into the second st from the hook, 3 hdc into the next st, 2 dc into each st for the next 9 sts

Row 3B: On the opposite side of the foundation ch, sc in each st for the next 25 sts.

Row 3C: On the unworked ch, 2 dc into each st for the next 9 sts, 3 hdc into the next st, 3 sc into the last st.

Cut and fasten off.

Short Sides (Top/Bottom) (x2)

Ch 32
Row 1: Slst into the second st from the hook and into the next 19 sts, leaving the 11 ch unworked
Row 2A: Ch 1, turn. Working in the BLO, 4 sc, 4 hdc, 4 dc, 4 hdc, 4 sc

Row 2B: Slst into the turning ch from the row 1 (does not count as a st), ch 12

Row 3A: Work 3 sc into the second st from the hook, 3 hdc into the next st, 2 dc into each st for the next 9 sts
Row 3B: On the opposite side of the foundation ch, sc in each st for the next 20 sts.

Row 3C: On the unworked ch, 2 dc into each st for the next 9 sts, 3 hdc into the next st, 3 sc into the next st.
Cut and fasten off.

Assembly

Use the remaining yarn ends to sew together the rosette/swirl on each side.

Then glue it down to some cardboard or frame to help it keep its shape. Or, you can do what I did and just use some double sided tape and tape it down to the back of the front door around the peephole!

Two long pieces for the sides and two short pieces for the top and bottom.

Did you make your own Peephole Frame? I'd love to see it! Please share it with me on Instagram and/or use the #onceuponacheerio hashtag.

This is an original pattern written by Juli Anne of Once Upon a Cheerio. Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this pattern, you may link to this blog post but please do not reprint it on your site. You may keep a copy for your own personal use but please DO NOT sell the pattern or distribute it.

You may sell products made from this pattern, but please clearly credit the design to me, Juli Anne of Once Upon a Cheerio and provide a link to my blog www.OnceUponaCheerio.com. Permission is NOT granted for mass production or factory manufacturing of any kind. Thank you for understanding!

Mini Mimi CAL (Part 5: Hair) Doll Base Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

So, I am no master when it comes to creating hair for my amigurumi dolls. So I've been working hard on how to create this tutorial when it comes to putting hair on these amigurumi dolls. At the end of the day, I created a few different versions. While I loved the "playable" hair for the dolls I made my girls, I also really like the neat and tidy never-to-be-moved hair on my own doll. This way, I'll never have a bad hair day.

To create the "playable" hair for the dolls I made my girls, I followed this tutorial by SweetSofties:

This is an amazing tutorial for adding hair to your amigurumi. I particularly liked how she layered the hair so that it doesn't look super bulky but enough hair so that you can style it and play with it once completed.

If you want to add the hair directly onto your doll's head without creating a wig cap, here is a method that doesn't require any knots or sewing.

If you are impatient like I am, and/or would rather be crocheting than cutting up little pieces of yarn for the hair, consider using the method I used for my own doll:

Using your desired hair colour yarn...
Round 1: Magic Circle with a base of 10 sc sts (10 sts)
Round 2: Sc inc in each st around (20 sts)

Now you are going to crochet each strand of hair
Hair Strands: *Ch to the desired length of hair, then slst back to the circle, slst into the next st, and repeat from * until you go around the whole circle.

Now you will have 20 thick strands of hair to work with. You can go ahead and pin this piece to the top of the head and pin down each strand of hair to the base of the head and style as needed.

Once you know where you want the hair to sit, sew down the top of the hair piece, and then sew down each strand of the hair. Alternatively, you can use glue if you are comfortable with that option.

This hair piece likely won't cover all the bald spots on the head so you'll likely need more strands of hair. To add more strands of hair, you can use the following method:

Extra Hair Strands: *Ch to the desired hair length (measuring from the crown of the head), slst back to the beginning and repeat from * until you have enough strands of hair to cover the bald spots
Cut and fasten off.

Then weave through the strands of hair either 1 or 2 at a time depending on how many strands you have. Pull to bunch them together and attach it to the crown of head.

Using the same method, pin and sew down the strands of hair to the base of the head, overlapping the strands from the first hair piece to complete the look of your doll.

Timeline and Links for Mini Mimi's Pattern

Note: links will be added as the information become available.

