"Mommy's Kisses" Pocket Friend

My four year old son has been having some difficulty at pre-school lately. I've gotten several notes from his teacher the last few days about him throwing tantrums, scratching himself, and hiding in the coat closet instead of participating in class.

A friend of mine suggested that I make him a lovey to put in his backpack so he knows my love is always with him. She used to kiss a hankie and put it in her daughter's backpack. I think it's a great idea!

So I got out a couple scraps of yarn and got to it. I asked my son what color a heart should be, and he said "black and white" so that's what I did.

The pocket friend is about the size of my palm, so it's a good size that won't get lost. It's made in three pieces, then sewn together. You will need to know tunesian crochet to make this. 

To make the main square:

With afghan hook, ch 11, then tunesian crochet for 20 rows. Finish off and weave in your ends. (alternately, you could  leave a really long tail to sew up the edges after attaching the appliques)

To make the heart appliques:

Ch 2

2sc in 2nd ch from hook, ch 1 and turn

2sc in ea st, ch 1 and turn (4 sts)

2sc in ea st, ch 1 and turn (8 sts)

hdc 4 times in 2nd sc from hook, sk the next st. Sl st next st, sk the next st, 4hdc in next st, sl st to the last st

Sl st each st along the edge down to the tip, ch 1, sl st up to the next hdc "hump". Finish off, and weave in

I made two heart appliques, one with worsted weight yarn, and one with sport weight yarn, and appropriate hooks.

Attach the hearts to the front of the square, fold it over with the appliques on the front, and stitch the sides up. Finish off the edges, and weave in the end of the yarn you used to sew up the edges. 

And there you have it! One backpack lovey for your munchkin. 

Picot Poinsettia

I've been looking for a nice poinsettia pattern for a bobby pin. Unfortunately, all the patterns I'm coming  up with are flat, or don't look like a poinsettia to me. At least, they didn't look like I wanted my poinsettia to look like. 

So I did what I do best... I messed around with some techniques and stitches until I found something that works. 

Introducing: Picot Poinsettia!

oh look! it's me again!

top down view

I found a five pointed picot flower pattern on Ravelry a while back, and I make those things like mad. They are so easy to do, and they work up fast. So I decided to apply that technique to a four petal design, and see what I could come up with. I must say, I am rather pleased with the results. 

This is my pattern.
I used a "k" hook and worsted weight yarn. 
You will need two colors, Your main color, and green. If you want a realistic looking poinsettia, use red, white, or cream with your green.

To picot: ch 3 then sl st to first st of that chain

• Ch 4. Sl St tog to make a ring ★ Sc once in the ring, ch 3. Repeat from ★ three times to make 4 loops. Sl st to first st
• ☆Petal☆ Sc in first ch3 loop. hdc, dc, tr, picot, tr, dc, hdc, sc  Repeat for all loops, sl st to first st.
• Turn flower over and ★ insert hook front to back and sc in center loop, ch 3. Repeat from ★ three times to make 4 loops. 
• ☆Petal☆ Sc in first ch3 loop. hdc, dc, tr, picot, tr, dc, hdc, sc  Repeat for all loops, sl st to first st. Finish off, and weave in
• With green yarn, attach a loop to the back of the poinsettia. ★ sc in the bar  between petals (see top down pic for regerence). Ch 3. Repeat from ★ three more times to make 4 loops, sl st to first st
• ☆Petal☆ Sc in first ch3 loop. hdc, dc, tr, picot, tr, dc, hdc, sc  Repeat for all loops, sl st to first st. Finish off, and weave in. 

To form your poinsettia, press the center down on a flat surface and gently tug up on each petal and leaf.

To make it a bobby, just slip a bobby pin through a couple loops of yarn in the back. No sewing necessary. 

And there you have it! I hope you enjoy making this lovely flower. 

Peace, 

Warm and fuzzy winter hat with swirly

It started out as a pattern for a toddler sized ear flap hat.....

Honestly, it did! But, it ended up being a me sized hat. So, you know, adult and stuff.

I started out with some Bernat yarn in a nice variegated brown and an "I" hook. Unfortunately, I threw away the label, and I think the color or line has been discontinued, but the Red Heart Soft line is similar, and the second yarn I used was Red Heart Soft in Guacamole.

So, you need two yarns. Your main color, and your stripe color.
An "I" crochet hook
Blunt needle for weaving in ends and attaching the swirly.

Don't forget, if you need to look up the abbreviations, check here: http://www.needlecraftuniversity.com/libcrochet.htm

Start with a magic circle, make 6 sts into the circle. Pull it tight and sl st to the first st

• r1) Ch 1. 2sc ea st around (12 sts) sl st tog & ch1
• r2) 2sc ea st around (24 sts) sl st tog & ch1
• r3) sc ea sc around (24 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r4) 2sc ea st around (48 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r5-8) sc ea st around (48 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r9) sc in same spot, [1sc, 2sc] around (72 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r10) sc ea sc around (72 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r11-21 sc in spiral
• r22) switch colors. Sc ea sc around, sl st & ch 1 (72 sts)
   You can carry the first color along the seam if you don't want to cut it, that's what I did.
• r23-25) sc ea sc around in spiral. remember to carry your first yarn along the seam if you didn't cut it in the last step
• r26) switch back to first color. Sc ea sc (72 sts) sl st tog & ch 1
• r27-33) sc ea sc in spiral. At the end of r33, sl st to the first st of the row and finish off
• Weave in all ends.

The spiral embellishment is a pattern I got from another blog called ZoomYummy

I adore her patterns! So simple to read, and easy to do. 

So there you have it, a nice, warm, fuzzy hat for winter. I can attest to the fact that it's super warm, and blocks a fair amount of wind.

Applesauce bread

I have been saying for a while that I need to make some applesauce bread. The reason? I have eight ... EIGHT! ... cans of apple sauce that are just sitting around.

So, tonight, I got out the loaf pans, found a recipe, and I am in the middle of baking some bread.

Here's the recipe I used: Applesauce bread

It smells delicious! I'm baking three loaves because my bread pans are a little smaller than it called for. I'll make sure I edit this post when it's done and I've tasted some!



**edit**
Well, the flavor is good, but if I make this recipe again, I'm leaving out the oil all together. The bread is over moist and didn't rise at all. The main complaint my husband had was that there wasn't enough apple flavor.