i made this for someone who might be coming to live with us in mid-march.

it may not look like much, but this rattle is the first item i’ve ever crocheted with no pattern whatsoever.  i decided on the way home from our kentucky christmas, that i wanted to play around with crochet stitches to better understand how they build upon each other.  i’d learned (from my lovely sister-in-law who is an accomplished crochet-er) how to crochet in the round a few years ago, but never did much with it.  when i started creating this, i wanted to see what would happen if i didn’t do any increases, but just kept crocheting in the round from the original ring of stitches.  voila, a handle began to grow out of string!  then i started increasing to see what would happen and it sort of turned into a wineglass shape.  then, i did a few more rounds at that size without increasing and the cup grew larger.  at that point,  i decided it would make a better rattle than a wineglass cozy, so i stopped until i could get home and find something rattly to include and some stuffing.  i ended up purchasing a small round plastic cat toy that rattles and i tucked that in, along with some stuffing, and stitched some more (experimenting with decreasing.  i’m still not sure i’ve got that process quite right.) and … there you have it!  i was using basically kitchen string as my medium, which was a little shreddy, but i sort of like the simple organic look of it.  maybe the next one could have some colored stripes–another technique to experiment with!  i like how when you’re crocheting (unlike knitting) if you feel like stopping, you just pull your working loop out big and you can leave it like that and use the hook for another project and come back to it later.  i enjoyed this process so much that i began looking for simple, single-crochet patterns to see if i could find one that i might actually be able to do.  i also figured out double and triple crochet on the trip, but i think i like the look of single crochet best.  anyone have a favorite crochet pattern to share?  there are some cute patterns on etsy….

one more “look what i got” post and then i promise i’ll post a “look what i made” post!  i just had to show you this awesome fabric that my mom bought me (totally un-requested, but completely loved):

it’s the awesome grumpy owl print!  with the green background!  love it!  this looks like the back of a quilt to me.  how about you?

and then this fun michael miller print (sorry for the bad winter lighting–it’s actually a lovely bright white with red and black designs) with two coordinating prints.  it was so funny.  i had no idea she’d gotten this for me and before she pulled it out of the envelope, she prefaced it with this whole schpiel about how if i don’t like it, i can just tell her that i don’t like it and actually, she doesn’t think i will like it, but that i’ll feel obligated to say something nice about it and i finally had to tell her to just let me see the fabric and i think i squealed a little because i love it!  i’d seen it somewhere on flickr in the past year (which, of course, i can’t find now) and had thought about getting it, but i’m so hesitant to purchase new fabrics….  but i just love that little penguin and there’s about six other cute animals that you can’t see right now and i think as soon as i buy some black and red solid and maybe a few more black/white prints…. i’ve got a good idea for a quilt!  or maybe a softie book.  hmmm…..