A Busy Life and Crochet Work!

Busy schedules and a crazy life make it hard to remember to blog sometimes! :) It seems like there is always something to be done and no time in which to do it. (Oh...I need to switch laundry while it's on my mind...) Anyway, Norah has been potty learning this week and is doing great! I'm really proud of her. I wasn't totally sure that she would want to give up her diapers, but she is loving her panties and having few accidents--yay! On the subject of diapers, we are going a slightly different route for this baby. We used covers and prefolds for Norah in the first few weeks, but went solely to pockets/AI2s after that. I really wanted to go the prefold route this time, so we are collecting covers and I am making wool soakers and longies, which are SOOOOO ADORABLE!!!! I cannot express to you how cute they are--really!! Look at how cute! Yes, the hat is a Breastfeeding support hat!

 I have more wool and will be making plenty in all sizes, but this is what I have made since last week. Crocheting is easy to do when you have a toddler attached to you. ;) 

I'm about halfway through my pregnancy now and our anatomy scan is scheduled for next Thursday. We are both excited for this chance to get a peek at "Bilbo". We still don't intend to find out the gender, by the way. I've always secretly wanted to keep it a surprise and my wonderful husband conceded to my request, even though he wants to know. Isn't that so sweet of him? It's something that people don't usually do anymore and one of the last sweet surprises that life holds in this world run by technology. I often find myself questioning God, not in a challenging way, but in wonder as to why He would plan this little life that we did not. I won't lie, I'm terrified. I didn't plan on being a mom of three, but I know that He knows best and that He knows our faith and trust in Him will see us through. God trusts us. Isn't that a crazy-wonderful thought? That God trusts us enough to give us a responsibility? Hmm...worth a good ponder, that is. 

If you have stuck with me through this mindless rambling, I applaud you! I am going to get to my laundry while I am still thinking about it and take Kirsten outside to play in the sun before it rains again. 

Happy Thursday!!

Crocheting a Beanie for the Crochet-Inept

Have you ever looked at something ADORABLE and thought, "I can crochet that!" only to look at the instructions and feel like you are trying to read Japanese, or Russian, or something akin to hieroglyphics? Yep. That's me. I try to follow along and end up with a mess. A MESS, I tell you! I made a super cool beanie with a beard attached for my brother's birthday a couple of weeks ago...but can't get the picture to upload from Facebook. Grr. Trust me, it was cool! Anyway, that super cool and simplistic beanie was a beast to make. It took me three days to complete...because I had to rip it apart and crochet it SIX DIFFERENT TIMES! Yep. You read that right. So, my husband suggested while I was in the middle of a tirade about the stupidity of crochet-crypt that I write a tutorial on my findings. A "Crocheting a Beanie for Morons" if you will. Since I am one. :) Ready? I hope I can help someone.

Gather your supplies!
I am using a 5mm weight yarn because it's what I have on hand. It's pretty generic and easy to find, mine is by Red Heart.
I am also using a J 6mm crochet hook. It's my go-to hook and I pretty much use it on everything. I know that I shouldn't, but I don't really care. ;) It makes me happy because it works on pretty much EVERYTHING. :)

**DISCLAIMER**
I STINK at all of the counting that crocheting entails, so I will be omitting most of the counting and judging everything by eye. I honestly think that I am numerically dyslexic--anything involving numbers usually leaves me in tears wondering where I went wrong, so I just avoid it when at all possible. :) So this tutorial may be of help to people like me.


Okay, first thing you need to do is make an overhand or slipknot. I only recently started using a slipknot, either will work, trust me. Then you will start chain stitching. This is done by pulling the yarn that is attached to the skein around the back of the hook, hooking it and pulling through the loop that is already on your hook. Make any sense?




 

Do this five times and you will have five chain stitches.

Tada! Now, rotate that back around and put your hook through the first chain, then pull the yarn from around back again and pull through. This will make a circle.

Now, you are going to do what is called an increasing stitch. This consists of doing two double crochets inside one stitch. Are you lost yet? lol Wrap your yarn around the hook, then insert your hook into the nearest chain to the left. Wrap the yarn again and pull it through ONE loop of yarn...this would be the chain you just went through. You will now have three loops of yarn on your hook. Like so:

Now You are going to wrap your yarn around again and hook/pull it through the first TWO loops. It will magically leave you with two! See?

Wrap, hook, hook and pull through those two loops (at one time) and your first double crochet stitch is done!

Now, repeat those steps in the same chain and you will get this:

Repeat those steps all the way around the circle and get this:

Start the process again in that next chain (always work to the left) for another full circle, giving you two "rows". You can do three rows of this stitch, if you like. I don't feel like crocheting is an exact science; if it were, why are there SO MANY different tutorials? lol Here is where it starts to get a little confusing. On your next row, you will start a pattern of stitches: One double crochet in a chain, two double crochets in the next chain, one double crochet, two double crochets...Making sense?

Can you see the stitches? Look down there in the chains. Keep stitching away at the crown, this is the top of the hat. Four rows typically makes an infant/child's sized hat. My hubby has a big head and seven rows works well on him. However, this also depends on the size hook/yarn you use, so you will have to keep in mind that it may vary. This is what the crown will start to look like:

When your crown is the size you need, you can start doing just one double crochet in each chain, this will stop increasing the crown and you will see it start to form a tube after a few rows. I made 8 rows on my hubby's, but didn't finish it off because I was a dummy last time and didn't count how many rows fit him properly before I gave the hat away. So he will get a beanie with a skein of yarn attached tomorrow. ;) It looks like this right now:

I don't know why it won't turn the right way. lol Feel free to ask my any questions! I am still new at this process too, so I'm definitely not an expert! Happy hat-making!!