Drive by crochet projects ....

I've been subbing the past couple of weeks now that I'm a shiny new college graduate (yes, I plan on gloating a wee bit) and haven't really had the time to sit and just take a moment to say "Ahhhhhh." My evenings are full of kids and bubbles and my first attempt at Pho soup and ...and .... and..... all the things I've been missing out on.

However, in the grand tradition of being me and unable to sit and do nothing, I have found a minute or two (during Dr. Who catch-up) to crochet few little projects.

A bit of back story: you might not know this about me. I'm quite obsessed with microbiology and the history of disease. I get oddly and absolutely giddy over the prospect of studying the Black Death or perhaps growing some E. coli in a petri dish. It comes from being a history and science nerd, I suppose.

Anyway, since I spent weeks working on my lesson for the Plague in Europe, and it was all around my students' favorite, I decided to crochet a plague doctor doll as "thank you" present to the teacher I worked with at school.

Why yes, yes he is hanging out on la Guillotine replica made by a student for a project, but that's a whole other post. Ha! I didn't come up with this pattern, but it is available by NeedleNoodles. Super cute and creepy!!! For those of you kind of wondering what the heck a plague doctor is... these were the guys who walked around in slightly terrifying bird-looking masks trying to save those suffering from bubonic plague. Creeptastic!!!! 

I was also able to work with another wonderful teacher who let me take over her biology class. I'm certified for both because I can't make up my mind on a single thing, ever. So of course, nothing would do but that I continued the plushy theme and crocheted her a cute little E. coli! He's my favorite bacteria after all. 

I loved him so much I had to crochet one for myself immediately and then added in a little Rhinovirus (aka the common cold  to you non-nerds) so that he has a friend. This may become a slight addiction as the pattern by TheSoftScientist I found had several viruses and bacteria to play with. Mr. E. coli is not included in her pattern, I worked his little flagella up on my own and added it to her pattern for Tuberculosis. Icky, squishy, adorable microbiology fun!

To step out of the realm of slight gross, but no less weird.... I also crocheted this little guy as a gift for one of my very favorite kiddos. He is in love with all things Toy Story, but he didn't have a lot of the alien toys. Voila! 

Once again, due to time, I purchased a pattern, rather than worked him up on my own. I made changes as I went, but that's mostly because I can't seem to stick straight to patterns. Every time I picked this guy up, I was thinking "The ..... CLAAWWWWWWWWWWW." Hehe.

Since it's the beginning of summer, I've picked up the forever unfinished Ugly Awesome Granny 'Gahn to work on again. It's almost done crochet wise, but may take five million years to weave in ends and put together. I've tried to set a goal for myself to enter it in our state fair to see if I could actually finish it up. If you remember, I had to practically start over as I really didn't know what I was doing when I set out.

Wish me luck! Get out and enjoy the sunshine!!!

PONY (pizza princess) PARTY: the final three

So, as I should have anticipated, the last three ponies were a mad dash rush. School seems to be pouring out homework and exams and papers and certification exams... so I was crocheting around all of that while trying to remember important things like bath time, dinner time, laundry time, and snuggle time. Being a mom is tough! Being a school attending mom of two who is working on her teaching certification and with a compulsion to crochet awesome gifts (and blog about it!) makes for one extremely busy schedule.  So, I'll apologize for my lack of blogging/FB updating/emailing lately. I also can't express how much your well wishes on FB as I was taking the ginormous tests for my teaching certification meant to me. You helped me pass! Really!

Now on to the moment I've been promising.... PONY PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA!

To read about Pony Party Part 1: Rainbow Dash, click here.
To read about Pony Party Part 2: Fluttershy, click here.
To read about Pony Party Part 3, AppleJack, click here.

Pony number four was Twilight Sparkle. This was no regular Twilight Sparkle, she had to be an alicorn. For you non-MLP people (is it alright if I come stay with you for awhile?) that means a pony who is both pegasus and unicorn. It's a big deal. There was much screaming and joy jumping at my house when Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn.

