Bunny ears crochet pattern

I had the opportunity to make a fuzzy bunny hat for a photographer recently. I found some really great bulky fuzzy yarn (Yarn Bee Cameo) - it's soft, it has fluff and fuzz - it's great except...it's super bulky (6)...I love sport weight yarn and often use it (with a size larger hook) when worsted weight is called for. It's light and lacy. But bulky and then some? Yes, it works up faster but it's just so big! No problem though, I'll have to find a pattern that calls for bulky yarn. um... yeah... so...

Well, a beanie hat isn't hard to make. I loosely followed Red Heart's Bunny Hat pattern for the beanie - I love the dc row amid the primarily sc rows. Granted, the pattern was written for a worsted weight (4) so I had to make modifications - I switched to my largest hook (M) and cut down on number of rows. but even then the ears didn't really work - they were too stiff with the bulky yarn.

I went looking for another pattern. I couldn't really find one that would work with bulky yarn or gave me the look I was going for so I made up my own!

Inner ear (crochet 2)
with sport or worsted weight yarn (I did white with the pink hat and cream with the tan hat) and a I hook, leave a longer tail and ch 21.
R1: sc in the second ch from hook, sc 18; in the last ch, 5sc. working on the other side of the ch, sc 19 to the end, do not join, ch1 turn (43)
R2: sc in the same sc as the ch1, sc 18, 2sc in each of the 5 turning stitches, sc 19, ch1 turn (48)
R3: sc in the same sc as the ch1, sc 7, hdc 3, dc 10, hdc, 2sc, sc-ch-sc, 2sc, hdc, dc 10, hdc 3, sc 9, ch1 turn (52 including sc-ch-sc)
R4: slst in the first stitch, slst 5, sc 19, in the ch1 space, sc-ch-sc, ,sc 19, slst 6, bind off leaving long tail (53 inclusing sc-ch-sc).
using the longer starting tail, sew up any gap made by crocheting on both sides of the ch.

Fuzzy Outer Ear (crochet 2)
using the super bulky yarn and the M hook, ch 13.
R1: sc in the second ch from the hook, sc 10, sc 5 in the last ch, working on the other side of the ch, sc 11, ch1 turn (27)
R2: sc in the same stitch as the ch 1, sc 10, 2sc in each of the 5 turning stitches, sc 11, ch1 turn (32)
R3: sc in the same stitch as the ch 1, sc 10, hdc, dc, 2dc, dc, 2dc, dc-ch1-dc, 2dc, dc, 2dc, dc, hdc, sc 10, ch turn (38 including dc-ch-dc) do not bind off
weave in the starting tail

*here come the tricky part - joining the inner and outer ears together. You'll notice that they aren't the same size and don't have the same number of finishing stitches and that the M hook will not fit in the I hook space. I switch to a J hook. I use 3 removable stitch markers (safety pins) to hold them together temporarily. The first one is placed in the ch space at the turn for both inner and outer ear. The other 2 attach to the top of the ear for both parts of the ears. As the next row is worked, there's a bit of "easing in" that goes on - the stitches with stitch markers are the only ones that have to match up.
R4: holding both part of the ear together, insert the hook with the fuzzy working yarn still looped under the first slst of the inner ear and thru the same stitch as the ch1 of the outer ear, draw a loop through both pieces and make a sc. Do the same for the rest of the slst and the sc on the inner ear (24 st) to the next stitch marker - some of the outer ear stitches will have 2 stitches in each stitch but not all of them (this is the easing in part). In the ch spaces, sc-ch-sc. sc in each of the inner ear sc attaching it to the outer ear - remember, some of the outer ear stitches will hold 2 of the sc - use your best judgement. bind off leaving a long tail.

tuck the starting tail of the inner ear between the layers and use the long tail of the inner ear to sew the top closed with a whip stitch, I knot it and weave in ends. Using long tail of the fuzzy yarn, sew the ears on the hat where and how you like them. Weave in the ends of the fuzzy yarn, put hat on a baby - adorable!

Hopping Down The Bunny Trail fuzzy bunny hat at hamburke.com

Another Easy Crochet Pattern Share - snowman coffee cup coozy

I do a lot of socializing at Starbucks and I meet a lot of people by simply crocheting in public. It's an amazingly simple marketing/networking strategy. Here's an easy-peasy pattern that I use to draw attention to myself!

I like to use a J hook but you can adapt this to any hook you like to use.
I used 2 strands of yarn for most of the coozy (Knit Picks Cotlin DK for the scarf and hat, Knit Picks Shine Sport for the face). I really think that 2 strands, no matter the weight, makes it look better.
scraps of black and orange - both of these happened to be Shine Worsted.

ch - chain
sc - single crochet
sc3tog - single crochet together
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
slst - slip stitch
sk - skip

I like to use a no-chain single crochet foundation row b/c it leaves such a pretty edge. Here's a video tutorial which I totally think is necessary if you've never done a foundation row before.

