Sending Love with Crochet Hearts

Hello Loves,

I have been hooking slowly but surely on Teagan's baby blanket. Maybe by the end of this week I will have a finished product to share. In the mean time, I am trying to be on top of things with holidays since Lauren is old enough to know what is going on and really enjoys holidays.

Target Valentine's Day Finds! 

Tomorrow is Lauren's Valentine's Day party in the two year old room at her pre-school. Bringing Valentines is optional but since I am on leave with Teagan, I have no excuse for not crafting up some loveliness. Last year I started making soaps with our honey and essential oils so I think we may be giving her teachers, the center director, and front desk gals some soaps with a pretty little heart Valentine. After checking out Pinterest (you know it's my FAV) I thought I should whip up some little crochet hearts.

Well, I was WRONG about the whipping up part. I tried two different patterns and my hearts looked pitiful. I know I am not great at following patterns but I really did follow them this time because I know the shaping of little hearts meant I couldn't miss a stitch or two. After the second failed attempt I decided to just wing it and make my own pattern. After two drafts, I think I have a heart I am happy with.

Crochet Heart, Free Pattern

Just in case you want to make some last minute hearts I wrote it down for you! I used Vanna's Choice yarn with an I/5.50MM hook

All stitches are the USA terms

Crochet Heart Pattern

Ch 4 connect to make a circle

Round 1 All stitches in the circle

Ch 3, 3 dc, 2 tr,  2 sc, 2 tr, 3 dc, sl into chain 3

Round 2

Sc ch 2, sc in same stitch (this is the bottom of the heart), sc in next 3 stitches, 2 hdc in next stitch, 1dc 1tr 2dc next stitch, sl in next two stitches, 2dc 1tr 1dc in next stitch, 2 hdc, sc next 3, sl and fasten off. 

Please note that I made this quickly and may have made mistakes. I made a second heart following the pattern before posting this and it turned out the same, so hopefully it works for you.

Happy Thursday!

xo Susan

End of January

Hello Friends,

I cannot believe we are already at the end of January. My maternity is going by so quickly, but I do feel like I am spending so many valuable days with my little one. I find myself leaving my hook and yarn alone so I could stare at her while she sleeps.

She is a happy little baby!

Due to gazing at my baby girl all day, I have not made a whole lot of progress on finishing up her blanket. I did see how the circles are looking with the white rows to square them off. I accidentally made one row too many in the circle color and didn't want to pull them out after I had already finished several circles so it isn't as clean as the last time I made this blanket. It will do for this one, but next time I will make sure I stop before that row so it can be white.

Circle of Friends, Pink and White Baby Blanket

Are you on Pinterest? That really is probably a dumb question. I am obsessed with Pinterest. You can find my pinterest boards here. Right now I have 12,977 pins. By the time you read this I may be over 13,000. I love finding recipes, patterns, inspiration, etc. I found some lovely crochet hearts that I want to whip up before the end of next week for my two year old for Valentines Day on February 14. Does anyone have a favorite heart pattern?

xo Susan

Premie Crochet Hats

Good Morning!

The cold weather and snow is not something we have here in Southwest Florida but I am thinking of all of our friends and family and those of you our there in blog land who are experiencing the cold and snow. Last post I told you about the early arrival of my friends' baby boy, so I make some soft little hats for him to wear while he is in the hospital.

Preemie Crochet Hat

Quick Preemie Baby Crochet Hat

I put then on my ipad so you can see how teeny they are!

They are located in Colorado Springs, CO so they will have some cold weather for quite a while, I am sure little Ben will be needing plenty of hats. I didn't follow a specific pattern, I used my daughter's new born hat that was given to her in the hospital made by one of the hospital volunteers to gage size and just winged it from there. I made sure they were smaller than the one we were given since Ben is a preemie and I remember the hat being a little too big for my daughter when she was born. I need to trim the pom pom a little to make it even, and I think I will leave the blue hate without a pom pom.

I can write out a pattern if people are interested

Happy Monday!

Susan

Christmas Joy

Happy Post Holidays!

We had a great holiday season in my house. My two year old was so excited for her grandparents to visit (my parents) and she didn't really get the whole Santa thing but was all wound up as if she did. Her joy and happiness made this holiday season so much better!

Christmas 2014

My little reindeer

Time just passes much too quickly.
I cannot believe my littlest one is 8 weeks old already.I was not able to get her blanket complete to put under the Christmas tree as a present, but I only have one more circle left to crochet, which will be completed today!

