Hello All!

I hope you are all having a fabulous day! I know I am. I got word this morning that WAHM Reviews published a review of Blankets 4 Blessings and I am so excited and humbled. You can read the review HERE . I have to say that I am totally blown away at her kind words.

I also want to share another donated blanket that went out last week. Zoey is just 2 years old, and was 2 diagnosed with ALL, or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, on January 3, 2013. She is in remission as of February 6, 2013! She will continue treatment until July 2015. Praise God! Show your support for Zoey on her Facebook Page

A friend (that has thus far nominated several people for items) nominated Zoey. I am grateful for Amy's generous heart. This is the hat/blanket set that I sent out to her.



Isn't it gorgeous? One day I was "JUST BROWSING" through Hobby Lobby when I came across this yarn. I had to have it. It was just stunning and I fell in love. So I bought enough to make a small blanket. It sat in my yarn stash for months. I just didn't know what to make with it. I knew that there was a little girl somewhere that NEEDED a blanket made out of this yarn. When I heard about Zoey I KNEW it was her. I finished the blanket and there was JUST enough left to make the hat, and I couldn't resist.

Love you all!

Hi Everyone!

I know a lot of you love the hats and blankets and other goodies that I make. I know a lot of you wish that YOU could make them too! I want to post some great tutorials for all of you to follow, but I am not the best at teaching people to crochet. But guess what? I know someone who is! Another blogger over at CraftyMinx is GREAT at it! She is my go to for video tutorials on how to learn to crochet. She starts simple. What is a hook? What kind should you get? What type of yarns are out there? etc. She moves on slowly with AMAZING video classes. And the best part? TOTALLY FREE! Check her out!

Do you know what my favorite things are? Well there are lots of them. I have a very hard time narrowing things down. But one of my very favorites is my wiggly naked little boy fresh out of the bath tub! You know that smell, that feel, of a clean little person snuggling on your lap all snuggled in their towel? Yeah, me too! It is really awesome.

I love my children. And daily they remind me of just how precious they are. This sometimes makes balancing a small business and my home life a challenge. I wish I could say that my house was always sparkling, my kids were always pressed and polished (or even just dressed!), and my husband always came home to a calm house and a warm dinner. But you all know better don't you? I have loads of laundry waiting for attention, dishes in the sink, and a playroom that looks like Toys R Us blew up. My kids run around the house in varying states of undress, complete with that bit of breakfast on their cheeks that didn't quite get wiped off. The Hubs comes home to complete chaos in the living room as the mess from the playroom has crept steadily into the living room, despite my best efforts to keep it at bay. Dinner is usually warm, or at least in process when he gets home, but that doesn't mean we are anywhere close to eating. And you know what? That is ok. Thankfully my husband is easy to please, and my kids don't get cold easily.

In the midst of all of this, the chaos, the mess, the kids, the dogs, the everything, is my corner. It is usually stacked high with yarn, and papers, and other "Mommy Stuff". My teacup sits on the corner, next to my wallet and my crochet hook case. It is just as chaotic and messy as the rest of the house. But that corner is my solace. My calm in the storm. Being able to sit down and work on orders (sometimes - ok usually - at the expense of other household chores) is my calm. I can run my life from this corner. I love my corner. I am so glad that Blankets 4 Blessings exists. Before it started I didn't have my corner. I didn't have this island for me in the middle of the crazy. Thank you everyone! You help me keep what little sanity I have left intact.

I want to walk you through the process of creating a hat. Most of them start similarly, but you will see quickly where being a little creative can get you a LOT of options. Today's hat was Darth Vader in a size 3-5 years. I am making another one for big brother in the next size up (6-10 years) tomorrow. Lots of Vader this week!
Most of my hats start just like this:

Just a ball of yarn, a hook, and an idea. Usually I have a picture to go from. In this case it was something I saw while browsing Etsy. A friend had asked for hats for her boys and they are Star Wars fanatics. Since then I have had a couple of orders for more.
All of my hats start off looking something like this:

This is where I make adjustments for the size of hat it will be, and do any basic patterning that is on the body of the hat itself. Darth Vader is pretty basic to start and doesn't use any fancy stitches on the body of the hat or any other colors (obviously.)

This is the basic hat base for Vader. After I completed the base "beanie" section of the hat I just went back and forth across the back 2/3's of the hat, decreasing slightly so that it would flare back and down from the temples. Once that was finished I edged the whole thing in a single crochet to neaten the edges and give the hat a bit more structure.

This is how the mask starts. I found a nifty new stitch to use with this, called the Chainless Foundation Row. There are some great tutorials on YouTube, so have a look if you are curious. The chainless foundation gives a lot more stretch to the first row (which in this case goes directly over the nose, so it shouldn't be tight.)

Vader's Mouthpiece is what gives the whole hat its great look when it is done. I have found that almost anything can be broken down into basic shapes and for this it was circles and a rectangle on a trapezoid base. The original Darth Vader was all black, but when I tried that, it just didn't show up enough. Another friend of mine had just made a Darth Vader Cake (check out her Facebook Page!). She had used gray and white for the "shiny" parts of his mask and it looked fabulous. I used the same technique with a nice dark gray that I had on hand and it was perfect. The vertical lines were merely the ends of what I used to sew on the circles run up and down the mask a few times. The finished piece is what makes this hat almost as good as the real thing.

Darth Vader has a ridge down the top of his helmet, so I added that using the same chainless foundation as for the mask. It will allow the most stretch for the longest lasting wear.

The real trick to this hat is attaching the mask. I know as a kid I wasn't super comfortable with things over my face all of the time. And parents pay good money to give their kids my awesome hats. So I try to always make my hats as comfortable as possible. That means removable masks whenever possible. The buttons on the inside of the hat make this possible (note that the hat is inside out in the above picture).

