Back in Action

It's about time that I posted on here again! I basically took the spring and summer off. It has been so busy here I haven't even crocheted much or worked on any other projects. Well in August my cousin, Kassidy, asked me if I wanted to trade a photo session for some hats, she gave me some pictures of hats she liked and I set to work. It was so nice getting back into gear and having a project. With some direction from Cat I was able to learn a new stitch and then took that stitch and created a cute little newborn cable hat. Here are some pictures, unfortunately with the grey it's hard to see the cable stitch but in person it is so cute! The first picture is from Kassidy.

You can see the cable stitch a bit better on this picture.

Kassidy is a great photographer! She took pictures of my little girl two years ago and now my son for his 1 year pictures. They are absolutely the best pictures I have! You can check out her blog at Kassidy Baker Photography. 

Creating this new hat was such a great experience! I feel a lot more confident in myself with going outside the box and creating things. It was a lot of fun.

Here is another new hat that I did this month. My husband drew a design for me last year but I just didn't get it made. I finally did it this last week and it turned out a lot like the picture. It was a great joint venture and was a lot of fun. : )

Isn't she such a cutie! I love my kiddos. : )

Another new thing for me is that I finally opened my own Etsy shop. It has taken me almost a year to finally do it but I’m so proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone. You can check out my Etsy shop at Heidi's Homemade Hats and Crafts. It’s so much fun!

What new and fun projects have you been working on? Have you gone outside your comfort zone to do something new/different? Let us know what you have been up to. : )

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"What to Expect..." Giveaway!

The first time I found out I was pregnant the first time, I popped right over to the store and bought "What to Expect When You're Expecting" -- some of the best advice I got from experienced friends.  I followed along with the book religiously throughout my pregnancy.  I looked forward every month to see how my baby was growing and what to expect emotionally and physically myself.  I still have my copy and used it for my last 2 pregnancies as well... since all three were really different, the book helped me and taught me new things every time.

I also got the next two books in the series:  What to Expect the First Year and What to Expect the Second Year and used them weekly (sometimes daily) as reference guilds on my journey to motherhood.

I was thrilled a couple weeks ago when WhatToExpect.com contacted me and wanted to do a giveaway for our readers!  We will be giving away 2 sets of the 3 book series to 2 lucky readers!! Yay!

How to enter:

Mandatory:  Become a public follower of this blog (I usually don't do this, but since we haven't met our follower goal yet...) AND then leave a comment on this post about which book you would like to have the most!

Other optional entries (leave a separate comment for each):

• Like WhatToExpect.com on Facebook.
• Follow WhatToExpect.com on Twitter.
• Like this blog on Facebook.
• Follow this blog on Twitter.
• Share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, and/or your blog (each share gets a separate entry)

The contest ends Wednesday, 11th of April at 11:59 pm.  Winners will be announced on Thursday.  Good luck everyone!!

-Cat Pin It

Free Cropped Jacket Pattern

I got an email a few weeks ago advertising this new pattern book (that I totally want!):

But the site I got the email from included this free super cute cropped jacket pattern from the book:

I totally want to make it!!  I have never done a sweater before and I think it would be a great challenge for me!  You can get the pattern for this jacket here.

If you end up making it, I would LOVE to see a picture of the finished product!

Happy Crocheting!

-Cat Pin It

Freebie Friday: Tips and Tricks Pt 2

Here's the 2nd post in our Tips and Tricks series.

This post is more for beginners, I want to share some of the things I've learned in the last couple of months since I started crocheting again. The first one I want to do is explain the "Magic Circle" or "Magic Ring".

When I first looked at crochet designs I sat and was wondering what the "magic circle" was. I had to pull out a book my sister-in-law gave me years ago. It turns out it had instructions on how to crochet in it! I had no idea because the cover has an embroidery hoop and project and so I thought it was just for embroidery stitches. I even used it for that but I had no idea about the crochet instructions. It's a great resource. It's called The Complete Encyclopedia of Stitchery, you can read about it at here.

Ok back to the magic circle. It's actually really simple but there are two ways that I know of to do it. I know that if you look for it you can find other versions but we'll just go with these two. So first what is the magic circle, it's how you start your crocheting project that starts making a circle like a hat, doily, etc. Anything round and I'm sure there's a million things. If anyone wants to share some project ideas that would be great!

