The Worst Part

So tonight I needed a break, (my husband is on a vacation from school so our nap schedule is off, and when the nap schedule is off, Mommy gets slightly cranky.) Little Bear went to spend the evening with Grandma, Grandpa and his Aunty.  And I sat and crocheted. Honestly. And I was pretty darn content doing so.  Ok, so we did eat a quick dinner and watched a movie.  Though I never really watch movies, unless I am at a theater, (I find they don't generally keep it bright enough for me to crochet...)  My husband will stop and rewind when there is a part he thinks I should watch, otherwise I just look up from my work every once and a while.

Anyways, I have come to my least favorite part of any project.  Weaving in the ends... it is so frustrating and time consuming!  Most of the time my projects only require a couple ends to be woven in, like my hats or scarves.  But I chose this beautiful pattern from Lion Brand yarn for my Grandmother's birthday present.  I chose it because the motif looks like a dogwood blossom and those flowers always remind me of my Grandfather who passed away in 2007.

Of course I used a different type of yarn and two different colors (such a rule breaker...)

Ugh!  Got to get going, time doesn't slow down for anyone, especially cross eyed crafters...

Cake Dreams

I keep having this weird recurring dream/nightmare.  It starts out happy, we are celebrating my littlest sisters birthday, all my family is there, and my Mom has made her a beautiful cake.

(Note: My Mom's cake are the absolute best in the world.  They are always so beautiful.  They are so moist and delicious and always have the perfect ration of iceing/cake.  Her cakes are what I use to judge all other cakes, and most of those cakes don't stack up. Yes, I am a cake snob.)

In my dream we all gather around the cake and since it's her birthday my sister gets to cut the cake.  She sticks the knife in and the top layer of the cake flings off on to her shirt and slides off on to the floor.  The cake is ruined! In my dream I always get so sad and angry and then I wake up.  Then I wish I had a piece of my Mom's cake.

As far as dreams go it's not terribly weird, what is weird is hat I keep having it (and it's not even that close to her birthday!)

I'll have to wait till Sunday to get my piece of cake though, we are celebrating my Grandmother's 80th Birthday!!

Been a long time...

Oh my, it's been a long time!  But I haven't forgotten about you!  May was an extremely busy month and it turns out June was too!  I am finally feeling like I can breath again!

We've been enjoying some beautiful weather around here lately!  We've been trying to get some time in the pool every night!  And yesterday we visited Letchworth State Park for a picnic and some walking.  It is absolutely gorgeous there!

Me at Inspiration Point - Letchworth State Park. I bring my crocheting everywhere!  

I used to try to write at night or during little Bears nap (like now!  Thank you Jesus!) but lately I have been having a wicked time getting him to sleep.  We've got a routine (diaper change, jammies, songs or a book or two, teeth get brushed, nurse and then I rock him to sleep.) but now he screams and kicks while I try rocking him and he ends up eventually wearing himself out so that when I nurse him again he falls asleep.   I am trying to slowly wean him and I don't really want to keep letting him nurse to sleep.  

My husband thinks I should let him cry it out in his crib, he figures he would be crying either way...  But I honestly can't bring myself to leave him screaming in his crib, believe me I've tried.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know, I am completely exhausted!  

Crocheted Flower Hat Pattern

Today I am so tired I accidentally put double the amount of splenda in my coffee.  Waaaay to sweet.  But, I drank it anyways.  Seemed a shame to waste a Green Mountain French Vanilla K-Cup.  And I couldn't wait the minute it would take to make another cup.  The good thing about Little Bear waking up early is that he usually takes a morning and afternoon nap.  (Emphasis on usually.)

And we're crossing our fingers he does!  I would like to finish a couple things.  I've been making these cute hats!

I'll share my pattern for it.  (Disclaimer: to my knowledge this is my original pattern, I haven't seen a pattern that looks like this.  Furthermore, please use my pattern if you would like and feel free to sell the hats you make from it, but please be sure to mention my blog.) 

I like this pattern because it sits nicely on a baby's noggin and it has a tiny flare out at the bottom for a little girlyness.  

This pattern is worked in the round and is not joined at the end of each round, be sure to mark the beginning of the round and move the marker up as you go.  You can find stitch markers in any craft store, but honestly I lose those fairly regularly. I like to use a little bit of a contrasting colored yarn as my marker.  

The pattern below makes an infant hat that should fit a baby 0-3 months old.  I will briefly go into how to make the hat bigger for an older infant.  

Materials:  Any sports weight yarn, I like Loops and Threads Impeccable. (the green yarn I also show, I have no idea what brand it is, my yarn stash is slightly out of control and I have lost the yarn sleeve.  

Crochet hook - I 

Tapestry needle (for weaving in ends)

Leaving a 5 inch tail, Chain (ch) 4, make a circle by joining the first ch with a slip stitch.  

