Little Mermaid Costume - Updated

It's finally here. An updated version of my little mermaid costume (with proper math this time).

Unfortunately, no adorable baby model this time.

Little Mermaid Costume Pattern and Photographs

© Courtney Wiggers September 2015

Materials:

Worsted weight yarn (coral(A), multi-coloured(B), mint(C))

                I used Loops & Threads Wool to Wash 12 Pink for the top and Red Heart Comfort 4050 Teal for the tail

4.25mm crochet hook

5mm crochet hook

Tapestry needle (for sewing and weaving in ends)

Finished Size:

6-9 months

Abbreviations:

sc - single crochet

dc - double crochet

tr - triple crochet

MC - magic circle

2sc/2dc - worked in the same stitch; increase

sc #/dc # - amount of sc or dc to be worked in following individual stitches

slst - slip stitch

Starfish Top (x2):

NOTE: You can also use worsted weight yarn and a 5mm crochet hook for the top

With A yarn and 4.25 hook

MC

R1: sc 5 in circle, slst to join (5)

R2: ch-1, *2sc* around, slst to join (10)

R3: ch-1, *sc 1, (dc, tr, dc) in next st* around, slst to join

R4: ch-1, *sc 1, hdc 1, (hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc) in next st, hdc 1* around, slst to join

                Fasten off

Assembly:

Crochet a chain 5-6 to attach the starfishes together, then make four ties approximately 40 chains in length and attach them to your preference

Mermaid Tail:

With B yarn and 5 hook

MC, ch-2

R1: dc 12 in circle, join (12)

R2: BLO, dc 12 around (12)

R3-5: dc around (12)

R6: *2dc, dc 5* twice (14)

R7-8: dc around (14)

R9: dc 4, *2dc, dc 4* twice (16)

R10: dc around (16)

R11: *2dc, dc 3* around (20)

R12: dc around (20)

R13: *2dc, dc 4* around (24)

R14: dc around (24)

R15: *2dc, dc 3* around (30)

R16: dc around (30)

R17: *2dc, dc 2* around (40)

R18: dc around (40)

R19: 2dc, *dc 2, 2dc* around (54)

R20-40: dc around (54)

R41-42: sc around (54)

R43: *sc 2, ch-1, skip a sts, sc in next 2 sts* around (you’ll end with a ch-1)

R44-45: sc around (54)

                Fasten off

I’ve included two patterns to make the fins (they turn out looking very similar but one requires more sewing in the end and the other is maybe a higher difficulty level)

Fins (x2):

With C yarn and 5 hook

ch-23

R1: in 2^nd ch from hook, dc across (22)

R2: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R3: ch-2, dc across (21)

R4: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

Fins V.1

R5: ch-2, dc across (20)

R6: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R7: ch-2, dc across (19)

                Fasten off

This is the original pattern for the fins (there is more sewing involved in making it this way)

Assembly:

Sew together approximately ¾ of the way down the shorter sides so that the angle of the fins create a ‘V’ shape

OR

Fins (V.2):

With C yarn and 5 hook

ch-23

R1: in 2^nd ch from hook, dc across (22)

R2: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R3: ch-2, dc across (21)

R4: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

Fins V.2

R5: ch-2, dc across (20)

R6: ch-2, dc2tog, dc across

R7: ch-2, dc across (19)

R8: slst 5, sc across (14)

R9: ch-1, sc 14, ch-6 (14)

R10: in 2^nd ch from hook, dc across (19)

R11: ch-2, dc across, 2dc in last st

R12: ch-2, dc across (20)

R13: ch-2, dc across, 2dc in last st

R14: ch-2, dc across (21)

R15: ch-2, dc across, 2dc in last st

R16: ch-2, dc across (22)

                Fasten off

While there is less sewing involved in this version of the fins, they may be a little more difficult to get right (the advantage is that these fins are one-piece)

Assembly:

Make a chain long enough to form a drawstring around the waist or alternatively you can use ribbon to weave through the spaces in R43

To sew the fins onto the tail, place the bottom end of the tail in the center of the fins. Then, fold the two square corners of the fins over the end of the tail so that they form a ‘V’ shape along the front of the tail. Sew around to secure onto the tail

NOTES:

To adjust the size of the tail, there’s two main places to add or lose length. You can add or take away rows R3-5. Also, to make the tail bigger, you can add increases by repeating R16-17 after you complete R19.

To fasten off when you finish the round, skip a stitch, slip stitch in the next stitch.

This pattern is copyrighted and provided with understanding that you may NOT sell, alter, or share the pattern.

