What I've been up to lately...

Monday, February 25, 2013

A Child's Scarf Remix with Matching Hat Pattern

Last winter I designed A Child's Scarf to keep my Rowan warm.
This winter Little A & Z each wanted one too...
I wanted to use wool yarn in each of their signature colors (yes, we still color code our twins to easily and quickly tell them apart...Blue for Avery, Green for Zander!), but the wool yarn that I have was too thin for the pattern - I designed the pattern using an extra chunky yarn.
Rather than refiguring the pattern, I decided to crochet using a double strand of yarn.  
I mixed the blue and green with my favorite charcoal grey and came up with beautiful jewel two tones...
That didn't match any of their winter hats...
So,
I designed a coordinating hat too.
Would you like the pattern?
OK...here it is:
A Child's Hat toddler size 2-4
I used Paton's Classic Wool in Royal Blue & Mercury and Emerald & Mercury
K hook and N hook

Using K hook and single strand of Mercury.  
1- In a Magic Circle,  ch 3 (in each row, count starting chain as 1st stitch), 11dc, join into 3rd ch. (12dc)
2- ch2, hdc in 1st stitch, 2hdc in each stitch around, join (24hdc)
3- ch3, 2dc in next stitch, (dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch) around, join. (36 dc)
4- ch2, hdc in each stitch around, join (36 hdc)
5- ch3, dc in each of next 4 stitches, 2dc in next stitch, (dc in each of next 5 stitches, 2dc in next stitch) around, join (42 dc)
6- ch2, hdc in each stitch around, join (42 hdc)
7- ch3, dc in each stitch around, join (42 dc)
8- ch2, hdc in each stitch around, join (42 hdc)
9- ch 3, dc in each stitch around, join (42 dc)
10- change to N hook and add 2nd strand (Royal Blue or Emerald).  With both strands, ch3,  front post dc (fpdc) around stitch in row above, back post double crochet (bpdc) around next stitch in row above.  (fpdc, bpdc) around, join.
11,12,13- ch 3, (fpdc, bpdc) around, join.  After row 13, tie off.

optional: make a pom-pom with both colors and attach at the center of the first row.

One final note...
9 out of 10 dentists recommend using your toothbrush at least 3 times a day*...
I'm not sure that they meant as a photo prop...
but, hey, this boy adores his toothbrush...
so, whatever works!
*not a real statistic...I made that up...remember those 9 out of 10 dentist commercials? Trident, I think?!






Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Celebrate the BOY!

Or, in my case, BOYS!!!!
It's back...

Celebrate the Boy 2013 will start next week!
I'm sure this will be another wonderful, inspiring, amazing collection of awesomely boy-licious projects presented by two of my favorite bloggers, Dana...danamadeit.com and Rae...made-by-rae.com!  Since I am surrounded by a bunch of little Y-chromosome bearing monsters, I live for this kind of stuff!  You can check out past Celebrate the Boy project archives here and here.  If you sew along with this celebration you can post your creations in the flickr pool here.  I already have a few projects in mind for my little boys...and I can't wait to see what Dana and Rae have up their sleeves!

Celebrate the Boy 2013...hooray!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Icicles

Winter put some fancy decorations outside our house today.
 We got several inches of snow last night,
but better than the snow were the ICICLES.
They adorned the roofline around the house
and we watched as they dripped...
and slowly grew longer and longer and longer.
Until they were long enough for children to reach.
Then they became swords...
and snacks...Mmmmm, icy!
Thanks mother nature...
for this icy treat!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

I wish you a very happy Valentines day with lots of hugs...

cuddles...

and maybe even a kiss!

Happy Valentine's Day!
(These photos are not mine... you can click on the images to link to their sources.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Waffles for Dinner

The other day I had a major waffle craving...at dinnertime. 
Mmmmmm.......waffles!
This recipe is the result of that craving.  
I ended up making savory waffles and paired them up with veggie sausage, veggie country gravy and corn (sorry, once it was plated up, everyone dove in so fast that there are no photos of the complete meal!)  The kids thought it was hysterical...a terrific mish-mash of breakfast and dinner. 
I put a teensy bit of fresh jalapeno, some mozzarella cheese and a dash (or 6) of tabasco sauce in the waffle batter for the grownups.  
See those yummy bits of jalapeno in there... and the edges where the cheese got crispy!
For the baby birds I omitted the spicy peppery flavors and just added the cheese. 
Waffles...they're what's for dinner!
Try for yourself...
Slightly Spicy Dinner Waffles
2 Eggs
2 cups Flour
1 3/4 cups Milk
1/2 cup Melter Butter (or Margarine - I use Smart Balance Light)
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup grated cheese (mozarella, cheddar or jack)
1/2 of a fresh jalapeno (seeds removed and finely chopped)
tabasco sauce to taste

