Flint Fox Cowl

It's been a while. And I know it's been a while when my hands start to ache and go numb from crocheting and my computer doesn't recognize my camera anymore. My crocheting has gotten a little rusty. When I started this pattern, I forget how to do certain stitches and how to start a round. That's not good but I was able to finish this recent project. My friend Lisa from the good ol' days at Park's Tae Kwon Do posted a cute knitted cowl on my Facebook page and asked if I knew how to make it. At first, I didn't think I could since I could only find knitting patterns for it. But after a little more digging, I was able to find a crochet pattern.

It came out decent but I am a little disappointed that it didn't turn out the way I was hoping it would. The hood's a little too big and the width is a little too narrow. I think I should've just started off with the child's size but no... I had to make the adult size and spend a bajillion dollars on yarn. Oh well...you live and you learn, I guess.

The pattern was easy enough to follow. I just made the mistake of making my first chain too tight so now it's a little small to go over a full-sized adult's shoulders. And I should have done less rows on the hood but the instructions say that the adult size hood should be about 27 rows. I think it's too big but I know some like their hoods to be on the slouchy side. The child's size hood probably would be enough to fit over an adult's head if you want more of a fitted size.

Flint Fox Cowl - Crochet Pattern

Baby Beanies

I've added a new item to my Etsy shop. Cute and soft baby beanies with your choice of a pom pom top. Currently the beanies are available in mint green and strawberry pink. The beanies measure to be 16 inches in circumference so it should be able to fit most babies from 3 to 6 months old. And can possibly stretch to fit up to 12 months old.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/197632712/crochet-baby-beanies-mint-green-and-pink

Claudia Scarf

I finished. I am done...

It's almost hard to believe because I've been working on this for so long but I completed the Claudia scarf.

I started this scarf last December for Donna. I thought I would be able to finish it by Christmas but I had other things to work on and this scarf was so damn long so I told Donna she would have to wait until next winter. Since I had a year, I took my time with this scarf. Did a few rows a day at first. Then it went down to a few a week...then to a few a month. Eventually I would just pick up on it whenever I remembered to do it, which was a couple times a month. The fan pattern is beautiful but requires so many stitches. Just one row would take me about a few minutes. The whole scarf is 166 rows so it got tedious to do every day. And I figured I could take my time since Donna doesn't need a thick scarf to wear in San Diego. Just as long as it was finished by winter break when we go visit Utah.

So here it is. The 11 month long scarf.

Little Slice of Life: Claudia Scarf pattern

Crocheted Christmas

This holiday, I crocheted a few Christmas gifts for family and friends to help save money and also to give something more personal.

1. For my friend, Jerrica and her baby daughter, I made a pair of slippers and booties.

I found the pattern for the blue slippers on All About Ami. All About Ami blogger, Stephanie found the pattern on Calypso Gray's blog, The Little House by the Sea, which she made some modifications on. It isn't shown here but I added some little pearly white buttons as decoration later on.

These baby booties were also found on All About Ami. The original pattern is from the blog Topsy Turvy. These booties are really cute with the scalloped edges and the wrap-around style.

2. For my aunt, I made her a thick headband with a flower.

I bought the pattern on Etsy by Rosedew Creations.

3. I made a few mini snowmen keychains for some friends.

 Here's a picture of them in the snow...

Dapper Toad: Mini Snowman Crochet Pattern

4. And for these two handsome boys, I made beanie hats.

The snowman hat was found on Repeat Crafter Me and the dinosaur hat is the same pattern as the snowman hat but with crocheted spikes found on The Boy Trifecta.

And there were some who couldn't resist trying the hats on for themselves...

Overall, it was a fun, happy, and busy holiday.

Puff Stitch Scarf

I made a scarf for the very first time. I found this really cute pattern for a puff stitch scarf by All About Ami. (I love her patterns!) This pattern isn't difficult but it did take a long time because I wanted the scarf to be really long so it could be worn in different ways. It used up lots of yarn and Stephanie (the creator of this pattern) warned that it used up to 3 balls of yarn. But I saved money by buying one of those huge one pound yarn balls. Whoo!

I didn't run into any problems with this pattern but I did realize after getting halfway through that the yarn didn't feel as soft as I thought it was. It was kinda scratchy so I panicked and tried to find ways to make it softer. I found that a vinegar bath is really helpful and also washing it with conditioner helps too so I tried both and although it's not crazy soft, it did become less scratchy and it smelled really fragrant.

I made the scarf for my cousin's birthday. She always gets me nice accessories for my birthday so I wanted to get her something too. However, since I'm not currently working and am a full-time MBA student, I've been trying to find ways to save money so I decided to make her a gift. And she just got it today and said it's by far the nicest hand-made scarf she's received. :D

All About Ami: Puff Stitch Scarf

Last Christmas...

I decided to save money by making some crochet stuff. There's this family that has become very close to my family and we spend many of the major holidays together. I made their oldest son, Joseph, a crochet monkey from the Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters book. He loves animals.

(I wish I had taken close-up photos of the monkey...)

Just a month before Christmas, his mom, Rachel, gave birth to a baby boy. His name's Daniel and I crocheted him fuzzy blue booties for the cold Utah winters. I used soft fluffy light blue yarn to help keep the baby's toesies warm.

(...the booties too.)

Booties pattern: Bev's Very Easy Booties

For Rachel, I crocheted her a thick headband.

 I had made a headband earlier for someone else and I thought it would be a great Christmas gift to give. Here is the first headband I made which was given to Donna's friend, Janice.

I loved how these headbands came out. I think I made the first one a little big but the second one (Rachel's) was a little better in size. The button I used for these headbands really made them look great. It helped to keep them securely fastened too. I found this pattern on YouTube and it was created by bobwilson123. Here is the link to the video tutorial: http://youtu.be/HJLIsyyn_CM