Free Pattern Friday

If I can remember to do it, I'd like to start a weekly blog post showcasing a new free pattern. Of course, I just do the crocheting, so none of these are mine, but I will tell you where you can find them. I hope you enjoy this new little blog segment from me!

This week our free pattern comes from Lion Brand Yarn. It's the Softly Shaded Hat & Scarf. (Picture is courtesy of Lion Brand Yarn)

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I have yet to try this pattern so if you have tried it let me know.

The Weekly Hook-up...and Some New Goals for the New Year

Can you believe that 2013 is literally right around the corner? Where has this year gone?? It has been both a crazy year as well as a fun year. First of all let's start with my most recent projects...

I didn't get much done due to the holidays...I did finish these Clemson hats for a customer:

I was able to make my husband's uncle a Clemson hat also since he is a Tiger fan (at least I'm not the only one in the family...haha):

My hubby's brother and his wife are expecting a baby girl in late April 2013. They are Panthers fans so I made a hat for their little one and gave it to them for Christmas.

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How many of you make New Year's Resolutions? I try to make a few each year but I rarely stick to them past a week. this year I want to make sure I stick to them. Here are mine so far:

1. I definitely need to lose some weight...not just so that I can look and feel better about myself, but so I can look and feel better period. Also, with things like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol running on both sides of my family, it never hurts to look out for my health. I plan to exercise at least 3 times a week and to start running with my husband again.

2. I originally had said that I want to get at least 1 item done every single day. After thinking about that some more, I decided to factor in life (sick days, kids' sick days, family fun times, days that I need to run errands, etc.). I realized that if I devoted myself to crochet one item a day, I would have no time for all of that or I would end up failing on that goal. So I decided to just set a goal of at least 5 items each week. With this goal, I may get more than one item done in a day then wouldn't feel so bad if I skipped a day. I think 5 items each week is not only realistic, but will help to ensure that I have a lot of items done and ready to ship when necessary. Hopefully this will mean that I can have enough stock to participate in a few craft fairs this year.

3.Now with that being said about wanting to get a certain number of items crocheted each week, I want to make sure all of that crocheting is done on weekdays so that I can devote my weekends solely to my family. My children are getting older which means I won't have this precious time with them forever. I want to make sure that my husband and I are able to do fun stuff with them this year.

4.Of course, I want to stay up-to-date on my blog. I want to make sure I keep up with posts at least once a week. I plan to add a bit more variety. Aside from crochet projects I am hoping to include more recipes, maybe do some blogging about my husband's drift events, and maybe start sharing free patterns from various designers.

5.And lastly, I want to participate with my kids in volunteering at least one day out of each month (maybe 2). My mother-in-law is the director of an organization called NCPacks4Patriots. If you've ever been deployed or know someone who has, chances are you have received a care package from NCP4P. Formerly known as Give2TheTroops of North Carolina, this is an organization that collects donations and packs & sends care packages to our deployed men and women in the military. Please click their name above and check out everything they do for our brave troops. My children and I began the year volunteering on a weekly basis but I am sad to say that I became slack in making sure we went to the center each week so this is something I want to get better with.

So do you make goals each new year? How well do you keep them? What are your resolutions as we enter into 2013? I would love to hear all about what you plan to do in the upcoming year. Maybe by sharing all of mine with you, I will hold myself to them better. I guess we will just have to see.

I wish you all a safe and happy New Year's! :)

The Weekly Hook-up

With Christmas approaching, I have been so busy that I have not posted to my blog. I am still busy fulfilling customer orders, so here is a simple pictorial post of everything I've been working on the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Okie dokie...I know it's picture-heavy, but that is what I've been up to for the last few weeks. I'm not sure if I will be able to get another blog post in before the new year, so in case I don't, I wish you all a Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa...or whatever you celebrate) and a very Happy New Year!

The Weekly Hook-up

Here is this past week in my little world of hooks and yarn!

