Name that tune, anyone?

Second verse, same as the first:

And now, in stereo!:

All together now:  Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Cookies at Aunt Deb’s and more!

These are my 2 youngest making some amazingly yummy peanut butter chocolate cookies.  The recipe’s from a cookie cookbook my sister got me for Christmas last year.

Basically you make chocolate dough and peanut butter dough and then you flatten out the chocolate and wrap it around the pb, as demonstrated here by Russell.  That’s cousin Abby there turned around.

There’s a much better pic of cousin Abby.  If you look close, you can see near the bottom there that she’s about to wrap the chocolate around the pb.  Then you bake them and try to wait for them to cool off for a minute before snarfing them down.

Even Daddy and Aunt Dulcie got into the act.  I think Abby’s telling them the right way to do it.   They had to share a tray.

Oh, forgot to mention that sometimes we sort of smush them down a bit.  I think you’re supposed to do it with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar, but Patrick found that a hand works quite well, and is also WAY more fun.

Russell has to make sure his are all perfect spheres first.  Notice how we label the water bottle lids to keep everyone straight.  We use first initials: D, P, R, M, etc.  Daddy uses the liter ones so his are different.  Our system worked real well until we stayed with Aunt Deb and Uncle Phil.  Yeah, one more D and one more P.  Not sure what they did.  Probably kept their bottles way away from the boys.

One last cookie picture, of Abby demonstrating the proper smushing technique.  She really has quite a natural talent.

Ok then, anyone wanna guess what we did today?

Pictures of ornament making and possibly even knitting will resume shortly…

Even more FO’s!

See why we’re having another kid?  We make such adorable kids, really.  This is Patrick’s new star hat.  Pattern’s here, and it was a great pattern.  Patrick loves it.

Here’s the view from the back side:

And here’s the mittens I made to go with them.  Same yarn, pattern from a book that I don’t know where it is right now.

And yes, he’s in a nightshirt.  He is wearing underwear though.

 

This weekend, in spite of a last minute drive to TX,  I managed to finish also the matching baby hat for my BSJ and the hat I’m making for my brother.  I’ll get those pictures up later on, along with some adorable pics of the boys and their cousin making cookies and ornaments.

Well, the baby hat’s almost done.  I just have to attach some chains for ties or something.

 

Also, a question: Why does the wheat chex come in such a teeny box compared to the corn and rice chex?  I can always get 2 batches of homemade chex mix out of one box of each, but then I have leftover rice and corn.  Then I think, I can make one more batch if I just get another box of the wheat.  But then, I run out of the corn and rice, and the cycle begins anew.

 

I bet it’s the same people who make hot dogs in 10 packs and hot dog buns in 8 packs.

I’m on a roll now

Check these out:

Baby hat #5, feather and fan one.  Pattern’s here.

#14 here is the Cat in the Hat style top hat.  Cute huh?  Thanks again for the idea, friend.

Spent about a half an hour at Joann’s looking at buttons before deciding on these adorable flowery ones.  I figure if this baby’s not a girl, there’s a charity auction thing in the spring at hubby’s work and I can always donate it.  I’m going to use the rest of the green and pink yarn to knit up some booties, perhaps these, and a hat, for which I’m starting a garter stitch version of this.  All Rav links, by the way.

 

Also finished up my top down version of the feather and fan cap, and frankly, it’s not adorable.  Hubby liked it, so that’s odd, but I think maybe he just likes the fun fur/eyelash yarn I bordered it with.  This was fraught with problems.  I started off with increasing enough to have the correct number on each needle for the feather and fan pattern, but when I started in on the pattern, it was situated such that it made 4 little bumps/nipply things on the top of the hat.  It looked horrible.  I thought, maybe if I shift the pattern it’ll do better.  That sort of worked, now there’s only small bumps.  I got to where I was almost out of yarn, so I checked my amount, and figured I had enough to do one more row and then bind off.  Which, if it had worked, would have been great, since it allowed me to do a couple rounds in garter st and then bind off on the knit row.  Alas, it was not to be.  I ran out of yarn midway through the 3rd needle.  So, I went stash-diving and came up with some shiny white dk yarn and some very fluffy white eyelash yarn that I held together for the bind off row.  Somehow, now the hat totally flairs at the bottom.  Makes it look like a bucket hat.  I don’t know if I loosened way up at the bottom, or if perhaps I should have kept some of the decreases in or what.  I will not be posting this pattern, as I certainly don’t want to repeat it.  I’d post it on Rav as an ugh, but I don’t want to send bad vibes to whatever baby is going to wear it.

