Happy Holidays

Wow have I been Busy!  I have neglected my blogging fun for the last month :/

I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween and wish you each a happy, safe and warm Thanksgiving.
Through the month of November, everyone is great at posting things they are thankful for. I want you to know that I appreciate all of you - every day. With out you, I would not be designing as much. You all inspire me to challenge myself and sometimes go out of my comfort zone.  I have been blessed having the chance to get to know some of you and consider you my friends.

This past month, I have been busy with a few different designs. Several have been or will be posted for free. One I will share in a moment.

 I'm THRILLED to announce that I now have a website for all of my patterns. www.craftingfriendsdesigns.com is up and running and the fantastic part - All of my patterns are Instant Download <3

To celebrate, I'm offering  HUGE discounts on my patterns through the end of November.  So, hop on over to see all of my designs together and take advantage of the great prices.

Here are a few of the designs recently added:

Diamond Christmas Tree Skirt

Mystique Capelet

Coming Soon

Have a wonderful Week my friends!
Kate

Christmas Contest Entry #1

Good Monday morning my friends!  I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  I am starting to receive the entries for my Christmas Contest.  You still have time to start and finish a project if you are interested in joining the fun.  You can find the guidelines here: 2013 Christmas Pattern Set Contest

Lisa Braegger worked up this beautiful outfit!  I would love to see this on a baby :)

From head to toe, here is what she made...

The Baby Headband is a free tutorial full of wonderful photos to help with each step of the pattern.  Lanas & Hilos is a new site for me and I'm excited to look into everything that is offered there.

The jacket (I absolutely love this) is called the Flutter Baby Top from Lion Brand and is also free (wow!)  It includes Size 3-9 months (12-24 months, 2-3 years, 3-4 years).  I think I will be making one for my girls.

The dress is my best selling dress pattern the Ribbon & Lace Infant Dress This is the dress that actually got me to start writing and selling patterns.  I had made the peach dress and had a photo of it on my page.  It was shared on a crochet site and everyone went crazy for the pattern.  If you don't have your copy yet,  click on the link and you can get it for 50%off through Oct 31st.

The socks just make me smile.  I remember having some for my oldest daughter when she was little.  I may have to go buy some socks and work some up for my little Kensley for the holidays.  This is the Dainty Trims II pattern by Lisa Naskrent.  Another fun website that I will be looking through.  If you are a fan of Ravelry,  you can also find her patterns here: Lisa Saskrent on Ravelry.


Love, Love, Love seeing these sets and can't wait to share more with you. 

Royal Capelet Pattern Release

The 2nd Cape pattern in my collection has been released today.  This is the "Royal Capelet".  Perfect for Fall and spring since it is a lacier pattern than the others.  It would also be great for holiday photos.  Sizes Preemie/doll, 0-6month and 6-12month are given in the pattern.  Larger sizes for this design will come at a later time. 

I have only used Fun Fur one other time and it was on Flip Flops for my daughter.  I thought it would be fun to use as the edging on this design and while it ended up slightly thinner than what I was wanting (and I didn't want to frog it and start over)  I really like the way it turned out. 
Then one day, I was shopping at Joann's and they had the Ribbon yarn on sale and I thought it would be fun to try on something also.  It was slightly more difficult to work with, but it's really pretty once you get the hang of it.  There are a few other different yarns that I would like to eventually try as edging just for fun, but hopefully these photos give you a few ideas of how to make your cape your own :)

You can get your copy here: The Royal Capelet on Craftsy

Diamond Capelet

Last month,  my 2 toddlers took a lamb to the county fair.  Now, I had never heard of it prior to this, but my husband talked them into doing the little peewee lamb show.  The kids dress up and so do the sheep.  I did what I do best and crocheted their costumes :)  Brook was Minnie Mouse and I made a cape and cap for her lamb to be Mickey Mouse.  Taylee was Little Red Riding Hood and I made a cape and cap for her lamb to be the wolf.  They turned out really cute and as soon as I figure out how to load the photos from my new (old) phone,  I will post them for you to see.  From this, I ended up designing the Riding Hood cape and the girls really like it.  That is how the Diamond Capelet came about.

This pattern has instructions for sizes Preemie/Doll - Childs 14.  Perfect for those of you who like to make matching items for your little girls and their dolls!  It also has 2 versions.  The first is the Spring/Fall option.  It is less full and open in the front.  The second is the Winter version.  It is quite full and when they lift their arms, there should still be good coverage of the cape to keep them warm.  Perfect for Caroling :)

It's now available here: Diamond Capelet on Craftsy  for instant download.




To make mine a hooded cape, I used the Cora Couture Bonnet from Loops of Love and just made it larger than the size needed so that it would fit better stitched onto the cape.  Another fun option - especially for Christmas time is the Diamond Edge Stocking Cap by Little Luvies.

2013 Christmas Pattern Set Contest

Happy Weekend my friends!  I hope you are able to get out and enjoy a little fall weather.  It has been a typical fall here with sunshine and rain and that crisp, clean cold air in the morning - Love it! 

