The last of the hats

Here are the last of my Christmas hats. If I'm smart (and a good aunt) I will start making them now for next Christmas. I have 13 nieces and nephews on the Green side. Yikes.

A puppy for Sam (I like this one a lot):

A hippo for Josh:

But the question is, does it really look like a hippo? Jared thinks it looks like a blue shrek ... or a walrus. I say, close enough.

Done!

I finally finished the animal hats for this Christmas. Some of them were pretty tricky, but they came together in the end.

A fish hat for Natalie:

I couldn't decide on what kind of mouth to give the fish - the round one (top) looks most fish-like to me, but also a bit grumpy (or shocked?). I decided to go with a more baby-friendly smile.


A bear for Brent - look familiar? I hope he enjoys wearing it as much as I do. I get so many compliments on the street when I wear mine. :)

A pink piggie for Claire:

I love the curly tail.

And the grand finale, a blue and black tiger for Nile:

I have two more hats to post after Christmas!

Something for me

I love this scarf. It is so comfy and warm for the winter and I splurged on the yarn - its made out of a really nice, soft mohair. I bought it at a great yarn store very conveniently located on my block, called Knitty City. I love Knitty City. It is a dangerous store for me to enter since the yarn is so nice and most of my crochet projects are destined to be spit-up on.

for a girl...

This is my first attempt at a baby sweater. I actually tried to follow a pattern, but got a little off track and started making it up as I went along. It looks pretty cute, although I have no idea if it will actually fit a real baby. I learned a lot about patterns though, and why I am not very good at them (I have very little patience for counting stitches). Hopefully my next sweater will be better! I kind of love the hat.

monkeying around

I finished a niece's hat last night. Actually, I finished a nephew's hat too, but since only one person reads my blog and it is, ahem, my sister (hey sis!), I will wait to post it until after Christmas. Anyway, I am pairing this little hat up with a set of Curious George board books.

for a baby shower

I finished my friend's baby blanket today - now I can get back to the animal hat project. This is the first blanket I've ever added a monogram to, and I really like how it looks. Hopefully my friend will like it too!

craft of the day

It's handy, it's cute, it's a homemade iPod case! Woot.

Little Hopper

The animal hats continue ...

This hat is for a friend's upcoming baby shower. I am making a blanket in the same colors.

Hopefully this little frog will keep the wee one's head warm and cozy this winter. :)

happy thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for my family, especially healthy babies, modern medicine, and my sister-in-law's delicious chocolate pie.

Speaking of babies ... remember how I just had one?  Without further ado, I'd like to introduce Cora Margaret:

Cora is such a peaceful, sweet baby.  We just love her!  I was so worried about Ruby (a.k.a. "the brute") using her muscles on the baby, but so far it is just hugs and kisses all around.   Oscar, of course, is smitten as well  (it probably helps that she looks just like him).

We had a few hiccups in the hospital, so it has taken me longer to get back to the computer.  Between needing to recover and the holidays coming up, posting is going to be really light around here for the foreseeable future.  But can you blame me?  We are all super busy snuggling Cora.

For Thanksgiving, I crocheted Cora a silly turkey drumstick hat:

Funny, right?  After seeing it on Pinterest, I just couldn't resist!   I made up the the pattern as I went along and didn't write it down, so I don't have instructions to share with you.   You might be able to find a crochet turkey leg pattern online, and just add it to a simple hat.  After the holiday, I think I might take the drumsticks off and add some teddy bear ears for a more useful everyday hat.

At first it seemed like Cora really liked it:

But then she started making sour faces at me:

One-week-olds are so fickle.  :)

In completely unrelated news ...

I have a Black Friday Deal to share with all you Silhouette fans.  Silhouette is having a great Black Friday sale where everything in the online store (except the CAMEO, subscriptions, download cards, and gift cards) is 30% off.  You can get an extra 10% off using the online code, JILL, for a total of 40% off!

Also, the CAMEO will not be found in the regular online store, but you can find it on the "secret" Black Friday Page.  The Cameo is not 30% off, and my extra code will not apply, but it will be nicely discounted. The Black Friday Cameos are expected to sell out fast.

All shapes will be 50% off.

