Circles Baby Blanket

Two of my cousins are expecting their babies in March, a week apart, so I wanted to make fluffy, soft blankets for the new arrivals. This circular baby blanket uses soft, chunky yarn and works up really quickly. By varying the colour changes, you get different looks for the blanket. Each round grows by increasing 12 stitches evenly. The edging uses shells and picots to stand out.

To download the pattern in PDF, please click here.

Simple Elastic Headband

A simple headband that is easily adjustable to any size head and to any width. I crocheted it around a hair elastic so that it can fit snuggly to your head without stretching out the yarn. You can decorate it with a bow or your favourite flower.

For those who are not afraid of math, please see the end of the pattern on how to customize the size of the headband. I have a Masters in Mathematics and I don't get to "do" math very often in my job or at home so I jump very quickly at my chances to "nerd it up". If you are afraid of math, just skip my table and have fun making lots of headbands.

You can download the pattern here in PDF format.

Fancy Heart

It's been a while since I've posted. I recently got a new job and now I don't have as much time to create patterns as I would like. Actually, it's the time to write them down and test them out that takes up a lot of time. (Don't get me wrong, I love my job but I do miss creating.)

So just in time for Valentine's Day, a fancy lacework heart. I plan on using mine as a coaster but this heart has so many possibilities.

• Attach a few of them together with a simple chain to make a bunting.
• Use it as an appliqué and sew it onto a dress or sweater.
• Crochet two up to round 3, then use round 4 to attach them together to make an envelope for your Valentine's Day card/present/candy.

Fancy Heart in hot pink

Heart pocket for a valentine card (crocheted in Vanna's Choice Magenta & Pink)

You can download the full pattern in PDF here.

Let them eat cake!

A few of my friends are getting married in the next year and that gave me some inspiration for my latest project. As a Chinese person, I normally give cash instead of a formal wedding present. We put the cash, usually red $50 bills, in a lucky red envelope and hand this to the bride and groom. My father likes to say, why would someone give another useless toaster when they can have cash or gold.

Lucky red envelope

Sometimes, I would put the lucky red envelope into a regular envelope with a card.

BORING!!!

So I thought to myself, why not create a new way to blend fun into some double happiness! Yes I say!!! After a few designs, drawings, and strange looking samples, I finally came up with something that I think everyone would love.

Doodles of ideas for the cake

I introduce to you the Double Happiness Wedding Cake. It's a 3-tiered, square cake with a special lucky red envelope at the base. The great thing about this cake is that you can personalize it to the wedding. I like to take the colours and designs from the wedding invitation and add it to the cake. I tried to add flowers but my yarn was too big. I may try with some DMC embroidery floss or even hot-glue gun some ribbon ones on.

Double Happiness Wedding Cake with purple flowers

Little Floral Purse - Free Pattern

I've made a few of these purses to give away to the daughters of friends. As a mom with two boys, I jump at the chance to make things for girls. But of course, my preschooler loves carrying around the floral bags just as much as his father likes to carry my purse at the mall.

This is a perfect-sized purse for girls of all ages. It can fit an iPod Touch or Nintendo DS with room left to spare for lip-gloss or a Batman action figure. Crocheted in one piece with no seaming. Using machine washable cotton yarn for the purse with floral decoration and braided tassels makes this project as easy to take care of, as it is to make. And with the varied colour palette of the yarn, it’s easy to create a whole new look.

Little Floral Purse with hot pink handles - Front

Little Floral Purse with hot pink handles -Back

Enjoy the new pattern! You can download the PDF pattern here.

SImple Crocheted Cowl - Free Pattern

A warm winter cowl to keep your neck protected from the wind, rain, sleet, and snow. Great for children on the go who don’t want to add bulk under their coats or have a scarf get in the way of playing. Using two strands of medium yarn, this cowl works up quickly and can be finished in an afternoon. For a more textured look, use two different coloured yarns. I’ve decorated these cowls with a large flower but you can use any applique design or leave it plain.

For the PDF version, click to download.

Even Batman could still crime fight in my cowls

Hello and welcome to Yarn Over Mo. I've had a very busy summer and now that things have calmed down, I can start with the blog. Yarn Over Mo is about crafting with yarn whether it's knitting or crocheting or, as my 2 year old likes to do, wrap the yarn around the hook and pretend it's a cat. Meow! This is my time to share my projects with you and to share interesting projects that others have done from the Internets (yes, there are many of them).

I recently moved from Calgary to Ottawa with my husband, baby and pre-schooler. Anyone that has had to move with kids can attest that it's not an easy task. But we survived (barely) and have settled in our house in our lovely nation's capital. And that's just the tip of the iceberg for changes. My baby turned one last week and both boys have been settling into their new daycare. Of course this means my maternity leave is over but since my (former) company closed down our office in Calgary, my bittersweet "return to work" day ended up being a week of dealing with HR and my separation from the company. I like to compare it to having your boyfriend break up with you. I didn't get fired per se, my team was "dissolved" and I know longer had a place in the company. It's been a tough week for me trying to see the glass as half full. Finding work is a demoralizing task that I've always hated.

The good news in all this is that I've found time to organize some of my yarn and begin to design and create projects. It's getting colder in the mornings so it's time for the winter accessories. I was shopping last week and a woman told me that the schools no longer allow children to wear scarves to school. I made a funny scrunched up face thinking, kids have been wearing scarves for centuries and now the schools decide they are dangerous. So my head started to think (just like Winnie the Pooh) and I've designed a very simple crocheted cowl. Easy to slip over the head of a moving child but snug enough to stay on and not get caught in the playground equipment.

Adult medium sized cowl with floral accent