I am a mother of one in my early 30's. I was born and raised here in Oklahoma. I believe that life is what it is, and that you have to have enough ambition to make it how you want it. I love to cook, read, listen to music, and spend time with family and friends. I am probably the most low maintenance person I know and I wear my ponytail proudly:)
I have many things that I am grateful for in my life. The most important one is my daughter, Hadley. She has taught me many valuable lessons already and she is less than a year old. I can remember being about 18 years old and swearing up and down that I would never have kids. I laugh when I look back at that kid, the one who knew everything and was completely selfish.
At around 23, I decided that the idea of kids wasn't that bad. As I got a little older and watched all of my friends having kids, I wondered if my 18 year old self jinxed my older self!! I decided to embrace the probability of being barren (since I was jinxed) but then finally ended up getting pregnant at 31. Before I delivered her I had decided that I was going to be a stay at home mom. That idea was short lived once I got home with her and experienced a depression so profound I honestly didn't know if I would ever recover. You can read the full story HERE if you are interested and you promise not to judge too harshly.
I decided that I would go back to work on Monday's so that I could have at least one day to be the person that I vaguely remembered. I had been used to a life of busy chaos, which quickly became a life with several gaps to fill (which are becoming smaller and smaller since she is getting older). I decided that I was in desperate need of a hobby. I literally found myself typing the word 'hobby' into the search engine and scrolling through everything from stamp collecting, to making candles.
I started to panic because nothing was jumping out at me. I was apparently interested in absolutely nothing. I kept seeing crochet, and I remembered a time when my mom tried to get me to learn from her. She always said that it was a dying art. I remember her and my grandma making doilies and blankets growing up. I wasn't interested in that...I considered that to be boring grandma crap!!
I was getting desperate to find something, anything at this point!! I decided to go ahead and click on the dreaded highlighted 'crochet' hyperlink. It took me to a page with various links to other sites. It didn't take me long to figure out that the links were actually a list of different charities. I have to admit I was touched as I sat there crying (which didn't take much back then) reading mission statements, and looking through different beanie patterns that I could make and send to children with cancer, or scarves I could make for the homeless. This may sound bizarre or even cheesy, but it not only gave me a hobby, it made me feel like I was going to make a difference to someone else.
I always said that I would donate to St Jude if I ever got rich. This was my way of being able donate. I went that day and bought fifty dollars worth of yarn, hooks, and books.
My favorite hook that I use to make everything, is a pink J hook that my mom gave me right after I made my first beanie. Hence the name J Hook Nook.
I have many things that I am grateful for in my life. The most important one is my daughter, Hadley. She has taught me many valuable lessons already and she is less than a year old. I can remember being about 18 years old and swearing up and down that I would never have kids. I laugh when I look back at that kid, the one who knew everything and was completely selfish.
At around 23, I decided that the idea of kids wasn't that bad. As I got a little older and watched all of my friends having kids, I wondered if my 18 year old self jinxed my older self!! I decided to embrace the probability of being barren (since I was jinxed) but then finally ended up getting pregnant at 31. Before I delivered her I had decided that I was going to be a stay at home mom. That idea was short lived once I got home with her and experienced a depression so profound I honestly didn't know if I would ever recover. You can read the full story HERE if you are interested and you promise not to judge too harshly.
I decided that I would go back to work on Monday's so that I could have at least one day to be the person that I vaguely remembered. I had been used to a life of busy chaos, which quickly became a life with several gaps to fill (which are becoming smaller and smaller since she is getting older). I decided that I was in desperate need of a hobby. I literally found myself typing the word 'hobby' into the search engine and scrolling through everything from stamp collecting, to making candles.
I started to panic because nothing was jumping out at me. I was apparently interested in absolutely nothing. I kept seeing crochet, and I remembered a time when my mom tried to get me to learn from her. She always said that it was a dying art. I remember her and my grandma making doilies and blankets growing up. I wasn't interested in that...I considered that to be boring grandma crap!!
I was getting desperate to find something, anything at this point!! I decided to go ahead and click on the dreaded highlighted 'crochet' hyperlink. It took me to a page with various links to other sites. It didn't take me long to figure out that the links were actually a list of different charities. I have to admit I was touched as I sat there crying (which didn't take much back then) reading mission statements, and looking through different beanie patterns that I could make and send to children with cancer, or scarves I could make for the homeless. This may sound bizarre or even cheesy, but it not only gave me a hobby, it made me feel like I was going to make a difference to someone else.
I always said that I would donate to St Jude if I ever got rich. This was my way of being able donate. I went that day and bought fifty dollars worth of yarn, hooks, and books.
My favorite hook that I use to make everything, is a pink J hook that my mom gave me right after I made my first beanie. Hence the name J Hook Nook.
Here is my first ever hat:)
Not a beauty, but a good start. I was told to pick a bright color to learn on so that I wouldn't lose my stitches. I have to put this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc1T1Qbi_rk out there, because if it wasn't for this wonderful lady, I would have thrown in the towel early on. Maybe she can help you if you are interested in learning.
A couple more:
My next project was a blanket that I made a co-worker for his soon to be born son.
Getting a little better at it. Here is the website I found this pattern. It is a beautiful stitch and literally is done in no time. http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/patterns/bubbles_baby_blanket.php
At our annual Thanksmas (Thanksgiving/Christmas) dinner with my friends, I was informed that some of my good friends were expecting their second child!! Here is what I have so far:
This damn thing!!! Lets just say I did a lot of ripping out and putting back together. I am glad though because it taught me how to do my own thing pattern wise. HERE is the website I got the pattern from.http://www.rheatheylia.com/index.php?page=patterns&id=13 as you can see it looks NOTHING like the picture due to the fact that by the time I figured it all out, it was far beyond fixing. At least you can say it is unique right?
These I am going to crochet together and make a pillow to go with the following blanket:
These I am going to crochet together and make a pillow to go with the following blanket:
And there it is.
This blanket I found in an old crochet book that my mom had:
It also didn't turn out to look like the picture?!?! I don't know what went wrong but it turned out to be pretty anyway.
I ended up loving making little stuffed things:
This ended up being a cat...it was from the same pattern as the rabbit, but I made up the ears, body, and legs with a little trial and error.
I love love love this next pattern!! So easy, and o so cute:)
I love love love this next pattern!! So easy, and o so cute:)
I love these. I have made several so far and they are so easy and take no time at all. http://epicxcloth.blogspot.com/2010/08/happy-flower-pattern.html
This next project is my very first that I didn't use a pattern for:
I learned enough from doing all of my other projects increasing and decreasing. I would post the pattern, but I didn't write it out as I went. I made it for my nephew for his 14th birthday. I figured every 14 year old wants a stuffed octopus toy don’t' you think?
This is fun and super easy too:
Here is where I found the pattern http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70595AD.html . I ended up putting the eyes in a different place as you can tell from the photo. I thought it made it a little cuter.
Some of my favorite resources with free patterns are:
www.lionbrand.com
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