Anyway here's the first way to do it (and how I learned first) you single crochet 4 stitches. Unless the pattern calls for something else. :) Then you do a single stitch (joining stitch) in the first single crochet to make it a complete circle. And that's it. Super easy but unless you've seen it or had someone tell you it can be a bit confusing. :)

It is better to watch how the second way to make a magic circle. I could explain it but as they say a picture is worth a 1000 words. There are many youtube videos out there and you can google it. But I like this video.

I hope that is helpful and you learned something new today. :)

Let us know of some of the projects you've made using the Magic Circle. :) Pin It

Belated Freebie Friday: Tips and Tricks

Hi, first off I want to say so sorry for the lack of posts on our blog. It's been super busy with colds, holidays, more colds, new year stuff, and yet more colds. I also was working really hard on getting scarves crocheted for the Special Olympics. Silly me I forgot to take a picture so I can't show you how good they turned out. It was a great project and I really enjoyed it. So now that I'm done I'm doing a February New Month resolution to get back on here and get it in gear. : )

We are so excited to have Amy join our blog and bring her ideas and tips with her!

This post is going to be the first one in a series of Tips and Tricks that I want to share. These posts will contain things such as never paying full price/using coupons, starting the magic circle, how to increase/decrease stitches, adding more yarn or starting a new color, finishing, etc. Please post a comment with anything you would like to learn about and I'll make a special post for you. : )


Here's the first installment of my tips and tricks series.

Never, ever pay full price for anything. There are so many coupons, sales, etc floating around out there that you can get anything on sale. One of my favorite places to shop for fabric is Joann's. I signed up for their mailing list and they send me emails with their specials all the time. Many of the ones you get in the email are for JoAnns.com but I do get coupons for the store too. My mom is signed up for the mailer to come to her house and she gets the coupons before I do. And we're not talking 20-25% off, we're talking 40-50% off coupons. Here's the catch, sometimes they have coupons for anything or just a cut of fabric, but it can't be used on sale items. However, there are times they have a coupon for 20% off everything, even sale items. So that's a good one too. But not everything is on sale when you go in the store.

For JoAnns.com they will also have free shipping promo codes. I got some yarn a couple months ago that was on sale and I got free shipping. So that was a major bonus for me.

Wal-Mart also does price matching so if an ad has a specific price listed then you can match it at Wal-Mart. However, check your local Wal-Mart's prices. Even on sale JoAnn's yarn was more expensive than Wal-Mart's, and I was also able to buy it in a bulk skein and save even more on it.

There are all types of coupons and deals going on. Just ask at your local craft store to see when they do coupons and sales, also if they match prices or honor other store's coupons. Michael's stopped doing their own ad and coupons, but they'll honor other store's coupons. So if Joann's has all their stuff on sale and you can't use your coupon there, run on over to Michael's and use it there for some yarn or a hook you've been wanting.

I also plan ahead. That way when I'm working on a project I'm able to use my coupons and slowly build up all the stuff I need for my project. I save a lot by doing this. Especially a sewing project, the fabric is actually just a portion of the cost. It's all the notions that go with it, like the zippers, special thread, buttons, decorative items, etc. When your coupon is only good for one item, it just doesn't cut it, so I use my coupons and get everything as cheap as I can.

One time I went into JoAnn's to get something and it was on sale so I couldn't use my coupon on it, so I just got a spool of thread. I was going to save like 75 cents. There was a lady behind me in line and when she saw my coupon she sighed and said she had completely forgotten about her coupon and didn't bring it. So I offered to let her use mine if she'd pay for part of my thread. She was so happy that she just paid for all of my thread. She saved probably about $20 on her purchase, so it was a great deal for her. So it just goes to show you that it pays to be prepared. : )

So go into your favorite store and just ask and you can make it so you never have to pay full price for anything ever again!

Do you have any stories about saving money, and tips/tricks you'd like to share or learn about? Post a comment and let us know. : ) Pin It

Coming Soon....

The reason I haven't posted in a while, is that I have been working on some special projects to post on the blog.  I just wanted everyone to know that there are some fun freebies coming up, some new patterns for sale, and even a few fun ideas.

-Cat Pin It

Working with Waves

I recently found a great pattern for wave hats.  I have attempted a couple of them.  The pattern for these is FREE and can be found at http://playinhookydesigns.blogspot.com/p/free-pattern.html .  She has some amazing stuff on there.  These were my attempts with the pattern.. and I am excited to experiment some more.

The second one I made for my husband...  he had been wearing the first one around the house because he liked how warm it was.  I thought it was a bit girly... so I went with one wave color and used the more guy-ish colors I had. Pin It