Market Bag

This project was several years in the making. I finished the hexagons just before a move, and they sat taunting me ever since.

I decided to just tackle it and get it done. Easier said than done! Decisions on how to join them were excruciating! After finally making a decision and starting the process, I got two-thirds of the way through and found a major error.

Sigh.

Take it out, fix it, less than 24 hours and it was done! Phew!

Pattern here. Ugly colors since I was using up what I had on hand. =)

Baby Blanket Gift

Here's a baby blanket that I gave to a friend in...April. Yep, I'm slow.

It's worked from corner to corner (the last one that I did was an EPIC fail--this pattern worked much better!).

It was done holding two strands together. The green-ish/turquoise color is a solid strand of Red Heart and a strand of Bernat Baby with a silver strand running through it and a slight curl to the yarn. The white stripes were solid white Red Heart and a slightly flecked I Love This Yarn sport weight white.

Batch of Baby Hats

I've been on a baby-hat-making-frenzy. Here's the first batch.

It sure is helping to clear out random skeins of yarn!

Christmas Gift Hats

Like many others, I had a huge running list of projects to complete for Christmas gifts this year. It was so much fun crossing each completed item off the list.

There was only one (rather intense and tedious) project that had to be put off to wait for gifting it another time so that everything else could be accomplished. A story for another post.

My dear sister-in-law encourages my love of crafting.*

She often sends me adorable patterns or items she'd love to someday make for her kids. However, with 3 little ones, she doesn't have an abundance of free time. So sometimes I just steal her ideas and make them for her instead. It all works out, and she's never (yet!) been upset at me for it. And I can't pass up snagging someone else's creativity since I've always been the first to admit that I can't come up with anything new on my own.

Since they've moved to a colder area than where they were, bundling the kids up is a priority. Having fun doing it makes it even better; therefore, fun hats were a must for this year.

Even though two of them leave a little room to grow, they look pretty pleased with how they turned out!

The two boys have earflaps to keep their ears toasty, and sweet niece has braids to hopefully shut out a little wind (though it's already looking a little snug! =( Bummer!)

Each hat became its own creation with many on-the-fly modifications, so I have no pattern suggestions for you. I hope they enjoy them!

*...side note: do you have that person(s) in your life that really spurs you on in your creativity and crafts? We all know those that don't particularly love or appreciate our handmade gifts, and that's ok. But often, there is someone that truly understands and appreciates the time, effort, and quality/craftsmanship that you pour into projects. Well, I have a couple of those dear people in my life, and my sister-in-law is one of them.

World's Biggest Stocking

Caron United is setting out to make the World's Biggest Stocking.

Source

Anyone participating?

You knit or crochet a 36x36" blanket (following their pattern of a solid block or a 9-square pattern) using Caron United yarn. Mail it in, and they'll sew together the stocking. Once completed, they'll disassemble the parts and give the blankets to military families.

Care to join?

Second-Hand Store Find

I just picked this up the other day with the purpose of taking it apart and using the yarn.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was done holding 2 strands together, so I'll have even more yarn than I originally thought!

Now to decide what to make...

Replacement Blankie

A friend recently contacted me with a desperate plea to crochet her son a replacement blanket. His had been so well-loved that it was literally tied in a knot just to hold it together so that he could continue to snuggle and smell his blanket.

We figured that if he could choose the colors, the transition from old to new would go more smoothly for him. I also hoped to find a pattern that would be similar to the first.

He chose his colors, and I chose some potential patterns. As it turned out, it was all very different from his original, but we still had high hopes that he would be pleased. We also knew that, as it had happened with an older sibling, the acceptance of a replacement would be a long process.

The final product with his choices of red, orange, and blue I Love This Yarn:

Yep, it's just as bright as it looks! What fun when kiddos choose something I never would have thought to put together!

The verdict:
"[His] blanket is awesome!!  Apparently he didn't need any time to get used to it either, he has been carrying it around and was excited to take it to bed with him.  He also wants me to watch it when he isn't able to because he doesn't want anything to happen to it or for [little brother] to drool on it.   "

Haha!!! Music to a crafter's ears.

Lovable Owl

Wow--I'm finding lots of projects that were overlooked when I was too busy to post (though obviously not too busy to crochet...hmmm, how does that work? ...one apparently always takes a priority.).

This was a February Mystery Crochet Along at Crochet Spot. It was fascinating to pick out colors and start to crochet parts not knowing how they'd be put together. =) But he turned out to be so fun!

Oh, how I loathe the stitching of everything together at the end!!! Still, I'm glad he's all finished up.

Spring into Summer CAL-Water Bottle Holder

This was a fun project, and super useful, too!

This fits standard water bottles, and even worked for my larger one. It's handy to have a way to throw your water bottle over your shoulder when you don't want to hang onto it all summer long.

Spring into Summer CAL-Dishcloth

This pattern is called Absolutely Fast Dishcloth. It was certainly a quick project, but it wasn't 'absolutely fast' for me. Unfortunately, I'm kind of particular about my dishcloths. Am I the only one?

In fact, the term 'dishcloth' vs. 'washcloth' is an important distinction for me. Wow. What a freak, I know.

Regardless, there are certain 'cloths' that I will use for washing dishes and others that I'll use for wiping down counters or tables. What I use for washing dishes needs to be of medium size with fairly tight stitching.

This pattern looked to fit the medium requirement, but the stitches were obviously pretty loose. Treble crochet was used to make it 'Absolutely Fast.' It makes sense!

