New pattern and an announcement!

Hello!
How are things?
Well, I have a new pattern available. Meet the Gentleman Specter:

He is a dapper fellow with his top hat and scarf. Or you could give him a dunce cap, a cowboy hat, or you could give him a bow and make him a her. He'll be adorable no matter what!
I also have a monster pattern available:

I think I forgot to post about him. This guy here in the picture lives with us. These monsters are great for keeping babies company (as long as you don't use buttons or anything else that could be dangerous for little ones).

Anyway, now for my announcement:
I'm going to try to develop a very detailed zombie pattern to sell!!! Yay!

I've gotten enough requests for it that I've decided to try to write a pattern for it. I didn't want to do it before because I've made up some of the stitches and it's a bit more advanced that the beginner crocheter would have difficulty and I was worried that people would have a hard time understanding it. But, I'll try and just add plenty of pictures :)
But be forewarned - it's not for the faint of heart! Do not attempt unless you are experienced!
(As always, these patterns are for personal use only. Do not sell anything you make using my patterns)
That also means that I will be able to make a pattern for this guy too:

Yay Pumpkinheads!!
I have a lot more sketches in my notebook to make patterns for, so keep checking back for more!
I've gotten a good start on Sam's monster nursery thanks to Rebecca Danger so I'll have to post some pictures when I get more taken, but here's a sneak peek:

Sorry, it's nightime so the lighting isn't the greatest.
I'm planning on making a monster theme for Sam's first birthday (holy-crap-he-is-almost-one!!) so all of these monsters will come in handy. Since he is so young and doesn't know what is going on anyway, I want to keep his first birthday simple and am only going to have our immediate family there. Then when he's older we can do a fun all-of-Sam's-friends-attending birthday party. I hope I don't offend anyone, I just really want to keep things simple for this one. And I don't want to freak him out (my husband's family is HUGE and he knows a lot of people. A LOT). But I'll try to take lots of pictures!
Here's a sample of the party invite I made:

Then I'll add the info at the bottom. Monsters are cute.
Alrighty, I better get to bed. I've been staying up way too late. Hope you have a great week!
-Cori

New Pattern!

I have finally finished my second pattern for sale: Crochet Voodoo Doll Pin Cushion
Woo hoo!! I am currently planning on trying to make more patterns to sell. I would love to sell the zombie pattern, but unfortunately I feel it would be too difficult to explain since I made up a lot of the stitches and have to alter it as I go.
So, I offer the voodoo doll pin cushion pattern.
I have also added this guy to the shop:

He is my model for the pin cushion pattern.
I think I need to make more girl voodoo dolls, they sell really fast. Huh, I don't seem to have any pictures of them either...
Random side note, I need to find a baby shopping cart cover. Any suggestions? I have been checking Etsy, but those are kind of on the pricey side. Any help is very much appreciated :)
By the way, if anyone is an Evil Dead fan, you have to check out this trailer for it. My brother sent me the link and, as he so delicately put it, "I think I just soiled myself watching this...must...see...in...theater......"
Anyway, I better go to bed. I need to stop staying up so late. Goodnight!

I'm alive, I swear (warning: photo heavy)

Wow, I am a bad, bad blogger. This blog post is WAY overdue. Sorry! I am going to have to post this very late at night since this is the only time I ever have to get on the internet.

A lot has happened since I last posted. I'll start from the beginning.

First, unfortunately, we lost our dear sweet kitty Jack.

 

Jack has had problems since day one and is extremely fortunate to have found Jess. I really don't know who else would have put up with him. Don't get me wrong, he was very sweet and a cozy cuddler who would always sit in one of our laps and we loved him to pieces. It's just his bladder and allergy problems got out of control and we finally had to face the fact that he was miserable and probably uncomfortable 99.9 % of the time. We loved him and didn't want him to suffer anymore. We will always cherish the 10 years we got to spend with him. R.I.P. my sweet pain in the ass. We love you.

As promised, here are some photos from our Halloween. The theme this year was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It blows my mind that some people have never seen this movie. It's one of my favorites!

Here we have my sweet little Legendary Black Beast of Aaaarrrggghhh!

 Here is Jesse setting up the Knights of Ni!

 Here's a close up of the Knights of Ni!

 Even closer...

 Ni!

 We made sure to bring them a shrubbery.

