The May Giveaway Winner is…..

All the ABCs Alphabet Letter Crochet Patterns

Thanks so much for all the interest in my crochet alphabet letter patterns. I used the random number generator and picked post number 10, which is “Ruby Star.” Congratulations! I will be sending an email shortly to discover which method you prefer to receive your patterns.

For those of you who did not win the giveaway, I have a special discount in my Artfire studio for the next month. Just enter MAY GIVEAWAY as the coupon code during checkout and receive 10% off any pattern purchase.

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May Giveaway —- The Entire Alphabet Letter Crochet Pattern Set

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Since I plan to be completely finished with the alphabet, both capital and lower case by next weekend, I decided to set up a giveaway for those who would like to have the entire set of letter patterns. This project has been a labor of love for me, but I am also ready to move on to some of the many other pattern ideas that I have.

These letters are the perfect size for toddlers and preschoolers to play with, great for decoration on a wall or shelf in a nursery, awesome for a holiday themed word on the mantel, or anything else you might want to do. They are also a great way to use up those odd balls of leftover yarn from larger projects.

So, you may ask, how do I win this giveaway? For each of the items below, please put a comment below as this is where I will check entries to choose the winner. Please be sure that each comment below has an email address for contacting you if you are the winner. Here are the guidelines:

1. Post a comment below letting me know what your first project would be if you won the whole set of patterns. (1 entry)

2. Crochet one alphabet letter pattern. You may choose one of the three free ones on my blog if you like. Post a photo to my flickr group showing off your letter. (5 entries)

3. Tweet about this giveaway. (1 entry)

4. Publish a blog post about this giveaway. (1 entry)

5. Follow “lauraslefthook” on twitter. (1 entry)

Winner will be chosen randomly on May 31st. I will contact the winner by writing a blog post about the winner and contacting the winner through email. If I do not hear from the winner within three days of the email and post, I will draw for another winner. Winner will have choice of having letters “gifted” through Ravelry, emailed as separate pdf files, or the entire set sent as a zip file.

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Alphabet Letter Pattern Countdown

Newest Letter Pattern

In March I somehow thought I would get through all the letter patterns and finish them up, but then I forgot about the fact that I would be going to visit my dad with my two girls during Spring Break, which would take away quite a bit of photographing and computer time. I am now setting my goal to finish up the patterns by Mother’s Day since the project tote I want has a special sale until then and I promised myself a reward once I finish these.

Capital W photo courtesy of my new Canon Rebel

Today I managed to list the lowercase j as well as get the Capital W off for testing. I am down to seven patterns now: Q, q, U, w, x, Z, and z. I already have the U, x, Z, and z handwritten, so hopefully I can meet my goal. Once I do I need to figure out the ebook listing on Ravelry so I can offer a special deal for purchasing the whole set there as well as in my other shops.

I will also be experimenting with making a zip file for the entire set. My husband tells me that opening a zip file should not be too difficult for those who have Windows based computers. I will probably also offer the option of having me send the files in separate pdf files, but that will probably end up having to be several emails due to size limits of attachments. If you would have a preference when purchasing between one zip file and several emails with multiple pdfs, please let me know in the comments.

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A Photography Themed Post

Our family just became the excited owners of a Canon Rebel T2i EOS 550D. I had been dreaming of a Canon Rebel of some type for quite a while and had been saving my craft money towards it when my husband lost his job last year. At that point the craft money went towards preschool tuition instead. I figured it would be quite a while before we replaced my Kodak Easyshare, but then the opportunity came to get this particular camera because of its use in my husband’s new business. So, instead of getting the camera for myself, I get to use it when my husband does not need it for his business.

Using portrait mode and artificial light

I played a little bit with it last night as well as today. I am trying to learn one little bit at a time with it. At first I listened to my husband and took some photos in portrait mode. They were not as crisp as I would like, which made sense after checking out the instruction manual, which said that portrait mode makes flesh tones and hair look softer. It ended up making the stitches in this j look softer.

This morning I took some photos using the scant amount of light from the windows (really dark and dreary here today.) The camera popped up the flash for this photograph. I used the close-up mode for this one.

Cloudy, Dreary Day near window

I plan to work on using the white balance and exposure compensation next to play around with the photos. I want to learn one step at a time. Hopefully I will also get a brighter day this week to work in some natural light.

Also in the photography mode, I was pleased to discover some beautiful photos of a child with one of my letter pillows at Life in Motion Photography. I absolutely love getting a glimpse of the children who get the pillows that I make. I also enjoyed looking around at the blog to see where I may someday take my own photography. If you live anywhere near Austin, TX and want to have some incredible photos of your kids, please check out this site.

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How is this for a set of Zs?

Zebra striped alphabet letters

While out of town visiting my dad I had the chance to work on letter patterns. I needed to make a Capital O and a lowercase g for April for my youngest daughter’s preschool class. I managed to finish those as well as writing up the patterns for Capital U, Capital Z, and lowercase z. Now I just need to get them into my computer and I will be that much close to my goal of finishing up these letter patterns completely.

