Tips on Homemade Gift Giving

Tips on Homemade Gift Giving

Over the years, I have found that giving crocheted gifts has been well received. Even my brother has raided my stockpile of crochet items for cowls, hats, scarves, and items to give to his own friends. People love a well-made item. Giving someone something homemade, especially made with love, is priceless.

Here is a quick checklist on what to do when preparing to give a homemade gift of crochet.

Give yourself plenty of time

Start early to avoid stress and pressure of finishing something you are aware has a deadline. Don’t wait until the last minute to start a stack of crochet projects on December 1st for Christmas gifts or a baby blanket two weeks before a baby shower, UNLESS you are a seasoned crochet artist with years of experience and have no worry working under those high pressure deadlines.

Tackle a project or idea that falls within the range of your skill set and time frame, so crochet is a pleasure and not a chore.  Even if you want to take on a challenge of something that you have never tried before, having enough time to learn and complete it will remove some of the anxiety of trying something new. That way, if you run into issues experimenting, you will accomplish something doable without the frustration of getting in “over your head” when you have the time to “play around” with a new pattern.

Personally, I have to give myself time. I have good intentions when tackling a project, but I have learned, nothing ever goes quite the way I plan. Even when I give myself time to finish, I find that I am running up to the very last moment of my timeline!

Make Lists

Who is on your gift giving list? Are you tackling a project for one individual or a list of people? Once you answer these questions, make a list of who you are gifting to. Then, decide what you plan to make for each of them. Then, make a list of the supplies needed for each project. Here is where things might get a bit costly. If you have a large list of people you want to make gifts for, breaking down the supplies into smaller purchases takes off some of the financial pressure of doing them all at once. Working on a single or even a couple of projects to completion, and then comprising another list to tackle the rest of your list makes the blow to the pocketbook a little easier to manage.

The next step is to give yourself a REALISTIC and liberal time frame to finish the project. Here is where I always end up in a trap! I always underestimate the time frame I can complete a project. Even as a seasoned crochet artist, I cannot plan for those unpredictable circumstances. It is impossible to prep for the unknown. I can sit down with the best intentions to spend the evening crocheting and friend might drop by, or my best friend who is in the Peace Corp in Africa has an internet connection and wants to have a Skype date! I love crochet, but there are definitely times when my crochet projects take a back burner to other more important things! That is part of life! So always make sure that you allow for those times.

Set goals

When I was making the G.G. Cardigan, I sat down and counted how many squares I needed to make. Then I planned the time frame it would take to reasonably make this coat. My circumstances are different than most, but the principle still applies. I set a goal of how many squares I needed to do in a specific time frame. I took the total number and the time I planned to make it and divided. Example: If I needed 70 squares, I wanted to finish it in 2 weeks, which meant I needed to do 5 squares a day or 10 squares every other day.

Presently, I have been working on my wedding flowers (tutorials to come). I want to make a variety of flowers for different things, my bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, the place cards with coordinating floral details that are color coded for my menu options, etc. This is a HUGE undertaking. I needed to make 2 flowers each day for the year (we got engaged in March 2017 and are getting married in March 2018). Yeah, that isn’t happening. I have a little over 100 flowers done. I have to really amp up my production if I am going to meet this deadline, and I will, but that means changing my expectations. When I miss a day or two, I will sit down and make up a dozen or more flowers to catch up. It has been pretty successful. Again, so much comes in the way of meeting those goals so be sure to account for that!

Homemade gifts will be treasured for years to come, but remember that the goal of giving them with no pressure and stress is our hope and expectation. Try to avoid that last minute pressure and stress that sends you on a stream of made up curse words going off in your head as you crochet like fiends the night before!! I can’t tell you how many times that has happened to me! HAHA! We have all been there and done that!

Are you a plan ahead crochet artist?? Or are you the one that is pulling the all-nighter to finish in time to give a gift? No matter which way you function, I hope crochet continues to bring you joy under every circumstance!

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Crochet Tutorial: Birthday Wish Granny Square

Crochet Tutorial: Birthday Wish Granny Square

It’s my birthday! I created this Birthday Wish Granny Square to add to our 365 Days of Granny Squares project. It uses variety of crochet stitches to create an interesting design! I hope you enjoy making your square!

