Infusion Center Hats and a New Hobby...

I finally took a picture of all the hats I have done so far for the infusion center. I had to gather the top of the last one I finished, to take the picture. I still have to weave the ends in on that one. (The bottom right hat). I tried to do "happy" or bright colors.. Except the top right hat- I made that one for a man. I think I've posted about the pink hat, it's the Basic Turban Crochet Pattern. With Simply Soft yarn. The other hats were not Red Heart. I think the yellow one was Caron? something? The pink variegated is Hobby Lobby something.. I Love This Yarn? It's not cotton.. 

I have been knitting a hat (last picture), I am on the last wedge. But, it is with Red Heart Super Saver. Although I have done hats for the infusion center before with this yarn (not supposed to, according to Knots Of Love), I don't think I will donate it to the infusion center. I'll probably see if our son wants it. I already knit one for my husband, it was the very first Tychus hat I ever knit. Technically I think the one I'm knitting is only the second one. But...  😉It feels very stiff to me. But, the hat I knit my husband is not stiff feeling now. I think after a couple washes and wearing it, it will soften up. But I still probably won't donate it. 

I thought I would post something that wasn't about dolls...   I haven't actually knit or crochet or made cards or baked at all lately.  😳   I started a new ?? activity ??   hobby? -- Geocaching. I need a new hobby like I need a new hole in my head.  I have actually been a "member" for three years. But, I haven't done anything. Or even gone on the site much at all. I did at first, to see what it's all about. Then someone sent me a trackable. And I started watching YouTube videos about geocaching.... I went and did one last Saturday. I couldn't find it at first. I was looking all up and down the side of the road, in the weeds...   I just went back home and thought, "That was stupid".  Then I tried looking at the cache description... I saw "hint" on there. (I was parked on the side of a road, and I felt like someone was going to come along the road, and hit me or my car..) Even though it's on a back road. The hint said "sign".  DUH.... "It's in one of the signs, I bet"...

This is the sign it's in. AND, it qualified me for the "Where's 25?-Locationless Cache" anniversary special for 2025. Way to start out geocaching. 😝 I didn't even know. I sent a picture of my very first cache to the person who sent me the trackable. (She is the one who old me about geocaching, and got me on the website three years ago..) Anyway, she told me about the 25 locationless cache. I went back and took a (horrible) selfie by the sign, I take horrible selfies...  

I took it into the car so I could sign the log...  As soon as I put it back and got back into my car, it started POURING rain! It was so weird! I sat there for a minute waiting for it to stop pouring so hard. 

I went back the next day to take the selfie by the sign, and I did two more geocaches on the same road. The road was all flooded with huge puddles and now my car is filthy dirty..    Three down. 280 to go... (In my town). There's a BUNCH (I think 30?), just on a trail. Which I don't know how to get to... The thing with geocaching is, it tells you where the location is on the map with GPS.  I'm still a newbie and don't understand everything..  There's lots of YouTube videos about it. I like "The Geocaching Blogger", "Halemeister", and "Heaven's Audventure", "Hullsome", "Mitch & Becca", "LanMonkey". 

Here's a video about how to get started geocaching.  

I thought geocaching sounded dumb, and like a waste of time. Especially when I could be knitting or crocheting instead. But the more videos I watched, and more I read about it, and after finally going and finding a few, I think it's kind of fun. It probably would be a lot more fun if I had someone to do it with who also liked geocaching. My son doesn't want to do it. I might have to try and trick him into it. There's a "virtual" cache by a castle here, which is also a museum... I asked him if he wanted to go to it the other day and he said no. (I didn't say a word about there being a geocache there.)  I'm trying to find a good place to hide the trackable.   Well stay tuned for more exciting (boring) news...  

More Doll Stuff...

 

Okay, I crocheted a bottle for the doll...   I just wanted to crochet, and drink tea and be lazy today. (I've been cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry all week..)  I found a pattern on Pinterest. (The pattern is actually on YT.)  But, I used an E hook, and the yarn I was using.. Also, the pattern is in UK terms I think. Also, you have to turn the subtitles on to read what she is doing.  