The Black Friday sale starts at 12:01 a.m. (MST) on Friday, November 25th.  Codes will be valid through the 28th.

Happy shopping!

Cuddley Caps

I am crocheting animal hats for each of my nieces and nephews this year for Christmas. I first saw them in a Lion Brand Yarn newsletter. I also found a bunch of designs at yellbaby.com.

Knowing I could make these cute hats myself, I asked each of my nieces and nephews what their favorite animal is. The oddest requests are a hippopotamus and a blue and black tiger (his school's mascot). I almost wish I hadn't asked, because my favorite designs were of the lamb, the lion, and the dinosaur, none of which were picked. I guess I'll just have to make them for another occasion.

Here is my test-hat:



Update: I had a friend over for Thanksgiving, and it turns out these hats are a hit with adults as well as children. She was gracious enough to model it for your viewing pleasure.

Crocheted food - yum

The only thing better than felt food is crocheted food. I found an excellent pattern for crocheted cupcakes at BitterSweet (what an amazing blog - she is a crochet genius). From there, I just made the patterns up myself.

Chocolate cupcake with pink icing and sprinkles

apple

carrot

The cheeseburger is my favorite.

Two Crocheted Baby Blankets

I made these two blankets for my friend at work having twins. The first is a very pale pink blanket, made with a terrycloth yarn. Very simple - I just used a single crochet with three rows of double crochet for the edge. I really loved how soft and cuddly this little blanket was. I accidentally threw away the yarn packaging, but I think it was just Red Heart Baby Terry (also, it is machine wash and dryable - always a plus).

The second blanket was lavender with a white satin ribbon trim. I used the basket weave stitch, which is quickly becoming my favorite stitch for blankets. It makes them nice and thick, and the texture is quite pretty.

Truck Blanket

Ta-da! My first custom order.



Five points to anyone who can tell me what kind of truck this is.

checkerboard blanket

This is my first attempt at a patchwork blanket. The green squares are made with Red Heart "Hunny" yarn. It is a combination of chenille, baby fur and eyelash yarn which is incredibly soft. It is a small blanket, but I really like the way it turned out.

waffle-edge blanket

I made this baby blanket for a very good friend who is due in May. Yesterday was the shower I co-threw for her, and everything turned out really great (phew). Her friends and family came from all over - Connecticut, Utah, Boston, Chicago, D.C. and of course New York - so you can tell this girl is pretty special. Now that it is over, I finally have a chance to blog about the stuff I've been working on.

Although this blanket is really simple, I love the edging. I was planning to decorate one of the corners, but I thought it looked just right as is. Plus, it is in my very favorite shade of blue.



Only 2 showers to go ... it has been a busy spring.

I am also excited to announce that I got my very first order recently. It is from my sister, but you have to start somewhere, right?

crocheted lion mane hat

What do you think of my new digs?   I decided the old blog could use a spruce and decided to get professional help this time.  Kate from Smitten Blog Designs took excellent care of me and I am thrilled with the new look.  Thanks, Kate!

Last night as it was all being installed, I was poking around with things, reorganizing some labels, and editing my archives.  When I first started blogging (all the way back in 2006), I had no idea how to operate a sewing machine.   Instead, I was an avid crocheter.  In fact, my very first post ever was a crocheted bear hat.

I made a lot of animal hats that winter, but only kept one, which I realized is the perfect size for Oscar now.

This lion hat is kind of funny looking, but I love it.  As with all of my animal hats, I just made it up as I went along, so unfortunately there is no pattern to share.  But I will try to explain how I made the curly mane.

Single crochet tends to curl into itself, so I did fingers of single crochet off of a chain stitch.   Basically, you chain stitch however long you want the piece to be, then single crochet a long finger, turn and single crochet back the other direction toward your chain stitches.  Move to the next chain and do it again (repeat, repeat).  The single crochet strands will curl into twisty spirals.  I hope that makes sense to you if you are a crocheter.  There is a reason I've never tried to write down my crochet patterns!  :)

Check out my past posts to see my bear, frog, puppy, hippo, fish, pig, blue tiger (ha!), and monkey hats (but beware of the icky photography).