Seven Year (Late) Blanket

Tags

afghan, anniversary, blanket, Crochet, crocheting, gift, gift giving, handmade, homemade, postaday2011, stash bust, UFO, yarn, yarn arts, yarn craft

Remember me?
I started this blanket a year and a half before my parent’s 25th wedding anniversary… In my college days, I could pump out a full size afghan in just over a month, less than a month if I had a break… I would crochet while I studied my notes or while watching television. I figured a year and a half would be more than long enough to tackle an extremely large blanket. My vision was for their blanket to be long enough to cover a King Size bed, with both them under it, and still have enough to hang over the sides of the bed. I used a housemate’s queen size bed to estimate the size of this blanket. Of course, by time I completed my 10th row, I knew this was going to be larger than I planned… I continued with my project anyway.

Before I realized, graduation, work and grad school got in the way… I actually had left it at my parent’s house for a few years during grad school. So when I got the blanket back, I wasn’t surprised to find out that one of the colors was discontinued… so my project sat and sat… Last year, another blogger introduced me to idea of a “UFO”, unfinished object. I went to the craft store and found out the yarn color had been reissued. Yay! Work began again… then life fell back to my busy routine and the blanket was pushed to the side again.

When we knew we were moving, I wanted to stash bust. I wanted to finish this blanket before we moved and I was making a lot of progress. Unfortunately we had more packing than we thought…

Stripe Pattern

In January I unpacked a box and found the blanket… I was in the home stretch now, and couldn’t let it slide away (I wanted it finished before I had to pack again). The problem is this blanket is so difficult to work on due to its size. I had to sit in the middle of the couch, with my feet on a footstool in front of me, the blanket stretched out of either side of me, spilling over the footstool. Or I’d sit on my bed and work on it there. A lot of sweat went into this blanket… It’s large enough to fit a California King and still hang down the sides with both them under it.

Folded in half it covers a queen bed perfectly…

Finally finished your blanket Mom & Dad! Happy 32nd (and a half) anniversary… I hope this keeps you warm!

What unfinished projects do you have yet to complete?

Advertisement

Blankets for a Bouncing Baby Boy

Tags

baby blanket, baby gifts, baby nursery, baby shower, baby shower gift, blanket, craft, crafting, Crochet, crocheting, gift, handmade, homemade, it's a boy, postaday2011, present, yarn, yarn arts

These past few weeks I’ve been extremely busy creating all sorts of gifts… I made three blankets for my close friend’s baby shower. They are warm and cozy fleece blankets with a crocheted trim. I loved the technique so much, that I wanted to make more. And since April is raining babies, I finished these just in time for another friend of mine who is due tomorrow.

Trio of Baby Blankets

 

To create these blankets, I used a skip-stitch blade on my rotary cutter. I ran the blade along the edges to create holes to base my crochet trim. The trim on the green blanket has a round of single stitch and a round of half-double crochet. The trim on the blue blanket was made by two rounds of single stitches and then a round of double crochet. The cream blanket has a round of single stitch and the two rounds of half double crochet.

The perfect cozy wrap for snuggling a new baby…

What have you received as a homemade/handmade gift recently?

 

Detail of Edging

 

The Kindness of Others

Tags

afghan, baby blanket, baby gift, bloggers, crocheting, friend, friendship, infant, kindness, newborn, postaday2011, preemie, receiving blanket, swaddler, yarn, yarn craft

One of the reasons I love blogging? Friends, blog friends. Why not making friends through blogging. In my grandmother’s and mother’s time, maybe it was a snail mail pen-pal. When I was younger it was e-mail pen pals. I have friends who even have met their spouses on-line. Why not make a friend through blogging? Strangers that you connect with over the commonalities in your blogs and with whom you develop friendships. When they don’t post you worry. When you don’t post, they notice. I have developed several blog friendships and today I want to tell you about one of them.

Last month, my posting slowed down a bit and I shared a few reasons why. Many of my blogging friends offered well wishes, positive prayers and kind thoughts. One blogging friend took it a step farther. She had just finished crocheting a baby blanket and offered to send it for my friend’s preemie. A kind gift to welcome him into the world. Today, I received the blanket and a heartfelt letter full of positive energy. I cannot wait to deliver the blanket to this tiny guy, who is now over 4 lbs.!  In a world that is full of chaos and craziness, it’s refreshing to know that there are still genuinely sweet people. Thank you for your friendship and kindness Samina.

Beautiful Baby Blanket from Samina

❤ ❤ ❤

April Showers Bring Babies!

