Snowed In, Baby Hat and Jadeite

Be careful what you wish for.. :-)  I wished for one pretty picturesque snowfall.  Well.. we got a blizzard.  For three days.  Then freezing rain.  But, we're cozy by the fire and have enough to eat and the most important thing.. no one has run into a power pole and knocked out our electricity.  Or no ice laden trees have fallen on the power lines.  Yet.  

I took the dog for a nice long walk yesterday around the farm.  It was 25 deg. F.  Today it's 29.5.. warming up! :-)

Buddy was enjoying checking out everything.  Look at the poor Rhododendron, it's all shriveled up in the freezing temps.  

In other news.. look who lost his very first tooth?  Kristi gave him an icicle to chew on and look what happened?  And he promptly swallowed it!  :-)  The Tooth Fairy was on top of it though and left him a nice first tooth gift.  And two chocolate coins, one of which he promptly gave to his little brother.  :-)

Our friend, Keturah, had her third baby at home.  So, I went shopping in my yarn stash and found this fun yarn, 75% acrylic, 25% wool.  I started a "boy" hat, a ribbed crochet pattern that I developed myself.  

To make a ribbed crochet hat, you chain as tall as you want the hat, then single crochet back down the chain in the back loop, at the end, chain one, turn and SC back up the work, stop 3 from the top, ch 1 and turn, sc back down to the bottom, ch 1 and back up, stop short 3 from the last row, turn and go back to the bottom and back up -- when you get to the top, sc up the 3 on the last row, then the 3 to the top.  Keep doing that until you have the hat as big around as you want.  Cut the end in a long tail and use it on a yarn needle to sew up the side, at the top, knot off and then use the rest to sew around the top and pull it closed.  

Here is the finished hat, now to go visit the new baby and give him something to keep his noggin warm!

You can make this hat in all sizes and colors.  Try it, you'll like it!  I used to make a pom pom to put on top, but invariably they would come apart and fall out.  So, I tried something different - I did single crochet loops on top.  I kind of like this!

I picked up a few new Jadeite pieces -- and I blame Jennifer from Thistlebear Home blog.  A few posts ago she showed some photos she found on Pinterest and there were a few Jadeite pieces on it... and there was a clickable link to where it was sold on Etsy, which got me surfing Etsy for Jadeite, which got me surfing eBay for Jadeite and which in turn.. made me want some "berry bowls" for my collection.  They are quite little and JUST adorable and now I have 5 of them.  I need at least one more.  :-)  Maybe 3 more.  

These are PERFECT for desserts and sauces and such.  *LOVE*

In other crafty news.. one of the girls on Facebook on the "I Love Lucy II" page showed this neat crochet hook roll and it was just what I needed to organize my hooks!  You can click HERE if you're interested. (If you'd like to join the Facebook group, there is a link on the top right of my side bar.)

What is wonderful about this is it has little tags on each slot with the US size and MM size!  I guess I need some bigger hooks?  I also put my bronze size one double pointed needles from Celtic Swan forge (My friends, Molly & John Swan Sheeran).  I got them to make socks and then never made a 2nd pair.  :-D

I love this thing!

Last evening Kristi came in with two long icicles for the boys to see... I told them to pretend that they were Star Wars light sabers!  :-)

As I was sitting at the dining table snapping photos of the Jadeite bowls I looked outside.  Our poor pond is so full of snow and ice you can't even see it.  I sure hope the koi and goldfish live through this.  

And so.. I will be back to working on Caleb's blanket.  And then, next up is the blood red alpaca/silk shawl.  What are you doing for fun this weekend?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)