Taxes are confusing = free patterns!

So I spent about 4 hours researching how to correctly add sales tax to my patterns that I sell. Pretty much all resources led me to “consult a tax professional”. Wellll I don’t have the time or money to do that right now so guess what! My two patterns I was trying to sell are now free!

Comfy cat bed – now free!

Flower vase – now free!

Maybe eventually I will see a tax specialist and figure it all out, but for now I just want to enjoy crocheting without worrying about doing anything illegal haha. I know I have a few clothing patterns in my brain that would definitely be worth selling so those will be just stay in my brain for now.

If anyone has a good understanding on how to add the right sales tax to patterns let me know!

Happy Hooking!

♥Lauren Elizabeth

New Pattern – Sturdy & Comfy Cat Bed

Finally! A sturdy cat bed that doesn’t slouch. This cat bed includes strong walls crocheted with two strands of super bulky yarn and reinforced with a wire frame. Along with the crochet pattern, a photo tutorial is included of how to assemble the wire framing, edging, and cushy batting for cat nap comfort.

The Sturdy & Comfy Cat Bed can be bought for $4.00 at the Lauren Elizabeth Crochet Ravelry Store.

Here are some pics of the final product!

Dexter is only 8.4 lbs. He looks so tiny in this picture, but the bed fits nice once he lays down all curled up in napping pose.

  

Let me know what you think of the pattern!

Happy Hooking!

♥ Lauren Elizabeth

New Pattern – Cinched Cable Headband

I’ve been wanting to design something with cables for a while so I am so excited to finally have finished this headband pattern! It is really easy if you already know how to make a crocheted cable. If you haven’t worked with cables before, this video by Red Heart shows you how to make a cable. Its a little different from the cable in my pattern, but it will help you get the idea.

You can download the Cinched Cable Headband pattern for FREE via Ravelry here.

4 awesome things about this pattern:

1. It has two different versions (a longer cable and a shorter cable).

2. It’s easy to alter to any head size.

3. It uses less than half a skein of yarn.

4. Once you have the pattern down, it takes less than an hour to make. Great for last minute Xmas presents!

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn and a 5.5 mm hook. I recommend a soft/non-itchy yarn since it will go on your head. I’ve used Bernat Satin, Vana’s Choice, and Purl Essence Sincerely and they work great.

Here are some pictures of me modeling the headband. I have a fairly small head I think (about 21″ around) so I think the smaller cable looks better on me.

Shorter (3 row) cable in Vana’s Choice in Barley

 

Longer (5 row) cable in Bernat Satin in Sage

 

Longer (5 row) cable in Bernat Satin in Plum Mist 

As you can see you can wear the cinch right in the middle or off to the side. Both look great! Let me know if you have any questions or comments on the pattern!

Happy Hooking!

❤ Lauren Elizabeth

 

Favorite pattern – Toy Mouse

Another kind of post that I wanted to start doing is sharing my favorite patterns by other designers. Why make another pattern when there is already an awesome one out there already right?

This one is for the perfect Mouse Toy for your perfect kitty cat. The pattern is called “Easy Peasy Catnip Mouse Toy” by Mollie. It looks like it is her only pattern on ravelry so I hope its never taken down because it is just so great! Here is the ravelry link and here is the link to her blog post pattern. I also included an altered smaller mouse toy pattern at the end of this post.

Original Cat toy (left) and altered kitten toy (right)

Tips:

If you use a smaller hook for the ch 17 and chain really tightly it will help the tail curl. You can also alternate 2 sc in 1 chain to make the tail curl even more.

At the end, if you leave a 3 foot tail you can dangle the toy in front of your cat and play along. That is the only way my cat will play 🙂

I used a cotton worsted yarn and a 4mm hook. The original pattern made a pretty big mouse so that would be good for a cat. I made another mouse in a smaller size that I call the “kitten toy” because it would be great for a smaller kitten. Pattern is below!

 

Altered Kitten Toy pattern

Ch 17,

Row 1: sc in 2^nd st from hook and continue till the end. This will make the tail.

Row 2: Next, make 6 sc in the last loop of the tail (ie. In last sc).

Row 3: We will be working in a spiral so do not sl st into the first of the 6 sc. 2 sc in each sc (12st total)

Row 4: *sc in 1^st sc, 2sc in 2^nd sc* repeat 6 times. (18st total)

Row 5-7: sc in each sc

Row 8: sc in first 5 sc, sc next two sts tog. Repeat until you can just snugly fit your index finger into the top of the mouse. Stuff with catnip and stuffing.

*next we add the ears. Get another colour of yarn, join it to the outer lip of one sc, as we will use the inner lip to complete the mouse. Ch 2, then in the same sc make 2 dc, sl st in same sc lip. Next, sl st in the outer lip of the next stitch, and the one after. Next, ch 2, 2dc and sl st. tie and cut off.

Row 9: Continue with sc in 1^st sc, sc next 2 sts tog, until you only have 7 sts around left. After which just sc next 2 sts tog until the you have 2 stitches. Leave a 3 foot tail and slip stitch closed.

 

My cat Dexter sure loves this mouse toy!

 

Below is Dex next to the larger mouse. It looks pretty big but Dex is fairly small for an adult cat.

 

Finished Fringed Scarf

So I thought I hadn’t posted in FOREVER, and then I looked at a calender and realized its only been 2 weeks. Not terrible, but I still don’t have any new patterns. I have like 10 billion ideas for patterns in my head, but no time to try them out. I was going to make this scarf into a pattern, but it turned out to be WAYYY more work than its worth. I think it turned out pretty cool, but all that whip stitching and weaving in ends was a pain in my butt!! Anywayyyyyyysss here is some pics of how it turned out. I will probably post a pattern chart of the square sometime later, but it is pretty basic.

