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! ;)