Part 1: Materials & Preparation
Post Date: August 2, 2019
Part 2: Head
Post Date: August 5, 2019
Part 3: Arms and Legs
Post Date: August 12, 2019
Part 4: Body
Post Date: August 19, 2019
Part 5: Hair
Post Date: August 26, 2019

Are you working on this Mini Mimi CAL with us? I'd love to see it! Please share with me your progress on Instagram and/or use the hashtags #onceuponacheerio and #minimimiCAL. Or join the Facebook event here.

Mini Mimi CAL (Part 4: Body) Doll Base Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

OMG! You're almost done your doll! The finish line is so close you can almost taste it!

Pattern

Body

Crocheting using skin colour yarn.
Round 19: 3 sc, sc dec, 10 sc, sc dec, 7 sc (22 sts)
Round 20: Sc in each st around (22 sts)
Round 21: 3 sc, sc dec, 9 sc, sc dec, 6 sc (20 sts)
Round 22: Sc in each st around (20 sts)
Round 23: 3 sc, sc dec, 8 sc, sc dec, 5 sc (18 sts)
Round 24: Sc in each st around (18 sts)

If you are hoping to make your doll pose-able, now would be a good time to insert your pipe-cleaners/wire. I used one folded pipe-cleaner for each leg and then one folded for both of the arms.

Also, don't forget to continue stuffing your doll with poly-fil as you decrease your stitches to the neck.

Round 25: 3 sc, 6 sc around the first arm, 9 sc, 6 sc around the second arm, 6 sc (30 sts)
Round 26: Sc dec in each st around (15 sts)
Round 27: Sc, 7 sc dec (8 sts)
Round 28: 6 sc, sc dec (7 sts)
Round 29-30: Sc in each st around (7 sts)
Fasten off and leave a long tail to sew onto the head.

The neck is so long because it needs to provide support for the head.

Thread the yarn tail through the hole on the bottom of the head. Then sew it to the top of the head and then sew it to the neck again to secure it. Do this a few times to make sure your head is secured, then fasten off.

Timeline and Links for Mini Mimi's Pattern

Note: links will be added as the information become available.

Part 1: Materials & Preparation
Post Date: August 2, 2019
Part 2: Head
Post Date: August 5, 2019
Part 3: Arms and Legs
Post Date: August 12, 2019
Part 4: Body
Post Date: August 19, 2019
Part 5: Hair
Post Date: August 26, 2019

Mini Mimi CAL (Part 3: Arms and Legs) Doll Base Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

Today, we're going to be working on Mini Mimi's arms and legs.

On a side note, I've been suffering from some this mosquito bite on my arm for the last few weeks. I react badly to mosquito bites, but this year has been the worst. I've been putting on some anti-itching cream that's supposed to take away my itch, but there's this rash that just wouldn't go away.

It turns out that I'm allergic to the anti-itching cream. The mosquito bite has already healed, but I have this ugly gigantic rash on my arm that is crazy itchy.

Life is so ironic when you're allergic to your anti-itching cream and makes you itchier than ever. Sadly, before I found out about this, I was lathering on this anti-itch cream on some other mosquito bites on my leg. So now I have to deal with those too.

Summer, right?

OK, enough about my misery. Here's the pattern for Mini Mimi's arms and legs. If you need a reference for a list of materials, you can click here.

Pattern

Arms

Round 1: Magic Ring with a Base of 6 sc (6 sts)
Round 2-10: sc in each st around (6 sts)
Cut and fasten off. These will be crocheted onto the body later on.

Legs

Round 1: Magic Ring with a base of 6 sc (6 sts)
Round 2: [2 sc, sc inc] x 2 times (8 sts)
Round 3-11: sc in each st around (8 sts)
Change to the colour of choice for underwear.
Round 12: sc in each st around (8 sts)
Cut and fasten off.

I wrote out a tutorial here for getting the perfect stripes using half colour changes so that you can try it out too!

Make a second leg, (but do not cut and fasten this time) end with Ch 4 (with the underwear colour)

Continue working with the underwear colour.
Round 13: 8 sc around the first leg, 4 sc along ch, 8 sc around the second leg, 4 sc along the other side of ch (24 sts)
Round 14: 3 sc, sc inc, 11 sc, sc inc, 8 sc (26 sts)
Round 15-16: Sc in each st around (26 sts)
Round 17: 3 sc, sc dec, 11 sc, sc dec, 8 sc (24 sts)
Round 18: Sc in each st around (24 sts)

You can cut and fasten the underwear colour yarn because you will continue the rest of the doll with skin colour yarn. If you are using the half colour change method, start working the skin colour onto the top of Round 18.