I did mention why I’m doing these baby hats, didn’t I?  Go here and read if you’d like.  Again, Rav link.

 

There’s a few more things, but I’m going to save them for tomorrow.  Cause, after all, tomorrow is another day.  Thanks Scarlett.

Sad news, more baby hats, and a freebie

Lots to write today, so grab a drink and hang on.

 

First off, I’m sad to say that my husband’s mother lost her battle with pancreatic cancer early Wednesday morning.  She was 76.  I won’t go into all the details here.  Just suffice it to say that cancer sucks, and that makes 3 great women in my life who in my opinion were taken way before their time.  My grandmother Nana, who taught me to crochet, died from lung cancer back in 1981.  I was 2 weeks shy of turning 11.  My mom died from what they thought was pancreatic cancer until they opened her up and found that a tumor had burst inside her abdomen.  It had been wrapped around her pancreas, so the ultrasound was misleading.  She left in 1994.  She got to see me get married but never met any of my boys.  And now Steve’s mom.  I’m so grateful that the boys are probably old enough to be able to remember her later on (my youngest is almost 6 now), and at the same time pissed as all get out, cause now they have no grandmother at all.  Did I mention that cancer sucks?

 

Ok then, here’s some more baby hats I’ve recently finished up.

#11 here is the top hat pattern below with a few mods.  I listed those below right after the pattern.

#12 is that same crocheted granny square one from before with a shell border.

 

#13 is a feather and fan top down one I’m still working on.  I’ll put up a picture and post that pattern as well when I’m all done.

 

And the reason I’ve only finished a few hats are many.  Partly because I’m working on a sweater for Patrick and Russ to share out of the leftover yarn from my $12 Coat of Many Colors.  They kept borrowing it to sleep in, which if you think about it, looks especially odd when it’s that large.  I finished up with the first arm, I think, but I have to have someone try it on to make sure before I start in on the second sleeve.  Also this:

It’s a hat for my sister’s hubby using this chart. Not your everyday snowflake fair isle, huh?

And remember that cute little top hat like one I did?

I thought about it, and since I’ve already done another one, and had a fabulous idea for a 3rd from a friend, I’m going to post the pattern I made up.  Here comes your freebie:

Ch 4, 11 dc in 4th ch, join with sl st to top of ch 3.  Your ch 3 in every round will count as a dc for the total dc count at the end of each round.
Rnd 2 – ch 3, 1 dc in same st as sl st, 2 dc in each dc, join with sl st to top of ch 3- 24 dc
Rnd 3 – ch 3, 2 dc in next dc, (1 dc in next dc, 2 in next dc) around, close with st st- 36dc
Rnd 4 – ch 3, 1 dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc, (1 dc in next 2 dc  2 in next dc) around, close with sl st- 48 dc
Rnd 5 – ch 2, 1 dc around post from the back of previous row, close with sl st- 48 still.  See picture below for details of this step.  This makes a cute little ridge as ou turn the corner to go down the sides of the hat.
Rnd 6 through 10 – ch 3, 1 dc in each dc, join with sl st.
Rnd 11 – ch 3, 1 dc in same st as sl st, 2 dc in each remaining dc, join with st st and fasten off – 96 dc

Here’s the pic of Rnd 5 detail:

Does that clear it up?  You flip the crochet over so you’re going in from the back side.  Stick the hook into and around the first dc, yo, draw a loop through, and then finish off the dc like normal.  Do that all the way around the circle, and it makes a cute little rim thing on the top of the hat.  You could accomplish almost the same thing by dc’ing into the back loop of each dc, but to me this way’s more sturdy.  Plus with this, you get an actual little pokey-outie part that with the dc’ing into the back loop thing you only get a nice little line.