I think it's cute. I had wanted to crochet a doll bottle forever. So, I finally did it. I was looking for other things/accessories to crochet too.  This is the sixth post about dolls...  Maybe I should work on something different. 😜

The Doll Is Done

I found two packages of hooks and eyes, the morning I was going to go buy a new F hook..  So I didn't have to buy any. I've had that mint green thread forever.... It got a ring stain on it somehow. Anyway..

I sewed two of them on.. That was not as easy as it looks/sounds..They are so tiny, and my needle would not go through the yarn very easily.  

So now the doll dress is completely finished. Yay...  😍

The booties.  All the ends are woven in, too. Now I have about three more outfits to sew hooks and eyes on to. And the elastic into the waistbands of the ruffled panties. Sighhhh....

This is the link to the pattern I used for the dress: Peggys Shell Dress.   All my posts lately have been about dolls. 😐

In other boring news, look how big my plant is I got at a garage sale this summer. (First picture- look how small it was!) I'm going to have to replant it again.  

"As The Crochet Hook Turns..."

 

That's how boring it is, listening to me go on about the crochet hook I lost... 😝 It's like watching a soap opera. I bought a new one. Now I will probably find my hook I lost. Oh well. Then I will have two of them. It's always good to have a back up.  

In other boring news, we went for a long boring drive to see if we could see any Fall Colors. There wasn't very much, but there was some.

The sky was blue today..

Here's a few...

We stopped by a River and walked around..

There wasn't any people, it was pretty peaceful.

This tree was almost glowing in real life. 

The leaves on the ground. I took a lot more pictures and some videos, but I can't upload a video here. There will probably be more Fall Colors in a week or two..  

I was going to add a picture to my post yesterday, but.... That didn't happen. Life started life-ing... (Sigh..)  This is the finished dress. Well, it's technically not finished yet, because I have to sew the hook and eye fasteners to the back neck opening. Which I have to go buy, because I don't have any. But other than that. All the ends are weaved in. It fits the bigger doll that I have, not the dollar store dolls. I used the bonnet and booties pattern from the Baby Syndee's Layette pattern. Using the Red Heart Pompadour yarn and an F hook (which I still have not found.. 😭) That's the least of my worries right now.

Here's the (one) bootie. I don't know if I mentioned that I lost the other bootie, too. It's so annoying. How could it just vanish? I pulled all the cushions off the couch, looked underneath it, under the table, moved the ottoman... Looked everywhere I can think of. Except where it is..  

I gave Eri the mouse I crocheted the cats a while ago. She likes it. I didn't even put catnip in it, because I couldn't find it. (Guess what I found yesterday while I was looking for my missing hook? Yup, the catnip..)   

She kept trying to get its tail. 

She was being so cute. It was impossible to get a good picture of her, she kept trying to "kill" the mouse. 🐁😂

Stay tuned for updates on the missing hook... (So exciting..) I might just buy a new one and make another bootie when I go buy hook and eye fasteners... 

Lost My Crochet Hook and My Mind...

 

I added to the sleeves on the dress, because the doll's arms are half cloth and it looks weird. This is how I did it:

Round 1: Join yarn w/ a sl st in the ch space in the underarm area. Ch2, dc in same space. *DC in next 2 dc, skip dc before Ch 1 space, dc 2 together over ch 1 space and next dc, Repeat from * around. Join w/ sl st in top of first dc.

Round 2: Ch 2, dc first 2 dc together. *Dc in next dc. Dc next 2 together. Repeat from * around. (17 dc)

Round 3: Ch 2, Dc first 2 together. Dc in next 5, dc next 2 together. Dc next 6, dc next 2 together. (14 dc)

Round 4: Ch 2, dc around.

Round 5: Ch 1, sc in same space. Ch 1, sl st in top of the sc just made (picot made). *Sc in next two spaces. Ch 1, sl st in top of sc just made. Rep from * around. Join w/ sl st to first sc. Fasten off. 