Mix eggs, milk, butter, flour, salt and baking powder until combined.  Stir in cheese, jalapeno and a few shakes of tabasco.  Cook in a waffle iron until they have that waffley good golden, crunchy deliciousness.  Enjoy!
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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

And the Winner is...

Congratulations to "aStarToSteerHerBy"...
the lucky winner of my Sweet Baby Valentine Bonnet!  
I will be contacting you soon by email to get your mailing info.
A big cyber-hug and heartfelt thanks to everyone who entered.  I truly appreciate all of your lovely comments and look forward to sharing lots more great projects and recipes with you!

Be sure not to miss my quick and easy crochet heart patterns and check back soon for my Downton Abbey Style Cloche pattern (that I'm still working the kinks out of) and a remix of my Child's Scarf!  Later this week I'll be posting a recipe for Dinner Waffles.  Yes...waffles for DINNER, yum!

P.S.  Sorry for any earlier confusion about who the winner is...when I first posted this, I accidentally listed the winner as Krafting with K...that is actually the name of the blog that aStarToSteerHerBy blogs at.  AStarToSteerHerBy is the winner, not her blog :)

Monday, February 4, 2013

Quick and Easy Heart Crochet Patterns in 4 Sizes

Have a Heart...or make a bunch!
 These little hearts make precious embellishments for hats, blankets or sweaters.
They could be used to decorate Valentines, bookmarks, hair clips or headbands.
Make a bunch and string them into a garland or hang them as a mobile.
However you use them, you will be thrilled to see how quickly and easily they work up.
You will have a pile in no time!
These patterns make use of the varying heights of all of the basic crochet stitches (chain, slip stitch, single, half double, double and triple crochets) to shape the heart.  If you need to learn any stitches or just want a quick refresher, Anneliese at Aesthetic Nest has a great series of tutorials that you can find here.
Here are the patterns...

Teeny Tiny Heart
I used worsted weight yarn and a G hook
(but you could use other yarn/hook combos to alter the size)

Row 1: In a magic circle, ch2, 3dc, 2sc, ch, hdc, ch, 2sc, 3dc, ch2, join into ring with slip stitch.  Pull tight (really tight), tie yarn ends and weave in to finish.


Small Heart
Using worsted weight yarn and G hook

Row 1: In a magic circle, ch3, 3tr, 3dc, ch, tr, ch, 3dc, 3tr, ch3, join into ring with a slip stitch.  Pull tight, tie yarn ends together and weave in to finish.




Medium Heart
Using worsted weight yarn and G hook

Row 1: In a magic circle, ch3, 12dc, join into 3rd ch, pull circle tight.

Row 2: In 1st dc (dc, 2tr) , (2dc, hdc) in next stitch, sc in each of next 3 stitches, (sc, ch, sc) in next stitch, sc in each of next 3 stitches, (hdc, 2dc) in next stitch, (2tr, dc) in next stitch, join with a slip stitch into last dc, tie ends.

Large Heart
Using worsted weight yarn and size I hook

Row 1: In a magic circle, ch3, 13dc, join in 3rd ch and pull circle tight

Row2: (hdc, 2dc) in 1st stitch, (dc, 2hdc) in next stitch, sc across next 3 stitches, (sc,ch,sc) in next stitch, sc across next 3 stitches, (2hdc, dc) in next stitch, (2dc, hdc) in next stitch, slip st in each of next 2 stitches.

Row 3: sl st in hdc, ch2, 2dc in each of next 3 stitches, hdc in next stitch, 2hdc in next stitch, sc in each of next 5 stitches, (sc, ch, sc) in next stitch, sc in each of next 5 stitches, 2hdc in next stitch, hdc in next stitch, 2dc in each of next 3 stitches, sl stitch in next 2 stitches, tie ends and weave in to finish.

Happy crocheting and Happy Valentine's Day!
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