Also, if you intend to sell items made from this pattern, I simply request that you link back to my shop or to this pattern.

That’s it! I’d love to see your finished products and I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I do!

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to email me:
Courtney17_17@hotmail.com

Dino-Fever

Classes have been crazy. Literally between the start of the semester and now, my program group has dropped from 108 students to approximately 95 students. That's an almost 10% decrease in my potential graduating class. And we still haven't gotten to the hardest semester yet! (Apparently, semester 3 is the worst).

On a happier note, I passed all of my midterms! I did really well on both of my practical midterms, Vital Signs and Medical Administration (inc. Inhaler), so I'm feeling pretty happy right now.

All this craziness is why I haven't been updating lately. I had all these ideas for crochet projects and I'm expected to make presents for several baby showers and I have classmates requesting things and it's all just been a little too much. Right before Christmas last year I got really into making patterns for dinosaurs. I made two Plesiosaur prototypes, a baby T-rex pattern, and I have a Parasaurolophus that's finished, but not yet sewn together.

My Plesiosaur is my favourite; they're my fave dinos ever! And it looks so cute with it's little head and little tail and little itty bitty fins, I just love it!

If anyone's interested in the patterns, I've been contemplating putting them in my pattern shops so let me know if that's something that I should do :)

~ Courtney

Christmas and finals and babies, oh my

Between first semester finals and the increase in baby announcements from friends and family, I've been completely swamped. Add to that the fact that I've hardly done any Christmas shopping and I'm a little stressed out right now.

I've been working on a few patterns and I know I promised an updated pattern for my Mermaid costume, but I haven't been able to get any pictures of it yet. It's all written up, just waiting on a baby model for some pictures.

My cousin and his fiancee just recently announced that they are expecting so I was super excited to start working on some new baby stuff (my favourite!).  They're letting the gender be a surprise so they asked for everything to be gender-neutral, and the theme they picked was owls and elephants (not sure how that's gonna work, but I shall deliver).

I decided to use some baby combo yarn I've been saving to make a baby blanket. It's pretty thin yarn and the pattern I'm using makes the rows quite short so it's definitely taken the longest time out of any baby blanket I've ever made.

The way it's working up makes it a pretty dense blanket but it's super soft. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I'm thinking about adding a sc border of yellow once it's done but we'll see.

Since they asked for owls, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to test out my Hedwig pattern (although I changed the colours). I'm not sure what colour I want to make the blanket part yet (I'm thinking yellow, again, or maybe light green), but so far only the owl is done. I gave it brown wings to make it look more like the owls we have up here.

I've also been commissioned to make baby blankets and such for a few friends and some of my friends family so that will probably be taking up a lot of my Christmas break. Here's hoping that I get everything done on time.

Wish me luck on finals!

Hogwarts House Loveys

The patterns for these cute Harry Potter Hogwarts house inspired loveys are available on my Etsy and Ravelry shops!

I'm a Gryffindor so I'm really happy with how the Gryffindor lovey turned out, but I'm actually really impressed with the Hufflepuff badger! It's pretty cute, not gonna lie.

I also posted the pattern for my Hedwig lovey.

I've been working on these in my spare time (and by spare time, I mean the time when I'm supposed to be studying or doing homework) and they actually came along fairly quickly. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do in the next few months as I get into Clinical and midterms but I'll keep you all posted!

UPDATE: More Harry Potter inspired Loveys

That's right. More loveys!

I have to admit that I'm obsessed with making loveys at this point. I think they're adorable and they're relatively simple to make so I've been making it my life's goal that, when not studying, I'm working on creating new loveys.

Seeing as my Golden Snitch lovey is my most popular pattern in my Etsy shop, I figured I'd make more inspired by the HP series!

(Left to right: Hedwig, Raven, Lion, Snake, Badger)

(Left to right: Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor)

As posted a while ago, I do have a Sorting Hat lovey in the making but I seem to have misplaced him at the moment. Also, I realize that Ravenclaw's animal is not, in fact, a raven, but it bothers me and I decided to change it.

While these are all in the process to being made into loveys, I had the idea to make them into a mobile for a nursery (how cute would that be?!).

All of the patterns are completed and the blankets are made, I just need to find the time to sew each of these little dudes onto their respective blankets and then post the patterns.

Which one is do you guys like the best? Let me know! (Shayne's favourite is Hedwig even though he doesn't like the series)

A Thinking Cap!

It seems I get into this mood around this time of year: a Lovey-making, Harry Potter kind of mood. I don't know exactly what it is that makes me feel this way but I'm putting all my money on the fact that I'm cooped up inside all winter and I literally have nothing better to do.