Timeline and Links for Mini Mimi's Pattern

Note: links will be added as the information become available.

Part 1: Materials & Preparation
Post Date: August 2, 2019
Part 2: Head
Post Date: August 5, 2019
Part 3: Arms and Legs
Post Date: August 12, 2019
Part 4: Body
Post Date: August 19, 2019
Part 5: Hair
Post Date: August 26, 2019

Mini Mimi CAL (Part 2: Head) Doll Base Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

I hope you guys all had a fabulous weekend and was enjoy some sunshine. Today is actually a holiday for us in British Columbia (Canada)! If you don't already know, I come from the beautiful city of Vancouver, BC. So if you are a local here, Happy BC Day!

Mondays are usually so... BLAH! But during the month of August, I will be publishing a part of the crochet-along for the Mini Mimi doll base pattern. So at least there's something to look forward to, right?

Anyway, enough nonsense! Are you excited for the first part of this crochet-along? Let's get started, shall we? If you need a reference for a list of materials, you can click here.

Pattern

Head

Round 1: Magic Ring with a base of 6 sc (6 sts)
Round 2: sc inc in each st around (12 sts)
Round 3: [sc, sc inc] x 6 times (18 sts)
Round 4: [sc, sc inc, sc] x 6 times (24 sts)
Round 5: [3 sc, sc inc] x 6 (30 sts)
Round 6: [2 sc, sc inc, 2 sc] x 6 (36 sts)
Round 7: [5 sc, sc inc] x 6 times (42 sts)
Round 8: sc in each st around (42 sts)
Round 9: [3sc, sc inc, 3sc] x 6 times (48 sts)
Round 10-17: sc in each st around (48 sts)
Round 18: [4sc, sc dec] x 8 times (40 sts)
Round 19: sc in each st around (40 sts)

Before you start decreasing your stitches and the size of the opening, make sure you put in your safety eyes. I put them between rounds 12 and 13 and they're 10 sts apart.

Stuff the head with poly-fil firmly as you go.

Round 20: [sc, sc dec, sc] x 10 times (30 sts)
Round 21: [sc, sc dec] x 10 times (20 sts)
Round 22: sc dec in each st around (10 sts)
Round 23: sc BLO in each st around (10 sts)
Round 24-28: sc in each st around (10 sts)
Cut and fasten off.

At this point, you might be wondering why the heck is the neck so abnormally long???

Well, What I want you to do next is to push that long tube of a neck into the doll's head. This will create a sturdier and more balanced head on the neck of the doll later on. The head can also pivot and rotate!

It will take some effort to get it in. I injured my nail at one point trying to get that stupid neck inside. Just be careful and work it starting from the base of the stem (closest to the head).

And then at some point you'll get it in...

Woohoo! Celebrate time!

Thanks for joining me on this Part 2 of this Mini Mimi CAL! Stay tuned for Part 3 to come out next Monday! Also, don't forget to share with me your progress. I hope to be able to gather enough photos for a Mini Mimi gallery!

Timeline and Links for Mini Mimi's Pattern

Note: links will be added as the information become available.

Part 1: Materials & Preparation
Post Date: August 2, 2019
Part 2: Head
Post Date: August 5, 2019
Part 3: Arms and Legs
Post Date: August 12, 2019
Part 4: Body
Post Date: August 19, 2019
Part 5: Hair
Post Date: August 26, 2019

Mini Mimi CAL (Part 1: Materials & Preparation) Doll Base Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

Hello and welcome to my very first Crochet-Along!

I can't wait to share with you this adorable amigurumi doll base pattern with you. The reason why I decided to split this post into multiple posts for a crochet-along is because some parts are more complicated than others.

I wanted to share additional photos of the more complicated parts of this pattern plus I think it would be awesome to see everyone's progress making this doll!

This is a great doll base pattern... for multiple reasons! I love her size, especially the size of her head. I put pipe-cleaners inside her body to help her neck be a bit more sturdy and her limbs pose-able. My girls love her.

More recently, I've been slowly designing and making outfits for Mini Mimi. Soon enough, she'll have a full wardrobe of her own!

Each Monday for the next few Mondays, I will publish a part of the pattern on the blog. Are you interested in making your own Mini Mimi? Join our Mini Mimi Facebook Event and share your progress!

Take some time to gather the materials you need this weekend! Part 2 of the CAL will be published next Monday!

