Raspberry Hat and How My Garden Grows

I made a little tiny hat for a little tiny girl who will arrive next month.  I really enjoyed making this as I created the pattern myself.  As I followed my pattern I found some errors so I was able to add more explanations and will update it.  I'll post the pattern at the bottom in case you'd like to try it.  You can whip one of these up in an afternoon.  I also have the pattern for the flower in addition to the hat pattern.  

When I ordered my KnitPicks yarn for the hat and booties I needed to come up to a certain amount to get free shipping.. (GRIN).. so they had these really cool wire baskets so I got this one.  I'll keep it next to my easy chair (nest) to keep my current projects in, I like it because you can see all the yarn you have.  

Kristi ordered some lily bulbs last year and these lovely lemon yellow lilies are the result.  Pretty!

Do you love wire baskets like I do?  They remind me of the wire baskets in gym class of my youth.

Can you help me name the design of this hat?  I think of it as "lacey".  The fun part is it's almost all 3 double crochet shells.  

I thought I'd go out and see how the garden is growing.. it's been grey and rainy for several days.  Kristi brought home two baskets of Lantana for us and this one is very pretty with two varieties in it.

Dayle has wintered over our collection of geraniums for about 10 years now and it's always amazing to me how quickly the dried and withered plants fill up with flowers once he brings them out, waters them thoroughly and picks off the dead parts.  I highly recommend wintering over your geraniums and begonias.  He keeps ours in the downstairs basement landing which gets some light.  He does not water them ALL WINTER.

My 4th of July roses are still perking along.. love them.

I love this plant.  Kristi saw them in a garden and plucked one tiny piece off the end to show me what it was.. and I told her to stick it in a pot and see what happened.. and this happened! 

Our red Crocosmia is going well.. I just wish it didn't have a tendency to fall over.. we have to stake these up.  Wonder why it does that?

Kristi also got a Yarrow plant.. I think this is so pretty.

My succulent basket is doing very well.. do you see the flower spike coming up from the center spiky plant?

Our big hanging basket is doing well.. but the other one isn't so happy.. I am convinced it's because the other pot is much smaller and the soil dries out too quickly.  

A last snap of the Hydrangea.  I just love how long these flowers look nice.

I'm off soon to pack my swim bag so I can meet Gracie and do our lap swimming.  

Since I think of you all as my friends, I thought I should tell you that Dayle's older and only brother Allen passed away yesterday.  He lived in Oklahoma and we visited him and his wife Debbie in 2010 and 2015 when we went back for my family reunions.  I'm so glad we got to spend that time with him before he passed on.  

((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

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Baby Hat With Shells for Newborn - by Teresa Kasner

Size G Crochet Hook for Worsted weight yarn

Row 1: Make a magic circle, ch 1 in circle, 7 sc, join with sl st to first sc, (7 stitches)

Row 2: Ch 2, dc into same stitch, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to top of first ch 2   (14 dc)

Row 3:  Ch 3, dc into same stitch, 2 dc around, sl st into first ch 2 (28 stitches).  

Row 4:  Ch 2, 2 dc into NEXT stitch, *dc in next, 2dc in next* around, sl st into first ch 2.  (42 st) 

Row 5 and beyond – NOW, ch 1, skip 1 st, 3 dc into next st, sk st, sc into next st, sk st and 3 dc shell, after you go around the hat, you’ll come to a space before the first shell, do 3 dc into the ch 1 sp before first row of shells, do a sc in TOP of first shell – all next shells are done in the SC between shells with sc in top of next shell. Keep going around in continuous shell rounds until you have 10 rows of shells or the hat seems the right size.. do last shell at the point where you see the "row joins" of the crown.  I ended with a “shell” of 1 dc, 1 half double crochet and 1 single crochet and finish off.  Weave in end.  (10 or 12 rows of shells)

Flower for Hat

Magic circle, ch 1, 8 sc around, join, finish off, add another color, slip st into first stitch, ch 2, do 1 dc, 1 triple crochet, 1 dc, ch 2, sl st into same stitch - sl st into next, repeat in all 8 stitches and you should have 8 petals. - finish off.  Leave long tail for sewing flower onto SIDE of hat.  I put the flower halfway between front and side.