Work in Progress

I finally got some new yarn last month! When the box came, there was much squealing and jumping. :) Right now I am working on a baby blanket for an expectant momma at my church. It is a little different as far as baby blankets go, but what do you think?

It seems as if it will be a little bigger than a regular baby blanket too, but I think that is okay, easier to snuggle with and use when they are older too! I really love this Bernat Softee baby yarn. Not many baby yarns come in such nontraditional baby colors!

AND, I also got some yarn to make a blanket for Madelynn! Figured it is about time I made my kids blankets. Ha! These are the colors I picked for Madelynn's blanket. I'm trying to decide if I should throw some light blue in there too, suggestions?

I still don't know what to do for a pattern yet. I have been trying to decide between the african flowers, granny squares, ripples, granny stripes or granny ripple. I haven't a clue what I am going to do yet!

Chai Recipe and a Mug Cozy

I make some pretty good chai tea. Tim and I love having a cup together and I thought I would share how I make it so you all can enjoy a nice cup of chai! :) I also thought I'd share my super simple version on the mug cozies I have been seeing popping up on Pinterest. This is a super easy beginner project and can be made out of a small amount of yarn. The one I have pictured is my first attempt at one and I think it turned out rather cute!

Chai

Cover a chai tea bag with a little more than a cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Cover and boil for 5 minutes.
Add about one and a third cups of milk and bring to a simmer, stir and simmer for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Stir in about 1/6 cup of sugar. (I know this is an odd measurement, I just fill it to the halfway line in my 1/3 measuring cup).
Pour into two mugs, top with some homemade sweetened whip cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.
To make enough whipped cream to top the two cups of tea, just use about 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Pour it into a bowl that you have chilled in the freezer and use a hand mixer to whip it until there are stiff peaks. Super easy peasy!
If you are doubling the recipe for 4 servings, just be sure you add another tea bag in addition to doubling the other ingredients.

Mug Cozy

Make a chain for as tall as you would like your cozy to be, do one more chain and then single crochet in the second chain from hook and in each chain to the end. Chain one, turn and single crochet in each sc to the end. Repeat until it is long enough to go around your mug from one side of the handle to the other. Fasten off.
Join yarn with a single crochet or slip stitch along side of  work in the middle and single crochet around, when you get to the end of the piece, make a couple of chains and then resume single crocheting along the edge until you reach where you started, join and fasten off. Make sure the cozy will slide up over your handle and fit snugly, then repeat on the bottom. If you have a mug that is wider at the top like the one pictured, you may want to do a chain more on the top than the bottom when you are doing the edging.

Co-op & Crochet

Our homeschool group's co-op started last month. I had been preparing Madelynn for it for like two months. She was determined that she would not go and would not like it. I was pretty stressed about it. I was able to take her to her class and stay for a few minutes and she did fine! So, we are halfway through and she really does like it! Whew! I have noticed a lot of changes in her lately. She is definitely starting to be more obedient and is a lot more pleasant to be around! It was funny, after the first day of co-op, her behavior was so much better and I commented on it. She said, "I learned about obeying at co-op." I'm thinking, you have got to be kidding me! I'm sure she never learned anything about obedience at home. ;) Haha! I'm thinking that she was very stressed about co-op and was very happy that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

That is from the first day of co-op. Carson is taking gym, geology and medieval times. He is really enjoying all of his classes and has a ton of things to tell me about on the way home. I'm helping out in the nursery this time around since I have my little guy with me. This year of homeschooling so far has been going great, with the exception of our sick week last week. I think that the difference is that I am not an exhausted pregnant lady this year. Haha!

I started this owl bag for Madelynn before co-op last year and finished the whole thing with the exception of sewing the felt on and putting it all together. So, it kinda sat around as a ufo for a year and I pulled it out and finished it before her first day this time. It is from the Crochet Today magazine, which I really love.

I will have to post again soon about Madelynn's sewing progress. That little girl is doing great, I'm so proud of her!

Crochet Top

I saw this tutorial on craftpassion and thought it was so cute, so I decided to make it for the Bitty. :) It is the first big thing I have crocheted start to finish since the baby was born. I had a hard time finding some yarn and then discovered knitpicks cotlin yarn, very affordable and great color choice! I am pretty excited with how it turned out. Here are some pictures of the little bitty posing for me. :)