Princess in Disguise Pattern

Growing up, our Halloween costumes were always homemade.  One of our favorites was a giant pair of monarch butterfly wings my dad made out of a refrigerator sized box and painted to look like the wing pattern of the migrating monarch. Another year, I went as a baker, wearing the apron and floppy chef's hat my dad made in his junior high boys home management class and carrying a cookie sheet with rows of paper cookies taped to it.

In the spirit of homemade costume ideas, I wanted to make a pattern for a crocheted crown headband.  I was inspired this morning to create a post on last-minute costume ideas, and cranked out this pattern in a couple hours. It's quick, it's simple, and if you have some crochet thread lying around, it may get you started on a quick costume for your little princess.

Note: This pattern is sized for a child... I'm holding the straps on my head in the picture, as they are a bit too short for an adult head.  In the pattern, the modifications to the straps to fit an adult head are italicized in parentheses.

Supplies: 

• Size E (3.5mm) crochet hook
• A partial skein of size 3 crochet thread (I used Red Heart Fashion Crochet Thread size 3 in Copper Mist) - I'm not sure the exact yardage as I was using up scraps in my stash...
• Scissors
• Any gems, beads or buttons you wish to add to give it a bit of sparkle...

Abbreviations: 

• ch - chain
• slst - slip stitch
• sc - single crochet
• dc - double crochet
• tr - treble crochet
• st(s) - stitch(es)
• dc 5 tog - double crochet 5 together (explanation below)

To begin: ch 159 - child (199 - adult), turn

Row 1: skip 1st ch, slst in next 60(80)sts, ch2, skip 2 sts, 5 dc in next st, *skip 3 sts, 5 dc in next st,* repeat * * 8 times (for a total of 9 shells), skip 2 sts, dc in next st, turn

Row 2: ch 3, dc 5 tog (makes 1 diamond), *ch 5, dc 5 tog*, repeat * * 8 times (for a total of 9 diamonds), tr to top of ch 2 of previous row, turn

Row 3: ch 1, *3 sc in next ch 5 space, ch 3, 3 sc in same ch 5 space,* repeat * * in next ch 5 space, 7 sc in next ch 5 space, [2 sc, 2 dc, 1 tr, 2 dc, 2 sc] in next ch 5 space, [2 sc, 2 dc, 1 tr, 2 dc, 2 sc] in next ch 5 space, 3 sc in next ch 5 space, turn

Row 4: ch 6, sc in tr of previous row, ch 7, sc in next tr of previous row, ch 6, sc in 4th sc of 7 sc from previous row, turn

Row 5: 4 sc around ch 6, ch 3, 4 sc around same ch 6, 5 sc around ch 7, ch 5, 5 sc around same ch 7, 4 sc around next ch 6, ch 3, 4 sc around same ch 6, 4 sc in partial ch 5 from row 3, *3 sc around next ch 5, ch 3, 3 sc around same ch 5,* repeat * * in next ch 5 space, 3 slst around tr from row 2, 2 slst around ch 2 from row 1, slst in next 60(80) sts

Finishing Row: ch 1, turn your project to work along the "bottom edge" of the crown (rotate it upside down from how you have been working the crown) with the right side facing you, slst in the next 60(80) sts along the straps, *4 sc around the skipped 3 ch from Row 1*, repeat * * 8 times (9 total), slst in the 1st ch of the strap, slst in the next 59(79) sts, tie off, weave in ends

Add any gems, beads, or buttons you desire to give it some sparkle.  Block if you have time - although your princess may not be able to wait! :)

How to dc 5 together: 
yarn over (yo), insert hook into next stitch, yo, pull yarn through stitch (3 loops on hook), yo, pull yarn through 1st two loops on hook, pause (you should have 2 loops left on your hook);

yo, insert hook into next stitch, yo, pull yarn through stitch (4 loops on hook), you, pull yarn through 1st two loops on hook, pause (you should have 3 loops left on your hook

Repeat this until you have completed five partial dc (I like to think of it as the “bottom half” of the stitches)

At this point, you should have 6 loops on your hook, yo, pull yarn through all six loops, you can “lock it” in place with a sc… or in this pattern, just move on to the next ch 5…


Princess in Disguise by Emily Bittel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Harvest Pumpkin...

I was on the phone with a friend the other day, and she was telling me about a project she was starting where she was going to decoupage book pages onto a black plastic pumpkin she had lying around to make it less dreary.  I really liked that idea, but I hate destroying books, so I came up with a Harvest Pumpkin...

To make your own, you will need: 

• A small fake pumpkin ~ I found this beauty at my local dollar store... supposedly you can carve it, so I'm guessing it's made of some sort of styrofoam.
• Hymn lyrics printed on ivory computer paper ~ I'll give instructions for how to do this very shortly.
• Scissors, Mod Podge (matte finish), and a 1-inch foam brush
• One paper bag ~ This is for keeping your table glue-free as well as for covering the stem.

Step 1: Find lyrics and prep your paper...

