Toddler and doll hats

This 4-piece set sold for Christmas, so I'm now working on more matching hats for dollies and their mommies (or daddies).

Added a scalloped edge and ribbon with dolls and carriages to these matching orange hats.

I now have a good stash of crocheted items, so my first goal after the holidays is to get them listed in my Etsy store. It's a little thin on handmade items right now.

I also plan on writing out and sharing directions for the hats I've concocted. I find them just as easy as crocheting straight lines now, as long as I don't get distracted from counting the stitches.

Not in the mood to decorate

This is all the Christmas decorating I've done so far. I'm just not in the mood.

It's my husband's grandmother's silver tinsel tree, covered in strands of cheap green Mardi Gras beads and vintage poinsettia lights.

The kids have since but a Nativity calendar next to it and are placing the little book ornaments from it on the tree each day.

They are home for a snow day today, maybe we'll carry some more of the decorations up from the basement.

Visiting the alpacas

My sister invited one of the boys and me to visit my nephew's girlfriend's parents' alpaca farm. We got to visit with the mamas and babies.

Instead of a pony (or chickens), I now want an alpaca for Christmas.

I settled on bringing home some yarn from Pedro, Minerva and Latte instead.

And little cria (baby) for my boy.

Many more photos over on Flickr.

The show's over

Had my last craft show of the season yesterday and it was a bust. I didn't even make enough to cover my table fee.

For those keeping track that makes one successful show and two not-so-successful shows.

While it is a nice way to spend the day away from the kids, meeting new people and other vendors, it gets frustrating to put so much time into making things and setting them out only to have to pack almost all of it up at the end of the day.

At least I had another successful Etsy day, so all wasn't lost.

Alchemy necktie scarves

I replied to a listing on Etsy's Alchemy from a woman
wanting something special done with her late dad's neckties.

She accepted my bid to make scarves from them.
She paired them up and here are the results.

She made some great combo choices
and I must say I love the finished pieces.

This will be great for Christmas...

... and this one almost stayed here with me, lol.

Caught up with the hats

Either I'm crocheting too much or not blogging quite enough.

I've had these hats to share with you for awhile now and finally got around to photographing them. I got tired of waiting for a sunny day, so I did the best I could with my less-than-willing models.

Using up bits of recycled wool, I made these two earflap hats while I was at the craft show a few weeks ago.

I was going to sell them but my middle boys claimed them as their own once they saw them.

These two pink hats were requested by my sister-in-law for her two daughters.

I can't wait to see them wearing them at Christmas!!!!!

I made 3 of these slouchy women-sized hats with rolled brims. Two in gray and one in the rusty orange. Done with a large hook and half-double stitches, they are much looser than I normally make but I like the results.

Thinking of adding a flower or pin or ribbon to jazz them up.

Or maybe they will be the first hats I line with fleece....

Hats with ribbons

I finally used up the last of the reclaimed sweater wool
I bought on Esty and used here and here.
Grand total of 6 hats and a scarf from two used sweaters.

I now have sweaters to unravel myself to try it out.
Turns out to be a very economical way to get wool yarn.
Environmentally-friendly too.

This is my niece modeling two hats I've since named after her.
They actually fit me but look much cuter on her with her curls.

The ribbon is Lindsay tartan, which is the tartan of my son's band. I got the idea of adding ribbon from Natalie (Happy 4th Birthday, Maria!), and knew that specific ribbon would work wonderfully.

Here's a scarf, with the windowpane effect of treble stitches, that matches both hats. Too bad I didn't have enough ribbon left to add to each end of the scarf....