Round 1 - Ch 1, single crochet (sc) 8 times into the circle.  

(Note: I like to crochet over the tail of the yarn as I go around the circle, that way when I finish I can pull the circle closed.  Sort of like the magic circle) Do not join. 8 stitches.  

This is the first round, you can see the hole.

And now you can't.  (I pull it even tighter at the end of the project as I weave in the tail) 

Rnd 2 - 2 sc in each stitch around.  16 stitches

Rnd 3 - 1 sc in each stitch around.  16 stitches

Rnd 4 - 1 sc in first stitch 2 sc in second stitch.  Repeat pattern to the marker. 24 stitches.  

Rnd 5 - 1 sc in each stitch around.  24 stitches. 

Rnd 6 - 1 sc in the first two stitches, 2 sc in third stitch.  Repeat pattern to marker. 32 Stitches. 

Rnd 7 - 1 sc in each stitch around.  32 Stitches.

Rnd 8 - 1 sc in first three stitches, 2 sc in the fourth stitch.  Repeat pattern to marker. 40 stitches.  

Rnd 9 - 1 sc in each stitch around.  40 stitches.  

Rnd 10 - 1 sc in first four stitches, 2 sc in fifth stitch.  Repeat pattern to marker. 48 Stitches. 

Rnd 11 - Round 22 (or desired length) - 1 sc in each stitch around. 48 stitches.  

Rnd 23 - 1 sc in first three stitches, 2 sc in the fourth stitch.  Repeat pattern to marker.  

Rnd 24 - 1 sc in each stitch around. Fasten off.  

Weave in ends.  

Note: Round 10 is the end of the increasing portion of the 0-3 month old hat.  For larger infants you would continue the increasing rows (increase by 8 stitches each round) until it reaches the desired size.  Also make the hat slightly longer.

This is my pattern for the flower.  

Using a contrasting color (or color of your choosing, I wanted to pick up the pale pink in the background of the hat.)

Crochet hook size does not matter.  The bigger the hook, the bigger the flower.  

As with the hat, I also leave a tail on the flower and crochet over it in the first round so I can pull it tight later on. 

Ch 4, join with a slip stitch to form a ring.  

Rnd 1 - Ch 5 *sc in right, ch 3, rep from * 5 more times.  Join with a slip stitch to the 2nd ch of beginning ch.  

Rnd 2 - *(Sc, half double crochet, 3 double crochet, half double, sc) in next ch 3 space, rep from * 5 more times.  Join with slip stitch to beginning sc.  Fasten off.  

Sew the flower on the hat and weave in ends.  

And there you have it! An adorable infant hat! 

The flower is also adorable sewed on to anything, such as this head band.

My New Favorite Thing

This is my New Favorite thing.... Yes it's just a soft terry cloth mitten made to look like a lion, but it is a life saver, or more appropriately a sanity saver.  My son hates having his face washed. He fusses and screams and thrashes about.  This is problematic because he needs his face washed several times a day. (He is quite the messy eater.)

(This is him a couple months ago, ha ha.  Thankfully he doesn't get this messy anymore.)

I saw the lion at Wal-Mart in the baby bath aisle and thought "what the heck, it's worth a shot."

Now after a messy meal, Mr. Lion (that's the name I came up with, I know so original...) gets a warm bath, and talks to my son in a funny voice.  Little Bear's hands get washed, complete with slurping sound effects.  Between hands lion cries "Yay!!" and *claps his hands.*  And then the best part, he actually laughs when Mr. Lion washes his face off.... You heard that right, a kid who would scream and cry just days ago with a normal wash cloth, now laughs as he is having his face washed.  Go figure...

I went out and bought another one and I am thinking of buying stock in the company.

Anybody else's children switch their attitude about something so quickly over such a small change?

Sleep my Little Bear, Sleep...

It's late.  I really should be heading off to bed and not typing this blog.  It is much easier to take care of an almost 11 month old when you have had enough sleep.  Well, it probably is much easier, but I wouldn't know.
There is something so blissful about staying up long past the baby has gone to sleep. So quiet.  So peaceful.  Yes, I probably should be getting some house work done, but why risk making noise?  My little bear did not take a nap today, not for my lack of trying (I wonder how many calories you burn rocking FOREVER).  So I'll just sit here and quietly type.
Most of the time I sit and crochet, currently I have about 10 + projects started and about a million ideas floating around in my head.  I am working on the coolest swifter "sock," so my swifter sweeper can be eco chic.  Once I am finished I'll post a photo and link to the pattern on here (have to figure all that stuff out!).
When I do eventually begin to get bleary eyed is usually when my little one wakes up for his first "snuggle snack" of the night.  Go figure.  He must have some sort of sixth sense...