Sweater is Better

I think this would be an easy enough project. I found it here.
This reminds me of the crocheted flower cardigan I made for my sister, (crummy) detail seen here. It also reminds me of another project I want to do, which is basically flower appliques a-go-go, an example can be seen here.

Tonight goin go home... snug my cat... have some tea and a burnt grilled cheese sammy... and make something cute! Should I work on Arwen's hat... my leaf headband... a present for my mom... or a new ruffle top pattern I bought?! Maybe if the yarn has arrived I should work on Brooke's snowflake hat?! One thing is for sure... I need to update my long long list of projects!

Also, who o who will be my reader of the month in January? STAY TUNED!

Snowflake Holiday Slouch Beanie

It may be nearly the new year, but in case you didn't know... still tis the season!

An old friend of mine from Tejas (more commonly referred to as "Texas") requested snowflake hats for his sister and niece for Christmas! I have been fixin' to post this for a while...

Haha just kidding... I don't say "fixin'," but Jimmy does so I had to throw it in there!

But I have been wanting to post these! I didn't want to ruin his Christmas surprise just in case his lovely family were avid readers (hahahaha I flatter myself). But ya never know. How freaking super cute are these ladies?!Anywho, these hats were exciting to make because they were a bit of a challenge. I didn't know you could do a snowflake pattern like this for crochet, but Jimmy wanted and Katiebeans delivered. In fact, one of the unofficial missions of Teabeans is to be able to crochet ANYTHING I see or imagine. Thusly, this was an especially fun project to tackle!

*Snowflake Slouch Beanie Pattern to follow on Teabeans! Stay tuned!*

Is there anything cuter then a wee lil bebe? Maybe a wee lil bebe at Christmastime in a sparkly snowflake hat?!
Also, since this is an Christmas post, and I am running out of time for Christmas-themed posts, do enjoy this awesome pic of my jellyfish ornament on the tree! You can hardly tell it's a Wallgreen's prelit (or so I will keep telling myself). But the real moral of the story is that my new camera is mejorly radical. I mean how sad is it that I was a blogger blogging such low quality, blurry pics? I mean, sadder still is that I am running a Spybot check since I got another virus on my super old, virus-ridden, slower than slow computer. It's a wonder I can maintain such a fabulous blog (eh?).

Half a Dozen

Hello again. In this post it looks like I have six fingers. All the better to crochet with!

Hope to have some pics up soon of some older projects. I kept them under wraps because they were a friend's Christmas present, and I did not want to blow his cover.

Hello!

Just a little hello & crochet humor!

More comics here.

Ready for Santa!

Finally! I am prepared for Santa to squeeze down our chimney. He now has a place to put all my candy canes! I am sure Iron Martin was hoping Santa would stuff it all into his snowflake stocking when he couldn't find mine! I used a maroon and gold holiday yarn, but basically the same pattern. I did a shell pattern on top to make it look more girly, and I used my own HO HO HO pattern from this hat.

See the stockings in all their glory here!

Hmm is there something strange going on or what? There is a fire, but it ain't in the fireplace. Watch as Iron Martin warms himself.

Haha! Whatever, I love it. It's festive!

Sweatshirt Style Beanie

Nothing special to post today; just another beanie for Iron Martin. Believe it or not, this thing took me six or more attempts. The yarn is not stretchy so you have to have pretty much perfect gauge. I do love the color of the yarn though. It is a grey/white sweatshirt-style color. Iron Martin loves it too, and I think it may be his favorite hat yet!

Seamless... literally. There is no seam.

Update: 123 Skein Crochet

Dear Blognobbers,
You may remember a little post I did about receiving and being charged for a book I did not order. I made a lot of crazy accusations and a lot of crazy claims about not paying for that shiz.

Well, I stand by my claims. After several more bills, I called up and was like, "Yo, I did not order this book, and I am not sending it back if I have to pay the postage."

Lady was like, "OK, I will send you a mailing slip to send it back and take you out of the club."

