Owl hat Pattern

I created this pattern myself and have never written it down so hopefully this will make sense.  I'm providing it Free of charge, sort of as a Christmas present to you! :) Please use this only for personal use as hat sales are currently my family's only source of income. If you are interested in purchasing a hat you can leave a comment here with your e-mail, contact me through Cozy Baby on Facebook or visit my Etsy Store.

Yarns:  Bernat Satin Solids- Mocha; Bernat Softee Baby- Whtie; Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny- Sage; Naturally Merino wool Blend- Rose

Needles: US size 10, US size 3,  size D crochet hook

Tapestry Needle

Stitches: Stockingette, Seed, Single Crochet, Chain

Abbreviations: K= Knit, P=Purl, K2tog= Knit 2 together, P2tog= Purl 2 together

Hat :

Using size 10 needles and Bernat Satin Solids- Mocha, cast on 72 stitches using long tail cast on.  Leave long enough tail to stitch up seam.

Row 1: K

Row 2: K

Row 3: P

Rows 4-27: Continue stockingette stitch evenly

Row 28: *K10, K2tog repeat from*

Row 29: *P2tog, P9 repeat from *

Row 30: *K8, K2tog repeat from *

Continue decreasing in the above manner reducing the number of stitches between the 2tog with each row until you have 3 stitches remaining.  Cut yarn and thread through loops.

Place right sides together and use small crochet hook to stitch up the seam with slip stitches.  This ensures a strong covered seam with even stitches.

Ears:  (make 2)

Using size 3 needles and Bernat Satin Solids- Mocha cast on 12 stitches using long tail cast on. Leave enough tail to sew ears to hat.

Row 1: seed stitch (K1, P1) evenly

Row 2: seed stitch evenly

Row 3: K1, K2tog, seed stitch 6, k2tog, k1

row 4: P10

row 5: k1, k2tog, seed stitch 4, k2tog, k1

row 6: p8

row 7: k1, k2tog, seed stitch 2, k2tog, k1

row 8: p 6

row 9: k1, k2tog, k2tog, k1

row 10: k1, k2tog, k1

row 11: k1, k2tog

row 12: k2tog

cut thread and pull through remaining loop. Weave in end.

Wings:  (make 2)

Using size 10 needles and Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny- Sage cast on 24 stitches using long tail cast on. Leave tail long enough to sew wings to hat.

Row 1: K evenly

Row 2: P evenly

Row 3: K1, K2tog, K18, K2tog, K1

Row 3: P 22

Row 4: K1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 5: p 20

row 6: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 7: p18

row 8: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 9: p16

row 10: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 11: p 14

row 12: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 13: p12

row 14: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 15: p 10

row 16: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 17: p 8

row 18: k1, k2tog, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1

row 19: p 6

row 20: K1, k2tog, k2tog, k1

row 21: k1, k2tog, k1

row 22: k1, k2tog

row 23; k2tog

Cut yarn and pull through remaining loop. Weave in end.

Earflaps: make 2

Follow directions for Wings up through Row 20

Row 21: p even

Row 22: k1, k2tog, k1

row 23: p even

row 24: k1 k2tog

row 25: p even

row 26: k2tog

Cut yarn and pull through remaining loop. Make sure to cut it about 6 inches long to use to make ties.

Eyes Make 2

Using small crochet hook and Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny- sage

Chain 2

6 SC in second chain from the hook do not join rounds

row 2: 2 SC in each stitch (12 stitches)

row 3: 2 SC in each stitch (24 stitches)

row 4: 2 SC in each stitch (48 stitches)

Join with slip stitch and cut yarn leaving tail long enough to stitch eye to hat.

Using small crochet hook and Bernat Softee Baby - White

Chain 2

6 SC in second chain from the hook do not join rounds

row 2: 2 SC in each stitch (12 stitches)

row 3: 2 SC in each stitch (24 stitches)

Using small crochet hook and Bernat Satin solids- Mocha

make slip knot remove from hook and hold on wrong side of the white circle you just created.

