I love to crochet, always looking for patterns, for free or buyed. Thanks God magazines are digital this year!, I used to pay more for deliver than the magazine!.
But I like to make my own patterns too, most of the time I gave them as a gift, and I forget to write the pattern or even take a pic!.
As many of us, my craftroom is plenty of leftover yarn, and last month I made 2 lovely rugs for a baby, no pattern, no pic, again!.
Just 2 nights ago, I dreamed of the nutcracker ballet (wishing December and hot sunny days?, I live in Chile), so the next day I draw what I think is a nutcracker for me. Yesterday was perfect, rain (the first of the year), dark, cold,perfect day for crochet with nothing that could take me away of my nutcracker.
The pic. was taken today, outside for a better light, and believe me, the hat looks fine. He did not want buttons or anything else, yours perhaps will want to be a wallhanger, some pockets , mine is for my son, nothing that he could take out or swallow (LOL, he is grown up!). Both are now sleeping as babies......

Materials Needed
Sport weight yarn (can't say a brand, but it is 100% acrylic)
Red: 2-3 oz (60-90 g)
Black: 1-1.5 oz (30-50 g)
Lilac: 1 oz (30 g)
Blue, gold yellow, white, tan : leftovers yarn
Crochet hook: F/5 ( 4mm)(for the yarn I could use a G hook, but as it is a rug, I wanted to be tight)
Tapestry needle for embroider eyes, teeth belt, legs. ( Do not add any button if it is for a kid)

Final Measures
32” (81 cm) tall
14.5” (37 cm) body 19” (48 cm) with arms

Mine was : 4 rows: 2” (5 cm)
8 dc’s: 2” (5 cm)
If you use another kind of yarn/ hook all over the rug, it is not important, only the measures will change.

ch:chain
dc: double crochet
sl st: slip stitch
st(s): stitch(es)
yo: yarn over hook
dc2tog (dc 2 sts together): [Yo, insert hook in next st and draw up a loop, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook] twice, yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook.
Important: When changing colors, do not forget to work the last st until 2 loops remain on hook, drop old color, pick up new color, yo and draw through both loops on hook.

With black ch 68 dc in the 4th ch from hook.
Row 1-4 : 65 dc + 3 ch for turning
Row 5: with gold yellow and when joining new colors, ch 6 and make 3 dc’s on the gold yellow base ch, 4th st over black st of the body (65 more gold yellow dc’s) and at the end of the row, ch 3 and back with sl st and work 3 dc’s out of the body. Cut yarn
Row 6-7: Join black, working all the yellow sts, cut yarn
Row 8: Join gold yellow, work all the sts, cut yarn
Row 9: skip first 3 sts, join lilac. Work 53 dc’s
Row 10-25: work 53 dc’s . At the end, cut yarn
Row 26: with blue ch 8, add red and make 53 dc’s, add blue, ch 11, turn,
Row 27: make 8 blue dc’s, 53 red dc’s, 8 blue dc’s(over the ch base from the row 26)
Row 28-32: work the same colors
Row 33-37: change red for black color
Row 38-59: change black for red color
Row 60: Change blue for black, over red, make 13 sts tan, 27 sts white 13 sts tan
Row 61: same colors as 60
Row 62: Start decreasing the hair, at the end of a row, make dc2tog
Row 63-65: work the same colors and do not forget to dc2tog at the end of a row.
Row 65-72: black is finished, last row of tan
Row 73: Join black (53 sts) cut yarn
Row 74-75: Join lilac (53 sts) cut yarn
Row 76: Join black (53 sts) cut yarn
Row 77-78: Join blue (53 sts) cut yarn
Row 79 : Join black (53 sts) cut yarn
Finishing:
Weave in ends, decide the right and the wrong side and embroider eyes ( ch. in smaller rounds with black), teeth (black), belt (gold yellow), legs (white).
For you or as a great gift. Enjoy :)
rdelvu@gmail.com (for any question)
http://honeyvarita.blogspot.com/

Missing wildflowers and deep starry skies combined with concern about the buy-it-now nature of the modern world, I set about to create something lovely from the cast-offs of many summers still lurking in my closet. The whole process was magic, from cooking up small vats of shirts on my stovetop, stirring a steaming purple cauldron from time to time, to musing about the life lived in all these clothes. One tank top’s yellowed straps led me back to a Mexican beach not far from Guatemala where I swam with manta rays and silver fish, first saw an armadillo, and finally said goodbye in the midst of orcas dancing. Another was my favorite evening shirt when I lived in a tipi at the edge of Montana mountains. Oil paint stains on another are recent evidence of my first art show last spring.

I invite you to take some time to reminisce, poke around the corners of your home (and possibly your friends’ homes) and work up this little treasure of a rug. It is extremely easy (if you’ve ever made a granny square, you’ll catch on right away). You can keep your shirt colors as they are or dye them using fabric dye or natural materials. The finished rug is about 90cm (36in) across and is the perfect size for meditation or moonlight readings, or more mundane situations like next to your bathtub. If you can’t find enough materials, or end up with way too many, you can easily change the size by subtracting or adding rows.

• At least 18 adult shirts. I used 1 men’s large T-shirt, 4 medium women’s long-sleeve shirts, and 13 tank tops. Cotton is best for dying.
• Hook size: I made my own hook from a dowel, it is 8mm in diameter. Any rug hook will work, though, as gauge isn’t crucial. Beware that a larger hook will need more yardage in ‘shirt yarn’ though.
• I used RIT dye in aubergine and royal blue, one box of each. You can use any dye you like.
• Notions: You’ll need large, comfy scissors for cutting all those shirts (you may want to wrap a small shirt scrap around the scissor handles). This is a good place to employ non-crocheting family members and friends…

First two rows equals 25cm (10in) in diameter.

US terms used
Ch - chain
Dc - double crochet means one yarnover, not two.
Sl st – slip stitch

Bellflower Rug Pattern

This rug is a process, albeit a simple one, so give yourself a few hours here and there over a few days and all will be copasetic.