Mixed emotions.

Change is a comin, mostly good, but some scary. I am in the process of opening an online shop and I will be moving my blog. I am so excited because when the shop is open you will be able to buy patterns and books, and download them instantly! This will save me a lot of time and customers will have better service. But I am so scared about the blog move! I will most likely be moving to Wordpress, and when I figure it out, I will have much better service. It will be so much easier to reply to your comments, and I will have a more user friendly layout. This may sound crazy, but I am so freaked about loosing some of you! And now you see where the mixed emotions come in, I'm so torn! I really want to be able to offer a better service, and spend a little less time tied to the computer in the process; but I almost don't want to if it means loosing some of you. Will you reassure me? If I move will you follow? I am so overwhelmed right now. I never told you this story and I'm sorry. I'm sharing this picture cause this is what I feel like doing right now, just laying down in the middle of all this madness! Here is The Story: This is the day after Thanksgiving, I went shopping with Kim just to see the craziness. I didn't buy (or intend on buying) a thing. By 11:00 am (we got up at 3:30 am) I was begging Kim to let me lay on one of the display beds, in the window of a store in the mall. I told her if she would just leave me, she could come back later and get me after I'd had a little nap. She wouldn't let me, Bath and Body was having a sale and we just HAD to go. So instead of taking a nap, I gave her mama (whom we drug along with us) the camera and she took a picture of me, fulfilling my lifelong dream of laying on one of those fancy short beds in the mall. Meanwhile, Kim stood nearby and pretended not to know me. We had a good time, but boy was I tired when we got home! Have you ever been tempted to lay on the fancy short beds? When I was little I wanted to lay on one so bad! They look like they are made just for kids because they are so short. I used to imagine little elves slept in them when the store was closed. I never climbed up on one though, my mama would have slapped me naked and hid my clothes! But they make them look so inviting, I just wonder how many people give in to the temptation. Tell the truth. Have you ever got in a fancy short bed? And will you follow me? I can't move till I know you will come.

A few updates.

I took better pictures of the scarflette today, I just love this green! The variations in this kettle dyed wool are incredible. I think I will put this pattern up in my shop today for pre-order. I have decided to add two bonnets to the shop too. If they sell well I will add more later. I will have the following sizes available: newborn-6 mo, 6-12 mo, 12-24 mo, 3-6 years. They will be $40.

This is my finished granny square baby blanket on it's way to the baby shower. I will add the pictures of the finished blanket to the tutorial.

Thank you all so much for offering to be testers! I will save all the names and email addresses. I have a few other patterns in my head that I will need testers for - when I get the time to sit down and stitch them all out! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

My ladies.

Today was a big day in the Caffee family. Today was the day we dedicated our little miracles (my nieces), Lily and Iris. Can you believe how big they are getting? I'm sorry I don't have a better picture but with the fluorescent lights and having to work from the first row, this was the best I could do. I am still amazed at what God has given us in these little angels.

Today was also the day that Molly and Madeline got to wear their bonnets that Molly has been BEGGING for. She said she wants to look like a little Amish girl (we visit Amish country a few times a year and she loves the little girls bonnets). I loved them!!! My girls looked soooo sweet in them! There's something so innocent about a little white bonnet. I think this could be my new obsession. Don't you think every little girl needs a bonnet, heirloom dress and dress coat, and a pretty petticoat. mmmmm....... I just can't get enough! The bonnets are pintucked, white, batiste with entredeux and hand crochet lace around the face. I was thinking of making a couple more and selling them in my Etsy shop. What do you think, and how much should they cost? After church I got to work on a scarflette that has been in my head ever since I got this yummy yarn here. This is kettle dyed, 100% wool, hand spun yarn, in a jade-ish color. I really like the way it turned out, and it worked up in about 30 minutes - which makes me very happy. I wrote out the pattern and now I'm looking for someone to test this pattern for me. ;) So can I talk one of you into this? I would like to have two testers if I could scrounge them up, maybe one intermediate and one very experienced. The first two to offer will get the job, and in return will get a copy of all my other patterns for free. I will have more patterns out soon so if you would be willing to test for those, please let me know. I am lovin how versatile this scarflette is! You can wear it fitted (like above picture) or more loose like a collar (like picture below). I can't wait to wear it, I love this color (which did not photograph well) with my red hair. There are not many colors that compliment red hair well, it is so nice to find one every now and then. I am hoping to have this pattern in my shop in the next week or so. I will let you know when it is ready. NOTE: If you want to comment but do not have a blogger account, comment as anonymous and leave your name. Edit: You guys are amazing! Before I went to bed last night I had all the testers (some contacted me through sewingmamas) I needed! Let me know if you would like to be a future tester, this will be a good place to have your names all in one place.

