New Shop Listings

I've finished some new trellis yarn necklaces in a pretty spring color--they have lime, pink, blue and copper in them.  They'll go well with all kinds of different outfits.  Here's a photo:

 
You can find one on my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/brendascraftstore and on Artfire at http://BrendasCraftStore.artfire.com.

I also tried a new item--a preemie baby's hat.  The pattern I was using was a free pattern from Bernat and it gave no information about the circumference the hat should be.  I found it really frustrating.  My son is 19 years old, so it's been a long time since I had a baby around, and I really don't remember how little a baby is.  So I googled newborn baby head size and there were several things that came up.  I stumbled onto a website called http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/.  She has all kinds of stuff on there, including a size chart for preemie, newborn, toddlers, children and adult hats.  I love it!  It was really helpful to me so I'd like to say thank you to Bev.  She also has a lot of hat patterns for babies and children.  I believe she does a lot of hats for donations, which I encourage everyone to do.  It's a worthwhile cause.  If you're in Minnesota in the Twin Cities area, we have something called Bundles of Love which makes afghans, booties, etc. for newborns of mothers who need help.  If you would like contact information for Bundles of Love, please let me know. 

In any event, I crocheted the preemie hat using Bernat Softee baby yarn and it came out pretty well. I ended up using my old Baby Pat a Burp doll as the model.  She has a 13" circumference head and the hat fits loosely on her.  So it should fit a preemie.  Here's a picture:

I only used 1/2 of the skein so I'm using the other half of the skein to do this hat in a knit version.

My other new project didn't come out so well.  I tried a new pattern for a crocheted cotton dish towel, but even though I checked my gauge, it came out too wide and too long and I just don't think it looks good enough to sell.  So I'll use it at home because I can't stand to waste yarn.  The perfectionist in me is irritated though, and I'm going to try it again and see if I can get it right. I can't let that pattern beat me!  (Is anyone else like that?)