Cute, right? You can't see her wings very well in this picture, but I promise you, they were much appreciated by Lilster.

Pinkie Pie fought me. Every. step. of. the. way. First, the original colors of yarn were not quite right. Found and bought new yarn, didn't realize the weight was off. So Pinkie's a bit smaller than the others. She also looked like a deer without hair. Not even kidding a little bit. I had lost my camera right before I finished Twilight, so I couldn't take any pictures. At least I know I can crochet Bambi if need be.

Despite the Pinkie drama, she turned out to be so sweet and cuddly. Her hair is so much twirly fun!

I need to pause and set the stage here for a moment...Picture this....

It's the night before Lily's birthday party, which was actually the day before her birthday. Constant questions all day long had made their way out of my extremely excited daughter. The one that caused my heart to pound with anxiousness was, "Mom, can you give me your present at my party?" This meant that Pinkie and Rarity had to be completed in less than 24 hours. Less than 24 hours....

I stayed up really late, finished Pinkie, woke up, headed to the local cafe to sit and crochet Rarity.

If you look closely, you'll see Rarity is missing something. Can you tell what it is? Hmm?

If you guessed ears, you'd be right on the money. I was crocheting right up until 11:30 at which point I had to rush home, wrap without getting caught, and away we went to the museum/pizza/squeal-fest that was my daughter's birthday (more on that in another post!) and it wasn't until I was wrapping her that I started using words I don't allow my daughters to use as I realized Rarity was actually incomplete.

Oh well!

Lily L-O-V-E-D these. Best birthday present ever. She won't put them down. I have even had to stop her from taking them to school where they would be confiscated. She picks one each night to sleep with. She talks about how I need to make their cutie marks and their elements of friendship. Oh, and could I please, please please crochet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and Dr. Whooves and Shining Armor and......

Long, long story short: I'm pretty much the best mom ever. I can drag out this gift forever as I am virtually unlimited in the number of ponies I could make. I'm also exhausted. :) 

Pattern info: visit acrylicsheep on Etsy or Ravelry for the pattern I used to make all of these delightful ponies!

I have linked this post to: Hooking on Hump Day and Craft Frenzy Friday!

PONY PARTY 3: AppleJack and Bronies!

To read PONY PARTY part 1: Rainbow Dash, click here.
To read PONY PARTY part 2: Fluttershy, click here.

I think I fell off the world. Ugg. Right straight into homework hell. If you don't know what homework hell is....can I come live with you? I have been doing ecology studies, statistical analysis, spanish for hours, coming up with exciting lesson plans, writing partially ranty history papers about colonialism.... whew. I'm ready for a break. Good thing I get one in about 8 weeks! (college student problems....)

To add a bit more stress, I'm sick. Not quite "OMG! I'm DYYYIINNNNGGG!" sick, but pretty close. So forgive me for taking too long on doing the big reveal on AppleJack. I'll catch up! I've got to finish a pony this weekend to stay on schedule. I can do this!

Remember how I told you there are MLP fans called Bronies? Well, Now I can say that I know they are really real. There is a Brony club on my college campus. Haha. I was at a school club function today and was amused by the several guys I saw sporting pony shirts. After a time, it was explained to me. Apparently, they just took donations of MLP merchandise and toys to give to kids in need. Cute right?

They have posters all over campus and I had to snap a picture as proof that they exist!

Anyway, I am thinking after I get through all of Lily's ponies, I may make a few to contribute to their next toy drive.

This week's pony is Applejack. She turned out adorably. I love her hat. I nearly forgot her tail ribbon, but my dear, sweet, darling husband reminded me. I told him I didn't think that was correct and he had to start an episode to show me otherwise. Haha, he watches too much of that show with us girls. The poor guy.

