New Baby Hat Design - Fox

I have a few designs sketched out for various types of hats and finally had the chance to crochet one. :) I give you, the baby fox:

This hat is available in my etsy shop and can be made to order. :)

I have also made several more "newsies" hats in a variety of colors and textures. Pattern for this hat is available on Ravelry.

Store review, non-acrylic yarn

I think I've mentioned it here before that I wanted to try to experiment with other types of yarn (I generally stick with acrylic and dabble with cotton occasionally). Well, after searching for quite awhile on the internet, I found a site that had a pretty good deal on bamboo yarn (eco-friendly, anti-bacterial, soft - win-win-win!), eKnittingNeedles.com. They have a couple of types of bamboo yarn for $8.99/3 balls or 1 ball for $3.99. The variety of colors is nice, the site's navigation it easy, and they processed and shipped my order pretty quickly. I recommend them if you're looking for an easy to work with vendor!

I have yet to actually work with the yarn as it's always difficult for me to use up something cool that I have (seriously, it's silly, but it's the "But if I use it for X, what if I want to use it for Y instead? I won't have any if I use it!" type of thinking). It is pretty ridiculously soft and silky though and seems to be pretty durable.

And I just ordered some huge cones of cotton yarn off eBay in neutral-ish colors, tobacco, crocodile and pink (which is a very, very pale pink). 8lbs of cotton yarn is coming my way from NC! :) I look forward to making baby hats with them, as well as some other things.

A couple of weeks ago, I broke down and ordered from Joann.com. Ugh. Anyone who has ever ordered from them knows how LONG it takes for them to process even the simplest of orders. But I like their Sensations Rainbow yarns and couldn't get some of the colors in-store. At least I got free (turtle-slow) shipping and didn't have to pay the outrageous fees they charge!

Sorry that this post is a bit boring. Since finishing up the owl hats I needed to finish late last week, it's been a whirlwind of activity over here! I finally got to meet my cutie-pie nephew and hung out with my SIL & her husband a bunch while they were in town, as well as seeing some friends who just recently moved back from out of the country... And I was a crochet fiend Saturday night trying to finish up some play food for my friends' daughter, Emma (cupcakes, fried eggs, a couple more cookies). Naturally, I can't find my 32oz bag of polyfill, which I needed for the cupcakes, so I had to run to Joann and grab another (40% off coupon FTW!).

PATTERN: Stargazer Lily-esque Flower

Inspired by all the crochet flowers I've seen on Pinterest and wanting to make some flowers for a friend's daughter, I made some stargazer lily-esque flowers. :) I made this first one in purple because it's my friend's favorite color AND because I had both next to me after finishing another friend's purple owl hat.

Stargazer Lily
Center: 12 sc into magic circle (could also ch2, 12 sc into 2nd ch) Fasten off.
Inside of petals:
Attach yarn to 2nd st of circle, ch10. Fasten off.
Attach yarn to 4th st of circle, ch10. Fasten off.
Continue attaching yarn to every other st of circle, ch10. Fasten off.
Outside of petals:
Attach yarn to first st of magic circle.
2: Sl st into 2nd st (where your inner petal is), tr 3 times into ch, dc 2 times, hdc 3 times, sc into next, sl st into end, sc into next, hdc 3 times, dc 2 times, tr 3 times, sl st into base of petal, sc into magic circle.
Rep 2 for all petals, sl st to join.

I used a 4.5mm hook and worsted weight yarn (Red Heart Super Saver Yellow, Caron One Pound Iris, Lion Brand Pound of Love Lavender) and made a flower that is about 5" from petal tip to petal tip.