Circle of Friends Purples and Pinks

Circle of Friends, 16 circles, Baby Blanket

I wish I had a lighter pink color in there but the light pink color for Vanna's Choice was lighter than I wanted to go. I think this will look great and Teagan will love it just as much as my two year old loves her.

My next project I have to get moving on as soon as this is done is another baby blanket for my friends who were expecting. Their bundle of joy arrived yesterday, very early at 32 weeks. I am going to whip up some little tiny hats to send in the mean time because I know the nurses will make sure his little head is nice and warm.

Happy Hooking!

xo Susan

Baby Girl Blanket in Progress

Greetings friends,

Christmas has come too quickly for me this year. I am a big Christmas person, I LOVE Christmas. I start listening to Christmas music at work in early fall...OK maaaaybe I have also been known to listen to it throughout the year...

Since I went into labor early, I wasn't able to prepare as well as I wanted to, but I am looking forward to having a nice Christmas with our newest addition. Even though Teagan is too little to know what is going on, having her here is extra special, and seeing the love my two year old has for her is even more special. One thing I want to have done before Christmas is Teagan's blank-y. I wanted to make her blanket with purples, but I was really having trouble finding yarn in purples that I liked. You may remember Lauren's blanket has daisies with a pink background, and she carries it around with her everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE!

One of the problems with Lauren's blanket is that I used two different kinds of yarn. The pink and yellow is Stitch 'N Bitch Washable Wool and the white is Vanna's  Choice. The washable wool isn't meant to be washed quite as much as we have to wash her blanket so two years later it isn't the best looking - it felted on the pink parts.

After searching different yarn stores, I decided to use pink and purple colors from Vanna's Choice since it is my go-to yarn.

Right now I have two of the colors complete as I will be making the blanket with 16 circles. Each circle will be finished off into a square with a white border for a 4 by 4 square blanket.

Circle of Friends Pink Circles

I had just enough yarn in one skein to make all four circles!!! The  last time I made this blanket for a boy, I stopped at row 5 with the colored circle and began row 6 in the white square border color. I accidentally did row 6 on my first three circles so I decided to just go with it on all of them.

My two year old fell asleep early tonight so I am finally going to be able to get some crocheting in to end the weekend. So I am off to crochet by the fire and eat some choclate. Tis the season...

Staying Warm by the Fireplace

We do not get a lot of cool/cold days or nights here so when we do, I love snuggling up on the couch with my yarn and hook and a nice little fire. .

xo Susan

Elmo Rocking Chair DIY

Good Morning Lovelies,

When I woke up this morning it was chilly enough that I did not want to get out from under the blanket, which does not happen very many days a year here in southwest Florida. My two year old Lauren was in my face saying "HI" so I couldn't really delay it any longer. But, Lauren was able to sit in her new Elmo rocking chair to eat her breakfast this morning!

I finished the DIY rocking chair project and added Elmo since Lauren is REALLY into Elmo right now. She was super pumped to have Elmo on her little chair.

DIY Rocking Chair Re-Do

I learned that I am not a good spray painter. Well I guess I already knew I wasn't good at spray painting but I continue to keep trying anyways. My problem is even after shaking the can for the amount of time it says on the can, the spray paint still comes out with bumps on it - sort of chunky even.

Luckily, I was able to get it going and make the chair look lovely. I also wasn't going to worry too much about any imperfections because with a toddler using it every day, and another who will follow, the chair is going to get some marks on it. When Lauren decides she isn't into Elmo anymore, I can paint over the Elmo head with Minnie Mouse or whatever new thing she is into at the time.

Here is what I did:
Supplies

• Two cans of Heirloom White Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch from Home Depot . 
• Red with white polka dot ribbon from Michaels (use a 50% off coupon)
• Martha Stewart's Satin All Surface Craft Paint for the Red, Orange, and Black to paint Elmo. I bought this set but I bought it at Michaels using a 50% off coupon, sometimes they even have 55% off coupons. I bought the set of 10 so I have colors for other projects too. The set was only $19.99 at Michaels so with the coupon I paid $9.99 for 10 colors
• Sand paper (optional)

Steps

1. I had to take apart the chair and tighten all the screws. After putting it back together, I wiped it down with Clorox Wipes to get all of the dirt and marks off of it and then let it dry.
2. Sprayed the first coat of spray paint using the Heirloom White paint. You may only need one can if you are a proficient spray painter. (remember, I am NOT)
3. I followed the directions on the can and let it dry before putting on the second coat. 
4. Google searched Elmo and printed off a black and white outline of Elmo's face from Google Images. Like this one. 
5. I put the paper up on a window (I used our sliding door but any window will do) and I traced the image using a sharp pencil.
6. Then I put the paper with the traced side placed where I wanted the image on the rocking chair and traced the lines I could see from my pencil. This will create a faint image of Elmo on the white. 
7. Remove the paper and sketch by hand any of the areas that did not get traced. Note: If you are good at drawing, you can skip steps 5-7 and just draw it free hand on the chair. I am a decent drawer, but I don't like when something looks sort of like Elmo but not really, so I went with tracing some parts. 



