Crochet Fun!

Lately, the energy and creativity I used to save for writing have been channeled into my new love.  Crocheting!  Well...it's not that new. I learned to crochet in 2002, but I spent the last ten years only being able to make simple scarves and baby blankets. "I can't read a pattern," I thought.  "It takes too much time and energy to learn something new!"

But, about a year ago, while I was crocheting up a baby blanket for my adorable niece, I wanted to add a little something special to it.  Just a simple heart on the corner.  So, I googled it.  And then I googled all the parts of the pattern that I didn't understand.  Google is amazing.  About an hour later...viola!  A little crocheted heart that I could sew on the corner of that hot pink blanket to tell Kynlee how much her auntie loves her.  And....I was hooked.  Ha!  Get it...HOOKED! :)  I started looking for more patterns.  More simple things I could learn.  And guess what? There are THOUSANDS of free patterns on the internet.

And guess what else is awesome?  A lot of the crochet blogs that I am currently devouring are written, interestingly enough, by people from the UK, which makes it a delight to read!  All that talk of things they are crocheting for their flats, and their mums, and getting "cross with bits of yarn when they get tangled straight away."  It's intoxicating.  Not to mention that crochet blogs are some of the most colorful, beautiful things to look at.

All that to say, I have been creating things left and right.  And I can hardly finish one thing before I start another.  And my husband, a smart man to feed my addiction to yarny things, got me a crochet magazine for Christmas with all kinds of interesting patterns and these instructions, "I want you to make me a sweater someday."  Now, this is interesting, because he's not really the sweater-wearing type.  I think he just wants what we all want.  To be wrapped in something that someone made with you in mind.

I'm not ready to tackle a whole man-sized sweater yet, though.  So, I'm starting small.

I made a bunch of these swirly, twirly scarves around Christmastime to give as gifts.  Because I feel like, in Colorado, you can never have enough beautiful scarves. This is a tiny toddler version I made for Ava and she looks insanely adorable with it wrapped around her like a grown-up girl.

I made a few of these hats, too.  Such fun little girly hats with beautiful cluster stitching and super easy flowers.  This is Hope's and it looks super cute on her.

This baby blanket with all it's ripply goodness is still in the process but I love the way it is shaping up.  And the pattern is so easy, I almost feel ashamed that I didn't step out of my straight line, double crochet baby blankets sooner.

And this adorable cupcake was made for a little girl who is turning one. I think it's the perfect gift for a sweet little future cupcake baker.

I've also made my first pair of mittens and my first shawl and there is a lot more coming.  Including these amazing little matryoshka dolls.   Are you kidding me?!?  How cute are these.  Oh yes, I will definitely be making some of these.

There are a million fun things you can do with yarn and I think in 2013, I might  just try out a couple hundred ideas.  So, if you don't see me for a while, you might want to rescue me from my basket of yarn and insist that I rejoin the outside world for at least a couple of hours.