Smiley Face bandana and Starburst Bag

 Recently Finished Projects

I have, like normal, have been crocheting up a storm. Today, I just want to introduce you to some projects I have finished recently and the background behind them.

Smiley face Bandana

One day, I was at TJMaxx with one of my best friends. She noticed this really cute bandana with smiley faces on it. She really liked and considered buying it. Knowing that I could do it, I leaned to her and whispered, "I could make that for you!". Previously, I had made a bandana like that, but with flowers instead of smiley faces. I knew how to make the layout and I had all of the colors. That night, I put on my thinking cap, figured out a pattern for a circle and then I embroidered a smiley face onto it. Simple enough. 

It was a spur-of-the moment ordeal and I got it done in a few hours over two days. I was just sitting on my couch just trying to get it done. I believe it was that same day that I got back from TJMaxx. I love those feelings when I'm really motivated to get something done, but not when it's late at night. I've found that in the past, when I start projects after 10pm, they are normally spontaneous and not very practical. 

Starburst bag

I have seen many of these bags all over Pinterest so I decided that I would try and make one. I enjoyed making each individual square and I tried a new technique with JAYG. JAYG, or "Join as you go", is a type of crochet technique that helps you join granny squares together. But since I had no experience with it, it took me longer than I thought it would. After joining it, I made the straps. After making the straps, some weeks later, I decided to line it and add a lining. 

I was not pleased with the bag until I added the lining. Later on, I decided to put it at my table at the coffee shop for a run-of-the-mill price of $60. I did not time myself making it, so I don't know the actual price unfortunately. I know it took like two evenings for me to join the bag together and I don’t remember how long it took for me to make the straps. 

Recently I made another one in a different color scheme for a friend. The JAYG went much more smoothly because I had some practice from the first one. I love how both of them turned out and I am looking forward to making it in a lot of different colors.

Strawberry and Blueberry Amigurumi

For about a year, a girl from my church has been asking me to make her a strawberry. My excuse was that I never had the right yarn for it. The pattern called for a very large chenille yarn and I never ever buy that stuff. So when my aunt sent me a red chunky yarn, I knew exactly what I was going to make with it. Because the girl's birthday was around the corner, I took to making the strawberry. I'm not sure how long it took me to make it, but I worked on it over a weekend. 

I used the free pattern from HayHay crochet(link is on title). I used it one time before for my own personal strawberry in the past, so I knew it was good for what I was looking for. Of course, it turned out smaller than the pattern because although the yarn I got was large, it wasn't as large as what the pattern called for. I think it's plenty big, so I didn't mind. I held a variegated green yarn for the stem and leaves double to make it chunkier. I gave it to her for her birthday, and she seemed to like it. 

Since I also had some blue yarn in the same type as the red yarn that I used for the strawberry I just had to make a blueberry. I found a pattern online that uses weight 4 yarn but instead I used the chunky yarn for it. I removed some of the straight rows so that it wouldn't be as spherical, and thankfully, it turned out around the same size as the strawberry. I really like how they look together and they’re both very nice. I freehanded the frill at the top with Front-loop-only single crochets and Single Crochet increases.

I added a frill at the top to make it realistic

Recently, I made another strawberry and as of now, it just sold at my table at the coffee shop. Also, a friend asked me to teach her how to crochet just so she can make it. I'm very excited.