3 orders down 4 to go!!

This week we are on vacation and I have been so busy! I have been crocheting like crazy the last few days! I have made several hats, 2 blankets, a tutu, a dress, a diaper cover and a couple of bonnets. I have 6 anencephaly hat orders and one paid order. I have 3 sets mostly done. I am waiting for a blanket from my friend Kayla’s shop for one and it will be done. Here is what I have done.

The first completed set made and sent!

Here is the second set, it is just waiting on a blanket.

This one I just finished! 🙂 I really hope the families like them!

We are leaving on a mini vacation tomorrow so I won’t be getting a whole lot of crocheting done. I am so excited to get away for a few days. 🙂

I am Blessed

“A person is a person no matter how small.” – Dr. Seuss

Last night I had someone comment with one word on one of my posts about Brayden. I have never realized how much one word can hurt. They called Brayden gross. Now when I first posted about Brayden, I knew that there might be some people who would be nasty towards him, but in the almost year that I have been blogging I hadn’t had one negative comment until last night. I was so hurt and I cried, but the more I thought about it, the less upset I was. There are cruel people out there and they are bound to pop up here and there, but instead of being hurt by what they say or being mad at them, I feel sorry for them. Brayden was a miracle baby, he was what brought my sister back to the family, he is the reason I do what I do today. If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t have been able to help the families I have helped, or made the new friends that I have made. Losing Brayden was one of the hardest and saddest things in my life, but his life, though short, meant something. Can you imagine a life that knew nothing but love? No heartbreak? No pain, just absolute complete love? That’s what Brayden had. I think that even though the day that Brayden was born and passed was one of the hardest days of my life, it was one of the coolest too. I was able to witness miracles that, if it weren’t for Brayden I wouldn’t have been able to see. It was so sad when he passed, but we also knew that he is in Heaven surrounded by even more love than we could possibly imagine. He has met Jesus and he gets to see both of my grandpas (his great-grandpas) and I bet he keeps them on their toes! 🙂 He gets to hang out with Moses and Noah (I know my mom is jealous of that! ;)) and my personal favorite, Esther, he gets to hang out with the coolest people in the Bible! Even though we hurt, there is a peace in knowing that he is safe in Heaven and in knowing that I will see him again someday. I was blessed to have known him and to have been able to hold him in my arms. I will always be sad that he isn’t here with us and that I don’t get to watch him grow up, but he never has to suffer by the hands of other people, or from sickness. He is perfect and whole.

So you see, the people who make nasty comments or think that babies like Brayden are “its” or monsters, freaks, or gross or whatever other nasty things are said about babies with Anencephaly (or really any baby that is sick) have never had the privilege that goes along with the heartache of knowing a baby that has a fatal diagnosis. (Just as a side note, I do not wish this heartache on anyone, but if more people understood, there might be a lot less cruelty)

Brayden was absolutely beautiful. No matter what the world thinks, he is a human being and deserves to be treated that way.

There is Hope: My Struggle With PCOS

While reading Valerie at Atlantamomofthree’s post about PCOS, I realized I hadn’t posted about my PCOS journey in a while. So I thought I would give you a quick update.

First I would like to say that PCOS sucks!!! I have to live with the symptoms of this condition everyday and sometimes I wish I could take a break from my body. I hate how tired I am all the time and all the headaches I have.

With that being said, there is hope!! I have always wanted to be a mom. As a little girl if you asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, chances are the answer would be a mom (there might have been ballerina and princess answers in there sometimes). As I got older, I started having this fear that it would never happen for me. My mom laughs at me because I know my body so well, but even before I knew about the PCOS, I just KNEW it wasn’t going to happen for me. I even told my husband when we were dating that I probably would never have kids (this was before my periods stopped). He is great and stuck by me. 🙂 I struggle daily with the fact that I might not be able to get pregnant, but lately I have been feeling a little more optimistic, a little more hopeful. My medicine seems to be working to regulate me. I have finally had 2 periods that were 31 days apart. The cramps were awful, but I am so thankful that I am finally having periods. I am feeling more hopeful than I ever have felt before. It hasn’t been that long that we have been trying, but it seems like it has been a rough road for us. Hopefully things are liking up. 🙂

Very Simple Granny Square Tutorial

I am going to attempt a picture tutorial for a basic granny square. You can stop after three rows, add one more or keep going to make an afghan. I am going to tell you how to do the first three rows and the rest is just repeating the same pattern around until your square is the right size.