I’ve been wanting a scarf with crazy fringe for so long! I used 2 folded strands per stitch. Probably could have alternated every stitch with 1 and 2 strands cuz its a lot of fringe. I can’t decide if I want to iron the fringe a bit or if I like it messy like this.

Here it is laid out. It is made of 36 squares and 9 half squares on the top edge. I hate how bumpy the edges turned out but I was impatient while blocking and didn’t really do a great job. Oh well you can’t tell when its on!

The yarn I used is Bernat Cotton-ish. It is pretty much a half ‘n’ half cotton/acrylic blend. I loooove using this yarn for clothing items. It is pretty cheap and drapes well. It is also a good blend of soft and strong. I used a 4mm hook to make the squares.

Welp, hopefully I will have time to make a new awesome pattern soon! For now I have to hurry up on some Christmas presents… the list is only 1 blanket, 1 almost finished sweater, and 1 cat bed for now but I am foreseeing that list growing …

Happy Hooking!

♥ Lauren Elizabeth

Liebster Award

Woah… this is a pretty cool thing that I just learned about. The Liebster Award is basically the chain mail award for bloggers, which at first sounds really annoying (cuz I hate chain mail with a passion), but in the blogging world it is a nice way to reach out to more bloggers (especially newbies like me!) and get to know a little bit about them.

So thank you Gina from FibreandFabrics for nominating me for the Liebster Award! It’s something I really wasn’t expecting because I have only 3 posts so far!

So basically the rules of the liebster award are to answer 10 (some say 11?) questions, then give 10 questions to 10 bloggers with under 200 followers.

So here are my answers to FibreandFabrics’ questions!

1. How did your love for yarn/crafting start?

I have been crocheting since I was pretty young (13 or 14 I think). My aunt taught me the basic double crochet square so I only made blankets out of squares for a long time. I think I didn’t even learn there was stitches other than the double crochet until I graduated college, which just cracks me up. Anyways after I graduated 3 years ago I started crochet anything and everything that I could, and now I am obsessed!

2. Where do you get your inspiration from?

I really love to look at something that isn’t crocheted and imagine “how can I crochet something like that”. My boyfriend jokes that soon everything in our apartment will be crocheted 😉

3. What 2 words best describe you?

Definitely GOOFY and CREATIVE. I would like to say “funny”, but usually jokes are more funny in my head than others think so I would just call myself a goof. And I have always tried to be creative with everything I do.

4. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only bring 3 things with you….what would they be?

Ohhh this question… I never understand this one because there is so much uncertainty. Anyways, how much yarn can I bring? haha 😉

5. Where is your favorite place to be crafty?

In front of a good (or crappy really) movie. I always feel like I am wasting time watching a movie or TV but if I am crocheting I feel like I am being productive! win, win.

6. What’s your favorite post from your blog? (Share the link!)

Honestly, I really don’t have a favorite post yet. I am brand-spanking-new to the blogging world so I guess it would be my most recent post about my 1st purchasable pattern for a Crocheted Flower Vase

7. What are 2 things you MUST do before you die?

First, have a child. I am not ready for this at all right now, but I really do think I will be an awesome Mom. I have never had doubts about having a family of my own.

Second, Sky dive. This is something I keep telling myself I’m not afraid of and would love to do, but have still never looked into actually doing it. On the bucket list for sure!

8. If you have more than 1 crafting hobby, which is your favorite and why?

I have tried to knit a few times, and I do love to scrap book and create random decorations. However, crochet is my true love. Mostly because there is always a new technique or stitch to learn. It really is the never-ending hobby 🙂

9. Do you sell your crafts? If so post the link!

No, but I just started selling patterns! Here is the link to my ravelry store. I think one day I will sell items if I have a dedicated craft room, but for now I am too worried Dexter (my cat) fur will get too intertwined in products. I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling those!

10. If you could ask 1 famous person in all of history a question who would it be?

Hmmm if I could talk to anyone from the past there is no way I could ask just one question. But it would be really really awesome to hang out with ancient Greek philosophers like Plato just to experience all that incredible knowledge first hand.

OK now to pass it around, I really don’t know that many other blogs yet so here is who I nominate:

Saturday Night Stitch (love that name)

Epic by Design

White Heights

Crochetbug

Crafty Guild

Here are the questions you have to answer, and then nominate 5-10 of your own favorite blogs:

1. What made you decide to start a blog?

2. What is your favorite thing to make (scarf, blanket, clothes, etc..)?

3. What would be your dream job?

4. If you won the lottery what is the first big purchase you would make?

5. How long have you been blogging?

6. What if is your favorite post? include the link!

7. What is the story behind your blog name?

8. What are 3 things on your bucket list?

9. Which celebrity would most like to meet?

10. If you had a 1-way time machine, but you could only go forwards or backwards, which way would you go and how far?

Thanks again to Gina from Fibre and Fabrics!

New Pattern: Crochet Flower Vase

A while ago I was crocheting some flowers from this awesome book 100 Flower’s to Knit and Crochet and I had this picture in my mind of what kind of vase they would look good in. I couldn’t find a pattern for what I was looking for so I made my own!

You can buy this pattern for $2.00 USD on ravelry here!

More about the pattern:
This pattern that I put together includes two sizes of vase. The the shorter one is about 4.25″ tall and taller one is about 5.5″ tall.

The shorter vase can easily stand by itself, but  the pattern does include instructions on how to make a cardboard frame for the vase.

     

Here is the two vases with the flowers in them.

Some close ups of the vases.