The blankie is done! The blankie is done!

I finished it! Okay, well the order of events is...I taught myself a new crochet stitch (the mesh stitch, which results in a trellis pattern), I crocheted like crazy, I got carpal tunnel in my pinkie, I crocheted some more, and more, after 4 days the blanket finally was a decent size for a baby so I ended my stitch and decided to add tassel fringe to finish it up. And you know what? I like it! It turned out really cute and ended up being about 22" by 28". I used 2 yarns at once so it is a heavier blanket and the effect looks great. I think it is the perfect sized blanket to lay over a little one while they are sleeping. I'm working on a new blanket for my son, who has been in love with crocheted blankets since he was an infant and I have some of the same yarn in lavender so I'll try a lavender and white one after that and make it a little larger than the green one, and who knows, maybe I'll use a different stitch.

Trick or Treat!

I have started my trick or treat bags and have begun listing them in my Etsy shop. I have 2 sizes available. One for kids 5 and older - it measures approximately 15 1/2" tall by 10" wide (at the base) and 3" deep. It has 2 straps that are approximately 15" long apiece. The smaller size is for children under 5 and is approximately 12" tall by 10" wide by 3" deep. It also has 2 straps and it's straps are approximately 13" long. The bags are being listed in my shop and range in price from $10 to $15.

These bags are $15 a piece - they are both size large. The top one is made of gorgeous Alexander Henry fabrics in Trick or Treat and Pumpkin Dots. The second bag is made of Michael Miller fabric - turquoise skulls and is lined with a Sis Boom geometric fabric.

This bag is $12 - it is a size small

These bags are $10 a piece - they are both size small and are lined with flannel fabrics

Check my shop (http://fraybabybibsandmore.etsy.com/) throughout the coming weeks. I'll be making more of these bags in BOTH sizes and I have Aleander Henry Trick or Treat kids (see picture of the first bag) in cream as well as the black pictured. If you would like to place a custom order, please contact me through my Etsy shop or email me at fraybaby@live.com.

A Guest Appearance...

My mom is making a guest appearance in my Etsy shop! She is talented and creative enough to have her own Etsy store but right now she is working full time at her doggie food job and she sews in her free time to de-stress and try to downsize her fabric stash. She sent me 2 receiving blankets with matching burp cloths and 2 sets of matching burp cloths - all are adorable and I want to keep all of them for myself! But alas, I told her I would list them and as of today, there is 1 receiving blanket/burp cloth combo in pink and 1 burp cloth set in greens and yellows for sale in my shop. The other 2 will be listed this week. Well, maybe...I can't seem to let myself part with this awesome and crazy turquoise, orange, green, pink, red, happy flower set but I'll post a picture here so you can see how cool it is and maybe covet it for yourself. My mom "claims" to have another one of these blankets cut out but I can't be sure it is an exact replica. You know how these crafty types are, never want to make the same thing twice. :) Anyways - here are a few pictures of the new items and make sure you stop by my shop to check out not only the cool pieces that my mom has made but the new things that I have been listing. Isn't now a good as time as any to start thinking about Christmas or about all those pregnant and new mommies that you know that you need to get gifts for? Hope you enjoy looking at everything and check back often!

The flower set I just don't want to give up:

The pink blankie/burp cloth set - they are GORGEOUS:

The raw edge green and yellow burp cloth set:

My latest obsession

Crocheted hats!! No, not for me, well, maybe for me, but honestly my focus has been on little baby #2. And it all started when my fellow Homefronter's starting crocheting their hearts out and coming up with amazing and adorable hats. Little beanie hats, brimmed hats, ear flap hats...the list goes on and on and each and every one is gorgeous. I want to buy them all (okay, not all, but at least 90% of them!) but I am waiting to find out the sex of this sweet little baby and then game on! I not only plan on buying for baby #2 but for my 2 1/2 year old son and shoot, now that I thought of it, for me too! And the places to buy from? Well, the options are endless. Looking for furry and ear flapped? TwoSeasideBabes has you covered. Looking for cotton and classic? bethjt (remember her?)is all over it. Whimsical and themed? MooseThreads can make a firetruck hat, butterfly hat or even a helicopter hat. Knitted with a pom pom or tail? MayRaeCrochetnKnit is the expert. And those are just the Homefront shops I have to choose from! One of my favorite crocheted hats that I have stumbled upon outside of my Homefront search is the mini monkey hat flap by CiteFuzz. You better believe that I am going to get my little monkey one of these hats - they are too adorable to pass up and let's not forget my baby is due in January, in Germany so I'm thinking I'll need a nice little stock or warms hats for his or her head. I'm off to keep on searching for more and more hats and I think I'll even look for one for my 2 1/2 year old and maybe even one (or two) for me! Make sure you check out these great shops. I leave you with pictures from each of these shops - listed in order featured. Happy shopping!

