A couple of weeks ago, I told you about the Happy Flower Project, a way to use crochet to spread a little happiness.

Today I want to share with you a flower design that you could use for this project that is easy and fast – and it includes a video tutorial!

You can use any size yarn with an appropriate hook. I chose to make this one with Lion Brand Yarn Feels Like Butta that I had left over from some baby blankets.

You can also find this flower (and a few more!) gracing my fall wreath. I haven’t designed a lot of flowers, but I forsee more in my future, especially as spring rolls around again!

To see the other flowers that have been released for the Happy Flower Project, visit Winding Road Crochet and Crochet 365 Knit Too.

HAPPY FLOWER

What You’ll Need

Yarn: Any weight yarn in three colors (I used Lion Brand Yarn Feels Like Butta)

Hook: Any appropriate hook for the yarn (check the ball band). I used a size H (5.00mm)

Notions: Yarn Needle, scissors

Pattern

With CC3, ch 5, join with sl st to form ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 5 (counts as dc, ch 2), dc in ring, (ch 2, dc in ring) 5 times, ch 2, join with sl st to 3rd ch of tch – 7 dc.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, (sc, ch 1, 4 dc, ch 1, sc) in each ch-2 sp, join to first sc with sl st – 7 petals.

Rnd 3: Change to CC2, ch 2, turn to back of Flower, *sc around dc of Rnd 1, ch 4; rep from * 6 more times, join to first sc with sl st.

Rnd 4: Turn Flower to front, ch 1, (sc, ch 1, 6 dc, ch 1, sc) in each ch-4 sp, join to first sc with sl st.

Rnd 5: Change to MC, ch 2, turn to back of Flower, *sc around sc of Rnd 3, ch 6; rep from * 6 more times; join to first sc with slip st.

Rnd 6: Turn Flower to front, ch 1, (sc, ch 1, 8 dc, ch 1, sc) in each ch-6 sp, join to first sc with sl st.

Fasten off.

That’s it!

When using these for the Happy Flower Crochet Project, be sure to head over to Winding Road Crochet and pick up some adorable printable labels.

I hope you’ll use your favorite craft to spread a little happiness around. My kids love finding the painted rocks at the park and this is our way of spreading cheer in much the same way.

Be sure to visit all of my free crochet patterns here – you’re sure to find something you like. 🙂

Happy Crocheting!
Amanda

Have you ever wanted to make a difference with your crochet? I used to crochet a lot for charity and still do whenever I can, but recently some crochet friends and I came across a story that inspired us to try something different.

Join us for the 30 Day Happy Flower Challenge!

The Inspiration

We were inspired by Olivia Fletcher, a 22-year-old girl who is using crochet to bring happiness and inspire others.

Olivia used crochet to overcome depression by spreading some kindness with a simple crocheted gift. She challenged herself to crochet 100 flowers and leave them for people to find.

On each flower, she leaves a tag like the one below. Now this idea is catching on and other crocheters are spreading kindness with flowers.

The Challenge

Four designers have joined up to bring you the 30 Day Happy Flower Challenge. During the challenge, we will release a new crochet flower pattern each week to help you complete the challenge.

October 2: Winding Road Crochet
October 9: Crochet 365 Knit Too
October 16: Love.Life.Yarn
October 23: Stitching Together

These flowers remind me of the painted rocks I see at the park sometimes with my kids. The kiddos have wanted to make their own and now we can spread joy with crochet flowers, too!

The challenge is this: crochet up to 30 flowers and between October 1-30th leave them in random places to be found. If you can’t do 30 flowers, that’s fine! Even one will brighten someone’s day.

Share pictures of your flowers in the Facebook Group or this Facebook Page using the #happyflowerproject2019.

Head over to Winding Road Crochet and pick up these printable tags for this project!

Why Get Involved?

Let’s use our crafting for good! People see negative all around us and we can be a small ray of sunshine in their day.

Olivia has inspired so many with her crocheted flowers. Check out her story here.

Tips for Leaving Crocheted Flowers

1. Be sure to leave the flowers where someone can find them. You want them to be found and make someone’s day, not hidden!
2. Keep the weather in mind when deciding where to leave your flowers. Indoors might be a better option for rain.
3. Only leave one or two flowers in a single location.
4. If you want the person who finds the flower to be able to contact you, don’t give out personal information. Create a separate instagram account or email address for them to contact you.

If you want more information on this challenge, please head over to Winding Road Crochet. There, you can find the printable tags and a wonderful round up of flowers you can crochet for the challenge!!

