A Search for Free Mario Crochet Patterns

I started out searching for video game themed crochet patterns, but I found so many that I needed to separate them into (at least) three separate posts!  This post is dedicated to Mario Themed Crochet Patterns!  (I should mention for the record that I was never any good at any Mario themed games.  I was good at playing the second controller to help get additional stars in Mario Galaxy!)  

• MARIO BROTHERS PATTERNS by WolfDreamer - I first came across WolfDreamer when I found the BombOmb crochet amigurumi.  This guy is so cute and fits perfectly in the palm of your hand.  Some of the other creations are a bit larger, but if you drop down some hook sizes and use a thinner yarn  you can make a teeny creation.  Since WolfDreamer provided an alphabetical list of her designs, I figured that I would include them in one section for your ease.  
• Bombomb
• Chain-Chomp
• FireFlower
• Goomba!
• King Boo
• Luigi
• Luma
• Mario
• Mario Brothers Mushrooms
• Toad and Toadette
• Other Mario Brothers Themed Patterns  - I found so many Mario and Super Mario themed crochet patterns that I don't think I could write adequate descriptions of each as the titles themselves are pretty descriptive.   Hopefully the titles of the pattern will give you the information you need to create your favorite character.    
• Yoshi Amigurumi
• Yet Another Mario Mushroom Pattern (Yes, that is really the title)
• Goomba - Super Mario Brothers (Nintendo)
• Bashful Starfish 
• Mini Mario Mushroom Amigurumi
• Mario Mushroom (Pattern is in French, but you can translate it through google)
• Koopa Troopa 
• Bullet Bill 
• Mario Bros. Blooper Plushie Crochet Pattern
• Super Mario Bowser - WOW is this an intricate pattern!
• Piranha Plant 
• A Make Your Own Size Star - Customize it to be whatever size you want.  
• Mini Gamer Figuring Pack (pdf) - Patterns include a little BombOmb, 1-UP mushroom, Kirby and controller
• Cheep-Cheep
• Crocheted 1-Up Mushrooms
• Mario's Frog Suit - Is this from one of the games?  You will need to create a free Ravelry.com account to access the pattern.  
• Whomp
• Luma Amigurumi
• Super Mario Fire Flower
• Luma from Super Mario Galaxy - Even includes a VIDEO TUTORIAL!
• Bob-omb Drawstring bag - while technically not a plushie, this could easily be stuffed as a plushie and used as a non-functional toy.  
• Piranha Plant 
• Baby Mushroom Amigurumi
• Super Mario Invincibility Star (The picture on the blog is currently broken, but there are some great pictures over on Ravlery.)
• Kirby; Super Smash Brothers Edition - Great tip, paint on wool felt to get a cool embroidered look.  
• Boo, Mario's Ghost - You will need to create a free Ravelry.com account to access the pattern.  
• Super Mario Lakitu
• Shy Guy
• Princess Peach / Princess Toadstool - You will need to create a free Ravelry.com account to access the pattern.  
• Mario Bros. Petey Piranha 
• Super Mario Monty Mole
• Mario Super Mushroom
• Wiggler Plushie
• Amigurumi Super Mario Mushroom
• Luigi - You will need to create a free Ravelry.com account to access the pattern.  
• Buzzy Beetle 

Are you going to crochet any of these Mario crochet amigurumi?  Which one is your favorite?

I Just Need a Little Yellow!

This is the first time in a long time that I've done a blog post about dyeing yarn without also filming a video to go along with it.  However, since I made a video with using old tie dye kit dyes in the past, I felt this would be redundant.  I do need to make some yellow yarn for a new design I have in the works.  (I am super excited about this one!

I still have some mixed yellow dye left over from my Tulip Tie Dye Kit that I decided to use for this project.  I presoaked some fingering weight wool in water for 30 min before adding the yellow dye and letting it sit overnight.

The next day I rinsed the yarn and washed it with some dish soap.  There was a lot of run off but eventually the color cleared.  After washing, this miniskein was a bit tangled, but it is so small that I had no problems winding it into a ball.  I hope there will be enough for the project I have in mind!