Faint Image of Elmo on the back of the chair

8. I also added two bows to the top of the chair to make it girly. I used my hot glue gun to make the bows and secure them to the chair. So far they have not fallen off.
9. Then I started painting. This part is a little annoying since you have to lean over to paint that part of the chair after you already have to lean over the same way to trace the image. Luckily it isn't a lot of painting so your back will not hurt too bad.
   
   
   
   
10. I bought finishing spray but didn't spray it on yet. I am not sure if I will. The paint really looks great and I am glad I bought the 10 color set because this was the second time I used them. 

Finished Elmo Rocking Chair

I was really happy with how it turned out. It is really hard to paint the black lines for outlining Elmo's eyes but if you do not look too closely, I think it came out really well! If you are an experienced painter, that part would probably be very easy for you.

Happy Friday!

xo Susan

Christmas Cards Ordered!

Greetings!

I finally ordered our Christmas cards this morning. See, I did get our family photos taking in October so I could have the digital images back and design and order our cards so I would have them ready to go in the beginning of December. Baby girl #2 was due December 12. Her sister was three days late, so I was not going to hold out and hope for family of four photos because it just wouldn't be feasible to get them in time to send out before Christmas.

A month ago I designed three different cards and wanted to run them by my hubby to see which one he liked the best. Time slipped away and I missed the 50% off promo, which I knew would be back before Christmas. I had a feeling as soon as I ordered them, the next day the 50% off promo would run again so I waited. While I was waiting our beautiful baby was born. I couldn't order our cards without including our perfect little new pumpkin.

Granny Square Baby Blanket with Newborn

Well, I was reminded this morning that today is the last day for 50% off and so I finally took a few photos of Teagan to add to the card. Her official new born photo shoot is later this week. Above is a photo of her with a large granny square I made while pregnant with my older daughter. You see, the day before Teagan was born I started her baby blanket. It is still in progress.

I made a baby blanket a few years ago using the circle of friends pattern and really liked it. After pondering for months about the pattern I would use for Teagan's blanket, I decided to use Circle of Friends.

Circle of Friends for Baby Blanket

Circle of Friends Baby Blanket in the making

I am still deciding on the exact colors to use. I am not sure if the yellow will make it in there. Luckily, I have a friend with a baby on the way that I can use the yellow circle for if I decide not to use yellow in Teagan's. I am using Vanna's Choice yarn by Lion Brand. Since my crochet hiatus, I see that Vanna's Baby line is almost non-existent, many of the colors are now part of the regular Vanna's Choice. I am going to check A.C. Moore sometime this week to see if I can get some more of the old Vanna Baby colors.

Happy Hooking!

xo Susan

Toddler Rocking Chair Re-do

Hello Lovelies,

We are having a cloudy and humid Sunday here, perfect for napping babies and toddlers and mommy crochet and photo snapping time. Over the last few days we have had a new crew of big birds in our backyard, it must be good fish hunting in the pond behind our house because every time I look out, I see another one with a fish in its mouth.

Florida birds eating some fish

Florida birds

We typically have one or two blue herons that hang around, but these big white ones are not year round regulars. Now that you saw a glimpse of what is happening outside, I will show you what I was working on "inside".

My two year old Lauren loves our neighbor's little rocking chair so I have been wanting to get her a little rocking chair but didn't want to spend $40 or $50 dollars on one. When someone posted a little rocking chair on my local Buy/Sell/Trade facebook group, I snatched one up for $5. It was in rougher shape than I thought. I ended up having to take it apart and tighten all of the screws because it was quite shaky.

The chair originally had a Hello Kitty decal on the seat back. I immediately started peeling it off before thinking about taking a "Before" photo so this is the chair minus the Hello Kitty decal sticker. I am going to start with spray painting it a shade of white!

xo Susan

Crafty Things

Hello Friends,

I am currently on maternity leave with our second adorable baby girl and I don't know if it is the scent in the air, or the coziness of her little blanky, or finally having some time to stop and think, but it just makes me want to blog!

