busy bee!

My little niece Lucy is a busy bee! She's learning to sit up, scoot around the floor, and reach for her toys. I'm so proud of her accomplishments that I made her a "busy bee" hat.

It's a bit longer than it looks in the picture. I turned to bottom up to make it sit neatly over a cereal bowl for its picture. David says it'd be cuter if I ran wire through the antennae to make them stand up. I don' t have any wire, though, so I mentioned that idea to Stephanie. She's welcome to do that if she wants.

Have fun, busy baby!

that's SO girly!

That was David's comment about my new crochet hook and accessories roll. Of course it's girly--it's for ME! I'm so very excited about this project. Making a pretty case for my crochet hooks has been on "to do someday" project list since I first got my sewing machine. I love it! I hit the 60-70% off fabric sale at Joanns yesterday and came home with some girly, busy fabrics. I used this web tutorial and set to work. Here it is...

all folded up and buckled closed


back view unfolded


front view unfolded, flap down


front view unfolded, flap up, so you can see everything!


There are 16 skinny slots at the top for hooks. Most have room to share with 2-3 friends, so I'm not limited in purchasing new hooks. Whew! In the slanty pocket below are 8 slots for accessories that are twice as wide as the hook slots. I have things like my row counter, tape measures, scissors, and plastic tapestry needles in there. I also put a row of snap tape along the left hand side to hold things like stitch markers. Isn't it nice? Now everything's all tidy.

Cynthia--I have enough fabric for another. Want one for your knitting needles? :D

recycled wipes!

Lucy had way too many girly flannel receiving blankets, so Stephanie sent some to me to be recycled into wipes. I decided to "improve" about half of them with a side of soft pink cotton velour. Here's the mother load...

9 animal flannel with pink velour
3 purple flannel
9 pink stripes all flannel
4 pink flannel
3 purple flannel with pink velour (one with kitty embroidery--my favorite!)
5 pink polka dot flannel
9 flowers flannel with pink velour

yes, that's right--42 wipes! 3.5 dozen! Wow!

In the same package, I'm mailing a little crocheted surprise for Lucy. But Stephanie will have to wait on the mail to see that one! I'll post a picture after she receives it for the rest of you...

an elfish little hat

We're taking dinner to a couple at church with a new baby next week, so I made a little hat to take with us. You'll recognize the yarn from my previous two projects, making this hat an excellent use of my leftover yarn stash.

It think it's really cute, although with the green and white, it is a bit elfish. Hope Courtlyn likes it!

it's mine, all MINE!

I never make anything for myself (as I'm sure some of you may have noticed) but Texas's recent cold snap inspired me to make a scarf. I saw this pattern in the December/January issue of Crochet Today magazine and was interested since I had never seen crocheted cables before. I enjoyed this project, although the pattern was tricky. I frogged more rows than I kept for the first 1/4 or so. I did finally get the pattern repeats down and it came out pretty well, I think.

pattern prototype

I liked the pattern that I found for this ribbed soaker so much that I decided to try to make a pair of ribbed longies. I actually did these in December--finished on the way to Mom's for Christmas. I just hadn't posted about them. I love the concept, but these still need some work. When I try them on doll, Stella, they gape in the crotch area--the worst place! I have some ideas to fix that on future models and I'll definitely try again...

you ain't nothin' but a horned frog... updated for the last time!

Here are the horned frog longies on Katie!

Cute, cute, cute! (if I do say so myself)

my new cousin!

My cousin Dusty and his wife Jessica welcomed their third baby boy yesterday. I made this hat for baby Jace. It's my typical top knot pattern crocheted in a soft acrylic yarn that my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas. Welcome to the world, Jace!

trying out a new soaker pattern

I bought the Dandelion Dreamers crocheted soaker pattern so that I could try something other than the Ladybugz longies that are my norm. Here's my first attempt. I had a lot of leftover yarn from Rosie's longies, so I used it here, too. This pattern is worked differently and I think it's fascinating to see how the color repeats change when you work in the round and use a different stitch.

Roses for Rosie

I made this pair of longies and matching hat for everyone's favorite 'pin baby, Rosa-Mae. I'm so pleased with how they came out. They're crocheted in the Ladybugz pattern using Paton's Classic Merino in the "rosewood" colorway. The trim is "dark rose heather" Wool-ease. These are a surprise (shhh!), so I can't wait for them to arrive and see how they fit!

Oh, and I find it wonderfully ironic that I finished them while watching the Rose Bowl today!

trying to stay awake on New Year's Eve

long enough to attend a party at Phil and Cynthia's found me in the mood to do some sewing. I decided to make some mama pad liners for Cynthia since I would be seeing her shortly and she's my one Sugar Land friend to embrace using mama cloth (haha Cynthia--aren't you glad I outed you? Now I'm not the only weird one!). I know these don't appeal to many of you, my loyal blog readers, but I'm proud of my craftsmanship just the same, and for those of you who may be curious but unsure about cloth pads, I recommend this article on Wikipedia. It's really pretty good reading. And, of course, I welcome any questions on the subject, as well!