I attempted to be artistic here and put a picture of an apple with AppleJack. I'm not sure it worked like I saw it in my head, but whatever. She is so cute! I would have liked to get her freckles on her face, but it was not working out. I will probably try again because it's bugging me.

AppleJack marks the halfway point. I have Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle left to go. I'm really trying to talk myself out of also throwing Princess Celestia in there... because I have to sleep at some point. I'm a sucker for crochet, as you know, and I have started taking a few Christmas orders here and there... which tickles me to no end. People are starting to pay me for what I would do for fun! 

Lily's party is in full on planning mode. She wants a princess pony pizza party. Say that fast. What exactly that is has yet to be determined, but I'm assuming it means costumes and MLP at Lily's favorite pizza joint. I'm hoping to find someone local who can make her cake. I think it would be adorable to have a pony cake too!

Wish me healthy thoughts, luck, and no homework for the next couple weeks, okay? That way I can CROCHET ALL THE THINGS.

I've linked this post to: Hooking on Hump Day Inspiration Gallery The Weekly Creative Look What I Made Whatever Goes Wednesday.

PONY PARTY Part 1: Rainbow Dash

Look what I got in the mail yesterday.

A WHOLE BOX OF YARN! 

Aren't the colors pretty? A little scattered, I'll admit, but that's because I'm working on my latest project.

Lily's birthday is a little over a month away. She'll be 9 years old. 9 YEARS OLD. Every year I do this. I wonder how the heck she's grown so fast. Then I cry about it a little.  

Lily l-o-v-e-s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. We watch it all the time. We have conversations about the "mane six" characters. My husband can quote the characters. I'll admit, I am a bit of a pony geek too, it was one of my favorites when I was little. 

I had the idea brewing to make her the ponies as a birthday gift, but had no idea how to pull it off. So I did a bit of searching and found out that MLP crochet is actually a pretty popular activity. Who knew? There are some gorgeous patterns and plushies out there. I bought a few because they were so cute. (I don't normally buy patterns, but the madness overtook me.)

AcrylicSheep on etsy had the pattern that I decided to actually use. Look at her adorable ponies!!!! 

Find this picture and the pattern here.

They're small enough to realistically do all six and the pattern gives you instructions for all the pony accessories! I may have become a pattern-buying convert. I'm so excited! With my first week of school out of the way and homework already piling up, I need quick and easy. This fits the bill without sacrificing cuteness or the end product. I love that I can do any pony from the show with this pattern. I may have to add in one or two extra if I have time. Lily would die if I could pull off some of the other characters like Princess Celestia or Princess Cadence. (For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I apologize. I guess I should have put up geek warning sign at the top of this post.)

I've started on Rainbow Dash first. She's one of my favorites. 

The pattern was very easy to follow. Since this is my first attempt at amigurumi, I'm extremely pleased with how little Dash turned out. 

I'll post each pony as I complete them so be prepared to see lots of pony pictures over the next month. Next, I think I'm going to work on Pinkie Pie. 

Did you know that there is enough guy fans of this show that they have their own "BRONY" convention? Isn't that kind of awesome and goofy at the same time? Girl fans go by Pegasisters. The things people come up with these days! Very clever...I do love wordplay.

What do you think? BEST PRESENT EVER, or what? My kids are so lucky to have me as a mom. Hehe. It's a good thing I'm pretty humble about it.  *wink wink*

I have shared this post with Hooking on Hump Day Show and Tell Saturday Frugal Friday and Overflowing with Creativity!

Remove anger. Replace with jubilation!

I have received a ton of feedback on my not so jubilant post about why I prefer to make my gifts, rather than buy "stuff." A big giant hug and maybe a sloppy kiss to all of you who have affirmed my choice in making the gifts I give you. I really love you. The joyful side of this Jessi is back and more excited than ever to sit down and cruise patterns for my Christmas gift giving list. I may have to make my own version of the 12 Days of Christmas song.