While I don't care for cold or driving in the snow with crazy people who don't know how to drive in the snow,  I do love winter.  To me, it's wonderful to have the definite change of seasons because it makes you appreciate each one a little more :)  Plus, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas time.  Very Family oriented holidays for us and I love my family!

So,  now is the time everyone is starting to get their ideas going for Christmas presents.  I'm going to start my Christmas contest on October 1st and end it on the 31st.  This will give everyone some time to work up some Christmas outfits and also give the winner some time to use their prize. We haven't had a big support for this contest (I'm a little surprised), so if this one does not get much response, I will not be continuing them.  If we do get a great response this time,  I may throw in some extra prizes, so help me spread the word and get as many projects in this as possible.
                                                                                    Rules as follows:
1.You must use one of my patterns to make a "set". You could use the Bubble Sweater pattern and then make a pair of booties to go with it, or a dress pattern and make a bonnet or hat to make it a set. It must be Christmas/Winter themed - whether it is a Christmasy color or you use a santa hat or elf shoes, Mrs. Claus cape, etc...it's up to you.

2.  The second pattern you use will need to be from another designer.  You will need to let me know what pattern you used and also provide a link to that pattern so that I can give credit to the designer when photos are posted. (also Christmas/winter themed to match your first project)



3.  Your items do not need to be modeled.  You are welcome to share good photos of just the items themselves. 

4.  Entries need to be emailed to me no later than Oct 31st to be included.  Please include the pattern info with your photo and use 2013 Christmas Contest Entry in the subject line. 

Entries will be judged and a winner will be chosen the first week of November.  Winner will be given $25 through paypal to use how ever they prefer. 

To give everyone a chance to get the pattern they want to use for this contest,  I am offering 50% off all of my patterns through Sept 28th from  Crafting Friends on Ravelry.

Good Luck Everyone!  I can't wait to see all the amazing sets you make.  If you need any suggestions on accessory patterns, feel free to email me or contact me through Crafting Friends on FaceBook.

Winner Reveal for Fall 2013 Contest

And the winner of the 2013 Fall Pattern Set Contest is .....

Francie Christensen of The Mad Capper   She will receive her $25 to her choice of Etsy, Michaels or Ravelry. 

I love her choice of yarn and this is a beautiful set! 

She used the Kate Bonnet by Crochet by Jennifer and paired it up with the Lemon Lime Skirt. 

Thank you to everyone who entered this contest. You will each receive your choice of 1 pattern from my shop for entering.  You all did a great job and I look forward to seeing everyone's entries for the Christmas contest. 
Guidelines for the 2013 Christmas contest will be announced later this month.

***New Release*** Mountain Lace Infinity Scarf

I am so excited to finally be able to release this pattern for you!  I was just waiting on the photos and man oh man are they beautiful :)  A huge thank you to Nicole Nelson Photography and my friend Chey for such amazing shots!  You gals are the best.

Thank you to everyone who helped toss around names.  Janicea Stinchcomb from Stitches of love by Janicea came up with Mountain Lace and won a free copy of the pattern.

This pattern is worked continuously with a twist and can easily be made as shot/long or thin/wide as you prefer.  There are photos to help with stitch placement and I do offer support if needed.  The color combinations are endless and the results I've seen from others are wonderful.

To get your copy at the Release Sale price, hop on over to Mtn Lace Infinity Scarf on Ravelry and add it to your cart. A $2 discount will automatically be given at checkout. 

So....What do you think?

#3 Fall Contest Entry

This set belongs to Francie Christensen of The Mad Capper. 

She used the Kate Baby Bonnet by Crochet by Jennifer to accessorize with my Lemon Lime Skirt.  The yarn is amazing and I want to run out and get me some now! 

There are only a few more days to get your entries in.  If you don't have time to get in on this one,  go ahead and start your project for the Christmas contest.  I will begin accepting entries for that one in October and it will end the last day of November so the winner may have time to use their prize.

A big thank you to those who have entered the Fall contest.  Especially since I dropped the ball.  I appreciate your work and love seeing the different combinations you have used.

Entry #2 for the 2013 Fall Contest

Lacey Berres from MamaBearDesigns  worked up this cute little Snap Dragon Infant dress.  She did a great job and paired it up with the Taylors Bonnet which is a Snappy Tots design.  Snappy Tots is amazingly creative and I'm not sure how I missed this bonnet of hers.  It's really cute and her color choices are great!  Now, I have to go search 

Snappy Tot's patterns to see if I've missed others :)

2013 Fall Contest entry #1

I sort of let this contest slip a little since I've been busy.  I forgot to post reminders for everyone like I had planned, so I have extended the deadline for entries until the end of the month to allow everyone time to submit what they have.  If you are still interested in entering,  here is a link to the guidelines: Fall Contest Rules

Here is the first of the entries I have received. 

This is from Maria Call.  She used my Ribbon & Lace Infant Dress and accessorized with the Flower Garland Headband by 5packs Crochet. 

I am not familiar with 5packs Crochet, so I'm going to go check out their FaceBook page and Ravely shop and hopefully you do to :)

Keep your eyes open for the next entry.