Fortunately for me, this leads to some of my best ideas. Especially when it comes to crocheting Harry Potter themed Lovey blankets (I literally have a list of ten or more but finding the time and motivation to make them is the hard part, especially now that I'm in school again).

For all those loyal people out there (who could probably care less about my rambling), a sneak-peak at my newest Lovey . . .

The Hogwarts Sorting Hat!

It's turning out far better than I imagined it. I'm still not sure though if I'm going to try to make him look all grumpy or if I'm going to cute-ify him up a bit. We'll see what popular opinion tells me.

Pattern to be posted soon!

Puffy Stitch Safety Earwarmer

Puffy Stitch Safety Earwarmer

© Courtney Wiche 2014

Red Heart Reflective in Purple

6.5 crochet hook

Tapestry needle

To adjust the width of the earwarmer, just chain a multiple of 3 + 2 sts (I started with 14 chains for an adult sized earwarmer, and 11 for a child)

Ch 14

R1 – in 2nd ch from hook (sc, hdc, dc), skip next 2 chs, *(sc, hdc, dc) in next ch, skip next 2 chs, repeat from * across, ending with a sc in the last ch, turn.

R2 – ch 2, in first sc (sc, hdc, dc), *skip next 2 sts, (sc, hdc, dc) in next sc, repeat from * ending with 1 sc in top of turning ch, turn. NOTE: you will be making each cluster in the sc sts of the last row

Repeat row 2 until piece measures desired length (mine ended up being about 18” unstretched). Fasten off and sew ends together.

I am absolutely in love with this yarn! The reflective strand that runs through the yarn is a little bit scratchy when you're working with it, but the final product is actually pretty soft. There's also a neon pink colour that I want to get to make for my cousin because it's so cute!

New Custom Baby Blanket Graph Pattern NOW FOR SALE!

It's been pretty crazy around my place lately; new jobs, figuring out school, lots of birthdays, and my cousin had his second baby (a boy! The first in our family since 1996).

Whenever people have babies, my favourite thing to make are name blankets. I find so many cute ones that I have trouble deciding which pattern to use. Usually when I pick a pattern though, I keep it in the family. I made one for my cousin Brynn when she was born in 2010 and when her sister, Aubree, was born last year, I used the same pattern but in different colours.

Since the new baby (Lauton; so cute!) is the first boy in the family in a while, I decided I needed something extra special and extra cute and I just wasn't loving any of the patterns I was finding.

So. . .

Ta-da!

A new pattern!

I'm still working on the one for little Lauton so I don't have a sample for the pattern, but once I got the idea I just had to share it with everyone.

Completely personal, completely customizable and completely adorable!

They're Live!

I have my Harry Potter inspired Golden Snitch lovey and my Octopus lovey available in my Ravelry and Etsy stores!

I'm so happy with how they turned out!

Attack of the Loveys

I have a new-found obsession with making Loveys. I'd never seen one before a couple weeks ago and now I have ideas to make about a hundred different ones!

I know I said the next one I'd be posting would be a Vaporeon Lovey pattern, but I had so many cute ideas, and so I started making others before I even had the chance to pick up yarn to make a Vaporeon one.

I just finished two new designs today, but my indoor lighting is shit right now so I'll be taking pictures of them tomorrow and possibly posting the patterns in my shop later tomorrow evening. One is ocean-themed because I have an obsession with the sea (I am landlocked and the closest ocean is a 12 hour drive) and eventually when I'm ready to have kids, I want to make an ocean/beach-themed nursery. The other Lovey is actually Harry Potter themed because I'm a little bit of a huge HP nerd.

Hopefully I'll have those out tomorrow, so be sure to keep an eye out for them!

Eevee Lovey!!

I just wanted to let everyone know I have a new crochet pattern available in my Ravelry and Etsy stores!

It's an Eevee Lovey! Available for only $2.50!

Eventually, I will have the entire Eeveelution set in Loveys, but for now, Eevee's all I got.

Next up: Vaporeon! (Because it's my favourite ;D)

Finally finishing up some projects!

Seeing as I'm trying to overcome crocheters-block right now, I've decided it's time I get out some of my projects that I started forever ago and actually finish them.

So far, I've been able to complete 2 baby blankets (I am ashamed to say that one of them was started in 2011 and didn't get finished until now) though I still have 2 full sized afghans that need to be finished. Luckily, they're both more than halfway finished so it shouldn't take me more than a month or two. I also need to finish my first full sized sweater that I ever started and a cable-knit hat that I've been putting off because I lost my place in the pattern and I don't know how to continue it.

