Snowman Hat

Last year I made a couple of adorable hats for a friend of mine at work.  Her son was serving over seas and was able to come home just after Thanksgiving for a visit.  He had a daughter around 6 and son about 6 month-1 year old.  I created a little snow man hat for him using Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn Sparkle in Royalty blue.  For nearly a year I forgot about that hat and put it out of my mind.  Recently I found photos of the hats and created another similar.  This is the hat I put up today in my Etsy Shop 

What I'd really like to do is make several of them and the girls hat as well, that was a red hat, sparkle, with pink and white snow flakes.  I hope to get back into the swing of it in the coming weeks and make someone some nice gifts. :)

Olivia Blanket

Oh my, they've updated blogger and I have no idea what I'm doing lol so work with me for a moment. ;)

I've been working more toward putting more time into my crochet. I have several projects going at once and I tend to overwhelm myself then put things off. In November I had told a friend of mine that I'd love to try my hand at crocheting a baby blanket for her first grandbaby and all I needed to know was the sex. I have never crocheted a blanket before. A few months later she found out they were expecting a granddaughter. I had lots going on at the time and forgot about the blanket. In May they were getting closer to the baby's due date. I had yet to start this blanket. I had lunch with my darling friend and she told me that the new mommy's colors were a light pink and brown. I believe my words were "shut-up!" I just so happened to have two small bundles of Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn in Cherry Cola. It's a gorgeous yarn and I'd started playing with circles ages ago but never did anything with them. Here was my chance!

I piddled around with the circles and made them squares. It's easier to stitch them together into a blanket that way. I had many made up so I used them up and looked at the remainder of my yarn. Hm. After spacing things out and moving them around I decided to put squares in there also. I made several "basket weave" squares and put those in. I was worried it would be too light around the edges with the baby yarns and would cause the edges to curl. It would also fray/frizz easily with more use on the outer edges. I went to Walmart (as where I am now it's a 45 minute drive to a yarn store) to find more Cherry Cola yarn or something like it. I searched online once before for the Cherry Cola yarn but they want, in some cases, as much as $6 a skein for it and it costs nearly that much to ship it. Um. What?

Instead, I found the Red Heart Super Saver Pink Camo. It's very similar in color, though it is thicker. This should minimize any frizzies! I finished the blanket and added shell edging. It measures roughly 29" x 42". The new grandbaby was born in early June and her name is Olivia. I present to you, the Olivia Blanket. I'll be mailing that this coming week.

Annabella

In our family, just after Christmas, a beautiful baby was born.  She was born many months premature and is now just barely 3 lbs.  I started a hat for her but was worried that the yarn was too scratchy.  So I waited until I could get better/softer yarn.  Here are the two hats I've made but have yet to send because I want to either make her some booties or a little blanket to go with it.

Baby Owl with Flower Booties

I modified the old owl pattern a bit and used a softer girly color scheme. Thus the new Sleepy Owl pattern has been born. Colors are Strawberry and Grape with Caron Simply Soft yarn. Sized so far only for a newborn and it was a requested item. I'll be honest in saying I didn't like the old booties with the freaky little bug eyed owl pattern going on. It's a little creepy and off putting. I opted for a simple little flower on each bootie instead. This time I used a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn Company's website.

Baby Toasty Snowman!

I liked the large one so much that I thought about doing one for babies.  Not only for warmth but for Christmas photos!  With Christmas coming in just over a month, many families with new babies will be rushing out to do family photos to send with their cards.  Baby Toasty Snowman was born.

This one is sized for an infant.  More info on Etsy!

Bernat Wedgewood yarn used for the top and the band.  Red Heart yarn in white, pumpkin and black used for the hat.