Lemon Drops and Hats to Match

I've always wanted to crochet a little dress.  When I was in the 5th grade, my best friend Kelly Cheales and I signed up for a crochet class that was held during the school lunch hour for the Winter months.  I remember it being a really enjoyable time... with the leaves all gone from the trees and the grey skies and dampness always underfoot, it was nice to stay warm and dry inside the brightly lit and vacated classroom (no boys!).  I honestly cannot remember if we were given instruction of any kind as far as crocheting was concerned, my memories really only consist of Kelly and myself...  crocheting!

While I plodded along learning how to create Granny Squares, Kelly had already acquired the skill of basic crochet from her mother and elder sister and had taken on the amazing task of crocheting a little red Christmas dress for her younger sister... I was absolutely in awe as each day that little dress began to take shape.  Somewhere inside myself I had placed the longing to one day be able to crochet a little dress too!

And here I am, only a few weeks shy of turning 50 years old, and the desire of my heart has been met... I've completed a little Lemon Drop Dress for my granddaughter!

I first found the pattern a few weeks ago and while I haphazardly stumbled through trying different ways of altering my stitches to accomodate Makenna's size, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  Learning to read a pattern, especially the floral portion was a real challenge to begin with, but I seemed to somehow catch on and it has built confidence in me to try more complicated and creative patterns.

In this picture you can see the little hat that I made to go with the dress, however... as I began to make hats as Christmas gifts for Malea, Olivia and Isabel, I began to love the design so much that I've decided to make one for Makenna, in addition to the one she will already receive, as I think it also compliments the dress nicely and gives it a very 'mod' look!  (Now there is a term from the 60's!)

What is so great about this little 'mod' hat is that I actually created the pattern myself!  I've never done that before and once again, I am really encouraged to try and do more pattern designing.

Now, if there was only some way to create more Time!