Launch Party! Crochet Pattern Discount Through September

The Aurora Shawl, pattern coming soon!

To celebrate the launch of my pattern sales, I will be offering a 15% discount to you fine folks through Sept. It is good in my Ravelry Shop only, and with any pattern!

I have been publishing free patterns for a while now, and a few are in E-books and various sites such as AllFreeCrochet, but it's time to get down to business. I like to design. I LOVE to crochet, but coming up with new designs is my true passion in this industry.

I look forward to sharing them with you! My debut launch pattern set is the Winter Princess Newborn Set, which you can buy together, or the booties and hat individually. 

My amazing testers are working hard, and I am continuously finishing and starting new patterns, and will be rolling out a few more this next month. Did I mention that you can use the discount code as many times as you want?

Stay up to date when new patterns launch by joining my blog (to the right), following on Facebook, and linking up on Ravely. 

Oh, you may need that code! Use HDLaunchParty when checking out on Ravelry :)

Happy Hooking!!!! 
-Claire  
PS--not doing this on Etsy because there is no way to only apply the code to the patterns. You can, however, get a 10% off code just for liking our Facebook page HERE that you can use on Etsy.

Our First CAL (crochet-a-long): Crochet Awareness Ribbon, Part 1

Awareness Ribbon CAL

By Claire

Goal to complete: 1 week (Aug 27 - Sept 3, 2013)
Learning Goals: Reading Patterns, Basic stitches and technique, create a cool awareness item we can build on!

Materials/Notes:

• medium, worsted weight yarn (if you are a beginner, get some Red Heart of Bernat Super Saver Yarn, it's cheap and easy to work with)
• Size 5mm, 5.5mm, or 6mm hook
• This pattern uses the chain (ch), slip stitch (ss), and single crochet (sc)
• Tapestry needle to sew yarn and secure ribbon

For our first crochet a long, we are going to create an awareness ribbon in our favorite "cause" color!

Recipe Review: Banana Chips, Gluten Free (Gone Wrong!)

Well, I tried. 

I had a sudden burst of unusual upright energy and thought I would try to make a snack. I have serious issues with finding snacks - I do better when eating "smaller meals through the day"....which is fancy health food guru code for SNACKS.

I am not allergic to bananas, thank you Dear Lord, and we had a new bunch, so I headed over to handy Pinterest to check out what was going on in the world of bananas.

BUT! After walking to the computer to check Pinterest, my burst of energy had ended and my heart rate was about 140, so I decided to lower my expectations from fancy modified banana bread, and go with "cook this crap as fast as I can and hope I stay conscious".

I found this lovely and easy looking recipe:

Sweet and Salty Banana Chips

Picture courtesy of A Beautiful Mess

Doesn't that look good? And seem easy? How CAN ANYONE SCREW THIS UP?????

Wellllllp, here's how I screwed it up.The recipe calls for salt, pepper, and brown sugar. That's it! Easy! For anyone else.


 

EASY AS HELL

Calling Gimpy Hookers!

Are you disabled? Do you crochet? Want to learn? We started a GIMPY HOOKER group on FB!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Sharing resources, posting our creations, and whatever else (that is not spam or adult content), and networking if you have a crochet business.

Join us! Gimpy Hooker unite!!!! :)
---Claire

Contest Time! Happy Birthday to The Crochet Lounge!

As a way to celebrate the awesomeness that is The Crochet Lounge we are giving away the brand spankin new WINTER PRINCESS NEWBORN SET PATTERN! The winner will also receive a set of 3 of our new Erasable Stitch Markers! Win prizes from Moogly as well!

The Winter Princess Newborn Set Pattern comes in size 0-3 months. You get the pattern with lots of pictures and easy to read instructions for BOTH the hat and booties - which are adjustable and super easy to customize!

This giveaway will celebrate the first official pattern for sale in our shop (many, many more to come!), and the launch of our stitch marker line.

Enter today in the form below! And stay tuned for special discount codes for both the pattern and stitch markers after the contest is over! Be sure to register for blog post updates and stay in touch on Facebook!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*New* The Winter Princess Newborn Set Crochet Pattern

It's finished! 
The Winter Princess Newborn Set Pattern!!!

***Update! You can now purchase this pattern on both Ravelry and Etsy! Get a fan coupon for both site on our Facebook page (in teh tabs up top!)

This pattern features easy instructions, lots of pictures in TWO STYLES, and many customizable options for both the hat and booties!

Just in time for winter - your friends, family, and customers will LOVE this set, it's very glamorous and practical! Not just a photo prop, these both can be worn daily.

