Return to Hobby Lobby

So this week we took a trip to PA, and that meant a trip to Hobby Lobby!  I wanted to get a few skeins for some of the new patterns I bought last week.

I bought a few patterns from Boomer Beanies that I'm very excited to try.  One of them is the Double Pom Pom hat, and the suggested yarn for the pattern is Yarn Bee Diva Sequin yarn.  The pictures in the pattern was called Maui, but once I got there I decided to go with Bali (to the left).  I bought 2 skeins, since the pattern said that a skein made a 0-3 month old hat, and I'm not sure what size I want to make yet.  I would have bought more, but it's a little pricey - $7.99 per skein.  As much as I want to start on this pattern, I have too many others to do first.

I'm on my second Thing 1, Thing 2 hat from Bizee B Boutique.  I decided to do all 3 hats first and then decide if I want to do the pom pom or a bow on top of them.  Hopefully I can have them done this week.  I'll post a picture of the 3 of them together.

Hobby Lobby Trip

Turns out there's a Hobby Lobby about 15 miles from my mom's house.  Since we were visiting for Easter, I decided to make a trip to check it out.  I have a few patterns that recommend using "I Love This Yarn," and I was curious to check it out.  After I picked out all the colors I thought I needed for some projects, I found this really nice yarn called Surprise Stripe.  I plan to make at least a scarf with it, since the colors match my winter coat.  I can't wait to see how it works up.

Over the weekend, I finished the Sock Monkey blanket pattern that I bought from Sandy's Cape Cod Originals on Etsy.  I also started work on a sock monkey inspired baby cocoon and hat that I also purchased from Sandy.  I finished the cocoon, and all I have left is the hat.  As soon as I'm done I plan on taking pictures to post here.  

Quick post

I've been seriously lax on this blog.  I haven't stopped crocheting, though.  The picture to the left is a gift I made for one of my friends.  (She asked for it, although I'm not sure why.)

I've been working on my round baby blanket, but I've mostly only been doing it on my lunch hours, so it's been slow going.  I think I might try to finish it up at night, too.  I only have about eight rows including the trim, so I'm getting antsy to finish it up.

I've also been busy making hats.  I made a few for Christmas for my friends' children.  I'll try to find some pictures I can post soon.  I've been goofing off on Pinterest too, and I found some good patterns on there.  One of them is a nice pattern for newborn caps.  I've made about six of them so far.  Some I might give as gifts, but I think I might save the bulk of them for charity.  It's a good way to use up all the leftover yarn I've been accumulating from making sweaters, etc.

Knook

Just a quick update.  I hate that I haven't been updating as much as I want. I have to take some pictures of the newest project that I'm working on, a crocheted round baby blanket.  I started a blue one awhile back and got frustrated when I had to pull out about 16 rows.  I put it aside since my friend was expecting and worked on a blanket for her baby.  Quite a few projects later, I thought I'd pick up the round blanket again, but I wasn't sure if I was continuing it correctly.  Instead of ripping anything else out, I decided to start a new one using Red Heart Econo Baby in Carousel Print.  I'm about halfway done, and I can't wait to finish it.

I went to AC Moore tonight to look for a kit on teaching myself how to knit.  My mom taught me how to knit a long time ago, but at the time I preferred to crochet.  I had no luck finding the kit, but I did find this small kit to learn how to Knook.  Knooking is knitting with a crochet hook.  I was curious and had a 50% off coupon, so I bought the kit for $5.  The kit comes with 3 knooks, 3 cords, and a book with instructions and 4 patterns.  Luckily, the Leisure Arts website has how to videos to help a newbie along.  I'm currently working on the purl stitch.  Only time will tell if I'm doing it correctly.  Once I'm done with my sample stitches, I plan on making the Spa Cloth pattern in the book, since it's the smallest project in there.  I'll post my progress as I go along.

Babies everywhere!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted!  I've been keeping busy crocheting the whole time, but mostly at work on my breaks.  Once it started getting warm out, I had to start putting time in with yard work.  I was blessed with a beautiful garden when we bought this house, but it seems the previous owner planted so many things in the yard that it has a tendency to get overgrown rather quickly...and the weeds are plentiful!

I'm putting the finishing touches on that yellow blanket that I originally started last August.  I had to put it aside while I made some things for baby Alex, and I didn't get back to it right away.  I'm so glad it's just about finished.  I plan on giving it to a co-worker as a gift for her very first grandchild.  I also made a sweater out of Snuggly Wuggly Baby Yarn that may or may not be Daffodil Dots.  I have to look for the color name in my stash.

