I Wrote My First Crochet Pattern!!

My very first crochet pattern is for a preemie hooded cape using double crochet and single crochet stitches so it works up pretty fast.

I was inspired by a pattern I saw on Mamma That Makes. I really like her pattern but as she said in her post, it does take a bit more time and I am a slow crocheter. Here is a picture of the cape that I worked up using her pattern.

The slip stitch, chain 3, 2 double crochet makes a really nice texture and it is tightly stitched so it covers the preemie angel really well.

I spoke with “Mamma” and told her I used her pattern as a guide to create my pattern using only double crochet and single crochet stitches. I didn’t want to step on any toes or infringe on her pattern. She was more than happy to let me do so. As she said, the more patterns the better, as we are all able to help more angels.

So here is my version of my pattern with pictures.

 The first is made with Lion Brand Pound of Love Blue. The second one is made with baby yarn I had on hand with no labels in pink and white. I did small shell stitches on the bottom of the pink one to make it a bit frillier for a girl. I don’t think gauge is important because angels come in all sizes. I realize many of you probably don’t have the steel crochet hook on hand so I gave what I believe is a comparable size in a regular crochet hook.

EASY DC-SC PREEMIE HOODED CAPE

I used: size 0 Boye steel crochet hook

Probably comparable to a C or D hook

Lion Brand Pound of Love 4 ply yarn

This should fit around an 18-20 week angel baby.

This is made with alternating rows of double crochet and single crochet.

 

1. Ch 61, sc in 2nd chain from hook and each across. Ch 2, turn (60 stitches)

2. Dc in each sc from previous row across. Ch 1, turn

3. Sc in each stitch across. Ch 2, turn

4. Repeat row 2 (dc)

5. Repeat row 3 (sc)

6. Repeat row 2 (dc)

7. Repeat row 3 (sc)

8. Repeat row 2 (dc)

9. Repeat row 3 (sc)

10. Repeat row 2 (dc)

11. Repeat row 3 (sc)

12. Repeat row 2 (dc)

13. Repeat row 3 (sc)

14. Repeat row 2 (dc)

15. Repeat row 3 (sc)

16. Repeat row 2 (dc)

17. Repeat row 3 (sc)

18. Repeat row 2 (dc)

19. Repeat row 3 (sc)

20. Repeat row 2 (dc)

21. Repeat row 3 (sc)

22. Repeat row 2 (dc)

23. Repeat row 3 (sc)

24. Repeat row 2 (dc)

25. Sc in first st, ch 3. (*sc in next st, ch 3*) repeat across ending with sc in last st.

Fasten off and weave in end.

HOOD

26. Turn so that the first row of your cape is at the top.

Join yarn with sl st in first st, ch 2. DC 2 tog, repeat across (30 stitches) Ch 1, turn

27. Sc across, ch 2, turn

28. DC across, ch 1, turn

29. Repeat row 27 (sc)

30. Repeat row 28 (dc)

31. Repeat row 27 (sc)

32. Repeat row 28 (dc)

33. Repeat row 27 (sc)

34. Repeat row 28 (dc)

35. Repeat row 27 (sc)

36. Repeat row 28 (dc)

37. Repeat row 27 (sc)

38. Repeat row 28 (dc) But don't ch 1 at end.

End off leaving a long tail. Fold the hood in half and use the long tail to sew up the seam.

Join yarn to the bottom of the cape and sc evenly up the side, around the hood, and back down the other side.

End off and weave in the tails.

TIE: Chain 125. Weave in and out of row 28.

GTA Donations April 2014

I know, I haven’t posted for quite awhile. The urge just hasn’t been there. So just to catch up here are the items I donated to God’s Tiny Angels in April.

Also: I wrote my very first crochet pattern and will be posting it in the near future. I wanted to make sure I have all the “bugs” worked out first and wanted to be able to post pictures of the finished product. I promise, it will be soon!

Here are my most recent donations. A few blankets, some sweaters, one quilt and an assortment of burial gowns.

GTA Donations 2013 Halloween and Christmas

This time my donations were a few Halloween items and some for Christmas.

  This is my wild neon colored Halloween blanket. See who had to assist me as I was taking my pictures. These are all Red Heart yarn. I did a simple double crochet and edged it with a shell pattern. I seem to be able to crochet faster just doing a no brainer double crochet so when I do blankets that’s what I tend to use as my favored stitch. I don’t do too many blankets because I just don’t have the patience to wait for it to be done.

