The Cat in the Hat

Recently a friend of a friend contacted me in search of a photo prop for her new baby boy. His nursery is Dr Seuss "Cat in the Hat" themed, so that's what we went with!

For this I used a combination of patterns. For the hat and bow tie (not pictured) I used "Top Hat and Bow Tie" by Beezy Mom's Creations. For the furry I cape I adapted a pattern from Calleigh's Clips. Calleigh's Clips does have a pattern for a "Kitty in a Striped Hat", I just preferred the hat pattern from Beezy Mom's Creations so I went with that instead. I do have several other patterns from Calleigh's Clips though and have always loved them, so I just used a pattern I already had from her to make up the cape. I'm happy with how it turned out, and, more importantly, so was the customer.

For the cape I started out using Yarn Bee "Haute Fur" ... but after the third of fourth attempt to unravel a part I wasn't happy with and having the yarn break off with no way to retrieve it, thanks to the texture of the yarn, I had had enough. I will admit it is probably the softest fur yarn out there ... but it just wasn't very easy to work with. I usually crochet as a means of de-stressing and relaxing ... so when I spend all of that time swearing at the yarn I know it's time to try another brand. Lion Brand "Fun Fur" was WAY easier to work with (and cheaper, and available at Walmart). Like night and day. I could unravel stitches if I made a mistake or wasn't completely happy with my work without it getting tangled up and breaking. The other noticeable improvement was the amount of shedding between yarns. "Haute Fur" ended up all over my clothing and couch, while "Fun Fur" barely shed at all (maybe one or two stray "hairs"). I'll definitely use "Fun Fur" again the next time I make something requiring furry yarn. I was not impressed with "Haute Fur" at all.

How cute is that sweet boy sleeping under his "Cat in the Hat" prop? I just love getting pictures from customers of their purchases in use. It always gives me the warm fuzzies. :-)

Leah the Little Mermaid

I have been really enjoying finding patterns for and making newborn photography props lately. This one I was especially excited about. I loved everything from the yarn, to the crocodile stitch patterned tail. And the sweet baby girl modeling it for me just topped it off.

(Photos of baby Leah are courtesy of my wonderful friend Leslie--Leah's
momma, and our friend Brigid who does amazing photography.)

The pattern is "Mermaid Princess" from Caleigh's Clips' Cuddle Critter Cape Sets (try saying that ten times fast!). If you are a crocheter and haven't checked out Caliegh's Clips, you need to. She has some incredibly original and creative patterns and they're all very well written and easy to understand. She even has video instructions for the more difficult techniques. It's just an awesome shop.

I've never attempted a crocodile stitch before, but I've seen several projects, mostly on Pinterest, that use it and I always think to myself how neat it looks. Once I found this pattern I knew it was the one I wanted to try out the crocodile stitch with. Luckily the pattern is written so well that it was a piece of cake to pick up the technique. Within a few crocodile stitches I was hardly thinking about it anymore. If you can double crochet, you can do the crocodile stitch.

I also loved the yarn the tail uses. It's Lion Brand "Tweed Stripes", and I was able to find it at our Walmart for under $5/skein. This specific colorway, "Lakeside", was even on clearance for $2.50! (I bought up all the skeins both of my nearest Walmarts had, lol.) I just finished up another set using the "Prism" colorway which I love just as much. I can't wait to try out the "Luau" colorway next, and maybe one of the primarily green colorways after that. I'm pretty sure I'll end up making lots of these sets just because I enjoyed the pattern and yarn so much.

For the shell top I got a little fancy and went with Red Heart "Shimmer" in "Lime". I wasn't sure if it would end up being too much with all the colors and patterns of the tail, but I absolutely love the way it came out. I think the subtle sparkle in the top looks really cute, and adds just the perfect special touch.

The pattern comes with the crown, but I thought it might be cuter with a little flower headband instead, so I went ahead and made both for Leah to try on. I love little crocheted flowers and I think the flower headband looks perfect with this set. I just love the way it all turned out and am so glad Leslie let me make it for sweet little Leah. I couldn't have asked for a cuter little model!

Ballard Slouch Hat (Review)

This is the second time I've tried the Ballard Slouch Hat by Felicia Lo, and this is the second time it has come out  very non-slouchy. I even added the extra set of 12 rows this time, and it still wasn't slouchy enough for an adult. I don't know what it is about this pattern, but I just can't get it to be slouchy enough. I think if I ever attempt it again I'm going to add an extra three sets to try to get it to have the slouch a slouchy hat should have.

I do really like the design the pattern makes. And I love the way Knit Picks Chroma Worsted yarn looks in a slouchy hat. I'll just have to keep looking to find the "perfect" slouchy hat ...

In the meantime I guess it'll work for my 3 (almost 4 -- wah!!!) year old this fall and winter. Not what I was going for, but she loves accessories so she's pleased as punch!

Does anyone have any favorite slouch hat patterns (knit or crochet -- I'm not picky) that they recommend? I'd love tried-and-true suggestions!

I Think I Can ... I Think I Can ...