However, to fit my tight-stitch preference for washing dishes, I opted for a much smaller hook. It slightly changed the speed at which it came together and the look of the final product, but once I start using it at the sink, it will never look the same again anyway! =D

Spring into Summer CAL-Coasters

For some reason, I have 2 sets of Christmas/winter coasters, one set of fall coasters, and some Kansas City Chiefs coasters that were given to us as a housewarming gift from an uncle that is a huge KC fan. Nothing graces the coffee table as a 'summer' coaster. This project was a perfect fix.

They turned out so adorably that I was almost afraid to use them at first!

Spring into Summer CAL-Bow

Embellishments are always nice to have around so that you can quickly add them to a finished project at the last minute.

How cute is this?

A little orange bow with a bright yellow center might be just the right addition to some of those chemo hats!

Spring into Summer CAL-Bookmark

Rachel at Crochet Spot is coordinating a Spring into Summer Crochet Along with several fun, quick, and simple summer projects. These have been perfect items for me to throw together while sitting outside enjoying the warm weather.

First up is a cute little bookmark out of some cotton yarn.

Lots of trouble with lighting that day...but the 'stem' is a lime green and white variegated that added a little fun to the flower colors.

What a perfect item for another perfect summer activity--reading!

Remaining Chemo Hats

 I've been away from the computer a lot lately, so I've missed posting the rest of my hats and lots of other summer projects!

This first hat has a beautiful butterfly/bow look on the front. Pattern found here.

Two coordinating hats with a removable flower that matches either one. Patterns here and here.

This hat ended up being a little too tight around the brim, so I frogged it and made two new ones in its place. Hopefully I took pictures... ;-)

This is a SUPER soft yarn with very light pastel flecks in it. Pattern found here.

Ugh...this hat. I absolutely love this yarn. I've used it for other projects, and it's wonderful! So imagine my disappointment when pattern after pattern just wouldn't work! I eventually created something mostly based off of this pattern.

These hats were intended to be versatile for use with or without flower embellishments as well as allowing a variety of choices each day. It's gotten warm enough now that these are mostly useless for the time being, but that's OK! Hopefully as she continues to heal, these will just end up in the winter clothing bin!

More Chemo Hats

Well, her hair is officially coming out. We just took a batch of 10 hats to her, so she's excited about having a bunch of choices for each outfit each day!

Flapper Hat in pink with a gray trim and bow

This one is a little hard to see when it's not on a model, but the little brim makes it super cute. The ridges give it a little added fun.

Pattern was found here.

A simple granny-style pattern hat which ended up being a mash-up of various patterns I had.

I wasn't sure if she'd end up liking the patterns with a lot of open holes once her hair was gone, but I also knew that sometimes she'd probably want a lighter more airy hat once it gets hot out. This flower is not sewn on so she can put it on other hats or use the hat without the accessory.

And a fuzzy, fleecy pink hat. This was a crazy creation in my brain using a lot of V-stitches because I wasn't quite sure how much yarn I had. I was pretty happy with how it turned out, though! It's a little more of a snug style, so if her head/skin becomes sensitive and tender, it may not be a favorite, but for now, that hasn't become an issue for her. Due to the V-stitch, it is also another holey pattern, but the fluffy bulky yarn makes it less obvious.

And the last for today is a fun springy flowery hat. Finally got the camera and computer to play nice, and this one's color is still a little hard to see (or my screen just isn't clear enough). Anyway, it's a soft canary yellow and lavender. It's a bit more roomy, again to allow for potential sensitive skin issues.

This pattern was found here.

Chemo Hats

A friend of ours (5 years old) was just diagnosed with a serious cancer, so I've been making a bunch of chemo hats for her. Hopefully they'll keep her little head warm in this very cool spring, and keep the sun off her tender skin once summer hits.

After making the first two, her big sister confiscated the other one (it was 'her' color, and little sister was more than happy to share! ;-) ), so technically, this is the first of her hats.

(Still camera and photo issues so color isn't very true...)

This was made with Lion Brand Homestyle Yarn in Ambrosia (nice and soft for a sensitive head), with a purple flower embellishment.

I have a huge variety of patterns and soft yarns, so I'll be posting several as I go (5 more are already waiting photography!).

Soap Scrap Saver

Another quick project from the end of last week was the Soap Scrap Saver.

Insert your leftover bits of the bar of soap here:

pull the drawstring,

and scrub away!

Hmmm...this is looking a bit grenade-like.

Based off of this pattern.

Baby Cocoon

This is the other part of the crown gift.

Somehow, the pictures wouldn't capture the correct color AND the fuzzy texture, so you can use your imagination to combine the two. =)

The pattern came from this book.

Quick Project

Well, there have been many projects flying off my hooks since I last posted. It will take me a while to catch up! Recently, we had a nephew and a niece born into our family. Yay!!! Great excuse for baby projects galore! There have been Christmas gifts, doilies, my 2013 scarf, and special orders mixed in.

Here's a quick taste (and a bad photo) in the meantime. Hubby asked for this hat this afternoon, so naturally, I obliged.

50 points if you get the significance!

How Do You dc2tog?

How do you double crochet 2 together?

Method 1:
YO, insert hook in st indicated, YO and pull up a loop (3 lps on hook); YO, pull through 2 loops; YO, insert hook in next st, YO and pull up a loop (4 lps on hook); YO, pull through 2 loops, YO, pull through rem 3 loops.

OR

Method 2:
YO, insert hook in st, YO and pull up a loop (3 lps on hook); insert hook in next st, YO, pull through, (4 lps on hook); YO, pull through 2 loops on hook, YO again and pull through last loops on hook.

One of these methods just came up on a pattern I found and the other is what I've always done. It makes me wonder if I've been doing it wrong all these years or if there's simply another variation.

What do you do?