Pretty Easy Crochet Afghan

Crochet and I are like boyfriend and girlfriend right now. That sounds odd, but look: we are new to each other and I am totally infatuated with it, spending a LOT of my free time looking for patterns and buying yarn and stuff. Sometimes it annoys me and I don't mess with it for a few days, but then I miss it and come back. Seemed like a good analogy at the beginning... anyway this started because I wanted a slouchy hat to cover my transitioning hair and couldn't find one in the store, so I thought I'd try to make one. I found a free pattern through Pinterest, and  a bunch of videos on youtube to demonstrate the stitches and now numerous hats and scarves and half an afghan later here we are!

I went on lionbrand.com after buying some of their yarn and discovered a wealth of free patterns!! I was originally looking for a hat pattern (which I found, but more on that later) and came across this gem that got added to Craftyness for a rainy day. Well it didn't exactly rain, and I don't really have much free time, but Michaels had a great sale on one of my favorite yarns for making cozy stuff so I was able to get a bunch.  BTW-no one told me that once you start making things that actually look good this becomes a sick addiction...I have a huge basket that has been filled with "just in case I have time to start something" yarn.

Anyway, here's a look at what I've got so far.

I like blankets a lot. What I don't like are the funny sized ones that don't quite cover you when you're on the couch trying to watch a movie and be comfy. The pattern says the finished size is 36x41 in, which is too small for something for an adult to me. So I figured out how to increase it by basically counting the stitches needed for one ripple and then adding ripples until I thought it would be wide enough. I ended up adding 4 ripples to the width, and it's measuring about 54 inches across. If you notice the discrepancy in the amount of ripples I added being proportionate to how much bigger the thing should be, just turn a blind eye. I did a big no-no...I didn't make a guage swatch (gasp!!). SO instead of each of the ripples being 6 inches as the pattern says, mine ended up being more like a little less than 5inches. I also started with a size N hook because I know I crochet tighter than apparently normal, and that is what I got. Since it's a blanket and not a sweater, and since I'm still relatively new to the whole thing, I'm not worried about it. I will probably use more yarn (this is almost 1/3rd of the length I want and I'm on the 2nd ball of each color) but that's ok for me too.
I am so excited about finishing it someday soon, it has a good weight and a soft feel to it.
I have had some folks say that they dry clean finished products to make them fluffy and keep from fuzzing up...any thoughts on that?

BTW-this is not a sponsored post!

Just Breathe

Just breathe is my new mantra lately....what the heck was I thinking going to school and working full time with 2 kids??? Oh yeah, I was thinking about having a satisfying career and getting paid more to work less. I keep reminding myself of this when I don't want to study, or go to class, or leave my sweet little ones who don't really understand why I went from stay at home to always gone mom. Seriously, some people that know what is going on ask me if I'm crazy to have all this on my plate...not encouraging folks. Maybe I am crazy, but I have an awesome Hubs that supports me and encourages me to keep going everyday...sometimes when I pray I throw in an extra "you go boy" to God for making someone so perfect for me. :)
On another note, I am keeping(mostly) up with my resolution to take a photo everyday-made much easier by figuring out how to get pics off of my phone! Once I get some sort of organization to the mass of photos I am uploading I'll dump them in here.
Also, I've been crafting as much as possible, knocking some things off of my Craftyness to do list! Currently I'm working on this but in chocolate, cream, and dark red. I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to adjust the pattern for a more comfy wrap-around size. :) Once it's done I'll put up how I did that too.
So lots of things on my plate, but I'm definitely still making it!

This one is from the fall, I love her face :)

Only One Resolution

2012 holds big things for our family: school for me, possible job changes for hubs..and in addition to all of this I am going to undertake a project. I'm calling it one resolution, but it has multiple parts. I'm definitely doing a 365 this year, and at the end of the year I'm going to make a book. I was looking back on the pics I took this year of my kiddos, and it is a sad state around here. There are a couple of months that I didn't take any pictures!! Especially shameful since my son is growing so fast...he's 17 months and wearing a 3T and size 8 shoes!!
So the 365 includes:
1.) taking a picture everyday for the whole year and keeping them organized well
2.) Blogging about it!
3.) Making sure that I am actually in at least one pic a month
4.) At least one pic a month of a craft I am working on/have finished

This past week has been heaven, Hubs was on vacation so I got to sleep in and have breakfast in bed. With all the time I had to rest and recharge between shifts I had time to just thank God for such an awesome husband. It was his vacation too, and he did everything I asked(and didn't ask) without complaining.
 The kids had an awesome Christmas, and we hosted dinner at our house so I didn't have to cart the kids and watch the clock on Christmas day. Tomorrow morning we go back to reality: up around 7am and work in the afternoon. However, I am going to buy lightroom 3 and the humongo class in a book and start playing. I know I've been talking about getting it for a while and haven't, but I just found out I get a SWEET discount through the University so I really have no choice now.

This year I have decided, while not an official resolution, to let some things go. I feel like I always have too much to do: things to buy, crafts to do, cleaning, and now added schoolwork....I am going to make an effort to stress as little as possible. This year my house will not be constantly spotless, my kids will watch more TV than I like(still not spongebob though), my craft board on pinterest will continue to grow with things I hope to one day do, and I will have to make a list of books I want to read and save it for spring break. This year begins my journey into my career, time for me to truly grow up and become who I know I am called to be...and in that growing up realize that some things will have to be put to the side for a while so that our family can reach it's full potential. MaddieBoo already tells anyone who will listen that her mommy is in nursing school, and the pride in her voice when she says it is so much motivation for me to get this thing going already!  This year begins my journey into becoming a person that my children will be proud of, and that I will be proud of too.