Foundation Row: 29 stitches or 9 inches, being careful not to twist the row and slst join, do not turn
R2: ch1, sc in the same stitch as the slst, sc around, slst join
CHANGE YARN HERE to white for snowman face
R3-6: ch2, hdc in the same stitch as the slst, hdc around, slst join
CHANGE YARN HERE to hat color
R7 and hat: ch2, hdc in the same stitch as the slst, hdc 17, TURN,
ch1, sk next stitch, sc in the next stitch, sc 7, slst in next stitch, TURN,
ch1, sk slst, sc in next stitch, sc7, slst in last stitch, TURN,
ch1, sk slst, sc in next stitch, sc5, slst in last stitch, TURN,
ch1, sk slst, sc in next stitch, sc 2, sc2tog, slst in last stitch, TURN,
ch1, sk slst, sc in next stitch, sc2togslst in last stitch, TURN,
ch1 sk slst, sc2tog, ch1, sc down the side, hdc in the same space as the last stitch before the first turn, continue hdc around the round, slst join
R8: slst around R7, keep going thru the hat portion, not around it, join and bind off.  I do the seamless join with this that I learned from The Lovely Crow - pull the end thru the last slst so there's a loose end on the outside; with a yarn needle, thread the loose end, then go under the first slst in the round and back thru the last slst so you can't find the join.

Scarf end
I only use 1 strand of the scarf color for this so it lays down nicely. Leave a long tail (8 inches or so) at the beginning.
R1: ch4, sc in second chain from hook, sc to end
R2-3: ch2, hdc in same stitch, hdc across
R4: ch1, slst across
use 4 strand for fringe, slst on. I wanted to use 3 section but I only fit 2 on. I also tucked my end into the closest fringe - that's my favorite part of fringe - no weaving in ends!

PomPom
I really don't like making pompoms but...IT'S JUST SO CUTE! Here's a tutorial - I only used 2 fingers for this since it's a mini.

Eyes (make 2)
10 sc in your magic ring (complete with cheesy music, here's Planet June's video tutorial), invisible join and bind off.

Carrot nose
ch4, slst in second chain from the hook, sc in next stitch, hdc in last stitch, bind off.

PUT IT TOGETHER: Use the loose ends at the bottom to finish that edge - I pull it thru the bottom of the last stitch and tie it off like I do a sewing stitch. Weave in the ends including the ones from the bottom. Using long tails, sew on the scarf, eyes and nose. Weave in those ends. Fold down the hat and sew on the pompom through both the tip of the hat and the coozy. Weave in those ends and VOILA! Enjoy your yummy drink (butterbeer anyone?)

nah - this one's better for the Butterbeer!

(This pattern hasn't been tested by others, just by me. If you find a mistake, send me a message or leave a comment)

Also - Introducing PRINCESSES! to my fabric sandwich bag repertoire!

Oops! Now what?

I mess up A LOT! Specifically for crocheting, I don't notice the errors until I am well past them. I miss a step following directions, I don't check gauge, I switch stitches in a stitch pattern all the time! Sometimes it's a happy mistake but often it leads to frogging... satisfying and cathardic in itself, I must say. So this week's post is dedicated to mistakes and learning from them.

Let's start with that blanket I pictured last week - it started as a completely different pattern (here's that pattern) but I decided that I didn't like it couldn't keep up with the stitch count  - it seems so simple but after 6 rows, I noticed it was starting to look slightly more pyramid shaped than rectangle (mistake #1). So I went searching for another, simpler pattern and found one that I've used to make a newsboy hat for a girl before and it's really simple - ch2, skip the first stitch *dc, sc in the same stitch, skip a stitch* across, hdc in the ch2 from the previous row, ch2 turn. But here's the thing - my least favorite part of crocheting is the first row of stitches after the foundation chain especially when it's 30 inches of stitches so I didn't take that row out even though it has ch3 spaces (mistake #2). Then, I take this project with me everywhere - I do it at my Craft Nights, I do it at my kids' activities, I do it while watching TV - I skipped stitches a lot because I wasn't paying attention (usually skipped the dc and did the sc) and didn't find them until the next row. If it didn't look too bad, I didn't pull them out and just put the pattern stitch (dc, sc) in that sc (mistake #3-18). Now the latest mistake I have made on this blanket was particularly egregious - I mixed up the pattern. I did sc, dc across instead of dc, sc and I kept doing it because I was sure that it was the pattern stitch (mistake #19). I didn't look right but I couldn't figure out what happened. I frogged it 4 times before my mother-in-law helped  find my mistake!

Recap:
mistake #1 - this happens to everyone once in a while when a stitch just doesn't work for you. move on.
mistake #2 - I should have pulled this out but now that it's there, I'll find a way to incorporate it into the border.
mistake #3-18 - I was being lazy and should have pulled these out. But since I'm not going to, I'm just saying that those spots are a reminder that it was made with love!
mistake #19 - when in doubt, go back to the pattern. My MIL pulled out about 6 stitches on the last row that looked right and noted that it was dc, sc rather than sc, dc - I need to remember this for the next time I can't figure out the problem. A little note - you'd think that this mix up would look the same after a couple rows, but it doesn't.

So will I take this lesson and go on with it? yes. Will I make more mistakes in the future? absolutely. Here's what I did last night:

Both of these hats are 0-3 mo size but the blue one barely fits an American Girl doll. Guess I'm starting over on that one! That's what handicrafts are about - making mistakes and moving on!