Giraffe

I finished my second animal for my kids for Christmas. The first was the frog, this one was a giraffe. I picked a giraffe for two reasons. One was that I saw this giraffe on Pinterest and I thought it was cute. The other was that I had found some yellow yarn for sale (practically free) and I bought without a plan and it had just been sitting around in my basement. This seemed like a good use!

I found the pattern from Flourish and Tots. The pattern was easy to follow and it was fun to make!

10 Snowdrifts Tree Skirt

This tree skirt was one of the first things I found on Pinterest that I wanted to make. I had the hardest time tracking down the pattern, but I'm so glad I finally did. I just used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in the color Aran. Now I kind of wonder if I should have done it in something more white, since it is supposed to look like snow drifts. Oh well, I like it how it is. I think it would even look pretty if the ruffles were different colors if you forget the whole looking-like-snow part.

Now I just have to wait until December to see how it looks with the tree. I started it early because I knew it would take a long time. I worked on it for about two hours every night for 3-4 weeks. I'll try to remember to update and put a picture of it under the tree. I can't wait to see how it looks.

Amigurumi Frog

I made my first attempt at amigurumi. I thought that my kids might like little animals for Christmas (I'm trying to give them some handmade things this year), so I started out with a little frog. Honestly, I don't love how it turned out. I made the eyes too big and when I embroidered the mouth and nose, it made the face pucker. When my kids saw the finished product, though, they didn't care about those things. They fought over who got to hold it for a few minutes, and then I put it in my hiding spot where it will stay until Christmas. Hopefully they will forget about it by then.

The pattern was great...the problems with the frog were my own. I found the pattern here. I read through the comments for the pattern on Ravelry and some people suggested putting pipe cleaners in the legs to help them bend. I followed that suggestion and I really like what it did for the legs.

Cloche with Ribbon

I had some leftover yarn that I needed to use up, so I decided to make a hat for my daughter. I love how it turned out! The pattern was really easy and the hat worked up quickly. I got the pattern here.

Girl's Playground Cardigan

I'd had my eye on this cardigan pattern for a while and finally got around to making it. Since I stitch tightly, I decided to follow the instructions for a size bigger than I wanted it to be. I guess I didn't stitch tightly this time, because it ended up bigger than I needed! I think it is a pretty design, though, and I'm excited for when it fits my daughter.

When I went to buy the yarn for it, I first grabbed the suggested yarn for the pattern. I would have ended up spending about $28 on yarn for this! I just couldn't. I ended up getting some Bernat Satin yarn for MUCH cheaper, and I think it is just as pretty.

I got the pattern here.

Maybe I'll update this post with my daughter wearing it once it fits!

Baby Mary Loop Shoes

I have decided that I am not meant to crochet baby shoes. I wanted to make some cute baby shoes and actually tried a few different patterns. The pictures on the different patterns were super cute, but when I made them, they just didn't turn out right. Here is my most recent pair, which I decided turned out okay, although they are also far from perfect. The pattern is from SkipToMyLoop.

I thought it was fun to add a matching headband, and I liked how it turned out.

Waffle Stitch Blanket

I finally finished this blanket for my son. I made a blanket for my daughter's birthday earlier this year, so I figured that I better make a blanket for my soon to be 3 year old.

I started a waffle stitch blanket a while back, but after getting a few rows into it, I decided that it wasn't as long as I wanted it to be. So I made it into a scarf. I started this one on a road trip, so it was a little hard to lay it out in the car after starting it to see if I liked the length. I should have taken the time to do that, though, because I ended up making this blanket a bit longer than I really wanted to. That, combined with the fact that the waffle stitch eats up a lot of yarn, turned this into a very big, heavy blanket and I lost count of how many skeins I used.

Something with the light in my room made the gray look funny in this picture. But here you can kind of see the look of the waffle stitch. The colors look more like the other two pictures.

My son kept asking me if the blanket was for him and told me several times that he liked it, so I think he'll be happy with it. Now I just have to wait a couple of months to give it to him!