Crafts!

For some reason, this year I decided I wanted to make a lot of the Christmas gifts I was giving. Of course, I couldn't be realistic about this and only make 1 or 2 things and just buy the rest - in stead I made almost ALL of the gifts we gave. I must be a glutton for punishment.

For most of the women in my husband's family and one of my sisters I made scarves. I found this beautiful pattern that had a kind of "waffle" pattern. It was really cool - my goal was to make seven (so I could include my Grandma's), but I ended up with five (sorry Grandmas!). I was really proud of how they turned out. For Tim & Julie's baby Hailee, I decided to make a blanket. I should have made these for EVERYONE - it was so easy!

For my two nieces, Kendall & Taylor, I decided I wanted to make them each a scarf and a bag. Pink for Kendal - Purple for Taylor. Well, in the end they got a hat, two scarves and a bag. I just couldn't stop making stuff for them!

There were a few other Christmas presents I made that I forgot to take pictures of. For all of Chris' brothers, I made a memory book of their Mom. I really enjoyed creating it for them and I hope they enjoy it as much as I do. Of course, as soon as I ordered it, I realized all of the other things I could have done to make it better, but oh well, I'm fine with how it turned out - maybe I'll do Volume 2 next year.

I also made Lacy and Rose each tutus. My friend Laura taught/helped me with those. She also helped me (well, she actually did 95% of the work) make Crayon Rolls for Allison. They turned out really cute, and I'm ready to make some more.

So, after all of this crocheting, you would think I would be DONE with crocheting for awhile. The problem was that I crocheted all kinds of stuff for other people, but didn't make anything for Allison - and she definitely noticed. She begged me to make her something, so I found this pattern for a flower purse and I made it for her. It's really cute, but definitely not really usable. Of course as soon as I made the purse, all she could do was ask where the hat was - so I had to make her one of those, too.

Then, once I made the hat for Allison, I had people lining up with orders, so I've made four more hats and still need to make another one...

By this point I had caught the bug and now I just want to crochet all of my gifts from now on (sorry Carolyn, definitely expect something homemade at your shower next week!). My friend Heather had a baby shower last week and I decided I wanted to make something for her. I found this pattern for an adorable little stuffed dog, and since they are dog people, I thought I would attempt it. Crazy person that I am, I came up with this idea the night before the shower, so I was a little nuts trying to get it done on time. Didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to look, but Heather loved it, and that's all that matters...

I also made her a frog bib for her little guy. I think it's adorable and I have a few more I want to make.

It's crazy - I've been making so much stuff that now I have all these patterns I need to organize. Who knew I would enjoy it so much?