Two Seaside Babes newborn ear flap hat

bethjt's 3-6 month brimmed hat

MooseThread's airplane appliqued beanie

MayRae's Knitted Curly Tail Hat

CiteFuzz's Mini Monkey Ear Flap Hat

Delicious Banana Bread Recipe

What you need:

3 medium ripe bananas

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs (if you do not want to use eggs, substitute 3 TBSP milk - it won't rise as high but tastes just as good)

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

What you do:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mash the bananas, add softened butter, sugar and eggs, beat just until mixed. Add all dry ingredients (except nuts) - beat for 2 minutes on medium speed OR 300 strokes by hand. Stir in walnuts by hand. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan (5 1/4 by 9 1/2). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. I put a foil "tent" over my banana bread after 35 minutes of baking. I then removed it when there were 10 minutes left on the bake time. I didn't want the top to get too dark.

Let bread cool, slice and ENJOY!

Vodka, Peroxide and WD40?

While browsing MSN.com this morning I stumbled upon 10 crazy "green" uses for vokda! Which made me think about all those emails I receive about old fashioned ways to use hydrogen peroxide or other uses for WD-40 so I went on a hunt through my inbox and found those crazy tips and I thought I'd share my favorites with you.

Vodka?
-Touch poison ivy or get a jelly fish sting? For those of you who take vodka in hikes through the forest or to the beach, pour some on your sting or where you touched the ivy! The vodka just might wash away those ivy oils that make you break out in an awful rash or take away some of that awful jelly fish sting. (Some say it has to be 100 proof to work and it's a lot better than being pee-ed on, a la Chandler and Monica)
-Shine your chrome, porcelain or glass fixtures with vodka and elbow grease!
-A few drops along with a teaspoon of sugar can help your cut flowers last longer.
-It's a bug repellent! Just put some vodka in a spray bottle and spritz your arms and legs while outside, or spray directly at bugs - and it's DEET free!
-It can get rid of pesky harmful mold. Just spray vodka on mold, let sit 15 minutes and scrub

Hydrogen Peroxide?
-Soak your toothbrush in it to kill germs!
-Rinse your wooden cutting boards with it to get rid of salmonella and other bacteria.
-Fill a spray bottle 50/50 water and hydrogen peroxide to use as a disinfectant spray in your bathroom and shower stall!
-If you have a cold or plugged sinuses, use that same 50/50 mixture to pour in your nostrils, let bubble, blow nose - it should help you breathe easier (just don't use the exact same mixture as your bathroom cleaner - I don't want you spraying it up your nose!)
-Use peroxide to clean mirrors with no smudging or smearing!

WD40?
-Have a spotty shower door that nothing will clean? Try using WD-40!
-It protects silver from tarnishing.
-Keeps flies off cows (what??? okay - for those of you who have cows who hate those pesky flies, spray away!)
-Untangles jewelry chains (oooo, handy!)
-Removes stubborn dirt and grime from your BBQ grill.
-Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
-Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
-It takes away the sting from fire ant burns!
-Removed crayon marks from the wall (did you know that mommies out there?)

Hope you found these tips handy, helpful or at least a little bit funny. Have any other uses or fun tips for basic household products? Happy cleaning, breathing, untangling and de-flying everyone!

Chicken Parmesan with a kick

I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight. (That was from some commercial a long time ago - for the life of me I can't remember whose commercial it was).

The other night I made Chicken Parmesan and I'm going to share the recipe!

Grocery list -

1 -2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts (depending on how many mouths you are feeding)

breadcrumbs (I use Italian style)

eggs

milk

flour

Parmesan cheese

2 large cans crushed tomatoes (see picture)

garlic

olive oil

crushed red pepper (ooo - the kick!)

salt

spaghetti noodles (or whatever type you prefer)

mozzarella cheese

Got everything? Let's begin!

