It's my party and I'll crochet if I want to!

That's right ... it's my birthday :)

Last weekend I won this very cool Frog Prince pattern from a Blog giveaway I happened upon. THANK YOU!! to blog owner & frog creator Penny at http://oliverboliver.typepad.com/blog/

Commentators were asked to imagine their ideal way to spend the day and mine included strawberry breakfast crepes and lobster rolls for lunch...and what the heck SUPPER too! With the day spent curled up crocheting a certain frog prince pattern.
A guilt-free rainy day spent crocheting, watching a Scifi marathon of Startrek Enterprise or Stargate Universe.

Hey... it was MY Blissful daydream :)
The sun is shining brilliantly so I suspect there will be outdoor gardening instead.
Or I should say... addition to a little crocheting, I perhaps will get dressed and go outside on such a beautiful day and do something chore wise ;)

A third version of Nicolette has been made, using the stitch pattern of the Designer's Lilian sweater, but done in the round and attached to the front loops at the neck of the bunny. My back & forth crocheting attempt at the cardigan were frogged!

yeah...wonky trapezoid shaped edges that were un-crocheted without taking photographic evidence of.

I also finished my Dragon Whisper using what I learned making the Baby Dragon and the Snowsuit Babies from Easter.

Clearly inspired by a well known designer, but with just a little selective use of free patterns I was able to design my version of the little Whisperer without buying a pattern.

Each free pattern I've chosen has been a little more "difficult" - learning techniques specifically that would enable me to try winging it without a pattern. I've come along way since March 14th when I hadn't even EVER decreased a crochet stitch, had no idea which stitch was which for that matter.

My bookmarks are now overtaken by crochet? How did this happen :)
A little like peeling back layers of an onion or counting rings inside a tree.
I can trace my current degree of crafty obsessiveness by the blogs I visit and my Google Search history!

Still more of that CROCHET thing . . .

Look what I can do!
(I'm a practicing hooker :)

Still obsessed with cute crocheted things and the abundance of online possibilities has me trying more & more new-to-me techniques.

My latest project is nearly finished. "Nicolette" was started April 27th. There's supposed to be a fabric under skirt, but the crochet part is done.

The arms & ears were made ahead of time and joined right along with a row of single crochet - instead of being sewed on with needle and yarn later. I LOVE that now that I've done it that way and don't know why more patterns aren't written that way.

I was terrified a bit when I first read this section of instructions.
Took a deep breath and went for it. JUST DO IT. The yarn does get tangled around ears and arms a little so I put an elastic around the top of her head while doing the sweater.

It looks a little like bunny torture?

Pattern is crocheted mostly as written :)
A few changes here and there and possibly the head is on backwards. I wanted a wider forehead but if I understood the section following ear attachment...it's backwards on purpose.

The sweater was the one thing that was to be sewn on later but my first effort was crocheted a little tight and didn't fit very well. So I crocheted a new one right onto the bunny. This seemed to keep my tension more relaxed working around the bunny body. Random increases meant ending at the bottom with more stitches than the pattern called for but everything seemed to work out in the end. I made the textured pattern longer and left off the extra ripple.

Not sure yet what I'm going to do with my growing box of toys.