Free Crochet Pattern Roundup: Coffee

It's seven in the morning and all I can think of that cup of Joe, so while mine is brewing, I thought I'd look up some coffee patterns.
My absolute favourite is Britanny's "You Made Me So Frappe", even though I generally drink black coffee.  The fabric paint looks exactly like syrup.

Free Ravelry download from BritannyJackson

This looks exactly like the cup of coffee I'm going to get...

but wait a second, look at the bottom!

Free pattern from The Left Side of Crochet

So, this is supposed to be a cup of tea, but minus the teabag and you'll have a great pattern for a cup of coffee.

Free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn

And looking for ways to decorate your coffee (you know those fancy frothed milk patterns?) Take inspiration from the following:

From Roses n Lilies

From Bitter Sweet

Mmm... Smells so good.  Thank you to all the above people who have shared their patterns online.

Pattern: Crochet Neapolitan Popsicle

"Someone took a bite out of me"

I have a soft spot for food amigurumi, so I thought for my next pattern, I'll try to make something food-related. I chose neapolitan ice cream popsicle mainly because I like the colour combination, even though the only "colour" I would actually eat is vanilla. Have fun making your own popsicle.

Yarn, Hook and Other Materials:
(feel free to substitute with your favourite worsted weight yarn and hook size)
E hook / 3.5mm hook
Pink yarn: Bernat Satin Cameo
Cream yarn: Red Heart Soft Touch Off White
Brown yarn: Red Heart Soft Touch Chocolate
Small amount of light brown yarn: Bernat Satin Sable
Yarn needle to weave in ends and embroider the sprinkles on
A pair of safety eyes or beads
Cream and black embroidery thread
Polyester fiberfill stuffing
A small piece of cardboard (optional)

Dimensions / Gauge:
Popsicle is approximately 5.5" tall and 2" wide.
Exact gauge is not important, but as with all amigurumi, crochet tightly to make sure no stuffing will be seen between stitches.

Abbreviations used:
rnd round
sc single crochet
st stitch
sl st    slip stitch
inv dec   invisible decrease
ch chain
Number in ( ) at the end of each round: total number of stitches you should have by the end of the round.

Note:
I worked in continuous spirals instead of joined rounds, because personally I don't like that diagonal seam line, but if you prefer to do it that way to make a better colour change, it's totally fine too.

Main body of the popsicle:
Using pink yarn: we're starting from the bottom of the popsicle and working our way up

Rnd 1	Ch 12. 1 sc in the 2nd ch from hook, and sc in the next 9 ch. In the last ch, do 3 sc. (This will help the oval to "turn" the corner so to speak) Rotate your work so the other side of the chain is facing up. Sc in each loop of ch (11 sc), until you reach the last loop. Do 3 sc in that loop. You should have a total of 26 sc at the end of the round (26)
Rnd 2	1 sc along the straight side (11 sc), then 2 sc in the next st, 1 sc in the next st, and 2 sc in the next st. That should round up the corner, and now continue doing 1 sc on the straight side again (9 sc). Then 2 sc in the next st, 1 sc in the next, and 2 sc in the last st (30 total for the round)
Rnd 3	1 sc all around (30)
Rnd 4	1 sc all around in the back loops only (30)
Rnd 5-11	1 sc all around in both loops again (30)
Rnd 12	Change to off-white yarn. 1 sc all around. (30) If you're using safety eyes, add them in now.
Rnd 13-18	1 sc all around (30)
Rnd 19	Change to brown yarn. 1 sc all around. (30)
Rnd 20-23	1 sc all around. (30)

Fasten off.  You should have something like this. Stuff the piece.

Now we're ready for the fun part and create the "bite" in our popsicle.
Bascially, the uneven edge of the bite is created by not crocheting all around in the 30 stitches, but turning and leaving stitches undone in every round. The number of stitches you'll have to do for each row will get smaller and smaller as you go up to the top of the popsicle.
In the crochet world I think they call that a decrease for each row to create a staircase effect.
On the opposite side of the bite (in mine, the left side of the popsicle), we will gradually work in invisible decreases to shape the popsicle.
As you're crocheting, you can adjust accordingly to create the size and the look of the bite you want. I've put down a rough estimate of what I did, but it's more fun to shape it as you go along.