First let's make the chicken. Clean off your chicken breasts and pound the heck out of them with a mallet. (This makes them so tender!). Heat a couple TBSP of olive oil in large skillet. Put 1/4 cup of flour in a gallon sized bag and add chicken breasts, shake to coat. Now we need an egg wash bowl and a breadcrumb bowl. Beat 2 eggs in bowl (add a little splash of milk) for your egg wash bowl. And add 1 cup breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese in other bowl. Take chicken breast out of flour bag - dip in egg mixture, coat with breadcrumb mixture, and throw in heated skillet. Brown both sides, turn heat off and cover with lid to keep warm and tender.

In the meantime, let's make the sauce. Heat saucepan (at least 2 quart saucepan) on medium high. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (this gives the sauce a nice kick - for a bigger and yummier kick, make it 2 tsp but only if you like spice!). Let that garlic mix sizzle for 1 minute. Add 2 cans crushed tomatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer.

Time to assemble! Preheat your oven to 350. Put chicken breasts in 9x13 glass pan, put a mound of shredded mozzarella cheese on each chicken breast. Add the tomato sauce (I scoop it out with a large spoon so it doesn't splash everywhere).

Then add more mozzarella to the top of each chicken breast (I do that so I know where to find them - and who doesn't like extra cheese?) Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until edges are bubbling and cheese is browning.

While chicken is baking, boil some water and make your noodles. When everything is finished - put a scoop of noodles on your plate and add a chicken breast with a heaping scoop of sauce. Yum! Enjoy! :)

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

It is Friday again and I decided to give you a few more of my favorite things. Maybe this will become a weekly installment!

LittlePinkPosies - this adorable shop is run by a mom with 2 kiddos. Her shop's name was a play off her daughter's nickname, Little Pink Princess, since as she says "the child was born to wear pink!" The shop carried gorgeous hair clips, for both big and little girls, but what caught my attention were the posy girl(TM) pendants. Each pendant is 2 inches tall, hand painted and finished with varnish. You can even customize your own posy girl and choose her hair color, color of her dress and the letter on her little necklace! Adorable for those little girls on your gift list - check out LittlePinkPosies and happy shopping!

Ulljas - COOKIES! Need I say more? Well, how about we let the picture speak for itself? These are Ulljas personal trademark shortbread cookies that are shaped like ice cream scoops. They taste thick and almost fudgey.

Ulljas is run by a professional pastry chef who has a European Pastry and Bakery Shop in central Texas. There were so many requests for online orders, Ulljas.etsy.com was born! I ordered the Raspberry Margarita package for my mom for Mother's Day - 4 delicious raspberry chocolate chip shortbread cookies and 4 key lime cooler shortbread cookies. Mmmmm....Now wipe up that drool and visit Ulljas!

SheerWhimsy - I entered a giveaway contest on the Downtown Boutique's blog and I won!! How great is that? And this is what I won - the mushroom gadget garb! These tiny little pouches are just big enough for your cell phone, ipod, or small digital camera. They are made with the utmost attention to detail - there is a layer of ultra thick batting to protect your little tiny technology, beautiful coordinating material, a vintage inspired button on the flap, a hand appliqued mushroom (or blow dryer, tree, cupcake, paw print, etc...) AND a tiny little sheerwhimsy label on the inside. I am in love with my gadget garb - it holds my cell phone, keeps it safe, makes it easy to find at the bottom of my purse and it is just so cute!! Check out SheerWhimsy's shop and you'll agree, the shop name fits.

Did Ya Know?

I just learned 2 new things today and both surprised me. One - that most of the flowers that we send out moms on Mother's Day are imported from Columbia, Ecuador and the Netherlands. And two - charging your cell phone battery overnight is bad for your battery! I know these are two totally separate and random facts and you are probably wondering where I got them. I signed up for The Green Guide to Go, a newsletter from National Geographic's magazine, The Green Guide, and I received a link to The Tip of the Week.
Did you know that the flowers from the countries I mentioned above can spray their crops with pesticides that are banned in the United States? These pesticides are banned here because of links to respiratory illness and cancer. The pesticides not only effect the workers who harvest the crops but residue can linger on the petals and leaves. A much safer, healthier and locally supportive option is to go to your local farmer's market to pick up an arrangement or you can order from an organic delivery service like Diamond Organics.
My second tidbit of knowledge came from reading a blurb written where the author was woefully talking about her dying cell phone battery and how she has been toting her charger along with her wherever she goes and asking to plug it in at shoe stores and restaurants. She wondered why the battery wasn't holding a charge very long and she did some research. And one of the surprising recommendations it to not charge your battery over night! The longer a battery is subjected to a heat source, the quicker it can wear down. And than includes leaving your cell phone in a hot car or sitting in the sun next to you while you are at the pool! There are a few other common sense recommendations (power saving feature, turn off phone at night or while at a movie) but I was surprised when I read the charging recommendations. Who knew?
Now maybe you can say that you learned two new things today. Unless you already are full of wisdom and knew these factoids and in that case, I urge you to go to The Green Guide and learn something new. Now unplug those cell phones and go get your mom some pesticide free flowers! Oh, and sign up for The Green Guide's newsletter, The Green Guide to Go - just go to the website and send in your email address.

