African Flower Pillowcase Free Instructions and Layout

I have a recent obsession: African Flower Motifs!  I'm not a huge fan of granny squares (and especially not a particular fan of connecting them!), but when I first saw an African Flower Motif, I was caught!  It is such a beautiful design, and works with any color combos to form an exquisite garden!  I decided to give one a try and used the African Flower Motif found here and her instructions are so clear and wonderful!  On that blog, she posted a photo of a really neat pillowcase made from these flower motifs.  I decided that that was to be my next project!  I started making motifs and figured I better research how many hexagons I need and how to attach them.  And that was when I ran into the problem!  I could NOT find instructions on how to make a pillowcase!  With the help of my pretty darn cool husband, I cracked the code!  This blog post will provide instructions on how my snazzy African Flower Pillowcase came to be!

You will need yarn (duh!) and a 16x16 insert pillow (mine came from Hobby Lobby- using my 40% off coupon, of course!).

Crochet 32 African Flowers (I did 32 different combinations, each with the last round being white).
Lay them out in the following pattern: (4, 3, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3)

Once I had all 32 of my flowers, I found that there were several combinations that were my favorites. I wanted to be sure that these flowers were front and center! Looking at the photo above, (from left to right) the 3 center flowers on the 4th row, the 4 flowers on the 5th row, and the 3 center flowers on the 6th row are the main ones, so make sure they are pretty!

Attach the motifs with a slip stitch in the back.  This will ensure a small seam that will be only visible from the back.

You can see from the photo above how the 'puzzle' works!  The flowers that are overhanging will fold over and make the edges.  Make sure not to attach the two farthest edges because that is where you will slip the insert pillow in and out!  You can attach buttons to help keep the hole closed.

If you need me, I'll be off making one of these for every room in my house!

ENJOY!

Basket Weave Ear Warmer Free Pattern!

Here I present one of my favorite stitches, the basket weave!! Weave your double crochet stitches together to make this Basket Weave Ear Warmer in any color that makes your heart happy!  I love the basket weave because it looks amazing and it also feels really nice.  I like to use one color for this piece (though you can use multiple if you choose), and one 1/2 inch or 1 inch button in the back.  Please feel free to ask questions or share any comments you may come across while making this!

Basket Weave Ear Warmer
Pattern created by Emily Lucero Wood

Abbreviation List- video tutorials can be found on YouTube
Hdc- half double crochet
dc- double crochet
fpdc- front post double crochet
bpdc- back post double crochet
sl st- slip stitch
ch- chain
st- stitch
inc- increase (this pattern consists of fpdc inc, bpdc inc, hdc inc)
dec- decrease
FO- finish off

Materials:
Hook- I hook
Yarn- Worsted Weight recommended

*At the end of each row, chain 2 and turn (I will omit this instruction at the end of each row with the assumption that you will do this each time).
*Basic understanding of the basketweave is helpful before attempting this pattern, though not necessary.  This particular basketweave contains 3 fpdc, 3 bpdc; and you will do three rows before switching to the opposite direction.
*During the increase and decrease rows, you will do one row of increases, then one row steady
*Three rows will work together to make each part of the weave.  The rows (Row 1:, etc) are either bolded or not to demonstrate which rows will be worked similarly

To begin: ch 10
Row 1: dc in 4th ch from hook and in each ch across (8)
Row 2: fpdc in first 3 st, bpdc in 3 st, hdc in last st (7)
Row 3: fpdc inc (meaning put 2 fpdc st around first st), fpdc in next 2 st, bpds in next 3 st, hdc inc in last st (meaning put 2 hdc st in the last st) (9)
Row 4: fpdc, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc, hdc (9)
Row 5: fpdc inc, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc, hdc inc (11)
Row 6: fpdc in next 2 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 2 st, hdc (11)
Row 7: bpdc inc, bpdc, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 2 st, hdc inc (13)
Row 8: bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, hdc (13) [At this point you have reached the full width and will simply continue repeating the pattern until you reach the length necessary]
Row 9: bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, hdc
Row 10: fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, hdc
Row 11 & 12: repeat row 10.
Row 13 & 14 repeat row 9.
You will want to end with a row 12 so that your basket weave comes out properly with the decreases.
Row 15: bpdc dec, bpdc, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 2 st, fpdc/hdc dec (11)
Row 16: bpdc in next 2 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 2 st, hdc (11)
Row 17: bpdc dec, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc, fpdc/hdc dec (9)
Row 18: fpdc, bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc, hdc (9)
Row 19: fpdc/bpdc dec, bpdc in next 2 st, fpdc in next 3 st, bpdc/hdc dec (7)
Row 20: bpdc in next 3 st, fpdc in next 3 st, hdc.

Finishing: FO and weave in extra yarn.  Attach a ½-1 inch button centered over rows 18-20.  To wear, put on head, covering ears and shove the button through a hole in row 2 or 3 of the other end.