Wednesday WIP

What a beautiful morning!  I have been making progress on my new summer hat for 2014.  I am almost done.  I need to finish the last round of SC (single crochet) on the bottom and add the brim.  Yea! 

I am still reading this great book called Wake Up To A Happier Life by Amanda Dickson.  This morning I read pg. 27.  Here she counsels to "Let 'just' and 'have to' fall out of your vocabulary. You aren't just a clerk and you don't have to go to work.  You are blessed with a job where you get to serve people, including yourself, your family, your boss, not to mention your customers, every day.  And you don't have to go to work- you get to, you choose to, you want to.... See- this stuff isn't so hard.  Just because you've never done it before doesn't make it hard.  It makes it unusual maybe, but not hard... You may not have done it before, but it's easy... it's just unfamiliar."

This really hit me this morning, because I just signed on as an Independent Consultant for Close To My Heart.  I am REALLY excited and just about as nervous, too.  I am not one who takes risks.  I don't like soliciting.  And yet, I LOVE their products and have been looking for a way to either supplement our income or to fund my own entrepreneurial endeavors with my table cloths, scarf holders, etc. I just realized that I haven't posted my Scarf Holder. 

I am amazed at what we can accomplish when we change our outlook on life!  Thanks for stopping by. -Dari

Finished Project: Crochet V-Stitch Newborn Hat

I finished it!  Yea me!  I am really excited with how it turned out. Someday I may get ambitious and write up the pattern. It will have to be soon, though, while I can still remember it and before I give the hat to my new little neice (lol)!  I found the little flower pattern at http://www.daisycottagedesigns.net.  Lauren posted the instructions for this cute little thing on March 11th.  I thought it would be the perfect finishing touch to my hat. 

Thanks for stopping!  Hope you have a great weekend. -Dari

Work In Progress: Dainty Crochet Newborn Hat

It has been way too long since I posted any crafts.  I love to see everyone else's finished creations.  There isn't anything amazing about the photo you see above, and I'm sure no one else is going to "pin" it or share it anywhere, but I have been working on this for over a week!  That's right.  This little piece of work has been quite the unintended project.  

My sister had her baby last Monday, and I love to make hats.  I think every baby should have a hat (or 12).  I chose this purple skein from my stash, because my sister's favorite color happens to be purple.  Anyway, a newborn baby hat should only take an hour or so to make, right?  That's what I thought; however, I had decided on a lacy pattern that got lost in the variegated colors.  So, I ripped it out and started with another stitch.  This time a shell pattern.  The same thing happened.  I just wasn't pleased with the way it looked.  I have ripped this hat apart at least 6 times.  

Finally, I have settled on a stitch that looks dainty and yet doesn't get lost in the changing colors of the yarn.  What? You ask.  A simple V-stitch using Double Crochet. Now that I am finally settled on a stitch pattern, I may actually finish it soon!  Look for the finished project soon! Thanks for stopping by. -Dari

Stash Buster: Knitted Baby Hats

I finally finished the two baby boy hats I was knitting for two friends.  Once again I forgot to take a photo of my yarn before I began.  I found a very simple pattern at http://twentysomethinggranny.blogspot.ca/2013/01/knitted-baby-bow-hat.html. However, I misread the pattern for the first one (on the left) and didn't give a border between my ribbing and my color change.  I like it, though, and the recipient won't know I messed up!  The second one I chose a k2 p2 ribbing and deliberately made thick stripes.  These were very easy and whipped up quickly. 

The photo of the card is not the best.  I didn't realize it until I uploaded it.  I folded a piece of white cardstock in half and cut the top 2 corners on a diagonal.  I cut a piece of patterned paper slightly smaller than the dimensions of the white card base and then cut it in half.  Next, I cut a piece of light blue cardstock. the same size as the dimensions of the card base, but instead of cutting it in half, I tore the edge.  I cut out a small frame with a darker blue cardstock and inked the edges white.  I adhered it to the card using pop up adhesives.  On white cardstock I stamped the baby blocks and used watercolor pencils and a blending pen to give it a soft pastel look.  I adhered it to the card with a pop up adhesive square, too.  I cut a small rectangle, inked it, glued it to the top, and punched a hole in the middle.  I tied a piece of translucent ribbon on top and finished it by stamping the sentiment with an olive green ink.

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Stash Buster Crochet Newsboy Hat

 

Hello! Hello!  I have wanted to post something "yarny" for a week, but I've been caught up in trying to educate my children.  Amazing concept, huh?  I have done quite a lot of things with My Princess for preschool and will have to post about those adventures soon.

Anyway, I LOVE hats.  I also love to be outside and wanted a new hat for me.  That, too, is an amazing concept.  My children are always asking, "Who's that for?  I want one, too."  Well, this hat is actually for Me, Myself, and I!

I was searching Pinterest for some ideas and ran across a really cute design on  http://crochetncrafts.com/crochet/cross-over-long-dc-hat.html .

Seeing the designer's hat is worth the click.  You cannot see the Long Double Crochet pattern very well in my picture.  I think the black hides it.  

Once my hat was finished, I crocheted a little flower out of the bright light blue.  The pattern for this is the flower I used for my Tropical Flower Headband.  You can download that pattern on my website daris-corner.weebly.com. After I crocheted the flower, I hot glued it to an alligator clip so that I can interchange different flowers/motifs according to my mood.

Wishing you a wonderful day!-Dari

English Garden Crochet Hat

Hello!  Although I have been working on busting through my yarn stash, I actually purchased this Caron Simply Soft Autumn Red yarn specifically for this hat.  It is another one for my cousin-in-law.  She loves this color.  I designed this hat using a Griddle Stitch pattern.  It is ideal, because it can be worked on any number of 2 stitches.  I always make my hats in increments of 10, so this stitch fits the bill. 

To create this stitch, add 2 st to base ch.  Skip 3 ch (counts as first DC), *1 SC into next ch, 1 DC into next ch; repeat from*.  When using this in row fashion, end with a SC in last stitch, turn. Row 2: Chain 3 (counts as DC), skip 1 st, SC into next DC, DC in next SC, etc. until you reach end of row.End with SC in top of turning chain, turn. Repeat Row 2. When working with this stitch in the round, I increased alternating SC and DC in the same st.Of course, this doesn't look the same as it would in row fashion, but it does add texture and is different than a simple SC or DC pattern.

For the cables, I only used FPDC!  This pattern is worked over a set of 6 stitches.  Rows 1 & 2- CH 1, SC in same st and SC in each remaining st. SL to join.  Row 3: CH 1, SC in same st and in next st, FPDC around next 4 st, *SC in next 2 st, FPDC around next 4 st.  Repeat from *. SL to join at end of row.  Row 4: CH 1, SC in same st, SC in next, *skip 2 SC, FPDC around next st 2 rows below, FPDC around next st 2 rows below, go back to first skipped st and FPDC around that st 2 rows below, then FPDC around next st 2 rows below, SC in next 2 st. Repeat from*. SL to join at end of row.  Repeat rows 1-4.

For my flower, I used a pattern that I pinned from Lianka Azulay.  The source is: http://bonitapatterns.tumblr.com/post/3994231401/here-goes-a-free-pattern-for-a-croco-flower-its. 

Hope you enjoy!

2nd of 3

OK, so I finally finished a few crochet projects that have been hanging over my head. The first is a scarf for myself! I really like it. I found the pattern on caron.com (I think). Anyway, it is very simple. It is all done using the double crochet stitch.

The second project that I finished is a hat for a friend. Alayna, yours is done, I just haven't mailed it yet. Maybe tomorrow!! This one I did for a friend who works at a local restaurant. The restaurant's colors are black, white and yellow. She wanted a black hat, and I thought it would be fun to add a little white and yellow to it as well. This hat, however, I did not sew the flower onto the hat. I attached it to an alligator clip so that she can remove it if desired.

Crochet Happy!

I think that 6 months is a little too long. So much has happened since I posted last, and so much has happened! I decided to participate in a Craft Boutique in December. It turned out to be quite fun, and I found out that people really like my crocheted items. I have wanted to share these. If you would like to make any of them, let me know.







And these are not the only ones I've made! Some I forgot to take a picture of before I gave them away. Some are different colors than the ones posted. Many are just reproductions of those shown. And others, well.... who knows!

I am working on a scarf for myself. Yes. I am actually making something for me. After that, I am going to make some inserts to go in some of my shirts that are lowcut. I will have to post pics of those.