From here you can navigate to all my offerings for Morale Fiber – independent fiber artist and crochet pattern designer 🙂 (For more on who I am, see my About Page!) I created this post to make finding what you’re looking for easier. Let’s start with everyone’s favorite:
The Free Patterns page is a running list of all the free crochet patterns, and they are all available published here for easy viewing- No extra downloads, sign-ups, or anything 😉 I also have a page for my Crochet Tutorials!
Some of my most popular free patterns right now are the Novella Shawl (pictured top/left), the Basic Bralette (bottom/left), the Lotus Mandala Duster, and the Elf Coat (pictured below left and below right).
As a self-publishing artist I make most of my income from sales of my PDF crochet patterns through Ravelry and Etsy. If you really want to support what I do, check out my running list of crochet designs available as downloadable, printable, ad-free PDFs!
Some of my personal favorites are only available as PDF’s so it’s worth a look 😉 Like the Flower Child Pullover (pictured top/right) or the Embla Vest (below left) and Cobweb Wrap (below right).
Questions?
If you have questions about any of the patterns I offer, I respond to messages regularly and would love to help! You can contact me here easily by leaving a comment on the page linked below, or contact me via Direct Message on any of my social media channels.
Finally, if you’re here to just peruse through my ramblings on all things crafty, you can go back to the Home Page (or keep scrolling) to view all my blog posts starting with the latest!
~* Thank you for visiting*~ MF If you appreciate all my free content, consider leaving a tip in the Tip Jar ❤
I’ve been working away here at headquarters preparing this special video tutorial for the shaping and joining portion of the Flower Child Pullover crochet pattern; this post features some brand new photos, discussion of how to expand the size of the design, and full step-by-step video instructions for the shaping and joining rounds (keep scrolling – videos are at the bottom)!
First off, all the resources in this post are SUPPLEMENTAL to the written pattern, which is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop or Ravelry Pattern store – or click here to read the original post with all the info about this design 🙂 You need the written pattern for the full instructions – this video is just a walkthrough of Rounds 8-12 of this pattern.
I wanted to get those specific rounds being worked on video because I had a lot of questions so far this season about the joining round for this project – much like the free Mandala Top crochet pattern, the Flower Child utilizes two circular shapes for the garment which are attached using a back-and-forth stitch and chain technique which is a bit complicated to get through in just written format.
The new video tutorials go through the joining portion step by step, reading along with the pattern and explaining and demonstrating as I go. I shot this footage after making several pullovers from this pattern, and I tried to include a few tips and tricks as I went without overloading on extra info.
One of the modifications I made on my practice pieces were to experiment with ways of creating larger sizes for this design. The written pattern includes sizes Small, Medium, and Large but I’ve had many inquiries on how to get larger/plus sizes for it. While I’d love to rewrite this whole pattern to expand the sizing options, these tips are the best I can do at the moment – please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Some Tips on Sizing UP
As mentioned in the notes of the pattern, some expansion of sizing can be done by making an extra repeat Round 8 of the pattern. This can be done on any size at least once, and on the Large potentially two extra repeats of this round may be made. In the video, I work one extra Round 8 on this Medium size pullover before moving on to the shaping & joining rounds.
Fair warning, though, extra rounds cause the garment to be LONGER as well as WIDER so you’ll have to take that into consideration! If your piece ends up longer than you want, you can always skip a bottom edge row in order to compensate for that, which is what I did on this example.
On the first few examples I made, I was so enthused about starting the project that I forgot to check my gauge, and I was using a different kind of hook than the one I originally used when I wrote the pattern. And so that’s how I accidentally did another method for sizing up – changing my gauge! If you want a garment that is just a bit looser, sizing up your hook to get a different gauge is a great way to help expand this garment. I believe my gauge was 7″ at Round 4 for this looser example instead of 6″ in diameter as given in the pattern – shown below is Size Medium with the larger gauge.
It’s also possible to extend the size of the armholes – sleeve yokes and be difficult to fit to each individual even when creating a garment which is specifically graded for size! For the Flower Child, the sleeve yoke (aka the arm-hole) can be expanded by making extra chain stitches on the joining round, which is mentioned in the video but not fully demonstrated – this will change the number of repeats in the sleeve portion of the pattern, but a savvy crocheter will be able to navigate that pretty easily if familiar with the design.
