JC Baby Blanket

I am crocheting my fourth baby blanket in the Lion Brand Marbled Baby Throw pattern.  I love that pattern!  It is easy and you can totally zone out and it's all good.

This time this blanket is for a friend at work.  She went out on maternity leave and she will be due back really soon, so I really need to get on the horn if I want to send it to her before her return.

I am using Loops & Threads Impeccable (100% Acrylic, 128g each) in Clear Blue, Soft Fern and White.  While I am working with it, I am not loving this yarn; it is very stiff.  I am used to doing this large project with Berroco Comfort and that is relaxed and not so much strain on your wrists to get it out of the skein and to manipulate.  I wanted to save a few bucks (in case I never see this gal again; who knows, she may love staying at home and quit her job at work.  It would not be the first time I have seen this happen after the first child is born).

There is Razzy, helping me crochet.  Yarn attracts the cats, no doubt.  I ended up using one whole skein of each color and a little bit from a second skein. 

These types of blankets relax the more you wash them.  Acrylic is not the softest yarn, but it is sturdy.  It can withstand lots of wear and tear.

It will be nice to have a little blanket to cover either mommy or baby during those late night feedings or a nice square to lay down for the baby to hang out on the floor.

This was a simple granny square thing, around and around.  Perfect project for a beginner crocheter and a perfect project to use up scraps of yarn.

Bata Blanket #2

Yes, I am making the Marble Baby Throw from Lion Brand Yarn again.  This time for Vince's sister, who is having a boy.  I have made it twice now, they are listed below:

• Bebe Throw
• Bata Blanket - Part 1
• Bata Blanket - Finish

 

I named these blankets for the language of the recipients.  Bebe for my girlfriend who has Spanish spoken in her house and Bata for my Filipino boyfriend, whose these blankets went/will go to his Filipino friend and sister.  Bebe and Bata mean baby.

I am using the same yarn I used for the Bata Blanket: Berroco Comfort (50% Cotton, 50% Acrylic).  The colors I chose this time are Seedling (green) and Coffeeberry Heather (dark brown).

I checked out her gift registry and she had lime green and dark brown bedding as her color theme.  So, I did my best, even though Seedling is a bit darker than the lime green of the bedding.

I am crocheting, mainly at night, while TV watching.  But during the week, it is hard to have more than 30 minutes to work on it, so I have been reading.  I am crocheting the bulk of it on the weekends.  I have to finish by the beginning of September, for she is due September 12. Plenty of time.

Famous last words....

It is more than half complete.  This blanket takes a total of 4 skeins of yarn.  Since it is only 2 colors, 2 skeins each of Comfort color.  I am on my second set of skeins = more than half done.

In search of some natural lighting and background, I may have chosen poorly because the bushes are almost camouflaging the blanket!  You get the idea and this picture accurately portrays the colors of the yarn.

Think of this pattern as one big Granny Square.  I love how it is so easy. 

 

I have a feeling that this will not be the last Marbled Baby throw I crochet this year.  There is always someone having a baby and off the top of my head I can think of two women I know that I could crochet this for.  So much for knitting for myself...better warm up the crochet hook.

Palm Scrap Afghan

I think I have more unfinished projects right now than I have ever had in my life.  I am not even going to count them, I'm embarrassed!  Today I am writing to show off my newest project:

Palm Scrap Afghan

 

This project is an idea from a pullover/tunic project found in a new magazine I bought at my LYS.  The magazine is Interweave Crochet, Summer 2013:

 

Interweave Crochet Summer 2013

 

This issue has tons of cute things!  My gosh, I wish I had more time for crafts!  Anyway, back to my idea.  Thumbing through the magazine, there is a pattern Palm Tunic that I love love.  Here is a pic:

 

Palm Tunic



You crochet each triangle motif separately, but as you do your last set of stitches around the triangle motif, you connect it to the motif you crocheted before it...makes less ends to weave in.

 

I got this idea to do these motifs but make a scrap afghan out of it.  It will be eclectic, no doubt.  I started off with the blue yarn first.  Then added the light purple yarn.

 

 

I mainly started it just to see if I can read a pattern and actually crochet something that looks hard.  Although, it is a bit tight and the center part puckers...I am really liking it.