Insert hook through holes created between rows 2 and 3 of white circle and pick up slip knot, draw through.

Insert hook in center of white circle and draw up a loop.

Slip stitch into slip knot.

*slip stitch into next space between rows 2 and 3

Insert hook in center of white circle and draw up a loop, slip stitch

Repeat from * You should have 12 loops total

Slip stitch in first slip knot when you have gone all the way around.  Cut yarn and pull through.  Then Pull back to wrong side to secure final stitch.

Using tail from white circle, pull up a small loop through the brown layer to create the twinkle.  Insert hook back through brown and white layers to pull up another loop. Slip stitch. Pull yarn through and then back to wrong side to secure.

Center white/brown circle with right side up on right side of sage circle. Use white tail to slip stitch between outer stitches of white circle and space between rows 3 and 4 of sage circle (24 stitches)

Join with slip stitch and pull yarn through to wrong side of sage circle to secure.

Assembly:

Fold hat in half with seam on the side.  Center earflap.  Use cast on tail to slip stitch earflap to bottom row of hat on the inside. Weave in ends. Repeat on other side making sure to align earflaps.

Place wing atop ear flap with right sides facing. Using cast on tail attach bottom of wing with slip stitches to bottom of hat. Fold wing up and slip stitch to right side of hat. Repeat for second wing.

Center eyes on front of hat.  Using cast on tail from sage circle slip stitch to hat.

Using cast on tail and tapestry needle sew ears to top.

Nose:

Using size 3 needles and Rose Merino wool, pick up 4 stitches in center of hat.

Row 1: K

row 2: P

Row 3: K1, k2tog, K1

Row 4: K1, k2tog,

Row 5: K2 tog

Pull Yarn through remaining loop and weave in ends.

Ties:

Cut a piece of sage yarn approximately 12 inches long. Thread half way through last loop of ear flap so you have 3 pieces of yarn to work with.  Braid yarn. Tie off at end leaving strings no longer than 6 inches. Repeat for second side.

Evelynn's 6 month portraits!

Bishop's Studio does an AMAZING job. Call 800-842-1155 to book a session with them.  I'm so thrilled to share these beautiful pictures with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evie Laughs

Evie has the sweetest little laugh. Just hearing it can brighten your day. We were fortunate enough to capture it on video so now we can have a smile whenever we need one, even if Evelynn is not in such a laughing mood! :)

6 Months

Modeling her Thanksgiving dress

Evelynn is 6 months old yesterday. Time is moving impossibly fast. I'm so in love with this little girl and I can't wait to see what she'll do next. And in the same breath, I'm so sad that her time as a wee one is so short. In another 6 months she'll be walking, talking and getting into trouble. It's just the blink of an eye it seems.

She's learning so much every day. Nothing gets past this kid. Her eyes and hands are taking it all in. Along those lines, she may be part goat.  We have to make sure to keep all paper as far away from her as humanly possible.

She's had several milestones lately. She can get those toes to her mouth now and loves to gnaw on them, especially her left big toe. She can stay in a seated position for long periods of time, but she can't get there on her own yet. However, if you put her in a seated position, say, in her crib within reach of the lowest side rail, she can grab it and pull herself up to her favorite position- standing. Ack! Standing on her own! But fortunately she can't get into that position without our help. So, we're not lowering the mattress just yet. She still doesn't roll over. Not that she can't. Stubborn little girl just won't!  She still HATES being on her tummy and gets so mad about the situation, rather than rolling over, she just slams her face into the floor or mattress or whatever she's laying on. From her back she easily rolls to her sides but sticks her foot out to stop her from rolling over and ending up in the dreaded tummy time.  We say she'll skip crawling and go straight to running since she likes being on her feet so much. But she really wants to crawl. She's certainly trying to master climbing on Mommy and Daddy. It's like vertical crawling.