The temperature has finally dropped a little here in southwest FL and it reminds me of when I started this blog back in February of 2011. When I lived up north I would say it is the scent of Spring in the air, but since our seasons here are hot, HOT, and HOT we do not really experience that scent in springtime instead we have it in the winter.

Over the last few months I have been crocheting but I have also been working on other crafty things that I want to share with you too. Rather than start a new blog, I want to add to my crochet garden!

Be on the lookout for my crafty creations!

xo Susan

Crochet 15 minutes a day...

Hello Friends,

I have been missing from blog land for waaaaay too long. I have also been missing crocheting for way too long. I had a baby 22 months ago and have had very little time to crochet since then. We are expecting baby #2 and I am determine to crochet for 15 minutes a day 5 days a week to try to get back to some happy hooking time.

I have many WIPs stashed away and an embarrassing yarn stash patiently waiting for my return. I am happy to say, I am back at it and the first WIP I want to finish is the English Meadow blanket. You may remember when I started this blanket... well if you have a really good memory. It was February of 2011! Here was my first post about it and my initial inspiration in the color selection.

I have been able to do 14 more rows since picking it back up and have been very happy with the progress so far. 

Granny stripe

Granny stripe - beach

Granny stripe - beach

Granny stripe - beach

Granny stripe - beach

 I have about three hours worth of crocheting left to finish the number of rows I want for the length and then I need to do a small border. Hopefully I can finish this one and start making a new baby blanket... 

More soon, 

Susan xoxo

Just popping in to say Hello! We have been very busy but I am working on a little crochet project and will get some photos uploaded this weekend.

I hope everyone having a fabulous winter!

Lauren loves the weather here in Florida

xoxo Susan :)

Crochet Baby Santa

Hello Lovelies,

When I was strolling around Pinterest I found a lovely crocheted Santa themed hat and diaper cover that I stitched up for Lauren's Christmas photos. Squeezing in time to crochet with a new born is quite difficult. I am starting to have time to breath some more but I will admit getting this hat and diaper cover done was quite a challenge.

But the end result was well worth it:

 It appears as though I am at my maximum amount of photos for my blog without paying to upgrade. I need to look into this and see what my options are. I wish I could share some more of her christmas photos. Hopefully I will get them up shortly!

xoxo Susan

Lovely Lauren

Hello Lovelies,

I made two posts and somehow drafts were not saved and I could not find the time to get back on and re-write them. But, I must bring this blog up to date. I miss crocheting and crafting.... and blogging!

Our baby girl Lauren is so lovely I just spend my days starring at her, aaaaand taking care of her. She will be 8 weeks on Monday, so she is finally starting to eat more and go longer increments between feedings, which gives me some time to do stuff. Crochet kinds of stuff.

I will be heading back to work next week for a couple weeks of work and then I will be off for a couple weeks for the holidays. This weekend J and I are getting the house ready for Christmas, the outside lights are up and the Christmas tree is down from the attic. As soon as I finish this post I will be getting the tree up and decorated. Lauren will watch, or do some sleep watching.
I ordered our Christmas card photo and am waiting for that to arrive so things are sort of on track right now for the holiday season.

Here was Lauren's birth announcement:

First side

Other side

I took the photos with our new Nikon camera we purchased before Lauren arrived and then I sent them over to my friend Jillian over at Jillian Marie Imagery and she made them look like this! Completely marvelous! We could not be happier with the way they turned out. Since they were mailed out I have been getting phone calls and emails with squeals about how cute it looks. I highly recommend Jillian Marie Imagery, if I lived in Arizona I would have her take some photos of Lauren as she is primarily a photographer not just graphic artisty.

Well tomorrow I will share the photo for Lauren's Christmas card shoot. I was going to take photos of her sleeping but she is such a smiley and alert baby I figured I better do an awake photo of her smiling. So check back tomorrow for it!

xoxo Susan

Our Baby Girl is Finally Here

Hello Lovelies,

I have been away waiting for my little pumpkin to arrive. All of my crochet goodies look better with her inside or on top of them so I was holding off on posting until she came.

My due date was October 5th which came and went without a baby. A week from today at 11:00pm my water broke and labor began! By 4:44am our beautiful baby girl was here. October 8th, 2012. We named her Lauren Olivia. She is a little peanut weighing in at 6lb 1oz and 18.75 inches. She is so perfect and we could not be happier.

She loves her daisy blanket and thanks to Mary at The Worry Bird, I am so glad I did not make the blanket any longer the size is just right.

