Long Time, No See!

*Blows dust off blog*

I can't believe I have become such a blogging slacker that it has been nearly a YEAR since I have updated! Today I am home sick from work after a terrible dental emergency/SURPRISE you have a sore throat weekend, so blogging seems like the logical activity for the living room couch bound person.

You'd think I would have a long list of things that I've made, but sadly I don't. At least not in picture form. Lately it seems like I have been churning out baby gift after baby gift, with no time to spare for picture taking before it's wrapped up and out the door. This mainly includes a countless number of Hailey blankets, my go-to pattern for a quick and simple baby blanket. I'll tell you a little secret about my go-to blanket; every time I go down to the United States shopping, I always make sure I bring back however many Pound of Love balls of yarn I can buy (with a coupon of course!) You can buy them for around $5 depending on coupon, they make about one and a half "Haileys." This way even the most casual acquaintance of mine can receive something handmade, and my wallet isn't decimated in the process!

Of course, there are certain people I like to spoil too. I find a "Hailey" is a perfect addition to my other favourite craft, diaper cakes.

Draping the blanket around a diaper cake really gives it that something extra special I think.

Now off I go, back to finishing off the "Hailey" I am making for a cashier at work.

New Year, New Start

I'll admit it. I'm a bad blogger. I always start off ambitious and then lose momentum. I'm also bad at following my own goals for myself.

Yes, this means I caved to the Michaels Boxing Week flyer and bought more yarn. About 12 balls, with a plan for them at least. Hopefully I can use them up quickly.

Worse yet, I got a subscription to Crochet Today for Christmas. This was a good gift and a bad gift. You see, I am a complete sucker for making hats for little A., and clearly this Valentine's Day one was too cute to pass up:

He'll be having a blue and white version of this hat because you know, he's a boy. Thanks to some incorrect signage at Michaels, I got the yarn half off too and I should have plenty left over for other hats or who knows what other projects I'll dream up.

As for the good side of receiving the subscription, I found a pattern that will help me use up my oodles and oodles of Red Heart Baby Clouds yarn:

I love this kind of yarn. I was actually skeptical about it at first because I don't think it looks that nice when its in a skein, but once you start making it into an afghan it turns out so beautiful and soft and fluffy. Another plus about it? It's very bulky and works up quickly which I love. I'm definitely glad I grabbed some on clearance to try out. Little man got a blanket made from it when he was born, and most recently a friend's baby girl got a flower one made from this yarn too. Sadly, pictures of those blankets are on my old laptop that decided one day it wasn't going to turn back on and lazy me hasn't tried to recover data off it yet.

I also managed to find my pattern book made specifically for this yarn at my Grandparents house over the weekend, so hopefully I can get some cute baby things made up and I can make myself stop buying yarn and using up what I have.