These are a few of my favorite things....

I've had bloggers block and haven't been sure what to write about lately. Today while browsing through my favorites on Etsy I realized my favorite shops and items are so colorful and so fun that I wanted to share them. You'll probably get a little glimpse of my personality through these shops. I hope you like them as well. And if you have any colorful and funky favorites, send them my way!

TheFlashBulb - this shop is SO COOL! The artist behind this shop lives in Austin Texas and has her items in a couple of stores. She specializes in sewn art! Her shop is full of some of her originals along with prints and notecards of her originals. What a fun and funky shop! If I ever have another little one I might have to get some sewn art for the nursery.

Gracie Designs - the shop owner behind this store is married to an etsy artist and her sister is on etsy too. She makes the neatest mini wallets, check book covers, business card holders, coffee cup cuddlers and ice cream cuddlers as well! She also makes aprons and headbands and hair clips but my favorites are the "organizers" like the business card holder, mini wallet and checkbook cover, Plus they make your purse insides really pretty. :)

CurlyQCuties - okay, how cool is a shop filled with fun and funky plush toys and monsters? These cuties are made by a mom in central Texas who started making cuties for her kids and has branched out and started offering them on Etsy! She has all sorts of monsters and cuties AND tooth fairy pillows that you hang on the bedroom door at night with the tooth in the pillow's back pocket and the tooth fairy can easily access the tooth and put a couple quarters in it's place.

I'll leave you with these 3 shops to check out. There are so many wonderful shops on Etsy and such talented artists. I am always browsing to see what new shops I stumble upon. It's wonderful being an Etsy artist but sometimes it is even more fun being an Etsy shopper. :)

5 Minutes for Mom

I stumbled upon yet another new site out there in the wide WIDE world of web sites. 5 minutes for mom is a site for moms (go figure!) and its purpose is to bring the best of the internet to you in 1 spot by promoting, supporting and encouraging mom-run sites, stores and blogs . The site is run by twin sisters who happen to be mommies AND internet junkies. The site has directories for blogs, stores and sites that are run by mothers as well as contests to enter, feature articles to read and faith lifts for inspiration. Right now on their home page there is a contest to win a trailer bike, a sampler post from one of their favorite blogs, a Mother's Day photo contest and tons of great giveaways (personalized note cards from Come Together Cards, the SAK Dakota Shopper and a Cuddoozle Nursing Pillow). You could easily spend hours on this site and not even crack the surface. One of my favorite features is "Tackle it Tuesdays" where each week a new household chore (or nagging task they have neglected) is tackled They even show before and after photos and encourage YOU to blog about something you tackled this week and post a link. They have tackled Christmas shopping, clothes sorting, thank you card sending, kitchen organizing and even cutting your kids hair (how successful that actually was is up for review. LOL. And I can say that because I have a son and I have cut his hair before - hey! 2 year olds can get away with jacked up hair!) :) Another feature I really enjoy is the Mom Sites where I found Print N Learn Preschool PrintOuts and printed out a potty training chart and some coloring pages. They also have flashcard printouts and reward certificate print outs. There is an organizing section in the Mom Sites and oh my gosh! ListPlanIt has has over 250 lists and planning pages such as grocery lists, to do lists, calendars, meal planning and cleaning lists - and for those of you who know me - I LOVE LISTS. I am seriously considering signing up for this site.
Anyways - 5 Minutes For Mom is a great site to find all things mommy and it's a fun place to poke around. Check them out!

