I have to take a moment and brag a bit

A couple of months ago I decided that I wanted to learn to crochet so I got a few skeins of cheap yarn, a few crochet needles, and a short instruction booklet. I started by creating some little snowpeople with some basic stitches. After 4 of those, I tired of making them and switched to other things. Would you like to see what I've been doing?

First, I made an assortment of outerwear for the girls' dolls.


3 hats with different embellishments, 2 ponchos, and one scarf. Don't these girls look warm, cozy, and oh so stylish? No pattern, just making it up pretty much stitch by stitch.

All these I made either before, during, or on the way home from the Christmas trip to Texas. I made the scarf as soon as it got light on the drive home, but it didn't take long. I then decided to make a hat big enough to fit my big ol' melon. I had it finished before we were out of Georgia, but I wanted to add a decorative border. I finally learned how to do what I wanted and I finished it today. Isn't it awesome?


The last thing is my crowning achievement. The thing that took the most work, learning, and concentration. The girls and I were in the craft store a couple of weeks ago and we wandered through the yarn aisles where they were loading me up with free patterns. And then they found The Perfect One, a pattern for a kid's poncho in bright stripes that made them erupt into covetousness. Checking the back, it said it was easy and it didn't look like it had too many different stitches, but I had never followed a pattern before. I needed a new project, so I decided to take the plunge. K picked out the colors she wanted and I got to work.

Do you know how hard it is to follow the cryptic directions given for crocheting? Some of the abbreviations were in my booklet, some I had to look up, and some parts just had to be done, pulled out, redone, pulled out, redone a different way, pulled out yet again, until I finally got something that worked. I'm still not sure if it's exactly what the pattern called for, but it worked. Check it out.

Isn't it great? The bright colors made me think of candy the whole time I was working on it. K loves it and L wants me to finish one for her already. Soon, kid, very soon.