I just discovered Unwritten Law‘s new album, Swan. I’ve been into them for many, many years so I feel weird for having just discovered an album that’s nearly a year old. eep! Anyway, here are a couple song’s that I’m loving!

It’s really unlike me to fall in love with the most mellow song on any album but I can listen to this one over and over (especially when I’m sleepy! haha!).

I did two giveaways not too long ago, one here and one over at The Dainty Squid, and both winners picked the exact same hat. I thought that was kinda funny :) They’re both Ferris Wheel Slouchies in grape (I used a Photoshop effect on this pic: tutorial).

If you’d like to make your own Ferris Wheel Slouchy Hat, you can get the pattern right here. Or if you don’t crochet, I can custom make one for you.

Rengawk’s Unusual Wedge

Greetings Gleeful readers! Kristi/rengawk here wishing you all the best for 2012! We had a great holiday season over at the Etsy shop, with lots of creative ideas from all over the world! Lots of big hugs and thanks to Miss Julie and the Gleeful readership for helping to support all our creative endeavors!

Visit her: Etsy ♥ Blog ♥ Flickr

Curious Little Bird

I’m originally an artist, and then went to school for Graphic Design and Illustration in 2004. I started making monsters in December of 2008 as a project to further my design career, but that stopped in its tracks. 2 years later I decided that maybe I should start selling them when I got some really positive comments, and now I’ve been making them full time since April 2011. I now live in Montréal, Québec, Canada, and I am starting my own business making and selling handmade plush monsters and animals. What is the best part about my plush dolls? They give joy and happiness to my customers, and also a best friend.

Visit Her: Etsy ♥ Twitter ♥ Facebook ♥ Blog

TrickArt Jewllery

Hello!  I’m Jaclyn, creator of TrickArt Jewellery. I love nature and creating pretty things. For as long as I remember, I have been making something (usually resulting in a bit of a mess to clean up).  Using twigs, branches, bark, and other nature-inspired materials, I create unique pieces.  It is my hope that when wearing one of my creations, you will feel the serenity and love of nature.

Visit Her: Etsy ♥ Facebook ♥ Blog

My Creative Fields

Hello! I am Lisa, a senior citizen stuck in a 20-something year old body and the hands behind My Creative Fields. Join me as I chit chat about crocheted creations, being a vendor at local craft fairs, craft beer consumption, and my general quirky conversations about life.

Visit Her: Blog ♥ Twitter ♥ Facebook

Thank you so much, everyone who entered! I hope you’ll take a minute to check out Curious Little Bird’s shop if you haven’t already. She has lots of cute monsters looking for homes! (my favorite!)

What can you win? One lucky winner gets the one eyed owl of their choice!

Who can enter? This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world!

How to enter: Visit Curious Little Bird and leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite item.

Want extra entries? Post a separate comment for any of the following:
♥ Like Curious Little Bird on Facebook.
♥ Tweet this about the giveaway on Twitter:
@GleefulThings is giving away a one eyed owl plushie from @ardwinna_m! Go here to enter: http://www.gleefulthings.com/blog/?p=3505
♥ Follow Curious Little Bird on Twitter.
♥ Follow the Curious Little Bird blog.
♥ Post about this giveaway on your blog (leave your link in the comment).

Entries will be accepted until Midnight on Friday, January 20th. The winner will be chosen at random and announced soon after!

First, you can follow steps 1-3 of the Halloween tutorial. I made this one with blue, white, and lavender tissue paper rather than one solid color. I wanted it to have kind of an icy look. And I used white glitter around the rim.

I didn’t want to use white construction paper for the snowflakes because I thought that even if I found thick paper, some light might still show through. So I used the same black paper that I used for the Halloween luminaries and painted it white.

After the paint dries, you can draw your snowflakes and cut them out. Then proceed with step 5 of the Halloween tutorial. I used white glitter on these.

I’m still not over making luminaries! I’ve been collecting jars for months now and plan on making dozens of multicolored ones just because I think it would look so pretty to see them all lit up together! :)

Abbreviations
Crochet patterns use abbreviations to help keep them short. Each pattern will have a key to explain what the abbreviations mean. Here is a master list of common abbreviations. Most abbreviations are standard and will be the same in any pattern, but every now and then (probably in more advanced patterns), you might find something unique to that designer’s writing style or specific pattern.