A delicate balance

As a budding entrepreneur and as a mom to a 2 year old son, I am constantly trying to find balance between working on my business and being an attentive mother. I love my son and we do keep busy - playing outside, walking to the park, coloring, playing (eating?) with playdoh and building kugelbahns (marble tracks!) but I also take time for myself throughout the day - time to blog, time to sew, time to list, time to promote. And sometimes this time spent is at my son's expense. He gets restless and comes and tugs on my hand, asking me to build yet another kugelbahn or make a tower of blocks. I know his playing by himself helps build his imagination and independence so it's not like I feel guilty about typing this post as he sits in my laundry basket, hording all the pillows and blankets in the room, while watching Little Einsteins. I feel guilty when I look at the clock and half the day is done and our only interaction has been at breakfast and we've been lost in our own worlds since.

This morning I stumbled upon an amazing blog post - 94 Ways to Keep Kids Busy for the Work at Home Parent. There are home business productivity tips (for parents and kids), - like making chore charts and planning play dates- summer activity tips, links to find local kid activities but my favorite section is the craft project links. Craftforkids.com - AMAZING! I am now going to add making Plastic Cup Bug Lanterns to my list of things to do with my son. And I think I'll take on another suggestion from the article and make a "craft corner" for him so while I sew, he can create his own masterpieces and I don't have to worry about feeling that I am neglecting him. And when he gets a little older I'm breaking out a chore chart!

I've been featured -

in a great blog! Check it out -
http://gettingtoknow.wordpress.com/
And don't forget to use your discount code when shopping at my store! :)

Featured New Etsy Artist - bethjt

Once again, I have found another military spouse to feature on Fray Baby! Beth Thompson, the amazingly talented artist behind the Etsy shop bethjt, is an Army spouse of 12 years. She, along with her husband, have a son who is 4 years and a daughter who is 16 months. Besides art, Beth loves to read, travel, photograph anything and everything, and she's a shopaholic. She also loves hunting sea glass and said,"I think its fascinating how nature has taken our careless litter and turned them into beautiful gems of every shape and color." Here is our interview:

Wow! I noticed that you do commissioned portraits and paintings, that is incredible! How long have you been drawing and painting?

I have been drawing since I was 2 and was able to draw recognizable things right away, so my dad really encouraged me to keep it up. I started drawing portraits for people when I decided to stay home with my first child. My children are a great inspiration to me and I have drawn each of them countless times. Although I have drawn every type of person and pet, my favorites are dogs and babies. Something about drawing softness is very calming. (The picture to the right is called "April Blossoms, it is a limited edition giclee print 18"x24" from Beth's graphite and watercolor original. Limited edition of 200 worldwide.)

And what about jewelry making? I notice you have some very delicate and artistic pieces in your shop.

Creating jewelry is also something I've done since I was in grade school, but didn't get really serious about it until my daughter was born. Now it's a downright obsession and I want to learn and try everything I can about it. Of course I don't have time to do that, but I get creative time in when I can late at night and my one day a week (really a half day) off from being mommy.

I see in your profile that Breast Cancer is an important issue for you and that you are donating 25% of the proceeds from any of your items that are pink, or any items that you make with awareness ribbons, to breast cancer awareness and research centers. Can you tell me more about that?

Discovering Etsy has really pushed me to start creating pieces that aren't just for me.The Breast Cancer interest has really come to a peak this past year when my best friend got it at age 29. She really has gone through hell and it seems so unfair. Then another good friend's mom got it and is also fighting it. Now it seems every time I turn around someone else I love or they love has been affected. So the donations I am putting together are just something small a little person like me can do to feel a little less helpless.

And finally, what is your favorite item in your shop?

My favorite item in my shop right now is "Look what I got, Mama" because my son was the model for it, and he and his sister mean more to me than anything.

Thank you for the wonderful interview Beth! Bethjt is an Etsy shop full of talent and grace and I encourage you all to stop by and take a look. You really need to see her shop to get a full appreciation of her talents.

The following are 2 more items from Beth's shop - dandelion miniature art magnets and a pineapple giclee on canvas.

Seeing Red

Another one of my items made it in a Treasury! Wow - it sure looks pretty with all those other red items! Take a look! My item is the red polka dot pouch in the middle. Check out my shop it you want it for yourself! :)

What's for dinner?

Here is one of my favorite recipes ever. I've made it so many times and for so many different people and they always end up asking for the recipe. It's sure to become one of your favorites as well!

