New Crochet Pattern, a Stitch Idea, and a Sleep Breakthrough

It's done!  My new pattern for a flower embellishment:

I had this idea for a kind of retro, almost cartoon-like flower a while ago, based on the kinds we tend to associate with the 1960s and '70s, flower power, hippies, etc.  But I could not for the life of me get the petals to be rounded like this without either curling up or running into each other.  I finally got it all figured out on Friday and made up a couple demos to show off in my listings for the pattern.  (It's listed on Etsy, Ravelry, and Craftsy, as usual.)

These would be so cute decorating a hat or purse, or a bunch of them sewn all over a vest or skirt!  I think they lend themselves to children's clothing really well, but adults with a fun fashion sense could totally wear them too.  Here's how one looks on my adult sun hat:

And just this morning, while I was lying in bed snuggling my baby, I dreamed up my very first crochet stitch!  I went to Yarn Cloud yesterday for new yarn to make a blanket for the new niece we'll be getting in a few months, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for this blanket, when bam!  A new crochet stitch! It's probably been done before, but I've never used it or seen it in a book (as far as I know -- I do like reading books of different stitches).  If the blanket turns out well, maybe I'll sell the pattern for it!

Speaking of snuggling my baby, last night was a Big Night.  She slept in her own bed for half the night!  She's almost 5 months old now, and I had started putting my other two kids in their own beds at night when they were about 4 months old, but timing just has not been working out with this one -- we were gone two weeks ago, we've got another trip coming up soon, and then next month we're going on vacation.  I tried starting her in her own bed a few times, but she wasn't going for it, and I figured with all that upheaval, it just was going to have to wait.

But last night she kept waking up every half an hour, and I got fed up.  The fourth time she woke up, I said, "That's it!  Little girl, you're going in your own bed.  If you cry, so be it -- Mommy needs sleep!"  I nursed her back to sleep, put her down in the little travel bed next to our bed, which is where I've been trying to get her to sleep at nights (she naps in her own room during the day), and she stayed asleep!  So I lay back down, figuring I'd get maybe half an hour before she woke up and yowled.  But lo and behold, when she woke up again, she'd been asleep for two hours!!  I put her back in her own bed, and then she slept for almost three hours!!!  What an amazing relief!  This morning, for the first time in weeks, my back hasn't complained when I got up (sleeping around a baby this size is not comfy after the first few minutes), and she's actually been in a pretty good mood too.  Here's hoping this continues!

Is it a Sprite? Or a Fairy?

So, know that Secret Project I mentioned a couple times, the one inspired by the beautiful green sock yarn from Six Skeins that I won a couple weeks ago?  I'm mostly done with the first part and ready to share a peek!

I was originally thinking this would be a fairy, with outfits that reflect the four seasons.  But wings are puzzling me.  Are there wingless fairies?  Or should I call it a sprite?  She doesn't have hair yet, but I really wanted to share right now cuz I'm so excited to have the body done -- it's my first time designing a doll crochet pattern -- a full-body one, I mean -- and after lots of experimenting, it finally came out satisfactorily.


So, I got the amazing green sock yarn from Six Skeins wound into two small cakes, and I also wound up three sock yarn mini skeins I got from Wullenstudio.  Have to have yarn for the other three seasons, not just green for spring!  Though I think the green will be my starting point for the clothes.  Each outfit will be designed to reflect the season, and come with a hat too.  I already have the basic look for each one figured out (maybe one day I'll sketch out my designs so I don't forget them, but right now, all my pattern ideas are stored in my head), I just need to make them.

(My yarn cakes are a little messy because when I wound them, I had two small helpers who are possessed of more enthusiasm than exactness.  They had lots of fun!)

Pattern Number Twenty

I just listed my twentieth original pattern!  I'm rather proud of this milestone, I must admit.  When I converted to only selling crochet patterns, I had fourteen in my shop, which means I've added almost one a week since the beginning of February.

Here's pattern number twenty:

Adult Sun Hat

A few weeks ago, someone requested I make an adult version of my baby sun hat, and I finally had a chance to do so.  You can find it in my Etsy shop, my Ravelry shop. and my Craftsy shop.

