savoy062

Here are the craft projects I completed in March.  All my projects this month were crochet but I have plans to make a sewing tutorial in April.

I had so much fun making the Rainbow Swirl Hat that I wanted to make a bonnet version.  Make this bright and colorful bonnet for your fun little girl. Rainbow Swirl Bonnet Each round will begin with working with red, then each color in turn, finishing with lavender. With so many working yarns, you may have tangles. Mostly the yarns are just twisted, spinning your work in the opposite directions is usually all that is needed. I recommend untwisting and untangling your yarns at the end of each round to prevent a unmanageable tangle. When you leave a color, be sure to pull up a long loop to prevent any stitches from being pulled out during handling. When you pick that color up again, make sure the long loop is tightened back down onto the hook to ensure the proper tension. The first 9 rows are exactly the same as the Rainbow Swirl hat which has a video that may be helpful as you make this bonnet.   Click here to see the video on YouTube This pattern uses US crochet terms.  If you hav

My baby loves playing with crochet swatches so I made a few toys just for her.  Made with cotton yarn, these toys can be wet and frozen to give cool soothing relief to sore gums.  Your baby will love the bright contrasting colors and textures. You only need scraps of cotton yarn such as Sugar 'n Cream.  I used a size G crochet hook but you can use any similar sized hook. This pattern uses US crochet terms, if you have any questions about this pattern, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out. Teething Toys As with all toys, supervise baby at play and remove any toys which become damaged or unsafe. Triangle Teether Special stitches used: fpdc = front post double crochet; bpdc = back post double crochet; popcorn To make the popcorn stitch: *yo, insert the hook into the st, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops on the hook, repeat from * 4 more times working into the same st, yo and pull through all the loops on the hook. Foundation: with black, ch 15, sl st

Breakfast burritos are great on the go.  You can prepare a bunch in advance and keep them in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast. Ingredients: 12 eggs beaten 1/2 pound of bacon 2 cups of 1/4" diced potatoes 1 cup of finely chopped onions salt and pepper to taste 8 fajita sized tortilla.  I use Chi Chi whole wheat tortilla because they don't become brittle after freezing and reheating. Fry the bacon until crisp and drain away most of the fat. Fry the potatoes for about 10 minutes until cooked through and browned. Add the onion and cook another 1-2 minutes until they are softened. Add the eggs and stir continuously until the eggs are set. Cool the egg mixture. Assemble the burritos using 1/2 cup of the filling in each tortilla. Wrap the burrito in foil, label and freeze To reheat: place the foil wrapped burrito in the oven or toaster oven at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes or remove the foil and microwave on high for 2 minutes, turn over and cook another 2 minutes. Ser

Rainbow Swirl hat pattern and tutorial.  Have the bleak and grey days of winter got you down?  Try a splash of color or a whole rainbow of colors. This hat is made with all six colors attached to the work at the same time.  By spiraling the colors on top of each other you can get lots of multicolored stripes with minimal tails to weave in at the end. This pattern uses US crochet terms.  If you have any questions about this pattern, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out. For this hat you will need 1/2 ounce of 6 different colors of worsted weight acrylic yarn.  You will also need a size H crochet hook, a yarn needle, and a pair of scissors. Rainbow Swirl Hat Note: In this pattern your colors will chase each other around and around. You will not join rounds with sl st, you will not turn the work, the stitches will spiral around for the entire hat. The red stitches will be worked into orange stitches, the orange will be worked into yellow and so on. Each round will begin

Today I have another easy recipe which also freezes beautifully: Sloppy Joes.  My family does cheat a little on the sloppy, we eat our with a fork and knife... and a napkin. This recipe is a great one to have in the freezer.  Its not hard to make, but letting it simmer for at least 30 minutes is the key to the most delicious sloppy joes.  If you'd rather use that 30 minutes doing something else on a busy weeknight, then make a big batch ahead of time and freeze individual or family size portions.  Then when dinner time rolls around, just heat and eat!   Classic Sloppy Joes  4 servings 1 pound ground beef 1 green bell pepper chopped 1 medium onion chopped 1/2 cup ketchup 1 TBSP yellow mustard 1 tsp sriracha sauce Salt and pepper to taste Hamburger buns or sliced bread, toasted

