Crochet Frog Beanie

This has got to be one of the cutest hats ever!! I had some leftover scrap green yarn and decided to put a twist on my new bear beanies I have been making and turned it into a frog hat. This one is going to my brothers b/f whom just happens to love everything frogs. I have added ear flaps to it as well since this picture was taken. I posted it to my facebook page and I've already gotten requests for this one as well. I have a few more ideas in mind. I think I might work on a duck hat next..we'll see! :D

Red and White Bear Beanie with Ear Flaps

Well...I just HAD to make one for me. My sisters hat was just way too cute! I changed mine slightly and made it in festive colors for the coming holiday. It came out really cute! :) I am now getting requests for more of these hats. I have a feeling I will be crocheting like crazy in the coming weeks! :)

Crochet Beanie with Bear Ears and Ear Flaps

Recently my baby sister asked me to make her a new trendy hat. She speciffically asked for one with bear ears on it. She showed me a few pictures of ones she liked so that I would have an idea of what she really wanted. I never made a hate like it before but hey it's just a beanie! I've designed my own beanies before! :)

Well so that is exactly what I did. I used my own spiral beanie pattern, and designed my own bear ears to attach to the hat. Then used Teresa's ( http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com ) pattern for adding ear flaps to the hat. (Although I changed it up a bit to make it my own. ) I cut a few even pieces of yarn and braided them together to form the ties. I think it came out super cute and my sister has seen the pictures and LOVES it too!! :)

I love this hat so much I think I may just have to make one for myself now too!

What's Your Favorite thing to Crochet??

My recent poll was asking this very question. The results said most of you really like to crochet baby items and blankets or afghans. I love making blankets and afghans myself. They are one of the first things I learned how to make. I have recently starting learning all kinds of new patterns and designs for them too, and I can't wait to share each one as I finish them.

Baby items are another thing I have become accustomed to making a lot of. As you all know I have been designing a lot of new things myself for babies. They are so adorable and tiny and just super fun to make. Baby blankets are fun too!! :)

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll. It allows me to share things with you that I know you'll like. If at any time someone has an idea of their own they would like to share or a picture of something they have made from one of my patterns let me know. I am thinking of adding a section to this blog where I can share things like that with everyone else. It's fun to share others ideas, I know I have been inspired in that way before and I think that it would be a great idea!

If you haven't already noticed a new Halloween Poll has been added. Feel free to go check it out! :)

"All Buttoned Up" Baby Sweater Set

This is another original pattern by me. I made a cute little baby sweater set that includes a matching hat. I have titled it "All Buttoned Up". I wanted to make a set that could easily be used for a baby girl or boy, and I think I accomplished that perfectly. It can be made in any color choice. I think this is perfect for the fall/winter season too!! I'm not sure if I'll be posting the pattern for this one or not, but I'll let you know. I may end up selling this one, and if so I'll have to let you know how you can purchase it. (The pattern) By the way I would happily fill requests for anyone. So if there is something I have made before and you would like me to make something similar for you, just let me know. We can talk price and specifics at that time. :)

Baby Girl Summer Set

I recently finished this cute little summer set. Too bad it's already fall. The summer hat and shorts are both my original patterns. I do plan on sharing them with you in the future. The top is a free sweater pattern that I changed to make it my own. I think the entire set came out super cute!! I wish I could have thought of it a little sooner. Guess we'll have to keep this one in the back of our minds for next summer! :)

Burgundy and White Baby Dress Set

Here is another baby dress I have completed recently. It's the same dress from the previous set I posted. I decided to make a wide headband to go with it this time. I love these colors together, and I definitely love this pattern!!

You can find the pattern for this set here:http://crotiques.com/bgs.htm

(The headband was not included in this pattern, I made that up myself to match the dress.)

You can see the original post about this dress here:

http://crochetcrazymama.blogspot.com/2010/08/4-piece-purple-white-dress-set.html

Happy Birthday Louis!!

