Crochet Acorns and Felted Pumpkin Bowls : A Tutorial

You may have noticed these little things on the thanksgiving table from last weekend. I wanted to share with you how to make them before my american friends have their celebration next month. These little acorns use up scrap sock yarn and you can make up a bunch of them in a very short time. Warning you might find making these to be more than a little addictive. Materials : small amounts of sock yarn , a crochet hook ( I used a size 5 american) , acorn caps , some roving or other stuffing material and a glue gun . Step 1: Start by making a chain of 5 stitches and join to make a very small circle. Make a single crochet in every stitch of the chain circle, five total to make the first row. Now for the second round make 2 single crochet stitches in every stitch , thus doubling the number of stitches to 10 at the end of this row. Continue now on these 10 stitches for at least four more rows or until you have reached the desired height for your acorn. Remember not all acorns are created with the same dimensions. You should at this point have a very small crocheted bowl . Step 2: Stuff the acorns with a little wool roving or other suitable stuffing. Step 3: With your glue gun place a small amount of hot glue on the inside of an acorn cap and then gently press it onto a stuffed acorn. Wasn't that easy :) I bet you can't just make one. Now for the knitted and felted small pumpkin bowls. They make wonderful little treat holders . I made these last year for thanksgiving so I don't have all the photographs along the way to making them. This was way pre blog . I am sure you will be able to follow along without them. Materials: orange feltable wool ( I used lamb's pride), a set of 4 size 6 double pointed needles, a darning needle , access to a washing machine or hot soapy water for felting, green felt for leaves, cotton twill tape and stamping pad with letter stamps ( optional) , fabric covered buttons ( you can substitute any button here ). Step 1 . Cast on 24 stitches on three needles , divided evenly . Knit in the round for about 6 rows. Next row begin your decreases.* Knit 2 , knit 2 stitches together *, repeat this until the round is done. Knit one row plain. *Knit 1, knit 2 stitches together* repeat this until the round is done. Knit one row plain. Knit 2 together all around. You should have 6 stitches left. Knit 2 together all around , then you will have only three stitches one on each needle. Cut the yarn and thread it on a yarn needle. Pull it through all the three stitches gathering them up . Sew both end of yarn in. Step 2: Make as many little bowls as you want and then throw them in a hot washing machine with a little bit of wool soap. This will felt the wool and make it firmer. Step 3: I dried the little bowls using apples to mold the shape. I didn't have a picture of the small bowl's before felting but here is one of a larger version. Step 4. Cut a leaf out of felt or fabric . Sew a piece of twill tape onto the leaf with the letters spelling thanks stamped on if you so desire. Attach a covered or plain button from your stash. It is really fun to make your own fabric covered buttons. I used some japanese fabric with owls . You can fill these little felted pumpkins with treats for your friends and family. On the topic of felt I , my lazy girl's guide to felting rocks was posted on the apartment therapy blog today ( thanks ) but I was reading through the comments and there seem to be not very many warm fuzzy felt lovers amongst them . I mean " sheep torture " , come on people. I know it is a full moon , maybe that might explain some of it. If you have a chance read the comments and leave one of your own if you like. What is really funny is that I ( the girl who has nothing better to do) felted a whole new pile of rocks with my daughter on the weekend with some amazing merino roving sent by my dear friend Maria who was in Canada with her husband for a few weeks. It is the same beautiful wool that she uses to make her jewelry. The stones are fantastic and I have a very special project in mind for them but only after I have had some fun taking pictures of them. Stay tuned:)

Comments

[Maiz]

Okay, I went over to Apartment Therapy to leave a positive comment about your beautiful felted rocks, but I just couldn't do it. Those comments are way too negative! I love those rocks almost as much as the crocheted ones, but the people who left those comments wouldn't appreciate the natural-unnatural beauty of your rocks if they were hit on the head with them. I, for one, can't wait to see more.

