Dotty Solid Granny Squares

I'm making a gift for my sweetie's niece, her Birthday is coming up on July 31. I wanted to make something special for her and finally ended up with these granny squares:

This is a modification of Solid granny square pattern that you may all know. I wanted it to have a dotty look so I made a small round in the center instead of a small square as the original pattern. I had to rip out and start again several times until I was pleased with the result as pictured.

Written pattern of Solid granny square can be found HERE, and HERE is for those who prefer crochet chart. Below is how mine looks - My "Dotty Solid Granny Square":

In case you are wondering, I have written down the modification and am happy to share you right here.

Make a magic circle or chain 6 and join to form a ring.

Round 1: Chain 3 (count as a dc), 19 dc into the loop. Join with slip stitch to the first ch-3 (20 dc).

Round 2: Join new yarn (mine is with a secure knot).

You will work in the stitch next to joining stitch, i.e on the right hand of the first ch 3 (as you will work 4 dc into the same stitch so working in this stitch will be easier than working right in the stitch of joining).

Chain 5, 2 dc into the same stitch, dc in each of the next 4 stitches, * (2dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in the next stitch, dc in each of the next 4 stitches. Repeat from * 2 times more, dc in the next stitch. Join with a slip stitch to the 3rd chain of the first ch 5.

Round 3: From this round and moving forward, using the Solid granny square pattern above until you get the desired measurement. I made a chain 3 at the corners instead of chain 2 as the pattern says. So here goes the round 3:

Chain 3, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in the ch-2 space, dc in each of the next 8 stitches. Repeat from * 2 times more, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in the ch-2 space, dc in each of the next 7 stitches. Join with a slip stitch to the first ch 3.

I have made 24 dotty squares, they came out beautiful! What are they for? I will show you once it's finished! It's a surprise!! :)

Thank you for stopping by. Also thank you so much for your kind comments on my posts so far. That means a lot, a lot to me.

Wishing you all a great rest of the week!

Take care and best wishes,
~ LS

~ Sunburst Granny Square

Have you ever seen a square like this before? I was so inspired when I first saw it and couldn't help myself trying it right away! It came out so beautiful! It also has a cheerful name: "Sunburst Granny Square"!

You can find how to make it HERE. This is very fast, easy and fun to make! Go and check out the site, you may love other pretty patterns offered for free!

I just intended to try the pattern so see how it comes out. But after I finished the first square, I just couldn't stop, so I made one more, just one more,..., and I have 4 for the first try! I need to keep working on my current granny square blanket and other WIPs, so I will save this pattern for a baby blanket I'm going to make when my first blanket is all done. Making granny squares is so addicted, isn't it? ;)

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing everyone a happy day!! ♥

~ Till next time, x

~ Simple Pin Cushion with a Granny Square

I made a few pin cushions like this before and love them. I just thought it would be lovely to share if any one of you like it as well and would want to make...

So here is how it's done:

Sew a tiny pillow with a scarp of fabric, it's about 2.5 inch square. Stuff it with some polyfill or some unused yarn like mine. Either will do.

As I'm working on my Flower Blanket so I made a square with the same pattern. You can make any pattern of square that you like. This one is an 5 inch square.

Turn the wrong side up and place the small pillow on like this:

Fold all 4 sides toward the center...

And sew seams across.

Turn your work. You have done a pin cushion with a granny square! Another way to make pin cushion. Super easy just in 5 minutes! Simple but still lovely.

Pin me!

Small, neat and pretty pin cushion...

Hope you find this helpful in some way.

Thank you for stopping by.

You have a great week ahead! x

New Jean Bag from an Old Pair of Jeans

I took this pair of jeans out when I re-arranged my wardrobe last week. I didn't wear it for a long time even though I still love it. When I was looking at it, an idea suddenly came up and must say I was so excited with: I would repurpose this old pair of jeans into a bag!

... And here is how it turned out! I found on Internet there are many ideas about turning unused jeans into many useful things and that inspires me a lot. Finally, I decided to make my own jean bag. Doesn't it look just lovely? :)

I'm not professional at sewing at all, so making this bag is really a struggling job to me, although it looks quite easy. I used the pattern from my sewing book but for the lining I figured it out on my own.

Do you notice the small pocket with pink zipper? This is the first time I tried a zipper for the small pocket inside and was so happy with the result! It came out just so cute! My small stuff will be safer with it!

You know how happy I was to try to get this bag done. I was so excited during the whole progress of making it and in turn it didn't break my hope!

A look from the bottom... I was going to attach the outer pocket on the front only, but my Sweetie suggested to sew one more on the back so both sides will look the same. I must admit he had a great idea! :)

And, of course, the first thing I put into my new bag, nothing but YARN!!!

The size of this bag is 20cm height x 30cm width, so it's completely perfect for this ball of yarn!

No more photos after this one, I promise! I just would want to show you a professional look of this bag :). I love every detail of this bag, the jean fabric, the zippers, the handles, the pockets... I will put my personal stuff in and get it ready for going to work tomorrow!

Thank you so much for stopping by. Wishing everyone a happy rest of the week!

~ Hugs, LS ~