I made Chaircat Mao a little googly-eyed bat hat for Hallowe'en, which I thought was kinda cute.

"ChairBAT Mao? Really? You know you're going to run out of lousy puns one day."



She was not impressed.



So then she got a spider hat:



And I realized...I had...no...pun...

Here's a fancy spider pincushion made for the wonderful cmarion3 in the Vintage Halloween Swap. Her body and head are made from wool felt and her legs are pipe cleaners wrapped with floral tape painted black. She has a crepe paper collar (how I love the crepe paper) and embroidered face.



She has a crocheted web shawl and sits on a weighted wool felt pumpkin which is, of course, where one should stick their pins!



I am thinking she is somewhere between 6-8" tall, but forgot to measure before she was sent off. Happy Hallowe'en!

For whatever reason, pincushions are one of my absolute favorite things to make. This one was made for the wonderful Mellius01 in the Box of Color Swap. She had several octopuses on her Pinterest, so I tweaked the idea a bit and crocheted a Kraken for the top of the pincushion.

Here is Chaircat Mao posing with a hat that wasn't made for her, but for a true "devil cat" named Satan. I thought about making a cape too, but figured if Satan was as naughty as I'd been told, it would be a miracle if the cat would even wear the hat!



Chair, however, was a real sport about it and got piles of treatsies for being an angel.

Here's an incredibly quick stash-busting project that happens to also be kinda cute.



Materials:

1 skein Lion Brand Heartland in Yosemite (or 250 yds of any other color worsted weight yarn)
1 (partial) skein Studio Classic by Nicole in White (or about 200 yds of any other worsted weight yarn in white)
Small amount of any worsted weight yarn in Black
Size J/6 mm hook
An afternoon with tea and most any Colin Firth movie or an evening with wine and most any Colin Firth movie.
Finished Size: 48" wingspan, 28" from center top to bottom peak.

This is a very vanilla pattern that is perfect for either a beginner crocheter or a seasoned hooker that might need a super quick gift. The entire shawl is worked in double crochet in back-and-forth rows, and the eyes are double crochet in the round. Easy peasy!

Ch 4, sl st in first ch to make a loop.

Row 1: Ch 3 (this will count as the first dc on this row and every additional row), (2 dc, ch-2, 3 dc) in loop. You will have 6 dc and 1 ch-2 space.

Row 2: Ch 3, turn, dc in same stitch as ch 3, dc in next 2 dc, (2 dc, ch-2, 2 dc) in ch-2 sp, dc in next 2 dc, 2 dc in top of ch 3. Now there's 12 dc and 1 ch-2 sp.

Rows 3-22: Ch 3, turn, dc in same st as ch 3, dc in each st across to ch-2 sp, (2 dc, ch-2, 2 dc) in ch-2 space, dc in each st across to end, 2 dc in top of ch 3. 132 dc and 1 ch-2 sp at end of row 22. This is where my 251 yds of orange yarn ran out, so I fastened off the orange, switched to white and continued on. If you'd like a larger shawl, this is where you can keep on crocheting and switch to the white yarn whenever you feel like it.

Row 23: Attach white yarn, ch 3, dc in same st as ch 3, dc in next 59 st. Change to black yarn and dc in next 6 st, (2 dc, ch-2, 2 dc) in ch-2 sp, dc in next 6 st. Attach white yarn again and dc in each dc to end, 2 dc in top of ch 3.

Row 24: Ch 3, turn, dc in same st as ch 3, dc in next 61 dc. Change to black yarn and dc in next 7 st, (2dc, ch-2, 2 dc) in ch-2 sp, dc in next 7 st. Attach white yarn and dc in each st to end, 2 dc in top of ch 3.

Row 25: Ch 3, dc in same st as ch 3, dc in next 64 st. Change to black yarn and dc in next 7 st, (2 dc, ch-2, 2 dc) in ch-2 sp, dc in next 7 st. Attach white yarn and dc in each st to end, 2 dc in top of ch 3.

Rows 26-30: Ch 3, dc in same st as ch 3, dc in each st across to ch-2 sp, (2dc, ch-2, 2 dc) in ch-2 sp, dc in each st across to end, 2 dc in top of ch 3.  Fasten off.

Eyes (make 2): With black yarn and size J hook, make a magic loop.
Round 1: 6 dc inside loop. Pull yarn tail to close. You will be working in a spiral so there's no seam.
Round 2: 2 dc in each st around. You will have 12 dc.
Round 3: [(2 dc), 1 dc] 6 times. 18 dc
Round 4: [(2 dc) 2 dc] 6 times. 24 dc
Round 5: Change to white yarn and sc in each st around. Fasten off.
Sew eyes onto scarf, weave in ends, and admire your work! Hopefully your daughter won't walk by and comment on "the weird Dorito" you've just finished like mine did. Happy hooking!

"What do you mean summer's nearly over?!"



"And now you're telling me THIS is my back-to-school hat?"






Well, at least she's home schooled!

Chaircat Mao is celebrating Harry Potter's birthday with a little cosplay and an HP movie marathon.



She must enjoy Goblet of Fire the most, as her wig is very much "fourth year", but I can see she also took inspiration from Sorcerer's Stone. 



Happy Birthday Harry!

My kids and I had been collecting bits of things on our nature walks and displayed our findings on a little table. Well, the cat decided to claim the table as her own (it is in front of a window and gives a nice view of the outside world, so I couldn't be upset about it) and we had to do something else with our treasures. I thought a fairy house was a good idea and constructed the little abode inside a half scale corner room box from Alpha Stamps. It is a 6" x 6" x 4" area which fit all of the bark, sticks, acorns, vines, shells, and leaves we gathered.





We added a few dollhouse items like plates, silverware, and the smallest picnic basket imaginable. It's 1" wide!



I built a hutch from cardboard and twigs and painted it with white acrylic paint. The red button on top is one we picked up on a walk.



And finally, a shell made a pretty nice sink that tucked perfectly in the corner.



My girls can now enjoy their nature findings and the cat can have her sunshine in the window!

Happy Cow Appreciation Day! Why not celebrate the holiday with a delicious veggie burger (like this one from Oyhana)? 



Chaircat Mao thought a catnap was a more suitable way to enjoy the day.



Happy summer!

Chaircat Mao is beating the summer heat the only way she knows how.



By lying on the couch and requesting treatsies.

Stay cool!