I was really quite surprised to find that my post was featured on Live Simply Free's Friday Faves posts. Apparently, I have an attitude. (Who, moi?) I love this blog. Tiny living, or living in small spaces is a bit of an obsession of mine and I adore hearing the stories of those doing it. The photography is stunning. I can't lie, I may be suffering from slight blog envy. :-)

This is a photo from Live Simply Free's blog. Stunning, right? Original here

So a big thanks is in order to Living Simply Free for the feature and again to all of you. You absolutely mean the world to me and won't ever get a gift card from me!!

Update: I've just found out that my rainbow bag was ALSO featured today! Buckets of giggly joy and one phone call to my mother who had no idea what I was talking about or why I was so excited.

For you crochet fanatics, you probably have been to Moogly's blog for one of her awesome free patterns. I was featured as #5 on a co-hosted Hooking on Hump Day Round-up. So cool! I need to give out one more round of thanks to Tamara at Moogly and Sarah at My Merry Messy Life. 

Now I am REALLY in a fantastic mood.  I gotta go crochet something.

My answer to why I don't just buy you gifts.

So, I mentioned to someone the other day that I am going to do a crochet Christmas again. (Spoiler alert: if you are on my gift list you just might get something crocheted!!)

That someone asked me in a slightly sarcastic voice, "Why don't you just buy gifts? Don't you think people would rather have something that isn't handmade?"

...

...

Wow.

I don't remember what I mumbled as a reply because inside I was reeling.

I love hand making my gifts. When an occasion for a gift arrives, I don't wonder what store I need to run to, I wonder what I can make that they will enjoy and use. If I decide to buy something, I always look for a handmade option on a place like etsy so I can support someone who uses sweat, tears, and possibly a little blood (crafting type activities aren't for sissies) rather than some mindless drone from who knows where.

I have made scarves, blankets, hats, toys, kitchen cloths, more toys, clothes, and even the occasional edible treat. I have always been proud of myself since I made the shift to handmade gifts. I am not putting cash in an envelope, I am taking the time to put love and caring in each of these gifts.

Is that wrong? Have I made a mistake? Do people pretend to enjoy my gifts all the while wishing I had thrown some cash into a card with a sentiment someone else wrote? Have I looked like some poor, clueless hippie chick who doesn't realize people want the store bought crap any other person can have?

That One Comment threw my confidence and pride in countless hours of work out the window. Gone. It hurt. If words were weapons, I would have been bleeding from somewhere vital.

After stewing and replaying that one comment over and over in my head, I came to one conclusion.

If you don't want handmade gifts from me then you're missing out on something special, you idiot.

Okay, that's probably a little harsh. Lily would tell me not to call other people names because it is mean.

If I make you a gift, know that its probably not perfect. It may have imperfections, it maybe isn't the gift card you wanted. It may not be the latest fad item that everyone wants and it may not be from that popular store. That handmade gift doesn't have a price tag to compare to other gifts. It doesn't have a designer label or a famous person attached to its marketing campaign.

But before you toss it into the  back of your closet for dust bunnies to live in, consider something for me.

It often costs more for materials to make one item than to buy several. No price tag doesn't make it worthless. Even a quick and easy project will often take several hours to crochet, sew, or glue. That's time that could be spent with my kids or cleaning my bathroom, or reading that book I have been waiting months to read. I can't set worth to my gifts because they are worth more than fabric or yarn. They have my heart and affection attached to every single stitch. These gifts are made to be loved and you can keep them for years and create memories with them. In fact, it is my greatest hope that you do.

If you choose gift cards over my handmade gifts, that's fine. I will even go buy you the gift card and take my handmade creations back. Better than the alternative of having my hard work unappreciated and discarded.


I won't stop hand making gifts. I won't stop being proud that handmade is a big part of who I am. I am still going to blog abut these things that I make and continually bother my husband with questions about color choices. I am still going to worry about taking pictures of every single thing I make so that I can remember each project. I am am always going to hope that my gifts are loved and appreciated. I am always going to look for new gift ideas. I am going to crochet as many Christmas gifts as I can and I am proud of it. I am going to put my personal projects aside to make something specially for you.

