My own jersey slouch hoodie

Some of you might recognize this jacket from the tiny one I made for my paper mache sculpture girl Jenn.  It is was so cute and super easy to make that I had to make one for me! :) I just wish I had taken photos along the way, then I could have made a tutorial for you. I might make one for my daughter though, if I do I'll make sure and take photos along the way. :)

Vintage needlecraft magazine

 I have had this Needlecraft magazine for a while and thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite pages with you. It has a lot of great knit and crochet patterns, and I look through it all the time for inspiration. Maybe someday I will finally get to work on some of the projects I have been swooning at for so long.

 The blue granny square girls dress is so adorable, I really want to make it!  I also love the cardigan and striped pants. OK the pants are a little much be the cardigan is perfect! It even has the right initial for my daughter.  

Get a hold of that super awesome play mat! I want one! Just look and the fat little houses! Adorable! :)  And check out that knitted doll, she is just so gorgeous and timeless. Lovely.

 

The magazine is full of great cardigans and sweaters. (It also has a few scary ones but I left those out. :) )

These tunic patterns are super cute. I really like the one with the southwestern pattern. It looks like something Gretchen Jones would design, except maybe not in those colors. Thanks for stopping in!

Home school: Rainbow fun

For part of home school a few weeks ago we had some fun with color and light. My 2 oldest are 6 and 4 so we tend to keep things hands on and fairly simple. First I gave the kids food coloring in red, yellow, and blue, to add to 3 cups of water.  I asked them to make the other colors of the rainbow by mixing the colors they had. They had fun figuring out what combinations make what color. The purple would have looked better but it got some extra colors in it. :) (This part of the lesson was a huge hit because I usually never let the kids pour water back and fourth between glasses.)  Next we put the cups in rainbow order and learned about why the rainbow is always in the same order. Then we painted watercolor paintings of rainbows using only the primary colors. We made sure to overlap the paint to create all the colors in the rainbow. ( I forgot to photograph the paintings but they were lovely, and super fun to make! )

The second part of the lesson was making rainbows with light instead of food coloring and paint. We used a plastic Christmas tree ornament to catch the suns rays, I was prepared for disappointment but I was surprised at how well the plastic "crystal" worked. We taped the ornament onto a dark blue paper and then onto the wall right next to a shadow so the rainbow would be easier to see. They were so bright! We were all amazed at the beauty of the rainbows. :)

Fashion friday: Ruche

For five years now Trent and I have been longing for a larger piece of land to spread our wings and have enough room for animals. Room enough to easily fit a good size art studio. (Or two.) ;) Living off the grid is a dream of ours. These images from the Ruche fall 2010 look book illustrate well the lifestyle we want, clothes included! :) All you need is a hansom guy painting in the back, a few kids helping garden or playing in the mud, chickens running around, and a few baby goats and it would be even more perfect!

Thrifty Thursday : typewriter, tablecloth, crochet baby blanket, and vintge fabrics

 

I have a serious addiction to thrift stores.  My home is filled with thrift-ed finds. The mirror, metal tray, antique book, glass bottles, and wrought iron candle sconces, were all thrift-ed at different times throughout the past six years. (I am currently hunting for the perfect entry table. This stand in particle board shelf isn't doing the trick for me.) My most recent purchases are probably some of my most favorite though.  Just last week I found the Tiffany blue typewriter. I have another typewriter (beige) that looks really similar that is also thrift-ed. they will look great together. I also found this hand embroidered table cloth.

   The other thing I found was this hand crocheted baby blanket with cross stitched animals.  I love this blanket the most I think. I love to sit and stare at it while I'm nursing the baby. I am so inspired by the combination of crochet and cross stitch. I now have crochet/cross stitch ideas added to my ever accumulating list of craft projects.

The top photo of fabrics is my collection of vintage sheets. A collection of three! Ha ha! :) I hope to create a collection as awesome as Rachel's someday. The purple gingham is not sheets just a piece of fabric, also thrift-ed. In the second picture of fabrics you see my collection of non thrift-ed gingham. It is already outdated since just last night at Joe-Ann's I found some tiny mint colored gingham and a medium turquoise ,and a black gingham. I have plans for using these in kids clothes and quilting. I am looking for some giant orange gingham ever since I saw this. The last photo is a close up of the hand embroidered tablecloth. Isn't it lovely? :) Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all the crochet gnome hat love! You're all so awesome! What are you thrift-ing these days? :)

Tutorilal: How to crochet a baby gnome hat

I want to start by welcoming all the readers that have come over from Made, where this post is participating in "Celebrate the boy". 

