reviews – Something by Vera

Super Cute Cupcake

I recently purchased a bunch of patterns by Jennifer Santos at Super Cute Designs.

My first finished project from her patterns is this cute cupcake! It came out as big as a muffin, and oh so delicious!!

These patterns don’t use up too much yarn. So it’s easy to just take any random color of scrap yarn, and you’ll end up with a quirky cute creation!

Jennifer’s patterns (that I’ve purchased so far) are very easy to understand and includes great photos to help you. Photos are placed away from the main instructions, in case you don’t need to print the photos and want to save ink. This cupcake pattern also includes instructions for a cute little strawberry.

Approximately 4.5 inches tall (excluding candle)
Yarn shown: Caron Perfect Match; Red Heart Classic in Orange: Red Heart Super Saver in Baby Pink, White, Cherry Red and Turqua; and some mystery yarn from the thrift store.
Hook: 4.00mm and 3.75mm Soft Touch crochet hook from Clover USA
Other materials: polyester fiber filling; plastic safety eyes
Order yours here.

Yarn Review: Vanna’s Choice

Blogging, Review

This time, I want to share my thoughts on another favorite yarn: Vanna’s Choice by Lion Brand.

Vanna’s Choice is a worsted weight/”4″ yarn made with 100% acrylic. This is a soft premium acrylic yarn and very consistent. The current retail price is $4.39 per skein.

https://flic.kr/p/GepCQa

Unfortunately for me, my local store stopped selling this yarn right after I discovered it! Luckily, some colors are cheaper on Amazon.com and go on sale quite often on LionBrand.com.

My favorite use for Vanna’s Choice are blankets! Shown below is my Sophie’s Universe Blanket. Although this project is not exclusively Vanna’s Choice, the yarn got along just fine with the other brands.

Vanna’s Choice is also full enough to use on amigurumi and stuffed toys. With the right hook and tension, the yarn holds filling well and is still soft enough for babies.

Care instructions for Vanna’s Choice is to machine wash and dry.

My general rule for crochet items in the washing machine is to put the cycle setting at the most delicate setting available, with the water set at the cold temperature. For the dryer, the lowest temperature as well. Every once in a while, my items accidentally get put in other settings like “permanent press,” but they still manage to survive. My ends stay woven in and (so far) there is little to no piling, depending on the use. They also have not lost any softness.

Overall, this yarn is great! Although it is on the pricier side, it is well worth to splurge if you want to make that extra special gift.

Yarn Review: Red Heart With Love

Blogging, Review

My current go-to yarn is Red Heart With Love, and I would like to share my thoughts about this yarn with you!

Red Heart With Love is a worsted weight/”4″ yarn made with 100% acrylic. This is much softer than Red Heart’s Super Saver economy line, and the quality is much more consistent. The current price range on Amazon is $4.50-9.45, depending on the color. Basic colors tend to be cheaper than bolder and multi color skeins.

https://flic.kr/p/GepF1H

One of my favorite With Love projects is the Mermaid Tail Blanket. This one shown below is crocheted using two strands at a time. One strand each of the colors Lilac and Waterlily. Being a soft acrylic yarn, the end product turned out to be squishy soft! Very comfy!

Red Heart recommends this yarn to be machine washed and dried. Blankets I have made with With Love has survived this recommendation. My general rule for crochet items in the washing machine is to put the cycle setting at the most delicate setting available, with the water set at the cold temperature. For the dryer, the lowest temperature as well. Every once in a while, my items accidentally get put in other settings like “permanent press,” but they still manage to survive. My ends stay woven in and (so far) there is no piling. They are still soft as ever!

Shown above is my daughter’s Magic Rainbow Blanket. Although this project uses different brands and types of yarn, Red Heart with Love still helped a lot to make it a soft and comfortable blanket. This yarn is soft enough to use for wearables like mittens. Shown below is the Mommy Hold My Hand Mitten. It’s thick enough to provide warmth, but soft enough to not be scratchy.

Overall, I love this line of yarn! Very reasonably priced, great selection of colors, and versatile! My most common projects for this yarn are blankets and amigurumi. I personally try to stock up when it is on sale or (since I’m in Hawaii) when there’s a free shipping offer on the Red Heart website.

Moogly’s Leaping Stripes Line

Blogging, Crochet, Look What I Made!

Tamara Kelly from Moogly recently released a new item in her Leaping Stripes design, the Mersmerizing Mini Bag!

Mine came out to a cute size of 8×11 inches. Small enough to put valuables in for trips to the beach, or as a dress-up accessory for your little cutie!

The pattern is very easy to understand, as always. Once you get the hang of this stitch, you can easily get into a rhythm and finish up this project quickly. This stitch can also be made as a throw/blanket, a larger bag, and even a hat. All of these can be found in the Mooglyblog website.

Want one but don’t crochet? This bag is available my shop for ordering and customization!

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Turqua and Blue; Red Heart With Love in Lilac
Hook: Clover Soft Touch, 5.5 mm
Pattern: Mesmerizing Mini Bag

My Biggest Knit Yet!!

Crochet, Look What I Made!

I wanted to try my hand at big (ish) knitting, but those can get super expensive. One can easily spend $300+ on one throw. So I started with this Bernat Mega Bulky yarn, which falls in the new yarn category “7” Jumbo. These start at $7.91 on Amazon. The Boye 25 mm knitting needles were $6 and change at Walmart.

For this project, I followed the Nantucket Throw pattern from Loopy Mango. But instead of casting on per pattern, I cast on 34 instead to compensate for the smaller yarn. Five skeins of the Bernat Mega Bulky made a good square throw measuring 40 inches. It took me maybe 2 sittings over 2 days. I’m a mom of a toddler, so if I skipped some chores it could be done in a day/less than 24 hours.

The Yarn: Bernat Mega Bulky. It is categorized “7”/Jumbo. This yarn is hand wash only, dry flat. Made of 100% acrylic. Gets fuzzy quick and when overhandled, and was noticeable to my perfectionist eye when I frogged. After noticing this, I realize this must be why it is hand wash only. I’m waiting to find space to be able to lay it flat to wash it, but I’m in no rush.

The needles: Boye US 50/25 mm knitting needles. I would have preferred to use circular needles for this project, but these worked for my purposes just fine. They’re lightweight, so you’d only have to worry about carrying the weight of the yarn when using these needles. They’re long enough to squeeze stitches on for a small blanket or throw, but I would say they’re perfect size for scarves (which we never need where I live).

Overall, big knitting can be a quick project to whip up for fast-approaching, gift-giving events. Assuming of course you can find this at stores near you (I had to order these, Hawaii’s yarn availability sucks). Next time I feel like doing some big knitting, I’ll try knitting with 2 or 3 strands of super bulky or jumbo yarn! Oh the possibilities!