Still alive... and crocheting!

My mom (who was wonderful enough to come help us move in) brought me some yarn. Pink, variegated purple, and this -a thin chenille. There was a big cone of it, but having never used it, I wasn't sure how far it would go.

So I started a scarf. I tried a few fun patterns, but didn't like how they looked and ended up doing a sc, ch 1, sc throughout.

There was more on the cone than I expected. The scarf just kept getting wider and wider. It would make a great wrap/shawl or (since it scrunches well) it could just be a wide and very warm scarf. You know, for all those cold winter days that we don't have in Arizona. Maybe I should have put more thought into this project before letting it get out of hand. Still, I like it. It's soft and has great drape to it.

The joy of ear flaps

Living in Arizona, I don't get to make many cold weather items. However, since we now wait at the bus stop most mornings, I am justified in making a few wintery items. We may have highs in the upper 60s and lower 70s, but it's lower 40s while we wait for the bus.

This is my first Drops Design pattern. It was fairly easy and turned out great. My son loves which is all that really matters, right? I let my son pick out the pattern and the color for his hat and scarf. I think he may have picked orange because the photo with the pattern was of an orange hat.

Pattern for the hat The scarf is all hdc.

And a Scarf to Match!

You may remember this post about a hat that I made for my little girl. I wanted to make her a scarf to go with it, but couldn't find a pattern that looked good with it. So I played around with the yarn until I came up with this:

The color looks a little weird in the second picture, but it shows off the texture better. The waves show up on both sides of the scarf so there's no right side, wrong side.

Pink Waves Scarf

Choose a hook size appropriate to the yarn you are using. I used an F hook with Yarn Bee Baby.

Chain a multiple of 8 plus 1 more chain.
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc, dc, tr, tr, dc, hdc, sc. Repeat from beginning (sc) until you reach the end. You should end with one sc.
Row 2: (In back loop only) ch 3, *tr, dc, hdc, sc, sc, hdc, dc, tr. Repeat from * until you reach the end of the row.
Row 3: (In back loop only) ch 1, * sc, hdc, dc, tr, tr, dc, hdc, sc. Repeat from * until you reach the end of the row.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until you reach desired length. End with row 2. Weave in ends. Feel free to embellish the ends with fringe if you’d like.

© Emily Miller 2008

Please don't publish, post, or sell this pattern. You may print off copies that contain the copyright information. You may share the pattern with others (for free, of course). You may sell items made from the pattern. Please contact me with any questions.

A very feminine hat

Hobby Lobby had yarn on sale. I let my daughter pick out a color and of course she chose pink. I'm not a pink fan myself, so it's funny to have a daughter so in love with the color. It turned into a great hat. I found the pattern on Ravelry. The Swirls Cap by Sophia Kessinger. It's a great pattern. Using a F hook and Yarn Bee Baby Sweet Delights, it came out the perfect size (3T). I kept trying to alter it to fit her head, but ended up undoing the changes and following the pattern as written.

My daughter likes it as well. It apparently goes well with butterfly wings and her Cinderella dress. Now I just need a good scarf pattern to go with the hat.

Broomstick Lace

Sorry that I haven't been posting. We had the stomach flu visit our house. Magically it hit a different person each week for the last four week. Now that everyone's mostly back to normal (normal for us anyway), it's time to catch up with everything.

This is my first (non-frogged) attempt at broomstick lace. It's done in Sugar N Cream and is on it's way to becoming a short sleeve shrug for my daughter.

There's a great tutorial by Stitch Diva.

While I do own a broom, I found it much easier to do it with my ruler. The video shows it with large knitting needles, but I don't knit and therefore don't own any knitting needles.

Just so you don't think I'm neglecting my son, I did make him something recently as well. He has had a blanket hung from the top bunk to keep his sister from bothering him at night. (They share a room.) The blanket was an eye sore and constantly fell down. So it's been replaced.

My mom bought this fabric for me two years ago and it's been waiting for the perfect project. It almost became a giant lizard at one point, but instead survived to become a bed curtain. It's hung with velcro so that it can be taken down easily. Eventually I'd like to add a few pockets for small toys, etc. Aside from the three needles that I broke trying to sew through two pieces of velcro plus four layers of fabric, it was a really easy project.

