I am entirely obsessed with camel stitch. Just, like, totally doing everything with camel stitch. It’s got that faux-knit-rib thing going for it, and it’s soft and stretchy and oh so fun and easy to crochet. I am making a nice camel stitch TV blanket to cuddle in on cold nights, but that will take a while so I must-must-must share this cute camel stitch cactus.

These make excellent last minute gifts, since they only take about an hour to make, and they are right on trend lately. If you skip crocheting the pot and buy a cute planter at the dollar store (or IKEA) they will take even less time and won’t be any less appreciated, I’m sure.

First things first, we must learn to how to camel stitch. It’s really quite easy.

How to: Camel Stitch

Basically, you start with a row of hdc (half double crochet). Chain 2, turn. Now, normally you would continue crocheting into the top of the stitch which is made of two loops (front and back loops). However, facing you there is a third loop which you’ve probably never noticed before, created by the hdc, just below the front loop (see picture). That’s where we’re going to insert our hook. This causes the top of the hdc to be pushed forward, and that’s what gives us the faux-knit-rib I mentioned before.

Every year around September I realize that it’s almost winter and my kids’ winter hats will not make themselves. I rush ahead and make hats, and then winter doesn’t actually come. It’s December and we’re still having sandstorms and hardly any rain.

Before this year I would ask my son which hat he wanted, and choose what I ever I felt like for my daughter. This year, she suddenly developed a strong 3 year old opinion and wouldn’t listen to any of my suggestions. He chose a spiderman hat, so she must have a spiderman hat.

I used a variation from Little Things Blogged on Spiderweb Beanie Pattern by It’s Just Jennifer.

While I was waiting for winter to arrive and put the hats I made to use, I came across a charitable project to crochet hats for cancer patients. I had recently seen a campaign requesting hair donations to make wigs. My hair is not long enough to be useful, but crocheting hats would be perfect. It’s nice doing something I like for a good cause.

The hats needed to be done by the end of November, so I decided to make them all with bulky yet soft yarn, so I could get as many done as quickly as possible. These would work well if you need to make some last minute gifts as well.

Last week* was my 32nd birthday. I really wanted to do something nice, with decorations and party favors and a theme! Oh boy, did I want a theme. I really wanted something that would mean something to me personally.

I decided to go with a “Girl Power” theme, with some of my favorite strong female figures, like: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Powerpuff Girls, Elle Woods (from Legally Blonde) and also Alicia Keys, Beyoncé and maybe a few others.

Unfortunately, I’ve been having quite a busy month, and didn’t have enough time to get everything ready. So instead, I was left with some very pink and girly decorations and party favors, but I don’t think the guests minded too much.

Menu

• Vegetable sticks with tehina(sesame paste).
• A basic vegetable salad with cucumbers & tomatos with some radish for added interest (and taste) and a lemon-olive oil dressing.
• Tomato & mozzarella salad with a basil-olive oil dressing.
• Grilled peppers (yellow & red).
• “Surprise” salad: green leaves, pairs and sugar coated pecan with a honey-mustard dressing. This salad was an absolute hit – everyone loved it (don’t tell them it’s the easiest salad to make).
• Some (store bought) whole wheat bread and home made garlic bread.
• Vanilla sponge cake with chocolate frosting (yum!)

When my sister was born I noticed that babies spend much more time playing with the tags on toys than with the actual toys. Even at that young age (this was 1998, and I was 16 at the time) I thought that there should be toys made entirely from tags! What a stroke of genius! Well, apparently it was a good idea, because somebody else thought of it, and tag blankets are now sold everywhere. I even got one from my mother when my own daughter was born.

But! I will not let such a small thing hinder my creative efforts! And when the chance came, I realized that tag blankets are a quick and easy baby gift, and – being handmade – much appreciated. I made a few from scrap fabric I had lying around before realizing I had lovely scraps left over from the soft baby blocks I shared with you last post, and that this would be a perfect use for them.

So, here we go.

I love precuts. They’re like getting a selection of chocolates, each one tasty on it’s own, but together – a celebration of sweets! And, unlike eating all those chocolates, precuts don’t have a single calorie in them. Obviously, precuts are more expensive per-yard, but I wouldn’t buy that many yards of fabric… Instead, I get a large selection of various fabrics and get to enjoy all of the patterns (and solids).

For this project I used a charm pack from the Moda Lollipop Collection (42 5” pieces), I got it from Fabric.com, but it’s been a while and I’m not sure if it’s still available.

You’ll need 36 pieces for making 6 blocks, but don’t throw away the scraps! We’ll be using them for part 2 of this project – a matching tag blanket. We’ll also use 4 more pieces for the back of the tag blanket, but that’s not strictly necessary, you can use other fabric if you like (I often use minky).

Aren’t those colors great?

So, let’s get started!