Just wanted to post a quick birthday wish to my brother Louis, who is 23 today. Happy birthday brother-person!! :D It really sucks that we couldn't be closer, because I would have had a blast with you today! Hope you had an awesome day without me anyway. Love and miss you so much!!

101 Things To Do

Have you ever felt like your "To-Do List" was adding new things to itself as you checked other things off? Sometimes there just isn't enough time in one day to get everything done. Between raising my kids, to housework, to errands, to crochet, it seems like there's always something to do. It's not that I'm really complaining, I do like staying busy for the most part. It's better than sitting around being bored all day with absolutely nothing to do. It just gets very stressful and frustrating at times. At least the crocheting part helps to relieve some of that built-up stress. Even crocheting sometimes doesn't help though, especially when I have to put down my yarn and hook every 5 minutes to get the kids out of something LOL! So anyway, I'm really sorry for not posting as often as I would like. I know I have promised new patterns and videos on my YouTube channel. Believe me I have been working on them. I have some new things that I just have yet to photograph or type up. Every time I start my videos I get interrupted in some way LOL, but I will somehow get it done and post it as soon as I can. There are a lot of things coming up for me, one of those things is pretty major... My WEDDING Day!! :D We are getting married a year from tomorrow, so I will be pretty busy with that as well! I will some how fit it all in. I have created a new blog just for all of my wedding details, so I will be trying to limit posting about it here. You can check out my wedding blog here: http://www.myseptember2011wedding.blogspot.com/ . Well I am going to end it here for now, just don't give up on me ladies and gents. I haven't forgotten about you! :)

4 Piece Purple & White Dress Set

This is an adorable little dress set I made over the weekend. I can't stop looking at it. I'm a little amazed with it myself right now lol. No more simple baby dresses for me. I just always thought something like this looked super hard. Friday night I was searching through some free patterns on the web, and this one caught my eye. At first I thought to myself, I don't know about this one.. it looks to advanced for me yet. I was completely wrong by the way. It was super easy. I'm kind of mad that I didn't know how to do it before LOL. Anyway, it came out beautiful and you better bet this isn't the last one of these I'll be making. :)

You can find the pattern for this set here: http://crotiques.com/bgs.htm

(The hat was not included in this pattern, I made that up myself to match the rest of the set.)

The "Backwards" Hat Pattern

The "Backwards" Hat

Crochet Crazy Mama Original

Skill Level: Easy

Size: Adult (One size fits most)

Materials: Size H (5.00mm) Crochet Hook

Approximately 2oz of 4ply Worsted Weight yarn

Yarn Needle

Crochet Marker (You can use a safety pin, paper clip or piece of yarn)

Abbreviations Key: Ch-Chain

Sc-Single Crochet

Hdc-Half Double Crochet

St-Stitch

Sl st-Slip Stitch

Sts-Stitches

Hdc Dec-Half Double Crochet Decrease

Instructions:

(This hat is made working from the bottom to the top.)

Band

Ch 11.

Row 1: Sc into the 2nd ch from the hook, and in each remaining ch across row. Ch 1, turn.

Row 2: Sc into the front loops only of each st across row. Ch 1, turn.

Row 3: Sc into the back loops only of each st across row. Ch 1, turn.

Rows 4-60: Repeat rows 2 and 3. At the end of row 60, do not cut your yarn. Get a separate piece of yarn of the same color and sew the rows together to make a loop. The ribbed side should be on the front side of your work.

Top of Hat

(The top of the hat is worked in a continual round.)

Row 1: Starting where you left off at the end of row 60, ch 1. Hdc around loop. Try to get as close to 60 stitches as possible. (Approximately 1 stitch per row.)

Row 2: Do not sl st. Use a crochet marker to mark your beginning stitch. Hdc into the beginning st and in each st around.

Rows 3-8: Hdc in each st around.