[Rane]

I wish that acorns fell from trees
in this sort of colors! Beautiful!
I wish that I could knit and crochet!
I love your felted rocks too!
Sorry that not everyone sees art
the same way! We all see your
art for what it is here though!
Breath taking!!!!
Keep on doing what you are doing!
As I told my oldest yesterday...
" you can't make all of the
people like you all of the time
nor make half of the people like
you half of the time but if you
like you and what you do then you have made who matters happy~ and
that is all that truly matters..
... because if you like you then
others will too!" mind I know you
are not a preteen but we do all
need to be reminded of our talents
when others are cruel or hurtful.
I am surprized that they said
all of those things... I hope that
you don't take it all to heart!!
Take care,
Rane and kids.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Jess]

Love the rocks Margie, love the acorns, but most of all, love the photos you take. Would make a great coffee table book all your photos.... Truly. x

[Jess]

P.S. Commented on Apartment Therapy Blog as I can't stand rude people. Just because they wouldn't make them, they can't be appreciative?!

[Patricia]

Whoa, my regard for Apartment Therapy and some of its commenters has just diminished a few notches! I left a comment about how way off the mark they were about your work and your commitment to the environment and its beasties.

Thank you for the beautiful tutorials--so beautiful and doable!!

[Rane]

I too left a coment all though
it posted weird and choppy...
hum.. anyway they are not very
nice over there. Maybe it is the
moon, it brings out vampires
werewolves and rude people! LOL!!!
Really don't take it to heart!
Maybe they just don't know where
to get such beautifully dyed wool!
LOL! To you and yours I hope your
Wednesday is Wonderful!
Take care,
Rane and baby
~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[sarah]

Love them! My girls felted about 30 acorns this weekend in the hopes of selling them at a craft fair. I made a similar such bowl from a pattern in "one skein wonders" and used it as a "nest" for needle-felted eggs. Hels and I have been talking about making bowls for the acorns. We'll see if we have time!

[Emma]

I love your tutorials!

It's true that factory-farmed sheep are tortured. Sadly, this is a fact and you can find endless documentation online. Very, very sad and sickening.

But that's not the only source of wool and I appreciate the beautiful things you make this this natural fiber.

Plus, kindness is vitally important and some people do not understand this.

Anyway, I love your tutorials. Thanks for all you share!

[Valerina]

Those acorns are adorable! Although I dont comment much, I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog and all of your tutorials, each post is lovlier and prettier than the one before it!
Went to apartment therapy and was surprised to see how rude people are over there. If you click on the commenters name, you'll see that those same girls have left many rude comments on other posts too. Reminds me of my days on wedding chat boards where some people just loved to attack ideas and posts they didnt agree with instead of just moving on. I always wondered where they got the energy to spread such negativity! This is the first time Ive seen that kind of thing on a crafty/creative/artistic type website and its really a turn off.
PS. I actually made felted stones from your post but havent taken pictures yet, I need to do that!

[Tracey]

Those acorns are freakin' adorable! i LOVE your creativity and reading your blog. You are inspiring!

[Elizabeth]

I love all your items. Your combination of craft and nature is right up my alley. :> I'm sorry you have to deal with rude commenters. I agree with Valerina - I haven't seem this hardly at all on a creative site. I hope the rest of the day is great!

[Elisa]

I love the things you made, so cute.
Imagine a sheep what nobody would shave, that would be a real torture.
Some people are just bored or jealous.
I like your blog! Have a nice week, Elisa

[Rachel]

I didn't think you could top yourself but TWO projects in one post??? Dang!

I wouldn't let the AT comments get to you. They're a very catty bunch.

[hannah]

hi there, I just wanted to say I came across your blog recently and I love it! I can't wait to try out some of your tutorials - you are so inspiring! Thank You!

[NanaBeast]

The acorns are so CHEERFUL, as are your felted rocks. Just looking at your beautiful tutorials is uplifting, let alone following them to create my own!

Your photos ALWAYS give me joy!

[Lauren]

Hello, I've lurked here for a while. These acorns are beautiful! I love how you reinterpret natural items through craft. The pumpkins are great too, I'm inspired to try felting. There will be some form of crocheted acorns at my family's Thanksgiving table! Thank you so much for the inspiration and tutorial.

[mayaluna]

Two wonderful tutorials...I think I have that exact orange Lamb's Pride somewhere in my stash! I love your little owl buttons, very sweet.