And just when I thought I could get back to the throw for my couch that I started what seems like an eternity ago, my boss announced that her daughter was expecting her second child...  And then she found out her daughter-in-law is also expecting her first child.  Since then, we've found out that one of them will be a boy.  In the meantime, I started a sweater using Snuggly Wuggly Baby Pastel Ombre.  The pattern is Bella Bambina's Sweater Coat, but instead of the G hook listed in the pattern, I'm using an H hook in hopes it will come out a little larger.

I have to have the blanket and other sweater finished very soon, since my co-worker's daughter-in-law is scheduled for a C-section at the beginning of August.  I'll try to post pictures of them as soon as I finish up.  

So excited!

I'm slowly finishing up this baby blanket.  Alexander James (who is as cute as a button!) was born last Wednesday, and I was hoping to have it done before my friend Sarah left the hospital, but I just couldn't do it.  (My left hand still gives me problems if I crochet or type for too long.)  I only have about five inches left to go, so hopefully I can finish it up this weekend.  I'll post a better picture when it's all done.  At least I'm done with the sweater and matching hat, and I have to pick out buttons to finish it off.

I was surfing through some crochet blogs tonight, but I'm unsure exactly how I found these patterns.  I wound up on Etsy and purchased these tonight.  I'm waiting to get the email with the patterns.  These are Animal Hat Patterns, and they are just so adorable!  I'm glad I decided to save the gift cards for Michael's and AC Moore for Christmas.  :D

Wrist Warmers

It's been a hectic few weeks.  We're waiting for a closing date for our house, which should be in the next week or so.  I've been sorting and packing like crazy.  There's still so much to do, especially since it's so close to the holidays.

I have been keeping up with my baby blanket project, though.  I'm a little less than halfway done.  I'll post a picture of that soon.  However, it's been so cold out lately, and my hands get so cold when I'm surfing the internet.  I made my mom some wrist warmers last year for Christmas, so I was thinking of making myself a pair, but...I found a pair of them when I was searching my stash box for some yarn to use!  I'm wearing them now.  I got the pattern for these Wooly Wrist Warmers  from Crochet Pattern Central.  They were super easy to make.  It's really just a double crocheted square that's slip stitched together.  So far, they're keeping my hands nice and warm.

New blanket

My friend Sarah is having another boy.  I decided to make the new baby's blanket the same pattern as Ben's, just in a different color.  I chose Red Heart's Soft Baby Steps in Blue Earth.  I really like this yarn.  It's so nice and soft.  I'm using the Lacey Baby Blanket pattern I found on my Lion Brand Babysoft yarn skein, and it looks totally different from the last two blankets I made of the same pattern.

I think I over-bought the yarn, because I wanted to make sure I had all the same dye lot.  I can always make the baby a matching sweater and hat if that's the case.  :-)

I'll post another picture as I get further along.

It's a girl!

My friend Melissa had her baby on September 15, 2010.  Of course, I had to dig out a girly color to make a dress for her as soon as I got the news.  I made Bella Bambina's Azalea Dress in Snuggly Wuggly pink yarn.  I love the buttons I used on it.  I need to find more...I think I bought them in Joanne's.

I made a matching hat as well.  I used Manner's Basic Baby Hat pattern.  It's super easy and quick to make, and it naturally folds up at the bottom.

Melissa's sister sent me a picture of the baby in my outfit that night.  She looked so cute!  (Of course, she looked cute before that. *g*)

I'm working on another dress in purple in a different pattern.  I'll post it when I'm finished.  I'm about halfway done, but I took today off.  Hopefully I can get it done this weekend.

Baby Shower

I'm still slowly working on my yellow blanket, but I realized that I forgot to post the pictures of what I made for my friend Melissa's shower.  I think I posted all of these at some point, but I'll post them all here tonight.  I love this slanted shell pattern for the blanket.  I really want to make another one soon.  I decided not to crochet a border around this one, but I may try a border with my next one.

Originally I made a ruffled sweater pattern to match the blanket, but Melissa didn't want to know the sex of her baby, and a ruffled sweater might be a little feminine for a boy.  I used the Snuggly Wuggly yarn for this sweater.  It might have been my first project with the yarn.  I liked the yarn so much that I've been using it for most of my baby sweaters.  I loved the little yellow buttons I found, and I wish I could remember where I got them.  Hopefully I can find them again.

I think this one is my favorite.  I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn, and I liked that it was a slightly bigger size than the other baby sweater patterns that I've gotten from Bella Bambina's blog.  I definitely would love to make more of these.