I finished crocheting all the clothes last night. I was weaving ends in on the booties with my hook, in the computer room. I came in here this morning and I couldn't find the hook or the last bootie, anywhere. Sigh.....  I have more of the yarn. I could make another bootie. But, I need the hook too. They're both gone.    Uggghhhhhh... I jinxed myself because I posted a reel yesterday about losing your crochet hook. The Universe said, "Oh you want to lose a crochet hook? How about your crochet hook, and the bootie you're working on?" 😡  Thanks, Universe...

This is the last photo taken of my beloved hook...  😭  It's the only F hook I own, too. If I go buy a new one, the Universe will play more games with me and I will find it as soon as I get home from buying a new F hook.  😂   Sigh.........  I should take a picture of the finished dress, though. 

I was looking for more dolls at stores yesterday. (Why???.... I have 15 dolls at least...) I was looking for a 15 inch doll that is bigger than the one in this outfit, to put in that outfit (the unicorn outfit)...   Anyway, I could not find ANY at Hobby Lobby, well except in the toy aisle. But they were all barbies or not the right size. They used to have just "craft dolls" in bags, in the craft section... You would think Hobby Lobby would have some. The ONLY doll they had was a big cloth doll with no face. Then I looked at Walmart... That was sad.  I looked later last night at Meijers..  They had some dolls, but no 15 inch dolls. I looked online, too.  They used to sell dolls through Annie's Attic and Mary Maxim, too; didn't they? I couldn't find ANY on those sites. What happened????.... 

And I kept thinking today is Friday. Our son is up in his room playing his game and I thought "Is he not working today?"... I texted him that and he said "It's Saturday".   Ughhhh I need more coffee. Or more sleep...  I definitely don't need more coffee.  Well I am off to go look for something else and maybe I will find my missing crochet hook and the bootie... Wish me luck.

More on dolls, and clothes patterns

I don't know if I ever posted about this cradle purse I finished (a while ago)... But this is the little soft body doll I was talking about in my post yesterday. I said I still had one of the dolls. I posted on Facebook asking if anyone knew where I could get dolls like this, since Walmart stopped selling them. Someone said "Dollar tree". Um... Yeah. I have a bunch of those, they are not the same size. These little dolls are five inches long.

The dollar store dolls are 7.5 inches long now. The ones I got before are probably 7 inches. Still too big. And I tried to tweek the cradle purse pattern to make a bigger one, but I didn't like it. Ugggghhhh... (And, the doll still barely fit in it.) The person who said "Dollar Tree", posted a link to some 4 inch dolls.   I just love the little dolls Walmart used to sell.

This is the tag. There's no website or anything... "Gigo toys", and "Little Dreams"... Maybe I could try Temu or something... Ebay..  I will keep looking. I don't like the little dolls that I had bought before. That's all I can find in Walmart or Target now that are small enough for the cradle purses.

Also, the dress I am crocheting for the dollar store doll is turning out a little bit too big. 😔Ugghhhh... I keep trying to crochet clothes for the dolls I have, but now I have to buy different dolls to fit the clothes...  

I am not on Ravelry any more, so I scoured the internet trying to find smaller doll clothes patterns. 

This is a page of paid patterns for five inch dolls

Baby Doll Ruffled Yoke Dress Set on Etsy-7.5 inch dolls

Doll Romper on Etsy- 7-8 inch dolls

CharPatterns  7.5-8 inch doll clothes (3 patterns)

Spring Petal Dress Set 8 inch dolls

No More Naked Doll Clothes Patterns for 8-10 inch dolls 

Vintage Cindy Doll Kindergarten 6 inch dolls

5 inch crochet pattern (Jumpsuit and hat)

Itty Bitties Crochet pattern from Annie's Attic 5 inch dolls

Those are all paid patterns, though. Sigh...

I posted the 9-inch Doll Sweet Pea Outfit pattern, yesterday.

I have some patterns I printed out, but there's no url on the pages...

For all the time I'm wasting trying to find patterns, I should just sit here and crochet my own.

