I learned how to...

...KNIT!

I'm so excited because a knitting group has just started up at my local Hobby Craft! So, I went on Tuesday and learned how to knit! It's going to be great to meet with this wonderful group of experienced knitters (and crocheters!). It will be nice to have to help when I get into trouble with my knitting as I have in the past and am sure I will again. It's just not as easy for me to hold two needles as opposed to one hook!

I also finished one of last week's WIPs: my very own pair of fingerless gloves. I was so eager to get them finished so that I could wear them. My ones (bought not handmade) from last year were really thin and falling to pieces.

These ones aren't perfect because I rushed, but I'm confident that they will still last longer than the cheapies I bought on the high street.

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I'm linking up to these fabulous parties!

Valentines Day Cup Sleeves & Two New Hats

Here's a look at our newest listings in our shop, Sunshine Makings. First, we've got two new colours of crocheted hats. I have to mention that there is only one of the multicoloured hat and as of now I don't have the materials for another one. So, if you like it, then now is your chance to have a truly uniquely colourful crocheted hat!

Click Pink Crocheted Hat to see it in the shop.

Click Multicoloured Crochet Hat to see it in the shop.

Second, (surprise!) we've got more coffee sleeves. These are extra special with heart buttons that make them even more perfect for Valentine's Day! There are 7 colour choices for the sleeves and a few choices of buttons, too.

Click Pink Love Heart Sleeve to see it in the shop.

Click Love Heart Cup Sleeve to see it in the shop.

Click Love Heart Cup Sleeve to see it in the shop.

And remember, I'm offering a January discount to anyone who follows my blog! Just enter the code: SSBLOG to receive a 10% discount at Sunshine Makings anytime in the month of January.

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I'm linking up to these fabulous parties!

Wednesday WIP

 I haven't been able to finish anything in the last week, so I thought I'd show some Wednesday WIPs (works-in-progress).

WIP 1: is a hat for King Damascus. The first one was way too big. The hat pictured is too small. I think I'll get it on my third try...with different yarn. We wanted something eco-friendly and bought this recycled yarn on Ebay. I don't think it was meant for hats, but would work well for cup cosies or dishcloths or other similar items. Keep an eye out for recycled cotton cup cosies and sleeves in my shop soon because I don't want this to just sit in my yarn drawer for the next 5 years.

WIP 2: is a skein of yarn waiting to be a hat. Pink! Perfect for Valentine's Day!

WIP 3: is almost one wrist warmer for me. I'm going to attempt to add a flap because I like my fingers to stay warm when I'm walking to and from school, but I'm constantly needing my fingers to do other necessary things like use my phone and open my Burts Bees.

WIP 4: is to learn how to use my new machine that was a total surprise from KD! This was my absolute favorite Christmas present, even though I know I probably said the same thing about the Stitch Bible. It's true. I have two favorites. I just haven't had a chance to sit down and learn how to this one yet. It's going to the very top of my to-do list next week.

I hope all these are no longer WIPs next week!

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Fly Me to the Moon

This is an Etsy treasury I made as part of a Knit1Treble2 team game. I haven't made many treasuries, but found this was a great way to explore Etsy and see all the creativity it offers. I hope you enjoy it!

ButterflyLove1 $2.00	aplusdesignnn $32.00	LondonHandspun $25.00	lalylala $5.50
thefibretree $11.99	MrFox $6.80	Iovelycrochet $42.00	BerthasBizarre... $300.00
LePetitKnit $35.00	AdelaideYarn $17.00	EjaEjovna $19.00	FrankyMay $26.00
CrochetAccents $24.98	nelliangel $20.00	SILAYAYA $25.00	TheYarnOwlsNes... $7.50

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Infinity Scarf

This is my newly finished infinity scarf. It's really warm and cozy. I want to wear it all the time.

I crocheted the infinity scarf using a stitch from my new Crochet Stitch Bible that I got in my stocking at Christmas ...Thanks, Mom!

I love the book, although I'm not a huge fan of the name. I really don't think any other book should be called a bible except for the Bible! Anyway, the book is fabulous, full of tips, great pictures, and best of all, full of over 200 crochet stitches.

It goes along perfectly with my new goal of writing my own patterns (check out The Crochet Challenge on JJCrochet). Hopefully, I'll have this infinity scarf pattern written soon...and free for you just like the slouchy ribbed hat crochet pattern.

* UPDATE: This infinity scarf is now available in my shop, Sunshine Makings. Click here to see it. *

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I'm linking up to these fabulous parties!

Slouchy Hat Crochet Pattern

**Click here to access the Slouchy Hat Free Crochet Pattern**

I'm a little nervous writing this post because I'm about to do something that I've never done before: share a crochet pattern that I wrote. It's a free crochet pattern for a slouchy hat. Do you want to know the story behind it? If not, skip to the bottom where you'll find a link to the free pattern. If so, read on... 