Yeah, I guess I inadvertently opted in to some crochet book club. Scam, I say. I am pretty astute about that kinda stuff seeing as I work in online marketing, and I am an expert in confusing people into buying things.

Anywhoooo... I still haven't got that slip, but it's all good. I am sure my mail carrier lost it like he loses everything, including credit card and gas bills. Good thing he put that happy holidays slip in my mailbox. I think I will use his tip to pay for this book I didn't want. Oh and while I am on the topic of these many direct marketing tactics that don't work, if you are a charity I donate to, please don't send me a notice telling me I did not donate enough money, which basically calls me a cheapskate. It is a turn off. Send me personalized return labels because I like those and feel guilty using them without donating.

Long story boring, all's well that end's well, eh?
xoxo
Katiebeans

(comic here.)

Reader of the Month: Jill!!!

You know what? I have a lot of awesome and faithful readers. But today is the day we need to celebrate good times come on. Today we are celebrating Jill!

Word on the street is that Jill is a big Teabeans fan. If by "word on the street," we mean multiple texts from Iron Martin to Katiebeans. Yay!!! Teabeans likes you, too, Jill; and Katiebeans would like to show you full reader appreciation by naming you Reader of the Month, December! It is a prestigious honor so I would suggest putting it on your resume.

So everybody, go tell Jill how awesome she is this month because next month her reign is over because she is such a sweet & devoted Teabeans reader!

Ps. Doesn't it make it look like congratulations she had a baby? She didn't though. This was the first pic I could find of her hehehehe.

Pps. Helpful hint/bribe: if you also want this honor, you should continue to read and/or enjoy Teabeans.

Ppps. I really do have lots to post, I swear -- hats a go go. You know how these holidays go blahblahexcuseblah.

xoxo
Katiebeans

Gnome Alone 2: Lost in New York

JK... I never gnome alone! But we were lost in NY at Bryant Park a few weekends ago. I had to update the bloggage with some 2 gnomes in Teabeans wares!

In front of the BP Tree

On the Carousal Looking at Holiday Ornaments

I had on my favorite seen here and here and here. Monet had on the NR hat I made her for her birthday, seen here.

The only thing now is to make something for Casey. I am waiting for inspiration to strike. Leaf headband? Flower hat? Unitard?

Turning A Leaf

I need to make this!

I could buy the pattern here... or not.

Ho Ho Ho Holiday Hat

This weekend was a ridiculously fun and festive! I hit the Grand Central light show, ate tapas, & hit Bryant Park for shopping and a carousel ride (or two) with my gnomes on Friday. On Saturday, I went to the Bryant Park holiday fair with Brooke; and then we watched LOST all day with Christine. During that time, I made a super festive hat for my Sunday holiday festivities with my hottie!!! Enjoy a few pics:

HO HO HO in Rockefeller center! HO HO HO in Central Park!
HO HO HO in Central Park some more!

Iron Martin and I also hit the Union Square fair and trimmed our tree while enjoying some holiday music, wine, and cheese! Then we had smores and watched Elf.

I love Christmas!!!! Hopefully I can make a stocking for myself this week so Marty's doesn't start to get lonely.

Ps. I made up this pattern using size H hook in a typical beanie style and adding ear flaps. I drew out the HO HO HO pattern in my notebook and the letters are 2 stitches thick.

Itty Bitty Lucy Beret

Oh baby! When Kate asked me to make her a hat I just knew I had to throw in a little beret for her newborn niece/twin sister's daughter, Lucy.

How freakin adorable is she???

I mentioned something to Kate before getting started, and she told me pink would be good since they didn't know the gender until birth. I just had to go girly so I followed this crochet beret pattern with highly successful results! See detail here.

If only I knew how to crochet a bebe field hockey stick...

Kate Cozy Crochet Cap

Why say hello to lovely Kate in her lovely new TeaBeans hat! Kate is an old friend of mine from many many moons ago, and she requested a grey TeaBeans hat to wear to Sonic (or wherever I guess hehe):

How cute is she!!! Adorable in the cozy cap don't you think?! Can't you totally feel the wintery vibe in these pics?