Happy Crocheting!
Amanda

Have you ever needed a quick project in the midst of other complicated ones?  That’s exactly how I felt recently!!  I have really been thinking about adding more home decor projects to the blog and when I saw that the Simple Textured Washcloth has been doing really well I decided that I needed to create a washcloth in my favorite stitch!  Hence the Duchess Lace Wash Cloth was born.

The first time I used this stitch was for the Duchess Baby Blanket and it has been the most popular pattern on my site since it released.  It’s such a timeless stitch and you can do a simple border like the one above, or the lacy border like the blanket!  I liked it so much I also created the Duchess Lace Scarf in this stitch with a color changing yarn and love the way it turned out.

This project is more feminine and I like that about it.  This will definitely go in our bathroom, as I live in a house of boys (four littles under the age of 10 and my hubs!).  I need to create some for their bathroom, though, so I think home decor items will be coming more in the next few weeks. 

My bathroom doesn’t really have a theme or a color scheme but the boys do!  As soon as I found out our second child was going to be a boy I went out and decorated their bathroom.  It has construction trucks in it so I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t have any girls because she would have to share the master bathroom with me! Ha!

If you need a quick, pretty project I hope you will give this a try.  It’s sure to brighten anyone’s day!

If you would like to make this larger, the pattern is a multiple of 3 + 1 so you can customize it any way you like!

Duchess Lace Wash Cloth

What You’ll Need

Yarn: 1 skein cotton yarn (I used Berroco Modern Cotton)

Hook: Size H/8 (5.0mm)

Gauge

Not crucial for this project

Finished Size

Approximately 8″ square.

PATTERN

Ch 31.

Row 1: (2 dc, ch 3, sl st) in 4th ch from hook, *sk next 2 ch, (2 dc, ch 3, sl st) in next ch; repeat from * across; turn.

Row 2: Ch 3, *(2 dc, ch 3, sl st) in next ch-3 sp; repeat from * across, ending with dc in top of turning ch; turn.

Repeat row 2 until piece is 7.5″ from beginning (or a square if yours is a different size!)

Do not fasten off.  Do not turn.

BORDER

After finishing the last row of the wash cloth, work row 2 of pattern along sides and bottom, leaving the top as is.  To turn the corners, simply work (2 dc, ch 3, sl st) into corner ch-3 space.

Finishing

Weave in ends.

See!  I told you it was a super quick win!!  Crochet up a bunch of these for someone in your life (or yourself!) and be sure to check out the library of free crochet patterns here!

Happy crocheting!

Amanda

It’s getting closer to Valentine’s Day!!  If you are looking for patterns for your little ones, here is a sweet set that is sure to be just what you are looking for:

Valentine’s Baby Dress

Striped Baby Pants

I love my house of boys but there are some times I wish I had a little girl model.  I love making these dresses, baby booties and hats for little girls!  There are only so many things you can make for boys, and I’ve spent a lot of the past month crocheting sweaters for all these boys of mine.

I noticed when I put all my patterns together on one page that I had waaaaaay more crochet patterns than knitting patterns, so one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to have one knitting and one crochet project going at all times.  I’m trying not to have any other wip’s than that, though, and to focus my attention on the two projects at hand.  I’m hoping to get more done this way!  I can still switch back and forth between two projects and I can switch from crochet to knitting as I please.

I’m also trying to use up my stash, which isn’t as daunting a task as it sounds.  Last year I went through my stash and got rid of four copy paper boxes full of yarn that I knew I wasn’t going to use.  I donated it to a local school to use with their kiddos.  I know, I know, I should have found a fellow knitter or crocheter, but I really don’t know hardly anyone in real life who uses yarn like I do!  (Sad, but true!)

Anyways, to get back to our project here I created a simple dress in Stockinette Stitch with a garter stitch border.  The dress itself could be made without the hearts to be worn any time of year or you can add the felt heart pockets for a V-Day outfit.  My youngest son’s best friend is a little girl – just look how adorable she is wearing this!! (At least I have friends who will let their daughters model for me :D)

This was the second project I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice yarn for and it was great.  Simple, inexpensive, and it showed the stitch definition of Stockinette really well.  It was super easy to knit up and I think these colors really work well together.  I hope you like them as much as I do!

