Sometimes I like to pretend to be the Yarn Whisperer. A large portion of my yarn stash consists of unmatched skeins and I'm never quite sure what to do with them. So I'll often pick up a skein, look at it for a while, and ask it what it wants to be. This particular skein was quite insistent that I show off its stripes and that it have a nice soft drape. (Don't worry, the yarn doesn't actually answer back.) A moss stitch seemed like the perfect solution. But what to make with the moss stitch? Well, I needed to make a lovey anyway, so why not? Then something about the colors whispered, "paaandaaa" and thus this lovey came to be! Whether or not your skeins speak to you, you can benefit from my crazy and enjoy this cuddly panda lovey pattern. 

A couple months back, I put together a photo tutorial for the C2C Moss Stitch. And you all have been rocking it! I've loved seeing your finished washcloths and hearing about your ideas for using the stitch. But the original tutorial only included instructions for making squares. Since I've been getting a lot of requests for a rectangle photo tutorial, I finally put one together! So now you can make quadrilaterals to your heart's content. (Just like last time, this is not a stitch that I invented; this is just another resource for anyone else like me who prefers photo tutorials. I've been told that Polly Plum is the inventor of this stitch, so full credit to her for this clever construction and be sure to check out her site and send some crochet love her way.)

I've always loved rainbows. I mean, who could resist all those lovely colors? Even though it's a simple matter of light and water droplets, they still seem somewhat magical and mystical. And they make a very fitting symbol of hope, creating beauty after a storm. I'd like to think that they're a quiet reminder that after tragedy, joy is still possible.
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After some personal ups and downs recently, I found myself contemplating the nature of grief. I won't bore you all with philosophical ramblings; suffice it to say that I kept coming back to the mental image of a rainbow. And I felt like I should crochet a rainbow. A huggable rainbow. 

Strawberry season is upon us! And I could not be happier. I LOVE strawberries. But there comes a point when maybe you shouldn't have bought yet another flat of strawberries...because now what are you going to do with them? And that, my friends, is where Strawberry Padeedledunk saves the day! This classic treat is super simple to make and doesn't require any special baking know-how. The filling has just the right amount of sweetness without being overpowering and the crumble topping is what dreams are made of. So what are you waiting for? 

For someone who doesn't like crocheting blankets, I've been working on a lot of blankets recently. But when new nieces are on their way (yay!), blankets gotta happen. So I decided to make it more interesting for myself and design a new baby blanket. Something simple, yet still fun. But then I had a dilemma: what to call it? Chevron Bobble Blanket? Colorblock Blanket? Descriptive, but boring.  In desperation, I asked my 3 year old and he declared that it should be a, "Bobble-Wobble Blanket." So why not? (The perks of having my own blog: I can give patterns ridiculous names and no one else gets veto power). No matter what you want to call it, I'm sure you'll love this cute baby blanket pattern! 

Spring has sprung and spring cleaning is underway! When I'm cleaning, there are few things I find more satisfying than organizing things into containers, especially if they're cute containers. So when I found some yarn that needed repurposing, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to crochet up a useful basket. Which naturally led to making an entire set of baskets. (The yarn made me do it, I swear!) These nesting baskets come together quickly and are the perfect mix of simplistic and stunning. And, since you can organize things in them, making these baskets is basically equivalent to cleaning your house. Heck, making the entire set is basically the same thing as deep cleaning your bathroom. And after all that hard work, you definitely deserve a crochet break. So you can make even more baskets! (It's a vicious cycle, but someone's gotta do it...)