lately

the sun sets earlier and earlier each day, giving me an excuse to light all the candles. i've been enjoying the peace and quiet of our warm, cozy home, crocheting, reading harry potter, and searching for more things to crochet.

the rapunzel doll is coming along, though her hair is tripping me up a bit. her head needs to be redone because i chose a cream colored yarn that was way too light. i'm also making a jack skellington doll in a santa outfit for one of the boys. jack's been fun to work on with his long skinny limbs, though i keep losing my count with the rounds, and crocheting with eyelash yarn is just crazy. i couldn't see any of the chains and my hook kept getting stuck, but i love the fuzzy texture.

kati likes to watch me crochet and goes after the yarn every once in a while. she snatched jack right out of my hands and went at him with her hind legs, scratching away like a maniac! good thing she didn't leave any pulls.

this week i crocheted john the beanie he said he's always wanted.=) i also started working on a snowflake garland, though i need a thinner thread. now i'm on the hunt for the perfect baby hat pattern for a 9 month old girl. something like this, with shells and a scalloped edge. i'm going to check the library and barnes and noble for pattern books. 

i hope you have a lovely, snuggly weekend! xoxoxo

ariel doll progress

leonardo was such a hit that john's sister requested an ariel and rapunzel doll for her twin girls maria and valentina, who are turning four in december. i couldn't find the right patterns, so i'm trying to make my own ariel with this free spirit doll pattern. (this doll was my inspiration.)

it was fun dreaming up and crocheting these dolls, but now i feel stuck with ariel's skirt and embroidered lips and nose. i tried doing the lips and they were a mess. sewing is not my forte, so i'm going to leave this one for a bit and start crocheting rapunzel. i also have other amigurumis to finish before christmas, so it may be quiet around here for a while.

i'm not a fan of the disney princess craze, so after ariel and rapunzel are finished, i'm going to make dolls to look like my nieces and little lady friends. i'm tempted to leave ariel as she is (with a finished face and right arm of course) and say it's ariel in her everyday wear. sounds good to me!=)

crochet ninja turtle

cowabunga, dudes! the crochet ninja turtle is finally complete. the pattern was for michelangelo, so to make him leonardo, john's nephew's favorite, all i had to do was change the color of the bandana and make swords instead of nunchucks.

for the swords, i cut a pipe cleaner in half, wrapped the pieces in aluminum foil and then gray and brown yarn. for the handle, i made a ring of about 10 chains and slipped it on.

the most difficult part of this project was actually the mouth. that was the third one i made and i'm still not crazy about it. it was funny, john was trying to show me what leo's mouth should look like, saying "like this" with his mouth scrunched to the side. ha! he said the first mouth was too small, the second too wide. he said it should look like a tear drop. i said you're about to see some tear drops in a minute! i'm glad leo's complete and hope little romeo enjoys him as much as we did.=)

turtle power progress

that funny photo was taken by my five-year-old friend evie while i was crocheting leonardo for john's nephew's birthday. he's sitting in the bottom of a cupcake purse i've also been working on.

last night i finished leo's legs and feet and just need to do his belt, face, and sew him altogether. my idea of fun on a saturday night is crocheting dolls while listening to seminars on natural rights with john and kati, and i'm not embarrassed to admit that. oh, and i also henna'd my hair, so those gray streaks are gone. for now.=)

simple little pleasures

"after all, i believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." - lucy maud montgomery (anne of avonlea)