A couple disclaimers before you start: Be sure to check your tension and use the correct size hook for your square. I demonstrate with an H-5.00mm crochet hook in the video tutorial, but you can make yours bigger or smaller by using a bigger or smaller hook. Also, if yours turns out wonky when you are finished, you may need to block this square to make it nice and flat.

birthdaywish
Watch this video to learn how to make this square:

 

**You can always contact me via Facebook if you have any problems with the pattern. I am happy to help if you have any questions along the way.

***These patterns are copyright YARNutopia © so PLEASE DO NOT COPY, SHARE, ADJUST OR RESELL MY PATTERN. I wrote and tested this pattern myself, from beginning to end. It took a lot of time and work, and I would really like to have it remain “my pattern.”

***You can sell anything you make from my patterns, please just link back to my website YARNutopia.com. Thank you!

Teacher: Nadia Fuad
Video and Editing: Fuad Azmat (My Daddy)
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Pattern:

Designed by Nadia Fuad
You *may* sell items made from my pattern, but please reference my website YARNutopia.com.
Please do not copy, sell, and/or post this pattern and claim it as your own.

Materials:
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in as many colors as you want.
H-5.00mm Crochet Hook
Yarn Needle
Scissors

NOTES:
-You can use a smaller or larger hook to make this square depending on your tension. I wouldn’t use anything larger than an I-5.5mm Crochet Hook though.
-The finished square measures 7 inches (18 cm)
-This square is worked from the center outward

Special stitches:
Ch(s): chain(s)
YO: Yarn Over
St(s): Stitch(es)
Sl st: slip stitch
SK: Skip
SC: Single Crochet
HDC: Half-Double Crochet
DC: Double Crochet
Beg. Popcorn: Ch up 3, 4DC in same sp, remove hook, put hook in ch up 3, put loop back on hook, pull through and pull tight.
Popcorn: 5DC in same sp, remove hook, put hook in 1st dc of grouping, put loop back on hook, pull through and pull tight.
Picot: Ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook. Picot made.
Long DC: Double crochet in Picot of Petal

Pattern:

If you have any confusion or difficulty with reading this pattern, please watch the video tutorial to have visual instructions.

Ch 13

Rnd 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and across. (12)

Rnd 2: Work in BLO, Ch up 1, turn, Sc across

Rnd 3: Work in FLO Ch 1, turn, SC across

Rnd 4: Repeat row 2, fasten off, weave in ends.

Rnd 5: Sk 3 sts, Attach yarn in BLO of next st, ch 1, sc in same st and in next 5 sts, leaving last 3 sts unworked. (6 sts)

Rnd 6: Ch 1, turn, SC in FLO across. (6 sts)

Rnd 7: Ch 1, turn, Work in BLO, SC across. (6 sts)

Assembly: SC around cake (40 sts evenly) See video tutorial for specific stitches.

Rnd 8: (See video tutorial to learn how to do this round) In top right st of the top layer of cake: Ch 1, sc in same st, Ch 4, sk 4 sts, sc in next st, Ch 4, sk 2 sts, sc in next st, ch 4, sk 3 sts, sc in next st, ch 4, sk 3 sts, sc in next st, [ch 4, sk 2 sts, sc in next st] 5 times, ch 4, sk 3 sts,  sc in next st, ch 4, sk 2 sts, sc in next st, ch 4, sk last sts, sl st to 1st sc.

Rnd 9: Sl st in ch 4 sp, ch 1, SC in same sp, *Ch 4, SC in next ch sp, repeat from * around. Sl st to beg sc

Rnd 10: Sl st in ch 4 sp, Ch up 3 (counts as DC), 3 DC in same sp, *[4 DC, ch 2, 4 DC] in next sp, 4 DC in next 2 ch sps, repeat from * around. Sl st to beg. ch up 3.

Rnd 11: DC in each st around, [2dc, ch 2, 2dc] in corners. Fasten off

Weave in all ends.

Frilly siding:
Turn square upside down,
Working in front loops of bottom layer of cake:
Sc in 1st st, *ch 3, sc in next st, repeat from * across. Fasten off, weave in ends.

Candle:
Row 1: Attach yarn to edge round on top center of cake, ch up 1, sc in same st and next st
Row 2, Ch 1, turn, SC in 2 sts
Fasten off, weave in ends.

With Yellow, attach yarn to st, ch 3, sl st in next st, fasten off, weave in ends.

Enjoy!!

 

This post contains affiliate links, which I may be compensated for when you make a purchase. That means if you click on any link and buy from the linked websites, I will receive a small percentage of the value of your order. The amount you pay is not changed. Thank you for all your support in clicking the links in my blog!! You all are so amazing!! ~Nadia