Options – I’ve already made another where I did not do the post dc on round 5; I just started right in on the 1 dc in each dc but, which made it curve more downward, and I added a ruffled border instead.  My next one, thanks to a great idea, will be a Cat in the Hat color scheme.

One great thing about this pattern is that it’s easily customizable.  Just increase the circle until it measures across a smidge smaller than the size you want, cause it’ll stretch a bit.  Then start on down the sides.  It would look really cute with a bigger floppier border on it as well, with maybe a flower pinned onto it.  Or just do it all in black, with a couple rows of white just before  the brim to really look like a baby top hat.   You could also do one row near the bottom with a dc, ch 1, skip next dc, dc in next dc thing, so as to make sort of an eyelet row, and then thread a pretty ribbon through.  I seem to be on a girl kick for what was supposed to be more of a boy hat pattern.  Maybe it’s a sign.

Another day, another hat or 2

Ok, so it’s more than 2.  I got carried away with crochet.  Forgot all about Russell needing a new pair of mittens too.  I need to have him go through my stash and pick out a yarn.  In the mean time, here’s some pictures:

#4 here is that crocheted one with a ruffled border.

Hat #6 is one I made up on the fly.  I may or may not post the pattern later on.

#5, in case you’re wondering, is a feather and fan one that’s still in the works.  I can crochet way faster than I can knit.

#7 here was done in yarn that I actually recognized, Caron Simply Soft.  It’s leftover from a springtime color afghan I made a long time ago.

#8’s in the same yarn, different color, from the same afghan.

#9 is made with TLC Amore yarn, and boy was it odd.  I’d knit with it before, but crocheting is rather interesting.  It doesn’t look fuzzy in the skein, but it was really hard to see where to stick the hook.  It sure is soft though.

#10 here is the last one for a little bit.  It’s done in some heathered purple I had laying around, no idea at all what the brand is, but the heathering is beautiful and it’s squishy soft for acrylic.  It’s also a bit on the thick side, so I went up a hook size to an H.  Still adorable though.

I have to take a short break from the baby hats to work on some Christmas presents.  I’m making something, probably a hat, for my sister’s hubby using this pattern.  Nice, huh?

Crocheted baby hat pattern

Ok, so first the pattern, then the back story:

Ch 4, join with sl st to form ring.

Rnd 1 – Ch 3, 2 dc in ring, ch 2, 3 dc in ring , ch 2, 3 dc in ring, ch 2, sl st to top of ch 3 to close.  Total of 3 blocks (12 dc) and 3 spaces.

Rnd 2 – Sl st in next dc, ch 3, 2 dc in same dc.  Ch 1, 3 dc in ch 2 space, ch 1, 3 dc in center dc of next block.  Repeat around.  You should have 1 block in each ch 2 space and 1 block in each center dc.  Total of 6 blocks (18 dc).

Rnd 3 – Repeat Rnd 2 for a total of 12 blocks and 12 spaces.  This will continue to be your total for the remaining rnds.

Rnd 4 – Ch 4 (acts as ch 3 (3rd dc when you get back around to it) plus ch 1 for space), 3 dc, ch 1 in each space around to last space.  The last space will only have 2 dc, then join with sl st to top of ch 3.

Rnd 5 – Sl st in space, ch 3, 2 dc in same space, (ch 1, 3 dc in next space) around.

Alternate rnds 4 and 5 until desired depth is reached.  For my baby hats, I did a total of 8 rounds, then the border.

Shell border – sc in the center dc of each block, and do 5 dc in each space around.  This makes a quite adorable little flair outwards, but would probably not look that good on a boy hat.

You could also just do a backwards sc around for a more ropey look that would be good for a boy.  Another border option would be to do 3 dc in every st around for a nice ruffle.

