DIY Life

Bring a bit of vintage style into your bathroom with Julie Reed's crocheted bath rug. The doily pattern that she used is from 1918: authentic and classic. The full tutorial will give you everything you need to recreate this bath mat in your own home.

Julie doesn't just list supplies and steps, but walks us through what works and what doesn't, as she chooses the right yarn and tries to minimize the ruffled edge.

I love her color choice. The juniper and charcoal heather compliment each other beautifully. This is the kind of inspired piece you could build your whole bathroom around. After the break, I'll discuss some DIY ways to finish off your vintage style bathroom.

If you have a project coming up that requires a particular color of dyed wool or silk, look no further than your kitchen. If you have a microwave and a package of unsweetened Kool-Aid, you can dye wool and silk in just a few minutes.

Myrrhmaid takes us through the process of dyeing light colored protein fiber with Kool-Aid. To do this simple project, you'll need microwave safe bowls, such as Pyrex, a colander or salad spinner, a wooden skewer or spoon to stir the wool, a mesh laundry bag to put the dyed wool in when you spin it dry in the wash machine, your favorite color Kool-Aid, and of course, a microwave.

According to Myrrhmaid, the dye is colorfast and will not fade or bleed, even after repeated washings. She says you can also use the Kool-Aid dye technique to dye wool skeins, wool socks, knit or crocheted wool items and even silk. How much more simple could it be?

About a month or so ago, a set of Lord of the Rings amigurumi made by Sammi Resendes (Craftster user Artoo1121) and her boyfriend were prominently featured on a number of sites. The dolls were unusually detailed, with full cloth outfits resembling their film costumes, painted "embroidery," and tiny polymer clay accessories like helmets and staffs. However, there were no instructions for you to make them at home.

Since then, however, Sammi has posted free instructions for how to make the Fellowship of the Ring in crocheted doll form on her blog, Geek Central Station. There are several patterns:

• The Hobbits and Gimli
• Aragorn and Boromir
• Gandalf and Legolas

The hitch? The clothing patterns aren't free: they can be purchased from the Geek Central Station Etsy shop for $7. That price seems reasonable to me, given how much work went into them.

In the meantime, amigurumi lovers will want to keep an eye on Geek Central Station: Indiana Jones is the latest character to join the fun, and a line of Star Wars dolls has also appeared, with some patterns available for purchase. Sammi says the cast of Futurama will be next! [via]

I have to admit that Spongebob Squarepants is one of my guilty pleasures: the antics of the little "absorbent, yellow, and porous" ocean dweller are always good medicine for a bad day.

So I was delighted to see this amigurumi version of Sheldon J. Plankton, the evil nemesis of our hero Spongebob's employer, Mr. Krabs. He was created by Craftster user LadyLuigi, and is one of the site's new featured projects.

To make this amigurumi, you need a passable knowledge of crochet: the instructions given for Plankton (on the fifth page of replies) may not be enough for a beginner. But if you have crocheted a few things before, you shouldn't experience any real problems.

Required supplies include:

• an H hook (approximate size)
• a couple of pipe cleaners
• black embroidery floss
• stuffing
• scrap yarn in the following colors: olive green (you'll need the most of this), pale yellow or cream, red, and white

Plankton may ordinarily be 1% evil and 99% hot gas, but in this case, he's primarily made of yarn -- and 100% adorable. I bet he won't even try to steal your Krabby Patties.

Earlier today, in the first part of this series, I posted 25 free patterns for lovable rabbits and baby sheep to knit.

Knitting is dandy, but what if you prefer a hook to a handful of needles? You're not alone: I've also come to love crochet just as much as I love knitting. Also, the knit-able patterns were heavy on bunnies, with very few lambs; crochet designers have balanced that with some absurdly cute lamb amigurumi patterns.

Between Part I and Part II, there are more than 50 patterns. However, all the commentary you'll need on yarn choices, eyes, noses, knit and crochet tips, and so on is back in the first post with the knitting patterns. For the crochet patterns, read on after the break!

With Easter coming later this week, I have bunnies and lambs on the brain. Although I may secretly just be indulging my own interest in the extreme cuteness of baby animals (against which I can fairly be described as "powerless"), I can't think of a better excuse to find as many adorable free patterns as I can... and post them up here for you.

Most of these are easy: there are plenty of little friends here that you should be able to make up in an evening or two. But if it takes you longer, no worries -- bunnies and lambs are great anytime! And if you don't want to make toys, there are patterns for household items here, too, like plenty of bunny-shaped egg cozies.