Melissa is due in ten days.  I'm hoping to try and make something else quickly once I find out the sex of the baby.  Like, I could probably make a cute sweater dress in a few days if it's a girl.  Not sure what I'll make if it's a boy.  Maybe a blue sweater or hat.  Although, I do have a pattern for a pumpkin hat I'd like to try, and it is almost fall.  (I'm so excited for fall!)

Victory!

I can tell I'm out of practice when I have to rip out my work six times before I'm able to figure out what's wrong with it.  Finally, on Wednesday's lunch, I was sitting in our break room just staring at the directions when I had my epiphany.  I wasn't counting the last single crochet on one row as the first single crochet when I started the next row.  (Sounds strange, but hopefully it's understandable.) Once I figured it out, I couldn't understand how I managed to miss it so many times.  I haven't measured it yet, but I guess I'm about a quarter of the way done. 

I did take pictures of my friend Melissa's shower gifts.  I just haven't had the time to post them yet.  They're on my laptop, which I don't have with me at the moment.  I'll do another post with them early next week.

Hundred Yen Pouch

I haven't really been crocheting much lately.  I've been catching up on my reading instead.  I have so many books piling up!  I'm finishing up physical therapy for my arm, but my hand is still a little tingly, so I'm still crocheting kind of slowly.

I know I posted about the Hundred Yen Pouch awhile back, but I put it in my car before I could take a picture of it.  I brought it in the house today to empty it, so I thought I'd take a few pictures tonight.  It doesn't look quite the same as Melissa's, but it might because of the yarn I'm using.  (It's just some yarn I had left over from a scarf I made myself last winter.)

I'm going to try crocheting a little bit this weekend.  I have to finish up the last row of my Slanted Stitch baby blanket that I worked on my friend Melissa's baby.  About half of the last row came out while I had it stored away, so I just have to stitch that back up.  I'll take some pictures of Melissa's baby things before I wrap them up next week.

Out of practice

I am trying to get back to crocheting, but since my left hand is still a little tingly, it's slow-going.  I started another Hooded Baby Blanket, like the one I posted awhile back.  I remember it being an easy pattern, but I am having a not-so-easy time of it this time.  I had to rip out about 6 rows and start all over again.  The end of the foundation row just wasn't sitting right, and it made the edge look lopsided the more I continued.  I'm using the Pound of Love skein in Pastel Yellow, and I'll post a picture when I get a little further into it.  (The picture below is the blanket I made a few months ago.)

I was intending on making the blanket for Bella Bambina's Blanket Blitz, but we'll see how long it takes me to make it.  Hopefully, I'll be able to make more than one blanket, but I'm finding my crocheting going slowly since I'm not yet 100%.

I also started to work on a hat for a friend's baby.  To make it a surprise, I won't be posting any pictures of that until I give it to my friend.  I'm very excited to make it, because I think she'll love it.  The pattern calls for two hooks: F & G.  Unfortunately, I think I started the hat with the F hook, which wasn't right.  (I know I did at least two rows with it.)  I'm going to have to frog that whole thing, too.  Thank goodness I was only about 7 rows in, and it's a baby hat.  :D

I'll post some pictures of the things I made for my friend's shower after I give them to her.  I just have to finish the last row of her blanket, and I'm done.  I would love to make another blanket using that pattern soon.  Maybe when I'm done with my modified Hooded Baby Blanket pattern.

Healing slowly...

I can still only type with my right hand, but I've been going to physical therapy, and I'm moving my left arm around slightly better than I did before.  I thought I post some things I've sent to Bella Bambina for her Bella's Babies charity.

These are the two boys sets I did.  The pants were pretty easy and worked up quickly.  I would have liked to make hats to go with everything, but my body thought differently.

Here are two sweaters.  I loved the flower buttons.  I can see myself acquiring a huge supply of buttons if I let myself.  LOL!

Kelly has an album link up for items that other people have sent in.  There's some really beautiful things, if anyone is interested in checking it out.

Getting back to work..

I have five or six items left to make for the Bella Bambina charity contest.  These little pants go with a "t-shirt" pattern that I also made.  I just finished the pants tonight.  It's getting close to the end of the contest, so I can't take any more time off.  Until last night, I hadn't crocheted a thing since I went away to Disney.

I wasn't sure if I would like the pants, but I think they came out pretty good. I think I might make another set in girlie colors.  I don't know how well the colors came out in this photo, but the yarn has flecks of green and blue in it.  It's really cute.  When I'm done sewing in all the threads to the t-shirt, I'll post a picture of that too.

