Arctic Freeze

Photographs of the huge Arctic Freeze in San Antonio.

Bunny Rabbit

This rabbit was a Christmas gift for my mother. I found a pattern on Crochet World
magazine October 2005 issue. I actually had this magazine since last year and thought about making it for my mother but I thought it was too difficult so I didn't make it last year. Well, this year I got the guts to make it. I figured that if I didn't know how to do a particular technique I could eventually figure it out and voila! I made it! Once again I changed the pattern a bit. The rabbit in the magazine has a long sleeved jacket. I shortened the sleeves on mine just to be a little different. I also made the skirt different. I changed it from an a-line skirt into a full skirt. A full skirt just looked better. I consider the rabbit to be a little girl rabbit and she needed a full skirt to hop around in. I also changed up the skirt color. I usedRed Heart Super Saver yarn in Artist Print instead of the Summer Breeze color. Soft White was used for the body, Buff for the jacket, and Frosty Green for the shoes, and book bag. I also wanted to use pretty buttons instead of the plain yellow round buttons. I shopped around for some buttons and found some pretty purple flower buttons to use.

The eyes and nose are embroidered using embroidery floss. I had some trouble with it
because I'm not very good at embroidery. It still turned out cute. My mom really loved it and she couldn't believe that I made it. She kept saying, "You, made it , Ruby?", "You, made it?". I told her I followed a pattern to make it. It feels really great to make something and have other people appreciate it so much.



Here is a detail of the book bag. I also crocheted pantaloons under the skirt. I almost wanted to keep this cute bunny for myself but I thought I could always make another one if I want to.
Hopefully soon I can create my own patterns and make more crocheted toys for children.

Pretty Poncho

Here is another gift I made for my other sister for Christmas. I crocheted this poncho using a free pattern I found at Hobby Lobby. I used yarn from the Yarn Bee company. It's called Soft Delight in a fuchsia color. This yarn was on sale on a different week at Hobby Lobby. Of course I took advantage of the sale and bought several skeins of yarn for projects. This yarn is very soft to the touch and can be dressed up with a simple black dress or casually worn with jeans. I had to unravel it several times because the collar kept twisting on me. Once in a while I would miss a shell stitch and then I would have to unravel it and start over with the row. Still I enjoyed making this poncho for my sister. It's the first poncho I have ever made. It took several hours and I relished every moment of it. There is just something about sitting with a hook and soft yarn creating a garment that brings great satisfaction to me. It's peaceful, quiet, and pleasing the senses. I read somewhere that knitting uses up 85 calories an hour, so I figured it's the same for crocheting.

Fleece Blanket

This is another Christmas gift I made for my little sister. I went to Hancock Fabrics and found some embroidered fleece material on sale 30% off. I purchased it, then went home in quite a cheerful mood. I found some matching yarn and began to sew a blanket stitch around the border of the material. It took me two days to complete the blanket stitch. It's quite difficult to stitch through fleece with yarn. I certainly had a workout pulling that long yarn way out and then back through the material. After I completed the blanket stitch I began to crochet an edging around the blanket. I used a pattern in the Crochet Today Magazine Oct/Nov 'o6 issue. The pattern instructions were designed for a baby blanket but I adjusted them for an adult size blanket. I still used just four rounds but increased the number of stitches around. The yarn I used was Red Heart, Super Saver Muticolor, in Banana Berry. I thought the fleece fabric was beautiful with the embroidered flowers on it. It was very soft. I almost wanted to keep it for myself. Nevertheless, my sister is the proud owner of this warm cheery blanket.

Warm Crocheted Cowl

Now that Christmas is over I am able to post some of the gifts I made for family members. I was a little low on cash this year so I decided I would spend some time crocheting gifts for my family. I crocheted this cowl for my husband's grandmother. It's a hood and neck warmer in one. I found a pattern in a book called Cool Crocheted Hats. I found some yarn by the Yarn Bee Co., Icelandic Jewels in dark citrine for $.99 cents at Hobby Lobby, originally $5.22. The sale lasted for one week so I took this oportunity to purchase this yarn instead of the expensive mohair and wool blend that the pattern suggested to use. It does not drape as nice but it sure keeps you warm. I used Yarn Bee, ELF Eyelash Yarn in cherry red for the edging. I changed up the pattern a bit to make it a little wider on the shoulders. My husband's grandmother loved it and she wore it the whole time we were in Louisiana for Christmas.
It looks like a rectangle when layed out flat.