Evelynn has been trying all kinds of "solid" foods. So far she LOVES bananas. Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Squash, Pears, and Apples are all pretty good. Peaches.... eh... she'll eat them but she's not really a big fan. And she does NOT like peas.  The most surprising thing she eats is Green Beans. I won't come near them. I once tried to turn my parents in for child abuse for attempting to make me eat them. The kid doesn't love them but she will eat them. I'm sort of wondering if someone else has my real child. She wasn't liking her rice cereal very well so I stopped giving it to her for a few weeks and restarted again this week. Things went over much better. Of course, the first night I mixed a substantial portion of bananas into it so that probably helped.

I am the luckiest mommy on the planet sleep wise. Evelynn is very predictable. She wakes up around 7:30 each morning and is up for 2 hours then takes a nap for somewhere between 45 minutes and 2 hours. Wakes up for the next 2 hours and back to sleep for an afternoon nap. Usually she's up for 2 hours after that and takes a short evening nap before going to bed for real between 8 and 9. And then she's done. She sleeps all night. If she wakes up, generally she puts herself back to sleep. No crying. I don't have to get up and go in there for a cuddle. She makes a little coughish sound plays with her toy for a few minutes and right back to sleep. It's been this way for a few months now. Bliss! Of course, on the rare occasions that she is off her schedule it really wipes me out.

My sweet little girl goes through phases of her favorite sounds to make.  Recently it was that high pitched squealy sound baby children make in restaurants. Thankfully that one passed quickly and her Daddy and I never reacted. We didn't want to teach her early on that that sound got to us. Now her favorite sound is "pffffttt" complete with spittle. It's very cute. And she's learned to give raspberries. She does them on my arms all the time but it's most fun when we can get her to do it on her Daddy's belly. That cracks all of us up. Well, not so much her daddy. But the girls think it's hilarious.

Happy Birthday to my sweet smiley girl. I love you more each day.

Getting ready for her first Christmas trying on her new Santa Hat I made her.

Saving, Saving. Saving. er, sort of.

The Hubs has been laid off for over a month now. Severance runs out right around Thanksgiving so we're doing all we can to try to save a little cash. Fortunately we have a great family that has helped out a LOT with Evelynn even before the lay off. I have never bought even 1 package of baby wipes and probably only 2 or 3 packs of diapers in the nearly 6 months we've had this beautiful baby.

Here are a few things we've done to try and save where we can. 

1.  Entertainment.  Our entertainment budget consists of the cable bill right now.  We've stopped eating out and seeing movies. It really wasn't that hard since with no family near by and thus no babysitters we hadn't been going out all that much anyway.  But we are holding on to the cable for now.  It also includes phone and internet. With both of us at home we pretty much consider that a need.

2.  Groceries.  Meal  planning has really helped us get the grocery budget under control.  We now spend $100 or less a week on food.  That's HUGE for us.  Before Evelynn was born we were probably spending double that at least with all the eating out we did.  The only problem is that food that is better for you costs more and goes bad faster.  We used to go to the store several times a week and just pick up a few things here and there.  Now we go once a week and have the whole week's menu planned ahead of time.  We've also quit going to the nice grocery store 1 mile from the house and instead trek clear across town to buy groceries at the dreaded Walmart.  Yes,  I hate shopping at Walmart but when their price is half of what the closer store charges it more than makes up for the added gas. However,  it really has been a challenge to   create healthy meals on cheap ingredients.  I've been trying to make meals that will be sure to provide leftovers and things that I can use twice, like the rosemary grilled chicken we had yesterday.  I'll use the leftovers to make our own pizza tonight.  The fact is though,  canned veggies, pasta and rice are cheap.  I can see why there is such a great obecity problem, esspecially among lower income families.

3.  Gas.  I mentioned that a moment ago. With neither of us working,  there are days we just don't go anywhere.  Considering Hubs used to have a 30 mile commute each way,  just being laid off has slashed our gas expense.

4. Misc.  We stopped spending everywhere we could.  I switched from salon shampoo to Panteen, Bath and Body to Dove.  Neither of us have bought clothes or music or dvds.  I made Evelynn's winter hats instead of buying them.

