Waffle weave mug cozie crochet pattern

Another one of the fabulous child care center directors I am working with just finished her Aim4Excellence credential not too long ago. You know what that means, don’t you? Time for me to crochet something as a little “congrats!” gift! 

I knew the director enjoyed coffee/tea/hot cocoa so I wanted to get her a gift card to Caribou Coffee. I have made a handful of different coffee mug cozies in the past, but I came across a pattern that used the waffle weave stitch that I had used in a baby blanket years ago. 



I LOVE that a simple front post double crochet and back post double crochet stitch can create such a unique, textured look. 

Materials used: 

A small amount of worsted weight yarn (I chose a pretty teal color)
Size H hook (5 mm)
Large button
Thread, scissors, needle

I found the free waffle weave crocheted cozie pattern here.

The pattern calls for a 4.5mm hook, which I didn’t have. I used a 5mm hook and it worked out just fine! Mine fits the small size Caribou coffee cup just perfectly!

End of Round 1.

A few stitches into Round 3. Notice how the the texture is starting to
appear already. 

A few stitches into Round 4.

A little over half way done. You can see how the alternating front and back post double crochet stitches make this unique waffle weave look. 

Finished product!

After crocheting the cozie, I found a nice large wooden button and sewed it on with turquoise thread. I put it on the Caribou Coffee cup, filled the cup with some candies and the gift card, and “Wa-la!” The director loved her little gift! :) P.S. If you ask the coffee shop barista reaaalllly nicely, they might just give you an extra cup for free - they did for me! 

Yummmmy. Chocolate and a coffee gift card. What's not to love!?

If you like the look of this waffle weave stitch, you should check out the baby blanket I made using the same type of pattern – it is simple and beautiful! 

Baby blanket using the waffle weave crochet stitch.

                               

Brightest and sharpest

I have the privilege of working with some amazing child care providers here in Fargo. The quality rating system for child care providers in the state of North Dakota is called Bright and Early. As part of my job working for Child Care Aware of ND, I get to coach programs who are going through the different steps of Bright and Early. If you want to know the different programs who are participating and what step they are at, check out this super cool interactive map of ND: http://www.brightnd.org/

You might remember my previous post where I mentioned a program that had achieved Step 2 status. I had made each of the teachers a little gift by putting some Reese’s Pieces candy into a little glass jar shaped like a light bulb. Check out that post here: http://erinscraftyendeavors.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-bright-idea.html

This same program has now achieved Step 3!! Woo hoo! I love working with child care programs who go above and beyond for kids! It is so exciting to see how passionate providers are about their jobs and all the hard work they put in during each of these steps to prove that they are the best of the best! 

This time, I wanted to put together a little something that the teachers could use in their classrooms. Since the program is called BRIGHT and early, I figured I would go with something that is bright and colorful. I didn’t want to spend more than $5 or so on each person since there were 8 teachers I was buying for. First, I headed to the local Dollar Tree. There, I found packs of multi-colored sticky notes in bright neon colors. I also found a pack of 4 yellow highlighters. Ten dollars later, I went to Wal-Mart. There, I found a 5 pack of Sharpie markers with fun new bright/bold colors. They were less than $4 each. I bought 8 of them and then headed home. 

I separated out my goodies and began to write out a little thank you note for each one. The note read, “Thanks for being one of the BRIGHTest and SHARPest teachers around! Congrats on achieving Step 3!”

Get it?! Brightest for “Bright and Early” and sharpest for Sharpies. Heehee. I’m so clever. Ok, so, not really, but I had fun with the puns! I separated out the highlighters so each teacher got one and then put together each pack and tied them together with some gold Christmas ribbon. I taped the highlighter to the pack of Sharpies so it wouldn’t slip out of the ribbon. After tying the materials together, I slipped the handwritten note under the ribbon. Ta-da! 

I got to hand deliver them to the director the next day. She loved them and was excited to hand them out to her teachers. This is the first program I have had the honor of coaching through both step 2 and step 3! It’s been so fun seeing them grow and make progress and really embrace change. 

For the teachers and child care providers in your life, this is an easy and fun way to show them you appreciate their hard work every day. Being a child care provider is a tough, exhausting, and often thankless job. I know - I did it for 10 years! Anytime a parent showed appreciation with a small gift or even a grateful "thank you," it was remembered. So, go out TODAY and do something simple and creative (and inexpensive!) to show your child care providers you appreciate them. It will go a long ways in showing them you care. 

Square hat with two pompoms

Awwwwww. Seriously, that's the only word for this picture.

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE making baby gifts? I know SO many people expecting babies right now! As soon as I hear about someone expecting a baby, I immediately ask if they are going to find out the sex of the baby. It’s always easier to make something if you know if it’s a boy or girl. One of the child care centers I am working with has FOUR women expecting. Woo! Don’t be drinking that water unless you want a little one of your own. ;) 

One of the gals, Miranda, had her sweet baby boy, Creed, just about a month ago. I decided to make this adorable double pom pom hat for her lil guy using a nice, soft, thick and colorful yarn. I found the free double pom pom hat pattern here.

Starting the foundation single crochet

For this pattern, I used the following:
10 mm crochet hook

1 ½ skeins of Loops & Threads Charisma in Sunny Day
My homemade pom pom maker (click here for how to make a poof ball)

This pattern starts on the bottom rim of the hat and works its way up.  To make the rim a little bit more stretchy and flexible, I tried out a foundation single crochet stitch.



I have never done that before so I had to look up a Youtube video to see how it was done. Not really all that hard to learn and the result was wonderful! I will be starting more patterns with this technique!

After a row of front and back post double crochets. See that nice texture starting to pop out?

The first couple rows are front and back post double crochet to create a neat looking texture on the rim of the hat. The rest of the pattern is simply double crochet stitches. I made my hat a little bit bigger because I expect the lil guy to grow into it and didn’t want it to be too small right away.

Pom poms are attached. Now time to trim them!

I added a few more inches on the top before finishing off so that the rim can be rolled up. That way, the baby can grow into the hat a little bit more. After finishing the hat, I made two pom poms to attach to the top two corners of the hat.

Finished product with the trim of the hat unrolled

The trim of the hat rolled up to fit a smaller baby.

Absolutely precious baby Creed snoozing away in his new hat!

Professional pictures were done by Expressions by Ashton Photography. She has a location in Fargo and Bismarck, ND. Here is their website for more info: http://expressionsbyashton.com/