So, like I said, if you aren't happy with my gift to you, that's fine. I will take note and not waste my time on you in the future when another birthday comes. Just know that you're the one missing out. Not me.

To those who have enjoyed my gifts and appreciate them, THANK YOU!!!

Random Roundup: what I've been up to.

Those of you bloggers out there who do this regularly in the summer have my deepest respect! It's tough to fit in. I have five million things to blog about, but no time. So, I'm doing a roundup of things I have been wanting to blog about.

#1: My dreadlocks are now 4 years old! Happy dreadiversary!



I'm kind of to the point where I want to cut them. I have to do so in 6 months anyway, and I'm really loving on short hairstyles right now. Dreads are hot, yo. I'm waffling. I would keep them forever if I knew I could, but teaching with dreadlocks in my area is probably as possible as Lily eating broccoli. So now that I know I have to cut them, I want to cut them when I want to, not when I have to. And yes, I'm listening to how much sense I'm not making. I think it's time to break out some funky dye and do something wild. When in doubt, add a rainbow. That's my motto.

#2: Colored. Ice cubes.



I randomly saw this on pinterest and can't remember who had the original idea to credit. I threw some neon food dye in a batch of star shaped ice cubes and let the kids play with them in the pool. They were so entertained I was able to read a whole chapter in my book. That's rare during the monsters being awake portion of the day. You should probably put kiddos in older swimsuits in case of staining.

#3: The coolest mushroom in existence.



It's called a lionhead mushroom. It's furry. And delicious with a bunch of other mushrooms in mushroom risotto.

#4: ANT INFESTATION.



I feel like a mass murderer lately. They just won't. stop. coming. out. of my front porch. Normally I'm a let live type, but it's gross and Sage sits there and tries to eat them. Ugg. I have kids and dogs and can't use chemicals.  Tried a gazillion non-chemical remedies. Verdict? Soapy dishwater and cornmeal. Worked amazingly. My walkway is covered with the little ant bodies. (Note to self: spray off the walkway.)

#5: Lily left us last week. So Sage decided to practice for when she gets her Hogwarts letter.



She crawled into one of Dad's shirts and grabbed my wand off the bookshelf. Much hilarity ensued.

#6: Sage also had her first painting session! She painted almost as much as she ate the paint.



I simply put food dye into corn syrup. Once her masterpiece dried, I sprayed it with some top coat and I'm going to frame it for our wall. Clean up was not easy, but the rainbow colored water did look pretty.

#7: I made another baby shower gift. This time it was an owl lovey. Turned out super cute. It even rattled! Working on writing the pattern for it, possibly to share later.



#8: I wore makeup. Haha. I nearly made it to 60 days makeup free! Oh well. It was date night and the Hubster got all fancy, so I did too. I forgot how much fun makeup is when it's not a daily chore!!



So there you go. What we've been up to lately, if you leave out about half the stuff we're doing. Hehe. Who agrees with me that there needs to be at least two more hours added to the day?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Sharing the cuteness, baby shower version.

This past weekend, I got to go to a baby shower. I LOVE baby showers. All the sweet clothes and adorable hand crocheted blankets, burp clothes, cool gadgets....gah! Plus there's something to be said for being around a group of people who are as excited for a new baby in the family as you are. :) This will be the 3rd new little baby out of my cousins and I couldn't be happier. For a long time now, I've been the only one with kiddos, and now there's been three additions in the past year! Yay!

So usually I make baby toys for gifts. You can see some of my baby toys here and here. As I woke up the morning of the shower realizing I didn't yet have a gift, I decided to try and throw together a pair of baby flip flops. Not so lucky, I couldn't find any free patterns that I liked and felt like I could get done in the measly hour I had available. 