What do you think I need the yellow yarn for?  (Hint, it is just a small amount of yellow yarn.)

Chevron Baby Hat Knitting Pattern

Baby Lucky modeling the hat at 5 weeks old with a 14.5/15" head circumference

I love using KnitPicks Shine Sport Yarn for baby items.  It is soft, machine washable and drapes amazingly.  The problem is that I now have a TON of Shine Sport remnants.  Frequently a newborn sized hat uses about 2/3 of a 50 g ball of yarn, so I decided to create a design that would use the remainder of two different balls in a fun chevron pattern.  I am pleased to share with you my Chevron Baby Hat Knitting Pattern!

Materials

• 2 colors (minimum) of KnitPicks Shine Sport in Aquamarine (A: blue - 15 g; 33 yards) and Orchid (B: pink- 12 g; 27 yards).  The entire hat weighs 27 g (~60 yards).  
• 4/5 US Size 5 (3.75 mm) double pointed knitting needles or circular needles large enough for magic loop.
• Yarn needle for weaving in loose ends.  
• Gauge ~6 sts/inch over stockinette
• Finished Size:  Newborn - 6" tall (at the longest point) x 12" circumference  (easily stretches to 15")

Abbreviations used in this pattern

• K - Knit
• P - Purl
• S1 - Slip 1 stitch
• S2KP - Slip 2 stitches together K-wise, Knit 1, pass slipped stitches over.  (Centered Double Decrease)
• (K1, YO, K1) in next stitch = creating three stitches from a single stitch.  This should create no holes.  
• sts - stitches

Pattern Notes

To create a larger baby hat, increase the number of cast on stitches by increments of 12 and adjust the length by repeating rows 3-4 with alternating colors until the desired length is reached.   The crown decreases also begin on a 12 stitch repeat so you can follow the decreases as written.

When knitting with two colors, don't break the yarn after each stripe, just carry the yarn up the side.


Chevron Baby Hat Knitting Pattern

• Cast on 84 sts in Color A with the long tail cast on.  Join to knit in the round.
• Row 1: *K9, S2KP* repeat until end of round  (70 sts)  
• Row 2:  *K4, (K1, YO, K1) in next stitch, K5*  Repeat from *  (84 sts)
• Switch to color B
• Row 3: S1 stitch Pwise (NOTE: This will become the last stitch of the round), K9, *S2KP, K9* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (The K stitch in this centered double decrease is the slipped stitch from the beginning of the round.  If you are using circular needles you will need to slip the marker over.)  (70 sts) 
• Row 4: *K4, (K1, YO, K1) in next stitch, K5*  Repeat from *  (84 sts)
• Repeat rows 3-4 alternating colors ever 2 rows as desired.  Continue for 15 total stripes or until the work measures 4.5 inches long from the cast on edge (for Newborn sized hat, add more rows for the hat to fit a larger baby), ending after a row 4.  
• Crown Decreases - Continue switching colors ever two rounds.  
• Decrease Round 1:  S1 stitch P-wise, K9, *S2KP, K9* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (70 sts)
• Decrease Round 2: K across
• Decrease Round 3: S1 p-wise, K7, *S2KP, K7* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (56 sts)
• Decrease Round 4: K across
• Decrease Round 5: S1 p-wise, K5, *S2KP, K5* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (42 sts)
• Decrease Round 6: K across
• Decrease Round 7: S1 p-wise, K3, *S2KP, K3* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (28 sts)
• Decrease Round 8: K across
• Decrease Round 9: S1 p-wise, K1, *S2KP, K1* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (14 sts)
• Decrease Round 10: K across 
• (Use the color from the previous two rounds) Decrease Round 11: K2tog across (7 sts)
• Break yarn and pull through remaining stitches.  
• Weave in loose ends.  

I love this simple little hat. The way the first stitch is slipped before the decrease round makes it really hard to tell where the rounds begin, which is a nice finishing detail in my opinion.  The WS fabric of this hat also looks really cool, so you are basically getting two hats from one afternoon of knitting!