Video Tutorials
I hope these instructions were helpful! I started making these latest sweater dresses for the tutorial video and found the color therapy to be really effective – I chose colors inspired by my succulent plants for the blue, green, and neutral toned ones 🙂
This design was pretty much born to be a scrapbuster, and the original written pattern comes with detailed lengths approximated for each color change so you don’t have as much guesswork to do.
Ahhhhhh! I had so much fun revisiting this design. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 5 years since I released the pattern! I’m constantly torn between updating older designs and creating whole new ones – I usually opt for a little of both. If there’s something you’d like to see, be sure to drop a comment! 🙂 I love hearing from ya!
In the darkest period of the year, when the days are shortest and the nights stretch on into dark gloomy mornings, and the bright lights of the holidays are slowly dimmed, the turn of the new year invites us to meditate on Time.
We don’t get a lot if it. Even the luckiest of us are granted relatively little time, especially if you’re capable of using your time to take care of yourself and others. I’ve been thinking about time a lot lately, how I spend mine and where it goes. Lots of it goes into yarn, of course!
Recently I’ve been in the process of re-evaluating my schedule for my business endeavors. Since the summer this year a lot has moved and shifted around for me, and I’ve tried a couple new avenues for my art and suffered some losses as well. You can read more about video media, patronage, and art theft on these linked posts if you like!
To save Time, I won’t launch into my epic ramble about all the different ways that my life has changed since the onset of the pandemic two years ago and the affect that has had on my mental health and productivity. Suffice to say that for the New Year, I’m dropping a few things off of my digital roster and focusing more on the artwork itself. This post is just a little “housekeeping” summary of how I’m managing Morale Fiber these days.
Contacting Me with Questions
Over the years of building Morale Fiber I’ve been stringent about liking, answering, and replying to as many communications as I possibly can, whether they are in the form of a comment, tagged post, or direct message. As you might imagine, as I got more exposure this became a lot more work and I knew at some point, it was going to become too much labor to hold myself to the same standard as I did in the beginning! Reading all the comments and responses to my work is very rewarding, but I don’t always have time to respond anymore, and it’s getting to the point where I may not get around to reading every comment, at least not quickly – so if you have a question about a pattern or about a post that I’ve made, please send your questions in the form of Direct Messages. I can’t guarantee any questions left in the comments will be answered in a timely manner, whereas I DO check my inboxes regularly (whether FB, Instagram, Etsy, Ravelry, directly e-mailing me, etc) and can be depended upon to answer direct messages within 24-48 hours generally.
Please note that this especially applies to YOUTUBE! I have had enormous trouble sorting through comments and things on YouTube, I’m not sure why but their comments section is always a mess on my devices. As a result I will no longer be offering technical support through the comment section of my YouTube channel – please e-mail me directly or comment on the actual written posts of my projects instead of on the YouTube site/app ❤ Thank you!
After a somewhat brief run on Patreon, I’ve decided to close this social media avenue. Although there’s some wonderful artists on this site and it’s a great way for some people to gather support, I found that many of the functions of Patreon were repetitive for me personally. And while the monetary support is nice, Patreon and Paypal BOTH take a percentage of my money there, and I feel like that’s a waste considering I don’t really enjoy using it. I didn’t find the site navigation very helpful or intuitive unfortunately So bye bye Patreon! Thank you so much to everyone who helped support me there. January will be the last month my patrons will be billed for their tier. If you want to continue to support Morale Fiber on a regular basis, new avenues for donations will be set up soon – or you can just do a one-time Tip Jar payment here on my blog at any point!
Pictured above is the Oak Sprite Hat, one of the many free patterns I offer!