A Daisy Shrug

It's already hot enough here in Arizona that something like this may seem useless. Outside it certainly is. We've already had temperatures in the 90's and have gone swimming twice. However inside our church building it's freezing. Some rooms are worse than others and under the vents or fans is terrible. So I made this for my daughter. I wanted to make a short sleeved one with two flower squares, but I liked having the flower in the middle of the back instead of a seam so I added a third flower and made it long sleeved. It's made with Sugar 'n Cream in white. I plan on making a short sleeved one in variegated pink.

She currently hates it and refuses to wear it, but she's two and may change her mind next week.

The shrug is based on this pattern.

The daisy square comes from Crochet Me.

Dress Alterations

I showed up to drop my son off at preschool Thursday morning not knowing what I was getting myself into. Almost as soon as I entered the room, my son's teacher said she had heard that I can sew. This is because my husband works at the same school (he teaches Spanish and social studies). From experience, I know that people only bring up things like that when they need a favor.

After much searching, her daughter had finally found a dress for the upcoming school dance. So she tried to explain the dress to me and the type of alterations she was hoping for. The alterations I could understand, but I had no idea what she was talking about with the dress. Somehow it was assumed that I had volunteered for the job and it was too late to back out.

Did I mention that this was Thursday and the dance was Friday? With my husband in charge of the dance, as well as being the DJ for it, our household was already busy enough. So at 7:00 pm, I met my son's teacher at Joann's for my first peek at the dress and to buy the fabric needed for the alterations. I was home in time to put my kids to bed and start sewing at 8:00 pm.

At this point I've never seen the dress on the girl and my only chance will be at noon on Friday when she's coming for a fitting. So, I started with the most difficult part -bringing up the neckline. I had to match aqua fabric with a gathered black chiffon overlay. Sounds fun, doesn't it? The other part was too bad, just adding an extra three inches of the same black chiffon to the skirt. That part didn't take too long.

I am not a seamstress and have never sewn for anyone outside my own family. I can follow a pattern and make it look decent on the outside. The piece I added to the neckline ended up looking better than I had hoped on the outside, but was pretty ugly on the inside. I decided that if had a week's notice, I might care a little more about the inside of the dress. I had to do a little hand stitching to finish it up and declared it done at midnight. I had been in bed for all of 20 minutes when my little girl woke up. She has this amazing ability to wake up right as I'm trying to fall asleep.

I gave the dress to El Guapo to take to work so that my son's teacher didn't have to take her daughter out of school and drive up here on her lunch break for a fitting. She could try it on at school and still return it to me in time for any last-last minute alterations. Luckily it fit perfectly, because the sleepless night left me with a tension headache that lasted well into the afternoon.

She called to say thank you and that her daughter loved the dress. I was going to take before and after pictures, but I was more concerned with just getting it done. I was promised pictures since I still have not seen the dress being worn. Unfortunately, I probably won't be posting the pictures here unless I get permission from the mom.

So, the moral of the story... It may have been a hassle, but I remember being a teenager. In her place, I would have been eternally grateful to have the perfect dress to wear to the dance. Adolescence is difficult enough.

For My New Nephew!

Another baby and another sweater. My sister-in-law is getting induced at the end of the month. She's having a boy. So I better get this one in the mail soon!

It's from the Crochet Me pattern Baby, It's Cold Outside.

SARAH - DON'T LOOK!

Sarah, if you want this to be a surprise, don't read any farther.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My sister is having her first baby. She has spoiled my kids since they were born. She visited just after each was born. She brings them treats when she visits, sends birthday presents, buys them clothes, etc. Yep, she's a great aunt. And a great sister. I'm sure I won't be the same aunt that she's been, but I had to do something for my upcoming niece. I'm sure that she'll be getting plenty of blankets. I know my mom has made 2. So I decided to make a little sweater.

Here's the little sweater that I made for her. I used a thinner yarn and had to alter the pattern a little. I think I may have made sleeves a little long, but they look cute rolled up.