We still have the mortgage of course and the car payment, gas, electricity, water, trash,  insurance and student  loan.  But we are fortunate not to have a dime of credit card debit. So you'd think we'd be saving tons with all this right?  Not so much.  We had to go on COBRA coverage when the health insurance termed.  Even with the government subsidy,  one month of coverage is more than the rent on my first 3 apartments! 

I am so SO glad the house passed the reform bill (no thanks to the Kansas representatives with the exception of Dennis Moore).  I only hope the Senate can pass their version quickly so we can start to see some change.  If you'd like to see how your representative voted,  along with how much money s/he received from the health insurance companies and what percentage of their constituents are uninsured,  click here.

Evelynn's Favorite Toys

We love these great toys by Lamaze.

Evelynn's first Lamaze toy was Celeste the sun and moon. I had it hanging where she could see it from her car seat from before we even brought her home. She would stare it at long before she had the motor skills to use her hands. Now, nearly 6 months later it hasn't lost its appeal. She loves to crinkle the little yellow rays around the sun's face.

The next toy we got was Jacques the Peacock. Evelynn loved his little orange beak from the time we picked him out in the store.  We hardly go anywhere without Jacques now.

But now Jacques has a rival for Evelynn's affections. Just this weekend my grandmother and I took Evelynn shopping with us and she picked out her own toy. It was between Stretch the Giraffe and My Friend Emily. Well, Emily won out hands down.  Given both toys Evelynn went straight for the doll and ignored the Giraffe completely.  My baby's first baby doll! So sweet!

You'd think we'd have enough by now, and we probably do. But with the hubs being Canadian and all, we do have an awful fondness for Moose.  So.... Mortimer Moose will most likely make an appearance in Evelynn's stocking at Christmas time.

Isn't he cute?! Plus his ears are teethers so, it's practical. 

Chipotle

The Hubs and I Love Chipotle. Yummy! But, the closest one is over 100 miles away. So we had to improvise when the Chipotle craving hits. It works out pretty well since you get to control the ingredients and create something that tastes just about the same but with a more reasonable portion size and lower calorie ingredients. Friends have been asking me for the recipes (they really need to open a store here). So, here you go:

I started with this chicken marinade. But I rarely have red onion in the house so I use one whole white onion, skip the chiles and add 1 tsp of McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning, 1 tsp of Chipotle powder.  I use chicken tenderloins instead of chicken breasts because they're cheaper, grill up faster and you're just going to cut them into bite size pieces so half the work is done for you.

Marinade the chicken for one hour then grill.

In the mean time I make the rice with this recipe.  I double it to have enough for leftovers the next day.

1 can of low sodium black beans, just add a couple tbs of chopped fresh cilantro and heat them through.

1 pkg of low fat, whole wheat tortillas

1 pkg low fat shredded cheese

Fat free Sour Cream

Salsa

There you go. Assemble as you like. It's not exactly the same, but much better for you and way better than driving 100 miles for it.

Evelynn tried peas for the first time tonight.  She wasn't exactly a fan. This video doesn't really do it justice. We had to stop and switch to apple sauce.  Her little face is so expressive though.  It's hard not to laugh sometimes.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all.  Yesterday was a busy day for Evelynn. Not only did she celebrate her first Halloween, but she got to meet her cousins for the first time too.

We got up Halloween morning, got ready and drove to Fayetteville, Arkansas- Home of the University of Arkansas and the Razorbacks. There was a football game and Evelynn's Granddaddy came up for it, so we met him there. My Aunt Jerri and her grandkids came to meet us as well. And we all had a lovely little lunch together. Evelynn made friends with all the girls and Vicki was especially good with her.

Alayna, Kaiti Beth, Vicki and Evelynn

Soon it was time for Granddaddy and Aunt Jerri to go to the game, so we headed for home. We had to get Evelynn dressed! She is often called our little Monkey so it was easy to decide what to dress her as. She didn't seem to mind her costume much and it certainly kept her warm!