 

I added a few more a few weeks ago:

 

 

I do need more dark colors.  I am a very pink yarn collector, I have a ton of it, actually.  Which is why I want to use up the scraps so I can buy more yarn and be to justify it with a straight face.

 

My favorite motif is the darker pink one on the left.  It is a cotton/silk blend.  The stitches pop out more with this yarn.  I have a decent amount of this yarn left, but I have to save it to spread it out.  Mix it up a bit.

 

 

It has been awhile since I made a motif, it will be like learning the stitches all over again.  But it takes a good 30-40 min just to crochet one, so I don't know when this will actually get done.  I will just chip away at it as the days go by. 

Bata Blanket - Finish

Bata Blanket is done!!  I only used up about 1 skein of each color.  If I wanted to make it bigger, I could have bought another of each color, but when I measured it, it was already larger than the recommended size of 30" x 30".  

I started the project on May 19th and finished on June 1st.  I first posted it here:

• Bata Blanket - Part 1

The pic of the yarn above is all that was left.  Not too shabby.

The finished blanket was so cozy once it was done.  I had draped it over my legs while Vince I watched a movie.  Perfect-o!

I think the color combo is really nice together.  The light and dark makes it a girl blanket, but not strictly a baby blanket.  I will ship it off to baby Kaitlyn next week.  I hope she will enjoy it for years to come.

Bata Blanket - Part 1

Happy Memorial Day!

Bata, in the Filipino language, means Baby.  I have decided to crochet a baby blanket and give it to Vince's best friend who just had a baby girl in February and call it my Bata Blanket.  It is a pattern that I have crocheted in the past, so I will not be reinventing the wheel on this one.

The pattern is the Marbled Baby Throw from the huge selection at Lion Brand Yarns.  I had crocheted this for my friend's baby last summer, the CB Bebe Throw.  Here is a photo from that project:

Oliver's Blankie

I hear from Crissta and Oliver loves the blanket and sleeps with it every night!  I love it!!!

So, since it was a hit with one baby, let's go for two!  Vince's friend lives out in California and just had his second child.  Way back in 2010, I crocheted the same baby blanket pattern, like, 4 times.  His son got one of them.

Mateo's Blankie

Ok, let's get down to the details of this blanket.  I am using Berroco Comfort (50% Nylon, 50% Acrylic), worsted weight.  I am using two different purples (Raspberry Coulis & Grape Fizz), a teal blue (Dutch Teal) and a pink (Ballet Pink) bought at the Brandon Yarn Boutique.  I am using a size I hook. 

The Ballet Pink and Grape Fizz are light colors and the Rasperry and Dutch Teal are darker, more saturated.  The mix of them together area great! 

Berroco Comfort

The pattern is your basic granny square.  Just one big square that you change colors after two rounds.  I started this blanket last Sat, May 19.

The START!!

The above pic is what the start looks like, with all of the colors being used once.  From the middle, the colors are Dutch Teal, Raspberry Coulis, Grape Fizz and then Ballet Pink.  Once the pattern is established, you don't even need to lug around the pattern anymore and the colors start to come together.

Love this color combo!

I chose these colors over the Comfort Baby colors because the saturated colors give it such a pop, that I'm sure the bata will enjoy it as a toddler, too.

Vince and I have a plan that is being worked on for the sewing room!  I'm so excited to be moving forward with something in that room.  Once I had unpacked everything, it looked just as worse as when the stuff was in boxes!  Preview: I helped cut wood on a compound miter saw, I sanded with a belt sander and I am an expert on wood stain.......

Quilts - Brag Pics

Since I sew, I also make quilts.  I am in the process of making another quilt, this one for myself, and I thought that I would intro it with the quilts that I have made in the past.  I made my first quilt in a quilting class in Mass with my friend, Kjestine.  It was about the year 2004-ish, I think.

My first quilt I made a wallhanging size.  Now I have never hung it on the wall, but use it as a throw.  I still use it to this day.  The style is a logcabin.

My First Quilt - 2004

My First Quilt - 2004

My second quilt I made as a gift and it was a baby quilt size, which was quite large actually.  The baby's bedroom had a jungle theme.