While shooting the pictures with my friend’s daughter I tried to get some of my son in his matching pants – but he wasn’t having any of it.  He has just learned to walk and is all over the place.  It was so adorable to watch this little lady crawl after him.  She’s three months younger and so close to walking herself.  They are best buddies.  I can’t help but love this picture.  Gotta love babies, right? 😀

To buy the ad-free pdf or favorite on Ravelry click here

What You’ll Need

Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice (100% Acrylic; 170 yards [156 meters]/100 grams): #177 Sage (MC, 1 skein), #099 Linen (CC, 1 skein)

Needles: US size 9 (5.5 mm) straight

Notions: Tapestry needle, two ½” heart-shaped buttons, 1 sheet red felt, matching thread, sewing needle

Skill Level: Intermediate

Size: Finished Chest Size 16.5 (17, 18, 19, 20)” for infant size 3 (6, 12, 18, 24) months

Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows = 4” [10 cm] in St st after wet blocking

Find the matching leggings here!

PATTERN

Back

CO 42 (46, 48, 52, 54) sts.

Border

With CC, work in Garter Stitch for 4 (4, 6, 6, 8) rows.

Body

Change to MC.

Decrease 1 st each side on next row and every 14th row twice. (36 (40, 42, 46, 48) sts)

Work 0 (0, 2, 8, 10) rows even in St st.

Sizes 12 (18, 24) months Only

Decrease 1 st each side. (40 (44, 46) sts)

All Sizes

Work in St st for 16 (18, 18, 18, 20) rows.

Armhole

BO 3 (3, 3, 4, 4) sts at beg of next 2 rows. (30 (34, 34, 36, 38) sts)

Work even in St st for 1 (1, 1, 2, 2) rows.

Decrease 1 st each side. (28 (32, 32, 34, 36) sts)

Work even in St st for 1 (1, 1, 2, 2) rows.

Decrease 1 st each side. (26 (30, 30, 32, 34) sts)

Work in Garter Stitch for 14 (16, 16, 18, 18) rows.

Neck Shaping

Work 5 (6, 6, 6, 7) sts in est patt, sl next 16 (18, 18, 20, 20) to holder, join other end of yarn, work 5 (6, 6, 6, 7) sts in est patt.

Dec 1 st at Neck Edge. (4 (5, 5, 5, 6) sts)

Work even for 7 (7, 8, 8, 9) rows.

Sizes 6 (12, 18, 24) months Only

Dec 1 st at each end. (3 (3, 3, 4) sts)

Change to CC.

Work in Garter Stitch for 3 rows.

BO sts.

Front

Work same as Back to Armhole.

Armhole

BO 3 (3, 3, 4, 4) sts at beg of next 2 rows. (30 (34, 34, 36, 38) sts)

Work even in St st for 1 (1, 1, 2, 2) rows.

Decrease 1 st each side. (28 (32, 32, 34, 36) sts)

Work even in St st for 1 (1, 1, 2, 2) rows.

Decrease 1 st each side. (26 (30, 30, 32, 34) sts)

Work in Garter Stitch for 6 (8, 8, 10, 10) rows.

Neck Shaping

Work 9 (10, 10, 10, 11) sts, sl next 8 (10, 10, 12, 12) to holder, join other end of yarn, work 9 (10, 10, 10, 11) sts.

Decrease 1 st at neck edge every row 5 times. (4 (5, 5, 5, 6) sts)

Work even in St st for 2 rows.

Change to CC.

Work in Garter Stitch for 3 rows.

BO sts.

Finishing

Block pieces.

Sew Front to Back at side seams.

Front Collar

With CC and RS facing, pick up and k8 (10, 10, 12, 12) sts from left front neck edge, 8 (10, 10, 12, 12) sts from holder, 8 (10, 10, 12, 12) sts from right front neck edge. (24 (30, 30, 36, 36) sts)

Work in Garter Stitch for 2 rows.

BO sts.

Armholes

With CC and RS facing, pick up and k26 (30, 30, 34, 34) sts evenly around armhole.

Work in Garter Stitch for 2 rows.

BO sts.

Back Collar

With CC and RS facing, pick up and k6 (7, 7, 8, 8) sts below Garter Stitch border of right back neck edge, 16 (18, 18, 20, 20) sts from holder, 6 (7, 7, 8, 8) sts from left back neck edge, ending just before Garter Stitch border. (28 (32, 32, 36, 36) sts)

Work in Garter Stitch for 2 rows.

BO sts.

Finishing

Sew Garter Stitch borders together at tops of front and back neck edges.

Cut heart-shaped pockets from red felt and attach.

Overlap straps by bringing back straps to front. Attach heart-shaped buttons.

Weave in ends.

That’s it!  I hope you enjoy this free pattern.  Be on the lookout for the baby pants pattern, too!  Be sure to check out my library of free knitting patterns.

Happy Knitting!
Amanda