She had requested the Amazing Cable Hat, but for some reason I just can't make it work any more! It was a once (or twice) in a lifetime hat. But I came close to the original with this cozy cap. It doesn't flip up in the front, but it does have a nice ribbing. I really like the yarn which is a grey sweatshirt style.

View pattern detail here.

TeaBeans at the Macy's Parade

Wellity wellity, this is a little bit late, but TeaBeans wares did make it to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We have never been in NYC for Thanksgiving, and I had wanted to go to the parade. We slept in late so I didn't think it would happen, but at the last minute we decided to go. Yay! The parade ends just blocks from the crooked nook so we got there in time to see a few balloons and floats. I may have been overly excited to see Santa.

Forgive the hideousness of my face. Late night + no make up = harsh looking Katiebeans. Maybe I will make a TeaBeans ski mask to wear over my face!

By the Chimney with Care

'Twas the day after Thanksgiving, when all through the house, um something about a mouse, and Katiebeans finished a stocking for Iron Martin! I will crochet him into the Christmas spirit! He seems to really like it, and maybe he will get a nice crochet hat inside!

I was looking all around the interwebs for a cool crochet stocking, but all I could find were SO cheesey and mostly shaped like perfect Ls. Lo and behold the holiday yarn I bought actually had a free freaking pattern on the label. You can check it out here. I actually made my stocking with hdch instead of sc (oops!), and I inserted a snowflake pattern I found here. Also, instead of the cuff shown on the pattern, I did a ribbing stitch (3 fpdc - 1 bpdc). I think it looked more masculine for my boy. I also added a red over stitch on the heel to make it look more country-home.

I hope you are getting into the spirit!

Have a Holly, Jelly Christmas!

I had to make this jellyfish Christmas ornament for Iron Martin!

I got my inspiration from (read: totally ripped off) Anthropologie's ocean-themed ornaments, pictured below!

Using Red Heart holiday yarn in Red/Silver, I used hdch to make a button, and strings of chs as tentacles.

I am WAY into the holiday spirit, and I am trying to get Iron Martin to be festive too. fraqqqqqq (note: Mr. Kitten just stepped on my keyboard and wrote that.) Anyways, ornaments keep speaking to me, but Marty has little holiday spirit. Enter: jellyfish ornament. Not only is this super cute and festive, but it also has significance. This year at the beach, as we were sitting at the dock waiting to go on a boat ride, I watched as Iron Martin sloooooooowly pointed a finger toward a jellyfish. I exclaimed, "what are you doing!" To which he replied, "I was going to poke it!" Um, durr. It was adorable and hilarious. Much like this jellyfish crochet ornament.

I am going to take more pics once it is on our tree!

Do you have any awesome DIY holiday ornaments??

xoxo

Jellybeans

Katiebeans-Eye View

Well this is a familiar scene around the crooked nook.

Although an equally familiar scene involves me crocheting 4 feet above my lap to accomdate that Mr. Kitten as he lies on his side mushing my gut.

Many more projects to post, stay tuned...........

Chunk·y, Chunk·i·er, Chunk·i·est

Chunky munky cable hat! This super warm hat is a bit slouchy, but can be a very tight, warm beanie too.

Many of you may not know that lil miss Katiebeans was a member of Outing Club in college. This cable crochet number makes her feel like goin for a hike in Western PA.

Where would you wear it?! Pls refrain from comments like, "as I sleep on a pile of cardboard boxes at the Port Authority."

Braidy Bunch

Thanks for all of you who took my poll, which was really practically no one! But those of you who voted, voted for slouchy beanies. Katiebeans delivered. Enjoy!

My pathetic poll results below. To provide some context: you were allowed multiple votes, and I voted once, so these sad sad results are actually inflated.

Special Announcement

Due to the mega-large amount of personal requests I have received, I cannot at this time take any further special project requests. I love love love that people are requesting -- it makes me feel AMAZING that you like my sterf enough to want something TeaBeans of your own. Unfortunately I have a HUGE backlog of things to make, and I am trying to get sterf up on my Etsy shop too.

