Jill Beanies

Beanies don't get much cuter or girlier than this! The pattern is from Mamachee on Etsy, where I get a lot of patterns. I love her designs.

Above is my adorable niece Melody, who surprisingly didn't seem to mind the hat once we stopped messing with it.

This is my daughter Averie, who loves her hat and has worn it to school already and promised many girls in her class, "My mom will make you one!"


This is my niece Aurora, who wasn't a big fan of the hat (or taking pictures) but let me get a couple before she called it quits. :)

Colorful!

This is a peek at my latest crochet work in progress. Just looking at the crazy mix of colors and fun stitch pattern called slipstream (pattern found on the Knit and Crochet Now website) makes me happy! I love the vintagey vibe of it. As it's an afghan, I've worked on it for three days straight and I'm not even halfway done. I can't wait to share it once it's completed.

I love Valentines!

OK, so not so much the holiday - it's fun and I love chocolate, but it's too commercial. But there is something about Valentines decorations that I just love. I would never dream of wearing a red and pink combo, but there's something about it that I can't get enough of when I decorate for the holiday! I found this pattern to crochet hearts, and I've been obsessed for the past week with making them. They are so simple! First, I made these strings of hearts to hang in our front window. I sewed crochet hearts back-to-back, and also hand-sewed and stuffed hearts out of felt to make them reversible, so they look good front and back. It was hard to take a picture of them in the window, but I did my best.

I wanted to make a runner for the coffee table, but wanted to do something different. I chose a traditional granny square, but with a twist - mitered! These were a lot of fun to make, but I hate weaving in the ends on something like this! I think it took me as long to weave in all the ends as it did to crochet a couple of the squares. After sewing the squares together, I did a border around the whole thing: one time around with single crochet, around again with half-double crochet, and then last a row of crab stitch. This was a new one for me (you crochet backwards!) but I love the way it turned out.


I thought I was done after that, but I felt like making more hearts, so I whipped up this garland in about an hour or so. I just can't stop making these hearts!

Pink ruffled scarf

I love this new self-ruffling yarn I found the other day! It's less lacy-looking than the kind I've used before, so it makes more solid ruffles. So frilly and girly and pretty! This one is going into my Etsy shop.

Diamond lace baby afghan

I went to the store the other day with plans to buy pink yarn for a baby afghan for someone who just had a girl, but when I saw this light aqua yarn I couldn't tear myself away from it. Isn't it a fun, pretty color? I seem to be drawn to all shades of turquoise/teal/aqua these days. Look at this up-close of the diamond lace pattern - I love it! It looks complicated but is really simple. I've made at least six scarves with this stitch pattern, and this was my first afghan with it - but it's become my go-to stitch when I want to whip up something quick but impressive looking!

Ruffly Lace Scarf

Ever since I saw this self-ruffling yarn on Knitting Daily, I have wanted to get my hands on some to try it out. Turns out so did everyone else! Red Heart keeps selling out of their version within days of putting it on their site. I found some at Hobby Lobby and didn't snatch it up, and when I went back just days later it was all gone, even in the ugly colors. So when I got to a different Hobby Lobby and they had tons in stock, I stocked up! It's kind of a tedious knit, but easy, and the finished product is pretty darn stunning. I also made one for my mom in a red variegated color she picked out, but didn't get any pictures before I gave it to her. I plan on putting these in my Etsy shop in white, gray and black.

Cabled Chunky Cowls

By now I'm sure no one can tell how much I love cowls, right? These look a bit different, but they're the same pattern just crossed opposite directions. They are so soft and warm and chunky and fun! These are both for sale in my Etsy shop, hopefully they'll sell!


An aside: This was my first chance to use my photography tent that my awesome sister- and brother-in-law gave me for Christmas. I love it! I still need to get some lights, and break down and use Photoshop, but I think even without those I'll be able to take better pictures of my projects. I'm so excited!