For good measure, here are my other new patterns since I opened shop:

Rosebud Embellishment

Daisy or Sunflower Baby Toy

Large Daisy Embellishment

A Good Egg

Baby or Child Daisy Hat

Giving Away a Sunflower Baby Toy

Can you believe it's Tuesday already?  Yesterday, my hubby stayed home because he pulled a muscle in his neck and couldn't turn his head at all -- he held it cocked at an angle like a curious little puppy all day long, which was cute, but not at all safe for driving to work, hee.  So today now feels like Monday to me, as yesterday I had help around the house (sorta) and got to spend lots of time out in the garden (will try to blog about that later).

Apropos of it still feeling like Monday to me, here's a link to my friend Julie's Monday Meltdown Giveaway over on her blog.  This week, she's giving away something that looks very familiar... cuz it's from me!  We're offering a ready-made sunflower from my new pattern for either a sunflower or daisy that I recently added to my shop.

We're also offering the crochet pattern as a PDF file, so go follow this link for a chance to win!

Craftsy, Here I Come!

For months, I've been seeing links to Craftsy, ads for Craftsy, people talking about how much they love Craftsy.  So I decided to check it out, and whaddaya know?  It's cool!  I think they had me hooked when I spotted the "Dipped, Dusted, and Rolled Handmade Chocolates" course.  A lot of the courses are too pricey for my budget -- and honestly, with my 3 little ones around, I don't have enough time for them -- but the workshops are definitely something I could get into.  And best of all, they have a pattern store that they are now allowing independent designers to add patterns to!

And guess what?  I'm an independent designer.  So my project for this long weekend is to get my patterns listed there.  Craftsy doesn't charge any fees for selling patterns through them, unlike Etsy and Ravelry (though I've yet to sell enough in a month on Ravelry to need to pay them).  And their interface is pretty easy for uploading and listing new things.

So if you haven't been to Craftsy yet, I recommend checking it out and seeing what you could learn.  And if you're already there, look me up :-)  Like everywhere else, you'll find me under the name Huggermugger.

As Time Goes By

It's been almost a year since I blogged here last. I'm amazed anyone is still following here! Well, surprise, surprise -- I'm back!

The past year has been crazy busy. We bought a house and moved into it in August, about 6 months after our previous move. I'm still not unpacked. Why? Because I had a baby in December! The last time I blogged here, I didn't even know I was pregnant. Wow.

Due to the arrival of baby Abby, I considered closing my Etsy shop. Taking packages to the store with three kids in tow is daunting, for one thing. For another, I've been wanting to narrow the focus of my store for a while now. Or give it a focus for the first time, lol. A couple years ago, I mused in this post about whether or not having lots of different kinds of items in my shop was good or not. I've decided to try selling only my original crochet patterns. No journals, no canteens, no ready-made crocheted items. Just patterns. So far, it's been working well! I've added several new patterns recently, and am working on lots more. Stay tuned here for details, because I plan to keep this blog going once again :-)

To close, here's one of my new patterns, modeled by my new baby:

A First

If you're wondering what I've been up to for the past couple weeks, wonder no more. A good deal of my time was spent crocheting this dress for Mercy. I bought a couple hundred yards of divine hand-dyed yarn from my friend Julie back in June -- it's the same as this yarn she's selling in her shop, ThisCosyLife. I knew I wanted to use it on something special for my baby girl, but I just couldn't decide on a project. I wanted to try making her a dress or other piece of clothing... but I've never crocheted clothing before. I felt daunted by the idea.

But I started looking at crochet patterns for baby dresses. I couldn't find any I really liked -- they were all too complicated or too frilly or just not what I wanted. I wanted a simple, sweet sundress she could wear to church or the mall or whatever.

Then I said to myself, hey, I know what I want -- why don't I just make up my own pattern? I make up patterns all the time! What's the worst that can happen -- I have to unravel it and start over. Big deal. I knew my 200 yards of yarn from Julie wouldn't be enough for a whole dress, but I had some wool yarn left over from another project that was a lovely peach and just matched one of the colors in Julie's yarn. I figured between the two, I'd have enough.