Tags

baby blanket, baby boy, baby crafts, baby gifts, baby nursery, baby presents, baby shower, baby shower gift, craft gifts, crafting, crochet blanket, crochet border, crochet edging, crochet trim, crocheted blanket, crocheted gift, crocheting, fleece, fleece blanket, half double crochet, it's a boy, nursery, postaday2011

It‘s a boy!

March & April seem to be raining babies (actually more like pouring), it’s hard to keep up with each bundle of joy. Today is a close friend‘s baby shower and I wanted to share what I’ve been working on for her lil’ baby boy… baby blankets of course!

Baby Boy Blanket Trio

 

This trio of blankets complement one another, while each being unique. One cream blanket has a dark country blue border, one light blue wrap is made with a dark country blue trim and there’s another cream blankie, this time with country blue edging. Each blanket is made of fleece with a crocheted yarn border. To create these cute snuggle wraps, I used a skip-stitch blade on my rotary and ran it along all four edges of a fleece rectangle. For the first round, I used the new slits to single crochet around the edge of the blanket, four stitch in each corner hole. The second round, I used a half-double crochet.

Fleece Baby Blankets with Crocheted Trim

 

Depending on the width, one yard of fleece can cut in half to make two blankets.

Congratulations Brandi & Josh! Welcome baby Brick!

The second half of March, posts have been few and far between. Thanks for being patient and supportive everyone! I tried to start my Spring cleaning this week and catch up on all the baby crafting I need to be doing in these baby bonanza months…

Beautiful Baby Headbands for A New Baby

Tags

accessories, accessory, baby bows, baby gifts, baby girl, bow, craft, crafting, Crochet, crocheting, flower, flower bow, girl, headband, infant, it's a girl, newborn, postaday2011, ribbon flower, Spring

One of my friends from work just found out that she may deliver her baby girl a littler early than expecting. She likes the headbands I made for my niece and I was planning on crocheting some for her. My nieces were just a tad too big for a newborn, so I made these a little smaller. They are stretchy so they will work for her for a little while. I plan to make her a few more in a larger size, since babies grow so fast…

Beautiful Baby Headbands

The top head band I crocheted with lavender baby yarn. Each row had 3 half double stitches and chain 3 on the end. I added a purple and hot pink ribbon flower.

The middle headband was crocheted with a light blue baby yarn. I used 2 double stitches per row and a chain on the end. I adorned it with a 8 petal ribbon flower.

The third headband was made with the lavender baby yarn. I crocheted one half double stitch per row with a chain 3 on the end. It is embellished with a flower made of purple ribbon with white polka dots.

What are you crafting now?

Beautiful Baby Headbands for A New Niece

Tags

accessory, baby bows, baby girl, craft, crafting, crocheting, family, girl, hair accessories, hair bow, infant, it's a girl, newborn, niece, postaday2011, Spring

Tomorrow (or possible super early Tuesday), we will have a new niece! It’s my SIL’s third child, but with two older boys, this little girl will have no choice but to be spoiled with girlie clothing and accessories (she’s the first granddaughter for my in-laws).

Beautiful Baby Headbands

I made her a few spring-inspired headbands…
For the first one, I used baby pink yarn (2 double crochets per row, chain 3) and made a cute hot pink and orange ribbon flower to add. Originally I thought about crocheting the flower, but I like the visual mix of textures.

Her second headband was made with lavender yarn (1 half double crochet, chain 3) embellished with purple ribbon with white polka-dots.

The third headband was crocheted with baby blue yarn (3 double crochets per row, chain 3) and I added a turquoise and lime green flower printed ribbon.

Finally, the fourth one was crocheted with lavender yarn (4 double crochets per row, chain 3) and I added a dark purple and hot pink ribbon flower.

I wanted to make a fifth headband (light green with baby pink and lime green ribbon), but the craft store was out of the color.

Pumpkin wanted to learn to crochet. Since I’m a righty and he’s a lefty, it was a little more difficult to learn and he gave up quickly. Maybe when he’s older we’ll give it another go (or maybe his lefty Aunt B will teach him the next time she’s in from Scotland)…

Any new family members on their way to joining your family soon?

Stash Busting – Work In Progress

Tags

afghan, blanket, craft, Crochet, crocheted blanket, crocheting, postaday2011, UFO, WIP

This weekend has been full of snow, grading papers, Pumpkin’s basketball, snow, grading papers… you get the point. We were away at my in-laws this weekend, we just got back and I needed to work on my craft stash. I did some major stash busting before we moved. However that doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of WIPs (work in progress)…

Work In Progress

 

I figured that If I shared a current picture of one major WIP, I’d be forced to share the finished product with you soon. I have given myself a timeline to finally get this blanket complete, and then I’ll share it’s amazing journey with you.

What WIPs do you have in your closet?