A note behind the design.  At first I tried to do this with 72 sts (a number I've used for many stockinette newborn hats), but that gave a 10" circumfrence over the chevron pattern.  So I cast on again with 84 sts as I created the above pattern.  Enjoy!

Updates:
10/16/2014 - Correction.  Row 1 of this pattern was updated to remove the extra K1 stitch at the end of the round.  

---------------------------------------

Abbreviations Used in this pattern:
S1 - Slip 1 stitch
S2KP - Slip 2 stitches together K-wise, Knit 1, pass slipped stitches over.  (Centered Double Decrease)
(K1, YO, K1) in next stitch = creating three stitches from a single stitch.  This should create no holes.
sts - stitches
Kfb - increase by knitting into the front and back of a single stitch.
M1 (Make 1)- increase stitch by picking up yarn between two stitches, twisting and knitting.
K - knit
P - purl
I-cord - knit stitches on dpn's without ever turning the needle (effectively knitting in the round with a small number of stitches.)
SSK - decrease by slipping two stitches then knitting them together. Alternatively, you could slip one stitch, knit one stitch and pass slipped stitch over.
K2tog - decrease by knitting two stitches together.

This knitting pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. You are not to sell, distribute or reprint this pattern without the permission of ChemKnits. © 2013 ChemKnits

BombOmb

When I saw the BombOmb Crochet Amigurumi, I got extremely excited.  I knew that I had the perfect colors in my remnant stash to whip up this little creature.  I chose to use a F hook because that is what I've been using with KnitPicks WOTA.  I figured this was a good project to use some some of the remnants I have laying around.  The project consumed 7 g of Black (coal), 3 g of Grey (mist), and 3 g of yellow (color name unknown.)

This BobOmb is one of my first crochet amigurumi projects.  I am REALLY noticing that this is much slower than if I were knitting the sphere.   A knit stitch in this yarn is approximately the same size as a SC.  Of course, I think that the crochet fabric is a better texture for this toy and that it will be worth it in the end.  (I Hope.)

I'm also noticing that I'm getting a blister or small irritation on the middle finger of my left hand.  This part of my finger keeps rubbing against the crochet project, something that never happens while knitting.

I did a slightly stupid thing where I sewed the cap onto the bomb before sewing on the fuse.  Next time, Secure the fuse to the cap first!

Unfortunately because of the way I sewed the feet on, it cannot stand unattended.  However, this is intended as an ornament so it hangs perfectly!

How to Create Braided Roving

When people sell rovings on Etsy, they always come in very pretty braids.   As I started dyeing my own rovings, I wanted to explore the best ways to prettily store them.  In the following to video tutorials, there are two different methods for creating roving braids:  1) By actually braiding the roving and 2) by crocheting the roving (looks like a braid).  I learned how to "braid" the roving first, but then I learned from purchasing other braids that more people actually crochet them.

How to Braid Roving:

How to crochet roving:

Now that you've seen both, which method do you prefer?  

Magrathea

My first time going to my local yarn store in Evanston I became enamored with a skein of Madelinetosh Merino Light in the color Logwood.  I looks like this single ply yarn has just a dusting of color applied after the yarn was spun with a slightly white core.  I have no idea how the dye job worked, but the coloration is stunning.  

Ever since I first tried the Hitchhiker Scarf, I have wanted to knit more of Martina Behm's designs.  At long last, it is time for me to knit Magrathea. 

I chose to knit the scarf/shawl (this is going to count for my 13 in 2013 after all!) on size 4 (3.5 mm) knitting needles.  This is a little bigger than the pattern requires (3.0 mm), but I wanted to be able to knit it with my harmony circular set rather than using straight needles.  I do love my round needles!  

There were some issues with the set up chart where there weren't enough stitches to do the number of decreases illustrated (row 19 and one row much earlier on that I didn't make a note of.)  Maybe I made an error farther down... but row 17 was knit perfectly.  Initially, I omitted the first SSK in row 19 and turned the K3tog in row 21 to a K2tog, but the lace didn't look right. Looking more closely at the lace, I realized that the extra stitch is before the first SSK of row 19. (3 rather than 4 sts)  I backtracked to move the placement of the YO, and then reknit 21 also turning the K4 into a K3.    I really think I must have messed something up somewhere... I am still 1 stitch short for the beginning of the body chart.  I therefore changed the second SSK into a K stitch to regain the stitch I lost.  (JUST ON THE FIRST REPEAT!)  I think everything should be fixed now.  