 

We didn't take her trick or treating per se. But we did take her around to visit some of our friends and neighbors. She got to see her buddy, Shooter. He's a month and half or so younger than Evelynn. He was dressed as an elephant and SO cute! I didn't have my camera with me but I'm hoping Shooter's Mommy will send me a picture to share. And we met several other neighborhood babies. One dressed as a little lamb, another as a bumble bee. Evelynn is going to have so many playmates when she gets a little older!

It was a fun Halloween around here. We didn't run out of candy so there are plenty of treats left... not sure if that's a good thing or not. Mike went down to the neighbor's party (in costume dressed as Shrek!) after things started dying down trick or treater wise. But I had just managed to get the little Monkey in bed and had a splitting headache so I stayed in.

Evelynn decided to play some tricks on me this morning waking up at 2:30 and 6:30 and 7:30 and then I realized it was daylight savings time so we got to experience 7:30 all over again. Oh well. I'm hoping for a nap in a little bit. Won't that be a nice treat!? :)

Spitupotumus!

I have a question for all the experienced moms out there.  My daughter spits up a lot.  I mean a LOT.  Like if you bounce her around (which she LOVES) there's about a 98% chance you'll be wearing her lunch.  If you don't bounce her there's still a 92% chance.  And if you feed her, well then there's a 100% chance.  I stopped packing a change of  clothes for her when we go out and started packing one for me instead!  So, here's my question,  how do you know when it's spit up vs. real sick baby vomit?  She doesn't eat solids with any consistency  yet so it all looks the same.  And she can project it on any given occasion, usually relative to where you've positioned the burp cloth.  We're soaking 3-4 burp cloths a day over here!

See, she can even blow bubbles!  This is an old picture but you get the idea.

 

Anyway, spit up I can handle and giving her some rice cereal does help when I've had enough and the laundry has piled up.  I'm just afraid I'm going to miss a sign that she's not feeling well and with all this yucky flu going around I don't want to accidentally let things go longer. Any tips Mom buddies?

The rest of the weekend...

We got to Kansas City Saturday afternoon and checked into the hotel.  Hubs and been holding on to some Hilton rewards points for a while so we booked a room at the Hilton down town for free! Oh yeah! We got all checked in and fed Evelynn and then it was time to go pick up dinner for ourselves.  We stopped off at Waldo Pizza where I may or may not have run into a friend from high school.  Across the bar there was a guy who looked familiar but I couldn't quite be sure. He said, "HI!" in a way that made me think that I must know him. I said "Hi" back and asked how he'd been. The generic conversation went on like that until my pizza arrived and I pretty well ran out of there before I had to acknowledge whether or not we actually knew each other. I know.  Cowardly. But to be fair, I actually was running late and had a fussy baby waiting in the car with her daddy.  But just in case, if anyone sees Mike McNary send my apologies for running out on him, if it was, in fact, him.

Moving on. I was running off to Krista's house because she and Sarah had so kindly volunteered to babysit for us while we went to the wedding (see below).  Had a great time at the wedding. On the way out Nikki called a KCMO police officer that was escorting us to our cars (bad neighborhood) a jerk. Yes she said it loudly. Yes he heard her. But she was joking and he was in on it and we all laughed.

Little Miss hadn't got to sleep when we arrived back at Krista's house to pick her up. Bad news. She passed out in the car but woke up when we got to the hotel. About the time we got to the room around 11:30 the fussing started and escalated.  She finally passed out from sheer exhaustion around 1AM only to wake up crying again at 2:00. I'm sure the people in the rooms next to ours loved us. We got her back to sleep by around 2:30-2:45 but she was awake again at 5AM. I'm tellin' ya. This kid does not like to have her schedule and routine messed with.

