The Shtick I Do

Who else sings that when they read it? Is it just me? This week I wanted to share with you a few of the things I've completed and one of them I've been waiting for TWO MONTHS to post! Why? It's a gift for a friend and I had to wait until she had her baby shower and now I get to show you just how adorable it is!!!! Our friends are a couple of outdoorsy type people. They hunt and fish and generally do things of that nature together. So my husband, when we first found out they were expecting, came to me and excitedly exclaimed, "I know what I want you to make for Robert and Katie! Deer! A baby deer hat!" He knows I usually make blankets for babies so he was specifically requesting a hat. We carried it out even further and I ended up making a hat and diaper cover. I mashed together bits of free patterns I was able to find online (mostly Ravelry) but they were changed significantly from the originals. The ears, tail and antlers I just made up. I know a "g...

So, I'll explain this first since it was the first question that I got from my mother when I told her what this was. What's a "texture toy"? I don't know if the term has already been coined or not, so if I'm stepping on toes by calling it that, my bad. I call it that because that's exactly what it is. It's a toy that a baby can touch and feel and experience different textures. It's important for a baby's development to be able to feel different sensations of touch. Another note, I know it's a bit plain. I'm adding some different things before I call this a finished product. The pattern I'm giving you will get you to this point, and from there you can customize. It's just like the New Born Beanie Pattern  I did a couple of weeks ago. Materials : 2 colors of ww yarn Size 7/4.5mm hook Scissors Yarn needle for weaving in ends Stitch markers (optional) Abbreviations Used : sc - Single Crochet st - Stitch sl st -...

Have I mentioned that there are a LOT of new babies coming into the world around me? Well, if not, now you know. I wanted to make something a bit different this time around. It's not THAT different I mean it's still a blanket, but instead of a square, I made the Super Star Afghan from Mikey and the guys over at The Crochet Crowd! Here's my score for the pattern overall: Written Pattern Score : 4.5 out of 5 due to a mistake in Row 3. Video Pattern Score : 5 out of 5 - This one is a home run! I used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton yarn in White, Pink Sparkle and Cotton Candy. My thoughts: I went to The Crochet Crowd site and easily located the blanket pattern. I'm happy they revised their site to make finding the patterns easier. It works up quickly! Easy to understand. The pattern is easily followed from memory once you get past the first 3 or 4 Rows. Since I'm a fairly seasoned crocheter, I thought I'd just use the wri...

Alrighty, I'm plugging along on all these WiP's I have and I just completed this baby blanket last night. My youngest (who is 16) keeps telling me it looks like an Easter egg, LoL! I love the soft colors and the edging is something I kinda tossed on there to add more inches. It ended up being perfect! So here's my Corner-to-Corner with Edging pattern for you to use as well. I hope you enjoy it! This blanket is worked entirely with Caron Simply Soft and a size G/4.25MM Hook. Link to video for the Corner-to-Corner pattern I used:  Crochet Crowd Corner-to-Corner blanket pattern Edging Pattern:  Orange DC worked in top (proper position) of Purple DC stitches Keep in mind that crocheting around a C2C project can be a bit difficult. It took 2 or 3 tries for me to get the right number of stitches in the first row of edging simply because of the way C2C project stitches are worked. Only 3 stitches at a time are actually turned in the proper position, the next...

This is what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks! This is a baby blanket for a friend at church. It's just a simple granny square made with Bernat Baby Blanket yarn. She's due in 3 weeks! I thought I was finished, but when I pulled this piece out for the pic, guess what? That's right. NOT finished! My husband is going to kill me when he finds out - I'm supposed to give it to her on Sunday. Another trip to Hobby Lobby for more yarn . . . that's worth death to any die-hard hooker. Lol. ARGH! Oh, well. It won't take long too finish and I've already got the gift bag, so if I had to, I could finish it Sunday morning. Early Sunday morning . . . *sigh* This granny square blanket is going to be given to another friend from church. She's not expecting though. She tripped over her dog going down some steps and broke her leg in three places. So she's going to be out of commission for a few months. I just need to get this to her w...

So I've finished one blanket for my soon-to-be-here grand-baby. A simple pattern that works up quick and looks great. I love the lacy feel and how delicate it looks, especially in the Baby Ombre color from Bernet . Here's a quick rundown of the pattern I used, I kinda made it up as I went so errors may be rampant! LoL Pattern: (using a size G/4.25mm hook) Row 1 : Chain 113, Single Crochet in second chain from hook and across. Chain 3 and turn. Row 2 : Double Crochet, chain 2, Double Crochet in the next stitch. (V-stitch). Skip 2 stitches, repeat V-stitch in next stitch. *Skip 2 stitches, repeat V-stitch in next stitch.* Repeat from * to * across, ending with Double Crochet in last stitch. Chain 3 and turn. Rows 4-? : Repeat Row 2 until blanket reaches desired length. Chain 1 and turn. Last Row : Single Crochet in each stitch across. Leave yarn attached for trim <OR> if you're changing colors, tie off and weave in ends. Trim (if using a different color...

So even when I'm enjoying the company of family, I crochet. And so do they! Lol. Did you doubt it? I didn't think so.  I'm making things for my soon to be here grandchild and found this pattern online. And I love it. My younger sister made the yellow one, newborn sized. I made the multi-colored one, 0 to 3 months.  This pattern works up quick and looks great! It's available from The Knittless Knitter Crochets. Sorry it's not a link, I'm working from an iPod.  If you're looking for a quick gift for that baby shower, I highly recommend this one.  Enjoy your week. I know I will be! Peace and blessings,  ~~Karen~~

So on Sunday, Father's Day, we went to church, had a nice lunch with the kids and promptly sent them away for the week. Nothing drastic mind you, they went to Knoxville, Tn, for mission work with the youth group. They'll be home tomorrow with all their stories and how much fun they had. I'm really looking forward to it. Being a mom is one of the greatest joys of my life. My children are the BEST kids in the entire world! Aren't they all? My oldest lives in Berea, Ky. Her birthday is tomorrow and she'll be 22. Wow! It really doesn't feel like she should be 22 years old! Is that her news? I bet that's what you're thinking .... well NO! It isn't. My daughter getting another year older is probably news for her but not for you guys. Are you ready? I'm going to be a GRANDMOTHER !!!!!! * photo from Google images * Let me admit something right now .... I'm too young to be "Mamaw". That's what I called my grandmothers. ...