Chicken (or Beef) Enchilada Casserole

1 pound chicken breast OR ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning (you will only use 1/2 packet)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 jar of salsa or taco sauce - hot, medium or mild, it's your choice!
12 small corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or mexican blend, again, it's your choice!)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook chicken (or beef) on stovetop. Shred cooked chicken or cut into chunks and put back into the pan. Add chopped onion to pan and saute. Add 1/2 of the taco seasoning packet along with the recommended amount of water. Cook for 3 minutes and remove from heat.
Cut corn tortillas into chunks (I use the pizza slicer and slice, slice, slice!).
In seperate bowl, mix cream of chicken, sour cream and 1 1/2 cups of salsa (or taco sauce).
Now get ready to layer!
In a large casserole dish (I use a round 2.5 liter corning ware dish), pour 1/2 cup salsa, add 1/2 tortilla pieces, 1/2 the meat mixture, 1/2 the soup mixture and 1 cup of cheese followed by the rest of the tortilla pieces, meat, soup mixture and cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until bubble all around the edges.

For a spicier dish, add jalapenos on top of each cheese layer. I add a can of fiesta corn to my meat mixture to sneak in an extra vegetable.

Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips (if desired).

Now you know what's for dinner! Enjoy!

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY!

Happy Earth Day everyone! In celebration of Earth Day, I am encouraging you to stop using those plastic bags at the grocery store and use one of my totes! Once you get in the habit of using a market tote, it becomes second nature and you start to feel a little guilty bringing home all those plastic bags that take a bazillion years to break down in our landfills.

If you aren't yet ready for a market tote, use it for your book club books, your bible studies, trips to the library, daycare bag, carry-all, everyday tote...any way you want!

Buy any tote in my store and get 1/2 price shipping! Just enter 1/2 SHIP when you check out and wait for the updated invoice before you pay.

Happy Earth Day everyone! Now go plant a tree, or something.

YAY! I'm in a Treasury!

My adorable (and recently blogged about) "I've Got Sunshine!" bib and burp set is featured in the Spotlight on Homefront treasury! Check out all the other great Homefront shop and sellers.

Fun with fabrics

I took a small break from working on my totes to hunt through my fabric bin and found some fun flannels for baby bibs and burp cloth sets. I think the sunshines are adorable, and a perfect gender neutral baby gift. And the apples and cherries fabric is so soft and sweet for a little girl. I have just enough of the fruity fabric left to make 1 more set and possibly a tag blanket. I have a list a mile long of all the sets, blankets and bags I have planned, I just need to start measuring and cutting. But the set I'm going to make next is a "Whale of a Tale" bib and burp set for little boys - it is adorable and bright - blues and greens - with fun whales all over a super soft flannel fabric. I can't wait to see how it is going to turn out.

The Apples & Cherries and I've Got Sunshine sets are listed in my Etsy store.

Oh to be a Hooker

This morning I attended a beginner's crochet (hook, crochet, hooker, get it?) class. I was so excited and pumped to start making magnificent creations, starting with the granny square dish cloth we were going to make. Wow, crocheting is an art and sadly, in 1 morning, I did not master it. I learned how to make a chain, how to turn, how to single crochet and how to double crochet and I caught some of the lingo. After struggling with my soft acrylic baby yarn, the instructor gave me a ball of cotton yarn and I certainly saw a difference in how my chains and loops were forming. My technique isn't the best and I kept trying to "thread" my yarn through my fingers like the instructor showed me, and not move my hands and hook so much, but my fingers kept wanting to do things their way. I finally got in the groove and the end result? An approximate 1 1/2" by 3" sample piece with not-so-even rows or chains but counting was too difficult of a task to take on while I was busy trying to figure out which loop my hook should go through and how much tension to allow. Anyway, my little scrap is not too bad if I do say so myself, but it certainly is not a dishcloth (or a wash cloth, or much of a cloth at all actually). My 3 hour long lesson was a lot of fun but in that 3 hours I learned that the crochet world is HUGE and slightly overwhelming. I am going to keep on practicing and eventually, hopefully, make something I can be really proud of. But in the meantime I think I'll stick to my fabrics and sewing machine to create actual usable items. Crochet will be my escape for those times the sewing machine is acting up and I'd rather scrub a toilet than press and cut more fabric. :) To all you crocheters out there, what an amazing craft you have. Please leave a comment below so I can admire your work. And I am keeping my scrap and hopefully one day in the future, when I'm admiring an amazing blanket I crocheted, I remember my first little scrap and marvel at how far I have come.

The following pictures are creations of Etsy hookers and are what I hope to create someday. :)

Adorable flower pal - from HomeMadeZen

Dennis the Dinosaur - by WigglySee

Keep on Truckin' - by Moosethreads

Cute, no?