And there you have it! A finished Darth Vader Hat. Below is a picture of the first one I did, modeled by my daughter. I am determined to get a mannequin head at some point to put these on!

I love making all of these hats! If you have any questions or comments be sure to leave a comment!
I recently updated my website as well, so check out www.blankets4blessings.weebly.com as well. All items for sale will be listed on my facebook page www.facebook.com/Blankets4Blessings from now on. Keeping track of three places to post new hats was getting to be too big a job for little old me. I figure you all would rather get the hats you ordered rather than just see pictures! Have a blessed day!

One of my most popular designs in the Winter 2012/2013 season has been the Mickey and Minnie Beanies. I have done MANY of them throughout the last couple of years. At first I had just done a single circle for each ear. They were adorable!

But they were a little floppy, and a hair see through. Anyone who knows me personally will tell you that I am pretty easy going, but with myself and the work I do for others I am a perfectionist. So I set out to do it better!
I tried using two strands of yard together, but they still didn't stay up as well as I would have liked. And then I had a Eureka moment. A pattern for a different hat I had been working on said that I needed to make TWO of the same shape and stitch them together, forming a thicker, more stiff accessory. I tried the Mickey and Minnie Ears again, this time layering two circles together and crocheting the edges, almost all the way around. Not only did this give me a stiffer and more solid ear, it gave me a flat surface to sew to the hat AND the ear was more concave, like a real Mickey Ear would be.

I love it when my creative problem solving (and help from other experienced crafters) helps make my hats that much better!

In 2011 I decided I needed to DO something with my life. Not just for myself, but for others. I needed some kind of creative outlet. Something that I could do around the many things that Motherhood to two amazing children entails. Something that wouldn't just be good for me, but for someone else. I had been crocheting for a while. Well for years. I had done afghans for loved ones, scarves for friends, and even attempted a couple of purses. I thought that MAYBE someday I would do a craft fair or two. I realized then and there that this was a creative outlet that I would enjoy and that I could potentially sell. This satisfied part of what my heart was crying out for. Blankets. Baby Blankets. A friend of mine was working at a teen mothers home here in town. These girls were kicked out of their homes because of their decision to keep their babies. They needed someone to believe in them. They needed someone to say that they had made the right decision. I could help. I could give them blankets that were handmade, with all of the love that I could pack into them. So I started. There were ten or so girls in the home at the time. I hadn't crocheted in a year or more, and that was slowing me down. I was relearning a lot of things. But I made one blanket. Then two. Then three. Then my friend moved away and I lost contact with the people running the home. I will be the first to admit that I have issues with making phone calls. If it were up to me I would never cold call anyone, ever. So I didn't. And I am sad to say I never sent one blanket to that teen shelter. After the stories I had been told about the girls bad attitudes and entitled views I realized that my gifts, talents, love and prayers would be lost on them. Maybe it isn't noble of me to say that because they wouldn't appreciate the gift I refused to give it. Truly that isn't the point. BUT I realized that so many more babies could benefit if the right people got ahold of my idea. Babies are a blessing from God. Being a mother of two precious children myself I know how dear they are. I couldn't imagine my life without them. I am so blessed to be a mother. I can only imagine what it is like to have your child become sick. So sick it threatens their life. I can't imagine what it is like to not be able to feed or clothe my children. To be faced with a cold winter and no place to call home for my precious babies. But I could pray for those in that situation. And I could make blankets for those huge blessings wrapped in tiny bodies. And so I decided not to give up on Blankets 4 Blessings. Those first three blankets are not sitting in my basement awaiting owners. They have been sent to babies in three different states. One here in my very own town, and two far away. But those blankets full of love, and my prayers for healing and wholeness are wrapped around three very special babies. And I am thankful. Thankful that I could do that. That I could help these babies and their parents know that God LOVES them. THEM. That He cares for their child and their situation. And that He is the one that will wrap them in love. And now, Blankets 4 Blessings is a growing, thriving business. So far in 2013 I have given away a hat, two prayer shawls for women battling cancer (yes, they are Blessings too!), and I am working on a blanket for a little girl recently diagnosed with Leukemia. I have lots of orders coming in. Blankets, hats, even some kitchen items. I work daily on these items. They give me a sense of purpose. Of being useful. I love being useful. This week an auction opens benefiting a little boy who's mother is a friend. He is deaf and almost blind and he needs equipment that insurance won't cover. His 6 month NICU stay dried up everything they had, but he still needs more. An online mom's group that I am in heard of his need. Mom wasn't asking for anything. We all knew that. But get 350 women together with a common goal and watch the organization start to happen! Within MINUTES an auction had been organized, and several direct sales fundraisers had been started. There is even a Wepay site that had almost 30% of the money needed raised in a matter of days. It is a blessing to me to be part of this group. I have never met Eagan's mother. I have never seen anything more than pictures of sweet little Eagan, but he is my blessing. This group of women, some Christian, some not, some high income, some low, some nearby and some far away, rallied behind him. And Blankets 4 Blessings, MY business gets to play a role in his life. THIS is why I started to do this. This is the kind of help I want to be. This is what I want to do. And so I am! If you would like to donate to Eagan's equipment needs check out https://www.wepay.com/donations/1422105433 There is a Scenty fundraiser here https://christymitchell.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy?partyId=136325851 Also a Pampered Chef Fundraiser https://www.facebook.com/events/128999497272472/?ref=2 And Oragami Owl here http://www.facebook.com/events/290071834454167/ For the Auction check out the album below. (I have some items in there!) http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.213251145487288.71466.151296605016076&type=1