Here is our Bridge of Death. It was very perilous.

 We had to have a Black Knight, of course.

 I think the highlight of our Halloween was that Jesse had a running loop of bits from the movie playing for the Knights of Ni and the Black Knight and as a jogger ran by the Black Knight, he said, "Oh, oh, I see! Running away, eh? You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off!" The jogger was heard laughing as he ran away. Love it :)

Here is our Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog .

 Scary, right? Jesse rigged him up so we pushed a button and he jumped up at you.

Here is the bridge keeper.

 Bridge of Death again at night.

 Our yard wouldn't be complete without a grail...

(Bad, naughty Zoot)

 Our Halloween party wouldn't be even half as good if it weren't for these wonderful people.

 Not only do they always come up with great costumes every year, Sir Robin and his minstrels (a.k.a. Jesse's brother Tyler and his cousins Drew and Kate) make the best homemade donuts for us all. I love them so much.

Here I am (she's a witch!) and Jess.

We had a blast and hope Sam did too, even though he had no clue what was going on. I think we picked a great first Halloween costume. I wanted something other than a peanut or any of the other overly used infant costumes. 

I think I have his (and my) costume(s) picked out for next year already.

Also, I would like to add how amazing my husband is. We were under the impression that this year wouldn't be up to our usual Halloween yard standards since we couldn't spend much money this year and didn't have a whole lot of time, but somehow Jesse pulled it off. And it turned out amazing. Drew and I were pretty skeptical when Jess told us about his Bridge of Death idea, but when he started building it I was just blown away. Not to mention envious of his ingenuity and creativity. I am thoroughly convinced he can do anything. If only he could get a job that utilized these skills...

Thanksgiving was pretty low key, although we had two or three of them and I ended up getting the stomach flu and was only able to eat a small portion of mashed potatoes :(

Christmas was pretty fun, despite the usual hurried-traveling-to-each-house-thing and Sam missing his afternoon nap. He did very well and I am proud of him. I must say, Christmas on my side of the family is definitely more fun with a little one to celebrate with.

Gus even got in the spirit.

Unfortunately we are now a one-income family since, if I were to get a job, I would only be working to pay for a babysitter or daycare and therefore I would rather stay home and raise my son myself. I make a little money here and there through my Etsy shop, but not enough. And Jesse makes just enough for us to keep our house. Usually. Sigh. Needless to say, I was having a very hard time buying Christmas presents since the only things I buy anymore are baby food and gas for my car. And since I don't bring in the money, I feel super guilty buying myself anything anymore.

So, I ended up making a majority of the presents I gave out. It took forever and I was working like a mad woman.

Here's what I made for my sister-in-law.

 I used the images from this book. 

My Mom asked for potholders since she burned hers. I made her this.

The other side.

 And this.

 The other side.

I found the pattern for these here.

I made my Aunt a dishcloth and dishtowel.

 And potholders.

Whew! I feel very tired but, strangely enough, very satisfied. Handmade gifts are the best :)

I even had time to make a cherry pie for my friend's birthday and a pecan pie and pear pie with gruyere baked into the crust for Christmas (I was channeling my inner Chuck. How dare they cancel Pushing Daisies after only two seasons), with the help of my wonderful husband who kept the little one busy so I could bake, and also wrapped all the presents for me. I don't know what I would do without him.

Now I plan to get down to business and start designing patterns to sell in my shop. I am really trying hard to bring in more money for my family, and really hope to make my little home business a lucrative business. It would be my dream job!

We'll see how that goes with an eight-month old...

I am dreadfully unorganized so that means I might go awhile without blogging or leaving my house. Don't worry, if that happens it just means I am being productive! Or that Sam is keeping my extra busy.

 This one is a little blurry, but still cute. He loves his ugly doll.

Times may be tough, tougher than I have ever experienced before, but my babies make it all worth it. Especially when I wake up to things like this.

Oh, and I am excited because my cousin got me this book for Christmas:

Holy crap I want to make EVERYTHING in this book!! And I plan on it, assuming I can find the time (and the yarn). Why do all these books always suggest the most expensive yarn??? And you always need like fifty skeins of it too. How do these people afford it? I'm just hoping I can find yarn in my own stash that will work.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and a wonderful (and safe) New Years Eve! I will leave you with our family Christmas card (if only we could have gotten the dog and cat in there).