Magic Fantastic Crochet Atelier
This Facebook group centered around my crochet designs (and including other gorgeous fantasy based crochet designs) has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in association with Morale Fiber – we opened in 2019 and have been sharing so many amazing projects for the past few years. Everyone has been incredibly kind and supportive in this group – which is why it pains me to make the decision to close it. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time to monitor the group as well as I should to make sure it is a safe environment and to maintain the quality of the group’s content. However, there are SO MANY great crochet groups online, I feel that I have to allow my own needs to take precedent and I consistently see myself fall short when it comes to making the time to maintain and check this group. As an alternative to sharing projects based on my designs in this group, I will try to go back to sharing featured projects via my main business page news feeds 🙂
Here are just a few great crochet groups I know of that might interest MFCA members looking for new groups: Advanced Tunisian Crochet (you don’t have to be advanced already to join, and many people post Elf Coat projects here), Hooked on Tunisian Crochet (more potential Elf Coat discussion), Mildly Offensive Fiber Artists (fun and whimsical stuff, lots of NSFW type projects though), Freeform Crochet World Group (absolutely inspiring – I want to do more freeform!), Boho Crafty Souls (Crochet-centric but not exclusively crochet group for all funky fiber artists, hosted by Starlily)
Twitter
This social media channel has not been one that I’ve been very active on, and the majority of my posts over the years were automatic updates that were sent out whenever there was a new blog post here. While that’s nice, I don’t prefer to leave accounts sitting around on social media sites that I don’t actively log on to (the risk of being hacked but also the risk of people trying to contact me and never getting replies… !) So I’ve already deactivated my Twitter account – I just don’t use it! Thanks to everyone on Twitter for sharing my posts over the years ❤ ❤
Moving Forward
Of course, the things which are moving away from my to-do list are making room for brighter, newer fiber ventures! I am still working on filming a tutorial for the Flower Child Pullover shaping & joining rounds, finally just finished my first draft of the newest winter sweater coat design (excited for that) and am developing a fun new free hat pattern that I’m totally enchanted with 😉 So stay tuned here on my blog as the morale-boosting continues!
Good morning friends, fans, and followers 🙏 Recently a phony website has popped up claiming to sell PDF crochet patterns, all of which were ripped off and stolen from independent crochet artists. Right down to copying every word of the descriptions! I was one of the victims of this blatant theft, and in the past few weeks have been dealing with the fallout.
As many of you might now, this isn’t the first time my art has been stolen. Before, it was just the image, with a website making incredibly cheap and crappy knockoffs of my Elf Coat design and selling them with my image as the example. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had crowds of people either complaining to me about the knockoff (that I didn’t sell them) or creating a ton of extra work for me by having to answer the HUNDREDS of messages (very kindly) letting me know my work was being ripped off.
While the loss of income is worrying, the emotional blow was the first and worst part of this. Not only is it already a difficult time of year for me – my sales normally dip somewhat during the Holiday season – but I was trying to use the yearly lull in activity to take a digital vacation from posting on social media.
Well, when someone suddenly steals a ton of artist’s work, your digital vacation plans get ruined 😒 I’ve been scrambling to figure out how to deal with this (getting someone to take down copyrighted work on the internet is a lot harder than you think).
I’m just posting this little update to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for defending my work, encouraging me, and pledging support for Morale Fiber here and on Patreon!
On the positive side, I have had some time to think and also to recover from the setbacks earlier in the year – my crashed computer has been replaced with a fresh machine, at least. While I wrestle with fractious file transfers for my upcoming Flower Child joining tutorial, I am also pondering the orb for the future direction of Morale Fiber.
Running your own business based around your art is a wild ride. A heady mix of passion and ambition, tempered against self doubt, fought for in real sweat and sometimes tears. When things feel out of my control, I have to remind myself that it’s my creativity that drives it all, and no one can ever take that because it’s not an image on a screen or a configuration of words and numbers – it’s my real experience. The most real thing about this business is not the files. It’s connecting with other real people and sharing that creative fire 🔥 ✨
With that in mind, I am looking hopefully forward to the new year. I hope these thoughts aren’t too rambley and I hope you all have a beautiful, restful holiday season! I will be returning to my digital vacation now ☺ I’ll emerge in the New Year with some new developments for Morale Fiber 🥰
See you soon and thank you again, for all the love, support, and creative fire 🔥 Regina, Morale Fiber
I’m so grateful for the gorgeous autumn we’ve had here this year, and the abundant opportunities to go play outside before the weather got truly chilling.
Now unfortunately my toes are icicles when I go out to exercise in the morning and the slush season appears imminent, but why bemoan that when I have a huge yarn stash to disappear under for the winter? 😉
Yep, my busiest time of the year for Morale Fiber has passed and now I have the busiest time of the year for family upcoming, with all the coziest home bakes and warm blankets. This fall has been especially hectic because I’ve operated everything having to do with the digital side of running Morale Fiber from my phone, having lost my laptop to a hardware crash this past summer.
Combined with a bunch of other fun personal life happenings, I’ve really had a juggling act on my hands. Thats why I’ve decided to take a little digital vacation this season!