Another sweater dress

I'm not feeling well, so I'm not really crocheting as much as I'd like to.  I started this last night.  Bella Bambina posted a pattern for it yesterday.  It's called an Azalea Dress.  I thought it was so cute.  I thought I'd try my first one with Snuggly Wuggly in Pixie Prints.  I have another yarn with pink and purple in it, so I'll save that to make another dress.

I started another Sweater Dress over the weekend, but I can't work on that for too long, which is why I started this new one.  The yarn I'm using for the other dress is kind of thick for the hook, I think, because it makes my wrist ache after a row or two.  I can take my time with that one.

This current pattern is working up fairly quickly.  It's my ninth item for the charity contest.  I'm so excited that I'm keeping up my goals.  If I get done a little early, maybe I can crochet some pants for a few of the sweaters I made.  :D

Beautiful Sweater Dress

I'm on my sixth sweater for the Bella Bambina contest.  One of the things I made was Kelly's pattern for a Sweater Dress.  I used Caron's Simply Soft in white for the bodice and Baby Brights Ombre for the skirt.  I received so many compliments on it.  I really love the way the colors look together, and the pattern is much easier than I thought.  (I always seem to assume patterns are harder than they are, for some reason.)  I'm definitely going to make this pattern again.

Snuggly Wuggly Yarn

Since I decided to give the contest over at Bella Bambina a try, I went to Michael's on Monday to get some yarn.  I really liked Snuggly Wuggly yarn after I tried it for my friend's baby sweater, so I picked up a few skeins.  Besides the normal colors, like pink and blue, I saw that they now have a Snuggly Wuggly yarn called Mini Dots.  For my first sweater, I used one of the Mini Dots skeins called Daffodil Dots, which has flecks of yellow and green.  I think I have enough to make at least one more sweater.  Hopefully I can make a hat or two to go with them.  I think I might make the sweaters first and add the buttons at the end, so it goes a little faster.  I'm very excited about this, because the sweaters are going to a good charity.  :D

Two sweater projects

My first project was a Sweater Coat pattern from Bella Bambina.  I used the Snuggly Wuggly yarn in Baby Pastel Ombre, and I really like this yarn.  It's nice and soft.  I used yellow stars for the buttons, since my friend Melissa doesn't want to know the sex of the baby.  It's the first time I've tried this pattern, and I really liked it.

After I finished this sweater is when I started the round baby blanket.  I was so close to finishing that, when I discovered I missed a cluster and had to rip out around 6 rows.  As I was ripping those rows out, I discovered that I had been making one of the "corners" a cluster off for 9 rows, which threw that whole side off.  I had to rip out those rows, too.  I decided to take a little break from the blanket and make another baby sweater.  I've gone back to it since I've finished, and I can't wait to post it when it's finally done.

My second project is also from Bella Bambina, called Kelly's Sweater.  For this sweater, I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn in Pastel Green.  I really love this yarn.  It's so soft, and it's kind of shiny.  This sweater is for bigger babies; I think 6 - 9 months.  I used white pearly buttons, because I wanted to keep it neutral, since this is also for Melissa's baby.

For both hats, I used Manner's Basic Baby Hat pattern.  The one that I made with the Simply Soft yarn came out slightly bigger, which I hope will fit a 6 - 9 month baby.  I love this hat pattern, because it's easy and works up so fast.  I've made quite a few hats using this pattern already.

One last thing, Bella Bambina is having a contest. Kelly is asking anyone who enters to make 15 going home outfits for her charity.  I think I might enter; I'm hoping I can make 15 things in time.  If anyone else is interested, please head on over and read the post at the top of her blog.

Ruffled sweater

Here's a sweater that I made a few weeks ago.  I got the pattern from Bella Bambina.  I haven't added the buttons yet, but I will over the weekend.  It was the first thing I made with Bernat Baby Softee yarn, which is the same yarn I used to make the slanted shell stitch blanket.  I'm not sure where the sweater is going yet.  I would like to give it to my friend Melissa, but she doesn't want to know the sex of the baby, and I'm thinking that the ruffles are decidedly feminine.

I took a trip to Michaels last night and bought a skein of Snuggly Wuggly yarn.   Turns out the yarn was on sale. If I would have known, I would have grabbed a few more.  I'm going to make the coat sweater pattern from Bella Bambina with it.  I've been wanting to try the pattern since Kelly posted it.  I bought Baby Pastel Ombre, and I thought that it would be a good unisex sweater for Melissa's baby.  It also kind of matches the yarn I used for the blanket.  I can't wait to start it, but I'm still working on the round baby blanket.  I'm very close to finishing it.  I think I have six rows before I get to the border.  I'll post a picture of it when I'm done.  It's different from anything I've done, and the pattern was very easy once I figured out how to work the cluster stitch.