Baby Shower

On Saturday I went to a friend's baby shower. She is having a boy so I made her a little baby blanket with farm animals on one side and a minty green on the other side as well as a crochet brim hat that [sort of] matches. I used my 3-month old as the hat model. I have to say she did a great job.

Fall is Here

Fall is here. Winter is approaching. I love this time of year. I love the changing colors all around me. I love the smell of burning wood in fireplaces and stoves. I love soup and hot chocolate. I love fall. Thanks to the change in season and a predictable schedule now that my oldest is in school I have been feeling more and more like crafting. I have really missed it. Lately I have been cranking out the hats. Earflaps for all! There is nothing cuter than a sweet little babe with a handmade earflap hat. I hope to surprise some wonderful, dear, and patient friends with these beauties.

On another crafting note, I have started work on Christmas presents. I know that sounds like a crazy thing to do but I am totally stressing out because the baby is due on Dec. 30th (but I hope she comes before Christmas). It doesn't help that my youngest (for now) and my husband both have birthdays in January. Totally stressing. I am making progress so keep your eyes peeled, more posts are soon to come.

Commissioned Work

I completed my first commissioned piece of work. It was really fun to be able to create something totally new and unique. I made a giraffe hat for a friend's son who really likes giraffes. This hat was for his third birthday and was prompted by him asking if he would have horns, like giraffes, when he grows up. Tell me that's not adorable. You can't because it is too adorable. So, here is my hat complete with horns and ears. I crocheted the whole thing from 100% cotton yarn.

Abra's Garden Apron

I did a fun post on another one of my blogs (Did you know I have 4 blogs? I have one dedicated to my family - you have to actually know us to read it {if you do know us but haven't been invited to read our blog, feel free to email me}, one dedicated to food, wonderful delicious food; this one dedicated to crafting; and my newest which is all about Thrift and Industry {i.e. saving money and being more self-reliant}. You should check them out!). Anyhow, back to my fun post. It was that the first 5 people who commented would get something homemade by me especially for them. So, for my friend Abra, who loves to garden, I made a Garden Apron. I have always wanted a garden apron so I thought that perhaps Abra would want one too. She loved it! (or so she said) I made 3 pockets for holding things like a trowel and pruners and a little pocket for a key or small iPod. I embellished it with crocheted flowers and old buttons. I can't wait to see it in use!

Summer Hats

As I was looking at some of the blogs I follow I noticed a very cute military-style hat on Design Mom (this post). I decided to try to make it for my boys. My first attempt turned out too small for either boy but my second attempt worked out quite well and fits my 5-year old. He loves it so much that he wears it every day.


For my youngest I crocheted him a brim hat.

Giraffe Scarf

I am done with Christmas presents! We didn't get the kids much but I made almost everything myself so it was a long process. I was way ahead of things before Thanksgiving but then Thanksgiving happened and I was suddenly way behind... I don't know what happened there.

For my baby I made a giraffe scarf. This I am very proud of (bear with me, I may say that about all of the stuff I made - it was a good year) because I came up with it all by myself. The only giraffe scarf I was able to find a picture of was totally different than what I was thinking so I just went for it. I crocheted the whole body with cotton yarn. For the spots I cut out random shapes from felt and sewed them on with embroidery floss. I made both sides the same so it was easier to sew the shapes on. Isn't it adorable!?

Hats!

I have finally mastered the beast that is crochet hats. I am so excited to report that my hats transition cleanly from one color to the next and the tops are smooth and gradual. I was increasing too quickly and getting puckers in the tops. The hats looked fine on the head but when they were taken off the puckers were obvious. But no more! Here are some favorites:

Here is my attempt at taking pictures of a hat without a head. Not too shabby, I must say. I like the balloon idea to show the shape.

Here are earflap hats for girls and boys. I am particularly happy with the center of the flower.









I have also been able to make little crochet hats with brims. This one I made for my youngest son. I will have to admit I borrowed the color scheme from another website. Super cute. If only I could find a way to convince him to keep it on!

This one is just a simple beanie hat but with teddy bear ears.