Pictured above: playing with my Yearling Headband in the studio last year
Beginning November 25, I’ll be taking a digital vacation from posting on the Morale Fiber blog & social media. Don’t worry, I’ll still be answering all my emails & messages – so as always don’t hesitate to contact me with pattern questions 🙂 But I’ll be using the extra time to focus on family, friends, and being present in the moment instead of on my phone ❤ I’ll be back on my social media game (and hopefully on a new laptop) in the New Year!
But of course, it’s just a *digital* vacation – I have lots of real life projects heaped on my desk. Wanna see?
First up is what I’ve been working on the past few days – a batch run of my Flower Child Pullover design, linked above. This is to get my brain reacquainted with this crochet pattern so I can record some video tutorials for it:)
I gathered a pile of colors inspired by succulent plants 🪴 for this batch! In #4 weight acrylics, this design is really great as a scrapbuster and color therapy project 🌈
I’ve gotten a bunch of questions on this design recently so I thought it was time for a good overview! My dearest ambition is to get this pattern expanded for larger sizes, but I need to actually figure out how how do that first! Haha 😉
I’ve also got a fistful of BIG new designs in the works, but most of then are a good while from being completed – I only just finished the main draft of the shawl design I mention in my latest business video, after a significant stay in the Misbehaving Project Time-Out Corner…
I haven’t been doing any custom crochet work for a while now, because the digital side of Morale Fiber takes so much time these days, but it’s definitely Gift Crafting season and it’s got me thinking about all the quick, easy and FREE patterns I have available on this blog – so I’d like to end this little journal entry with a collection of crochet patterns for gift ideas! 🎁 follow the links below to go to the free pattern 🧚♀️
I’m very pleased to bring you all another a full length, real-time crochet tutorial video today!
This one demonstrates the making of my Morel Mushroom secret pouch, a cute fungus shaped pocket on a chain loop with an adjustable mushroom cap topper. The written pattern for this handy project is available for free on my blog here, but a crocheter recently commented on my YouTube Channel requesting a video demonstration since the method is very free-form.
While I can’t respond to every request I get for different resources for my patterns, occasionally a suggestion just really works for me or strikes inspiration and this was one of those times 🙂 I love making these mushroom pockets for my Pixie Belt designs and I had been working up to another new belt, one that would be lovely with a little morel…
So I recorded the making of my Morel Pouch and put together this video tutorial along with a bonus tour of my newest Pixie Pocket Belt, “Queen Anne’s Lace.”
Check out the video and all the relevant links below!
Morel Mushroom Video
I have made lots of variations on mushroom pouches over the years, including all these free resources on my blog:
Examples of Pixie Belts I’ve made, many with mushroom pockets
The newest belt, Queen Anne’s Lace, utilizes lots of vintage crochet scraps, scrap lace fabric and cotton weave, upcycled wool yarns, and handspun yarns. I’ve been dreaming of this particular pixie theme for years as it’s one of my favorite plants to see out on the roadside ❤
That about wraps it up for now – let me know what you’d like to see in the future! I hope to do some more full-length videos where I work and talk in real time but only if they are helpful for people! 😉 If you’re looking for more Morale Fiber videos please subscribe to my YouTube Channel and consider becoming a Patreon supporter ❤
I’ve stayed pretty busy since the last big pattern release, so when 2/3rds of October sped by in a blink, I wasn’t surprised.
I’m so grateful for all the support my latest design the Yggdrasil Poncho received! I love creating and it’s just so fun to share my love of crochet with others who know that same joy.
Of course, I also am seeing lots of fun costume projects this time of year made from my free patterns like the Hedge Witch Hat, the Classic Witch Hat, and the Krampus Hat… Thank you all for tagging me 🙂
I also reminisce this time of year on some of my other favorites from my designs, like the versatile Pixie Pocket Belt tutorial (I’m working on one of these right now actually) and the one of a kind Costume Mega Tail tutorial.
Autumn is really an amazing time, so happy and sad all at once. I’ve been tending to the living spaces, cleaning and buckling down for winter. The weather has been quite fine so I took some hiking time in my favorite source of inspiration, nature!
I usually like slow-burn projects to come to the fore this time of year, like spinning (so cozy) and my long term knitting voyage…
I just recently completed my 100th hexipuff for this project above: here’s Mister 100!
