This is the sunset behind the mountains seen from the window of my brother and his wife's bedroom! I think it's gorgeous - they've seen better. Being an "east coast" or "midwest" girl, depending on where you're from you call me one or the other, but both ways, I am completely mesmerized by mountains. I LOVE looking out and seeing them standing all tall and proud and making the horizon, giving it character... I could look at them all day. At home, every once in a while, the clouds in the early morning look just like mountains... but it never lasts, the sun rises, the day continues, the clouds burn off and it's flat again.
My current project... Landon's Blankie for Molly Bears.
Above is a picture of my Molly Bear Landon wrapped in his blankie :) he's so snuggly!! So, my current project is... I make blankies and mail them to mommies who are grieving the loss of their precious child.
A friend of mine, Bridget, lost her little girl, Molly, 2 months after I lost Landon. Bridget offered to make a teddy bear for me that was the same weight as Landon was when he was born, so when I was aching to hold my baby, I could at the very least, hold a teddy bear the exact same weight. I graciously accepted Bridget's offer and received my bear shortly thereafter. He was perfect in every way, but he needed a blankie, so I modified a traditional ripple pattern to look adorable with my little bear and I made him his very own blankie. I offered to make one for Bridget and she accepted - Landon's Blankie for Molly Bear is pictured above.
Then I thought that I could include a blankie with the bears that Bridget makes, after discussing this with Bridget and deciding the best way to do this, Bridget gives my information to the recipients of Molly Bears. Seriously, how cute is Cai Bear sitting on his blankie above??? And what about Trystian Bear with his blankie below??? Too cute, that's how cute!!!
Bridget makes the bears free of charge for the grieving families and I make the blankies free of charge as well. If you would like to donate to Molly Bears for a grieving family, visit www.mollybears.com and Bridget has information set up there. If you would like to donate for blankies, I have a donate button set up on the side of this page. I will also be donating to Molly Bears from time to time, so you would be helping us both comfort grieving mothers such as ourselves.
And now for your first lesson!!! Please remember, my crochet lessons are intended for the absolute beginner... absolute! There will be lots of pictures to help the beginners that will seem tedious if you know what you are doing. If at any time, a question comes up, or something is just not clear, let me know and I'll figure out a different way to explain it. If you need another picture, or if I explained something without a picture and you need one, let me know. Also, if you know what you are doing - you may think that some of the things I do are "wrong" but... I like things that are aesthetically pleasing... I like straight lines... I like what I will call "even holes" - meaning if there's a hole in one spot - I want a hole opposite that spot... All crochet is NOT pleasing to my eye's palette, so I have modified anything that I've needed to modify in order to make my crochet look just like I want it. So to the beginners, it is possible that if you are showing a "seasoned crocheter" what you've learned, they may say "that's not how you do it" or "you don't need to do that" but just remember, I like to make things that make a seasoned crocheter say "wow, how did you make it look like that!"
So, for the first lesson... making the knot. How do you go from this...
to this...
Well, let me show you step by step :) Let me first say that it is NOT necessary to "ball" up your yarn, in fact, it makes it harder to work with! I'll take pics with my next skein of yarn to show you my fool proof way of pulling the yarn off the skein super easily that makes for easy crocheting! But I've already taken care of this skein so I'll do that for the next lesson.
I will show you two ways to make the knot, my preference is first.
You will need to hold out your right hand and drape the yarn over the top draping the yarn from front to back...
Next, cross one string over the other by turning your hand towards the left...
Now you need to pull the string that is on the right through your loop from the back...
Now with your left hand, hang on to the end of the string and pull to tighten the knot around your loop while keeping your fingers in the loop so you don't pull it right out :)
You should now have a fairly large loop... turn so the loose end of the string is now on the right, and the end connected to your skein of yarn is on the left... place your crochet hook into the loop from right to left...
Place your hook in the palm of your hand, hold onto the end of your yarn with your right hand between your pointer finger and thumb...
Using your left hand, simply pull the string that is attached to the skein away from the hook and this will tighten the loop around your crochet hook...
If that was a bit confusing... let's take another look... everyone doesn't learn the same!!
Lay out your string and form a loop, making sure the string from the loose end of your yarn is beneath the string attatched to the skein
Lift up your loop, move it slightly to the right and set it down right on top of the string...
With your right hand, hold the string, and at the same time, using your left hand, hang on to the loose end and pull to tighten the knot around the string and continue using the above directions to place the hook and tighten the loop around the hook!
Practice making the knot and look for the next lesson... making chains!!!!
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