Tom Turkey

My mom always called our Thanksgiving turkey by name: "Tom." So in honor of all the Toms that she stuffed and served over the years, here's one that you can stuff and save.

I had fun with him, except for the tail. I think I redid it at least 4 or 5 times before I was happy with it. He's only 4 inches tall. Yep, short and fat!

He's available to purchase at Em’s Emporium at etsy.com!

I'm hoping to have some of his Christmas relatives coming soon! While my daughter napped in the car, I wrote down some ideas for more little Holiday friends. What else is there to do when you're stuck in the Wal Mart parking lot waiting for a sick kid to wake up for that dreaded shopping trip that you can no longer avoid because you're down to only 2 diapers at home?

Snake for the Toy Drive

Here's toy #2 for next years toy drive. A little green snake. It's the same pattern as the orange and white snake I made before. Now to hide it before my kids see it.

A Pumpkin Basket

It was suggested that the ghost needed a little something to go with it. So here's a splash of color to brighten up the party! And a great place for a little bit of Halloween candy!

The pumpkin is pretty easy and really quick to make. For those that hate sewing, the only sewing is to attach the leaves.

By the end of the week the patterns for the 2 liter ghost and the pumpkin basket are available to purchase at Em’s Emporium at etsy.com!

Spider

My son is under the impression that I should buy him something everytime I go to the store. Even when he's not there. When I drop him off at preschool he tells me to go to WalMart and buy him something. So when we went to JoAnns, he fell in love with a spider that he just had to have. Needless to say, I didn't buy it for him. I did tell him that I could make him one though. So after waiting for 2 weeks, I finally got around to making his spider for him.

I used Patons ChaCha in purple together with Red Heart Super Saver in black and a big hook (size N?). The body is just a flat ball shape. The head is a bowl shape (not a complete sphere), stuffed and sewn on.

The legs are sc-ed over pipe cleaners so that they are bendable and match the rest of the spider. I bent over the ends of the pipecleaners and tied the yarn to the bent end before starting. Then sc along the pipecleaner, stopping 1/2 inch before the end. Fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing. I glued the pipecleaner on, and then used the tail to sew it in place. So the legs should survive two small children!

A 2 liter Ghost!

Growing up my family invited all the neighborhood kids over for a Halloween party and afterwards we would all go Trick-or-Treating together. Dinner was always included. It was sort of a pot luck type affair. Each child was asked to bring a can of pop and a can of soup. All of the soup was thrown into one big pot along with some ramen noodles. (You can't have Halloween soup without the brains, right?) All of the pop was added to a batch of home made root beer complete with dry ice bubbling away. As you can tell it was really memorable -we've been scarred for life along with half of the neighborhood. Just kidding, kids will eat just about anything if you make it sound special enough and then promise them candy afterwards.

So here is my salute to Halloween parties. This ghost slips right over a 2 liter bottle. You can pick your poison (as my mom would say), but root beer just seemed appropriate to me.

You wouldn't believe the trouble I had with the arms. It took forever to find a shape that I liked. It's surprisingly hard to keep ghost arms from looking like wings.

Boo! Two Little Ghosts Are Here!

I do realize that it's not quite Halloween, but at my house (and I imagine with many little boys) ghosts are a mainstay. I've been informed that ghosts with smiles are not scary though. Scary or not they do make cute little Halloween decorations or toys for a little boy obsessed with scary ghosts.

The crochet pattern for both ghosts (two sizes) is now available to purchase at Em’s Emporium at etsy.com!

To add to the scariness, my 4 year old son designed this monster -a variation of the ghosts.

International Crochet Day -It's coming!

Thanks to Jimbo, September 12 has been declared International Crochet Day. Feel free to read the post on his blog (and check out his great hand made crochet hooks he makes while you're there).

A sheared sheep has been elected as the official mascot of Crochet Day. So here is my contribution to help get Crochet Day publicized. A naked sheep complete with pattern.

Naked Sheep
Crochet Pattern

Beginner level
Approximate size: 5 inches tall

Materials Needed:

White ww yarn (1/2 ounce or less)
Pink ww yarn (1/2 ounce or less)
Black ww yarn (1/2 ounce or less)
Two 9 mm eyes
Hook size F
Stitch marker
Yarn needle
Polyester Fiberfill or other stuffing material

Do not join rounds.
Pattern is done in a continuous spiral unless otherwise noted.

Body
With pink
Round 1: ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd chain from hook. (6)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each stitch. (12)
Rnd 3-6: sc in each stitch around. (12)
Stuff Body
Rnd 7: dec around. sl st in last stitch. Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (6)

Use tail to sew closed.


Head
With white
Round 1: ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd chain from hook. (6)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each stitch. (12)
Rnd 3: sc in each stitch around. (12)
Rnd 4: *sc in next stitch, inc. Repeat from * around. (18)
Rnd 5: *sc in next stitch, dec. Repeat from * around. (12)
Rnd 6: sc in each stitch around. (12)
Stuff Head
Rnd 7: dec around. sl st in last stitch. Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (6)

Use tail to sew Head to Body at round 7 of Body..


Legs (make 2)
With black
Round 1: ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd chain from hook. (6)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each stitch. (12)
Rnd 3: dec around. sl st in last stitch. Fasten off and weave in tail.(6)
Stuff foot.
With pink join with sl st in any stitch on round 3.
4-10: sc in each stitch around. sl st in last stitch. Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (6)

Use tail to sew Legs between rounds 2 and 3 of Body.


Arms (make 2)
With black
Round 1: ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd chain from hook. (6)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each stitch. (12)
Rnd 3: dec around. sl st in last stitch. Fasten off and weave in tail.(6)
Stuff foot.
With pink join with sl st in any stitch on round 3.
4-9: sc in each stitch around. sl st in last stitch. Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (6)

Use tail to sew Arms between rounds 6 and 7 of Body.


Mouth
With black
Round 1: ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd chain from hook. (6)
Rnd 2: *sc in next stitch, inc. Repeat from * around. sl st in last stitch. Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (9)

Use tail to sew Mouth to front of Head at rounds 5-6.

Ears (make 2)
With black
1: ch 4, sc in 2nd ch from hook and across. Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (3)

Use tail to sew Ears to Head at round 2 or 3.


Tail
With white
1: ch 4, sc in 2nd ch from hook and across.
Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (3)

Use tail to sew Ears to Body at round 3.




Embroider (with black) or attach eyes at rounds 2/3 of Head
With pink embroider small “Y” to Mouth.

Abbreviations
Sc = single crochet
Sl st = slip stitch
Ch = chain
Inc = increase (2 sc in one stitch)
Dec = decrease (insert hook in next stitch, yarn over, pull up loop, insert hook in second
stitch, yarn over, pull up loop, yarn over and pull through all 3 loops on hook)

© Emily Miller 2007
Do not copy, reproduce, sell, or share pattern without permission.