Start out by selecting the hymns that are either meaningful to you, or relate to praise or harvest.  I picked:

• "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" by Joachim Neander
• "Sing to the Lord of the Harvest" by John S.B. Monsell
• "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Folliot S. Pierpoint
• "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" by Henry Alford
• "As the Sun Doth Daily Rise" by an unknown author
• "All Creatures of Our God and King" by Francis of Assisi

I then found the lyrics to these songs on Net Hymnal, a great resource for finding old hymns and lyrics, as well as authors and dates the lyrics were written.  

I then copied and pasted the lyrics into a word processing program, formatted them to a font and size I liked and oriented the page in landscape to fit the size of my pumpkin.  I printed them and cut the sheets of paper into strips with approximately 1/2 inch border around the top and sides, leaving the bottom full-length.  (I did not end up using the text I put in the fancy text box, but you could...)

Step 2: Crumple and start gluing!

Once you have cut out your strips of lyrics, crumple them up to make the thick computer paper more flexible.  I ended up crumpling each sheet twice.  

Glue the back of the page and then begin to position it on the pumpkin, starting at the top and smoothing it down the side.  I ended up with some extra paper on the sides and bottom that didn't lay nicely, so I tore off the parts that hung over, and was then careful to cover the parts I tore.  

Once you have positioned all the paper, use the sponge to put a layer of the glue over top of all the paper.  Tip the pumpkin on its side, resting it on the stem to allow it to dry.  (Cover your glue and clean your brush while you wait so it doesn't dry out.) I had to wait a little longer than the drying time described on the bottle, because I put the glue on a bit thick in some places.

Be careful with this step, because the ink has a tendency to smudge when it gets wet.  There are a few places where my fingers smeared the ink a bit while I was holding the pumpkin to glue.

Step 3: Cover the Stem

Once the glue dries, cut a square of paper from your paper bag, large enough that it will meet up with the rest of the paper on the pumpkin when you fold it down over the stem.

Crumple the paper a few times to get it soft and pliable.  Trim notches from the edges to make a jagged edge where the stem meets the pumpkin.

Apply glue to the back of the paper, and form the paper around the stem, crinkling it so it follows the contours of the stem.  Once you are satisfied with its positioning, spread a layer of glue over the top of the stem and allow it to dry.  Clean up and put your feet up. 

When it dries, add your cute little harvest pumpkin to your fall centerpiece, your mantle, or somewhere you can look at it and smile. Enjoy!

Birds on my Buffet...

Time is flying by and we are on into the heart of fall.  I'm excited for some of the projects I've been working on... 

A week or so ago, I finished my "coppery-fall" buffet runner.  I'm excited, because I made my first filet crochet runner using a bird chart from the Filet Crochet Birds Sweater, 1920, reworked by Sandi Marshall and posted on About.com.  

I used 4 skeins of Red Heart Fashion Size 3 crochet thread in Copper Mist and a size E crochet hook.

To create a larger chart for the runner, I pasted her image of the two birds facing each other into a basic word processing program.  I arranged two of the charts (for four birds total) side-by-side to get a chart of the whole runner.  I ended the top of the runner with two open mesh rows above the birds, and a final solid row.  As I crocheted, I ignored the solid squares that ran between the two charts, turning them into open mesh squares, and leaving the solid border only on the outside edges.

Finished and ready to put on the buffet! 

To figure out the number of starting stitches in a filet crochet project, count up the number of boxes along one side of your pattern.  I started crocheting at the bottom of the runner and worked my way up, using a 3 dc mesh (1 dc, ch 1, skip next st, 1 dc).  For a 3 dc mesh, calculate the length of your starting chain by multiplying 2 by the number of boxes in the chart, and add 1.  Add three more chains at the end of your starting chain to serve as the 1st dc of your next row.  

So, for this buffet scarf, I chained 216 + 1 + 3 for my initial chain, for a total of 220.  I then simply followed the chart I had pieced together from the beautiful pattern, and went to work.

When I finished the last row, I wanted to make a border for it to help hide some of the waviness of the edges.  For the edging…

• To start: ch 1, turn, sc in same st, ch 5, sc in same st (first corner loop made)
• Across the long side: sc in next 3 sts, {picot in the top of next st, sc in next 3 sts,} repeat { } to corner - picot should line up with the top of the dc in the filet mesh 2 rows down (picot - sc, ch 3, sc in same st)
• At the corner: sc in corner st, ch 5, sc in same st
• Across the short side: sc, {picot in next st, sc} repeat { } until corner - picot should line up with the dc or the filet crochet mesh 2 “columns” in
• Repeat corner, repeat the long side, repeat corner, repeat short side
• To finish: Join with slst to top of 1st sc, cut thread, weave in ends.

This is what the corner looks like...

I blocked the runner by pinning it down to some blocking mats from KnitPicks, sprayed it with water and let it dry completely.

I love how this turned out!  It was pretty quick and easy, although I would not recommend working on it late at night when you are tired, since you have to count carefully so the image turns out correctly.  I learned this after starting and restarting the same row several times...

Off to other autumn adventures!