Dolls and Outfits

This is going to be a long post..  I just went out today, because my reading glasses broke yesterday. Long story short, I wasn't going to spend $14.99 for a pair of reading glasses! After I got the groceries I needed, I went to the dollar store. (They had a pair almost identical to the ones I had, just a different color.) I also got some more of the $1.25 dolls. (Three of them.) Then when I got home, I got out all the other dolls I had so far. I have a few! 

I noticed that the ones I got today (on the right) are bigger than the ones I have bought before. I don't like them. I like the littler ones. 

But, I had crocheted an outfit for one that was a little bit big, and it fits the bigger doll better. I'm not sure if I ever posted this before, it's the Sweet Pea Outfti pattern. I cannot spell. *outfit.

I had bought these at the dollar store too. I don't remember where, it might have been in Nevada. And I bought the little "organza" bags to put the bottles in. I wanted to get some more things to put in each bag. I don't know what, or where I could even find miniature doll things... Like, a little brush? Comb? Probably a cell phone, nowadays.. An Ipad? LoL..  

 Walmart used to have the little tiny dolls for like $3. They don't have them anymore. 😡That makes me so mad. Like the one in the first picture of this post. I found one in one of my fabric bins a while ago. I think I'll keep it. I crocheted a cradle purse for it. (If I ever get any grand babies...)

This is a bigger doll I had bought, there were two. I sent the other one to a friend for her grand daughter. I don't remember what outfit I put on it... Hmmm. That's going to bug me! 

It's a pattern from Baby Sydnee's Layette from Annie's Attic. I did a smaller one (one of the dollar store dolls), in smaller weight yarn and hook. It looks big on it, but it fits perfectly. I need to sew all the clasps on, and put ribbon in the booties, and sew the elastic in the waist of the panties..  (sigh.) 

This is a blanket I started. I had a ton of that yarn. I don't know where the rest of it is. (Sigh again...)

Then today I started this dress, for one of the dolls I bought today. I'm using this pattern: Peggys Shell Dress. With an F hook and I'm using some Red Heart "Pompadour yarn" I got at the Goodwill somewhere... It's like that Jamie Baby Yarn.  It looks a little big, but it actually fits perfectly around the neck. So it must be the right size...  

The back. It will have enough overlap to sew snaps on. I am buying all these to make clothes/blankets/etc for, to send to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. I haven't lost my mind, buying a ton of dolls. 😂 Well, maybe I have lost my mind...   

I didn't have hardly ANY toys when I was a kid. I had one Raggedy Ann Doll (that I hated), and my step dad bought me and my brother a toy when he was dating our mom. I got a Baby Alive doll. That was my only real doll. And I had a bike. And a lemon twist.  So maybe crocheting clothes and things for dolls is healing my inner child. 😝

Well back to reality, I have to go start dinner. (Sigh..)

Oh.

The glasses.. My old ones are on top. They cost $14.99. The ones from the Dollar Store are on the bottom. $1.50. 🙄 They're not purple, but... They're almost identical except for the color. And I like grey, too. Plus they will just break in the same amount of time probably. 

Another Birthday Card

 

I wasn't going to, but then I did... I made a birthday card for my husband, too. 🙅  

I made this part, first. I saw it on You Tube. After sticking the white part to the light blue part, I thought... "I can't just leave the front blank." So I went on Pinterest. And I thought this card would be funny. And a "guy" card... I hand wrote "Oldometer", I didn't feel like getting all my letter stamps out.... 

The "gift" foldout part inside. I thought it came out okay. I don't think I've ever made my husband a card before. But, when you are broke....  And you make cards...  🙅  So I made them both their birthday cards this year. I made a Christmas card for our middle son and his wife, last year, too. I saved probably $10 making their birthday cards. 😝

Cowboy Birthday Cake

I forgot that I had finished the card for our son, for his birthday... I still need to write inside. He will probably care less. I don't know why I made it. 💁 He really likes cowboy hats and boots, though. Matter of fact, he just bought a new cowboy hat yesterday. 

