Simon's Cottage

Hello! Greetings! It’s been a while. A lot has happened in a year. Unfortunately, now that I’m a starving student I haven’t quite had as much time on my hands to update Simon’s Cottage with fresh creations — but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been getting my craft on from time to time. Neither has the star of this blog lost his eternal cuteness, despite aging into a mature, sophisticated canine. So here are a few colorful, whimsical, and festive highlights from the year.

Halloween Super Dog

Simon has had more than a few health setbacks this year and has faced two surgeries and numerous trips to the vet with unparalleled courage (so much courage, he sometimes needs a muzzle). So in honor of his triumphant spirit, I donned him with a red cape for Halloween. I made the cape with the help of this tutorial — a little red fabric and iron-on fabric strips was all that was needed. His blue jumpsuit is a breathable, lycra bodysuit that I originally bought this summer to serve as sun protection. I made the badge from felt squares, a little glue and velcro. He went zooming through the park with his cape flying on Halloween — I think it fits his character well.

Holiday Crafts — The Year I Got All Origami

I guess I enjoyed my origami Santa so much after some Japanese students gave us a lesson on our college campus, I couldn’t quit the folding habit over the ensuing weeks. A 3D snowflake tutorial can be found here. It’s slightly harder than it looks, though. And the Christmas star can be found on this cool Norwegian blog with some other elegant, simple ideas.

Christmas Mice

These guys I whipped up on Christmas Eve while waiting for dinner. The pattern came from Jenna Wingate’s website, another badass crocheter on the web with a stylish dog.

Christmas Snow Bird

I made this bird last Christmas as a gift to the Hunewill family. It was inspired by the summer I spent at their amazing Ranch, a birdwatcher’s paradise among other things. His beak is felt and his legs are pieces of white pipe cleaner. Hopefully he’s enjoying his time perched on a real Christmas fir tree right now (not my plastic one). I also fashioned the country cup cozy that he’s seated next to while killing time on the ranch.

Simon’s New Fab Fleece

I attempted to sew Simon a fleece for Christmas this year, but I’m afraid my sewing skills are not as developed as my crocheting skills. So I broke down and bought him this fabulous fleece instead. To close this post here is a pic of him showing off his new threads in some freshly fallen purple leaves.

Happy Holidays!

This post is about 8 months overdue, since I gave this scarf to my boyfriend for Christmas 2012. Since then he has worn it approximately 60 times (What did you think? I would make him wear it through the summer, too?!) It has since proven to hold up pretty well against the elements.

This scarf is my own original creation and was a bit of a challenge because the lacy quality of crochet can often end up too feminine-looking for a dude. That’s why I chose male-friendly colors and bulky yarn in a ribbed single-crochet pattern. The royal blue is a bulky, cotton yarn from Lions Brand. The middle stripe is made of a wool blend, and I used double strands of yarn to keep the bulky texture consistent. The gray stripe is also a thick wool yarn. The edging was actually a last minute touch, because I found that once I was three-quarters of the way through, it wasn’t quite long enough. So, late on a panic-stricken Christmas Eve, I quickly stitched 2 inches of horizontal rows on each edge to give it more length. Overall, I think it came out quite handsome; fitting for my handsome beau.

So now that the scarf gift has been done, what in the world do I give him this Christmas? I guess it’s time to bump up my skills a notch and move into cheesy holiday sweaters…