Shopbevel Decadant Drops Earrings Contest!

This week begins the Shopbevel "Decadent Drops" earrings contest I was invited to participate in.

Here is the design they chose, you can click to take you to my profile to vote! If chosen, I will work with the Shopbevel team, and they will be mass produced at a discounted rate. I will earn royalties and be able to participate in the whole process. It's a great opportunity to partner with a large company and get my designs out there!

So please take a few minutes to vote! Thanks!

If you'd like to stay up to date on the contest, I created an event through my Horizontal Designs Facebook page.

FREE CROCHET PATTERN: Plum Twist Headband! Super fast.

PLUM TWIST HEADBAND / HAIR WRAP

This was an on the fly, super fast creation when I needed a hair accessory NOW. Isn't it nice to be able to make the things you need last minute?

This is a very easy, customizable, and quick pattern I wanted to share, so here it is!


Materials/Notes:
* Worsted Weight Yarn, 1/8 skein, scraps, very little (you get the point!), I used Caron Simply Soft in Plum
* 8 mm hook
* This pattern uses the lattice stitch (one of my fav's!), which has a basic pattern of *dc-ch 1-sk 1* while dc-ing into the ch space. 
* You could easily add rows to this to make it thicker/wider, and play with the hook size. I wanted   mine to be lacy looking, and using a larger hook with WW yarn creates that effect. Try a smaller hook for a "tighter" look. If you do this, you may want to increase your foundation chain.
* To wrap this around your head for this look, hold it at the base of your neck with an even length to each side of you (behind your head). Then wrap over your head, twist twice, and pull back down to the base of your neck. Tie off.

The HD Crochet Pattern Shop Is Coming!

They are almost ready! I am putting finishing touches on my first few official crochet patterns that will be for sale, and the testers are hard at work (or will be) double checking my designs. 

I have been publishing free patterns for a bit now, the single stitch and simple designs, and I plan to continue to do so. But a gal's gotta eat! So I'm excited to launch this portion of my business, as I love the design aspect of crochet.

Patterns will cost between $0.99 and $3.99, and once enough are ready we will have a big launch sale, with two for one deals!!! I also plan to do discounted coordinating sets of patterns.

Here is a sneak peak of some of my original crochet designs that will be available, and baby/kids designs will come in multiple sizes for the same price/pattern:

The Sunrise Slouchy Beanie

FREE CROCHET PATTERN: Bohemian Baby Hat

I've had a lot of requests for this hat pattern to match the Bohemian Baby Bib, so here it is!

You can make this set, both the bib and hat, with under one skein of worsted weight yarn easily (and the mittens!).

This pattern is for a Newborn-3 month hat, with finished measurements based on THIS chart, which I use as my hat measurement go-to resource from Slugs on the Refrigerator, which is a great site if you have not checked it out.

This is a really easy, kind of "standard" increasing hat pattern using double crochet's. If you find any issues please let me know!

GIMPY RECIPE: Sweet Potato & Zucchini Cakes, Gluten Free

GF Sweet Potato & 
Zucchini Cakes with Cucumber Sauce

Please check out tips and prep made a little easier for cooking while gimpy HERE.

Original recipe: Summer Vegetable Pancakes with Basil Chive Cream 

Difficulty rating: Kinda hard

Worth Trying? YES. Very yummy.

Did my family ingest it? YES. Even the 2 year old!

Gimpy Prep Time: 1 hour

These are my new fav's. I am so proud of how they turned out -  they are my first blog post recipe ever! *the crowd goes wild*

They were originally made with zucchini and carrots - and no carrots for me if I like that whole breathing thing, so I decided to try them with sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are damn fine food to eat in my opinion. This recipe also called for flour, which I sub'd with brown rice flour, and I made up my own cucumber sauce to go with it. Here goes:

The Gimpy Allergic To Everything Chef - An Intro

If you are looking for recipes with anal retentive measurements and exact methods, stop now.

If you have a bit of a sense of humor and like to wing it a bit, proceed and enjoy.

This is me. I swear!

I have recently started cooking a little bit as I'm able again, and have had to laugh at how ridiculous it's become! I am the laziest, most non-recipe following, short-cutting-est chef ever. I'd like to blame it all on being disabled and chronically ill, but my artsy-fartsy improvisational side has never been good with recipes, even back in the healthier days.

Can you call that being a chef? Probably not! But I make a mess of Pinterest recipes, am allergic to everything, and usually am cooking with a heart rate in the 130-175 range while seated in my wheelchair. It's quite entertaining. So I started taking some pics and will be blogging about it.