I was in awe with the Red Heart's Reflective Yarn. I wasn't quite sure what to make! I wanted to make something that was practical and FUN! In my package of yarns to review, I was given Yellow and Black. Now, if you haven't noticed yet, our esteemed little mascot is "Bizzy Bee"! It took some guidance of some fellow crochet artists of what to make. I did attempt to make several different things, but I would run out of yarn or it just wasn't coming out right. So, I took the advice to make a bee backpack! With a twist, using two skeins of Reflective yarn wouldn't make a standard size backpack, so I shrunk it down to be great for little kids to put their favorite toys in to take to a sleep over.
Check out the Reflective Yarn and the other colors that are available here
Materials: Red Heart Reflective Yarn (2 skeins) J Hook for Bag I Hook for Face Yarn Needles (for weaving ends) Scissors |
Stitch Abbreviations: ch - chain sc - single crochet hdc - half double crochet slst - slip stitch blo - back loop only prst - Princess Stitch (slst, ch 2, 2 hdc in one sp) sk - skip *-* - section to repeat |
Round 1: 8 hdc in ring. Pull tail to close. Join to first hdc. Ch 1. (8 hdc)
Round 2: 2 hdc in each st around. Join to first hdc. Ch 1. (16 hdc)
Round 3: *1 hdc in next st. 2 hdc in next st. * Repeat *-* around. Join to first hdc. Ch 1. (24 hdc)
Round 4: *1 hdc in next 2 sts. 2 hdc in next st. * Repeat *-* around. Join to first hdc. Ch 1. (32 hdc)
Round 5: *1 hdc in next 3 sts. 2 hdc in next st. * Repeat *-* around. Join to first hdc. (40 hdc)
Round 6: *1 hdc in next 4 sts. 2 hdc in next st. * Repeat *-* around. Join to first hdc. Ch 1.
(48 hdc)
Change colors at your own discretion for stripes
Round 7: work in blo only - You will work *Princess Stitch, skip 2 sts* Repeating *-* around. Join to first ch 2 sp. Instructions: [Ch 2, 2 hdc] in the same st. Skip 2 sts. [Slst, Ch 2, 2 hdc] in same st.
Round 8 - 17 : You will work Princess Stitch into each ch 2 sp around. Instructions: [Ch 2, 2 hdc] in the same st. *Slst in next ch 2 sp, [Ch 2, 2 hdc] in same st.* Repeat *-* around. Join to first ch 2 sp.
Round 18: Ch 1. *Sc in ch 2 sp. Ch 2* Repeat *-* around. Join to first sc. Ch 1.
Round 19: *Hdc in sc st. 2 hdc in ch 2 sp.* Repeat *-* around. Join to first hdc. Fasten Off and Weave in ends.
Bizzy Bee's Face
With Reflective Yarn (Yellow) and I hook make a magic ring.Round 1: 7 sc in ring. Pull tail to close. Join to first sc. Ch 1. (7 sc)
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around. Join to first sc. Ch 1. (14 sc)
Round 3: *1 sc in next st. 2 sc in next st.* Repeat *-* around. Join to first sc. Ch 1. (21 sc)
Round 4: *1 sc in next 2 st. 2 sc in next st.* Repeat *-* around. Join to first sc. Ch 1. (28 sc)
Round 5: *1 sc in next 3 st. 2 sc in next st.* Repeat *-* around. Join to first sc. Ch 1. (35 sc)
Round 6: *1 sc in next 4 st. 2 sc in next st.* Repeat *-* around. Join to first sc. Ch 1. (42 sc)
Round 7: *1 sc in next 5 st. 2 sc in next st.* Repeat *-* around. Join to first sc. (49 sc)
Fasten off and weave in ends.
Crown (top part of head)
With Reflective Yarn (black) and I HookChain 3.
Row 1: 2 sc in 2nd chain from hook. 2 sc in last chain. Ch 1 Turn. (4 sc)
Row 2: 2 sc in 1st st. 1 sc in next 2 st. 2 sc in last st. Ch 1 Turn. (6 sc)
Row 3: 2 sc in 1st st. 1 sc in next 4 st. 2 sc in last st. (8 sc) Do not turn. Chain 4. Turn.
Row 4: Sc in 2nd chain from hook. 1 sc in each of next 2 chains.
Rotate project to start working down the side of triangle.
Work 1 sc in each row.
3 sc in corner of triangle.
1 sc in each row up the opposite side of triangle.
At the next corner, Chain 4.
1 sc in 2nd ch from hook. 1 sc in each of next 2 ch.
Continue on top of crown working 1 sc in each st across (the last 8 sc you made for the triangle)
Slst into 1st chain of chain 4. Fasten off. Leave long tail for sewing on crown, smile AND for sewing face onto the bag.
Attach the crown on top of the circle. embroider a smile on face and sew face onto bag.
Glue (I used washable tacky glue) large "googly" eyes onto face.
Antennas (bag ties)
With Reflective Yarn and I Hook Attach to your desired spot on the crown and chain 80 (you can make longer or shorter)Sc into 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across.
Slst across the top of the crown to next antenna location and repeat.
Fasten Off and weave in ends. Weave ties in and out of the "hole" spaces made in Round 18 of bag. Both will come out of the center of the back side of bag.
Make Pom Poms and attach to each end of ties.
Strap
If your project is ending up close to mine, You'll notice you're almost out of yarn! I had just enough yarn left to make one strap although I intended to make 2. If you have extra yarn you could make 2 straps!With Reflective Yarn and I Hook
Locate the center of back of bag. Locate the exposed loop from the "blo" row and attach your yarn.
Row 1: Ch 1. Sc in same sp. Sc in next 2 st. Ch 1. Turn.
Row 2-27: Work 1 hdc in each sp across. Ch 1. Turn.
Attach the strap to the Row 17 spaces. (Round 17 is the last row worked before the "holey" round)