This sweater was made from Red heart yarn. The variegated is called Bikini and I also used bright orange. By using the orange for the sweater sleeves and the hat trim I had enough of the Bikini left to make a second hat.

 

 

 

  The center  of this one is a circle in a square and then just double crochet around. The edging is a shell trim. I think the purple is Red heart yarn too but it may be Caron One Pounder.

Sometimes by the time I donate an item I don’t remember what yarn or pattern I used. Guess I need to start keeping a list.

That’s all I got done for Halloween this year. Now for some of my Christmas items.

This pretty little newborn set is made from yarn that I bought at our local DAV thrift shop. It’s hard to tell in the picture but it has a fine silver thread running through it. My 18 year old grandson said he liked the yarn because the silver in it made it look like it had snow on it. No idea what brand the yarn is as there were no labels on it. It’s kind of fine and very soft. Drapes really nice.

There was enough of the sparkly green yarn to get a second newborn blanket out of it. Just my standard double crochet for the pattern. I got a bit fancy with the edge and did a row of double crochet, then a row of 1 double crochet, chain 1 then double crochet again to make it look like filet crochet, then a row of shells.

This newborn blanket is made from silver threaded red yarn that I bought in the same lot as the sparkly green. Again there wasn’t a label on the skeins so brand is unknown. It’s very soft and fine like the green but the skeins were smaller so only got one blanket out of it.

 

 

This newborn cocoon and hat set is made out of Michaels store brand yarn. It’s soft and easy to work with plus economical. The pattern I used is from www.redheart.com and is called Holiday Baby Cocoon. The difference in this pattern is you double crochet between the double crochets on the previous row instead of in each double crochet. This makes for a thicker heavier cocoon in my opinion. Very easy no brainer pattern once you get the base made.

 

 

This is my snowman cocoon and hat. It was fun to make. I used this pattern from Karen’s Crocheted Garden of Colors. The pattern is here http://karensgardenofcolors.blogspot.com/2012/10/honey-bee-cuddle-sack-with-matching-hat.html and is called Honey Bee Cuddle Sack With Matching Hat. I used Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn. The last few rows I used some royal blue yarn from my stash to make it look like the snowman is wearing a scarf. The extra piece is just 3 rows of double crochet folded over and sewn on to hang like a scarf.

 

I used Karen’s pattern here again. I really like the pattern and it works up fast. The green yarn I bought at Goodwill. It is Caron brand Victorian Christmas Gold yarn, which is weird because the thread running through it is silver. Anyway the color is called balsam. I don’t know if they still make this yarn or not. It’s very soft.

 

 

 

Not real sure I like the way this one turned out but it’s not bad. I was trying to make it look like a Christmas tree with ornaments on it and trimmed it in gold to try and make it look like garland. The idea was there but not sure I like the way my execution of my idea turned out.

 

 

 

   I’m pretty sure the red yarn is from a partial skein I had of Michael's store brand yarn. Went as far as I could with the red I had and finished it off with Lion Brand Pound of Love white yarn. I thought using the black buttons would at least make it look something like a Santa suit.

 

 

  Well, Abby the black lab, the skunk, and their mom have returned home and are no longer staying with us.

 

I know our cat Rocky misses Abby. Abby would clean Rocky’s ears for him. She would just lick and lick for minutes at a time.

 

 

If Abby stopped and Rocky didn’t think she should be done, he would either walk under her and rub against her or he would nip at Abby’s back leg to get her attention to start up again. The crazy antics of our critters.

 

That’s it for now. Take care and hug your loved ones.

GTA Donations August 2013 and Other Stuff

This is my “Little Boy Blue” newborn set. The blue colors are Caron One  Pounders yarn Azure and Ocean. The white is Red Heart super saver.

 

 

 

Next are new born sweater sets.

I didn’t think I would have enough of the camo for the whole sweater and make a matching hat because I only had a partial skein of the Red Heart yarn so I mixed it with some chocolate brown yarn.

 

 

I believe this is Simply Soft yarn in a sage green color.

 

 

 

This newborn set is made from Lion Brand yarn in turquoise and white.

 

 

 

Individual sweaters include a dark green newborn and a blue and white variegated.

 

 

 

 

 

An assortment of newborn hats.

