Luck of the Irish

As March is upon us, so is the luck of the Irish. Many people may not know that the Irish actually had a big influence in crocheting in its early years. When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland poor farm families needed a way to supplement there income. Women were able to crochet Irish Lace and sell it to the wealthy to embellish there clothing and home decor. This March as you're preparing for your corned beef and cabbage St. Patrick's Day dinner perhaps you can embellish your table decor with some Irish Lace.

For those of you that don't like to read patterns, here is a Irish Lace Demonstration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBWGTNM8SMU

The Year of Crochet

We are well into the New Year, with one whole month under our belt. With all the new resolutions and goals people strive for I think it's important to keep a little bit of fun in your life too. What could possibly be more fun than 2011 fashion and trends!!!

Besides crocheting, one of my favorite hobbies is shopping, weather it be window, online browsing or actually buying things. Now that the holidays are past all the new things for 2011 are starting to come out. One big observation I have made is that crocheting is making big strides in 2011 for being trendy and fashionable! Every where I look there are crocheted clothes, home decor, and accessories.

This is our year to make a statement with some of the things we've crocheted. Feel proud when you wear that sweater of hat you made for yourself and use the items you see in stores to inspire you to create even more!

Check out the links below for some my favorite things I have found online.

Cardigan: http://www.charlotterusse.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4393328
Pillow: http://www.pier1.com/Catalog/HomeTextiles/tabid/514/List/0/CategoryID/144/level/a/ProductID/29112/ProductName/Crochet-Felt-Floral-Pillowuu/Default.aspx
Tank: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=535511&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results
Bath mat: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10918685

Quick Weekend Project

If you're looking for a quick project to do in a couple of hours, I highly recommend looking at www.allcrafts.net. Last weekend I made the cute Amelia hat and I was finally able to finish today... only because I needed to go out and buy a button. This was a great project to make using up old yarn from previous projects. The hat that I made (shown below) is great because you make detachable flowers so the hat can match any coat/outfit you wear. So far I've only made a blue flower, as I only use one winter coat, but come spring, I may make a nice green one!

(Seen on my head for dramatic effect)

Please note: Should you plan to make this pattern and suffer from a big head like me, be sure to add plenty of extra rounds so the hat can cover your head.

What in Yarnation!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Minnesota to visit a fellow hump day hooker who lives outside the Milwaukee area. It was a great weekend filled with consignment shops, wine tasting and a cute little yarn store called 'What in Yarnation!' Being a hooker who gets all my yarn from either Michaels or Jo-ann's I was immediately impressed upon entering and actually exclaimed, 'wow!' One of the six or so ladies knitting in the corner responded by saying, 'wow is right,' after all shouldn't that be everyone's immediate reaction after walking into a store for their favorite hobby?

This store was awesome! There were many different kinds of yarn, some that I've seen before, but most that I haven't. There were complete finished products to show off their patterns and the yarn, much more than the little swatches that most stores have. They were helpful and knowledgeable. They even had a wooden yarn ball winder... I have never seen one of these before, and I enjoyed watching them wind my friend's skein. But overall, my favorite part of the store was a small corner where ladies were chatting and knitting (crocheters are welcomed too!). I would love to find a store like that by us, and I intend on scoping out some places!!

I loved this store, and especially the sign they had out in front!

In fact, here's a list of places I'd like to go:

Knitch (Delafield) - They also appear to have a knitting/crocheting corner (http://www.knitch.net/index.html)

Yarn House (Elm Grove) - While they don't have a website, the reviews on Google look good.

River Boutique and Yarn (Brookfield) - They also seem to have a knitting/crocheting corner (http://www.riverboutiqueyarn.com/)

If you're ever in Cannon Falls, I highly suggest visiting What in Yarnation!

Fun Fact!!

Last year I took a trip to San Francisco where I finally had the pleasure to go to Alcatraz island and visit the prison. I found the different rooms and aisles of cells fascinating. While walking down one of the aisles and listening to our guide we found out that one inmate learned to crochet and taught some of the other inmates how to as well! Looking at the picture that I took below, looks like he had a very nice stitch, although I'm really not sure why he'd make a pink baby blanket??

Even prisoners think crocheting is cool!

Our HDH Christmas Presents

Merry Christmas from Hump Day Hookers! HC and myself got together one hump day and opted to use our spare yarn to make some cute little snowman ornaments, it was a great way to use left over yarn. The people I gave it to this year, absolutely loved it.

What you need to make your own:

Styrofoam Balls

White Yarn

Orange Felt and thread

Fabric Glue

Little balls

Green yarn to crochet the bow.

I think you can figure out how to assemble this and I don't really feel like blogging about it, so if you have any questions on the steps just comment below.

Hope this gives you some good ideas for next years' gifts. Next blog post - 2011!

A Lovely Christmas Gift

Last night I was at my parents baking Christmas cookies when my mom was reminded that she 'needed' to show me a gift that she received a few days ago (picture below).

A family friend of ours also loves to crochet and she had made this special snowman for my mom and dad as a Christmas/Thank you gift. I wish I would have taken a closer picture of the snowman's hat as it looked real cute close up. What Christmas gifts did you make for your family members this year??? STAY TUNED to see what the members of HDH made!