The Shtick I Do

Happy Thursday!  Well, why not? Celebrate everyday. Right? Today I have a pattern for you in one of my favorite yarns of all time! You might recognize it from the Cluster Stitch Scarf I posted in August of last year. This time I wanted to make something that wouldn't take as much yarn and frankly, not get in the way if I decided to wear it out to eat. Scarfs and bulky cowls (like my On the Fringe Cowl ) are great for warmth and frigid wintery weather BUT are definitely in the way when trying to eat some Broccoli Cheddar soup while you're on date night at Panera . I heard that thought, " Why not take it off? " well, I'll tell you, I like to stay warm. The past couple years I've taken to wearing long sleeves even in June. (Weird, right?) Anyway, here it is, in it's gem-colored beauty! Super Simple Cowl Pattern Materials : 1 skein Deborah Norville Serenity Garden yarn; color - Gems size I9 - 5.5MM hook scissors yarn needle Notes :...

>_> Anyway!... Yeah, you read right. I decided to do an app review! It's for an app called Feed Baby Pro. All of that stuff that Karen said during her book review about being painfully honest etc. It applies here, too ;) So! Feed Baby Pro is pretty phenomenal. It is an app designed to help you keep track of how often and how long your baby is eating. If you start letting your baby nurse on the right breast, you unlock your phone, open the app, and hit a button to start a timer. You hit the stop button when baby's finished an, voila! You have a feeding entry. You can also add bottle feedings - how many ml or oz and how long it took baby to finish. AND you can add little notes along the way like "Paused to relatch" or "Paused to burp". Wait wait! It gets better. You can add solid foods. You can keep track of diapers - wet, bowel movement, both. You can keep track of growth, keep journals about baths, ...

This past week I've been a bit under the weather with a stomach bug but I think *crosses fingers and toes* that I'm about over it. I was able to finish up a rather large order, though, and thought I'd share the pics with you.  This is the Schneewittchen beanie. Turtle inspired beanie.   "Helper" inspired baby beanie.   "Helper" Kev inspired beanie.   Beanie for a girl inspired by a "Helper".     Being able to give my client what she wants without infringing upon the copyright of certain subject matter is very important to me. It can be done without getting anyone upset or myself in trouble. Plus I won't be charging for the patterns when I get around to posting them. These guys are pretty simple in design and construction. The hardest one for me was the Snow White inspired beanie. Why? Well, I'd make one and then promptly frog it because it kept looking like something you might wear to Sochi in order to...

I promised this last Friday, and then made myself a liar. Rather, the hospital made me a liar. Happy Valentine's Day, but in lieu of recent events detailed at my blog  Kat Knap , I have decided to present you with the pattern for my basic newborn beanie instead of a Valentine's Day oriented pattern. I realize that this pattern is simple, but there are a couple of reasons I'm choosing to give this to you as opposed to something a bit more extravagant. One, I have a newborn, so I know  that this size will fit him, and he is about the "average" newborn size. The circumference of his head at the time I tested this pattern was 13" if you would like to use that as a reference. It fit him well, and with a small margin for growth. Second, this is quick and easy. It would even make a great starter project for anyone who is just learning crochet. Lastly, you can take this pattern and turn it into WHATEVER YOU WANT. Innovation - also covered on my most recent blog post...

So, I have this blog I like to read called The Bored Zombie . Maybe you've heard of it. (Good stuff over there, huh?) Anyway, Susan recently started delving into crafting with something called Creative Paperclay®. She, along with a few other crafty ladies, have had me intrigued with their clay-play and I wanted to try my hand at it. So, guess what I did? That's right, I went and bought some Creative Paperclay® . My original intention was to make buttons. I have a second love and it's buttons. Did you ever play that game in grade school, on rainy or snowy days, called "Button"? You know, "Button, button, who's got the button?" Well, I never wanted to give up the button if I was lucky enough to get it. ** mental groan for all the confused faces I'm picturing right now** That's beside the point. And a post for another day. What I did was make a handle for one of my size D/3 - 3.25MM hooks. I have some polymer clay in a drawer somewhere bu...

Today, I thought I'd share with you some of the Valentine's Day patterns I've come across these past couple of weeks. I love the ones listed here, as always there are lots more available out there in the internet wavelengths. Some of mine included but that would be self-serving, wouldn't it? Image borrowed from Petals to Picots Isn't it beautiful?!?!? Heart Granny Square by Petals to Picots . I absolutely adore the way this looks! I'm going to make enough for a blanket BUT my hearts will be a bunch of different colors as I use up some yarn ends and smaller balls that I can't do anything else with. Using up some blue first! Amber's Heart by Bonney Carey. This one is so frilly and so girly I can imagine it as a pillow or a throw over a little girls' canopy bed. It's on my to-do list. Miss Lovely available at Sew Ritzy Titzy. This gorgeous toy/doll is perfect for tucking under the pillow of your little one. If you'r...

Do you know what I mean when I say "center-pull"? If you've been working with yarn for even a short while, I'm sure you do. For those of you that don't it's simply pulling the yarn from the center of the skein instead of the outside ** shivers at the thought ** and not having to roll the skein into a ball. I work with Red Heart yarns a lot, the two main reasons being that the brand is readily available in a number of colors and it's pretty easy on the wallet. I have also come to love this: Is that not a great idea? Don't you wish ALL yarn companies did this? I do. Someone finally decided to make it a bit easier on us yarn-junkies and label the yarn to show us which end to pull from.  ** One quick note: I highly recommend the A side be avoided like the plague . . . just saying. ** Back to the topic at hand. If you do use the center-pull method, you've more than likely noticed how frustrating it can get once you're down to the ...

My lovely sister, Shelon - who has the blog Gems from God , has requested a pattern for how I made this spike stitch beanie so I'm going to post that for today. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to share pics of your hat over on my Facebook page, Crochet2002 !   Spike Stitch Beanie Materials : 2 colors of Red Heart Soft size I/5.5MM crochet hook scissors yarn needle for weaving in the ends Close up of the Spike Stitch Stitches used : Chain (ch) Slip Stitch (sl st) Single Crochet ( SC ) Double Crochet ( DC ) Spike Stitch ( SpSt ) Magic Circle I use American terminology; here's a converter! US UK chain(ch) chain(ch) single crochet (sc) double crochet (dc) double crochet (dc) treble (tr) half double crochet (hdc) half treble (htr) triple crochet (trc) double treble (dtr) slip stitch (sl st) slip stitch (sl st)         (Image from Yarn Forward ) NOTES : As always the color choice is your own but for a more dramatic...