Joni - 2005

Joni - 2005

Next, later in 2005, I made another baby quilt for my cousin Stephanie's baby, Aiden.  This was made with fleece and did a blanket stitch around the edges.

Aiden - 2005

I was a quilting fool in 2005, I made a third quilt for my friend Erin's baby, Janelle.

Janelle - 2005

Janelle - 2005

I took a small break and made a quilt in 2007 for myself.  I made it bedspread size.  This one was a spin off the courthouse steps style.  I used flannel as my backing (back fabric).  So snuggley.

Mine - 2007

Mine - 2007

Next, in 2009, I made a baby quilt for my friend Nicole's baby, Allison.

Allison - 2009

Allison - 2009

In 2009, I made two quilts, one for each of Vince's daughters for Christmas.  These were full size quilts and I backed them with flannel, like I did for mine in 2007.

Youngest daughter Gen, I made a daisy chain style.

Gen - 2009

Gen - 2009

Gen - 2009

For his oldest daughter Alex, I made a spin of courthouse steps style.

Alex - 2009

Alex - 2009

Alex - 2009

In 2010, two more friends had babies.  Crissta was first, with Ines.  Her sex was unknown, so I had to make it neutral.

Ines - 2010

Ines - 2010

Next was Sheri, who had Keira.

Keira - 2010

Keira - 2010

I have made another one for my friend Crystal's son, Zander, but I could not find any pics of it.   Hey Crystal, if you can, take a pic of the quilt for me!

Update!

I now have pics of Zander's quilt.  His had a bug theme (and little mice thrown in :-) ):

Zander - 2008

Zander - 2008

I have saved all the scraps from these quilts and that is what I will use to make my next quilt.  I will share this with you over the next couple of weeks. 

Let me know which one(s) are your favorites!  I truly love each of these and I got great enjoyment giving them as gifts.  For the ones that I kept, I cherish and use them all the time.  Take time to learn how to quilt, it is a timeless tradition that makes family heirlooms.

Star Baby Blanket - Part 3

Hooray!  I finally finished the Star Baby Blanket!  This took me about 2 weeks, I think I started on Aug 4, which was a Saturday.

Here is a close-up of a corner:

I did have to go out and buy one more skein of each blue, but I only went around the blanket with one set of two rounds with each.  These skeins will join my bin of stash yarn.  I was trying to stash-bust using yarn I already had, but alas, I'm left with the roughly the same amount.

I will have to make scarves as gifts to stash-bust these skeins.  Anyway, here is the final picture:

It came out very nice.  It's not perfect, but I think that one won't even notice.  If you look real close, a skilled crocheter will pick out the irregularities, but the layperson...doubtful.  I will send this blanket as a gift soon.

I am now at a loss of what to work on next.  I have yarn for projects, but I fell like if I'm going to make a few gifts for Christmas, I should get knitting or crocheting now and put my personal projects aside until Dec/Jan.  Doing that, I then feel some anxiety that I must do the gifts and pick a nice project or the recipient will not like it and think it some ole granny gift.  

I will think it over and you shall see in my coming posts, what I decide to work on next.  Have a great week!

Related Posts:

• Star Baby Blanket - Part 1
• Star Baby Blanket - Part 2

Star Baby Blanket - Part 2

I have been working on the star baby blanket from last week's post and I am about 60% done.  So, I will show what I've been up to, then I gotta go!

Here it is so far:

I figured out what I was doing wrong, which was pretty much nothing.  I just connected it at the top of the chain on that 3rd round and went with it.  The next round I made sure that I crocheted the proper quantity of double crochets.  

I have been alternating between the colors so that you can see the star/ripple pattern better  I have about 13" done from the middle to the point.

I need to crochet until I have 20" from the middle to the point, giving me a 40" diameter, when complete.  I am running low on the two blue yarns, so I will figure out how many more rounds I need to do in 7" and see if I can squeak by with what I have or if I will have to buy another skein or two of the blues.

Here is a close-up of a star corner.  The blues I am crocheting two rounds and only one round with the cream.

I hope to finish today or run out of yarn so I can be at the position to buy more during the week and finish it up by next weekend.

Would love to chat more, but I gotta get hooking!

Related Posts:

• Star Baby Blanket - Part 1
• Star Baby Blanket - Part 3