Year Long Scarf - Update! 6 Months

I've had a daily crochet project going since January 1st that  you may or may not remember.

Here is a link to that post!

Basically, every day from January 1st 2014 to December 31st 2014 I'll be crocheting a line of crochet onto a piece.

I do this in order to create a "scarf" that represents this year. Each day is represented by the color of the sky!

White for overcast (let's face it people.. I used a lot of this and we're only 6 months in. I live in the Pacific Northwest!)

Light blue for partly cloudy

Blue for BLUEBLUEBLUE skies!

Black for thunderstorms/big DARK clouds

Today I'm officially 6 months into this "scarf"

I keep referring to it as a "scarf" because I won't be actually wearing this when I'm done. I'm going to hang it up!

This is a picture of it hung up.

Here is another picture with the months represented (click to see enlarged). I did not do an exact count but this is an approximation. You'll notice in Feb there are different stitched (puff/chain)

Puff stitches (which there are two rows in Feb) represent SNOW! The loose chain that is in the middle represents sleet.

How great is the large chunk of white in April? April showers..... :D

I love this project so far. I don't keep a lot of things because of sentimentality but this will be one I think.

Basically while outside each day I make note of the sky and write it down in my planner. At the end of the week (Sundays) I do all the rows and once a month I take it out and sew in all the tails. I do NOT want to get to December and have to sew in 365 tails. No thank you!

What do you think of my 2014 weather scarf? I was thinking of doing one with emotions. Red for anger, blue for sad.. etc. That would be slightly therapeutic don't you think? Help us acknowledge our feelings on a daily basis.

Thank you SO much for following along!

Crochet Alice in Wonderland Doll and Mad Hatter Hat

As previously posted there are an abundance of baby showers. The one we are going to on Sunday (June 29th) is Alice in Wonderland themed and her nursery will be the same. That is exciting!

I know that it is going to be difficult for them to find a lot of "baby" items that are along with this theme though.. so I contributed. Here is a link to my previous post which included a picture of the registry present we got them in addition to these.

Two items:
1. Mad Hatter Hat (decor)

2. Alice doll (I'm amazing lol)

I'm going to preface this (kind of?) with the fact that I didn't write this pattern. I'm not doing a blog post on how to make either of these items because they have been done before.

Click here for the mad hatter pattern
Click here for the Alice doll pattern

That being said I'm kind of going to tutorial the hair for the Alice doll because it wasn't covered extensively in the pattern. I found this part particularly challenging.

The main differences between my finished doll and the pattern provided are as follows:
1. I used larger eyes. I decided to use size 25mm safety eyes (the size used for the pattern wasn't provided)
2. Her smile is larger (I think I had to make it bigger because of the large eyes
3. I crocheted a chain and sewed it on for her headband instead of using 3 pieces together.
4. I went traditional Alice and didn't give her stockings. Alice only has red/white stockings in Through the looking glass.

The main differences between my finished mad hatter hat and the pattern provided are as follows:
1. I made it green!
2. I didn't at the pins because it is for a BABY'S room.
3. I used blue/green ribbon instead of ..fushia?

Disregard the quality of the mad hatter photo by the way.... I didn't take it. :/ I actually snatched the photo used off of her Facebook page.

Hair Tutorial!

1. Cut strands 14 inches long. I honestly have NO idea how many I used but it was something like 160?

2. Fold the piece in half and create your hairline first. Use one strand in ALL holes all the way around her face. Just in an upside down U shape around her face. There is no need to make a hair line in back as the hair we put in later will cover this. For the hairline I recommend counting stitches out from the eyes. Don't try it willy nilly because pulling them out later to make it symmetrical, sucks. COUNT!

 3. Push your hook through the hole and grab onto the loop you made and pull it through the hole.

4. Then grab the strands and pull them through themselves (the loop on my hook I just made)

I started from the base of the hairline I made on one side and went around the back, every other hole, until I reached the other side of the hairline. Then I added one every other hole for five rows.

For the top of the head (just as the original pattern suggests) I used one strand in every hole to fill it in. This covers the holes skipped. In some places I noticed some thinning and added a second strand to holes just to get more coverage. This is the reason I can't remember the exact number of strands I cut. I also did a lot of backtracking.

She absolutely LOVED them though. :D I'm planning on making two more of these but giving them regular outfits and matching their hair to the child. I'll place those updated photos below.

Thank you so much for following along!

Ella the Crochet Pink Elephant

Our friends, we'll call them Tee and Vinnie, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl a couple of months ago. Tee found a crochet pattern for a pink elephant on Etsy and wondered if I would make it for them.

You can find and purchase that pattern here. I'll put pictures of my finished Ella The Elephant throughout this post.

To say that this was a challenge for me would be an understatement. It might have something to do with the fact that I am a perfectionist. It could have something to do with the fact that I don’t make a habit of crocheting toys. There is a huge difference between crocheting jewelry, scarves, purses and a stuffed toy. They are just made differently. I'm not sure what to expect or how things will turn out making round bodies and trunks. Nevertheless! I finished her.

As you can see I chose to make a grey flower instead of a pink one because I knew Tee chose pink and grey colors.

I spent most of the time worried that the baby would pull something off and choke. Thus, items are sewed on so heavily that they are rather stiff in the joints.

At the same time I've been in school full-time and working at daycare Monday through Friday. Regardless of that and after a few communications with the authoress of the pattern it was sent out today. I purchased it on February 1st and it sent out March 1st. That is pretty good. What do you think?

I think the hardest part was sewing the legs on in the end. As a crocheter, sewing.. is my WORST "skill."

I think this was a challenge I needed. I should loosen up and not expect everything to be perfect or see fault where there isn't any. I can't wait to see pictures of the little angel with her new pink pachyderm.

Thank you so much for following along!