Crazy for Crochet

In my absence, or more likely, my absence is due to my new pastime--crochet.  I kept seeing all these adorable things on Pinterest, and I finally decided to pick it up.  My grandma tried to teach me to crochet several years ago.  I had some yarn and a hook and one Saturday I sat down with that and my iPad and started watching and practicing along with YouTube videos.  Just a few short days later, I made my first scarf. Please ignore the terrible double chin in the picture.

YouTube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrVR_00Io00

Then I made a (very ugly) hat for baby girl.  I went to Michaels, bought some more yarn, and made another hat.  It ended up way to big, and I'm still not sure what went wrong, but it was really cute! Maybe her head is smaller than the average six-month-old, I don't know.  Maybe she'll grow into it....

Since then, I made several pairs of booties and slippers.  Actually, I can't even say pairs, because most of the time, the first one didn't turn out so I didn't bother with the second.  I bought some new yarn, a few more hooks, and was determined to make a pair of Mary Jane crochet slippers for my baby girl.  This was the result:

Pattern:  http://www.whistleandivy.com/2013/03/little-dot-mary-janes-pattern.html

Not bad right?  The strappy part was in two different locations, and I swear I had it right before I finished it off, but I thought they were cute.  They actually ended up a little small, so I'm going to make the next size up before football season is over!  (Notice, they're scarlet & gray...the colors of my Buckeyes!)

Next, I made a hat for my little boy.  (Buckeyes, again!) But somehow, he has ended up stretching it out to the point where it is wayyyy too big on him now.  Any crocheters out there know what I did wrong and what I can do differently next time?  He loved the hat.  He was so sweet.  He kept saying, "Thank you, Mommy for making this hat for me."  My mom said he told everyone at church that Mommy made his hat.

Pattern: http://allicrafts.blogspot.com/2012/09/free-pattern-deeply-textured-hat-toddler.html

My most favorite creation so far is this Minnie Mouse hat.

Yes, the model is the absolute cutest, but the hat is pretty darn cute too!  I think I found this pattern at http://www.acorntreecreations.com/ but now I can't find it to link to it.  I hope she didn't take it down!  I would love to make another one in the next size up! 

I've also made some slippers for myself and this mug cozy:

Pattern:  http://finvara.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/pattern-marions-cozy-cup-warmer/

Picking up crochet has taught me a lot of things about myself.  First, I learned the level of determination I have.  Things have always come pretty easy to me.  I was always pretty decent in school and even when I struggled, it always seemed to work itself out.  I put my mind to learning how to crochet, and I succeeded in making several successful projects in just a few short weeks.  My level of perfectionism took on new heights with crochet.  I'm a Virgo, so I'm a perfectionist.  But I'm a weird Virgo, maybe because I'm on the cusp of Leo, so I'm only a perfectionist about select things.  Writing on the chalkboard has to be straight.  Grammar has to be correct.  My desk, however, does not need to be clean.  With crochet, though, I had to be perfect.  Many times I had a project nearly finished before I realized it wasn't coming out the way I wanted.  I would take it all out and start over again.  I probably drove my husband crazy.  And dropped a few curse words.  I think the perfectionism is what motivates me.  I want to keep trying until I can do it perfectly.  I also learned that crochet is the one thing that I picked up that would take me away from my books.  I can't read a good book and crochet at the same time.  I would have serious internal conflict about which to do when, and it gave me great anxiety.  I'm kidding, but there may be a teensy bit of truth.  I also learned that I do have just a little bit of craftiness inside me.  My mom is the crafty one.  I try, but most of the time, my projects would end up as Pinterest fails.  Don't get me wrong, I've failed several times at my crochet projects, but I'm pretty happy with how a lot has turned out!  If you want to follow my Pinterest Board "Gettin' Crafty" click here.