 

 

 

 

This is a rather large newborn blanket. Too big to get a good picture laid out open so I folded it in fourths. I’m not sure what brand yarn this is as the weren’t any labels on the balls. It is a soft creamy off white and similar to baby yarn. It’s very soft and drapes very nicely. I just did a simple double crochet pattern, then I edged it with some filet crochet finishing it off with shell edging.

 

This little preemie blanket and hat are made from Lion brand Pound of Love in white and lavender.

 

 

 

 

I call this my “Retro” set. It’s all made from vintage Sayelle yarn. Don’t the colors remind you of avocado green and harvest gold appliances from the 1970’s? One lady told me if I had some rusty orange in it I would have the colors from the Tupperware canister sets from that era.

 

 

 

This is my little preemie four square granny blanket. I have some things my deceased mother in law crocheted and I found the four granny squares in my stash. So I sewed the squares together and found some vintage baby yarn in my stash to match. I just did granny square stitches all around until I ran out of yarn.

 

I usually try to make some burial items because sadly the need is always there for them. I found this pretty brand new flannel at Goodwill and edged it with a filet pattern using some soft white baby yarn. I used the same baby yarn to make the kimono, diaper and hat. I used light blue buttons to pull the whole set together to match.

 

This pretty little pinafore, diaper and matching hat is made from light blue yarn. Again there weren’t any labels on the yarn so no idea what brand it is. It’s very soft and looks and feels a bit like angora yarn. I got fancy and did single crochet stitches on the safety pin so it didn’t stand out so much and matched better.

 

 

 

Just a couple of little pink burial items. I made a matching diaper for the kimono but didn’t have enough yarn to make one to match the little gown. I was using up some partial skeins.

 

 

 

That’s it for my batch of donations this time.

Critters and Flowers

It’s become a bit of a zoo around my house lately.

As many of you know hubby and I have three cats, Rocky, Truman and Baby.

The two boys, Rocky in the front and Truman on the back, have Dad trained pretty good when it comes time to nap on the couch. We lovingly tell Dan he has become the old cat man. And of course all the in house critters know Dad is good for a tidbit or two (or three) when he is sitting on the couch eating.

 

  Our third cat is Baby, the white one on the left. Her and Truman are enjoying some sun. Baby doesn’t give up her sun spot to any of the other cats.

Ok, so those are OUR critters.

 

I don’t have a picture of her because it’s hard to get a good one of her through the aquarium glass, but we also have a resident ball python snake. Her name is Samantha, Sam for short. She’s about 7-8 feet long and as big around as my lower arm. I really don’t mind Sam. She is in a 50 gallon aquarium with a very well secured top on it. She is around 20 years old and actually belongs to my stepson. When he was going through a divorce about 5 years ago, she came along with him when he came to stay with us for awhile. He isn’t here anymore but somehow we still have Samantha. That’s ok though. She doesn’t bother anyone. I don’t mess with her other than to make sure she has fresh water. When it’s time to feed her that’s up to her dad to do, not me.

  Then we have Isabella, Bella for short. My step daughter is going through a divorce now and is staying with us for awhile. Bella came along with her, plus her black lab / pit mix dog. I don’t have a picture of the  dog yet. Her name is Abby who is around 10 years old and she is the sweetest gentlest dog.

Bella the skunk has the run of the house but she’s actually pretty shy and pretty much stays in the bedroom. She’s de scented. When I was up late the other night I heard her trying to sneak down the hallway. Kinda hard to be quiet  when you have such long nails and are walking on tile. Anyway, I heard her head into the bathroom to snoop around and was able to grab my camera to take a picture of her as she was coming out of the bathroom. When she feels you are invading “her” space, she raises her tail and stomps her front feet at you. The cats weren’t too thrilled with her at first but they have come to tolerate having her here.

So there you have it, 3 cats, a snake, a skunk and a dog.

  Then the other day when I walked out to the mailbox I saw this in the front yard. Hubby says it’s a deer track (which I thought it was) and it’s probably from a big old buck as big as it was. We live in the middle of a good sized suburban city but it’s not unusual for us to see deer, especially late at night and early in the morning.

 

Now for some pretties.

  My irises blooming in the flower bed in the front yard.

 

 

 

 

One of the lilacs from one of the two bushes my kids got me for Mother’s day three years ago. Being the third year for them, I finally had quite a few blooms this year. I love the smell of lilacs.

