Soooooo I know Valentine’s Day is only 2 days away, and you probably have all your projects and presents sorted, but I figured I would blog a quick round-up of my patterns for people like me who are super last-minute on the gift-giving (my Mom’s birthday dinner is Monday and I still have no idea what I’m doing for her..!).

Heart-Shaped Pillow (which I also turned into Ricardio the Heart Guy) – includes video tutorial

Conversation Heart Garland – the video post is here

Sparkly Heart Lollipop Necklace – can also be stuffed and turned into tiny pastel plush hearts

This set of Valentine’s Day sugar cookies is for sale in my Etsy shop, but the heart cookie is free at Michaels.com.

I had really wanted to prep a heart-shaped donut for you guys, but I have a deadline I’m writing for, and I don’t think I’ll make it!!! Heart-shaped donuts are great for any occasion, though, so it’s still high on my list :).

I’ll be taking over Creativebug’s Instagram tomorrow, Friday February 12! Follow along and see some of my snaps throughout the day. You can also ask me questions about crocheting or running a shop or staying motivated or my favorite snacks or whatever you might be wondering! See you there!

I am a huge fan of Valentine’s Day decor. If every article of my clothing could have conversation hearts all over it, I would be a happy gal. I was super excited when Treetopia asked if I wanted to join their #xoTreetopia Valentine’s Day Blog Hop and Giveaway. On Monday the blog hop started with Jennifer Perkins, then Tuesday with Jaderbomb (looks like we both did glue gun hearts with different materials!), then Wednesday with Cathie Filian, then ME today, and then Flamingo Toes on Friday! Visit everyone to check out their super cool Valentine’s Day decoration ideas and don’t forget to enter the giveaway to win some Treetopia decorations of your own. You can also hop over to the Treetopia blog to check out some Q&A’s with all of us regarding the importance of the little things in decorating and the little things in relationships. Here’s mine!

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I’m so excited to let you guys know that my first Critter of the Month crochet class is now live on Creativebug.com!! Holy heck!! This was an intense 4 days of filming, and you will see the other 3 projects we filmed throughout 2016.

When they asked me to think of a fun critter for February, I chose a sloth, because it’s Valentine’s month, and he has long arms to hug you :).

You can check out some short previews for free, and you can also sign up for a free trial. Here’s a link to my instructor profile where they made a lil trailer with me and my dogs! If you decide to subscribe, it’s a really great deal at only $4.95 per month for access too all the classes on the entire site. And they just keep adding more! (I’m in the process of working on a new batch of Creativebug classes…!). If you use my link, I also get a small percentage of the sale (just letting you know that it’s an affiliate link upfront).

To be honest, I’m super proud of myself (pats self on back). I have a lot of anxiety associated with other people taking my photo or shooting video of me, and it was definitely an exercise in letting go and just being me and being okay with being me. I’m not going to get into it too much here, but let’s just say, I was sweating a lot, and I think you can hear the yarn squeaking in my hands…..(doh!). I haven’t watched my class yet… so you guys tell me how it is :). I can’t wait to start seeing our cute sloth army!

If you are a subscriber of Yarn Crush, then you might have already received your January yarn box, filled with 5 yummy candy-colored mini-skeins, a knit pattern by Spilly Jane, and a crochet pattern from me! They’re Pretty Parfait Fingerless Mitts! I think the pattern is a fun one for intermediate beginners, because you can practice working some basic texture stitches like the puff stitch, working in back loops only, front post stitches, and alternating tall stitches with short stitches. I don’t normally work with sportweight yarn in my patterns, so if that’s your thang, you’re gonna be stoked. (Yarn Crush’s photo of the whole box put together… so cute and bright!)

 We got to help pick the colorway for these mini skeins of merino yarn, and I really love how yummy and candylicious this allowed the mitts to look. (Yarn photo from Yarn Crush.)

I was going to call these something like Birthday Cake Fingerless Mitts, but my buddy Candace saw them and said they looked like parfaits, and that seemed to make more sense to me.

Here’s a fun random fact: while I was shooting these photos in my bedroom, the smoke alarm went off because Manda burned some of her hair off with a hair-dryer and a round brush with a metal core. Be careful with those round brushes, folks. Don’t daydream and blow-dry.

I had a lot of weird “hands around face” photos, so here is the least weird one! Glove Modeling is probably not in my job search for 2016.

If you love what you see, you should check out Yarn Crush! Most of these January boxes have already gone out, but she may have a few extra boxes left. Don’t be shy about emailing Yarn Crush if you’re interested! New yarnies and patterns every month, for knitters and crocheters. New subscribers will get a free notions pouch filled with goodies (like mini skeins, patterns, and tools) all worth about $20 just for signing up for a 3-12 month prepaid plan. This gets shipped out shortly after signing up. Anyone who would rather go month-to-month instead of prepaid can use the coupon code HELLO to get 15% off their first month.

Thanks so much to Yarn Crush for inviting me to design for the January box! I might be designing for another Yarn Crush box in the summertime, so stay tuned!

If you’re like, “I already have some really cute sock weight yarn, and I would really just like the pattern itself,” well we got you covered, too. The pattern is for sale on Ravelry.com! It’s my first time putting a pattern for sale on Ravelry, and honestly, there have been a few kinks. Specifically, my PayPal was not talking to my Ravelry, so when I received a payment, Ravelry didn’t know to send the pattern info to people. THE WORST, RIGHT!? I’ve been talking to Ravelry, though, and trying to figure out the issue. It looks good on my end now (before, I was noting zero sales on Ravelry, but now I can see the sale going through, so there is definite communication). Sorry for all this boring and seemingly-TMI info, but I just wanted to keep you abreast of the situation, in case you go ahead with a purchase. If there are any problems, do not hesitate to email me so we can work it out!