So, I needed a break from quilting and wanted to try something fun.
I have been so busy at work lately that I come home pooped and have no energy left for crafting. Things are finally starting to slow down a little though, so hopefully I will get my craft on soon.
This past weekend my mom, sister and I had our twice yearly girls sewing weekend. The guys all went golfing, the kids played with their cousins, and the girls hid out in mom's sewing room making tree skirts. I didn't get very far on mine because I decided to be sick that day *Sigh* so mine is only pieced and basted. I love the way our different personalities come out in our projects, even though we all make the same thing. 
Last night I was browsing through pintrest and came across the photo of a crocheted minion hat. I LOVED IT and thought "I could easily do that" so PF and I ran to Wally World for some yellow yarn and off I went. 
In hindsight I wish I hadn't put the space between his goggles, it looks kinda weird to me. And I made his mouth so it's saying "Whaaaaaa" cuz that was my favorite part of the whole movie =0)Now my other two boys want one too. Guess I know what I will be up to for the next few days!
I have been on blogging hiatus. There just hasn't been much going on that is blogworthy and when I start to feel stressed trying to come up with something to blog about, I know it's time to step back and just let it go for a bit.
The boys have been off track from school and I haven't had much free time lately, so not a lot of crafting going on, but I have made some new winter hats for the boys. They picked the pattern and it's a free one found here...Visor Beanie Crochet Pattern. (Ps, check out the name of her site, it totally cracks me up and brings back memories of being a teenage girl drooling over cute boys.)
Here are a few that I've made...
I kind of winged it on this cute hat for my neighbor's new baby.
And used this pattern... Olivia's Butterfly Hat for a hat for my niece, because she needs a girlie hat, not a hand-me-down boy hat from her brothers LOL And here is my darling boy, very unwillingly, modeling it for me.
I have also been bitten by the beaded watch bug. I have seen them around for a while, and thought they were cute, but when I went to a craft boutique with my mom and they had watch faces, I fell in love with a little green one and it came home with me. I have had it for about two months now and finally got around to making my first couple of watch bands yesterday.
The first I made with natural stone beads and I love it.
The second one is made in my favorite color combination; red, aqua, and green. (If I ever need to match my living room, this is the watch to wear!)
I have a few other things to blog about, but this post is long enough. So Ta Ta for now!
I am taking a little break in between Preemie hats to crochet a rug for my bedroom. This is made from thrifted sheets and I am loving how it's turning out. Now I just need to make another run to the DI for more sheets, I have had these all ripped and in storage for about ten years, I started a rag rug back then but in a different way, it was sewn with a needle made from a sharpened toothbrush handle. It took FOREVER to get very far on that rug and I have forgotten how to do it, so this time I am just crocheting and it's going much faster. I did all of this in about five hours.
It's so soft and squishy to step on and I think it will look nice next to my bed. The only major draw back is the lint that working with the sheets creates. It looks like I haven't dusted my office for about three years *Sigh*
It has been so long since I had time to sit and do anything crafty, and since I am currently out of reading material, and my computer was having issues, I grabbed a crochet hook and went to town.
I started with this fun little preemie sized cloche, it's the perfect size for my cute little dolly, isn't she adorable in her spiffy new hat?
The free pattern can be found here, and it's a charity pattern, all she asks is that you make a few and donate them to your local NICU. I have no problem with that as my local NICU is rather near and dear to my heart, for obvious reasons, I mean geeze, we only lived there for three months!
Anyway, I had so much fun with that one that I decided to make an adult size one for ME! And it turned out equally darling I have to say. The only problem is, I put it on my head and I look like a freaking idiot! I do NOT look good in hats. This is also a free pattern, found here, and while it says it is child sized, I made the large and used a bigger hook and it fits great, perhaps even a little big. Unfortunately the flower pictured is not included in the pattern so I used this flower for my hat. I just need to find a fun, funky button for the center now.
(Pst...Bill, I know how much you love the red and aqua combination, so I thought of you when I made this LOL)
If you decide to make some hats, let me know when you post pictures, I would love to see them. Now I am off to make a few more so the boys and I can take them up to the NICU =0)
I made a pear! Well, two of them actually.
They don't really bear too much resemblance to the pattern I used, but they do look somewhat like pears, so I am going to call it "Good Enough" and go back to flat things, like afghans, which I am actually good at, this three dimensional stuff is beyond me LOL
If you want to make a pear too, the free pattern can be found at Amigurumi Girl's blog.
I know I said I would post pictures of my Aqua, Red, and White hexagon progress yesterday...