 

 

 

 

  And finally, our neighbor brought me over an assortment of peonies from his bushes. Every year when they bloom he either brings over a nice bunch, or comes and tells me the peonies are ready and “come pick all you want”. Which I usually do.

We have such nice neighbors.

 

On the health front: Still coping with my depression and anxiety. Probably will be a life long battle. We adjusted up my dosage on the Effexor. I have to say the depression is pretty much gone. Now if I could just get rid of the anxiety too. It’s better, but still frequently there. I have been getting out more, even going places by myself, which in itself is a big improvement.

Sorry it’s been so long since I posted, just hasn’t been a lot to write about. Keeping busy crocheting for the babies for God’s Tiny Angels. I should have a post about my newest donations in a few days as I have a box of items just about ready to ship.

Until next time, take care and hug your loved ones.

Check In Easter Sunday 3-31-13

Yesterday and today were pretty good days.

We didn’t have a traditional Easter dinner because today was also my grand son Landon’s 10th birthday. We were invited to my stepson’s and his girlfriend’s home to celebrate.

Landon wanted spaghetti and garlic bread so that’s what we had. My stepson’s lady Melissa made this totally awesome birthday cake for Landon. Isn’t it cool??!!

It’s a cookie dough flavor cake with cookie dough frosting between the layers. The bunny butt and carrots are fondant and the grass is colored coconut with a ring of Kit Kats around the outside of the cake. It was so moist! I knew I shouldn’t but I had a half a slice of a thin sliver of it. It was so good! And since I took my diabetes medicine, even with all the carbs and sugar I ate today, my blood sugar was only 112 three hours later, so it was all good.

Saturday I went shopping for about 3 hours with my daughter. We went grocery shopping and I went to JoAnn’s to get some buttons and bigger safety pins. I have been working on crocheting burial kimonos and crocheted diapers for angel babies for our group God's Tiny Angels . I didn’t get a picture taken yet but will post it soon. They work up pretty fast and the need is great. I got the pattern for the diaper and kimono here Love You More Than The Bus Blog. The pattern has been approved by Teeny Tears for use for charity donations.

All the buttons at JoAnn’s were on sale for 50% off which sure helps. It’s amazing how expensive buttons are any more.

So, two days in a row out of the house. It’s been a very long time since that has happened. My daughter drove yesterday and my husband today. I’m still having just a bit of dizziness off and on so still just a little leery about driving yet. But, the weather was so nice the last 2 days and it sure was nice to get out in it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still having some bad days, more like bad hours than full days though. I’m still needing to sleep more than I would like, so an afternoon nap is pretty much a given daily at this time. The anxiety still comes and goes, sometimes for no reason at all. I know I felt shaky and nervous when I needed to leave home the last two days, but I’ve found a fourth of a Xanax seems to take the edge off and once I’m out of the house I seem to be ok for at least 3 or 4 hours. My mood is definitely better. I do seems to have some more energy than I did, actually getting some housework done that’s been needing to get caught up. I actually have more interest in doing things and wanting to get out of the house than I’ve had for quite awhile. I’m still not anywhere near 100% there yet, maybe 40% at this time. But things are for sure getting better. I know it’s going to take time but I really feel the Effexor is taking me in the right direction. I’m starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Until next time….take care of yourself.

Check In 3-24-13

Sorry I haven’t posted the last few days. I figured you didn’t really need a blow by blow daily.

I started a new dose of Effexor on Friday, 2 capsules instead of one. So far it seems to be ok. Only really weird side effect I seem to be getting is some zappy feelings in my legs. Don’t know if it’s a side effect of the Effexor or a combination with my Peripheral Artery Disease. Am keeping an eye on it. If it gets worse or doesn’t go away will be calling my Dr. Also I seem to have some shakiness too. That seems to start to happen about 2 hours before it’s time to take my meds. Maybe it’s because the meds for the day are about worn off.Been kind of antsy too so the Xanax has come into play. Today I couldn’t get warm for anything so I just went to bed, curled up with a nice warm comforter and slept for awhile. That seems to have gone away tonight.

I did get my preemie blanket done the other night. Just got the picture taken tonight. Both yarns are Red Heart Super Saver and the colors are Aran (off white) and lavender. I made a hat to match it but didn’t get a picture of it.

That’s it for tonight.

Take care all.

