Pattern Review: Yellow Puffs Baby Cocoon and Beret

This is a review for a pattern found inside the Leisure Arts book called "Dreamy Cocoons." This is not a pattern I can link to directly and I can only link to Amazon because it is a book you have to buy.

Here is a link to the pattern book on Amazon.

The pattern that I chose is called Yellow Puffs and starts on page 18. The pattern itself was meant for 0-3 month old babies and was suggested to be done in yellow. If you go to the Amazon link and look at the "back cover" image, you will see the yellow cocoon, which was the one I chose to do.

In the spirit of how well I've always followed patterns, I did it in pink with a dark pink trim.

Pattern Review: Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket

Finished June 24, 2012 (c) Cris

This post is a review of the pattern Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket created by Celeste Young. Celeste has made this pattern available through Ravelry so you must be a member to view the link.

Pattern Link: Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket

I was faced with needing to make a gift for a baby shower. Now, I admit - I haven't gone to a baby shower in quite some time and the last one I went to, I was asked to paint a picture of a giraffe. But - that has no place in today's review.

As I fumbled around Ravelry looking for the perfect pattern, I found Celeste Young's Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket pattern. It was free and the picture on the main pattern page was quite stunning.

Crocheting for Baby - part 2

Baby cocoon with matching beret

Well, dear readers, I finished off the baby gifts for my co-workers shower (which is the 26th, and I'm not posting this until after the 26th because I don't know if the Mrs. co-worker reads my blog... I believe she is aware of it though). But, I am typing this on the 24th. With 2 days to go, I finished all three pieces.

I tell ya - I was getting a little worried.

Christmas in... June?

I'm going to go a bit away from crochet today - although, I will say I was at Hobby Lobby looking for yarn and picking up a gift for a friend (something I needed to work on).

As I said, I was at Hobby Lobby. A friend and I were meeting to do a bit of a pass off (which I will discuss at a later date) of a project. The man and the kids went looking around and soon, I caught up with them.

And yes, those are really Christmas decorations.

In June.

Losing a Charitable Cause

I received an email notification just the other day from the Special Olympic Scarf project. For those of you who know me, you know I make scarves and send them off for this charity - I have done it a couple times and enjoy it. Scarves are one of my more favorite things to make and couple that with a good cause - and it is always an enjoyable crochet project.

I have to admit, I was excited when I saw the post because I thought I was going to find out the new colors... but that wasn't the case.

Sadly, this notification contained bad news for me (and apparently thousands of others) - there would be no 2013 scarf project. Apparently, the response was so great from the previous year that there is an abundance of scarves that will be reused for the 2013 Special Olympics.

I suppose the news isn't all bad though - there are that many people crafting for the cause. That many people care... so many in fact that in one year they gathered enough scarves to last two years.

But I still feel this place in my heart - a place that is now empty. This project was a guarantee for me, so I guess I need to replace it with another.

Do you have any favorite charities that specifically request scarves? Let me know in the comments!

To read the entire post, visit http://scarvesforspecialolympics.org/

Crocheting for Your (my) Man

A not so clear photo of the man and our son

We are all (mostly) crocheters here, right? I think its time we had a serious conversation... especially with Father's Day looming.

So let's be frank - it is harder than heck to crochet for a man.

What a baby can do...

A VERY old picture

My husband and I are done having children. We have raised three: two still in progress and one still showing up occassionally to eat and relax. My crafting usually revolves around charitable giving and gifts. I don't usually craft for myself outside of standard household items like washcloths, towel toppers, and apparently - clocks.

However, there is still something magical that happens to my crochet hooks when a baby is announced....

and boy do my hooks fly!