What is a cockle shell, anyway?

Holy moly, look at this! 2 posts is a row!

So, hubby and I went and did some SERIOUS looking for my camera last night, with no luck =[ I have NO CLUE where it could be! We pulled out all the furniture, we even looked in the freezer! It's so gone ;_;

Luckily, I was able to scan in some images of ATCs I've made this month =] January is the month of doodles! It's usually unintentional, but I tend to pick up a new technique every month, and stick with it for that month. Be it paper crafting, sewing, crocheting, etc...I'm always on the look out for new ways to do things =]

First, I have a set of four ATCs that I made for the Black and White ATC swap over at Swapbot. Mother Goosed is one of my heros X]



I am also working on a rainbow of doodles, that will ultimately be framed, because my husband says they are too awesomet o trade away ;) I messed up the red one, so it's not done yet, but I have orange thru purple! The pic clicks to my Flickr account, where there are closer-up images of all the cards.


Finally, a doodle card I made after seeing a really nifty rug in a catalog. This is drawn with black Micron pen on Whisper White SU! cardstock, and the red is colored in with Prismacolor marker. I touched up here and there with a white gel pen (I'm not very good at staying in the lines, heh).


Last night, I finished crocheting a headband with teddy bear ears. I couldn't figure out the ears in that pattern, tho. I've looked at a ton of pictures of the completed thing, but mine just didn't look anywhere near everyone else's. So I made up my own ^_^ I also made up my own headband pattern, because I wanted it to have a kinda wavy edge to it, and I wanted it to narrow behind the head. I made this for my daughter, and a wide headband would just slip right off of her.

So, like, I've never made a crochet pattern before, so this might not make any sense. I think it's a whole lot clearer than my own personal notes, though ;)

The finished headband measures 18in long. I used cheapo read Heart Super Saver yarn.

Ears (make 2)
G hook, do not join rounds (work in spiral); use st marker to mark beg of each round.

-Ch 2
row 1: 6sc in 2nd ch from hook.
row 2: 2sc in each st around.
row 3: +2sc in next st, sc in next st+ around.
row 4: +2sc in next st, sc in next 5 sts+ around.
row 5: sl st in next 3 sts, +sc in next 3 st, 2sc in next st+. Repeat from + to + until 3 sts remain. sl st in last 3 sts.
row 6: sl st in next 3 sts, 2sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts, 2sc in next st, sc in next 6 sts, 2sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts, 2sc in 4th st from end of row. sl st in next st.
Tie off, leaving a long tail to sew the ears to the headband.

Band
I hook
Turning ch counts as st; do not dc into turning ch.

-Ch 7.
row 1: dc into 3rd ch from hook, and ea across. Ch2, turn. (5 dc)
rows 2-10: Repeat row 1.
row 11: dc into first st, 2dc in next st, dc in each st across. Ch2, turn. (6 dc)
row 12: 2dc in first st, dc in next 2sts, 2dc in next st, dc in last st. Ch 2, turn. (8 dc)
row 13: 2dc in first st, dc in next 4 sts, 2dc in next st, dc in last st. Ch2 turn. (10 dc)
rows 14-27: dc in ea st across. Ch2 & turn at the end of each row.
row 28: dcr first 2 sts tog, dc in next 4 sts, dcr next 2 sts tog, dc in last st. Ch2, turn. (8 dc)
row 29: dcr first 2 sts tog, dc in next 2 sts, dcr next 2 sts tog, dc in last st. Ch2, turn. (6 dc)
row 30: dc in first st, dcr next 2 sts tog, dc in last 2 sts. Ch2, turn. (5 dc)
rows 31-40: dc in each st across. Ch2 & turn at end of ea row.
Tie off.

I haven’t figured out how I am going to attach the ends of the headband together. I need Ash to come home from school to gauge how this fits her (too long, too short?). It fits ME very well, though, so I figure this would fit most adults, though my head tends to be on the smallish side ;)

Okay, I'm off to crochet a ninja for the boy. I think he kinda gets the shaft when it comes to having a crafty mom. Don't tell anyone I said this, but it's a lot easier to come up with things to make for a girl =X lol