Here is the adult version of the spiral mitten.  Check out the Baby Spiral Mitten pattern in case you missed it. This is a multi sized pattern with adjustments in the pattern and video tutorial.  Use the first adjustment for small, the second for medium or the third adjustment to make the large. This pattern is written with US crochet terms.  I used Bernat Super Value and Red Heart Super Saver yarns, which are medium worsted weight, and a size H crochet hook.  You will also need a pair of scissors, a blunt yarn needle and a measuring tape or ruler.  If you have any questions about this pattern, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you. Spiral Mittens This is a multi sized pattern. Small/child size, medium or large. In color A ch 5, skip 1st chain from hook, 1 sc, 1hdc in top loop of 2nd chain from hook, 1 hdc in the top loop of the next 2 ch, 2 hdc in top loop of last st, pull up a long loop to prevent your stitches from being pulled out during handling Turn your work u

I had never had ham salad until my coworker brought some to a potluck lunch.  I love egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, and don't forget the turkey salad after thanksgiving (smoked turkey salad if at all possible) but I had never thought to make ham salad.  Just as the other salads are made, mix chopped ham with chopped onions and celery and a dressing of mayo, mustard and pickle relish. Ham salad can be served on top of a green salad or made into a sandwich.  Pumpernickel bread is especially good.  This is also great for a party appetizer, serve with Ritz crackers or cucumber slices. You can chop the meat and vegetables as small as you like, I prefer a smoother consistency so I use a food processor to grind the ham, the onions and the celery.  The smaller you chop the veggies the more liquid will come out into the dressing, making your ham salad runny.  You can prevent this by draining the chopped veggies in a mesh strainer, pressing down with a spatula to remove as much liquid

These mittens are great for cold weather or for no-scratch mittens. This pattern uses US crochet terms.  If you have any questions about this pattern, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out. You will need small amounts of acrylic worsted weight yarn.  Use a size G crochet hook for a 0-6 month size and size H crochet hook for a 6-12 month size.  You will also need a blunt yarn needle for weaving in ends, a tape measure or ruler and a pair of scissors.  Spiral Baby Mittens Note: This pattern is worked in a spiral fashion with 2 colors joined onto the work through out the pattern.  You will be only working with one color as a time.  When you leave a color, pull up a long loop to help prevent your stitches from being pulled out during handling.  When you pick up that color again, make sure you pull the working tail to pull the loop back down onto the hook so you will have an even tension.  With the first color, ch 4, working into the top loop only,  2 sc in 2nd ch from the

Dried bananas are a great snack and really easy to make with a dehydrator.  Dried banana you make at home will never taste like the banana chips you can buy at the store, thats because those banana chips are not dried, they are deep fried.  Instead of trying (and failing) to replicate those crispy crunchy fried banana chips, why not try making flattened bananas. You will want to use fully ripened, or even over ripened bananas.  The more black the skin becomes, the sweeter the banana.  Just smash the banana onto the fruit leather tray of your dehydrator and dry them at 135 degrees for about 12 hours.

Here is my newest bonnet pattern.  Perfect for those bright, sunny but still chilly spring days.  This bonnet has a happy sunshine on the back and a colorful rainbow arcing over the top. This bonnet is made with worsted weight acrylic yarn.  You will need 2 ounces in light blue, 1 ounce in yellow and 5-6 yards of each color in the rainbow.  Use a size G hook for a 6 month size and a size H hook for a size 9-12 month size. This pattern uses US crochet terms.  If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out. Sunshine and Rainbows Bonnet Special Stitches Used  hdc4tog – this stitch is worked over 4 stitches. Yo and insert hook in the first st, yo and pull up a loop, yo and insert the hook into the 2nd st, yo and pull up a look, yo and insert the hook into the 3rd st, yo and pull up a loop, yo and insert the hook into the 4th st, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through all 9 loops on the hook hdc3tog – this stitch is made in the same way as hdc4tog but