Do you ever have projects that you just can't seem to get right? I'm a bit (that's an understatement) of a perfectionist, so if something isn't  perfect I frog it and start again. The project I'm currently working on has been completely frogged 4 times (so far). I just can't seem to get it right. I'm putting all the blame on the yarn. I do not like Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It is so hard to work with! I am always losing my count or having trouble picking up my stitches with it. The finished product always ends up so soft and cozy ... but I just have the worst time getting to that finish line. I will say that crocheting with Homespun is much easier than knitting with it ... but it's still very far down my list of favorite yarns. I need to get this project done by Friday, so keep your fingers crossed I don't end up having to frog it again. I should have some interesting pictures of this next week for you guys. ;-)

Lion Brand Yarn "Bunny Blanket Buddy" (Knit Version)

This pattern has been in my binder for a while now. Like ... years. I just have never gotten around to making it. It's called "Bunny Blanket Buddy" and you can find it on Lion Brand Yarn's website. It's a free pattern that has both a knit (here) and crochet (here) version.

I used Baby Bee Dreamy Baby Chenille in "Boo Pink" and I think it's just the perfect yarn for this project. Super soft and cuddly, which is exactly how a lovey should be.

I started out with the crochet version, hoping to save myself some time since crocheting is quicker than knitting. I got a few rows into it and frogged it. It just doesn't look as good crocheted. It was ok, but I knew I'd much prefer the knit version, so that's what I went with.

Overall I like the way it turned out. There are a couple things I would change though. Next time I will definitely lengthen the ears. Maybe even twice the length they are in the original pattern. One of my friends commented that it looks a bit like a dog the way the ears are now, and I agree. I think they need to be quite a bit longer to give it a much more obvious "bunny" look. I also think I will make the head a little shorter next time, but only by a few rows (maybe 3" instead of 3.5").

One thing I absolutely loved with this pattern was the way the head was knit. It's a technique I've never seen before (Has anyone else? Have I been living under a rock or is this as awesome as I think it is?) and I wish I had a million more projects to do with it! At first I was confused and thought the head was coming out as a flat rectangle ... which I wasn't very happy with. Then at the very end it suddenly pops open with a little hole for stuffing, and what I thought was a flat rectangle was actually a little pocket! It blew my mind! (Totally not exaggerating -- ask my husband. I was so excited about this!)

Overall I thought this knit up pretty cute, and I think I'll love it once I make those alterations I talked about. It may end up being my new go-to baby gift!

Long Time ... No Post

I'm finally finished with the work in progress I last posted about. Between the 20,000+ single crochets and my thumb deciding to spend a week too tight to bend, this blanket took forever. Foreeeeeeeever! But it's done and I think it turned out nicely. I was surprised at how nicely Red Heart yarn softens up after a couple of washes. I was a little worried it'd be too stiff and coarse, but it's very nice for an acrylic yarn (after washing, that is).

Hopefully now that my thumb is feeling better I"ll be able to get more accomplished and get back to posting again!

Cloud-Soft Shells Blanket (WIP)

I've been working on a pattern out of the book "Our Best Baby Afghans" by Leisure Arts. It's made up of shell stitch and v-stitch, and is very simple and repetitive. I am loving the pattern because it's very quick, has great texture, and I can see my progress after each row. I'll definitely be using this pattern again.

I chose Caron Simply Soft Paints for this project because I loved the "Driftwood" colorway. I've used Caron Simply Soft about a million times before for various baby items, blankets, etc and have always loved it. I'm not the biggest fan of the sheen it has -- I don't like that for every project, but you can't beat the softness. I assumed that the Paints line would be the same ... but I've been disappointed. Paints is much coarser in texture. When I washed my swatch with fabric softener and dried it with a dryer sheet it didn't soften up at all. I tried a second time in hot water, hoping that would get out all of the chemicals and dyes that could possibly be making it feel rough, and it still felt the same. I'm not sure "Simply Soft" is an appropriate name for the Paints line.

I used an I hook for this blanket, even though the wrapper on the yarn recommends an H. I should have gone up to a J even, and have been considering frogging what I have completed and re-starting with a J hook, but I'm 3 skeins in already. If I ever use this yarn again (which I am not sure I will) I will not use anything smaller than a J hook.

Three skeins of Simply Soft Paint. (Remote is for size reference.)

Speaking of 3 skeins ... that's nothing. I'm going to need probably 4 more skeins to finish, and that's before I add the border. Which means I'll need 4 more skeins of the Paints, and 1 skein of regular Simply Soft in a plain color (I'm thinking off-white with a single crochet brown border on the very edge) before I've finished this blanket. That's a crazy amount of yarn to me for a crib-sized blanket. I guess what they say about crocheting taking 3 times more yarn than knitting is true. I've never used more than 2 or  maybe 3 skeins to finish a [knit] crib-sized blanket before, and I'm not even halfway done with this one. Hopefully I can keep going as quickly to finish it up as I've been going so far. Crochet certainly works up more quickly than knitting, even if it does take a considerable amount more yarn.