So, after much trial and error, ripping out stitches and redoing, I have the sundress I wanted. Simple, colorful, and feminine without being fussy and frilly. I even had enough of Julie's yarn left to make a matching diaper cover! I found these perfect buttons at the craft store, and my first attempt at crocheting clothing was complete!

I plan to offer my original pattern for this dress in my shop soon -- I just have to write it up first :-) And now that the dress is done, I can get back to blogging and post about the two books and three recipes I've been meaning to share.

Santa Hat Pattern

I just added my original pattern for baby/child Santa hats to my store! It's in my Crochet Patterns section (obviously). This pattern is really easy, perfect for beginning crocheters. If you can chain and work a double crochet stitch, you can make this hat! This pattern has instructions for five sizes: 0-3mo, 3-6mo, 6-12mo, 12-24mo, and Child. I also include the directions to make the pom-pom.

I've been selling my crochet patterns quite a bit lately. I love the idea of someone taking my pattern and making something of their very own with it -- it's like getting to be a teacher, in a way. And since I also love making up my own crochet patterns when I can't find one for what I want to make, I'm sure I'll be adding more patterns to my store in the future.

If you order this pattern now, you'll have plenty of time to make one or two of these before Christmas, even have your kids' portraits taken in them if you want. I also sell the already-made hats in my store if you don't feel like making them yourself, and if you don't see the size you need, contact me because I love making custom orders.

Up next week -- a giveaway!

Still See a Pattern?

Remember the snowman hat I talked about in my last post? I've made another one and listed it in my shop in my brand new Child Hats section. I'm planning to add some more hats there soon -- after all, why should babies have all the fun? I've also added the pattern to my shop, so now I have five of my original patterns for sale! I've expanded my pumpkin hat pattern to include a child size too.

The North Wind Doth Blow

It's snowing! It's not sticking, of course, but still, it's snowing! In honor of our first snow for the season, I thought I'd highlight some of the new winter hats I've been adding to my shop lately.

For adults, I just added this groovy hat. I call it the Purple Waves hat, not just because the yarn is purple and the pattern is wavy, but as a reference to one of my favorite books ever, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. I crocheted this hat from a wool/acrylic blend that has a handspun texture, which means it has "slubs," or thicker parts in the yarn. That gives this hat a nobbly aspect that I think is extra fun.

Another adult hat I added recently is this black and burgundy cloche. A cloche is a close-fitting women's hat that's sort of shaped like a bell. They were really popular back in the Roaring Twenties. I made this one from satin-finish acrylic yarn, so it's extra soft. And it matches a pair of mittens that I made a couple months ago. Both mittens and hat are done in single crochet for maximum warmth.

And I'm adding some children's sizes to my shop! My first is this Jack-o'-lantern hat that's actually a larger size of the baby ones I already offer. This is big enough for a toddler up to about a ten-year-old. (I offer the pattern for the baby sizes here.) I'm going to be adding a snowman hat soon -- I made one as a custom order and it turned out so cute, I'm going to make more for my shop. In fact, I've got one started already. More about that when I list it!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas....

It's 98 degrees here today. Yesterday was almost as bad, and tomorrow promises to be the same... if not worse.

So what better time to think about Christmas, right?

Last year, I crocheted a tree skirt for the little table-top Christmas tree we have to use because this apartment is too small for a full-size tree. And I made one for my shop too. Now, I've transcribed my somewhat illegible scribblings for the pattern, put it in pdf format, and am offering it for sale in my shop. Sure, it's only August, but I figure if you want to make your own tabletop tree skirt, you might want to get started on it before, oh, December 24th. So this gives you lots of time :-)

See a Pattern?

You know my cute little sun hats for babies? I made up that pattern myself, because I couldn't find one I liked. I've gotten lots of compliments on them, and I realized other people might like to make them too. So I am now offering my pattern as a pdf file in my store!

It's really six patterns in one, because it contains instructions for three sizes -- 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12 months -- as well as two brim styles: flat or ruffled. All for only $6.

This is a simple pattern that even newer crocheters can do -- if you can chain and do a double crochet stitch, you can make these hats!