Now for the back story.   A friend on Ravelry challenged my knitting group to help make some baby hats.   I whipped one out really quick, but then gave it to Steve to take down to FL with him to give to his younger sister who’s expecting the same time as me.  Then I discovered that this “friend” is knitting hats like mad.  I believe she’s already posted at least 5, perhaps more.   So, I thought, well, I knit pretty fast, but I crochet like the wind.  I went trolling through the Ravelry crocheted baby hat patterns, and found several I liked.  There was one, a granny square pattern that turned out way too big.  I don’t know if I’m using too big yarn or too big hook, but I didn’t stop to find out.  I just frogged the thing and re-started it in a way that would make it end up small enough, and thought it might be a good idea to go ahead and write down what I did in case anyone else wants to copy.  Pattern link on Ravelry is here.

Just so you know, here’s the other 2 hats I knitted up in the mean time as well.  I never even got a picture of the first hat before giving it away.

Baby hat #1, pattern here, and made in stockinette instead of the ribbing.

Baby hat #2, made with a circle of I-cord instead of the knot.  Same pattern as above.  Did a provicional cast on for the I-cord, then did about 20 rounds before unzipping the waste yarn and picking up the original 4 st for a total of 8.  Then just continued down the pattern like normal.  The joining did leave a little hole at the top, but I used the tail of the yarn to weave back and forth a few times to hide it.  I think it turned out pretty cute.

If you notice any glaring errors in the pattern, please let me know and I’ll corrrect them right away.  Also, if anyone come up with a snappier name for the hat that’d be great.  Crocheted hat, while quite accurate in it’s description, lacks a little, oh, I don’t know, something.

Felting the slippers and more

The slippers felted fairly well.  The Lion Brand Wool did way better than the Hobby Lobby stuff I think.  Which means that David’s slippers turned out better than Patrick’s.  Good thing he’s (Patrick) so easy going.  I think I have some elastic thread that I can just weave into the top of the foot to make the slipper stay on.  Note to self, next time, just make the slipper longer.  Here’s David’s slipper:

And here’s Patrick’s:

Also finished up that toy I had been working on for the State Fair.  I didn’t finish it in time for that, but perhaps the new baby will enjoy it.  Speaking of which, by the way, congrats on those who figured it out.

 

Finishing up the star ball allowed my size 2’s to become available for some adorable socks.  Not sure if they’ll be for me or David, I don’t know if he’ll like them,but I sure think they’re cute.

Speaking of socks, I saw in the Mary Maxim catalog the best new sock yarn.  I’m trying to decide which one to get.  It’s Christmas sock yarn, sort  of fair isle style, and there’s sparklies in there too!  I just love it!

What’s wrong here?

Subtitled: “Why I shouldn’t knit before 8:00 am”

 

See, it all started so innocently.  I had been working on these mittens for Patrick the day before.  I almost finished them.  All that was left was to pick up the stitches on the last thumb and knit up a few rows, and then to seam them both up.

 

I got everyone ready for school, lunches packed, breakfasts eaten (mostly), Vitamin C’s chewed, tennies tied, hoodies on, bookbags over heads and shoulders, and had the youngest 2 out the door right on time to catch the bus.  Now that the leaves have all fallen off the trees in our front yard, I can sit on my bed and look out my window at their bus stop to make sure they don’t do anything too awful while they’re waiting.

 

I was sitting there watching them and thought, hey, I bet I could whip out that thumb real quick while I’m waiting here,then get started on my regular morning chores.  I picked up the mittens, the ball of yarn, my size 6’s, and promptly did this:

Can you spot what I did wrong?

Honestly, at this point, I’m just glad I didn’t finish up the thumb.  Maybe I’ll pick these back up after I’ve loaded the dishwasher and folded some clothes.  That’ll teach me to try to sneak in knitting, huh?

Wanna know the secret now?

First a pic of the slippers I whipped out for Patrick.  Not much going on the days after Halloween.

Details of what exactly I did are on my project page. I sure hope that the different yarns felt evenly.

 

As to the secret, anyone have a bible handy?  Go look up Psalm 139, verse 13 and see if you can figure it out.  Let’s just say I’m doing TONS of knitting these days, but not the kind where I can post a picture.  I’ll try to get a finished picture when I’m all done.  That should be sometime around the beginning of March.