Christmas happenings...

I've been baking and making the last few weeks, preparing for Christmas goodies. Crocheting items for family and friends has been a must, and I will admit, I will be crocheting until I pull into the driveway of my parents house (I'm not driving, don't worry. don't crochet and drive, people).



I decided to make these for my dad and his infamous mustache: I had a pattern I was using, but it didn't work out (at all), so I made up this pattern. If anyone is interested, I could write out this pattern, it's super easy (and probably not technically correct, but it works!).. (I could not get this image to upload properly, hence why it is on it's side... you get the idea).












Also, made my mom's aunt mary's pizzelle cookies for steve's two grandma's... they both loved receiving them and telling us they were not going to share with anyone. ah, the holiday spirit!


















and finally, I made this recipe by martha stewart (no lies, she has the best recipes that ALWAYS work)... they are called chocolate crackle cookies.
I used super, super, dark chocolate (85% cocoa, I don't know why I bought that bar... but when I went to use the package, I noticed it had been opened and someone snuck a piece of chocolate. not to my surprise, it was only a tiny piece. i asked steve why he ate it, and of course he thought it was going to be yummy chocolate which he thought he could sneak from me... well, it was so bitter, he only had a nibble and put it back!). anywho, i mixed half the super strong chocolate with another half of chocolate chips, and it made the cookies really rich and yummy! the kind of cookie you can have one of and be done with (or 3 in steve's case).

oh, did i tell you i'm getting married?

for my wedding next October, I want to make as many items as I can... not only to save money, but it will be something fun to do while waiting for my day.

I saw crochet votives on BHLDN's website, and for $8 each, I don't know who would buy them. But I wanted them! and I knew I could make them cheaper than $1 a piece.

So, I'm saving all my old food jars (small ones, like little pesto jars, etc) and using my leftover yarn from other projects to crochet covers on the jars. I also have a ton of glass tea light holders from my sister's wedding. I think the different sized glasses and colors of our wedding (grey, yellow, red) crocheted on the votive will look better than $8 candle holders. Plus, I'm going to use real candles, not tea lights - will last longer and probably produce better lighting, (25 bucks for 80 real candles? yes!)

Here's the first one I made, and I have two others as well. Just waiting to eat some food and reuse the jars :)I just guessed on the pattern - double crochets with two chain stitches in between. Another one I made is all the scallop stitch - very pretty with the light shining through!

alright, i'll update

my mom started a blog about her crafts and findings and whatnot. her blog is better than mine, only due to her years she has on me (i love you mom). you can check out her blog here! and go to her etsy store, she has some great vintage crafting supplies for super cheap. here's the link to her etsy store, Patalier!


So, I finally finished that granny square blanket. I estimated it took me about 130 hours to complete. Which is a pretty scary amount of hours, start to finish. Each block took me 1.5-2 hours to make, then I used a single crochet to attach all the squares together. The border is a round of double crochet, a round of treble crochet, then I used a scallop stitch to make a cute border. I don't think I will ever make a blanket out of 63 different patterns ever again.