66s & 99s

Another UFO (Un-Finished Object) completed. I had crocheted these mittens last year but procrastinated in sewing on the quotes. I really don't like hand sewing so these poor mittens sat in a bag until I finished them last night.

Now there's no need to take off your mittens, potentially exposing your fingers to the cold, when you want to be sarcastic. Just hold up your mittens and the world will know when you want to air-quote.

• He said he only wanted to be "friends".
• Her "job" was to make sure the sandwich table was stocked.
• If by, "love" you mean you wanted to stab yourself in the ears, then yes, I "loved" the concert.

Mitten design: Yarn Over Mo
66s & 99s design: Yarn Over Mo
Scrunchy face: Yarn Over Mo

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.

UFOs

My goal this year is to get rid of all the UFOs in my storage bins. I wish I could remember where I first heard this acronym (and give them the credit for creating it). UFOs stands for Un-Finished Objects. I'm sure most crafters out there have a bin (or bins) that contains projects that were started with lots of passion and determination but soon ended up half-finished. When I make a sweater, I'm notorious for getting bored by the time I have to make the sleeves. This is why I either a) do them first; and/or b) do both of them at the same time. The worse thing for a knitter is picking up a sweater that has been sitting unfinished for months, completing the other sleeve only to discover that the gauge and tension of your knitting is just a bit off. Blerg!!!

So I, Yarn Over Mo, promise to finish at least one UFO before I start a new project. And I know the perfect one to finish. I have to sew Shawn's head to the body and finish 3 more legs. Then a scarf to match since it's cold out there in the grass.

Shawn the Sheep - UFO

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

Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free

When I started this blog, the one big question that I was having trouble addressing was whether or not I wanted to sell my patterns. As a crafter, I love free patterns. I love going on websites and finding a fabulous new project. I feel even more joy when that project comes with a free pattern.

I can understand why people sell their patterns. It takes a lot of time and effort to design one. There’s a lot of working and reworking that goes into making the perfect project. Even with something as simple as the Little Crocheted Purse, it took me a few tries to get the size and shape just right. And even then, I had to make a half a dozen of them to make sure the pattern was flaw-fee.

At the same time, I can understand why people post their patterns for free. For yarn companies, like Lion Brand or Patons, the likelihood of someone buying their brand of yarn for a pattern designed for their brand of yarn is pretty high. Most knitters & crocheters don’t want (or don’t have the skills yet) to do a yarn substitution so they use the yarn stated in the pattern. Therefore, it makes sense for them to post their patterns for free so that it can increase their yarn sales because that’s where they make their big bucks.

Although I have stacks of books & booklets that I have paid for in my library, I have never paid for a pattern online. My main goal for this blog is to share my creations, thoughts, and ideas. And sharing shouldn’t come at a price. As such, the decision to post my patterns for free was an easy one to make. At least until I can get Justin Bieber to tweet about Yarn Over Mo and send over thousands of followers. Then I may just start charging for my pattern. LOL!

So please feel free to use my patterns for personal use. If you plan on selling finished projects from my patterns, please credit me (Yarn Over Mo – Mo King Low) with the design and link back to my blog page. Please do not alter or distribute my patterns without prior permission from me.

Thank you and happy crafting!