Also, don't forget to share with me your progress on Instagram! Use the hashtags #onceuponacheerio and #minimimiCAL so I can find you!

This is me, and my mini me :)

What You Need / Materials

### Most of these items can be purchased through our affiliate links. Purchasing items through these links will not cost you any extra money. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

1 skein of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Yarn Scents in Chamomile
1 skein of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Yarn in any other colour you want for Mini Mimi's underwear
3.0 mm Crochet Hook
Safety Eyes (I used 6.0 mm)
Pipe Cleaners / Chenille Stems
Poly-fil or any polyester stuffing of your choice
Yarn Needle
Scissors

Stitches

ch - chain
st/sts - stitches
sc - single crochet (I used the yarn under method which I will explain below)
sc inc - single crochet increase, 2 single crochets in one stitch
sc dec - single crochet decrease, single crochet 2 stitches together

Yarn Under Single Crochet Stitch

Insert hook into the next stitch
Put the hook over the yarn (yarn under)
Pull the hook with the yarn under it through the stitch
With your yarn hand, wrap the yarn from back to front (yarn over) over the hook
Draw the hook with the wrapped yarn through both loops on the hook.

And there you go! One (yarn under) single crochet completed!

Timeline and Links for Mini Mimi's Pattern

Note: links will be added as the information become available.

Part 1: Materials & Preparation
Post Date: August 2, 2019
Part 2: Head
Post Date: August 5, 2019
Part 3: Arms and Legs
Post Date: August 12, 2019
Part 4: Body
Post Date: August 19, 2019
Part 5: Hair
Post Date: August 26, 2019

Crochet Half Colour Changes for the Perfect Stripes

During the making and designing of this doll, I learned some new techniques! Here I wanted to share with you this new method I learned to change colours. This method works very well if you want to have distinct colour separation.

As you can see in the photo below, the doll on the left (pink underwear) is using the new technique, whereas the doll on the right (purple underwear) is when you work in a new colour in the next row.

The difference is not significant, but you can tell that there is a slight "colour leak/bleed" to the purple underwear as compared to the clean lines on the pink underwear.

Crochet Half Colour Changes for the Perfect Stripes

To do this technique, we first want to perform a half colour change.

At the end of the last round of Colour A, (in this case, pink), slip stitch into the next stitch and then change your yarn to Colour B (in this case, peach).

Insert your hook into the next stitch.

Wrap yarn around the hook and pull up the first loop in Colour A. You should now have 2 loops on your hook that are two different colours.

Then, wrap the yarn around the hook in the Colour B.

Pull it up through the two existing loops on your hook to finish up the single crochet stitch.

Keep the colour yarn that you are working with on top and keep rotating so that the inside would look like the following.

And then you will finish off your half colour change round!

Join at the very end by just slip stitching into the first st of the round so that it doesn't look like there's an obvious jogged stitch (no photo, sorry!). This does not count as a stitch.

Then for the next round, just continue crocheting in Colour B yarn as you normally would.

If you need more guidance, you can follow the video tutorial here by Club Crochet.

I really liked this method for changing colours and will probably continue to use this technique for my amigurumis in the future! Don't forget to pin it on Pinterest so you can find this post later on!

Improving My Amigurumi Game

I have decided to try something new. And no, I don't mean knitting.

Over the last few weeks, I have been working on a doll of my own design. I have tried out many doll patterns by different designers and I learn something through every one of them. I learn what I like and didn't like about each one. Once I got more comfortable, I started combining all the elements that I like into the doll that I am designing!

PS: Please ignore the messy background of the photos. These are extremely raw/unedited photos that I have taken as I was making this doll.

This post contains affiliate links.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to crocheting, and that's hard, because we all know that handmade is never perfect, which is what makes handmade so unique. But it's also driving me a little nuts. So I have actually been doing a lot of making, frogging and then remaking after I find a technique I love.

The doll is taking me a long time (much longer than I thought) because I keep finding new things to improve on and making those changes. I don't have it all down yet, but I couldn't wait to show you the progress that I've been making and then sharing this progress with you.

First of all, finding the right flesh tone has been a challenge. In the past few years, I've almost avoided making dolls because I don't have access to the right shade of skin tone yarn that I thought I needed.

I've been using shades such as "off white" and "cream" and "beige" to help satisfy the needs for when I do make dolls, but I find that my dolls often come out looking so pale and ghostly. I'd prefer it to have a little bit more "blood flow" to them, if that makes any sense.

