Monday miscellany

Hello, Monday.

I don't have a clever title or purpose for this post, but here are a few things I've been drawn to lately.

1. I graduate with my master's in December, so I've been planning for the most important part of this academic achievement: what I'm going to wear. Winter graduation has thrown me for a loop, wondering if bare legs are completely out of the question or how funny tights would look along with my regalia. I love this Anthropologie dress and think it could be a cute contender, but it's definitely out of my price range. Textbooks trumped the graduation outfit budget, so I'm still searching. Any suggestions for what would look good on its own but also under this.

2. Like everyone else on Pinterest, fall makes me want to bust out the crockpot. I love having the crockpot fairies cooking dinner while I'm at work, and chicken chili sounds like the way to go, too. That's definitely going on next week's dinner menu.

3. "Royals" by Lorde is everywhere right now, but I'm also addicted to "400 Lux." The whole album is good. It's worth a listen. I linked it below, just for you!

4. These brown booties may have found their way into a shipment from DSW to my house. I had been wanting a pair since Hannah's post on booties. I have a black pair that get lots of wear to work in the cooler months, but I thought a brown pair would be a nice to have. I typically wear my booties with skirts, but I'm going to bust out of my comfort zone with these and try them with jeans because, you know, I'm crazy like that.

5. The weather also influences my hobbies, and I've picked up my crochet hook again this month. I was making Preston a newsboy cap similar to this one, but when I went to try it on him, I'd made it too long/tall, so it looks more like MTV veejay Sway's hat (pictured below) than a cap. Since Preston doesn't have dreads (yet. If we keep avoiding a haircut, he might get close.), he really doesn't need a Sway hat. And when I mess up, I tend to give up. I've got to motivate myself to unravel the bottom third and start again.

6. Fancy sweatshirts. While it might sound contradictory, they are one of my favorite fall trends. There are days where I hate to get dressed because it's cold and I just want to be a bum. In a fancy sweatshirt, I can look cute on the outside but feel like a grumpy bum on the inside. Win!

Crochet show and tell

After I sold my summer textbooks back to Amazon, I spent part of my credit on this crochet book. I'd stumbled upon it in my search for free amigurmi patterns, but after looking through it online knew it was worth the price. I mean, "seriously cute" is in the title. They're not mucking about with the cuteness factor.

As a result, I've been crocheting a lot lately, which has filled my need for adorable animals and gifts with which to bribe children to love me. It's a win/win, really.

Here are a few of my recently completely projects.

The puppy dog is for a little girl in our home Bible study. She loves to act like a dog, crawling around on the floor, barking, rolling over, etc. I figured she needed a puppy pal. I did change him up a little bit, though. The book called for nubby-like ears similar to the legs, but it came off looking more like a reindeer than a puppy. So I made the elephant ears instead to give him sweet floppy ears instead. I like how they came out a lot better. 

The lion is for our friends' brand new baby boy. Every boy needs a lion to go on adventures with, right? In the process of making the lion, he was one-eyed for a long time. I'd run out of black yarn. I thought he might look good with an eye patch though. 

Right now I'm in the middle of a making a monkey. The building stages of making an animal is funny because during the process it looks like some kind of massacre with legs and heads and stuffing strewn about. But it all comes together in the end. 

This hat is for the baby boy, too, but the pattern isn't from the book. I had a baby beanie hat I built this pattern from, adding the bill, leather buttoned strap and colored trim. I used the same basket weave stitch I did for the bear hat only this time I did it all over the hat. I think it's perfect for a dapper little man.

I knew I'd done well when Scott was extra impressed with the hat. The Scott stamp of approval is a hard one to get.