Granny Square Baby Blanket

This is a cute little granny square blanket I made to match the 7-piece baby boy layette I made. I guess now it's an 8-piece set lol. :) I think it's really cute and goes along with the rest of the set perfectly. I was hoping to get pictures of the set on the new baby when he gets here but we'll see. I'll definitely post them if I do get any.

7-Piece Newborn Boy Layette

I was requested to make an outfit for a new baby boy who's expected to arrive in May this year. If you can remember the beautiful purple and white ballerina dress I made a while back, that dress was for the big sister of this new little boy on the way. :) The request was for a vest, shorts, and hat. I unfortunately could not come up with a vest I was satisfied with and offered to make a short sleeve sweater instead. Since the idea was accepted I went ahead and started the outfit. I used baby blue and white Simply Soft brand yarn. I decided to add little no-scratch mittens and booties to complete the set. I think it is beyond adorable. I had to dress up my reborn to see how it would look and it made me love it even more. I think the mother to be and the new baby will both enjoy it very much.

The hat is my own pattern, the sweater I made using the popular "simple baby sweater" pattern found all over the internet (Changed it up slightly to make it my own), and the shorts are my pattern as well. I changed the shorts up a bit compared to my original pattern by adding an elastic waist rather than a drawstring tie. I think it looks much better and will fit much better also. The mittens and booties were a free pattern I found on http://www.bevscountrycottage.com.

Adorable in Pink

This is the precious little hat I made for my sisters bf's daughter. I think it's absolutely adorable, and it looks even cuter on her. I shrunk down my bear hat pattern to fit a child's head and used cute little pom-poms at the ends of the ties to make it even more adorable. She loves it and so do I! :)

6-point Starghan Blanket

I just realized I never posted this. I finished this almost 2 months ago and it must have slipped my mind to post it. There was just too much going on with the holidays I guess. Anyway, this is the 6-point starghan that I made. The first starghan I made was a 5-point, and I thought I would try something a little different this time. I think it came out really nice. I used some grey-blue and bright yellow from my scrap pile to make this one. It didn't really take me long to make, and would have been done much faster if I wasn't working on other things at the same time. That's just me though, I have a hard time sticking to just one project at a time. Here is where I found this pattern: http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/angelcrafts/patterns/sixpointroundripplebabyafghan.html

I found it very easy to follow and it's the perfect size for a new baby. I'm thinking of selling this one, because I don't have any use for it right now and I don't know anyone with any new baby's at the moment. I think I might make a few more in the future. I've had a lot of nice comments about it. :)

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. :)