And I am so sorry to keep you waiting...
But...
But...
I got sidetracked. I know, the concept of me getting sidetracked is truly shocking =0P
I found a pattern I really like, oddly it's NOTHING like the one I liked below, but I still really like it. It reminds me of the Grandma's Flower Garden quilts so I decided to go in that direction and switch the colors around on each block.
Photo Credit Silly Lil' Doe
Here is a picture of my first hex, sorry the photo is so bad, I didn't have decent lighting to take the picture with.
I have six blocks done so far and I am really loving how they are looking together. These hexagons work up SOOOO much faster than my aqua granny squares did, I am amazed at how fast I get them done. I think this may be my state fair entry for next year =0)
I will try to take a picture tomorrow if I have better lighting. Big gray clouds and snow flurries are not conducive to good photo lighting, but I won't complain because it is perfect weather for sitting inside and crocheting.
I have an itch, and I need to satisfy it.
It all started last year when the DUP honored my grandma, seeing the granny square afghan she made for my Aunt Jane led to the making of this...
But sadly the making of my granny square only amplified my itch rather than satisfying it. I love my granny square afghan so much, and I really want to make more. So I have been on the hunt for a pattern but haven't found one that I truly love until now.
I found this on flickr (Through Bloom's blog)
(Photo credit Shaby Roses Cottage)
And I will definately make this if I can find the pattern for it, in these exact colors, it will be so cute in my living room!
Then while searching through flickr I found this by Sarah London...
and even better...she has a free tutorial for how to make this lovely afghan.
I think I will start with the Hawaiian flowers since I have access to a pattern and hope that I can find a pattern for the penny rug looking afghan. Wish me luck. And go check out these two fabulous blogs!
Sarah London
Shabby Roses Cottage
K, here it is. My finished granny squares. I love it!
Now I need to figure out my next craft project. I can't seem to get motivated to do anything these days *sigh*
Sorry for the bad lighting, my living room faces west and I was too impatient to wait until this afternoon =0)
Updated to add a better picture now that I have afternoon lighting =0)
I laid my granny squares out tonight on top of a throw I already have and decided that 70 is too many, I only need 63. Guess what? I only have four granny squares to go HORAY!
Now I just need to figure out how to hook them all together, that part worries me a little.
I can't wait to have this done. YAY
Our first grade program is next week. Meanwhile we have been combining with the other four first grade classes for singing practice. We are running through the whole program start to finish once a day.
I AM STIFFER THAN STIFF! One of the songs we are doing is the Chicken Dance. The stupid song repeats like...3 million times, so 3 million times I am shaking my butt in a squat trying to convince my first graders that this is actually fun and man, my thighs are killing me, it's apparently a good workout though =0P
I wish I could post a video on here of them doing the chicken dance, it is so dang cute and it cracks me up. And I have one boy in my class who absolutely REFUSES to do the chicken dance. He will sing the other songs but will not do any of the actions, he just stands there looking bored out of his mind. Poor kid, I wonder if he really does hate it that bad.
The whole thing just makes me feel old and somewhat demented because I actually really enjoy the chicken dance. I don't think I would find it quite so fun though without 23 little tiny hineys shaking along.
Oh, here is a picture of my baby afghan (was supposed to be doll sized but it turned out bigger than planned) that I promised the other day. I like how it turned out but it isn't really what I was wanting, so I may have to make another one. Maybe I will give this one to my neighbor across the street who just found out she is having a little girl.
I haven't been to the thrift store in ages, I am going through withdrawl =0( But when school is in, I just don't have time. I hate that someone else is out there gettin' all the good stuff *sigh*
I have added pictures to this post three times now and they keep disappearing, so if you can't see all of them, I appologize.
Have you ever heard of a reborn baby?
It's a vinyl doll that is hand painted by artists to look like a real baby. I first learned about these babies in February when there was a thread about them on 2peas. I was curious so I did a little research and in doing so I stumbled across Adalynn By Rachelle Ferrell of Chelle's Babies.
I fell instantly in love with her. She looks so much like PK did as a baby and I can't help but think that maybe this is what Lucey would have looked like. I thought "Hey, maybe I can buy her" then I looked to see how much they go for on ebay and ummmm that would be a big fat NO! So can not afford to buy her.
My heart was broken. Then I saw on ebay that a reborning doll store was selling the kit for $89. A kit is a head, two arms, and two legs of unfinished vinyl. It is up to you to do the rest.