Dana has giveaways and a wonderful collection of tutorials for making all kinds of cute boy stuff, so if you haven't already, go and check it out. A wonderful group of bloggers will be contributing tutorials. Not to mention the lovely tutorials Dana herself will be posting as well! It lasts all month, and into march a little too, so keep going back to see whats going on over there! :) 

I decided to share crochet instructions for a baby gnome hat!  If you want to read about my inspiration for the hat and what not, you can read it over on Made. :)

I only used one skein of "Charisma" by Loops and Threads, a bulky 5 weight acrylic yarn. I chose a thick yarn for warmth, and acrylic for wash-ability. This was my second time using this yarn, I am really happy with the way it turned out and will probably use it again in the future. It is really soft and doesn't itch like some acrylic yarns. I have made this hat using a lighter weight yarn and it works fine, the spaces between stitches are a little larger though.

Most of the hat is crocheted in the round and is worked almost entirely using the double crochet stitch. The pattern I am sharing is for a 12month old - 3 yr old size head.

The hook I used was US I 9 / 5.50mm.

Gauge

3 rows of 6 dc = 2in x 2in

Here is a key for all the abbreviations I use.

dc = double crochet

ch = chain

sl st = slip stitch

rep = repeat

sk = skip

beg = beginning

rnd = round

Lets get stared,

Ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring.

Rnd 1: ch 2 for first dc, 8 dc in ring, sl st to top of beg ch. 

(9 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 2: ch 2 for first dc, dc in each dc, sl st to top of beg ch. 

(9 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 3: ch 2 for first dc, dc in 1 dc, *2 dc in 1 dc, dc in next 2 dc, rep from *, sl st to top of beg ch. 

(12 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 4: same as rnd 2.
(12 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 5: same as rnd 3.
(16 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 6: same as rnd 2.
(16 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 7: same as rnd 3.
(21 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 8: same as rnd 2.
(21stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 9: same as rnd 3.
(28 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 10: same as rnd 2.
(28 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 11: same as rnd 3.
(37 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 12: same as rnd 2.
(37 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 13: same as rnd 3.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 14: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 15: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 16: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 17: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 18: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

After round 18 is finished fasten off and thread extra yarn into the hat.

You should now have a cute little gnome hat with no ear flaps.  If you don't want ear flaps you can stop here and call it good. If you do want ear flaps keep reading. :)

If you look at your hat you will see a "seam" of stitches where you joined each round and started the next one.  Lay the hat flat so that The "seam" is in the middle to make counting stitches easier. (Like in the photo below.)

 To add the first ear flap; Start working in the 10th stitch from the "seam". (see top photo above) Work the first row of the flap with the wrong side (inside of the hat) facing you.

Ear flap row 1: ch 3 for 1st dc, (working to the right) sk 2 dc, sl st,
(working to the left now) 7 dc (8 stitches total counting ch 3) in the same stitch that the ch 3 is coming out of, sk 2 dc, sl st. (See photo above.)

 Flip over and work the next row on top of the row you just made. Work with the right side (outside of the hat) facing you.

Ear flap row 2: ch 3, (working to the right) sk 2 dc, sl st, 

(working to the left now) 2 dc in every 1 dc (16 stitches total counting ch 3), sk 2, sl st. 

Fasten off and thread the extra yarn into the hat. (See photo above)

For ear flap 2 rep Ear flap row 1 and 2, starting on the 10th stitch from the "seam" on the opposite side of the hat. (See top photo above.) 

The "seam" should end up being on the back of the hat.

To make the ties cut 2 long strands of yarn. These should be three times longer than the length you want the finished ties to be.

Fold a strand in half and loop hook in the center fold of strand.

In the middle stitch of the ear flap (see bottom photo above) and pull strand of yarn though stitch. 

ch as many chain stitches it takes to run out of yarn. (Or as many ch stitches it takes to tie a bow under the chin of the person it is made for.) Fasten off and Trim excess.  

Do it again on the other flap.

 You hat should now look like the photo below.

Yippee You're done!!Put it on your little one to keep their little ears and cheeks warm and cozy.

 (Or just to see how cute they look in it.)  :)

If you want you can change it up a bit you can add pom poms or tassels to the ends of the ties.  Or you could change the color of yarn every row to make stripes. The possibilities are endless.

Happy crocheting everyone!!!

EDIT: I noticed that I forgot some details in the ear flaps. If you needed some clarifications there just read the red text.  I just added it. :) hope that helps.

Spreading the word

My sister Merrilee in having a sale on these lovely prints to benefit this amazing family! Their daughter Davy was born with a cleft lip and palate, congenital heart defects and several other conditions.
 All Lovely Love print proceeds are going to benefit the family! Merrilee posts more about it here. Check it out is really is a lovely post!
If you buy one this week you get another print of your choice free!! That deal is only going on this week so hurry and get one! I know I want one I just can't decide on a color. Go to her shop here and get yours!