So, after a horrible night, the calm. She was a perfect angel all day long. She took her regular morning nap right on time and woke up just as we were sitting down for lunch.  Lunch was fantastic. Mostly because my dear dear friend Jade was in town and she met us. I hadn't seen her since before I got preggers so over a year!? Really?! That long? Wow. That's too long Jadely. It was the first time we got to introduce her to Evelynn and they got along great. Evelynn tried to eat Jade's hair and Jade didn't even seem to mind. What a girl :)

After lunch we went to visit my old next door neighbors. We stayed with them for an hour or so while Evelynn ate her lunch. Then it was back in the car. Right on schedule with afternoon nap time, Evelynn fell asleep and slept the whole way home despite the very loud pouring down rain all the way. It was so nice. She was good all evening and even went to sleep in time for me to catch the end of Dexter.  Ahh... We paid our dues last night but I must commend the little girl. Today was quiet pleasant. And now, off to bed for me!

Todd's Wedding

This weekend the family and I headed to Kansas City for a much anticipated event. My dear friend Todd got married! I'd been looking forward to this wedding for a long time and it didn't disappoint.

The wedding was in this great old building. The tables were decorated with framed pictures of the happy couple and the programs read like playbills. Todd and Phillip exchanged vows on stage (so fitting for these two). It was a beautiful, heartfelt ceremony. I just love weddings. Watching two love birds exchange vows always takes me back to my own wedding. I hold my husband's hand and think "I do" all over again. It's like renewing your vows right along with the new couple. There are few things more beautiful than watching a happy couple in love on their wedding day.

The Grooms perform "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart"

But this wedding had even more! Ms. Dee Dee Deville performed and hosted the cabaret portion of the evening. So many of Todd and Phillip's friends got up and performed! That's one talented bunch! There was even a performance by the cast of the musical "The Wedding Singer" complete with costumes and choreography.

Dee Dee Deville and my friend Nicole

So, I know some of you are saying, "But you live in Kansas. Is it legal?" Oh yes it is. Todd and Phillip drove to Iowa the night before with their minister.  Three Cheers for Iowa! (Never thought I'd say that...) But I hope one day soon trips like that won't be necessary. Marriage is for everybody.  

A toast to Todd and Phillip. May the love you share today grow throughout the years. May you remain best friends and each others biggest fans. Cherish the good times together. And through the rough patches remember that you are on the same team.  Thank you so much for allowing me to share your big day.

 

5 Months

Evelynn turned 5 months old yesterday.  I go through this every month when I realize how fast time is going by. She's growing so quickly! She now weighs 15lbs 12oz. That puts her in the 74th percentile on weight. And she's 26 inches long. That's the 90th percentile on height.

She seems to be learning so much every day and new skills happen at lightening speed. She can easily reach and grab her toes. Though, she does not bring them to her mouth yet. And she can reach across her body now- right hand to left foot. She can hold a toy and pass it to her other hand too. And she reaches for what she wants and is very curious about the world around her. She loves to grab faces. She also loves to feel different textures. She'll rub her hand across your arm to feel the difference between skin and fabric. She's really starting to like the kitties. As a result, I think they like her less. She's pretty good about petting until she gets excited and then she grabs a big fistful of hair and sometimes skin. Kitties don't care for that game very much. Lucky for them, she's not mobile yet!

She still hates her tummy time. But she loves to sit up and stand. When she's seated she often falls forward while reaching for an object. Then she ends up falling into tummy time and gets mad. Part of me hopes that will motivate her to learn how to coordinate that whole crawling thing. But the other part of me hopes she won't get it just yet, because it's so much easier when I can put her down and she stays in one place!

She can roll over from back to tummy. She just won't. She'll easily roll to her side to work her way around her toy gym but when she starts to fall towards her tummy she sticks her foot out to hold herself up. She does NOT want to be on her tummy!

We've tried solid foods again recently with slightly more success. I won't go so far as to say she likes it but she doesn't cry anymore. Getting her to open her mouth for the spoon isn't all that easy though. She really likes to sit her in high chair while we eat dinner. I think she likes being included at the table.

