Wanna Go to Crochet School?

When people see my crocheted hats, blankies, and things, they often express a desire to learn how to crochet. Well, good news! Starting October 1st, you can go to Crochet School over at Crafty Minx!





Cool, right? I mean, she even has a syllabus. This is pretty awesome stuff. Check it out!

A Baby Hat

I seem to know a lot of people who are having babies or people who know people who are having babies (Did that make sense?). Anyway... I made four baby hats this past week. Two of them looked just like this and were made for a friend who had a couple baby showers coming up.

Maybe it's because my oldest is a boy, but I am kind of partial to baby boy things. Girls are fun, something about a perfect little man outfit really makes me happy. And I really like the way these hats came out.

I did a simple brimmed beanie with a few cables on one side and a couple of suede covered buttons for extra fun.

The other side of the hat is plain.

And here's a closeup of the cables. Crochet cables are fun, although they do have a much different look than knit cables. I have never tried knit cables (mostly because knitting stresses me out just a bit), but maybe one day. I tried a new experiment with these cables, and it turned out! Success!

I'm working on writing up a pattern for this hat, so watch out for that!

Linking up at Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, Weekend Wrapup Party at Tatertots and Jello, Make Something Monday at Sarahndipities, and Making Mondays Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T.

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Meatless Menu

I'm alive! I'm here!

I didn't realize it had been over two weeks since the last post. Sheesh. That's bad. What have I been doing? One thing I've been doing is RUNNING. Fourteen miles last week - WOOT! Which is like crazy stuff for me. But I'm feeling great.

Other things... I've been trying out some vegetarian meals. The hubs and I have decided we want to try to eat less meat, so I've been hitting the cooking sites looking for new recipes to try out. Here are some of my favorites we've had so far

Martha Stewart

These calzones are filled with broccoli and cheese and they are yummy. I upped the health quotient a bit with my favorite whole wheat pizza dough recipe (which I run in my stand mixer with the dough hook for a few minutes instead of kneading to keep it super easy). I made a triple batch of these and threw a bunch in the freezer for easy lunches and dinners. Score!

How about roasting some eggplant and red pepper and chopping them up, throwing them on a whole grain baguette with some feta cheese spread, and chowing down? That's a good idea. I don't have a picture, so you'll have to trust. These are YUMMMM. (See the extra M's? This is serious.)

And here's what to eat when you are feeding dedicated carnivores and veg-heads together:

eatingwell

Juevos Rancheros Verdes. I usually whip up some fresh guac with these, and I may bake up a few corn tortilla chips to go with.

What are your go-to vegetarian entree recipes? Do you have any good ones that aren't loaded up with cheese? I notice that I tend to compensate for lack of meat with cheese.

Baby Bug's Birthday Dress

This was one of the projects that actually made it off my to do list in time for the party. I used the great tutorial that Jess at Craftiness is not Optional contributed to See Kate Sew's Pleat Weeks.

The tutorial was for this adorable top, but I really wanted to make a dress. I followed the tutorial to make the top, and then added two little cap sleeves and an easy, slightly-gathered tiered skirt.

She was not so much into the whole posing for pictures thing.

To add a skirt to the top without creating a weird belly bulge, I had to sew my pleats all the way down the front rather than only a few inches like in the original top. I also only used three buttons on the back and sewed the bottom part of the back shut.

I don't sew clothes very often, but this made me think I should do it more often! I really like the way the dress turned out, and I thought it was special that her dress matched the party theme and decor. (See the party here). 

Linking up at Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, Making Mondays Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T., Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Things I've Done Thursdays at Bear Rabbit Bear, and Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch. 

Twenty Minute High Chair Cover

In my mind, first birthday parties are mostly about watching a one year make a huge mess out of some cake. I'm talking a cake-on-the-walls, frosting-in-the-ear, finding-crumbs-for-weeks kind of mess. That's the good stuff. My little bug did not disappoint. 

Well played, baby girl. Well played.

Since I consider the cake-smash to be the main event of the first birthday party, I wanted to make sure I had a cute background for all the photos I would be snapping of the beautiful mess at my baby's lady bug bash. Here's how to make a twenty-minute high chair cover for your favorite baby's first handful of cake.

I started out by pinning a folded piece of fabric over the back of the high chair. I wanted to the cover to fit pretty snuggly, so I pinned it just as I wanted it. Carefully(!) remove the pinned fabric. 

Next, I simply sewed along the line created by my pins, be sure to remove each pin before I got to it with my machine. I left about two inches (maybe a bit more) unsewn at the bottom to create a hem and side slit.

To hem the bottom, I simply rolled the edge up twice, pressed, and sewed it down.

I created a side slit to help the bottom of the cover fit snuggly up against a wider part of the chair. I simple folded the seam allowance in and stitched up and around, backstitching over the end of the seam. As you can see, my stitches here are not neat and pretty, but I decided I didn't care. It's going to get covered in cake, right? 

Here she is slipped back onto the high chair:

Nice, snug fit. Just waiting for your beautiful embellishments.  :) I added a simple ruffle around the edge in a striped fabric. 

Okay - Let's talk about ruffles for a second. Basically, they are awesome. (This pillow is still my favorite of the one's I've made.) I never considered them to be difficult, but after stopping by Junkin' Junky the other day, it's like a whole new world of ruffles has opened up to me. She found instructions via Little Bit Funky to make ruffles while you sew without a ruffle foot. I mean. You all probably already knew how to do this because you are awesome. But for me, whole. new. world. Seriously. 

All you do is set tension to the lowest setting, stitch length to the longest length, and then hold the thread as it leaves the spool. The harder you pull the thread, the more it ruffles. It's great stuff. 

I cut strips of fabric, and then simply stuck another one right on top of the one I had just ruffled (as you can see above) and kept going to create a longer ruffle.

I sewed one ruffle around the outside of the cover, and made another long ruffle for the edge of the tray. I sewed a red polka-dot ribbon over the center of the tray ruffle and used tape to stick it on. 

(This was my favorite part!!)

So, there you go! A quick 'n' cute high chair cover for your baby's big moment. Enjoy!

 I'm linking up at Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, and the Inspiration Board at Homework 

Crochet Fashion: Dog Rose Pullover

I haven't posted one of these in a while... I think the 100+ degree weather has dissuaded me from digging into some wool. But the promise of cooler weather (the high here today is still 105) has got me craving sweaters and boots. 

I love the crocheted yoke of this Anthropologie sweater, which, of course, looks lovely with a skirt and boots. Here's hoping for cooler weather soon!