[Repeats]
Some rounds will have sections that are repeated. These repeated sections will be either in parentheses ( ) or brackets [ ]. I use brackets in my patterns. It will say “rep # times” or “rep around” after the brackets to let you know how many times you’ll need to do the section in brackets. “Rep around” means that you do it all the way around until you get to the end of that round.

(Stitch Count)
At the end of each line (round) in a  pattern there will be a number in parentheses. That number is the number of stitches you will have made in that round. Sometimes it will be just a number “(30)”, sometimes it might say “(30 st)”. They both mean the same thing; 30 stitches. Sometimes a pattern might say “(30 dc)”. That just means that you were using double crochets in that round and that you should have 30 of them.

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Breaking it down
As an example, I’m going to break down a few lines from my Gumdrop Slouchy Hat pattern into simple, plain english!

rnd 3: ch 3. [1 dc. 2 dc in next st.] rep around. sl st to join. (48)

Round 3: Start off by chaining 3. Make 1 double crochet in the next stitch. Then put two double crochets in the next stitch (this is an increase). “rep around” means that you’re going to continue doing the part in brackets all the way around until you reach the end of the round. Make a slip stitch to join the last stitch to the first. You’ll have made 48 stitches in this round.

rnd 4: ch 3. [2 dc. 2 dc in next st.] rep around. sl st to join. (64)

Round 4: Start off by chaining 3. Make 1 double crochet in each of the the next two stitches. Then put two double crochets in the next stitch (this is an increase). “rep around” means that you’re going to continue doing the part in brackets all the way around until you reach the end of the round. Make a slip stitch to join the last stitch to the first. You’ll have made 64 stitches in this round.

rnd 5: ch 3. [3 dc. 2 dc in next st.] rep around. sl st to join. (80)

Round 5: Start off by chaining 3. Make 1 double crochet in each of the the next three stitches. Then put two double crochets in the next stitch (this is an increase). “rep around” means that you’re going to continue doing the part in brackets all the way around until you reach the end of the round. Make a slip stitch to join the last stitch to the first. You’ll have made 80 stitches in this round.

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I hope this helps if you were having any confusion! If you have any questions or if there’s anything else that you’d like me to explain (any ideas for future crochet help posts?), please let me know in the comments! :)

July

Released the Bearies crochet pattern (free). Posted my first Photoshop tutorial. Went tide pooling and squirrel chasing! Brought back the Moldy Cupcake crochet pattern (free).

August

Fire hooped for the very first time!! Started my first ever bag crochet pattern (I really need to finish this!). Went to the OC fair!

September

Released the Candy-clops crochet pattern (free). Experimented with making soft pretzels! Went on a kayaking, seal watching adventure. Posted a DIY tutorial for reversible dog bandanas. Posted a tutorial on making luminaries out of old jars.

October

Posted a DIY tutorial and free pattern for making a bat plushie. Hooped at an art show at an abandoned hospital (my first semi-performance?)! Posted a DIY tutorial and free pattern for making animal ear hair clips!

November

Showed off my Halloween costume! Opened a new shop for selling my hats. Released the Waffle Cone Slouchy Hat pattern (free)! Celebrated my birthday with a hoop day!

December

Got my very own fire hoop (yaaaaay!!!)! Hosted a hat giveaway (that got an amazing response! thank you!!). Went to Christmas roller disco!

It was so fun going through every month! I can’t wait to do this again at the end of the year. I hope everyone is having a good 2012 so far!! :)

January

Was really into watercolors for a bit. Crocheted an octo-ma-pus. Started knitting a sweater for my bike (that I never finished!)

February

Worked on some new hat patterns.  Got a little obsessed with my Chia Pet (haha!). Started playing with polymer clay again.

March

Made a tutorial on how to make your own hula hoop! Went to my first kite festival (and had a ton of fun!!). Made a cute little owl plushie for a craft swap (the first one I’ve ever participated in!).

April

Made some bunny plushies. Got excited about spring and started planting seeds in origami pots. Took a trip to the San Diego Zoo.

May

Released the pattern for the Spring Blossom slouchy hat! Went to a bonfire at the beach and had tons of fun hula hooping! Reopened The Eclectic Squirrel shop (RIP) and made some new macrame bracelets.

June

Got really into making friendship bracelets! Showed off my obsession with garden gnomes. Made a new set of tiny cacti.

I’ll be back soon with part 2. My website appears to be loading crazy slowly right now and it’s taking forever to go through all these old posts! :(