 

I need to keep track of yardage to know when I am close to 25% remaining.  

• 100 g before casting on.  I will need 25 g to finish the scarf.  
• 88 g remain after 6 repeats of body chart.  
• In the 10th repeat of the body chart, I count 73 sts after row 7. (After row 8, 78 g remain.)  I should really count on row 7 of the 11th repeat (since you're supposed to do one more after 3 away from 25) - 77 sts remain.  If I am still 1 stitch short at the end of Round 25 (or wherever I need to stop) then I can just add a pfb at the end of the first edging row.  
• 65 g remain after 15 repeats.  
• 55 g remain after 18 repeats.  
• 47 g remain after 20 repeats. 
• 39 g remain after 22 repeats.  
• 36 g remain after row 7 of repeat 23.  (125 sts)  I'm still 1 stitch off from being divisible by 6, so I haven't lost any more sts.  (This is a good thing!)
• 31 g remain after 24 rows.  
• 133 sts after row 7 of repeat 25.  I would need to decrease 1 st to make it divisible by 6.  27 g remain.  I am going to go to the end of the shawlette here and decrease one stitch with a P2tog lined up with the lace edge (just after the marker) in the p'd across row.    
• 21 g remain after the completion of Edging Chart I.  
• 15 g remain after row 8 of Edging Chart II.  
• 8 g remain before bindoff.  
• 7 g remain when I'm all done!

It has been very interesting knitting the same lace in two directions.  I have enjoyed this a lot!  Too bad it isn't simple enough to memorize the pattern (like Hitchhiker), but it was still quite a great knit.  I cannot wait to make another.  I also cannot wait to use Madelinetosh Merino Light yarn again.   Too bad I'm currently on a yarn diet...

In pictures, it is a little hard to tell the difference between the two sides of the scarf, however the directionality is more apparent in person.  Still, I took closeups of the two ends of the scarf (above) and the center point (below) so you could get a sense of how it looks if you should knit this project yourself.  

First Crochet Amigurumi - Little Owlettes

I am starting to feel a little more comfortable with crochet, so I decided it was time to try a crochet amigurumi.  It is a little silly that I selected a pattern that requires notions I do not have in the house, but I will just have to make a trip to the craft store this weekend.  I wanted to try out these Baby Owl Ornaments (pattern available as free Ravelry download) so I pulled out my F hook and started crocheting!

The very first thing I had to look up is what is a magic circle.    Oh, I guess this is just the terminology for starting in a circle that I've done in the past.  Awesome!  I got half way through the increases when I realized I was doing SC wrong.  Time to start again! (Third time's the charm?)  WOW this is MUCH better!  

For the first Owl, I am using a size F (3.75 mm) crochet hook and some 100% Lion Brand Wool Print that I used from my first ever felted mittens.  Or 3 g of it... and then I ran out.  (I think these are hard colors to work with because I cannot see the stitches very well.)  I then Switched to a grey WOTA for the top of the owlette.  (AT ROW 7)

The second owlette used 5g of hot pink WOTA.

Don't know what safety eyes look like?  They look like little screws with washers that you attach to the back of the toy.  Super cute!   It turns out that Michaels does not have safety eyes in stock, so I found these from a seller on Etsy.  

I poked holes in the felt to get the safety eye through the felt, rather than cutting a slit.  I used small DPN and then larger ones until the hole was large enough for the size 6 mm safety eye to fit through the hole.  

I then attached the eyes to the unstuffed owl.  The biggest problem I see with safety eyes is that you cannot adjust the placement once you've finished the project.   

I was not able to sew through t he felt with the yarn needle, so the placement of one of the beaks is much better than the other.  After sewing the beaks down, I glued the eyes down.  Voila!  My first ever crochet amigurumi are complete!  I have a feeling that I will be making more of these teeny owls in the future.