Spare Time?!?

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

Until recently I would not have had an answer to this question-it would simply be, "What spare time!?"  But after our wedding, and things slowing down at work, I have regained my spare time.  :)  I couldn't be more excited to start a hobby (or 12 as my husband would say).  I rearranged our upstairs open area to store my craft items and could spend hours up there (and I do alot of the time).  You can read about my crafty hobby here.  Another hobby that I have tried to pick up is crochet.  I think the baby hats that you see everywhere are SO cute.  I know lots of people that have had or will have babies and I think it is a great gift for them. 

I am a researcher by nature and a learner by doing.  I started by googling How to Crochet and found myself watching every YouTube video that I could on the subject.  I had my yarn and hook in hand while watching the instructor very closely.  I also have a friend who had agreed to teach me, we met a few times but it seems to be more of a hang out time then a real learning experience.  I don't mind that at all, and I think I  learn better by watching the videos because I can pause and repeat.  Once I got the basics down, I searched for a pattern that I wanted to follow and started up.  If I came across wording or a stitch that I didn't know how to do, I went back to YouTube and watched someone else do it. 

I started with a simple baby hat.  The first go around didn't work out so well and I ended up with a potholder...No hat about it. :)  I had no problem tearing the stictches out and starting all over.  Which is exactly what I did.  I am not sure where my problem was on the first attempt, but the second try went much better.  At the end, it was a hat!  I'm still waiting to finish it competely and will post a picture of the final product.  Remember it was my FIRST EVER try-So be nice. :)

The second project I started was a scarf.  I found a pattern online and bought some yarn at Hobby Lobby (on Sale) and crocheted away.  This scarf ended up being a lot longer than I expected and I didn't get to finish one entire row, so I just shortened it and attached the ends to make an infinity scarf.  I also added a small white flower to it for a girly touch.  My husband said it looked a little military, so I am going to give it to my mom. 


Scarf for my Mom-I like how it turned out :)

 I hope to continue to get better and make lots of cute little baby things for all of my friends.  So next time I'm asked what I do in my spare time, I will have a very cute response.