Rnd 1	Using brown yarn.If you flatten your popsicle, we're going to start from the 3rd stitch from the right edge. Insert your hook into that stitch, and pull up a loop with the new brown yarn. Ch 1. 1 sc in the next st, sc into the next 23 stitch, and sl st into the next st.
Rnd 2	Ch 1. Turn (so you're now inserting your hook from the inside of the popsicle to outside, going left to right again (if you're right-handed). Sc in the next st, sc into the next 22 sc, sl st into next st.
Rnd 3	Ch 1. Turn. Sc in the next st, sc into the next 8 st, inv dec, inv dec, sc in next 8 st, sl st into the next st.
Rnd 4	Ch 1. Turn. Sc in all st around.
Rnd 5	Ch 3. Turn. Sl st into the base st of the chain (This will create a "bump" that stick out in your bite). Sc in the next 7 st, inv dec, inv dec, sc in the next 7 st, sl st into the last st.
Rnd 6	Ch 3. Turn. Sl st into the base st of the chain. Sc in all st around, sl st into the last st.
Rnd 7	Ch 1. Turn. Sc in the next 5 st, inv dec, inv dec, sc in the 4 st, sl st into the last st.
Rnd 8	Ch 1. Turn. Sc in all st around.
Rnd 9	Ch 1. Turn. Sc in next 4 st, inv dec, then sc in the remaining st.
Rnd 10	Ch 1. Turn. Sc in all st around.

Fasten off. Leaving a long tail for sewing.
Whip stitch the top of the front and back chocolate pieces together using the tail.
If you prefer, you can embroider the sprinkles in now or wait till later.

Inside of Ice Cream

Rnd 1	Starting with pink yarn Ch 4. 1 sc in the 2nd ch from hook, then sc in the next ch, then 3 sc in the last ch. Rotate your work so the other side of the chain is facing up. 1 sc in the first 2 loops, and 2 sc in the last one. (9)
Rnd 2	Change to off-white yarn *1 sc in next st, then 2 sc in next* repeat till end of round (13)
Rnd 3-5	1 sc in each st around Whether you need another round or not depends on how big you've created your bite, so put this inside your popsicle to see if it fits well or not.

Fasten off. Add more stuffing to the main body of the popsicle, then sew this piece to it. I just pinned the bit to the main piece, then used the left-over brown yarn tail to secure it.

Popsicle Stick
Using light brown yarn

Rnd 1	Make a magic ring with 6 stitches in it.
Rnd 2	*1 sc in the next st, then 2 sc in the next* repeat 3 times (9)
Rnd 3-7	1 sc in each st around

Fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing. I added cardboard to the inside to make it stiffer before I sewed to body.

And now for some quick embroidery work

Randomly add in your sprinkles to the chocolate part of your popsicle.  I did this back and forth on the front and the back of the piece.
Then add the mouth in using the black embroidery thread. And of course, you can have your popsicle smiling instead.

Pattern is for personal use only. Please do not sell items made from it (charity okay). Please do not reproduce the pattern anywhere, but link to this post ( http://ow.ly/cPHJD ).  Thanks!

Made: Crochet Donut

Out of all the things I've made so far, my husband is most impressed with the crochet donut. It does look pretty much like a real donut, doesn't it?
I followed the pattern on The Adventures of the Gingerbread Lady blog (thanks for sharing!) The pattern is accompanied by a photo tutorial, which is quite helpful if you're new to amigurumi or crochet. This was my first amigurumi that didn't begin with a magic ring so I learned a different technique to start my amigurumi.

Instead of using pins or beads, I embroidered different coloured sprinkles on my donut.  There are all sorts of ways to ice your donut. Fabric paint, for example, can make for some pretty convincing icing.  Have fun decorating yours!

Pattern of the Day: Sandwich

Tomorrow I am going on a trip to the lake to watch a Newfoundland dog water rescue training, and we're planning on packing some light sandwiches. Look delicious, don't they?  Go to free online pattern. 

This pattern can also be found in the book Yummi 'Gurumi: Over 60 Gourmet Crochet Treats to Make by Christian Haden. I've borrowed the book from my local library, and being a beginner, the patterns are quite challenging, since they often require more than your good old amigurumi single crochet, but there are definitely some impressive creations there. My favourite is probably the pork bun, since it looks so real.  

Looking for more crochet food to make? Check out this nice collection of food patterns.