Yes, I’ve been happy and sad this season, as it is the time of year for remembrance of those we’ve lost. I lost friends this time two years ago, and this year have lost some older relatives, also. Time passes and we do the best we can to mark it as there is only so much to be had – and that’s why fiber arts directly represent love to me. We spend time spinning the threads or drawing the loops, precious time, dedicating it to another or perhaps just to ourselves. We leave our love in those fibers in the form of moments of thought, weaving a spell.
“Long before any numerals or mathematics, when human language was first naming the world, trees offered their measures – of distance, of height, of diameter, of space. They were taller than anything else alive, their roots went deeper than any creature; they grazed the sky and sounded the underworld. From them was born the idea of the pillar, the column. Trees offered man the measure of his upright space, and in this offer… there is the discreetest assurance in the world, that we have never been utterly alone.”
– John Berger, And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos
This quote struck me strongly when I read it scrolling through Tumblr one day and I immediately saved it for the introduction to this particular post. You see, though I’ve waxed sentimental about trees on this blog, I’ve never found words eloquent enough to describe the enormity of their impact on the human psyche… but that quote is close!
And reading that summation of one of Earth’s most successful organisms, it is easy to see why some ancient mythologies use the image of the tree to symbolise the entire world. I came across the concept of the world tree at a young age reading Norse mythology stories, and they named their cosmic tree Yggdrasil which held all nine worlds within it, from the branches of heaven to the roots of hell. Indeed, anyone who has visited an old growth forest can clearly see the divinity and awe there – and not wonder why these majestic entities were man’s first cathedral.
The newest design I have to bring to you today is named Yggdrasil (pronounced eeg-drah-sill) after the world tree, and I hope it inspires in us that same wonder at the natural world – and the need to take care of our forests and appreciate what we still have left.
You can get the Yggdrasil Poncho design in my Etsy Shop or Ravelry Store now, or keep reading for more details!
Yggdrasil Poncho
The Yggdrasil Poncho shows off a central tree of life motif ringed all around by rich and varied stitch detail on both the back and the front, making this sacred circular design the perfect canvas on which to paint your favorite seasonal yarn colors!
Pictured above: Size Large in varied Worsted weight acrylics
The unique double circle structure of this piece creates a garment with a flattering drape off of the shoulders, into a graceful rounded bottom that can wrap the body and extend with the arms. Top this impressive work of art with a cozy cowl neck collar for warmth (optional) or trim with fringe for a retro look.
Pictured above: Size Small in Lion Brand Mandala “Dragon”
This written crochet pattern includes two sizes – Small and Large – as well as detailed, step by step instructions and over 150+ bright, numbered tutorial photos. Size Small is worked in DK weight yarn with a 4.50 mm hook, while size Large is worked in Worsted weight with a 5.5 mm hook. A free video tutorial resource for the joining seam is also linked in the pattern 🙂
Materials:
4.50 mm hook or size needed to obtain gauge (for size Small) 5.50 mm hook or size needed to obtain gauge (for size Large)
Yarn for Small: Lion Brand Mandala – 2 skeins (#3 weight, 590 yds/150 g, 100% Acrylic). Color shown is “Dragon”
Yarn for Large: RhSS Ombre – 3 skeins (#4 weight, 482 yds / 283 g, 100% Acrylic). Color shown is “Cocoa”
Scissors, stitch markers, tapestry needle
Finished Measurements:
Dk weight – 28″ wide opening at elbows (56″ total circumference), 30″ circumference collar, 7″ tall cowl neck, 26″ length from collar to bottom of poncho
Worsted weight – 34″ wide opening at elbows (68″ total circumference), 30″ circumference collar, 9″ tall cowl neck, 32″ length from collar to bottom of poncho
Language: English, with US crochet terminology
I honestly had to stop myself from making a BUNCH of these all at once! They are so addictive and absolutely lovely for working through partial skeins of Worsted weight acrylic. But of course, I need to save some tree mojo for the future as I’d really like to do a full video tutorial for this design someday! 😚
– MF
P.S – My computer straight up CRASHED last month and though I fortunately didn’t lose much, I had to do almost everything involved with publishing the Yggdrasil pattern from my phone! It was not easy, yall. Fortunately I am getting some new supporters via Patreon and it’s making a big difference already. Would you consider joining up as a general supporter of Morale Fiber? It would help me so much in bringing out more patterns, tutorials, and especially video content (mama needs a new laptop!)
