Tulle dress with crochet bodice!

I made this dress after seeing something similar online.

And Miss C was so excited to be wearing it!

The back is a lace-up, "corset" style. I think I will be replacing the tulle with ribbon laces.

This is my favorite shot. :)

What a pretty princess!

Now available for sale

I just started an album of ready-to-ship items that are for sale on facebook! Here's the link to my facebook page, and here's one that goes directly to the album. There are only a couple things in the album right now, but I will be adding more, so be sure to like my page and check for updates! Also, I'm planning some giveaways, so keep an eye out for that too!

Here's what I have ready to ship at the moment:

Fingerless gloves.

Chunky wool scarf.

Kitty Cat Ears!

So, the same friend who asked me to make the plum colored flowers also asked me to make these for her almost-one-year-old. She has some specific clips she wants to use for them, so I just shipped them off to her like this, but I could definitely add some clips or put them on a headband.

Here are the fronts of the ears...

As you can see, the backs are all black, as any black kitty's ears would be...

And I tried to contour  them to reflect the shape of an actual cat's ear.

I am pretty pleased with how my first set of ears turned out! Would you put them on clips? Or a headband?

Flowers

A friend asked me to make some flowers for her in this lovely plum color:   

Do you like? These are for her and her daughters. She has something special she wants to do with them, so these are just the flowers without any clips or embellishments. I have to say I love the color she chose!

I am so excited to show you these! I'm really happy with how they turned out. The top one is a ribbon wrapped headband with three crocheted flowers in white and pink and the bottom is a single flower. They are for sale in my Etsy shop here, or you can contact me through my facebook page! 

Baby owl hat!

Over the weekend I watched the first season of Downton Abbey and crocheted a whole bunch of stuff!! Here's one of the things I finished. This is my first ever attempt at an owl hat, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! I may experiment a little more with the ears, and I'd like to go find some bigger buttons, but I was just using what I had on hand. And I think it's super cute! :)

This is sized for a newborn baby, but I could definitely do something similar for bigger heads!

Haha! I just found this picture on Pinterest, and it's the same type flower that I was looking at when I designed the pink hat! See the resemblance?

Unfortunately, the link for the picture seems to be broken, so I don't know where it came from. :(

New flower hat with diaper cover for baby girl!

 A few posts back, I showed you a new hat that I had been working on. I liked it, but did not feel like it was exactly what I was going for, so I have made some adjustments!

Old version.

New version!

 I also found this adorable diaper cover pattern on Etsy: 

Front veiw

Side view

Here's the set together!

I am super happy with how these turned out, so I will be adding these to my shop in the next couple of days!!

Why I'm here

The first time I picked up a crochet pattern, I had no idea what it was talking about! It was like another language! I had learned some very basic stitches from a college roommate, but we had never gotten to the point where I was reading patterns. I used those few stitches to make my then-fiance a simple afghan.  We were married shortly after that and have now been married for more than 10 years! He recently found that blanket in a box and was SO excited to have his "special" blanket!

Shortly after we were married, we moved near my in-laws. I discovered a book on their shelves that taught all kinds of yarn crafts, including crochet. From that book I learned how to read patterns and combine simple stitches to make more complicated stitches. After that, I began making baby shower gifts and creating things for my own children. I love finding new and interesting patterns. My boldness in trying them, and creating some of my own designs has continued to grow over the years.

In the last 10 years, we have had a lot happen. We've had four children, buried one at birth, and been through too many hospital stays with the rest. Our youngest son had a blood vessel burst on his spinal cord shortly after his second birthday. He is now paralyzed from the chest down and requires a great deal of care.

Because of my now three-year-old son's health issues, it is difficult for me to go out at all. Working outside the home seems very near impossible and extremely impractical. Let's face it, I'd rather be home with my kids anyway! Since my husband is currently a full time student, I began looking for ways that I could contribute to our financial needs and also stay home. This is why I started looking at my crocheting hobby as a possible source of income.

It has been ideal for me to be able to do something I LOVE, from my home, and on a schedule that works for my family. I have thoroughly enjoyed designing new creations and sharing them! I hope you will find something you love here!

A Very Special Gift

Earlier this month was the birthday of a very special boy. His name is Riley. Riley is our cousin's son who died unexpectedly after only 4 months with his mom and dad. This year, to celebrate his birthday, his mom asked friends and family to remember him by giving the gift of service to someone around us.

I also lost a baby just the year before Riley's death. We had been given a box of things from the hospital to remember our sweet angel. One of the things in that box was a tiny, crocheted, pink blanket. That was so special to us. It is one of the few things we have to remember her presence here.

That blanket was the first thing that came to my mind when Riley's mom asked us to give something in Riley's memory. So, I decided to give back something that I have been blessed by, and I started working on two tiny blankets to donate to the local hospital here. I wish I had gotten it done by his birthday, but it has been a crazy month! They are all finished up now, and I will be calling the social worker to see when I can drop them off.

Here they are: two special blankets that I know will go to special babies!

PS If you are wondering how to do this fun diagonal/crosshatch stitch, here's a link to the tutorial I learned it from!

Crocodile stitch hat

Over the long weekend, I learned how to do the crocodile stitch using this tutorial. It's the second time I've actually used a diagram pattern rather than the written one, and I find it so much easier to use! If you crochet and have not learned how to read a diagram, I highly recommend it! It's so much easier to take a quick look and make sure you're in the right place! At least, that's how I feel about it! :) The tutorial also has written out instructions, so if you are not ready for diagrams, there's that too. So, I read the tutorial, printed out the diagram, and took it and a skein of yarn to a family reunion.

I didn't have a lot of time to sit an crochet, but I found this stitch to be so much easier than I had anticipated! I'd been putting it off, thinking it was much more complex than it actually was! I first tried out just stitching it in straight rows, like the above mentioned tutorial instructs, but then decided I wanted to do something a little different with it. I decided to make a hat. It took a little bit of trial and error to find the right way to decrease the number of stitches going up to the top of the hat, but I got it mostly figured out. Here was the outcome:

Side. My kids think it looks a little like a cupcake or muffin.

Front. But I was actually going for something more floral than culinary!

And top views. There it is! See? It's a flower! Right?

I am generally happy with how this turned out. There are a couple changes that I will make next time. I'd probably make a narrower band and add another row of the crocodile stitch. Hopefully, that would make it seem more like a flower than a cupcake. I'm also thinking a smaller hook may close some of the gaps that are between the scales/petals. What do you think?

PS do you like my new model? ;)

Hi, and welcome! I'm currently working to get some of my creations posted here! I have some fun projects I've been working on and am excited to share them! You'll be seeing more here soon, so check back when you get the chance!