Dear fellow crocheters,

I've had a number of free pattern designs on my website since the start of this year, and I thought I'd make a quick roundup of them in case you've missed any!

These are current patterns from January and February 2019, and I definitely have more coming up in March and the rest of the year, of course!

Below are the free pattern links to the individual patterns:

• Hooded Fox Cowl
• Owl Bean
• Merry-Go-Round Rug (Video Tutorial available!)
• Merry-Go-Round Blanket
• Textured Basket
• Sapphire Love Shawl
• Cute Cactus Couple

Stay tuned for more freebies coming up! <3

Warmly,

Dear crafters,

Have you ever considered adding your own, custom touch to your room's walls?

My husband and I decided to try it out by painting a mountain range as an accent wall in one of our bedrooms.  We wanted to pick a scene that would remind us of nature that beautiful, woodsy Pacific Northwest sort of feel.  We thought of painting a forest, but it seemed a little ambitious in terms of artistic talent.  We thought of doing some grassy hills, and then decided on a neutral mountain range that varied in peaks and shades!

This was our first time painting any sort of image on our walls, and I had to admit, I was pretty nervous about it.  I've painted before, but only on paper and canvas, and I wasn't sure what to expect with a project like this.  I worry about messing up the wall, but my husband convinced me that we could always cover up our mistakes with a new layer of paint.

Whew, it's nice having a back-up plan as the big "undo" button that I desperately need in real life!

In the words of Bob Ross: "No mistakes, just HAPPY ACCIDENTS"!  

With that, we decided to go for it and bought two quarts of Valspar paint: one very light grey ("Ghost Ship"), and one very dark grey ("Night View").


Here's a clearer look at the colors, taken from the Valspar website.


I got a regular-Joe pencil and sketched out the shape of our mountain ranges.  We wanted to have some layering and depth, so I drew a total of six different layers.  Since we aimed for an organic, natural-type of look, I used that as an excuse for all my lines to be wobbly... :)

Just for the record, I can NOT draw a straight line for the life of me!

My husband then set up the room so that it was ready for painting.  To do so you, you'll probably want to look up some tutorials or Youtube videos to explain how that's done.  My husband, for example, used blue tape along the ceiling edge and bottom edge (to cover the crown molding), as well as the left and right edges of the wall.  He also had brown paper covering the floor to keep our paint splatters from making a mess of the room.

After that, we were ready to paint!

We opened the light grey can of paint and painted the sky without mixing the color at all.

Giving the sky layer a few moments to dry, we then poured a bit of the dark grey paint into the light grey can of paint.  The key is to add just a bit of dark grey at a time, because remember: you can always go darker, but you can't go lighter!

We stirred the mixture until the color had become an even shade, now slightly darker than the sky's light grey.  We then painted the first layer of the mountain.


Once that first layer was done, we went back to mix a bit of that dark grey into the lighter shade.  Repeating the process, we painted the second layer of the mountain.


This process of mixing a slightly darker grey, and then painting on a closer layer of the mountain range, continued!


Finally, we were finished with ALL the mountain layers!  After letting the wall dry, this is what it looked like:
It turned out to be a lot of fun!  The other walls in the room were left in their original colors in our photos, but we ended up painting them in a light grey to match with the more neutral tone of the accent wall.



Check out our video below to see the painting in action!  It's a start-to-finish, time-lapse perspective of our painting technique (or lack thereof)...
Thanks for reading (or watching), and hope this has been helpful to anyone who's looking to create a lovely set of mountain ranges on the wall!

Happy crafting and DIY-ing!

Warm regards,

Hello, my sweet crochet friends!

I'm so excited to announce that my buddies (#wonderwoolmen) and I are teaming up for this super fun Instagram Challenge for the month of March!

Tell a crafty friend (or two or three!) about this challenge and join in on the Crochet Madness 😝

All you'll need to do is post a photo or video on Instagram, that goes with the theme of that day and use the hashtag #crochetmadness so that we can see your awesome posts!

You can follow my sweet maker friends on Instagram to see their amazing stuff, too 💕

• @aspottedllama 
• @casalecrafts 
• @cozylittlemess 
• @loopsandlovecrochet 
• @onceuponacheerio 
• @modesty.by.laura 
• @thecozychipmunk

Don't miss out on the fun!  I will be sharing throughout the month on my Instagram. You can also read about my blog post containing all the photos and responses I've shared!

Stay tuned, and hope to see you as part of this Instagram Challenge!

Warmly,

Scroll down for the free, written crochet pattern, as well as the video tutorial!  If you'd like to download the beautifully-formatted, ad-free, and easy-to-read PDF version (see preview below), click here to purchase it for a small fee in my shop.  Thank you for supporting Sweet Softies designs!

Copyright Notice -- © 2019 Sweet Softies (www.sweetsofties.com). You have permission to sell finished products made from this pattern, but you must credit Sweet Softies as the owner/creator of this pattern by linking to my website (www.sweetsofties.com) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SweetSofties). No wholesale. You may not copy, alter, or sell my patterns in part or in whole in any way. My patterns may not be used in teaching online classes. My patterns may be used in teaching in-person classes ONLY with written consent from me. You may link to this pattern but you may not copy any part of the pattern instructions on other websites.

 

~ VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS ~

Below is the video tutorial for this pattern's crochet technique.

~ WRITTEN PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS ~

Notes (Read Before Beginning!)

• This pattern is worked in a continuous spiral! The only time you will "join" a round is at a corner of your very last round. 
• The ch-2 spaces in this pattern make the corners of the rug.

R1: In a magic ring (MR): Ch 1, (sc, ch 2) x 4. Pull the MR to tighten and close, but do not join.

R2: In the first ch-2 space: sc, ch 2, sc, ch 1. (In the next ch-2 space, sc, ch2, sc, ch 1) x 3. Do not join.

R3: In the first ch-2 space (ch-2 spaces are the corners): sc, ch 2, sc, ch 1. In the ch-1 space: sc, ch 1. (In the ch-2 corner space: sc, ch 2, sc, ch 1. In the ch-1 space: sc, ch 1.) x 3. Do not join.

R4: In the first ch-2 corner space: sc, ch 2, sc, ch 1. (Sc, ch 1) in each of the ch-1 spaces until you reach the next corner. In the next ch-2 corner space: sc, ch 2, sc, ch 1. Repeat around. 

R5 and onwards: Continue working this pattern in rounds until it reaches the desired size.

Once you are satisfied with the size of your rug, you will fasten off in one of the corners. To do so, insert just ONE sc when you reach your last corner (it can be any of the four corners), and cut the yarn.

Fasten off and weave in the ends. 

If you enjoyed this free project and would like to make a donation to support my work, please click here!  Any amount is greatly appreciated and will go towards the yarn and supplies I use to keep creating new designs!

Also, if you'd like to download the beautifully-formatted, ad-free, and easy-to-read PDF version with large photo references (see preview below), click here to purchase it for a small fee in my shop.  Thank you for supporting Sweet Softies designs!


If you made this project and would like to share photos, I'd absolutely love to see!  Here are links for sharing your finished creation:

• Sweet Softies Facebook Page
• Sweet Softies Amigurumi & Crochet Community Facebook Group
• Instagram, @SweetSofties
• Email: sweetsofties [at] gmail.com
• Or, feel free to share in the comments below! :)

As always, you are more than welcome to SHARE this post with any fellow crocheters who'd like to try this pattern!  Thank you for reading, and I wish you all a wonderful day! 


Best wishes,