One month down...

So, today is February 1, 2017.  January seemed to fly by.  I've had a lot going on in all aspects of my life.  It seems that I've just stayed busy all month.  Yesterday and today are days where we get to stay at home all day.  This is much needed!
I wanted to show you how my temperature blanket is looking after 1 month.  We have had some unusually warm weather for January and 4 days is the longest streak of consistent temps.  I guess crazy weather is just what we should expect in Louisville.  If crochet, its not too late to catch up and make your own temperature blanket.  To find out more about it, you can go to my post about it for more info.
http://yarndesignsbyaleica.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-new-year-with-new-projects.html

 I am excited to see how it looks after another month has come and gone.

I have also been working on orders for Valentine's Day.  I've done a lot of hats.
Here are my most popular styles.  I have a basic beanie pattern that is my go to pattern for most of my hats (http://www.crochetrochelle.com/2014/05/basic-hdc-beanie-pattern.html?m=1).  I use a "H" hook instead of the "I" hook that it calls for because the hats were coming out just way too big.  Once I changed to the "H", every hat has been the perfect size.  For this first picture, I used this pattern for the hats in the first picture.  I also used my awesome PomPom Maker (http://www.joann.com/clover-pom-pom-maker-extra-large-1-pkg-4-1-2in/9713116.html?gclid=CL-em-ST79ECFdgKgQodKZ4liA) for the big fluffy PomPoms.  I highly recommend getting this ( and the other sizes).  It really saves time and makes it easier to keep them the same size.  The hearts I used a pattern that has 3 different sizes and is very easy.  (http://www.sewrella.com/2016/03/easy-crochet-hearts-3-sizes.htm).  I also added the red band (which is just a chain and a row of single crochet) and wove it through the hat.
I really love how it came out. If you would like to order (2/2/17 is the last day to order and receive your hat in time for Valentine's Day) then click here (www.facebook.com/YarnDesignsByAleica)and send me a PM on my Facebook Page.

The Messy Bun Hat has been a very popular hat this year!  I haven't seen anything like it.  It just exploded.  I was getting requests before Christmas, but was very busy with orders and gifts.  After receiving several requests, I decided to buy a pattern and try it.  The pattern I bought ended up not being what I wanted, so I made my own.  It has parts of the basic beanie pattern above (the number of stitches needed for the different sizes).  I made the rest up, and it has worked wonderfully.  

 This picture is of a Mommy and Me set of Messy Bun Hats.  For these hats, I added elastic to the top and big bows to the back.  The bow I made up as well.  Like the Valentine's Day Hats, if you would like to place an order, just send me a message on my Facebook page.  (www.facebook.com/YarnDesignsByAleica)
I also love to crochet book characters.  As a home school Mom I think that having a character to snuggle while kids are reading, helps bring the book and the child's love for reading to life.  I've done several over the years, but here is a set that I did in January.  I see lots of reading fun with this set.

Like I said before, I've been busy.  I have several other things I'm working on and very excited about.  I will have to wait until next time to tell you about those.
I hope you have a wonderful week, and crochet away!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

We are now into week 3 of 2017. I feel like we are settling into a routine, finally. As a homeschool mom of 3, routine is very important. Anytime we break from school, it is very slow to get back into the swing of things. I always make sure that the kids have their routines, and everything is ready for them each day. However, I tend to forget about myself. I forget that having a routine for myself helps a lot. One of the things that has helped me set a routine for myself this year is the temperature blanket I spoke about in my last post. I wake up when my husband gets up to get ready for work. After he leaves, I have a little time to myself before the kids get up. I have started using that time to crochet my daily row on the temperature blanket. Since this is such an easy pattern, it doesn't require me to think much at all while I move through the stitches. This allows me to be able to focus on my Daily Audio Bible reading. I started listening last year, but have made it a priority this year. Now, not only will I have a blanket showing how crazy the weather is in Louisville, but I will have listens to the entire Bible by the end of the year. Here is the link to what I listen to. (My husband is the one who got me started on it, and now my oldest listens to the teen version and my other two listen to the kid version. We all love it). Dailyaudiobible.com
Here is how my blanket is coming along.

I also spend some time getting my yarn organized. We have designated a bookshelf in the office for my yarn stash. I also received a wool winder for Christmas this year. It is pretty awesome. It is actually soothing as you wind the yarn and the finished product looks like a work of art. Organization is not my strong suit, but I am trying very hard to get my crochet life as organized as possible. Here is what I've done so far. The top two shelves are my yarn that has been wound. Third row is yarn to be wound. (I still have a lot of yarn in another room, but I'm taking a little out at a time so my shelves will still look pretty). I also keep my poly fil, display head, my temperature blanket, and my plarn stash. Then I have my order shelf. This is where I keep my shipping and packaging supplies and my binders with patterns. Once I get all of my yarn organized, then I will tackle my patterns. I have written (scratched down) so many patterns over the last year, but have only gotten around to typing up and testing out a few. My bottom shelf is orders that are ready to deliver/ship and my bag (because I always have some kind of crochet project with me). The cabinet at the bottom is all of  my inventory. I haven't had enough inventory in the past to be able to participate in craft fairs but I'm hoping to change that this year.
Here is a link to the very awesome wool winder.
Vktech® Swift Yarn Fiber String Ball Wool Winder Holder Hand Operated New https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DKW9F6A/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_wbHFyb0X3Z45K
Here is the crochet station I've made.

So, that's how my morning are going so far this year.  Throughout the rest of each day, I am squeezing in time to work on orders, projects and gifts. Not a lot of crochet work gets finished while the kids are doing their school work, but sometimes I can get a few rows of something in. Most of my actual crochet work is done in the evenings. This is when we are either watching TV, the kids are reading or playing, or (if a deadline has snuck up on me) while everyone else is asleep.
Well, I guess that catches you up on what I'm doing so far this year. Next time, I will talk about some orders I've recently finished. I'll also have some links to patterns I used. Thanks for stopping by.

A new year with new projects...

Every year I am faced with so many ideas and projects that I'm hoping get to. One of the things that I decided to actually do this year is something called a temperature blanket. A temperature blanket is a a blanket that you crochet 1 row a day. The color that you use for each row is determined by the high temperature for the day. Here are the colors I am using and the temperatures that they represent.

Here is my blanket so far. The weather in Louisville is pretty crazy, so I expect it will be very colorful.

Here is the where I got the pattern for the Granny stripe blanket that I am using.

http://easycrochetpattern.blogspot.com/2012/10/crochet-granny-stripe-afghan-tutorial.html?m=1

I am also starting the year out with several orders, which is great!  To view some of my work you can go to my Face Book Page.
www.facebook.com/YarnDesignByAleica

I am also privileged to be teaching a beginning Crochet class at our Homeschool Co-Op for middle school/high school. My first class is tonight and I'm really excited. Besides learning to crochet we will be donating our practice swatches to "Warm Up America" http://www.warmupamerica.org/ and will be making items to enter into the Kentucky State Fair http://www.kystatefair.org/ this summer.  I have found a wonderful resource to help me with the class.  Here is the link if anyone is interested.  http://www.craftyminx.com/crochet-school/.

So, I guess that sums up how my year is going so far.  I will post some other things later.  I'm hoping to at least post once a week.  If I am able to get more in, then that will just be a bonus.  In the meantime, happy crocheting!!