They turned out pretty cute for being created as I went along. I just made a simple oval shape and then added the straps and border. Could be improved on, but for a first try that took an hour, I am totally content. They were a hit and I got to talk crochet with other mamas, something I always love doing!!

The sisters of the mama-to-be made some super sweet cupcakes. I bow to their cupcake skills. The baby is a boy and dad's an outdoors man, so they made fish themed cupcakes!

CUTE RIGHT??? This was a banana cupcake with a fondant fishie on the top. Lily and I got in a bet over whether it was fondant (me) or modeling chocolate (her). One of her favorite TV shows in the world is DC Cupcakes. 

These were vanilla cupcakes with fishing poles and gummy shark catches. Clever!!

Finally, my crafty awe was complete when I saw the gift made by the hostess.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. That is a diaper cake. A FROG RIDING A MOTORCYCLE DIAPER CAKE. How adorbable is that? The headlight was a bottle, the fenders were bibs... it was priceless. Mama and Dad of baby-to-be ride dirt bikes. This was perfect. Much squee-sounds were made. I didn't get any other pictures and I was bummed because there was super cute stuff everywhere! I hope you've enjoyed the cuteness as much as I did!!!!

Congrats cousins! You know who you are!

The Big Reveal...GRANNY STYLE!

So as the whole entire world knows.... my sister just got married. I have been talking about this wedding for a year. My girls were two of the four prettiest flower girls ever. I got a kicking dress and my hubster actually wore dress clothes. Much fun was had by all. I was so busy playing Matron of Honor (why does that sound old? I'm no matron!!!) that I forgot to take pictures most of the day... so you'll have to wait to see us in our wedding finery.

I decided a mere two weeks before the wedding that I needed to whip up a gift. Not just a small gift either. That's not how I roll. I made a mad dash to the yarn store and decided I was attempting a granny blanket. My other granny (the ugliest, awesomest granny in existence) is sitting forgotten in my yarn box because all my time and effort was spent on this new granny. After two weeks of 4 hours or more a day crocheting, I did it! Yay!

I'm pretty proud of this sweetheart as it's the first full size blanket I've ever completed. It was my first foray into blocking a crochet project too. Which of course happened at 10pm at night in my mama's basement the night before the bride arrived. Again, are you surprised? 

See all the little pins sticking out the sides? This is to make the square look... well... square. For the first time in too long in my life, pinning meant actually using pins, not Pinterest. (Haha, you know you laughed.) I sprayed the whole thing down with water and let it dry. It's one of those things that helps with shape and is made for people who are OCD. 

Now this granny isn't technically a full afghan. I also learned that there is such a thing as a "lapghan" out there in the crochet world. It's apparently a blanket that is smaller than a traditional afghan, but larger than a child sized afghan. I just thought it was a cool term to use so that people thought I made a small blanket on purpose, rather than the excuse that I ran out of time and my hands and wrists were all hurty. The finished size was 54 inches by 54 inches.

I also found a cool scallop edge to do courtesy of the lovely Lucy at Attic 24. If you are at all a fan of the hook and yarn world, check her out. She's amazing! 

Rather than do millions of single grannies together, I did one giant granny. I loved it. There was no rhyme or reason to the color choices. Just whatever I felt like at the time. I love random things and this was a perfect project for that. The colors were selected to match my sister's living room decor. For those of you that are really interested, I used Caron Simply Soft Yarn in seven different colors: Chocolate, Bone, Dark Country Blue, Light Country Blue, Country Blue, Light Blue, and Ocean. 

I am SO pleased with how it turned out. I was a little sad to see it go, but it was a fantastic gift to give. I'm thinking that rather than a million scarves for Christmas, this year, everyone's getting afghans. Excuse me, "lapghans!"

I shared this post at:

  

To-Do Tuesday: The tale of the super, spoiled, crafty mama....