Many people have suggested to use Caron Simply Soft in Light Country Peach, but it's a bit hard for me to obtain that yarn because they don't sell it at my local Michael's, and I would have to order it in bulk to have it be worthwhile if I order online.

Finally, I came by this Bernat Handicrafter yarn in the colour, Chamomile. As you know, I loved my past experience using Bernat Handicrafter for amigurumis, so I was glad to revisit this yarn. This peach coloured was exactly what I was looking for.

As you can see in the above photo that the doll on the left looks so pale, that you can barely see its white undies. Whereas the flesh tone of the right looks much more "alive".

Aside from searching for the perfect shade of peach for the skin, I also managed to try a new way to crochet. I have noticed many beautiful photos of amigurumi dolls on Instagram have this "x" looking stitch on them. It looked so neat and perfect and I wanted to achieve that look with my amigurumis!

I finally managed to figure out how to make this x-looking single crochet stitches by using the yarn-under method vs the yarn-over method. I plan to make a tutorial for this in the near future, so standby for that.

I initially crocheted the whole doll in the peach coloured yarn, but then I thought it looked too naked. So I decided to crochet it some underwear. Sadly, because the doll was so small, using worsted weight yarn for the under underwear made it look like it was wearing diapers. So again, frogging it and crocheted the underwear using colour changes in the rounds instead.

I also learned a new colour changing method that results in really clean lines. As you can tell by the photo below, I'm going to have to frog the purple one and remake it so that it uses the same colour changing method as the pink one that results in a much cleaner line.

So that's it for now! I thought I'd show you a sneak peek of what I am working on and how I've been trying to improve my amigurumi game. I also wanted to let you all know that this blog is still alive. And while this post may not necessarily be "pin-able" content, it may be interesting for some people to know what I've been up to and all the new stuff I've been learning.

Plumeria Lei Crochet Pattern

Aloha!!!

I can't get out of my head how much I love Hawaii. I guess that's why people often pick it as their destination for a getaway or honeymoon or maybe even a wedding!

The islands of Hawaii is full of tourists, but they still manage to maintain so much of their own culture and ways of living, which I love.

My grandma also really likes Hawaii and has a friend that lives on the island. When I was younger, she said that she wanted me to marry off to Hawaii so she can come to live with me on the islands.

Funny enough, Hanson actually has family that live in Honolulu. You can't imagine how jealous I was. We didn't stay with them, but when they came to pick us up from the airport, they greeted us with leis! It was such a nice surprise and I love that Hawaiian tradition.

We were in Honolulu for May 1st, which is what they call their "Lei Day". The lei is widely celebrated with a whole bunch of activities like lei making, lei competitions, hula dances, etc. I am so glad that Hawaiian traditions get passed down from generation to generation.

While I love Hawaii, I am not sure how much I would enjoy living there. They don't have any big-box craft stores! At least not from what I can tell during my short stay there. It would really bum me out not to have a place to buy my craft supplies.

When I came back home from my vacation, all I could think about was Hawaii. I really wish that I could have brought home a fresh lei, but obviously, that wouldn't last very long. So, I made myself one that would last forever!

I chose to make a plumeria lei because it's one of the most popular flowers in Hawaii for its large blossoms and assortment of colours. The plumeria is also one of the more fragrant type of flowers.

Notes

Traditional leis are about 12-18" in length.
The lei is worked in a spiral but it creates an illusion of individual flowers strung together
You can try to make a shorter one as a flower crown!

What You Need / Materials

### Most of these items can be purchased through our affiliate links. Purchasing items through these links will not cost you any extra money. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

Worsted Weight Yarn (in yellow and white)
4.5 mm Crochet Hook
Yarn Needle
Scissors

Stitches & Abbreviations

st/sts - stitch/stitches
ch - chain
sc - single crochet

Pattern

Using yellow yarn...
Ch 140-160 (depending on the length you want)
Row 1: Alternate 2 sc and 3 sc in each ch starting from the second ch from the hook until you reach the end of your foundation ch
Change to white yarn...
Row 2: Join with a standing single crochet st to the first st (on the "wrong side"), [ch 10, sc into the next 2 sts] x repeat until the end of your curl

Once you're finished, just tie/sew the two ends together. I decided to finish off my lei with an "unfinished loose pom pom". I simply wrapped some yarn around a small pencil case and then tied it in the middle with some yarn scraps.