Maddie, go to bed.

I tell Maddie all the time to go to bed and when I go check, she is in there. I have never questioned how she got in. Ben came in the living room last night after putting the girls to bed and said, "Have you ever seen Maddie get in her bed?". I thought about it, and said"No, not really." He said "Come in here and watch her." When I went in this is what I saw.

(This is a video, just click on the play symbol)

My little gymnast climbs into the window seal, mounts onto the side of the bed, and just flips over into the bed. How funny is that!!!

Snow day!

My three little lovelies have never had snow, so when the weather man said we may get a couple of inches, they took to the windows waiting (not so patiently). We were supposed to have snow when we woke up, but there wasn't the first flake. Rae and Jake came over and spent the night and we were hoping to get snowed in!Soon we started to see SNOW! REAL SNOW! They were so excited, it was like a dream to them.

Ben soon joined in their little snow vigil. The flakes were really tiny, but they were there!

As soon as it started to stick to the ground, they were off.............

they hit the front porch for some hot chocolate on their first ever snow day!

This little guy is what we call an Alabama Snow Man. Bless his heart. OK and while we are blessin hearts, lets go on and bless my poor children's hearts because they are wearing plastic baggies on their hands ........(said in an embarrassed whisper) and feet............ Look, we can't help it! It's like we have hillbilly in our DNA! There is nothing to be done! In my defense, there are two good reasons why my children are wearing freezer bags: one, we never get snow so we don't have snow clothes; two, we have wet snow not that pretty powdery stuff all the lucky people get, as soon as it hits your hand you are soaking wet. One more confession: the bags on their feet are really...... Walmart sacks. Uhhh oh here comes the word vomit! Ben pulled our children around the yard on one of those tarps......a..a..nd if it had snowed enough we would have rode down the hill on a car hood, like we did when I was a kid......and rednecks are really fun people to be around! They had to come in about every hour to warm up and dry off (and get fresh baggies). See that little bassinet on the left? That is our sweet Lily and Iris taking a nap. Yes...... we still had power, but we wanted to cook on the wood burning heater, and pretend we were snowed in with no other way to cook. Chicken noodle soup, and boy was it good. We decided rain jackets may work better, they worked OK. They made one more snow man before the snow melted. And in true Timothy fashion, he stomped it as soon as the picture was taken. Had to be done.

It was about three hours of fun before the snow melted away. We were so thankful for our little snow day. Maybe I will get the kids some gloves now. LOL! I might just stick to my hillbilly ways and buy some more baggies. At Walmart. So we can get the foot sacks for free! LOL! Now that's a deal!

One more confession: LOL! This is like a talk show, "Confessions of a Hillbilly". OK back to my confession. We call all plastic bags Walmart sacks- doesn't matter where it's from. Here's an example: I'm changing a poopie and I holler, "I neeeed a Walmart sack!" One of the kids will always come running with a plastic bag for me to tie the poopie up in. Who needs one of those "uppity" diaper genies when you have Walmart sacks? Now that's recyclin.

And The Winners Are..............

I couldn't choose, I had no idea it was going to be so hard! I made Ben pick because I couldn't take the pressure. I know this, I have some amazing blog readers! This was so much fun (up until decision time!). So here are the winners......................

Sheila, my sweet friend, you won the book for the best comment! I don't have your email address to contact you so just email me your address.

Oliver Rain, my blog twin, you were comment # 15 so you win the patterns!

Thanks everyone for participating!

(here are my sweeties last Easter)

I am thinking of starting a "how to crochet" tutorial series. I want to know who would really use this before I start to see if it is even needed. If I have at least a few people interested I don't mind putting it together.

This is what I want to do:

The first tutorial will be how to hold the hook, tie a slip knot and how to chain.

The second will be how to do a single crochet.

The third will be a double crochet.

The fourth will be a triple.

The fifth will be a half double crochet.

Each tutorial will also include helpful hints and instructions for patterns.

So, is there a need? Would you or someone you know use this?

Who wants a prize?