Easy Crochet Hat

The past month or so I have been on a forced internet fast. Well, not totally, but I spend maybe an hour every couple of days instead of a couple of hours everyday. As a result, my husband is a much happier guy and I spend more time with my kids (and not wishing I was asleep because I was on the computer all night). However, I have still been getting crafty, and whipping up stuff I pinned over the summer on Pinterest. I was trying to find something easy to make for stocking stuffers for my kiddos, and maybe some homemade gifts (if I can manage that many) so I tried my hand at this:

I found the pattern for the hat on Pinterest, but here is the direct link to her blog.

This one came from here, I just made the flower part of the headband

It came out awesome!! The only downside is that I attempted to make a slouchy hat (posted about it here) a while back, and with this coming out great I now know that one was all wrong...so I may try it again.

Here's my next project:

Source: 2crazy4crafting.blogspot.com via Candice on Pinterest

I'd like to put bigger flowers on my future hats, and this one should be about the size of my whole palm where the purple one is a little smaller.  Since I have started learning to crochet and I'm getting better at it I may take some time to come up with my own patterns for hats and flowers. If I do, I'll be sure to post them here :)

Happy Thursday, and here's to a crafty weekend!!

I am {blank} because...

I am {HAPPY}  because....

• My awesome kiddos are healthy and happy, and adjusting well to Mama going to work
• I am starting nursing school in January, it's been a long time coming!
• making time to craft is not as difficult as I thought, and it justifies the time I spend on Pinterest
• the money coming in is more than the money going out
• my $2 avon matte nail polish has stayed on longer than any other brand I've used to date
• at 10am dinner is cruising right along in the crock so I know there will be no fast food in my house tonight
• the doc says I've lost 8lbs since starting my new job-even though I have been eating whatever I want lately
• And this:

Maddie's 5th birthday outfit

Just thought I'd share a little, today is one of those days-in a good way. It's nice sometimes to just feel content where you are even if everything in life isn't what we consider perfect. Happy Friday!

A New Thing

A good friend of mine asked me to participate in a new thing on her friends blog, it's called Snapshots from a Sunday. What a neat idea, and something super easy for me to get back into the blogging swing. People volunteer for an hour of time on Sunday, take a picture during that hour and then send it to Cari. She combines them into a timeline, and there you have it! I picked 4am(eek!) really because I knew I would be up then, that's about the time I get home from work. I was envisioning taking some gorgeous shot of my kids sleeping with the night-light glow, or my quiet clean house....well that didn't happen. The kids were not sleeping peacefully, I was extremely tired after a rough night, and of course the house was not even a little clean. I usually come home and go into the office to wind down after work, read my fav blogs, surf pinterest, do some editing-all I saw was clutter. My desk is a mess, the kids toys have migrated into my office in droves, in short I was overwhelmed and too tired to do a dang thing about it at 4. So I took these and went to bed.

 The kids play in here when I am working so I can keep an eye out, but looks like these guys forgot to go home

Reminded me of a scary movie while I was looking up at it this morning, I guess not so much now :/

 Not my original plan, but interestingly enough an accurate depiction of how I was feeling this morning.
I seriously think I have a problem, I can't really relax in my house unless it's clean. There is probably some real disorder named clutterastressaphobia or something...this morning was the first time in years, maybe ever actually, that I just went to bed without attempting to straighten up or do dishes. I blame the intense fatigue that has been hanging on my back for the previous 5 nights...but it's almost over. Then I can get my house back in order....really though, who get excited about uninterrupted cleaning time?

Been gone a while

I've been gone a while, but it's been good. Many awesome things are happening around here, one being the new J-O-B that I love! Most recently, as in like 2 days ago, I got my invitation to start nursing school in January!! So excited!!!! I've been waiting for this for a loooong time, and for it to finally be right around the corner is just unreal.  So as you can imagine, our house has been upside down with trying to get into a routine with the new job hours, and it's going to get even crazier with my school schedule in the mix too. I have barely been able to turn on the computer, much less spend any un-interrupted time on here to get a post finished...or even started for that matter. I may look into the email posting since I have a smartphone and lots of time on my hands at work....anyone tried that before? I've only heard of it, so if it's difficult it most likely won't make it with me.
Even though I've been slacking on my blog I've still been reading my favorites on my phone everyday, and boy does Mandey have some gorgeous boys! I wish that my hair was even half as curly as those cutie pies...
I've also still been taking lots of pictures, experimenting with the camera and trying to get some pictures of the kiddos together and smiling-this is proving to be a bigger challenge than I originally anticipated. They usually end up looking a lot like this one from last night:

I love my little punkin, but he looks a tad scary in this picture. He smiles and giggles at the camera, and somewhere between when I press the shutter and the picture comes up on the screen he manages to make this face. Almost every time.

So until "we" can do better I'll have these cuties side by side on my desk:

BTW, my obsession with pinterest has not cooled even though I have less time for it lately, I've been finding and trying some great recipes and crafts from there so I'll be doing some short posts on those to pass along. If I can do it with the craziness at our house right now I'm sure anyone can!