You'll find more than 50 squee-worthy ideas, between the ones after the break and the ones in Part II (coming up later today).

Ana Paula Rimoli is one of the most popular amigurumi designers in the English-speaking Internet world, for good reason: the cuteness, oh, the cuteness. A new pattern from her is always worth a look... then, after you make it, a hug. It'll be that adorable.

Last week, Ana Paula posted her latest opus: free instructions to crochet an amigurumi bear with a tiny pot of honey. To make the bear, you'll need:

• Two shades of worsted weight yarn: one for the bear, one for the jar.
• F/5 crochet hook (yes, smaller than you'd normally use for this yarn weight: amigurumi are meant to be tightly crocheted)
• Two scraps of felt: white for the jar label, and a color that coordinates with the yarn chosen for the bear's body (the felt makes the face)
• Thread to sew on the felt for the bear's face
• Black scrap yarn or embroidery floss, for the jar label and the bear's features
• 2 small black safety eyes
• Stuffing

If you like this sweet little bear, you'll probably love Ana Paula's new book. It's called Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet, and it was published in late February. It looks like she's planning a giveaway, so keep an eye on her blog for details.

Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! is a cute show about five weird little monsters. Oh, sure, it's "for kids," but thanks to the great character design and the participation of several members of the humorous underground rock band The Aquabats, plenty of adults love it, too.

Craftster's Soulmom designed this amigurumi pattern for Muno, one of the monster characters. It uses just red yarn and black and white embroidery thread, but you could also embroider the features with yarn, or make the eye out of black and white felt circles.

This follows on the heels of another Yo Gabba Gabba! amigurumi, Brobee, which recently made the craft blog rounds. Initially, no pattern was available, but Brobee's creator, Craftster's alliecat30, has now posted it. Brobee requires two colors of green yarn, as well as yarn in red and black, and some notions like safety eyes.

Now, who's going to make Foofa, Plex, and Toodee? We're waiting. (While we wait, we might try making these no-sew Yo Gabba Gabba! character pillows from the Nick Jr. site. We might even try sewing them, to make them last longer.)

Some video games take years to become classics and enter the popular consciousness, but Portal, the puzzle game from The Valve Corporation's Orange Box game bundle, seems to have taken only a few months.

With online memes popping up like "The cake is a lie" (referring to a promised in-game incentive that may or may not actually exist), and the game's clever, catchy closing theme, "Still Alive", it would be difficult to have been active on the Internet in the last few months without bumping into multiple Portal references.

There's a hole in the sky through which things can fly, as they say at Aperture Science, Portal's setting. Please join us after the break to see what people are doing in tribute to this ground-breaking game, with special note taken of the improbably-endearing "character" known as the Weighted Companion Cube.

But beware... there are plot spoilers just ahead. There's cake, too. All you have to do is pass through the portal.

Just like the change in the year, everything old is new again, right? In the last few years, I've watched the media icons of my childhood and early teen years become popular again with today's kids (and with nostalgia buffs around my own age). The Transformers are the most obvious and, it seems, successful resurgence, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have also regained a lot of ground lost in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Craftster user atsuko created these adorable amigurumi Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -- the whole team! -- for her young daughter's Christmas present. She cobbled the pattern together from other simple patterns, with permission.

They're simple to crochet, and if you want to leave off the "Teenage Mutant Ninja" part, they'd probably also make pretty cute just-plain-turtles; advanced crocheters could even try to make little outfits for them. You need worsted weight yarn in two shades of green, a yellowish shade, and the colors for the masks. According to Wikipedia, they are:

• Blue for Leonardo (the "good boy")
• Red for Raphael (the "bad boy")
• Orange for Michelangelo (the "funny one")
• Purple for Donatello (the "smart one")

Turtle power!

Christmas is in less than a week: is all of your shopping done? It's getting a bit late to order anything (especially if you don't want to pony up for pricey overnight shipping), but if you're shopping for crafty friends, there's probably a lot available in your own town.

However, bead, paint, and yarn choices are completely subjective, you may not know what tools your loved ones need (beading loom? spinning wheel? umbrella swift? easel?), kits can be hit-or-miss, and I'm not sure anyone needs craft-themed sweatshirts. (Ever.) Have major advances in the world of crochet hooks or embroidery hoops really been made in the past year? Probably not. So when I thought about what makes a great holiday gift in the DIY realm, I kept coming back to one thing....

Please join us after the break to find the best of the latest craft books! There's certainly something here to please almost every creative person on your list: beaders and jewelry makers, people straddling the mixed-media art/craft divide, knitters, crocheters, scrapbookers, and anyone else who likes to learn how to make interesting things with their hands.

