Friday, September 18, 2009

Snowman Family and Fat Flakes! Cute Thing of the Week!

Is it too early to start talking about Christmas? I figure it's never too early if you're a crafter since you need to get all the gifts and decorations made before the Christmas season arrives. I'm a huge fan of snowman-based projects when it comes to Christmas gifts and decor. I like that they evoke a sense of celebrating winter without making reference to any specific religious focus.

This adorable little Snowman Family is a free pattern available from the Bernat website. They look quick and easy to make. Ideal if you're new to crochet or if you want to make some snowy friends to give your home that festive winter feel. My only quibble is that these folks are made with Handicrafter Cotton. With its shimmery look, I personally think that Bernat's Satin line would be a nicer choice for creating a snowy look.

These cross stitch patterns aren't free like the crochet pattern, but I was pleased to see that my favourite collection of snowman cross stitch patterns is still in print. In the spirit of all things cute and snowman-based I thought I'd feature it here too. This is Fat Flakes by Ursula Michael and it's a beautiful resource for snowman gifts. If you like what you see here you may also want to check out its companion book, City Flakes, also by Ursula Michael. Apparently there is a third volume called Country Flakes, but I haven't had any luck tracking it down. Anyone else seen it online or in stores?

3 comments:

Diana Jiron Graff said...

oooooh my goodness they are sooo cute! thank you so much for sharing hte free pattern link too ;)

It's never to early to start on christmas crafts I think ;)

Tay said...

So, I can't figure out how to contact you privately so I figured the next best way was to put a comment in your most recent blog post, even though this has nothing to do with this particular post.

I saw your little zoidberg buddy and I really really want to learn to make it for my boyfriend (I actually found your blog by googling 'how to crochet zoidberg', which has surprisingly few results! har.) Thing is I don't even know how to crochet, so I'm self teaching, so I don't think just winging it with the cthulhu pattern will work... I need specific direction for the little zoidberg! I will pay you for the pattern.

contact me at yay4tay@gmail.com if you can help :)

amber said...

Hi Tay, 

Thanks for your message on my blog about the crocheted Zoidberg. All comments left on the blog go directly to my e-mail address, so I don't bother to post my e-mail address anywhere on the blog.

To make Zoidberg you really do need to buy/borrow a copy of the book Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Hayden. (Your local library may have it.) Since this is a published pattern in a book, I can't sell you a copy of the pattern myself. Alternatively, Christen Hayden also sells the Cthulhu pattern as a pdf file through her etsy store.

In looking at her store I noticed that she also makes Cthulhus and sells them for $15. You could try asking her if she would do a custom order for you, of a Cthulhu that looks like Zoidberg. I've never met her, I have no idea if she would do this, some Etsy sellers take custom orders, some don't. You could also check out Geek Central Station, Sam and her boyfriend make custom amigurumis and sell them and they've made Zoidberg in the past.

If you do buy the pattern, I'd be willing to give you some more direct instructions on how to convert it to Zoidberg. For the most part it is really just about changing colours at the right times, you don't have to stitch it too differently.

Good luck! Let me know if I can help you out in any other way with the crocheting. I think a crocheted Zoidberg would be a great gift for any boyfriend who's a Futurama fan. It's a great from the heart gift that you couldn't find in a store.