More soon!
Xoxo Susan

Go Wild Pattern, Vera Bradley 2013

Hello Friends,

I do have some crochet goodies to share but unfortunately I am having some trouble getting the photos loaded to my computer. So, I am going to share another Vera Bradley 2013 sneak peak. This one is Go Wild!

 To me, this doesn't look like the typical Vera pattern. It is light and fluffy and looks neat. I like the black, gray, and yellow hues but this is one of those patterns that will get too dirty for my liking since it has a white background.

So there you have it, a second Spring 2013 pattern for Vera Bradley! You may find some on ebay from people who were able to buy them at a Sneak Preview sale.

No baby yet. 16 days to my due date, she is moving around A LOT and I have been getting a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions but other than that all is well.

Happy Wednesday,
xoxo Susan

Vera Bradley Winter/Spring 2013 Jazzy Blooms

Hello Friends,

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I do not have any crochet progress to share but I do have a sneak peak at one of the 2013 Winter/Spring Vera Bradley patterns. I think four new patterns will be coming out in the beginning of the new year in 2013 and Jazzy Blooms is the first one I have to share.

Jazzy Blooms, Vera Bradley Spring 2013

Jazzy Blooms Border, Vera Bradley Spring 2013

I think this pattern looks lovely. Not sure if I will run out and grab anything in it, but it looks pretty. Now that I have so many Veras I try to be very selective in what I purchase. We also have a Vera Bradley Outlet store near me which makes it extra difficult to control my desire to buy more and more Veras at great prices!

Happy Thursday,
xoxo Susan

Ready for Baby

Hello Friends,

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I am currently 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant - 23 days until my due date. Hopefully she is not late as it is getting very difficult to do much of anything. I am not a Happy Camper and I really do feel bad for J. He has been a good sport, and helps pull me out of bed when I can't sit up. Luckily pregnancy carpal tunnel syndrome has not been too bad this past week - knock on wood. I hate to even say that because I suspect tonight my hands and fingers will be throbbing.

The baby's room is just about done, a few more things to get and do but overall she could come today and I wouldn't feel like I had to do anything right away. Every since I made my first pink owl crochet hat I have fallen in love with owls. So we went with the Dena Happi Tree Owl theme for the crib bedding and matching wall decals.

Flower Headbands for my Baby Girl

Hello Lovelies,

Thank you for stopping by and visiting. I have been working hard on getting things ready for the arrival of our baby girl. In 5 more days I will be 37 weeks which is considered full term by most standards! This past week has been difficult, I am very uncomfortable all the time and go on bed rest once I get home from work each day. Whenever I try to get some things done I start getting Braxton Hicks contractions and need to lay down for a bit.

Anyways, I have been eyeing up some flower headbands on Etsy to get for my little pumpkin and was having a hard time deciding on which person to purchase from and which ones I wanted. I was mostly concerned with colors matching because some of the flower head bands are very specific colors and would need to be worn with just the right outfit. I finally decided I could make some of my own. You know, Pinterest inspired I guess?

It turns out they can be quite easy to make! I started off with this pink one:

Baby Flower Headband in Pink

I purchased the elastic ribbon at Michaels when it was 50% off a couple of weeks ago as well as the flower piece. These were located near the jewelry section. I used a hot gluegun to put it together and some white felt to use as backing where it will touch the baby's head. I made it in new born size (about 13 inches around) and figured I can always ripped it where I glued it and make it longer when she grows. This light pink blossom is so big I had to put the band to the side to be able to show it in the photo.

Second one: Blue Blossom

Baby Flower Headband Blue - Made by Me!

This one has a lacier elastic ribbon also made for new born (I made them all for new born so I can take lots of photos of her when she is first born with the headbands on). Same thing for this one, hot glue gun and white felt backing.

Next two smaller blossoms in pink:

Baby Headband - Three Roses pink and fushia

Baby Headband - Cluster of Roses in Pinks

I am very happy with the way they turned out and plan to make many more. The four of these were made with materials purchased from Michaels Craft Store for a total of $10.43 - I still have elastic left to make more. Each item was 50% regular price on sale, and I had a coupon for an additional 20% regular price and sale. I think each flower was $3.99 regular price and the three roses were sold together for $3.99 or so as well as the cluster of four roses.

The four baby handbands I made all materials from Michaels

I heard from many mommys that some of the ones they purchased from Etsy were too tight on the baby's head, so I feel much more comfortable using ones that I made to ensure they are a perfect fit. I just may need to bring my hot gluegun to the hospital with me so I can make sure we have a custom fit for her first photos. I think I may slip it into my hospital bag tonight :)
I hope you had a lovely weekend and look forward to the week ahead.

xoxo Susan