Trainee Hero: Creative Life…Our Mission Expands

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I have some news! Trainee Hero Crafting is now Trainee Hero: Creative Life. Trainee Hero Crafting grew out of a desire to spend time crafting every day. As I (mostly) did this, I realized making time to create and craft each day came with its own set of challenges. What kinds of things does one cut out of their days? When is the easiest time to fit crafting into the day? How do I maintain my energy and motivation when a project isn’t going as planned? Am I just being selfish? Does this project count as crafting? And is this time I’ve set aside for crafting enough? Is there a way to make creating a bigger part of the day?

Coloring Crochet Flowers: Break out the Sharpies!

Posted on by melissa

I love dyeing things. I’m taken by the idea that something can start off one color and you can transform it by making it the color you want it to be. Have a sweater you wish was darker? Dye it! Unfortunately, dyeing is a messy, time consuming, and sometimes unpredictable process. I do not do it as much as I would like to. When I made these cotton crochet flowers, I thought about how I could dye them and hit upon the idea to use Sharpies and rubbing alcohol. After playing around with it, I am thrilled to share my technique and results of coloring crochet flowers!

Crochet Handle Covers for Skillets: Free crochet pattern

Posted on by melissa

I recently ordered fajitas while having dinner out at a restaurant. The sizzling cast iron skillet had a cute quilted handle cover. At the end of the meal, my husband Stephen pretended to put it in my leftovers box telling me he needed it so he wouldn’t burn himself at home. I said, “put that back, I can crochet you some.” He seemed skeptical, but now that the crochet handle covers are done, he’s sold on them.

The 12th Crocheter: Seahawks Crochet Hats

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A couple of weeks ago, Stephen asked if I could crochet a Seahawks hat or scarf for his son’s birthday. I said that I would love to and he brought home some navy, green, and gray yarn. The next 12 days saw the construction of a cabled hat, two matching color twisting beanies, several puff-stitch flowers, and a stripey flowered hat. I had so much fun!! In today’s post, I’m going to walk through my two weeks of engaging in Seahawks crochet, rave about the patterns I used, and share how I used color to show everyone how we are a Seahawks family.

How to Become a Better Crocheter: Six Tips

Posted on by melissa

When I started this post, I wrote a long history of my own crochet education. As it went on and on, I realized it made me happy to remember my Grandma and that moment of discovering treble crochet, but that the story was rather boring for anyone else. Reflecting on my crochet journey was not a total waste of time, though. I thought of six tips for becoming a better crocheter.

Easy Crochet Backpack Part II: Assembly

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Earlier this week, I posted the pattern for crocheting the pieces for the Easy Crochet Backpack. Today, I will walk through the instructions for assembling those pieces into a cute bag! We will take it slowly and do this assembly in 15 steps. At the end, you will have a backpack in which you can carry yarn and a half-finished project, overnight clothes, or stuffed animals!

Easy Crochet Backpack Free Pattern Part I: Crocheting the Pieces

Posted on by melissa

For a while, I have wanted a project backpack to carry some yarn and a stitch dictionary on car trips or to crafting circles. I could have used one of my cute Portland corduroy backpacks, or…I could make one. And really, can one ever have too many bags? This crochet backpack will comfortably carry 6-8 large skeins of yarn and a stitch dictionary. Alternatively, one can throw a sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt into the bag for an overnight outing. The flowers and leaves give it a fun (end of) summer feel and the green drawstrings add a vine-like touch to the purple and lavender bag. Here is a free crochet pattern for this Easy Crochet Backpack. This is Part I, where we crochet all the pieces needed for the backpack.

Copper and Cotton: Crochet Dragonfly Jewelry

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A chunk of my crochet time comes from my lunch break at work. I try to take something minimally messy to eat and I get in as many stitches as I can, frequently at my desk. This leads, at times, to questions. There are a couple of particularly crafty and kind people who show genuine interest. While I was making dragonflies earlier in the week, one of the crafty kind people asked, “What are you going to do with these tiny dragonflies?” And while I had visions of decorating everything in my life with them, I had to think realistically about what I could do with them. In addition to crocheting, I love to twist wire and string beads, so I have a fair amount of supplies with which to do just that. I decided to make crochet dragonfly jewelry with these tiny crochet dragonflies!

Crochet Leaves: Patterns and Variations

Posted on by melissa

Crocheting leaves is the crochet equivalent of eating candy. They are quick, easy, instantly gratifying, and you can go through a bunch without even realizing it. Just as we don’t create our meals out of candy (not many of them, anyway), we can’t create whole projects out of crochet leaves. They embellish and decorate items beautifully, but don’t make up a sweater, scarf, afghan, or slippers on their own. I certainly don’t want a life without candy, literal and metaphorical, so I present crochet leaf patterns with variations and some information on how to create your own variations.