Colorful Cloche Hat

For Christmas, my mom got me some really nice, soft bamboo yarn in a couple of different colors. One of the colors was variegated with pastely rainbow colors. I finally decided on what to use it for and created something for myself with it. I found this cloche pattern on Ravelry that I really liked and here's what I created. I made it in one evening, so it works up pretty quickly with bulky weight yarn and size K crochet hook.

An up close shot of the finished product. I love the "ribbon" detail. That's what made the hat for me.

Detail of the "ribbon" and bow. I would have increased the number of chains from 132 to 140 maybe to make this a little longer.

The hat on its owner. Sorry for the bright glare.

The hat is nice and heavy. I've never used bamboo yarn before, but this kind from Think Bamboo is super soft and easy to work with. Of course, my girls really liked the color and now want to wear Mama's hat. I have a little of the yarn left, so I might use some as trim on a scarf or something.

Handmade Gifts for the Girls!

I was sick pretty much everyday after Thanksgiving, so I had plenty of time to sit, or lay, around and sew. So, I took the opportunity to make some doll clothes for my two oldest girls and some little booties for my baby girl.

This will be the dress for Naomi's American girl doll, Elizabeth, that she's getting for Christmas. The pattern was free, and I found it here. It's called a wedding dress, hence all the whiteness. But I'm thinking of adding some crocheted flowers or ribbon or something to it. I think Naomi would appreciate that.

This is the front view. It should fit any 18" doll.

This is a view of the back. The pattern did not call for any kind of closure at the top, so I figured a button would work. I just used one of the spaces between stitches for the button hole.

And here is the dress I made for Mae's doll she is getting. I don't know exactly what size her doll will be, but I'm assuming not as tall as an American Girl. This is using the same pattern, except I did fewer rounds at the bottom and ended with two rounds of single crochet instead of one. I also added a round of trim that was 1 single crochet then two chains in each stitch. Makes it kind of ruffly. Finally I added a ribbon that was simply a chain stitch and weaved it through the middle.

This is the front view. I had these three colors, but not enough of one to make a full dress, so I made a tri-color dress. I actually like it better than the solid white!

And this is the back.

I love this pattern because it's so easy and works up super fast. It uses mostly double and single crochet with a few v-stitches (which is just dc & ch stitches). My favorite part is that it is sewn in one piece, so no joining parts together! And you know what that means! Fewer ends to weave in! Unless you change colors like I did with Mae's doll's dress.

Finally, here are the little booties I made for Illiana from this pattern here. I had to change the pattern quite a bit through, because my babies have all had fat feet and these booties just didn't cover those chubby baby feet. I added a few more stitches per row and moved the strap back a row to have it more centralized on the foot. These also were worked in one piece and super quick.

Tawashi: Me Washy Your Dishes

Well, I just typed this whole post up and Blogger decided to delete it and the pictures I posted along with it. In short, here are these tawashis (scrubbies) I just completed. I found the link to the pattern over at Elsie Marley. To get the most scrubbing power, I used some relatively scratchy acrylic yarn.

Side View.

And here's the wash cloth that I also completed recently. I used cotton yarn for this for absorbency purposes.

American Girl Clothes and Patterns

I heard through the grapevine that Naomi is getting one of the exquisite and fashionable American Girls for Christmas. Not from us, of course. $95 for a doll is highway robbery, but I do think the dolls and their books, especially, are a well-made and even an educational treat for a little girl who will treat them kindly. Naomi is pretty meticulous with her toys, so I think she'll handle the doll fairly well. When I asked her which doll was her favorite, I let her look at all the choices on the website, and she was dead set on Elizabeth, Felicity's blonde friend in an elegant pink dress. I like Felicity's red hair and purple dress better, but I'm not a little girl whose world is seen through Pepto-Bismol pink glasses. (Personally, Josephina is my favorite.) Naomi also really loves Addy, the other little doll in pink, but Elizabeth was her final answer.