(Even better, you shouldn't have any problem finding most of these books at 4:00 in the afternoon on December 24th.)

There are some adorable new holiday crochet patterns at the Lion Brand Yarn site: an amigurumi Penguin, Reindeer, Santa, Snowman, Gingerbread House, and Gingerbread Man. The latter two make good ornaments, and there's also a Candy Cane Coat Hanger for kids to make. The only problem isn't really a problem: you have to be registered at the Lion Brand site before you can actually see the free patterns themselves (but click the first link in this article to see a list with photos).

Several of these amigurumi are made in their new Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn. I have to confess that I'm less-than-interested in using that yarn; I don't like to work with 100% acrylic. Because amigurumi should be crocheted tightly, the elasticity that wool adds to a yarn can be really helpful, and it's kinder to your poor hands and wrists. Vanna's Choice is worsted weight, so you'll have no problem using Wool-Ease or something nicer.

If you want to use Wool-Ease, try Mushroom for the body of the reindeer -- it's a lighter color than Vanna's Choice Taupe, but not too pale -- Cocoa for the feet, Cranberry for the collar, and Gold for the bell. The corresponding colors would also work for the penguin. He's mostly black and white but has some gold and red elements; you'll need to choose a green that you like, too.

These crocheted toys should only take an evening or two to make. They might be the sweetest hand-made stocking stuffers I've seen this year.

Roman Sock is the nom de blog of a young Edinburgh lass, Brie. She's been blogging for about six months, and since then, she's turned out some of the most distinctive and interesting crocheted amigurumi patterns I've yet seen on the Web. Best of all, they're free.

What I appreciate most about Brie's work is her design sense. The patterns she creates don't share the generic look that you see in a lot of amigurumi patterns (basic humanoid bunnies and cats come to mind -- their cuteness is not in doubt, but originality is sometimes lacking). I have no idea if (or how much) she sketches out her ideas or uses reference photos beforehand, but they look like they jumped out of the sketchbook of a particularly good illustrator... one who likes their animals two parts realistic and one part cartoon.

Don't miss it: you can read more about her wonderful world of quirky animals and creative crochet after the break! The pattern links are there, too.

Every week, the sites Knitting Pattern Central and Crochet Pattern Central post new free patterns that they've heard of or that have been sent to them. Several dozen patterns are often posted each week, and sometimes it can be tedious to look at them all to find the good ones... so I've done it for you. Then I've categorized them, alphabetized them, and written brief descriptions for each.

These patterns were all posted to the aforementioned sites in October, 2007, though some may have made their initial appearance on the web somewhat earlier. A few may have been posted in late September or the first few days of November: they were interesting enough to include here!

If you prove to like this feature, I'll continue to do it for you every month. You'll find patterns of all kinds after the break: sweaters for men, women, and babies, handbags, scarves and shawls, hats, toys, animals, socks, mittens, you name it.

The holiday season is here, people, and you know what that means: an endless stream of dinner parties, get-togethers, and soirees. And since it's the season for giving, you don't want to show up empty-handed. Then there's all those little gifts for people you just don't tip... like your child's preschool teacher or the receptionist at work.

Here are a few quick and easy ideas for handmade holiday gifts for your party host or anyone else you want to give a little something.

If you sew:

The Purl Bee has a great tutorial for handmade napkins. Who couldn't use a few extra napkins? Add some embroidery or applique in a corner and they're good to go. They use Halloween quilting fabric, but I think a loosely woven cotton or cotton/linen blend would work better for napkins. And please, it might be the holidays but skip the holiday fabric. Who really wants napkins they can only use for 6 weeks out of the year?

Jenny from Allsorts has a tutorial for these nifty Criss-Cross Coasters (pictured above). So adorable, and a great way to use up scrap fabric.

If you knit:

Whip-up this adorable felted tea cosy from Knitty. Their samples are red and green, but seriously people, again, ixnay on the holiday colors.

If your recipient prefers a different type of beverage, hand them a bottle of wine in this knitted wine cozy; again from Knitty. (No, I don't know why tea cosy has an "s" and wine cozy has a "z"; I'm just writing what I see here people)

If you crochet:

Teresa Franco has a tutorial for cute flower-shaped crocheted coasters. Quick, easy, and fun. (Via Craft)

Try this pattern for a crocheted snowflake from marthastewart.com. Use it to make ornaments or embellish napkins, or other small gifts for your host.