It's from the Crochet Me pattern Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Ballet Sweater With Picture!

I mentioned earlier that I had finished this, but I was busy getting ready for a family vacation and hadn't taken a picture yet. This is actually the best picture I have of it. Unfortunately it doesn't show up well in black over a black dress. It did turn out great and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law both loved it. They were hinting that they'd each love one, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to make 2 more.

Our vacation went well even though I was really sick while trying to pack for it. I felt better a few days into the cruise, but didn't get in as much crocheting as I'd hoped. I spent the time chasing my little girl around the ship instead. We had a great time though and I'm very grateful to my in-laws for helping watch the kids so my cute hubby and I could have some child-free time. And for paying for the cruise too. I hope they have as many wonderful memories as we do.

Ballet Sweater Finished!

I finished the Ballet Sweater from Crochet Me. I'm excited about how it turned out. I was worried about it all fitting together with the adjustments I made, but it worked out nicely. Instead of having it tie closed, I added buttons. I don't have time to post a picture right now, but I promise to add one when I can!

When I showed my cute hubby, he admitted that he hadn't really been able to picture what I had been talking about while I was making the sweater. He hears the word crochet and kind of tunes out, assuming that it's beyond his understanding. But he listens politely and offers his advice based on who knows what. So when I showed him the finished product, a light went on and he could finally see what I had been trying to explain to him. He said something like "Wow! That looks really stylish (he had trouble coming up with the right word and actually called it sexy first). It looks like something you could buy at Nordstroms." I'm assuming that's a compliment.

Something for me!

I currently only have one crochet project underway. It's the Ballet Sweater from Crochet Me. It's been an adventure. The pattern is well written, but you have to pay attention to what row or repetition that you're on. That's not a big deal though and the diagrams help as well. The hard part for me is that I'm not using the yarn called for in the pattern. I'm using size 3 crochet thread which has altered the guage. I had to frog (undo) a few rows and start over after the medium was starting to look huge. The problem then is that once you adjust one peice of a clothing pattern, you have to do it to all the other peices. So far it looks like all my adjustments are coming together. I have the back and one front panel done. More updates later...

Halloween Costumes

Not only did I finish the 1 1/2 costumes on time, I was able to throw together a last minute costume for me as well. It's been years since I dressed up, and I realized that I was going to be the only one not in costume. So while my daughter was napping I crocheted little ears and a tail and I went as a lab rat. I got the lab coat from my dad a couple years ago (My dad is an immunologist and does skin cancer research on mice.)

The Phantom cape turned out really good, but not because of my sewing skills. The fabric was perfect for a cape. It was lightweight and flowy (not a real word, but you get the idea). I finished it while Hubby was at work so I tried it on myself. Capes are fun to walk around in with the cape billowing out behind you. I can see the appeal.

So here we are: Phantom of the Opera in the back, Batman, a lab rat, and our Butterfly Princess who refused to wear her wings. Taking pictures with kids is an adventure. What did we do before digital cameras?

A Flower Sweater

I had some Caron Bliss left over from a previous project and had no idea what to do with it. I finally decided that it would make a wonderfully soft sweater. I had to buy a few more skeins to finish it, so I didn't save money by making it myself. It's so soft and snugly that no one is complaining about the cost.

It's my first sweater and I didn't have a pattern. The front and back are made using Krystal's Daisy Square. I made it up as I went on the sleeves and then added a sc border in pink or mango on the sleeves, neckline, and bottom edge. It's big on her right now, but she'll grow into it eventually.

A quick update

It's been a while since I showed a picture of my stole in progress. Last time it looked like a thin piece of lace. Now it would make a great scarf. I am on row 25 now. It's progress.

I must be crazy!

I've never made anything in thread before and probably never would have tried if it weren't for all the wonderful people at Crochetville.org. There's nothing wrong with trying thread crochet, but it's a huge project! I decided to make a rectangular shawl from this pattern. The patten is for a triangular shawl, but it's not that complicated to change to a rectangle. I started this a few days ago and here's what I have done so far.

I really like the pattern. Here's a close up to show more detail.