I think she's beginning to understand what we say a little more so it's time to start introducing a few sign language words. She started imitating me the other day when I stuck my tongue out at her. So cute! So I think she may be able to start imitating signs too. We want to teach her a few basic signs like "More", "Milk", "Eat", "Drink", "Hot", "Cold", and "Pain". I have a friend who has done this and it has really helped their communication before she can talk.

Oh yes, and I made her another little hat:

I think she liked it. What do you think?!

Fun Fall Festival

At 10:00 this morning my mom called and asked us to drive roughly 2 and half hours away to meet her and her former next door neighbors at a Fall Festival. And naturally we agreed. :)

It turned out to be a really pretty fall afternoon. We bundled Evelynn up nice and warm and strolled about different crafts booths. I got to have my first funnel cake in.... I can't remember how long but years. Totally worth the drive just for that. And we let Evelynn see a horse for the first time. That horse was happy to see us too. Let's just say that Me, Hubs and my Mom all noticed at the same time that it was a boy horse. Uncomfortable snickering followed.  We took Evelynn to visit the ponies instead.

The best part of the day was that we met up with Mom's former next door neighbors the Wilsons (yes, I grew up next to Mr. Wilson and if you only knew what a menace my brother was...but I digress). So yeah. We met up with the Wilson's and their daughters and their 18 month old grand-daughter Anya.  What a beautiful baby girl!  Anya and Evelynn became fast friends.

If you look closely you can see Anya holding Evelynn's hand. SO SWEET!

 

Later, Anya gave Evelynn a kiss on the cheek. BFFs! :)

 

All the girls: Emily, Mom, Me, Evelynn, Mary, Danielle and Anya

After we'd visited all the crafts booths and rides and enjoyed our funnel cakes we went in search of the quilt show. But we got lost. That was okay though. In the process we found this great little playground. Evelynn had never been to a playground before so we sent the boys back for the cars and we stayed to play.

 

Evelynn enjoyed her first trip down a slide more than she let on here.

 

Swinging was okay but she was getting hungry and sleepy.

 

So hungry, in fact, she could eat a horse- even a metal springy one. I had to hold her up just to keep her from gnawing on it.

 

Then Evelynn and Grammy practiced walking

 

Evelynn can't get her feet coordinated yet but it was fun trying.

All in all it was a fun filled fall day.  The ride home was another story.  Evelynn was ready to be home long before we were actually there. We had to stop twice on the way and I rode most of the way in the backseat with her trying to calm her down. Poor little girl just did not want to be in her car seat any longer. She finally fell asleep about 30 minutes from home.  At least she'll sleep well tonight.

Oh yeah! I nearly forgot. People at the craft fair kept coming up to me asking where I bought Evelynn's flower hat. Of course I made it myself, but so many people asked me, I think I may really start making more of them and selling them on etsy. I scouted out some new styles I want to try too, and checked out pricing, so I'll have a pretty good idea when I actually get around to making my store. In the meantime, if you'd like me to make a hat for your little one just let me know. I'd be happy to do it. Right now I'm working on a little striped knit hat that I think is going to turn out REALLY cute. I can't wait to show you when I get it done.

Hats

It's gotten cold here in Munchkin Land so it was time to break out the winter hats. Only problem was, we didn't have any for Evelynn. With Hubs being home I had a little extra time with two hands so I figured I'd just make her a few using yarn I already had around rather than spending money. I found a few patterns and made my own up too.

Cherry Hat 

 I used this pattern. But I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn in green and pink. It's what I had on hand. Here's the view from the front.

Jester Hat

I wanted to make a jester hat but I couldn't fine a pattern for a crochet one and I didn't want to go dig around to find my knitting needles. So I sort of improvised based on this pattern.  I used Bernat Softee Baby White and a size G crochet hook. It was really very simple.

Chain 60

Join chain with a slip stitch being careful not to twist it.

SC in each chain (60 stitches)

SC in each stitch until your piece is about 6.5 " tall

On the wrong side join with a SC 20 stitches

create the next point with another 20 stitches SC together

Slip Stitch back to the center and join the last 20 stitches.

Weave in ends.