I made the Zs in zebra stripes because I was running out of color choices for the letters to send to preschool. Doing stripes made finishing them off take quite a bit more time, but I think it was worth it.

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Rabbit Finger Puppets and Letter X Alphabet Letter Pattern

Rabbit Finger Puppets

I got an email recently from my youngest daughter’s teacher that they would be having an Easter egg hunt at school this week. I was requested to bring in a dozen eggs filled with goodies. Since I know my daughter will be having at least two other egg hunts for Easter I really did not want to fill the eggs with candy. (You should see the pile of candy we have around from all the previous holidays.) I searched around a bit and found a cute and easy crocheted rabbit finger puppet on Ravelry. There is also a pattern for a sheep and chick as well. I may try out some chicks this evening since I have already had requests for the rabbits from people who have seen them.

Lowercase X Alphabet Letter

Another project I am working on is the next set of capital and lowercase letters for the Letter of the Week at preschool. After spring break the letter will be X. I am hoping to get the capital and lowercase x patterns typed up today. My goal is to get completely finished with my letter patterns by Easter. As soon as I reach my goal I have promised myself a project tote from madbird.

If you are interested in my letter patterns, please be sure to notice I have a ten for ten dollars special on those that are in my shops. Just contact me to set up a listing for you. I hope to have it as a standard listing once all the patterns are tested.

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Time For Another Free Alphabet Letter Crochet Pattern

Lowercase A

Capital A

Lowercase B, P, or D

Capital B

Lowercase C

Capital C

Capital D

Lowercase E

I have been hard at work this month trying to finish up my alphabet letter crochet patterns. My goal is to finish them by the end of the month so that I can treat myself to a birthday present for finishing this large project. I am currently down to needing seven more capital letters and four more lowercase letters, with a few just waiting to finish the testing process and get listed.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that I planned to offer the E, I, and O for free on my blog. Now that I am nearing the end of my letter pattern writing I realize now is the time to offer the O. So, just click on the following link to download the Capital O pattern:

Capital O Alphabet Letter Pdf Crochet Pattern: download now

I would love to see your version of my E, I, or O. Be sure to check out my pattern page for more patterns (some more free ones there as well.) If you are looking for other letter patterns, be sure to check out my Artfire, Ravelry, or Etsy shops as the pattern page may not be completely up to date. I am planning a letter pattern giveaway as soon as I finish all of the letter patterns, so keep watching my blog for more information.

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No Excuses, but some New Patterns

Capital I, version 2

Heart Tawashi Scrubbies

I really dislike reading excuses why bloggers have not posted anything new in so long, so I will just quickly mention that after two broken toes, Swine Flu, and Christmas craziness, life is finally getting back to somewhat normal and I will attempt to resume my blog.

On that note, I have managed to update the free pattern for the Capital I for those of you who want a top and bottom on it.

download now

In addition, I have a Valentine Special Limited Time Offer of a Heart Tawashi Scrubbie Pattern. You can purchase this pattern in either my ArtFire shop or my Etsy shop.

I also hope to have more letter patterns coming soon. Right now I have one being tested and hope to get a few more out to be tested this week. If you have a particular letter that you would like, please let me know and I will work on that one next. Also, I am in need of more pattern testers to help me finish my letter patterns in a more timely fashion. Comment on this post if you are interested and I will get back to you soon.

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New Free Pattern for Lovely Little Letter

New free crochet pattern for Capital E

I have been thinking about which letters to make the free ones of my Lovely Little Letters. So far, I had made the Capital I free since it was simple and someone could get a good idea of the size of the letters by making it. I have finished up several more patterns recently and decided it was time to offer another pattern for free.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to me. This idea shows that I am the parent of young children. I had a children’s song pop into my head with the refrain, “E, I, e, i, O.” So, my plan is to offer these patterns for free. Right now I have the I and am now offering the E for free. Look for the e, i, and O coming soon.

The download for the Capital E can be found here:
download now

Other patterns can be found on my Crochet Patterns page.

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Crafting Up A Storm and A New Spot To Find My Patterns

With letters as the decoration, of course

I have been a busy woman this month, with several letter pillows to create for customers as well as taking some time to start making some of my favorite Christmas paper crafts, as you see above. I am also currently crocheting a red letter Z, which I am very happy to do since it brings me closer to my goal of making all the letters of the alphabet.

I have also been busy getting Lovely Little Letter patterns ready for testing and sending them off to testers. I have been able to add three more letter patterns to my shops this week (K, v, D) and hope to add a lowercase m tomorrow.

One of my patterns available at YouCanMakeThis.com

Finally, I have spent the last month getting several of my crochet patterns ready for YouCanMakeThis.com, which has graciously accepted my patterns to sell on their site. I discovered YouCanMakeThis.com through a friend from church who sent me one of their newsletters. I registered and received my free patterns as well as signing up for their newsletters. Then I decided that I might try offering them my patterns. I am happy to say, after some work, they have started to offer some of my patterns on their site. You can find my patterns here.

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