Crochet hazards

Ugh. Sometimes when I crochet for a few hours, my arms end up looking like this. My daughter thinks I'm reacting to the dye in the yarn, which could very well be right because it doesn't happen with every yarn every time I work. Still, it's strange. Top photo shows the welts that appeared first; bottom photo shows the residual redness after I took benadryl and slept overnight.

It's actually getting worse today and burning, which has never happened before. (I took another photo but it's too disgusting to post.) I was working with acrylic yarn last night, which certainly is NOT natural fiber... but less expensive than the good stuff like real wool. Sigh. Obviously, I'm gonna need to find a different yarn source ASAP.

I ended up going to urgent care because things were just getting worse too quickly. The doc put me on prednisone for a week. Possible contact dermatitis or some other form of allergic reaction.

Vulcan/elvish ears to crochet

I saw this picture of some crocheted Vulcan/elvish ears and just had to share it with my friend Mary, who is a big Star Trek fan. This awesome free pattern is called Spock Ears and is available on the Croshame blog.

Olivia's Butterfly beanie free pattern

This is an Olivia's Butterfly beanie cap — hopefully soon to be seen on the head of one of my grandnieces. I found the free pattern at this blog: https://vallieskids.blogspot.com/2009/06/olivias-butterfly.html

 

Elise's Ripple Baby Blanket free pattern

We have a new grandniece in our family, and her nursery is decorated in purple, green, and pink, so I needed a pattern to make a sweet little blanket to welcome sweet Baby Elise.

This is the Delicious Colors Baby Afghan by Lion Brand Yarn.

Hats for baby Elise

A shell-stitch earflap hat, a little pink cotton sun hat, and a white christening bonnet for new baby Elise! 😍

The earflap beanie is based on Britta Graham's lovely Shell Stitch Cloche pattern.

I unfortunately lost track of what patterns I used for the sun hat and christening bonnet, but I know there must be dozens of similar crochet patterns to be found online if you do a quick web search.