Happy September! One of the best months of the year (IMHO) and it’s bringing lots of reorganization and preparation for yours truly 😉
I’m here today to bring you a vlog that talks a little bit about how I run my business and make money publishing crochet patterns online. This overview introduces two new platforms for Morale Fiber, Patreon and Ko-Fi, which will allow me to take subscriptions from the kind followers who want to support what I do!
Patreon and Ko-Fi are social media channels designed to help artists get paid for their work. If you like to see my work and want to make a huge difference in my ability to produce content, please subscribe, donate or follow me on either of these platforms! 🙂 If those channels are too much commitment, you can drop a safe, one-time payment in my Tip Jar on this page (or read more there about how I manage MF and provide free content).
In my YouTube Channel video I go over why I am opening these new revenue options, what I do in the day to day running of Morale Fiber, and how I juggle all the tasks of a one-woman independent art business.
There’s also some sneak peeks of upcoming designs currently in development and examples of some of the great FREE content I offer 🙂 All projects mentioned in the video are linked below 😀
One more thing – I apologize for the choppiness of this video! I mentioned recently that I was having issues with my laptop (main computer) being really slow 🙃 and shortly after I filmed this video on my phone, my computer crashed and is now totally dead. So I had to video edit on my phone. One more great reason to subscribe, donate and tip if you like my art! Mama needs a new laptop 😉
Hi fiber fans! This blog post is just a quick one featuring my newest YouTube video, which is a long and ramble-y unboxing of my latest yarn order from one of my absolute favorite supply companies, Lion Brand. As usual, the opinions and products featured in this review are 100% my own – I didn’t receive any money, affiliations, or products in return for this feature, I just really like their yarn 🙂
With this review I’ve continued my search for soft, comfortable #4 weight cotton yarn for use in my halter top and bikini top patterns and I finally find my coveted substitute for I Love This Cotton…
Lion Brand Pima Cotton! It’s the perfect texture, weight, and composition to match my old standby – and the colors are lovely! I’ll definitely be using this yarn a lot in the future. I also go over another great #4 weight yarn, Cotton-Ease, which is part cotton mixed with acrylic, for the durability and breathability of cotton but with the acrylic lending a little more elasticity and bounceback.
I also re-supply myself on Ferris Wheel, an excellent colorful acrylic cake yarn with a lightweight one-ply structure. This yarn is somewhat melancholy as I’m using it to finish the Sundogs Throw blanket my friend was making right before she passed away.
So here’s the video – come hang with me as I laugh, cry, and ogle totes in my little woodland corner (and check below the video for links to all the patterns I mention)…
Lion Brand Unboxing & Yarn Review
Thanks for joining me! Here are the links to the patterns I mention in the video:
Hope you enjoyed this little review and round-up 🙂 If you like my newer videos, please leave me some feedback and let me know what you’d like to see more of ❤ Thanks for tuning in!
This summer is flying by, fueled by the need to commune and see my loved ones after the isolation and uncertainty of 2020. I keep in mind I’m lucky enough to have access to the vaccine, as there are many places that struggled to get their populations vaccinated and still so many people in danger of getting Covid 19 or the variant strains. As usual, gratitude is the name of the game.
So it’s been a busy season, and in addition to the full dance card I’ve managed a number of new designs and projects. This will be one of my “wrap-up and reflect” posts sharing my latest patterns, some new spins on old designs, and anything else that comes to mind 🙂
Faux Fur Hats
Having stashed plenty of the Lion Brand Go for Faux Thick & Quick yarn last winter, I decided to make some room on my yarn shelf by busting out two new Ushanka hats from my totally free Ushanka Hat & Muff pattern. I’ve been getting ideas from the interestingly styled images on my vintage fashion & mori kei Pinterest board, in which mountain girls sport colorful accessorized layers paired with fur hats and boots. It was a bit hot out for that sort of thing, but I did get creative with my styling and layers in order to show off these two new Ushankas!
The first is a traditional Ushanka, with the earflaps attaching to the sides of the hat with buttons instead of ties on top as with the original one I made. The big Jumbo yarn and the huge hook make these hats doable in just a fraction of a day!
The second faux fur hat I made, I modified the original crochet pattern just a little by adding an extra round of stitches on top (following the formula of increases to continue with the flat circle). I wanted a slightly bigger profile on this one, and a more rigid “turn” from the top of the hat to the sides. To accomplish this sharp top edge, I worked the first non-increase round in Back Post Double Crochet instead of regular double crochet, which helped the stitches turn inward more sharply.
