Christmas

As I started pulling out my decorations this year for Christmas, I realized that as much as I have, I still don't have everything I want to decorate this year. There were a few things that I had wanted last year that I wasn't able to find. So the search began. 

The first thing on my list was felt mistletoe. My favourite was made by Roost. It's the prettiest mistletoe I have ever seen. I had looked everywhere last year but it was sold out. It was also an extra 40$ to ship to Canada which I wasn't ready to spend. So I started my search early this year and I found it online from a store in Seattle, Washington called Fireworks Gallery. They were wonderful and quick to help. I was lucky enough to order on Cyber Monday when they had free shipping to Canada, yay!! So after a couple of weeks of waiting (not so patiently but oh so excitedly) it has arrived and has been place in its special place. 

Also, I really wanted felt garland. I saw a beautiful one while cruising on Pinterest and so had to decide if I would like to try making the felt balls or order them. After lots of research and realizing I didn't have the time to make hundreds of felt balls, I decided to order them on Etsy. I found a great shop in Vancouver, British Columbia called Honey Canada that sold felt balls in different sizes. I was able to order 200 (size 15-18 mm) for about 56$. So I decided to do two strands of garland and here is the first:

I hope that these have given you some inspiration for decorating this holiday season.  Wishing everyone a safe and happy Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a very happy Canadian Thanksgiving!  Thought I would share with everyone the turkey hat I made for my little turkey niece.  I did a lot of searching for a pattern I liked but nothing had everything I wanted in one pattern so I tried to make my own.  Here is how it turned out:

For the main part of the hat I used Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn in Soft Taupe.  I saw lots of turkeys made in dark brown which would also be cute but I envisioned this turkey in taupe.  For the feathers, beak, and snood, I used Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn and Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand in various colours.  All yarn is worsted weight.  As always when creating my own hats I use the hat pattern from Repeat Crafter Me's penguin hat.  I use a size I/9-5.5mm crochet hook because I crochet quite tight.  This hat fits 0-3 months.

Next I made the feathers.  Some hats had leaf shaped feathers but I preferred the round ones.

Feather:

Ch 7

Dc in 4th ch from hook

Dc in next two ch

5 dc in last ch

Now continue down the other side of ch

Dc in next 4 ch and fasten off

For the beak I made it a little different than the one in the owl.

Beak:

Ch 6

Sc in 2nd ch from hook

Hdc in next ch 

Dc in next ch 

Htr in next ch

Tr in last ch and fasten off 

Snood:

Ch 8

Dc in 3rd ch from hook

Hdc in next ch

Sc in next 4 ch and fasten off

And there you go!  Make as many feathers in whatever colours work for you.  Add braids if you want.  Next time I make a turkey I may try it with big owl eyes to try something different.  Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful long weekend with family and friends!

Sweet Little Tuques

Last winter, to celebrate the upcoming birth of my good friend's baby girl, I decided I would try to crochet her some tuques.

I've been crocheting for years but had never done more than granny squares and a few failed attempts at other items.  Being a perfectionist, nothing ever worked.  Then I found an amazing blog that I am now obsessed with: Repeat Crafter Me.

Her patterns are fairly simple and absolutely adorable.  The first two I tried were: 

the owl

and the penguin.

They turned out super cute and everyone loved them but my sizing was off :(.  I apparently crochet very tight so I changed my hook to 5.5mm {I/9} (she uses 5.0mm {H/8} in her patterns) and now my tuques fit a whole lot better.  Here are some variations in colour and style of the two patterns:

Some other patterns I've enjoyed and that have been a huge hit are:

the lamb

and her newest pattern: the shark.

I now use the penguin pattern to make any hats I come up with on my own.  But I'll save that for another day.

Here we go...

This summer, I have decided to take the plunge.  I named my tuques that I keep making as gifts because I'm getting more and more requests from people who want to purchase them.

And so began:

I even created labels for the tuques which was a struggle but turned out amazing!

I am so excited to share patterns I've tried and some of my own little creations.

I would also love to share with everyone the resources I create for my classroom.  I am going into my third year of teaching Grade 4 French Immersion in Ontario and I am looking forward to creating more activities that will engage my students.  

My big feat this year will be an interactive math notebook.  My students are going through big changes this year: the majority are new to the school and most, if not all, have never learned in French before.  Now all of a sudden they are learning new concepts and in a new language to boot! So I think a math notebook will be so beneficial to help them begin their journey in French Immersion.  Here is a preview of the glossary that I would like to put at the back of their journals:

(ignore the missing accent - I'll have to draw them in by hand but just love the font!)

So there it is!  I look forward to sharing my thoughts and creations with all of you!