This is the cowboy boot cake, before I frosted it (we had to go to the store, and get frosting. No way am I making the frosting, too.. LoL)  I just used one 9x13 cake.  I used almost the whole pan. Cutting the pieces to make the "boot"...

This is how I decorated it. I was going to write happy birthday on it. But, I didn't want to ruin it. It already was nerve wracking enough for me... Eon said "It's cool." So, I guess it was a win.  (Maybe he will think the card is "cool", too?.. I was going to write something about cowboy boots and birthdays, inside..)   This will probably be the last "theme" cake I make for birthdays. Unless I ever get a grandbaby..  😁

And, I looked yesterday to see if I printed out the Tychus Hat pattern. I couldn't find it anywhere. So, I sat there in front of the computer and knitted... I could NOT figure out what the heck I was doing... It did not make sense to me. 🙄 So I put it away for later. I know I knitted one before! And I said I loved it... What the heck is wrong with me? 😣  I was upset that I am really losing my mind. Well, I went back to it later. And I realized that I wasn't reading the pattern right. (This is a big problem with me.. LoL) "Oh, I know what they are talking about..." Run off with what I think they mean... That wasn't it..  I was knitting with one color. Then turning, and I was thinking "Do I have to carry the other color? The whole row? How did I do this before? It's a pain! How did I 'love this'?"....  I forgot the rest of the row- after turning, knit to the end. DUH...    So I figured it out.  I do love this pattern.  These are one of the "team" colors I was thinking about doing. (Or, if someone just likes green and white?)  One half of a wedge. 

Then I kept knitting... And finished the wedge. The first hat I knitted (19 years ago!), I just used one strand of yarn (the pattern says to use two strands held together). And, it fits my husband (he still has it, we got it out yesterday- I wanted to look and see what I was doing wrong, lol). He says it's a little big on him, even. I don't know... 🙅Maybe I should compare it to the hat I finished..  

~That's all for now~

Leftover Wizardry and Yarn Chicken

Or should I say Frugal Chef? Frugal Gourmet? Or, using up what leftovers there are/food we have, to make something new for dinner? I had some leftover penne pasta in the fridge.. I woke up Friday, and I usually start thinking not long after I wake up, "What am I going to make for dinner?... "  I was kind of in the mood for soup. So I started googling soup recipes with pasta, and I remembered, "I have spinach in the freezer!"

After  wracking my brain, using most of my remaining brain cells, and looking through my recipes in my file, and online, I found a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup. I didn't have frozen meatballs. I used some italian sausage we had and just left bigger pieces, to resemble meatballs. 🙅 I cut the penne pasta into thirds, to more resemble ditalini pasta.

I also had four pieces of Texas Toast garlic bread in the freezer. Ugh... The things I do to save money/not waste food/just make dinner... Wears me out. The recipe I used Italian Wedding Soup Recipe.

I somehow finished the hat I was working on, and look how much I had left. Yarn Chicken, won. 🐔🧶I do have the other skein, I will probably cut  a long piece off that to sew the top up. I was thinking about knitting a hat, next. I've been in the mood to knit, lately. I don't know why. Not going to question it.. 😝 I was thinking about doing "team" hats, and I thought, "What about that Tychus Hat  I knitted a long time ago?"  Why is wracking my brain about patterns to use not so bad as what to make for dinner? 😄 I decided that hats for the infusion center will be my "Car Project". I always go to appointments and I text my husband, "I am way too early, I should have brought my knitting or crocheting"...  And, I keep saying, "I need to put a bag in the car with a project in it for times like these.." But by the time I get home from my appointment (and usually going to at least one more place), I forget. I will have to see if I ever printed out the Tychus Hat pattern. (I think I did.) That will be my "Car Project". We also go for "Long Boring Drives" sometimes...  

Last night, we had "Leftover Night" for dinner. Since I didn't have to make dinner, I thought I would make their birthday cake. I will save that for another post. The cake is done, I just need to frost it/decorate it.