My cousin-in-law came to visit us in England on his way back to California for Christmas. While he was here, we did our little family Christmas, gave gifts to the kids and each other. Well, before Evan came, I thought I'd crochet a hat to give him at our family's Christmas celebration. Then, as usual, I ran out of time. So I wrapped up a ball of yarn and gave him that instead with the promise of crocheting a hat from the yarn. Since the hat was no longer a surprise, he got to choose the style and chose a slouchy hat. I found a really nice one by cocoknits on Ravelry, bought the yarn and when I sat down to make it, I realized (1) I did not have enough yarn and (2) the pattern was for a knit slouchy hat!! I was clearly preoccupied with other things (Christmas, California, etc) when I was getting organized for this project. Ugh.

The struggle did not end there. I loved the knit slouchy hat and decided to simply convert the knit slouchy hat pattern to a crochet slouchy hat pattern. How hard could it be? I found a 'how-to' that looked good and wrote down all kinds of notes and scribbles. By now, a few days had passed and we were flying to California. However, we were there for 10 days...plenty of time to make a silly old hat. How did I forget that there is no free time during Christmas??? At some point the busy-ness slowed down and I was finally able to crochet the slouchy hat using my new conversions. I finished it. It was HUGE! Where did I go wrong? I still have no idea, but it was somewhere in my conversion from knit to crochet. I'll solve that problem another day. 

For now, I'll skip all the other troublesome happenings I encountered along the way of crocheting this slouchy hat and go straight to the end result so that you don't get too bored. I crocheted this slouchy hat at least four times before I got it right. It was worth it. I really like it. I hope Evan likes it. If he doesn't like it, I hope he can find someone to give it to who likes it.

AND...I hope you like it! 

If you do, you can make your own with my free pdf pattern.

**Click here to access the Slouchy Hat Free Crochet Pattern**

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I'm linking up to these fabulous parties!

Update: I originally forgot to mention that  I'm participating in The Crochet Challenge on JJCrochet. This slouchy hat pattern is my first accomplishment for the challenge and a great way to start the new year. Have a look at her blog for more info...and a free pattern!

Crochet Mug Cozies & Cup Sleeves

We've got more mug cozies and coffe cup sleeves in our shop Sunshine Makings. The cozies are great because they fit small coffee cups and the large ones like those that Starbucks sells. We added two buttons to get the two sizes and the mug cozies are a comfortable fit on both, as you can see above. We've listed a blue cozy, earth ombre cozy, and a pink cozy.

We've also added a new coffee cup sleeve design and two new colors: pink and red...perfect for Valentine's Day!

Hope you like them and that you have a sunshiney day!

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I'm linking up to these fabulous parties!

Pinned It and Did It: Convection Mittens

My boy's mittens...

Mittens I pinned...

                 Source: whipup.net via Jessica on Pinterest

It gets pretty cold here and I know my little boy plays outside a lot when he's at school in the morning. He has a pair of thin, cotton gloves that are hardly warm and kind of tough for him to put on by himself. So, as you can see from the pictures, I made him some mittens.

I used a great tutorial for the convection mittens that I pinned here. It's from a guest post by foxflat on whipup and I especially loved it because it was beautifully illustrated with hand-drawn images. You don't see that much these days in online tutorials and it was very refreshing! You should definitely take a look at it, even if you aren't going to make a pair of the mittens.

I loved the convection mittens pattern. It was clear and easy to follow. I mixed the colors up for my little boy's mittens. He loves blue. I had three shades of blue left over from the gnome hats. Perfect! I made two small modifications to the mitten pattern: (1) I used fleece for the inner and outer layers of the mittens. (2) I added elastic to the waist so they wouldn't slide of my little guy's hands.

I am so please with how they turned out...and my guy loves them. The convection mitten pdf pattern is definitely a success and I will be keeping it! 

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Fingerless Gloves, Wrist Warmers, & Sleeves

I'm back...back in England...back to blogging...and back to selling! I've recently listed a few new items in Sunshine Makings. Two are these gorgeous crocheted wrist warmers made my by my talented mother who blogs at Jerry and Kay.

Besides looking beautiful, what I love most about these wrist warmers is that they keep my hands warm and I'm still able to freely use my fingers to use my phone, keyboard, or even to crochet another pair of fingerless gloves. ha ha!

Is it bad that I want to keep these fingerless gloves for myself? Can I buy them from my own shop? Hmmm...

We've also got more coffee cup sleeves like the ones you may have seen here. These are so great! I was at my favorite coffee shop (recognize the cups??) the other day and really wished I had brought my coffee cup sleeve with me to save the tips of my fingers from burning.

So far, the coffee cup sleeves have been our most popular sellers, online and offline. And now we have all the colors of the rainbow for you to choose from. If you would like one of these coffee cup sleeves or anything else from Sunshine Makings, I'm offering a January discount to anyone who follows my blog! Just enter the code: SSBLOG to receive a 10% discount at Sunshine Makings anytime in the month of January. 

Happy New Year!

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I'm linking up to these fabulous parties!