So I bought it. It's crazy I know. I have no idea how to do this, and I am in way over my head, but for some reason, it is soothing to my soul to have this dolls little parts and pieces in my home, under my roof, in my care. Like I can't really have Lucey here, but I can have her likeness. Does that make any sense?
So I have been researching for a couple of months now, looking at free tutorials online and trying to learn how to accomplish the reborning process of my little vinyl baby. And I have it in my head that if I can do this, if I can make her beautiful and whole, then maybe I can finally forgive myself for not being able to save Lucey, for whatever I did wrong that made her have so many problems.
But....I don't want to start on her because what if I screw it up? So, I went to Walmart and bought a cheap vinyl doll, took her to pieces, cleaned all the factory paint off of her and she sits in a little case waiting for the day I can afford the horribly expensive paint and supplies to start working on her.
A lot of beginner artists will start on the Berenguer dolls and learn their skills on them because they are cheaper than the sculpts made specifically for reborning but still very lifelike and detailed. I happened to find one at the thrift store for $1.50 so I now have two practice babies. I am going to keep my eyes open and snap them up whenever I see them, I want to be really good at this before I tackle my Lucey doll. I have seen a lot of reborn babies in the last few months of some of them are really really scary. Some of them are really sloppy, and some of them, like Chelle's, are stunning. She does such an amazing job. I contacted her and asked if she would do commission work and she said no =0( I think she would do a MUCH better job on my Lucey doll than I ever have a hope of doing. Because she already has, look at Adalynn, she is the same sculpt as my Lucey doll. It is "Mommy Loves You" by Tina Kewey. Chelle's Adalynn is the one I first fell in love with.
So...wish me luck as I set off on this adventure. I may need to have a fundraiser to raise the money for the supplies I need LOL Now accepting donations at... just kidding.
But anyway, this is my Berenguer doll that I got for $1.50. She was positively filthy and had white scuff marks all over her face. The use of soap, some elbow grease, and some nail polish remover has her looking much better. She fits into newborn size clothing.
Look at Chelle's amazing version of the same baby, isn't he darling? Such a difference isn't there? 
Which brings me to the crochet part of my post. After all, every baby needs a blankie right? So I started on a blankie for her this morning. It's going fairly quickly and is an easy pattern so hopefully it won't take me too long.
So wanna help me name this little dolly? Any great ideas? She needs a name so I don't have to keep calling her "The Berenguer" LOL.jpg)
Please if you are going to comment on my need to do this, say something nice. I have had my Lucey doll for about a month now and haven't been able to talk about her to anyone other than my sister and two of my closest friends because it is something so deeply personal and emotional for me that I couldn't bear to have anyone say anything negative about it. I know some people find these babies "Creepy" and some just don't understand. But this is something I need to do for myself, I need to find a way to heal a little and I think this can help. Thanks.
I'm a sheep, I live my life blindly following the crowd with no original thoughts of my own. Or so it seems lately.
A lot of my favorite bloggers have been crocheting lately and I have been itching to pick up my hook and get busy. With the exception of dish cloths I haven't crocheted in years.
I found some beautiful aqua blue worsted weight yarn a while back, but didn't buy it because I couldn't think of anything to make with it. I came home and googled free afghan patterns online but never found anything I was in love with.
Then yesterday I saw my Aunt Jane's Granny square afghan that my grandma made for her. My grandma was making this when I was engaged to B. She was going to make an afghan for me for my wedding and I asked her to make one like Jane's for me.
She told me I would have to wait a few years because this one was more work than she anticipated and I told her that was fine. She made me a lovely "Mile A Minute" afghan for my wedding and over time we both forgot about the granny squares.
But yesterday when I saw it again and I remembered how much I loved it. So I came home and googled free granny square patterns and found Lisa's Love by Lois Karklus. I ran straight to the store first thing this morning and bought the lovely aqua blue yarn and got right to work..jpg)
The squares go rather fast and are easy to make. I have made three so far...only 67 more to go LOL Hopefully this one goes better than my last granny square attempt. I will have to see if I can find that and show it to you, it was WAY too much work, each square had a 3D flower in the center and the square used three colors. Holy ends to weave batman! I never finished it. I started it because I was 100% sure that one of the twins was going to be a girl *sigh*
Oh, and I did the preliminary work for my butterfly block for my applique class, I think it is beautiful in these fabrics and I don't even mind so much that it's a butterfly because the fabrics are so pretty to look at. Let's just hope I don't kill it when I do the stitching LOL
There are too many pretty things in this post, I just can't stand it!