I'm going to keep working on hats and such to sell at craft sales and online but I'm going to try and hold off starting anymore big projects.

For those of you waiting for new patterns: DO NOT FRET! I'm going to have a little more free time in the next couple weeks to write up some of my patterns and get pictures for the ones already written up.

Updating Control Tower

I have had a serious lag in crochet activity over the past two months.

I started dating someone and it's been going amazing and I got a job (it's not a good job, but I get paid so I'm not complaining) so I've been a little busy.

I've only completed two hats in two months and I'm kind of going into withdrawal right now.

It actually got so bad that I started another blanket. This one is a present for Shayne (my boyfriend) for either his birthday or Christmas, whichever I get it finished by.

Hopefully I'll start having the motivation to make a few patterns by the new year and not be so lazy about it

Hunger Games Afghan COMPLETED!

I DID IT
I FINALLY DID IT
I COMPLETED AN ENTIRE AFGHAN
IT'S ACTUALLY DONE
AND IT DIDN'T TAKE ME 3 YEARS

It doesn't look huge, but it is. And it's heavy. I can't even use it right now because it's too heavy for summer. I tried last night and I ended up waking up sweating like crazy and kicking it off my bed

Now I just have to finish the other two afghans that I started . . .

Supernatural Enochian Protection Sigil Chart

For all my fellow Supernatural lovers

50 x 50

I suggest using sc throughout, and starting from the bottom left corner (I don't know if there's really a set starting point, but I've just always done it from the bottom)

Please post pictures! I'd love to see what you guys are using it for!

Avengers Insignia Chart

My best friend (Annie) and I are huge Avengers nerds so I've been wanting to make something for her with the Avengers symbol for the longest time but wasn't able to find a good, universal chart so I made my own

Chart is 50 stitches by 50 rows

Will turn out best if you use single crochet for the entire thing

Please post pictures of what you decide to use it for; I'd love to see what you all come up with!

Updated

I have been on a crazy crochet kick for the past two weeks and it's insane. I've finished 2 baby blankets, a huge Hunger Games inspired afghan, and a few odd hats.

I don't know what else I can possibly make, but I still want to crochet stuff

I need to start making lists of things I could make, or things I want to make, because I hate taking six hours to try and find something that I want to make. It takes up my actual crochet/knitting time.

- A name-blanket for my 2 year old cousin, Brynnleigh
- A baby blanket for my aunt (Brynn's mom) who's expecting another little girl in November
- More hats (can't have enough toques in Canada)
- A scarf? Haven't made one in a long time
- Halloween decorations

Spencer blanket done!

Finished my Spencer blanket for if I have any children in the future.

My aunt is due to have a little girl in November so I want to make her one of these. I`ll just wait until the kid has actually been born and named before I start the center portion.

The pattern I used can be found here -> http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/personalized-baby-afghan

I like to plan ahead . . . years ahead

I've known for at least a few years that if I ever have a kid, and that kid turns out to be a girl, I want to name her Jensen. Regardless of my significant other when/if the time comes, it's happening. I will not budge on this.

I also recently added Spencer to my list of names-my-daughters-will-be-named

To make sure that no one can screw with my future life plans, I made this

Whoever I'm dating/involved with/married to at the time will have to go with it because fuck you this took me five fucking days to make and that's a huge amount of commitment for me so get used to the name because this is it.

I already started on one for Spencer, but three-quarters of the way through I decided I hated the colours I had picked (white and burgundy) so I had to take time out of my vacation and go buy some more yarn. I finally decided on pale gold and a dusty pink. 

I'll post pictures when I'm done!

I also plan on making a few of these blankets for my aunt (she already has a daughter and is expecting another little girl in October so I won't be starting on that one until the little one's born and officially named)

The pattern I used can be found here -> http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/personalized-baby-afghan

Districts 8 and 9 complete!

I finally finished these two; District 9 took me quiet a bit of time seeing as I started it before I had to travel to the states twice in the same week (a four hour car ride each way).

That shouldn't really be an excuse seeing as I had about 16 hours driving time, but I get really bad motion sickness in cars if I try to do anything that I have to stare at. Knitting and crocheting makes my head spin and reading . . . I just end up throwing up. Tiny print and constant motion does not sit well with me.

(In general, I get really bad motion sickness. Like flying and fair rides and driving, but the worst is being on a boat. Which fucking sucks because I love the water.)

And I have another trip to the states planned in a few weeks. Awesome.

Hopefully I'll have the entire blanket finished before then, but in case not, here's 8 & 9.

I changed the chart for 9 because I figured if nines official industry is grain, I didn't really get the point of the factory. 

9 down, 3 to go!