The past couple weeks I've been feeling down and a little lonely. It's been a long time since I've felt this sad and I wasn't really sure what to do about it. This past Christmas, my husband had gone through my Amazon wish list and bought a lot of the knitting and crochet items on there that I had added a few years ago when I was doing a lot more knitting and crochet. I took that as a sign to get back into it.

After a rough week at work, on New Year's Eve, I set out to try fair isle knitting. It was one of my goals that I wanted to complete at the beginning of last year, but never got around to actually trying it. I found a simple pattern on Ravelry and started making a fair isle hat, while I was waiting for the ball to drop on New Year's Eve.

As winter dies down, I had been looking for other new things to crochet. The other day, I was scrolling through my Pinterest feed and came across a Very Hungry Caterpillar hat and cocoon set. I thought it was so cute! I'm done having babies, but one of my co-workers is expecting a baby this June. I thought it would be the perfect gift! So, I pinned several different patterns and set out to the craft store to find some yarn.

Ideally, I wanted a yarn that had a lot of different colors. As you can see on the book cover above, the caterpillar's body has varying shades of blue and green. I had one yarn in mind that I had worked with before. My one son had gifted me two skeins of Loops & Threads Facets yarn in Capri Blue. It had shades of blue and green and yellow. But, sadly, it's only seasonal and wasn't available.

Though, when I went out to buy yarn, I wasn't even thinking that it wouldn't be available at Michael's. I just knew Michael's wasn't having a sale that week and A.C. Moore was. So, that's where I went. I probably spent 15 minutes in the yarn section, looking for a yarn that would have the same colors. After almost giving up, I spotted a skein of Premier Yarns Puzzle in Cryptic. It's a self-striping yarn with blues and greens. Plus, it's a bulky weight yarn, so I thought it would work up quickly.

This week is Dr. Seuss week at my son's elementary school. Each day this week they're supposed to do something related to Dr. Seuss. Yesterday was silly sock day to celebrate "Fox In Socks." Today was Cat In The Hat day. They were told to wear cat hats if they had any.

I thought it would be cool to crochet a Cat In The Hat top hat for my son to wear to school. I did a search on Pinterest and Ravelry. I didn't really want to pay for a pattern and didn't really have time to try and make my own pattern since I started making the hats yesterday afternoon.

I found the "A Cat In My Hat" pattern by Snappy Tots on Ravelry and went with that. I opted not to include the ears and braids.

I started with the Child/Teen/Adult pattern since my son is 6, but it ended up being too big for him. So, I gave that first hat to my husband. He's going to be reading to my preschooler's class this week and I thought it would be cool if he wore it for that. Then, I made the Toddler size hat and that fit my son better.



His teachers liked the hat and my son loved wearing it to school.

Cat In The Hat Crochet Hat

Supplies:

• I/9 (5.0 mm) crochet hook
• Worsted weight yarn in red and white
• Yarn needle

Pattern:
     "A Cat In My Hat" by Snappy Tots

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I've been doing a lot of knitting and crochet the past couple months. Most have been hats. I did do a couple cowls and I've been wanting to try and make mittens.

Last week, I wanted to do something quick and easy. So, I made this cowl. I used the Chunky Ribbed Infinity Scarf pattern from Little Monkeys Crochet. The pattern is all half double crochet stitches, so pretty easy. But, I wanted to do something a little different and make it two colors.

I had bought a couple skeins of Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn from Walmart for pretty cheap. I was thinking of making a hat with it, but hadn't found the right pattern. As I was browsing on Ravelry the other day, I came across a post about the color combination of yellow and grey. I liked the way it looked and decided to make a cowl with that combination.

It's hard to believe that there's less than two weeks until Christmas! Even though, Christmas is almost here, I had to put up a quick post about this Santa Countdown Pillow that I made. It's my first time crocheting something so elaborate. I've done hats and scarves and even some amigurumi dolls, but nothing like this.

I saw the pattern back in September when I was scrolling through my Facebook feed. It was newly released and on sale, so I bought it. It's designed by JoAnn Grimes Thompson of GrammyJo Lids. I saved it to my Ravelry and started right away.

Last month, I started crocheting a rabbit. I wanted to make it for Easter. But, I ran out of yarn and didn't get a chance to buy more until after Easter. So, I decided to turn him into the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland! I figured it would be fitting since this year is the 150th anniversary of the original publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

I searched Pinterest and Ravelry for free patterns on how to make a White Rabbit outfit, but I couldn't find any. At first, I was going to make a red sweater and a white vest with a heart on it. But, that was too complicated. So, I ended up using a pattern for a heart applique and then making my own pattern for the ruffled collar and the pocket watch.

After all the crocheting and knitting I did this past winter, I had a lot of partial skeins left over. I wanted to make something to use up all the little bits of yarn. I found this great free pattern for Spin Balls on Ravelry. The pattern was really easy and you can use any weight yarn with its appropriate size crochet hook.


I made mine in two colors, but you could use even more. You can even make some of the stripes wide and some narrow. I'm hoping to crochet a few more to fill up this basket to place on our new coffee table!

I used worsted weight yarn and an H hook, though I probably should have used a G hook. Some of my balls had some of the stuffing showing through. A smaller hook would have given me tighter stitches.


Overall, though, I think they came out really cute!

As I've said in a previous post, I just started crocheting about a month and a half ago. I had been wanting to make a cowl for my two-year-old. She sees me and her older siblings putting on scarves and she wanted to wear a scarf, too. But, I didn't have anything sized for her.

I found this pattern for a Chunky Double Crochet Cowl from All About Ami. She uses a Super Bulky (Yarn Weight 6) yarn, but I didn't have any in the house. So, I used a Bulky (Yarn Weight 5) yarn, but still used the Size P (10 mm) crochet hook.


I used less than a skein of Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky in Tinsel White. I love the little strands of tinsel in it! It just reminds me of winter and Christmas and snow.


Child's Double Crochet Cowl

Materials

• Lion Brand Yarn Wool-Ease Chunky Yarn or any chunky yarn
• Crochet Hook, Size P-15, 10mm  

Find the pattern here at All About Ami's site!

A few years ago, I had broken my ankle and needed something to do while I was stuck on the couch. So, I tried knitting. I picked up some books and watched a few YouTube tutorials. But, I never really got good at it. I made a few scarves and washcloths. I also attempted a baby blanket when I was pregnant with my fourth child, but I never got around to finishing it. It's still on the needles!

About a month and a half ago, I decided I'd try to crochet. I wanted to make hats and I wasn't ready to try knitting in the round and using double-pointed needles and it looked like it would be easier to crochet a hat. So, I searched YouTube for videos on the basic stitches and for step-by-step tutorials so I could make a hat.

I chose one tutorial that didn't look to be too hard. I was amazed at how quickly the hat worked up. And even though I somehow lost some stitches along the way and the hat meant for a child only fit my toddler, I was hooked! I set out to make more hats! By the time Christmas rolled around, I was able to make a couple hats and a few scarves for people.

I'm going to be highlighting some of the favorite crochet projects that I've done so far and include links to where I found the pattern. No plans on selling anything yet, but eventually, I would love to set up a shop on Etsy!

Do you crochet or knit? I'd love to see some of your projects!