New Release: Ribbon Candy Infant Dress Crochet Pattern

It's finally ready and I'm so excited to make a new dress for my little baby.  I've started Kensley's Easter dress in pink and white using the Ribbon Candy pattern and it is so cute!  Lucky for me, Easter is still a ways away since I've put it down to finish designing a few different items to add to this collection.  A great big thank you goes out to Ashlee Parkinson Photography for such a darling photo :)

 I started this design out with the idea of focusing on the big bow.  As I kept making more dresses to write down the instructions for each size, I decided it needed a 2nd option.  To play off the "ribbon" pattern of the skirt, I wrote up a pattern for the flower with curly ribbon.  I think it is so fun!  Both options are part of this pattern and the flower pattern with curls will also be available for free on Crafting Friends Designs website.

You can get the infant pattern at a sale price through January 25th by clicking the website link above.  All patterns are instant download, so there's no need to wait for me to send them out.  If you are a Raveler and like to keep your patterns in your Ravelry library, feel free to send me an email at craftingfriends4you@yahoo.com OR use the contact form on my site letting me know the email address you made your purchase with and I will gift the pattern to that email through Ravelry.

Don't you just love seeing all the color combos that my testers come up with? A HUGE Thank you to Stacy and Nancy for sharing photos of such darling babies in their dresses!

Stacy Blass

Nancy Creek of Live, Laugh, Love Crochet

 

Becky Cannon

Angela Henson

Jennifer from Little Luvies Shop

Noelle Christensen

Featured Crafter: Stiches of Love by Janicea

 I am happy to introduce you to Janicea Stinchcomb. Janicea is the owner of "Stitches of Love by Janicea". She started testing for me last year and is great to work with.  Here is a little bit about her to help you get to know her.

What is your main focus of your business?
     The main Focus of my business is made to order crochet items.
I take special request for any item that you may need or want. I love creating new items to share with the world. I do eventually want to design more patterns in the near future.


 Stitches of Love by Janicea on Ravelry


 
What is your biggest accomplishment?
        My greatest accomplishment was selling my first pattern which was this frog coaster.
I know it may seem silly, but I was so proud of my self and I knew I could do it. It seemed like it would take for ever knowing there were thousands of choices out there but I DID IT!

Frog Coaster pattern on Etsy

What is something you struggle with?
      The one thing that I do struggle with is continued sales in ready made items and pattern sales. I live in South Georgia so the weather is not quite right for a lot of crochet warmth, and as we all no cyber advertising is not cheap.


 Janicea's Craftsy shop




 What advise would you give someone just starting out in the craft world?
       If you are just starting out in the crochet world don't be afraid to ask questions. There are still a few of us out here that are friendly crafters.

Is there someone in the craft community that you admire and why?
      I have not been in the crafting community to long but the one person that have met so far and have turned to for advice and I admire would be Kate Wagstaff. Kate is a honest person and if she can help in any way she will. She is an amazing designer and a friend! Thanks Kate for all you do!



Stitches of Love by Janicea's blog

 Ahh, Thanks Janicea!  I am happy to help in any way I can.  I honestly believe that we are here to help each other out and if we treat others with kindness,  life will be a whole lot easier!    So, now that you know a little about the gal behind the scenes, please take a moment to look at her work and if you're not a fan already, hop on over to her FaceBook page and let her know I sent you :)

Presbyterian Symbol Graph

Months and Months ago, a friend asked me to create a pattern for this symbol.  It was slightly out of my norm since this is not my religion, but I was up to the challenge :)  Graphs are not my favorite thing to do since you often have more than 1 skein of yarn attached to the project at the same time.  The other thing I'm not a fan of is that most graphs are worked in Single Crochet (it seems to take for ever to make things with).  But,  I have designed one before and I knew I could do it again.

Now, when it comes to graphs, I know a bunch of people who use some software and just put the photo in and it will give you the graph.  I personally do not trust that process.  I've just seen a few things not look the way they should once crocheted even though it looks good on paper.  So, as usual, I actually worked up the project and made the adjustments as I crocheted.  It was frogged a few times but overall, I'm happy with the end result.
Since this is a Religious symbol, the graph is available for free on my website.  It is only a graph of the symbol and not a written pattern for making a specific item.  It could be used for a variety of things such as a scarf, wall hanging or pillow.  I was designing it to be used by a preacher, so I chose to use Caron Simply Soft yarn.  Because it's on the thinner side of WW yarn and it's soft, it gives a better feel for a scarf. 
So, if you are interested in making one,  It is available for free and instant download here: http://www.craftingfriendsdesigns.com/freepatterndownloads.html