Check In 3-20-13

Today was better than yesterday. I’m still wanting to sleep a lot. Wasted a good part of this morning and some of this afternoon. Guess my body and brain are still adjusting. But I did get ambitious this afternoon and evening. Got the dishes done, swept all the floors, got the garbage and litter boxes ready to go out since tomorrow is garbage day. Went out and got the mail. Even got some more crocheting done. Almost finished with an off white and lavender baby blanket. Just need to finish the shell edging. If I get it done soon I will post a picture. Thinking about making a matching hat to go with it.

Until tomorrow!

Check In 3-19-13

Today was a set back day. Really tired, slept a lot, antsy, anxious, shaky.  Just plain old didn't feel good. Xanax and sleep were my friends today. Hoping tomorrow is better.

Check In 3-18-13

Another day where I’m feeling pretty good. Got up early but ended up needing a nap. All of a sudden about 11:00 a.m. I could barely keep my eyes open, so off to bed I went. So I pissed away my afternoon sleeping. I suppose my body is still adjusting to the Effexor since it’s only been 3 days that I’ve been on it.

I must say I’m not feeling the “fogginess” that I experienced with Paxil. Also when I was taking the Paxil, after the first hour or so, I would get a feeling like I had a tight hat band around my head. Don’t quite know how else to describe that feeling. It was pretty weird, and I always got it, every day. It lasted for a few hours too. Just a weird side effect that I sure didn't like.

My energy level has certainly gone up. My motivation isn't what I would like it to be yet, still hard to get motivated, but at least I am WANTING to do stuff. That’s a big improvement for me.

I’ve been crocheting up a storm, which is something I’ve always enjoyed doing anyway, but I seem to enjoy it even more now, which I didn’t think was possible.

Wanted to go do something today, just to get out of the house, but it’s really stinking cold today. Went out to get the mail and about got blown away. The wind is really bad which makes it feel a lot colder than it actually is. My hands and feet get cold easy because of my peripheral neuropathy and my circulation isn’t what it should be, so I have to be a bit careful about going out when it’s cold.

Just a short post for today.

Truman Adopted August 2012

I was just looking back at some of my older posts and realized I had said I would post pictures of Truman, the cat we adopted way back in August, and I never did! So here we go!

Here he is napping in the bottom of the TV stand. He has made himself right to home around here.

Some history on Truman: My daughter and son in law bought a new home last year and the man who was selling the house was Truman’s former dad. He was being transferred by his company out of state and couldn’t take Truman with him.

Here he is, sharing the love seat with Baby. Truman’s dad told us if he couldn’t find a home for him, he would have to take Truman to the pound. I couldn’t let that happen. Came home, talked hubby into letting me get Truman. And a few days later Truman came to live with us. At first our 2 other cats, Baby and Rocky were pretty leery about Truman. Truman is pretty laid back. He just wanted to be friends with them but they weren’t having any of that at first. Lots of hissing and growling going on for a few days.

 

Truman and Rocky watching a squirrel out the window. They are best buddies now. They play together all the time. Baby is my skittish cat and it took her longer to accept Truman, but now they play together and chase each other up and down the hallway to the bedrooms. They all even sleep together at times on the beds.

Just hanging out. He is such a good boy. Unfortunately his owner didn’t tell us he had previous problems with cystitis and needed to be on special food. So we were just feeding him the same dry cat food the other cats were eating. After two weeks with us he was having trouble peeing, licking himself a LOT and was just generally pretty miserable.

A $500 trip to the vet later, was when we found out about his cystitis. When cats eat dry cat food, they don’t get enough moisture in their system to keep it flushed out and males tend to develop crystals because of it. So now all the cats are on canned cat food for urinary tract. There just wasn’t any way to keep Truman out of the dry food, and the other two out of the canned food.

He loves curling up in any box, just like the other cats, so we keep an empty box under our end tables, just for them.

Truman also has allergies, so he sneezes a lot, but that we did know. I am pissed that his old owner didn’t tell us about needing special food. We could have avoided the big vet bill. I suppose he thought we wouldn’t take him if we knew about his medical issues. Maybe, maybe not. I DO know we are glad we adopted him. He has fit in well with our other cats. He is a very sweet, gentle, loving cat. He’s very sociable, loves getting his head scratched, and curls up in my hubby’s lap all the time. He’s been a good addition to our home. No more cats though. 3 are enough.

Until next time.