Row 9: *Hdc into the next 5 sts, hdc dec in the next st* Repeat around row. (We are decreasing every 6th stitch)

Row 10: *Hdc into the next 4 sts, hdc dec in the next st* Repeat around row. (We are decreasing every 5th stitch)

Row 11: *Hdc into the next 3 sts, hdc dec in the next st* Repeat around row. (We are decreasing every 4th stitch)

Row 12: *Hdc into the next 2 sts, hdc dec in the next st* Repeat around row. (We are decreasing every 3rd stitch)

Row 13: *Hdc into the next st, hdc dec in the next st* Repeat around row. (We are decreasing every 2nd stitch)

Rows 14-15: *Work a hdc dec around entire row. (We are decreasing every stitch) At the end of row 15. skip 1 st (This should be the beginning stitch), and sl st into the next. Secure and tie off.

Bottom Edge

Attach yarn in any stitch on the bottom of the hat and ch 1. Sc around row. Try to get as close to 60 stitches as possible. (Approximately 1 stitch per row.) Sl st into beginning st, secure and tie off. Weave in ends.

***Terms of use: You may do whatever you wish with the finished product made from this pattern. If you do plan to sell the item, I ask that you give credit to where you got the pattern from. You can NOT claim the pattern as your own. You may NOT sell the pattern itself.

Happy Birthday to ME!! :)

If you didn't already know, Monday August 23rd was my 24th birthday. It really does make me think about how fast 24 years goes by. It definitely makes life seem so short. I know I shouldn't be feeling so old at only 24, but I can't help it. It just feels like there is so much I have yet to do, so many things I haven't had a chance to see, and so many places I have never been. If 24 years can go by this fast, am I going to have the time to do all the things I want to do before my time is up? It's kinda scary when you think about it.

Anyway, I didn't really do much on my birthday. Justin and I got to go out to dinner without the kids thanks to my sister. That was nice. Really we celebrated for my birthday on Saturday. It was my idea to take the kids and go with my sister, her boyfriend, and his little girl to the zoo. I am an animal lover, and have been for as long as I can remember. So, a trip to the zoo is always nice. We went to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. They were having an elephant extravaganza the day we went and we didn't know about it ahead of time. It was really crowded but that was the only downfall. Rylan and my sisters boyfriends daughter both were dying to see the elephants before we even got there, and they were having an elephant day. Everything just kind of worked out. I posted a couple videos of the elephants on my youtube channel if you want to go check them out. http://www.youtube.com/user/CrochetCrazyMama

This is a picture of the beautiful red rose Justin gave me for my birthday. It was just soo beautiful I had to share.

The "Backwards" Hat

I have come up with another pattern. This time it's a hat! It's called the "backwards" hat because usually hats are worked from top to bottom, and this one is worked from the bottom to top. Therefore, it's backwards! :) I think it's super-cute, and very girly! Sometimes I find that hats aren't girly unless they have some sort of ruffle or flower or something. This one seems girly enough even without a ruffle. I have completed and tested the pattern and will be posting that soon. I also made a baby version of this hat, and will post the pattern for that as well.

I am working on making a "crochet along" video for this hat. I know it's easier for some people to learn something when they can see it, that's what helped me at first. I will make a post when that is up, but if you subscribe to my channel on YouTube you will get updates as soon as there is a new video posted. ;) http://www.youtube.com/user/CrochetCrazyMama

Crochet Kingston Hat

This is a hat I made following a tutorial from Teresa Richardson on YouTube. She calls it the "Crochet Kingston Cap". You can find it on her YouTube channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tjw1963 , and she always posts her written patterns on her blog.

http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/ .

I absolutely adore this hat! It's super cute and was super easy and fun to make too. It only took me a few hours overall. Teresa is an inspiration to all of us beginner crocheters! I love her work!

Don't forget to check out my YouTube channel for more of my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CrochetCrazyMama

Coming Soon!!