I just spent some time over at AT...I sat in front of the screen dumbfounded for awhile and then struggled to find the words to respond to the crazy comments. In the end I didn't want to put more energy into such a negative space and returned to your loving and nurturing home. The art and craft blogging community is such a different universe. I believe that the nature of creating and sharing beauty must breed kindness and generosity, because that is just about all that I'm used to seeing. Please keep your beauty coming, it's the balm that will heal the darkness.

[Elsita :)]

Margie, I went to apartment therapy, tried to register in order to leave a comment and I couldn't do it. It was frustrating since I tried different times but it made me extremely happy to read Rane's comment over there.
Rane, you were brilliant and I want to thank you for your words.
Margie, these things happen everywhere, all the time and in different circumstances. In this case it has nothing to do with you but with the narrow minds of those who cannot see beyond the surface.
Unfortunately there are people out there that are not happy with themselves and they end up treating other people in an insensitive way, which is the same thing that they do to themselves. I saw lots of ignorance in those comments too.
You are someone special who turns something ordinary into extraordinary but the people who write comments like those do just the opposite.
You should not pay any attention to those comments. They don't even know who you are, I think that they would be extremely embarrassed if they had the opportunity to meet you in person.

Those comments were superficial, empty, nonsense and even stupid. Please, keep being the unique human being that you are.
Lots of love!
Elsita :)

[A.Diamantis]

I've been following your blog for some time and I'm incredibly inspired by it. It's sad that people would feel compelled to say such negative things about the creativity of another. I follow the school of "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say nuthin' at all". Wonderful work, keep creating!

[dawn]

My daughter and I are both vegetarian because of the widespread cruelty towards animals raised for food. One of the (many) reasons I love your blog so much is your sensitivity towards the environment. Please please don't take the AT readers to heart.

[Wendy]

I love those acorns!

[Ms. Tee]

I found my way here thru One Pretty Thing - I love your acorns. They're beautiful and so is your photography. :)

[megan noel]

i love your acorn pattern! thank you for sharing! i made 9 of them this evening... they're kind of like potato chips! i can't make just 1!

these are my acorns:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnoel/2973813472/in/photostream/

[Heather]

I LOVE them both! I really love the pumpkins, though, because they're useful!

Found you via indiefixx.

[chelsea]

I loved these little acorns so much! I just had to make some myself (though, I improvised a knitted version as my crochet skills are not so hot). I've posted pictures of my little ones on my thimbleina blog with credit and a link to your originals. Thank you so much for the inspiration! I really do love getting lost in your posts every day.

[Ginger]

Folks have to remember that a lot of the wool comes from sheep that are treated more like pets/family. (I live in a farm area where lots of folks keep sheep, and alpaca, as a cottage industry) The sheep NEED to be sheared every so often for their own comfort. As mentioned above - the huge industry farming is bad, but small farms aren't.

I know some icelandic sheep on a first name basis and they think people exist to pet them , love them, and feed them pellets and veggie treats. In return, they really don't mind sharing some wool.

So felt on!!!
Ginger

[heather]

"Feh, those apartment therapy decorating geeks are such losers."

Sorry, lol... I had to *try* and sound as beetchy as those guys. Apartment Therapy comments are essentially a place for people to criticize as incisively as possible, and have as much fun doing it. I have seen that site before, and been shocked. I think it's just the environment they promote there.

Many people write with psuedonyms because they probably wouldn't get away with talking like that in "real life". So they go on AT and pretend they're some snobby decorator from Manhattan who lives in a perfectly appointed apartment, and can look down their very long noses at others.

Take no offense! That's just the game they play there.

[Maddy]

Quite lovely. Thank you. I'm going to have a go at making the acorns to use as a fastener for a project I've just finished [rather than traditional buttons]
Best wishes

[(sc)]

C'est adorable ces glands crochetés et sur les les feuilles de gingko, c'est joyeux, poétique... parfait !

[jacquie]

Thank you for the great tutorial!!! tracy left a link to your blog (she won the lamb) and I'm glad I came!! These are so cute!! I know I'm gonna get addicted to these!

[sarah]

Maybe some apartment people need to get out for some fresh air once in a while. It'd do their negative souls some good. Your work is beautiful and mindful.