Knowing that Naomi loves to dress her dolls up, I decided that I should probably make some doll clothes to fit the 18" inch American Girl doll, so I set out to find some crochet and sewing patterns that would work (ah, if only I could knit). Let me tell you, there are tons out there, but I needed quick and easy since Christmas is only 39 days away, I think, and I don't get much time to sew with three little lovlies running around and needy.

Here are some links to things I found that I'd like to try to make. First and foremost, the tutu. A tutu is an essential for any little girl and her doll (We signed Naomi up for ballet classes starting in January with Parks and Rec...only $35 for 12 weeks!). Next, a crocheted vest that I'm sure could be embellished in any number of ways. There is a link to a little skirt for the doll at the bottom of the page. And this page with tons of crochet patterns, like a jacket, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, pants, skirt, etc. Not all these will be for Christmas, but birthdays and such. Notice most of the links are for crocheted clothes. It's kind of a pain to get my sewing machine out and then have to clear it off the kitchen table for every meal, so until I get a table and corner of my own, I will crochet more than sew.

Hope you enjoy the links! Feel free to comment with other links you've found!

What I'm Working On...

...is this awesome wash cloth from the free Lion Brand crochet pattern found here. The stitch is a combination of single and double crochet stitches that make this fascinating pattern.

Close-up Shot of the Bark Sedge Stitch Wash Cloth (halfway done)

Completion!

Hooray! Today, I finally sat down and finished the sweater vest I've been working on for a month or so. I took a break from it for a while because life just got plain busy, and, though I desperately wanted to finish it, I set it aside to do some work from home that I do. I pulled it out here and there to do a couple of stitches and such. Yesterday, I weaved in all the dreaded ends, and today I sewed on the buttons for the final finishes. Here are the pictures.

Here's the front shot. The pattern called for all one color, but I didn't have enough of one color for the project. What I did have was two skeins of each of these Lion Brand Wool-Ease colors. I also made the straps slightly narrower and added a colored trim on them.

This is the back up close. The straps are sewn onto the front and then two buttons are sewn onto the back in order to button the straps down in the back, making their length adjustable. Notice the single large button in the middle; I used that with a loop attachment rather than the five buttons along the middle back opening as called for in the pattern.

And the back shot. My seam is not quite perfectly straight, but it'll do, Pig.

I used this pattern from the Lion Brand website, in case you were wanting to try it yourself. It called for organic cotton yarn, but I chose this thicker, wool-acrylic blend, making it a sweater vest rather than a simple empire waist tank. It'll be more useful up here in chilly Wisconsin.

Newest Project: Empire Waist Sweater Vest

Well, since I finished those last two projects for my girls, I wanted to make something for myself, and since fall is upon us in full here in Wisconsin with changing colors and fields of brown and amber, I figured I go for something warm. I found this pretty simple pattern from Lion Brand Yarn for an empire waist tank top, but I think it's going to end up being a sweater vest for me, since I didn't have cotton yarn on hand as the pattern suggested, but I did have some Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn in a couple of different heathered tones. Here's a picture of what they say it should look like.

My version is in Mushroom and Rose Heather (I didn't have enough of either one to be a solid color.), and I didn't not have the size F crochet hook, so I'm using the G hook for the smaller one and I hook for the larger. I think I will add some cool looking trim around the top and bottom for a creative effect. We'll see. But I will post photos when I'm done.

Cutest Diaper Cover

I crocheted this cute little number for Illiana and her cloth diapered little bootie. It was such an easy pattern for me, a relative beginner at crocheting. I’ve done it off and on for a few years, but this is my most proud achievement, I think. It actually fits her, too! The pattern found here calls for an elastic waist sewing inside a casing, but I went for a drawstring look, simply because I wanted to. And because I could do it easily enough while watching my Star Trek movie marathon. What is this, you ask? No, I’m not a trekkie, but someone lent us the entire 10 movie Star Trek series and I’ve been watching them as I sew and work on the computer. They’re so cheesy! Anyway, here’s the photo of the cover.