Hey again! Well, I just wanted to let you know a few new things coming to this blog and for me all together. One of those things is my YouTube channel. I have recently started my own channel on YouTube. You can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/user/CrochetCrazyMama . I'll be using my channel to post short videos of things I have made, and of course videos of my family and my kids. I am always a mother before anything else. :D I would also at some point in the near future like to start posting "How to Crochet" videos. Just short lessons on basic stitches for all of the beginners, and for those of you who need a little refresher. I would also like to post a few "Crochet Along" videos, where I make something from one of my patterns and you can follow along and make one with me.

Another new thing coming to my blog is a Free Patterns section. I will be linking to all of my original patterns I have shared and will be sharing with you. It will be an easier way to find them all instead of having to search my entire blog for them. I have been working on a few new patterns and as soon as they are finished, and I have tested them at least once I will start posting.

Well, that's my short update for now. If anyone has any suggesstions for something they would like to see on the blog I would love to hear it. Feel free to leave comments!

Dishcloth and Hand Towel Set

This is a set I whipped up in just a few hours. There are combined patterns here. I got the dishcloth pattern from Kaleidesigns.com. She uses half double crochet clusters to create this cute little dishcloth. This is named Laurie's Dishcloth. You can find it here: http://www.kaleidesigns.com/crochet/patterns/archive/dish014.html . To make the towel, I just extended the length of the dishcloth. I then found an easy pattern from Teresa on YouTube for a towel topper. This is usually used to add to the top of a store bought towel, but I decided to add it to my crocheted towel. You can find Teresa's written blog here: http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/ , or her YouTube videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/tjw1963 . This was something easy to make and it's another good way to use up scrap yarn. :)

Short Video of the Hot Air Balloon

Spiedie Fest Balloon Rally 2010

If you don't know what it is, you don't know what your missing! The spiedie fest is held once a year here in NY. They have spiedie cooking contests (...delish!), games, rides, concerts, lots and lots of food and craft vendors, and so much more. Oh and one of my favorite parts, they have hot air balloons! It costs a pretty penny to ride one, so we couldn't do it this year. I'm afraid of heights but I still would really like to try it one year. It's still very enjoyable just to watch as the balloons are filled up and set off into the air. We were very lucky to get a spot very close to one of the balloons being filled up. I'll post some pictures of that at the end of this post. This was actually my first year going to the spiedie fest and we had a blast! There's something there for everyone, even my 2 young boys had a great time. :)

This year we went along with my sister and her boyfriend. It's a short walk to get to the park from a parking spot and we were pushing to separate strollers so it was nice to have the help. When we first arrived, we went to the kids area where there were games and rides. My youngest Elijah was too small for any of the rides yet, but Rylan went on a couple with my sister. Next year we'll have to go on a few more and I'll make sure to have Eli along on the rides too! We played a few games and won a couple prizes for the kids, then set off further into the fun. We grabbed some goodies along the way of course, drinks, food, and snacks. There was a Christian band there we listened to for a few minutes before Rylan started saying he wanted to go. We were really close so the noise must have been too much. My sister and her boyfriend really wanted to go see the Joe Nichols concert they were having this year so we went somewhere to get out of the heat and relax while they headed to the concert area.

It was pretty hot out, and it was starting to get to all of us. Once in some shade, Justin, the kids and I got to enjoy some family time together and of course snapped a bunch of pictures. We were waiting for the balloons to launch when my sister came by to tell us the wind had changed and they were headed in the opposite direction than the previous days. We didn't go for the first day of the fest but we were able to get pictures of the balloons as they flew right over our heads while we were at home. Anyway, we had to move from our shaded area to see the balloons. We ended up finding a great spot right in front of one of the balloons being filled up! It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!! LOL! After the balloon launch, we got into the concert to see Joe Nichols. That was nice too, only my second concert while it was Justin and the boys first. The concert went pretty late into the night but it was the perfect ending to an amazing day!

