It’s November, almost December really. But it’s not cold. Global warming anyone? Nah, just one of those years when winter is really late. But I am ignoring the weather, because it’s that time of year: the time for making winter hats.

This hat can be made in as many colors as you want, I made one in a solid color with a bulky yarn and one in two colors in worsted weight yarn, but you could go zebra with black & white or full circus tent with as many colors as you like. I’ve included instructions for worsted weight to fit an adult, but the pattern can be easily adjusted to fit any size head.

OK. So this hat will probably get the hard core Star Wars fan really upset. Because it IS NOT an exact replica of R2-D2’s head (or whatever you’d like to call his top half). BUT, lucky for me – my son is either unaware of these nuances or doesn’t care as long as his head is warm. I guess you could say it’s good enough for Jar-Jar.

Wow, so many levels of bad puns, sorry!

This hat is made with bulky weight yarn, so it makes up for a speedy project, perfect for a quick gift. Beep-do-beep-boo, so let’s get started.

A couple of years ago I made my son a King costume for Purim (a Jewish holiday where we dress up and eat a lot of candy – kind of like Halloween only with a “they tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat” back story). Both kids have been using the costume for “Warrior King and Queen to protect the children from the terrible monsters” role playing, but it’s not easy when there’s only one cape & crown. My daughter has been bugging me for a while to make her a set, but I just haven’t got around to it (sound familiar?).

One day this week, we came home and she insisted I make her a crown and cape RIGHT NOW! And I said: OK! OK! I know I promised, but can I at least have a cup of coffee first?! I’m glad to say she went away for a few minutes and let me have my coffee in peace.

She chose the fabric (I’m not sure I would have gone for ALL PINK), and the whole thing was done in a couple of hours, so it could easily be a nap time project or done in one evening.

At least there are two swords, so I didn’t have to figure out how to DIY those… By the way, both swords are made of thick foam, and I recommend them very much for this kind of play – they are firm enough for fighting, but can’t really cause a serious injury (no pointy edges). They hurt when they hit you, though.

I spent a long time deciding what the title of this post should be. My family comes from the US, so in my American-English I should call this type of ball a soccer ball. But in Israel the sport is called football (translated into kadur-regel which means foot-ball), while the transliterated word “football” is reserved for American football. And calling it a Truncated Icosahedron, well – nobody would get that at all. I’m not even sure how to pronounce that second word.

I decided on soccer ball.

I don’t know if you’ve been following the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but in our house it’s the only thing happening. The TV has been taken over by the men of the house (one of them barely 7 years old) and I have retreated to a distant couch and sit on my own crocheting. Boo-hoo. Hopefully a crochet soccer ball will get me some attention around here!

It’s not quite officially summer, but the weather is hot and sunny, and ice cream has become one of the major food groups in our home. However, one can’t eat ice cream all day every day, as much as one may like to – so some crochet ice cream (with no calories) is in order.

They don’t require much yarn, so you can make a few in your favorite flavors. They can be used in a play kitchen, or string a few together as a summer party decoration. Or you could let your kids leave them lying on the floor around the house. That’s also an option.

We didn’t have much of a winter this year at all. It was warm-ish during all the months which should have been cold, but the second spring arrived it became scorching hot (and then it rained for a couple of days). Weird weather is upon us. In any case, it is clear that it’s time for some summer clothes. I must admit that I don’t usually sew clothes for my kids, because it’s a lot of effort for something I can buy easily and cheaply in a store, but this skirt is so easy and I got to use such fun fabrics (I mean, dancing ballerina monkeys? What could possibly be better than that?). It was totally worth the effort.

I don’t know about you, but everytime I see a beautiful  wood play kitchen for kids I think: “Wow! That’s incredible!” And right after that: “But where will I put one of those?”

So, if you’re like me and have already told all your friends and relatives you have run out of room for toys and only bring gifts if they are two dimensional please, this tutorial is for you: A play kitchen in a box. The fabric covered box is the stove and oven, and all the accessories are kept inside. Cook, play and put it away! And – when it gets a bit dusty and musty, take the fabric cover off and wash it! What could be better…

Somehow we’ve managed to dodge the bullet until now. But when we acquired a tablet, my kids discovered Angry Birds, and now they can often be found with their heads stuck in a small (that’s my phone) or medium (that’s the tablet) screen, playing until I’ve had enough-and-go-do-something-constructive-now-please.

We’ve got all the free and paid versions, and my son fell in love with the Ice Angry Bird in Angry Birds Space. So, being the drive for much of my craftiness, he asked for me to make him one. And, of course, I agreed.

Wahoooooo! Here we go!

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!