Remember how months back, I talked about doing a Silhouette feature if I ever got my Cameo? Guess I'm going to have to put my money where my mouth was because....

*drum roll*

I got a Cameo for Christmas.

Side note: I have the absolute best mom in the world. She's who I want to be when I grow up.

Cameo's are like Cricuts, but they use the computer instead of cutting blocks. They are soooooOooo cool.

I only have about 5 million projects I would like to accomplish with it. My favorites so far....

1. Put a funny vinyl on the side of my bath tub.

2. Make silhouettes of my kids and put them EVERYWHERE.

3. Make Emergency Contact temp tattoos for traveling with my kids. I think this is pure genius. Also, might actually come in handy because Lily likes to run first and ask permission later.

4. Never worry about a housewarming gift or wedding gift again. I'll just whip up etched baking dishes.

5. Make the list of growing t-shirts that my husband has requested.... also, make cute baby onesies.

7. MAKE THIS BAG. "I like big books and I can not lie..." Bwhahahahaha.

I could go on...oh yes, I could. 

I haven't pulled it out to play yet because I'm waiting on some supplies, but I'm sure I'll let you know when I make something. ;) Thanks again, best Mom ever!!!!

The month of a million scarves...

.... ok, just ten. Well, twelve. If you count the one I made for myself and the IOU I gave to my mother.

See, it started like this. I found this SUPER fun and bright yarn. I decided Lily had to have a scarf made in it.

I had decided to crochet dish clothes and scrubbies as friend gifts for Christmas. You know, simple.  Single crochet, quick, I could handle it. I made Lily's scarf in the same pattern, but with the yarn, it turned out STINKING CUTE. (I've stole it twice to wear it myself.)

Then, THEN...

I went on a crochet project rampage on Pinterest. (You can see my board of crochet wonder here.) I fell in love with granny squares. So it had to be done. I needed to make a granny square scarf.

I loved that scarf. It was the same rainbow happy as Lily's scarf, but popping out bright enough to nearly make the eyes bleed. It was probably my favorite gift that I gave this Christmas, despite the fact that I probably won't get to see it very often. (Rachel, you need to come visit meeeee!) 

I felt pretty accomplished. I had made TWO scarves, right? Plus all my dish clothes. Whew. 

Then.. THEN...

My mother, bless her, asked how hard it would be for me make a scarf for each of my nieces and nephews back east. Sure, ok, I figured I could just forget about finals, right? Four more scarves, coming up!

Two boy scarves, two girl scarves, for four adorable kiddos. Whew. Really, for really done this time.

Then... THEN... THEN.... (getting the theme to this story, yet?) 

My husband reminded me that I had promised him a scarf last year. Oops. He even went with me to the yarn store (which by this time Lily won't even go with me because we go every. day. MOM.) and picks out his yarn. Then I have to whip that one out when he's not home because he may have picked out the colors and pattern, but I'm surely not letting him see it until Christmas. 

Then my sister saw his scarf. And wanted one. In the same color as Lily's. Back to the yarn store. She said she wanted it for her birthday, but I was on a mission at that point. I was going to get it made and I was going to have it ready in time for her to open. Took me most of the night, but I did it and forgot to take a picture of it. At that point I didn't care about the dang pictures. Haha.

I also decided to make a scarf for our family Christmas auction. It will make my cousin's lady friend very happy.

I really liked the infinity style of the scarf I made my sister. I mean, duh, it used the granny square stitch. I made one for myself in this super fuzzy happy yarn and it is SO warm. I wear it every day, which is funny because the universe had scarves on the brain and gave me 5 new scarves for Christmas. LOL.

Then...THEN... (just kidding)

I had enough yarn left to make one of those cute flower headbands. Lily likes to wear it and be a model for me. Cute!

I have one other crochet project to share...but I will do it in another post.

This is the happy tale of my million scarves for Christmas. If you want a scarf from me, figure out how to crochet yourself. HA!