This was my favorite balloon.. It was a Tuxedo! :)


The heat coming from the balloon was crazy!


Here's a shot of me and my boys at the Joe Nicholas concert.

...and lastly the best pic I could get of the concert. Maybe we can get closer to the stage next year.

Teddy Bear Accent/Coaster

I was bored yesterday and came up with this little guy. Yay, I used up more scrap yarn! LOL. Isn't he adorable? I did write up the pattern as I went along, but I'll have to re-read it and edit before I can share. He's really simple and easy to make. I thought he would make for a cute little coaster, or as an accent on a blanket, or nursery decorations. The ideas and possibilities are endless. I know I've got a bunch of things building up in my head already! :)

Crochet Tankini

Oh yes I did! LOL. Ugh I don't know where I come up with stuff like this, but here it is. I got the idea from Teresa on YouTube for the very top part (..the part in pink), but the rest was all me. I decided I didn't like the idea of just a bikini, so I decided to make something with a little more coverage.. ok so VERY little lol. I think it makes for a sexy little summer top as well. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn for this one. Feels very comfortable against the skin. Whipped this up in just 2 days! I am thinking of making another one in a different color too, and maybe a different twist to the back. I want it to close all the way. This one makes me look fat I think :/. It's awesome though and I love it! Obviously ideas for the bottom are already brewing! ;)

Simple Dishcloth

I have started teaching my sister how to crochet..YAY! Lol. I enjoy teaching people what I know about crochet. It gives me more excuses to make things, as if I need any. :) Anyway, I made this simple dishcloth while teaching her how to double crochet. It's not much. Just an easy way to use up all of that scrap yarn! :)

Crochet Bag

Here is a bag I made in just 3 days. I found the pattern in the book "LEARN to CROCHET" volume 49. Made of easy to make traditional granny squares in worsted weight yarn. Very fast and easy, and I love this bag. I will definitely be making more of these. It makes for a great summer tote too!

Crochet "Loofah" or Bath Sponge

Ok when I first thought of making one of these, the idea seemed crazy! It looks like it's gotta be hard right? NOPE! This took me about 3 days (...and would have taken less if I didn't have 2 little boys to take care of ;).. ) . This was definitely another very easy and fast pattern to work up! I found this pattern while searching online. I can't say where exactly without permission but it was a fellow blogger if that helps. I made mine using a light sport weight yarn, I haven't tried it out yet so I guess I'll have to update on how well it works later! It's super cute though, and I'm making another one for my boys!

Elijah's First Haircut

So the time has finally come.. we had to chop off those baby locks. His hair was getting into his eyes, and tickling his ears and he was scratching them. He is also very sensitive to heat and the long hair was just making him sweat more and he was always so uncomfortable.

I decided to cut it myself instead of taking him to a professional. I have always cut my oldest's hair myself (except once..), so I thought I should have no problem cutting Eli's hair too. It actually came out pretty cute I think. He looks more like a little boy now and less like my little baby, that's the only sad part. I saved up some of the clippings for his baby book of course. :) He looks so different though, it'll take some getting used to. He did really well considering he's a baby. He wasn't that great at holding his head very still, but very few tears were shed, mostly mine lol. Here are a few pictures I took during the experience... Can you believe the difference?!?

BEFORE...



AFTER...

Happy 4th of July 2010

Hope everyone had a nice independence day! We did. Started out with lunch at the in-laws.. and spent some family time at home before going out to watch the fireworks later in the evening. The kids had fun watching the fireworks and to my surprise they really weren't that scared of them. Rylan let out a scream when the finale started, but I think it was just too much noise and that scared him. Here are a few more pics from throughout the day...

Fathers Day Pics :)

Hope all of you fathers had a nice day!!! I know we did!! :)

Curious about the grass...


It might have been father's day but he's still mama's boy!!
One of the only pics of Rylan.. he just loved walking around and playing...