I didn't get quite as many things made since it was Thanksgiving. I decided to take a couple of days off from customer orders to relax with family. Here are the customer orders I were able to get done:

I also finished up these newborn chunky hats a few minutes ago. The white yarn has a bit of sparkle in them as do the snowflake buttons. They are for sale on my Facebook page.

On to the last project that I want to share from this week. First, a little bit of history on why I made it. I am a Carolina girl...I was born and raised in Charleston, SC. When you are from South Carolina or live there, you have this one day out of the year when you are one of two things: a Tiger or a Gamecock. Win or lose, I am proud to be a Clemson Tiger fan! Each year the two teams face off in football for what has been dubbed the "Palmetto Bowl". This year I decided to make a little something for my smallest Tiger. Here he is in his custom crocheted football helmet. If you are interested in ordering, you can visit my Facebook page and just shoot me a message on there. I am not limited to Clemson. I can make them in different sizes and team colors. I can also add the paw, a fleur-de-lis for you Saints fans, the skull & crossbones for all of you Pirate fans, or the "G" for you GA Bulldog and Green Bay fans. If you need something other than those, I will do my best to see what I can come up with.
So that is my week in crochet. I am hoping to get about twice as much done this week. I will leave you this week with pictures of my little Tiger.

The Weekly Hook-up

It's that time again...time for another edition of The Weekly Hook-up. I've been pretty busy lately trying to get projects made for the upcoming holidays. Here's a quick look at what I've been up to.

I tested this Chunky Monkey hat pattern for Bizee B Boutique:

Normally I would have sold this, but I decided that this should be MY little monkey's winter hat this season.

I love how cute this train hat turned out that I made for a customer:

The pattern for this hat can be found on the bubnut Etsy page.

I was able to get all of these Christmas hats made in one night. .
I love this pattern from Inner Hooker. It uses chunky yarn so it works up extremely quickly. Speaking of Inner Hooker, you should head over and check out her blog, The Oxford Family. If you're interested in any of these Christmas hats, there are still a few left on my Kristin's Kreations Facebook page.

I couldn't get by Thanksgiving without trying out one of these really cute turkey earflap hats from Crochet Creations by Steph.
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I was also able to test a couple of headband patterns for The Perfect Knot:
. All of these are for sale on my Facebook page, too.

And here are some more customer orders from the week:


So that's what I've been up to this week in my little world of hooks 'n yarn. I will leave you with a picture of my oldest and youngest "turkeys". I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Repeat Crafter Me: Table Runner using the Sharp Crochet Hook & Patter...

I have already seen so many projects I would love to make with the Sharp Crochet Hook. If you've been wanting one as well, head over to this giveaway by Repeat Crafter Me!


Repeat Crafter Me: Table Runner using the Sharp Crochet Hook & Patter...: Attention fellow crocheters! If you haven't discovered the Sharp Crochet Hook yet, you are missing out! This hook glides through fabrics ...

The Weekly Hook-up (from the last 6 weeks)

So I haven't posted anything for The Weekly Hook-up for over a month now. So here's a quick pictorial run-down of everything I've made:

I've made lots of these pumpkin hats in different sizes. I still have a few for sale on my Facebook.


Here's a scarf I tested for Creations by Valorie. I used a silk/bamboo blend yarn for mine and just love the way it feels.


I've had even more requests for these purple/gold pirate hats so I thought I would do a mini "photo shoot" with my littlest guy wearing his. Check out his Pirate spirit!


Here's a few items that I made using some fall-colored handspun yarn from Hogg Wild Fibers



These next few projects were made using a bundle of candy corn handspun yarn from Monique's Craft Corner


I found some soy/wool blend yarn laying around and loved the colors so I used it to make this cowl by Creations by Valorie


Here are some chunky Santa hats that I think are just adorable. I had a friend ask me to make one so I decided to do some extra ones for my Etsy. They have not made it to the Etsy shop yet but I am hoping to get them posted this week. The pattern for these is available at JTEasyCrochet



Here's a scarf that I recently tested for The Perfect Knot. It's pretty short so I think that I may just sell it as a child's scarf.



These are some hats I made from some Halloween yarn from Hogg Wild Fibers



And here are a few customer orders: