Lakeside Hat

*Photos by Amanda Tipton Photography*

Oh you guys, I am back and I have been feeling more creative, in fact, I have been itching to crochet all the time. I want to make, make, make until my wrists cramp!

This is a new pattern I released this month, I am very much in love with the texture and with how light it is. It's my new go-to hat, no kidding, I have been wearing it every day.

The pattern is all my shops (ravelry, etsy and my website) and if you make one, please tag me on facebook or instagram so I can see it! #justbehappycrochet

Happy Crocheting!

'Tis the season!

It is really the most wonderful time of the year, where people seem to be more generous, there are fun gatherings, lots of delicious food and all the lovely family traditions.

Two of our family's favorite traditions are:
- visit a tree farm to find and cut a Christmas tree, then we get home and put on Christmas music, drink hot cocoa and get the tree decorated.
- decorate gingerbread houses (or graham crackers houses)

Do you have a favorite family tradition? I'd love to hear about it!

Crochet Gift Sacks

I am feeling festive! After all the birthday party decorations were put away, I really felt like it was time to start decorating for the holidays. We put up garlands outside and one around the stair banister, this weekend I am hoping to bring the boxes in from the garage and go nuts.

Talking about going nuts, I was working so hard on these Gift Sacks that I thought my wrists were going to fall off (LOL), but I am really pleased with the way they turned out and I feel like they are a great way to add a handmade touch to this season.

If you would like to make them, the pattern is available on etsy, ravelry and website.

Happy Crocheting!

A very happy birthday!

My sweet little girl turned 8 and to celebrate she had three friends over for a slumber party. She didn't ask for much, all she wanted was a cake with marshmallow fondant made by her dad, she didn't care what the cake looked like as long as it had fondant. She also asked for blue jello - why? I don't know... lol

I decided to make A-frame tents for the girls to sleep. My awesome husband cut and drilled the wood for me, there are some amazing instructions with all the measurements here. I got thrifty and went to the Goodwill to purchase white lace curtains, which saved me not only money but time also, since the curtains are hemmed and I just had to put them through the wooden dowels.

The adorable dolls and the little house lights are from Target. The sleeping masks were super easy and quick to make, I used this pattern. The fleece blankets were 75% off at Ride Aid after Halloween, so I only paid $2 for each.

The girls made their own pizza for dinner, then they ate the cake! For the toppers, I painted the animals I bought at Michael's with acrylic paint, added some trim and made some paper hats using cardstock in a variety of colors, mini pompoms and hot glue.

After playing lots of games, they settled for the night with a movie. Fun!

 It was a very happy birthday, indeed!

Honeycomb Hat

I am so very proud to present you my newest design, the Honeycomb Hat! I have been sitting on this design for a long while, mostly because I was having a hard time finding the time to sit down and write the pattern when so many things are pulling me in different directions. You know, the usual... kids, home, activities... ha! Isn't that just how life goes? But I finally managed to sit down and record a support video, write the pattern and get the ball rolling!

What do you think? Would you make one?

Find the pattern here: ravelry, etsy and website.

Happy Crocheting!

TP Cover

Supplies:

- 1 + 1/2 skein Worsted Weight Cotton yarn (3.5oz/ 180 yards in each skein) 

- Crochet Hook H-8/5.0mm

- Scissors

- Yarn Needle

Pattern Key:

- Chain = ch

- Single = sc

- Back Loops Only = BLO

- Slip Stitch = sl st

- Stitch(es) = st / sts

- Round (s) = Rnd(s)

For the sample I used Hobby Lobby's "I love this cotton" in Pewter.

Waistcoat stitch: It's pretty much a single crochet, but to create the stockinette effect, you insert your hook in the middle of each "V" instead of in between. See picture below:

Instructions:

Rnd 1: Make a magic ring, sc 6 into ring. (6 sc)
Rnd 2: Working in a continuous round, 2 sc in each stitch of previous round. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: (2 sc in the same st, 1 sc in the next st) around. (18 sc)
Rnd 4: (2 sc in the same st, 1 sc in the next 2 sts) around. (24 sc)
Rnd 5: (2 sc in the same st, 1 sc in the next 3 sts) around. (30 sc)
Rnd 6: (2 sc in the same st, 1 sc in the next 4 sts) around. (36 sc)
Rnd 7: (2 sc in the same st, 1 sc in the next 5 sts) around. (42 sc)
Rnd 7: (2 sc in the same st, 1 sc in the next 6 sts) around. (48 sc)
Rnd 8: (2 sc in the same st, 1 sc in the next 7 sts) around, join with a sl st. (54 sc) *at this point, it is pretty much the same circumference as the toilet paper row, if yours is too small, you can keep increasing.
Rnd 9: Ch 1, working on the BLO, sc around, join with a sl st. (56 BLO sc)
Rnd 10: Ch 1, 1 sc in each st around. (56 sc)
Rnd 11: Waistcoat stitch around until you reach the necessary length (4.5" for my sample) to reach the top of the row.
Rnd 12: Sl st around to make a nice looking border. Fasten off and weave any loose ends using the yarn needle.

Cheers!

Happy Fall!

I can't believe it's the end of October already! Time is going by so fast, I am trying to hold on to the little things with all my might.

Not sure if I mentioned here before, but my nephew from Brazil is living with us for a year to go to high school as an exchange student this year, so we have been trying to expose him to some American traditions like going to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, corn maze, trunk or treating... well, you get the idea.

Talking about trunk or treat, this year was a first for us, the kids' old school didn't have that, so we jumped in and decorated our trunk with a "Where's Waldo?" theme. I painted a page of the book and my husband kindly cut out a Waldo out of plywood for the kids to be Waldo if they wanted to. It was fun!

See the scarecrow hat up there? We had a Halloween party to attend and I winged that hat so I had something to wear, I think it turned out super cute and my sweet girl was kind and agreed to wear the hat for me.

Anyhow, Autumn has been wonderful, full of plum butter scones and pumpkin muffins, beautiful fallen leaves and nice weather at least once in awhile.

Cheers!