Again, THANK YOU THANK YOU for requesting TeaBeans wares. I am so sorry I cannot accommodate at this time.

xoxo

Katiebeans

Photo source.

Mega Mini Mini Minies

TeaBeans mini-updates/week in review...

Uno: Made a hat to sell on Etsy! Need some time to take pics and get it up there.

Dos: Started another hat to sell on Etsy. Kicked cat off my lap FOUR times, and FOUR times he came back to snuggle aka interfere with my crocheting.

Tres: Sent a couple hats to an old friend. Piggytails crossed that she likes them!

Quatro: Ordered some holiday yarn for a holiday project for another old friend. Excited to try something totally new!!!

Cinco: New Iron Martin beanie proving difficult. Loving the yarn color, hating the yarn. Half-finished project currently on mantle.

Seis: Foot injury hurt hurt hurts. Foresee more depression/hat making in the nearest future. Current Katiebeans is angry at Past Katiebeans for her decision to run 3 miles as fast as possible one day + 3 mile run on outdoor track another day. (For the record, did 3.5 in 8 min/mi pace... not bad for 6 months off!)

Siete: Next week imma try to post some sterf. But it's birfday week so I can't make any promises!

Goodnights!!!
Sleepybeans

Yarn Bombs Droppin Down, Overhead, Underground

Have ye heard of this? According to the all knowing Wikipedia: Yarn bombing or yarnbombing is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk.

My West Coast TeaBeans rep dropped this knowledge bomb on me the other day (pun INTENDED!).

Yarn bombing is almost exclusively about beautification and creativity. (Wikipedia)

I can totally get on board with that. Substitute "yarn bombing" with "Katiebeans" in that sentence, and I fell like... same thing?!

Picture source.

Inspiration: It's Me, Mariobeans.

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa this is mega bangin. Crochet Mario blanket? Key. I am putting this in the same league as the Pacman hat. Am I too old/profesh for video game themes?!

Thanks to Rachel who sent this to me. Source here. Sadly this would take me 4,000 years to make so I couldn't make it for her & her awesome hubs. Maybe one day I can make a mini one for a baby or something?

Boo!

Looks like some people had an ADORABLE Halloween in Teabeans! Warning: these pics might make you die...because they are so frackin adorable!!!

Original posts here and here.

I mean, isn't that to-die-for?!?

What did everyone else do for Halloween??

Happy Halloween!!!

I hope everyone has a scary fun Halloween! I had the best time at my mega-exclusive private party. Only Iron Martin and Mr. Kitten were invited. It was a blast! We had jack-o-lantern faces cut into the cheese of our cheeseburgers, treats, goblin goblets, and costumes! Then we watched Night of the Living Dead. We even listened to scary music in the background while we ate our dinner! All-in-all it was mo awesome Halloween party.

Here is a pic of Mr. K dressed up as Nibbler from Futurama. He loved it.... hehehe.

Happy Punkin Day!

xoxoxo

ZombieBeans

Megan Cable Snowboard Cap

TeaBeans wares have arrived in Maryland! One of my very bestest friends since high school recently requested this amazing cable hat! I chose a really lovely alpaca -- super warm and very nice quality.

Megan's awesome fiance captured the hat's arrival for us!Hahaha! How cute, right?! Here is a close up view:

Projects Galore

Hi kids! I have many many projects going on. I can't wait to inundate you soon. This week is going to be busy though so I don't know how much posting I can do. I do know I have a closet full of sad projects like this one below!

Hahaha!

Funny comics here.

Ps. Don't forget... that comic above is knitting. I crochet. There will be a quiz on this so pay attention!

The Handiwork Ministry

Presenting to you The Handiwork Ministry. The Handiwork Ministry creates crocheted and knitted items for donation in the US and Canada. From nursing homes to hospitals to the US military, the Handiwork Ministry distribute their handmade projects to "comfort...people in need of emotional, physical or spiritual care."

Once I finally make the blankets for preemies at Beth Israel Hospital, I plan on donating to the Handiwork Ministry. You can also help by donating yarn, stamps, bags and more.