Granny Square Tutorial

Choose your yarn and an appropriate hook. I used 5.5 since that is my favorite hook. Make a slip not and insert your hook.

Chain 4 and join with a slip stitch.

Chain 3 (counts as a double crochet now and throughout)

Two double crochet into the ring. Chain 2 *3 double crochet into the ring chain 2. Repeat twice. Slip stitch in the beginning of the chan 3. You should have 4 groups of 3 double crochets and 4 chain 2s. I will look like a square.

Chain 3 and turn.

In the chain two space: 2 double crochet, chain 2, 3 double crochet, chain one. *3 double crochet, chain 2, 3 double crochet, chain 1 in the next chain 2 space. Repeat from * 2 times. Slip stitch to the top of the chain 3.

Chain 3 and turn.

In chain one space: 2 double crochet, chain 1

In chain 2 space: 3 double crochets, chain 2, 3 double crochets, chain 1.

3 double crochets, chain one in each chain 1 space and 3 double crochets, chain 2, 3 double crochets, chain 1 in each chain 2 space.

And there is is! Easy peasy, right?

If I am going to make a regular granny square, I usually do 4 rows with the first 2 rows being one color and the next two a different color. The beauty of a granny square though, is that they are so versatile. You could change colors every row or not at all. You can keep following the pattern and make an afghan. Or you can make a bunch of small ones and attach them together and make an afghan that way. You can even start with more stitches at the beginning to make a hexagon instead of a square and you can make a sweater or a blanket that way.

This is a sweater I made using the hexagon “granny square” pattern. It is super easy once you figure it out. 🙂

I know these are pretty recent pictures, but here are two blankets that I have made recently using this basic granny square pattern.

This is a basic granny square blanket with a flower sewn in the middle.

This one isn’t quite done yet, I am having a fleece lining added to the back, but you can see what I did. I used both methods of making the giant granny square and a bunch (24 to be exact) of little ones to make this blanket. It was a little tricky to do the first row after the little squares, but I think it worked out. 🙂

You can experiment with your granny squares and see what works best for you. I have changed how I do my squares from this method to something I like better, but it looks the same, so it is up to you! 🙂 happy hooking!

Hats hats and more hats! (5 so far this week!)

I was going to wait until I got my blanket back to post again, but that will probably not be until Sunday, and I have a few things that I have finished that I haven’t posted yet.

I finished the crochet part of the blanket I posted about earlier. It is so cute and when it gets the fleece lining, it will look so good! It will be a perfect tummy time blanket. I will post pics when I get it back all finished. (I can’t sew, so my hubby’s gma is doing that part for me.

I have had a few requests, one is for a little boy who has Anencephaly and another is for a group that helps moms and babies. The lady I talked to said that they have had a few with Anencephaly, but most are just normal babies I think, so I am going to make some preemie sized and some normal sized baby hats.

Here is the set for the little boy.

And here are the other two I have made.

WIP

I have been working on a blanket for a donation. It has taken me a while because I have trouble getting motivated, but it is coming along now, and I think it will look really nice when I finish.

New Experiments

I bought some crochet thread and earrings to see if I could make some pretty earrings. I was too lazy to look up a pattern, so I made up my own. The first was relatively easy and when I have a little more time I will write out the pattern for it. 🙂

The second set was a little harder to get to fit and to look right. It took me hours to get it right. What do you think?

Crochet Photography Props

I have a friend who wanted me to make a baseball hat for her baby, Camden’s newborn pictures. The pictures turned out so well!! He is adorable!

Isn’t he just the cutest?!?