Saturday, March 29, 2014

Crochety


(This post should have been published at the end of March! I just now discovered it wasn't, so here it is.)

Not to be confused with crotchety. Though...that too. ;-) 

I have been knitting since I was a kid, and while I tried crochet about 20 years ago, I didn't stay with it. Made a couple of blankets, then stopped, except for the occasional border around a knitted something or other. Recently I have bit bitten hard by the crochet bug, and have been working on improving my skills and knowledge. One of the things I love about it is that things work up a lot faster in crochet. Above is the blanket made of leftover yarn from other projects (I shared an in-progress photo of it in an earlier  post). I have finally made a serious dent in my stash of medium weight acrylic yarn. And though this blanket is a bit on the small side, more of a throw or lap blanket, really, it has kept me cozy as the top layer on my bed this winter.


My two favorite things in crochet right now are blankets and toys. This owl was my first crocheted toy, and I can't wait to make more.


I especially like granny squares. Who knew there were so many kinds, though?! I used up more stash and tried out some new to me granny square patterns. These were sent to Knit A Square in South Africa, where they will be joined with other squares and made into blankets that will be donated to orphans there.

I am trying to finish up a knitting project or two, then I will get started on another blanket for us! I can't wait to get started.


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Baby Gifts


Going back in time a little to show you some things I didn't share at the time. This teddy was a first birthday present for an adorable little boy. I used Lion Brand's Fisherman's Wool for the bear, so unfortunately it can't go in the washing machine; it was all I had on hand. The mom has since told me the bear's name is Bud and that he goes everywhere Ethan goes. :-) The knitting pattern is availble on Ravely and is called Big Bad Beauregarde Bear. Sorry, I still haven't figured out how to make links in this app. It's a wonderful pattern, with everything knit in the round and no sewing to do. I tried to make the card match. I used a bear stamp from the Posh Impressions Circus set, adding colored pencil because I didn't get good coverage when I stamped it. I didn't want to use googly eyes and run the risk that little Ethan might pull them off and put them up his nose or something, so I used a tiny hole punch to make white circles and drew in the black dots. The greeting is by Darcies Country Folk, and the paper was something  i picked up at Target for $1 (package of something like 12 papers).


This was a welcome to the world gift for a baby born last month. I chose the colors based on the layette the parents had picked out. It's just a big garter stitch square with attached i-cord trim. The yarn is a cotton/acrylic blend.


This is the card I made to go with the blanket. The stickers are by Suzy's Zoo.

I've been up to lots of other mischief lately and hopefully will do another post soon. I hope everyone is having a great day.