Crochet strawberry... a free patttern

Howdy folks! I've been gone on vacation for awhile but I'm back with a very deliciously cute strawberry pattern for you. It's fast and fun and makes the perfect little gift for someone you love.

Chain 2. 2sc into the 2nd chain from the hook.

Row1. 2sc in each sc all around. = 12sc. Pull magic circle closed tight so there is no hole.

Row 2-3. 1sc in each 12sc all around. 

Row 4. * 1sc in the 1st sc, 2sc in the 2nd*. = 18sc.

Row 5. *1sc in each sc all around*. = 18sc.

Row 6. *1sc in the 1st 2sc, 2sc in the 3rd.* = 24sc.

Row 7. 1sc in each sc all around. = 24sc.

Now it's time to add the seeds to your little berry. You can use white, yellow or even black yarn for this... feel free to experiment! All you'll need is a tapestry needle and a long piece of string of your choice color of yarn. Sew seed shapes in and out like you are sewing little quarter inch stitches. Repeat until you have your desired look.

Row 8. *1sc in the 1st 2sc, dec into the next st.* Repeat. = 18sc. 

Stuff almost all the way to the top.

Row 9. * 1sc into the 1st sc, dec into the next st.* Repeat. = 12sc.

Row 10. * 1sc in the 1st sc, dec in the next sc.* Repeat. = 8sc.

Stuff the rest of the way.

Row 11. Skip every other sc, sl st in last st pulling through a small tail of yarn. Cut yarn and weave in the loose end. Now it's time to work on our leafy part of the strawberry. 

Chain 2, 6 sc into the 2nd chain from the hook. Pull tight.

Row 1. 2sc in each sc all around. = 12sc.

Row 2. *3dc into the 1st sc, sl st into the 2nd sc*. Repeat.

Sl st in the last sc pulling through a long (12 inch) tail of yarn. Cut excess yarn. 

Now it's time to sew your green little leaf onto your strawberry!!

Place the leafy part on the end of your strawberry (as seen above). Using your tapestry needle weave the long piece of yarn in and out of your strawberry making sure to keep it as close to the green leafy part as possible... this will make it look more neat and clean. After you have finished sl st in the last st and cut yarn leaving a little tail to weave back into the leaf. Voila!

You should have a cute little finished strawberry to put on your shelf or give to someone you adore!

xoxo

Taylor

Fall vibes...

Oh hi there! I've been struggling to find time to blog and actually post about something meaningful. I have so much to say but not nearly enough hours in the day to do all the things I love doing 

(blogging being one of them). The last week has been spending time catching up with all my crochet projects for stores, wholesale orders and Etsy orders. Not to mention crocheting taxi heads to send off to be photographed for my upcoming book! Eeeeeep! I'm also trying to work on taxi heads for the four shows that I'll be participating in this Holiday Season. I'm so excited that I've gotten into all of the ones that I applied for. It's going to be a lot of work but I love that I'm a "Girl Boss" now and get to decided how I run my own show.... literally. 

This is a little outfit that I wore to my dear friend Becky of The Pink Samurai's Baby Shower. I was honored to be a part of her baby experience and am also delighted to help decorate her Dino themed Nursery. (I crocheted her a Triceratops Dinosaur head). It was a fun night and I aslo got to catch up with some crafty peeps that I hadn't seen in awhile.

I'm really looking forward to spending some QT with the Husbear coming up here mid October when we take a trip to Port Aransas. We booked a cute little love shack through airbnb. It's tiny but we will basically be spending the majority of our time at the beach anyhow... we just need a place to rest our heads at night. 

In other news, I'm hoping to buy some cute pirate accessories for my Halloween costume tonight with my BFF Christopher. I'm going the "cheap route" and am building a costume around a teeny weeny black skirt I own. I figure that I already own black boots and a red bandanna so voila! Instant pirate costume. I just need a few more pieces and it will be complete. 

Besides Halloween and vacation things I've been trying to get back into my daily workout routine now that my sister and brother in law have left. Did I mention we had house guests for a week? It was fun but I neglected my regular diet and workout regime and it basically threw my whole schedule off. It's totally okay to indulge every now and then, and I totally let myself.... but getting back on track seems so hard now, especially since the days are getting shorter and it's darker in the mornings now.

I have a few small goals planned for this October if I can find some free time I'd love to host a clothing swap and maybe have a small dinner party as well. I'm trying to be more involved and more social but I find it hard to find time. I swear there are not enough hours in the day....

On that note, I better take off to go on my daily run. Have a great week kittens!

xoxo

Chicken update...

Hello there! Wow, I've been really lazy with my posts lately... I've actually been having fun just livin' life and not living in front of the computer or behind my camera anymore and I have to say it has felt really good. I have a little chicken update for you all in case you were wondering about our little feathered friends. These are are three adult chickens that we have remaining. From left to right we have 

Whitey, Betty and Molly. Whitey we couldn't come up with a name for and at the time she had two other sisters that looked just like her and we couldn't really tell them apart so we just called them 

"the white ones".... Unfortunately, the other two both perished. One got heat stroke (we think) and the other was malled by a raccoon. It was truly horrid! Betty (the brown one) and Molly (the speckled one) are from our first two batches of chicks and have managed to hang in there. I have grown really attached to those two but I have to say Molly is my favorite. 

This is Whitey, she is a light tan Brahman. She is more of the aggressive one in the bunch.

Molly is a Wyandotte and is pretty shy but is very sweet and will let you pick her up. 

I had to take her to the vet for a split nail several times and developed a tight bond with her. 

These six fuzz balls are our new chicks! Although they are gawky teenage chicks now they were all very tiny a month ago... especially that little one all the way on the left. She is my favorite little chick and boy o' boy does she have grit. We ended up naming her lil' bit. We both didn't think she would make it, but she surprised us both. Actually, they all surprised us. Usually about half will perish just naturally and the strongest chicks will remain but in this case they all made it. This has never happened to us before... which is why I bought six, thinking that half would die. Nope... now we have nine total! Two Plymouth Rock's (the black ones) and four Americana's (the tan striped ones).

This little girl is one of the Plymouth Rock's. There are two in the bunch. They will grow up to be speckled white and black sort of like Molly and will lay white or light tan eggs. 

The other tan striped ones above are Americana's and with be various shades of light blonde, reddish and brown and depending on their color they may lay green or light blue eggs which are very beautiful. We seem to have a mixture of Americana color variations because one is definitely blond so of course we had to name her Blondie. Then we have one that is a golden shade and she is named Goldie, and there is one that is dark brown that is now known as Brownie and of course don't forget Lil' Bit. Lil' Bit has distinct markings around her eyes that now makes it easier to tell her apart from her sisters but she is catching up in size.

They are now so big that Matt had to build them a huge coop for outside. They enjoy meal worms as a treat on a daily basis. We like to spoil our chicks. There are many more images that I have taken since these baby pictures so I'll have to do another update soon. It's so much fun to watch these little guys grow up and change.... 

xoxo