Flower Hat

 

I really had to make this one up since, as I said, I didn't want to go find my knitting needles. It was loosely based on this pattern and the pattern for the Cherry Hat linked above. The top flower applique came from here  and the small flowers on the ear flaps came from here.

I used Bernat Softee Baby Green, Yellow and Pink with a size G crochet hook for the appliques.  And I used Patons Melody Quick & Cozy White and a size K hook for the hat.

Follow the Cherry Hat pattern until the hat is the right width around. Evelynn's 17" head it took 7 rounds to get the right width and then several more until it was the right size. After the last round create ear flaps:

SC 6

Turn SC 6 Repeat until you have 4 rows of 6 SC stitches

Decrease by SC 1, SC two together Repeat and Turn.

Work decreases until you have one stitch.

Slip stitch down the flap until you get back to the hat, SC around until you are on the other side of your flap making the hat symmetrical Repeat Ear Flap directions above. Slip stitch back to the hat but then weave in ends.

Attach appliques with a couple stitches.

To make the ties:

 SC in bottom ear flap SC.

Chain 15

Chain 3

In the 15th Chain SC 1, Chain 1, DC 1, Triple C 1, DC 1, SC 1

Slip Stitch in the 14th Chain

Chain 5

in the 4th Chain from the hook repeat leaf directions above.

Slip stitch up the chain to make a thicker cord.

Weave in ends.

Repeat on the other ear flap.

I have no idea if that's the correct or easiest way to make those, I just made it up and it worked for me.

Positive

In an effort to think positive, look on the bright side, find the silver lining and all that, a list of the top 10 positives about my hubs being laid off:

10. He's beginning to understand why I hate Kathie Lee Gifford so much. (For God's sake why doesn't Hoda just smack her?!)
9. More time for visiting friends and family.
8. No more explaining what goes on here during the day.
7.  He bakes homemade bread to relieve stress. Yum!
6. I haven't been to Walmart in 2 weeks.
5. Saves on gas.
4. House and yard work is getting done.
3. An extra set of hands means no more waiting for nap time to take a shower.
2. He gets to spend more time with Evelynn.
1. We get to spend more quality time together.

And now I have a scene from Life of Brian and the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" stuck in my head. :)

Things I Know For Sure

I've been pretty good about not wallowing in our recent string of bad luck. I haven't even had a good cry about it all.  But I feel like I'm on the verge of a Class A breakdown. It's not any one of the individual events really, just sort of the combination of one thing on top of another. But mostly it's the uncertainty of it all.  When and Where will Hubs find a new job?  How long can we afford health insurance and the mortgage in the meantime? Is it irresponsible to buy Evelynn a new winter had (especially when I want this one) when I could just knit or crochet her one myself and save the $15? Have we really come to the point where I'm VERY concerned with $15? Will we have to sell the house? Where will we live? Will we have to move somewhere where we don't know anyone at all? Will I have to go back to work? Will we have to move somewhere cold? I really don't want to live somewhere cold. It's enough to make anybody cry.

So, in order to help hold on to my last shred of sanity I've decided to make a list of the things that I do know for sure.

1. I love my husband and daughter.
2. They love me.
3.  No matter what else happens, we will always have each other.
4. We have amazing friends for support.
5.  We have a terrific family that won't let us starve or be homeless.
6.  This too shall pass.

That feels better. The other thing I know for sure:  There's a gift certificate for a massage from the wonderful Alicia Burk that I've been saving since Mother's Day sitting on my dresser . It may be time to cash that puppy in.

Go Hogs Go!

In honor of the Razorbacks beating Auburn today, Evelynn would like to teach you all how to call the Hogs.

Step 1: Hands to the Side.  "Woooooo..."

Step 2: Raise hands over your head and twinkle fingers. "...oooooooo"

Step 3:  Bend elbows. "PIG"

Step 4: Raise hands above head again. "Souieeeeee!"

Step 5: Pump right fist. "RAZORBACK!!"

Go Hogs Go! My little Razorback and I are cheering for ya! :)