I also left the earflaps off of this one to give it a more “military” and less of a “trapper” look.
Of course, I had to include some more layered accessories so this outfit included my Cottage Vest design which was published this year and my Ramblers’ Mitts too! Those super neat bug tights are from MyTightsShop on Etsy.
Velvet Bralettes
As you can see with the Ramblers’ Mitts above, I’ve really been enjoying the variety of “velvet” or chenille type yarns this year, and I knew I had to make the Basic Bralette design in that ultra-cushy soft texture too. It came out as luxe as I imagined in Bernat Baby Velvet, the smaller (#4 weight) yarn version of their popular #5 weight yarn.
I got some more of the same Baby Velvet to make another! I also used the regular Bernat Velvet in black to make a super special Basic Bralette – I wanted to test the capacity of the Basic Bralette (and it’s modifier, the Curvey Bralette) design to go up to bigger cup sizes and it worked out beautifully! My friend wears an H cup size bra and with some modifications (which have now been added into the written portion of the main pattern) it was no problem to make the design fit.
Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned busy-ness, I haven’t gotten to take pictures of her in it yet. Hopefully those are coming soon. I am so pleased with how it looks, especially since I get questions about making the Basic Bralette in larger sizes a lot and now I can answer them more thoroughly, having done it myself 🙂
Shown with this bralette, of course, is the Snapdragon Pixie Belt, which you can read more about by following the link 🙂
Cottagecore Girlfriend Dress
I’ve loved taking short breaks with bits of sewing, particularly when it means I get to clean out some leftovers and fabric-stash bust a little. I made this light, floaty and sweet patchwork dress using my favorite patchwork skirt pattern, melded with a bodice that I freehanded. A criss-cross back tie and adjustable waistband made this really comfortable, and I also added eyelet lace cotton trim in gathered ruffles on the hem and a vintage embroidered tea towel pocket!
I called it my “Cottagecore Girlfriend” dress 🙂 I learned a lot making it and hopefully will be able to recreate the bodice part for later versions – meanwhile this one has been added to my costume closet and already made an appearance in my “Moth Wizard” photoshoot for the Wizard Hat crochet pattern, which was just released!
Elf Coat Updates
On of the most major projects I concluded this summer was getting the Elf Coat pattern expanded and updated. I created a major update for the regular sizes Small-Large which included some rewriting and some additional extras like belt and pockets, but the long awaited Plus Sizes option didn’t get released until recently in June! Good timing for that, as it gives people plenty of time to get started on their coats so that they can wear them this winter 🙂
You can find the directory to all the sizes and options for the Elf Coat through the page linked in the paragraph above – right now this includes sizes Small-2XL/3XL, corset back lacing, belt tie, and THREE types of pockets, all for FREE here on my blog (but you can also buy the full written patterns in my Etsy shop 😉 and there might be a sale if you read a little further! )
New Growth & Designs
Pictured here is as much as I’m willing to reveal about the new pattern I have in the works! I try not to give too much away usually, as I just like to keep things a surprise and also because I’m terrible at committing 😀 But after 4 total reworks to this piece, I’m confident to say it’s mostly finalized and so I’m moving into the fine-tuning stage of development.
As you can see, this next one will be based on my Tree of Life motif, which has proved to be a great little free design – I have just enjoyed it SO MUCH, seeing people’s little happy trees pop up on my Instagram feed! You can get the free pattern for the Tree of Life Mandala wall hanging by following the link above. This motif also appears in my Embla Vest, a premium pattern in sizes XS-XL ❤
10K Sale!
Last but not least, my Etsy shop is ALMOST to 10,000 sales! Holy wow, I can’t believe it! We’ve got a few more to go though, so to incentivize I’ve created my “10K or Bust” sale which is running now through the end of next month – get ANY crochet pattern from my Etsy Shop 20% off, no coupon code needed!
I’m really excited to see that number roll over – I can still remember 10K sales on Etsy being some crazy, far-away dream of mine 😉 The sale is schedule to last until August 28, 2021 – although I may extend it depending on how close to 10K we get!
As always, thank you for all your likes, comments, purchases, reviews, and encouragement!
So bye bye Patreon! Thank you so much to everyone who helped support me there. January will be the last month my patrons will be billed for their tier. If you want to continue to support Morale Fiber on a regular basis, new avenues for donations will be set up soon – or you can just do a one-time 
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