Ya'll are always so much fun, so I wanted to have some sort of giveaway. There will be 2 prizes to win. The first will be a copy of my book, Samantha's Crochet Edgings, and the second will be all four of my crochet bootie patterns. To play everyone must comment on why they want the book, or what they think I should do to advertise for my book. The best comment-er wins the book, and I will let my kids draw for the person who will win the patterns. I will announce the winner on Sunday. I'm hoping to meet a few lurkers! Come on don't be shy! I think this will be fun. Here are some of the pictures from my book and a pair of the crochet booties.

This was Molly's Easter dress last year.

This is one of the edging patterns from the book.

This was a dress I made for my niece Lily.

This dress was for a very special baby named Isabella. The booties and blanket below were for my niece Iris.

NOTE: If you want to comment but do not have a blogger account, comment as anonymous and leave your name.

Granny Square Baby Blanket Tutorial

These are the bamboo crochet hooks I bought at Smoky Mountain Spinnery, I think I'm in love! I am seriously addicted! I don't think I can ever go back. EDITED TO ADD: After several inquiries about this hook set, I gave the owner of the shop a call. She said that she is more than happy to ship, she does carry these Japanese baboo hook sets on a regular basis, and they cost $55 (they are well worth it, I promise). The number you need to call is 865-436-9080. I have been working on this blanket for an upcoming baby shower. I like it because the pattern stays the same so you don't have to carry instructions around, it's a good on-the-go project. This pattern is also great for beginners because it's good practice without the complicated pattern to follow. The pattern itself is as old as the hills, but so beautiful and classic. I worked this blanket in my three favorite girl colors, pink, white, and natural. I achieved this look by changing colors at the start of each row. I used sport weight, cotton, yarn and a size G crochet hook for this blanket.

Chain 6.

Slip stitch to beginning chain to form a loop.

Chain 3, this counts as your first double crochet. Work 2 double crochet through loop. Chain 3. Work the pattern - chain 3 and 3 double crochet - until you have four sets in the loop. Slip stitch to the top of chain 3 (in row 1). You now have your base square.

Chain three, turn, work 2 double crochet. Note: To finish the corner pictured here, I worked 1 more double crochet, chain 3 and three double crochet. In each corner of the square there will be 3 double crochet, chain 3, then three double crochet. Join with a slip stitch at beginning chain. Chain three and turn. To make this a blanket you will just keep going in rounds using this pattern:

3 double crochet , chain 3.

In each corner 3 double crochet, chain 3, 3 double crochet.

Slip stitch at the end of each round, chain 3 and turn.

When the blanket is the size you want it, chain 1, single crochet in every stitch around. If you used the cotton yarn and feel it looks a little wonky, all you have to do is "block" it. I found good blocking instructions HERE . You can now add your favorite edging or run ribbon through the holes from the row, or just do both! I hope you have fun with this old pattern. I will add a picture of my finished blanket in a few days.

Edited to add finished pictures:

Tip:

I've had trouble lately with my thread getting dirty and "running" away from me. This was my solution: I took an old, small, coffee can, put a hole in the top big enough for my thread to come through, and put the thread inside. Now my thread stays clean and it stays right at my feet while I work.

We got away!

The day after my D&C last year, Ben took me away to Gatlinburg, TN. It was the first time I had ever left my kids! We had a very good time and it was so good to get away under the circumstances. This year we decided we would go again the very same weekended. WE HAD A BLAST! Now we know that next year we need at least one more night. We always have fun together, but there is something about being away that makes you extra silly. We ate, drank flavored coffee, went to ALL the good restaurants, laughed, walked everywhere, went into every little shop, and did whatever we wanted. It was so much fun! I can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with this guy!

Before we went this time I looked for a yarn shop on the Internet and found a little shop about a half mile off the main strip called "Smoky Mountain Spinnery". Well I went and I lOVE THAT PLACE! Nancy, the owner, was so sweet and helpful and she let me take some pictures for you! She told me that she will do orders online (by email) or by phone, so I can get this stuff whenever I want! She spins her own yarn and it is so impressive.

One of the best things about it was the fly fishing shop that her husband owns on the other side of the building. While Ben was browsing through the fishing stuff I was pouring over yarn and bamboo crochet hooks.

I think my favorite part was finding this little note that Molly had slipped in my purse. I found it and all I could do was smile.

I love that she wrote Sam and Ben on the outside instead of Mama and Dad - so professional!

This was my welcome home picture. We had fun but we were glad to be home with our sweet babies.

I want to thank each and every one of you for your comments and emails about my sweet baby. My heart was so heavy that day, but I felt so loved. I really don't know what to say. Thank you.