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.

WIPs (Work In Progress)

I track my knitting and crochet projects in Ravelry (an online knitting and crochet community).  I have six (6) WIP's: including one (1) that I bought yarn for and have not even casted on for yet and one sewing project that is incomplete.

I figured I would showcase theses projects as to remind myself and my faithful readers what are still outstanding.  Yes, I am calling myself out!

I am going to list them from oldest to newest...here we go (I'm going to be hiding under a blanket as to no show my face while you read this)...embarrassing!

Dec 2009, Celtic Knot Sweater:

This is supposed to be a Celtic Knot Sweater from Interweave Knits Winter 2007.  Yeah...I was so psyched to buy this, only to never even knit up a gauge swatch.  This is what the project should look like when complete...

I love it even today...someday I will start this project.  Next:

March 2013, Scrappy Quilt:

My Scrappy Quilt!  Each weekend I think that I will work on it, but I don't.  I have to sew on my borders, sew the backing and then pin the three layers with the batting in the middle and quilt the top.  I have a friend that has a quilting machine that I will arrange a visit when I am at that stage.  Ugh...the winter would be a great time to finish this quilt.

March 2013, Cabled Cardi KAL:

 

 

 

I am still deciding whether to unravel or keep knitting.  This was not knitted according to the pattern, where I knitted a cable at each interval, but there should be a patch of knitting between each cable.  My sister thinks it will be fine if I continue as I have been knitting.  I suppose so...I am going to visit in Dec, but I doubt I will be done with this by then.  But on the other hand, visiting Mass will be the only occasion in which I will wear it.  Whatever...

 

 

June 2013, Indecision City (aks Plum Lovin')

 

 

This is supposed to be a shawl.  I have not even blogged much about it.  I'm not in love with it, so I may rip it out at some point and choose another project for this yarn.

 

 

This yarn is my alpaca and silk blend.  I want a worthy pattern for this yarn.  I think I have convinced myself that I will rip it out and start a different pattern with it.  Alas...

 

July 2013, Palm Scrap Afghan

 

 

This is supposed to be a WIP, but I have gone past these 4 motifs.  I need worsted weight yarn for this and ideally machine washable.  I have some wool, but I cannot wash it, and other weights of yarn.  I could still use them, I just have not gotten there yet. 

 

August 2013, Romance Shell

 

 

I have paused on this project because the yarn is not nice to work with.  But I should work on this at the beginning of the year, to ensure it will be wearable by spring.  This will be perfect for spring.

 

I am still doing some Christmas knitting, where those projects will not be revealed until after Christmas, as to not spoil it for anyone, so those are not counted here.

 

I write this over Thanksgiving weekend and cannot resist the urge to go to Brandon Yarn Boutique and buy yarn for my next project.  Buying yarn really is a habit and it is hard not to do it.  I clearly do not need any more yarn or projects, clearly....but I love new projects and new yarn and using my ball winder and cataloging the yarn in Ravelry.  I need to knock off my Vampire Knits patterns...I think my purchase will include yarn for the Lore Hoodie! 

 

 

Ooh I can't wait!!!



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. 

Books - Quarter 2

Is this already the end of the second quarter of 2013?  The year is half over already???  I feel like I better start doing some fun stuff to make the year last longer.  Anyway, I don't know what I have been doing, but reading has not been one of them!  I only got through one book in 3 months.

2. This book was one that was on my To-Read list for awhile.  It was a good book, but not what I had in mind.  It reads part fiction and part non-fiction.  Let me explain: It takes place in the era of when the World's Fair comes to Chicago back in 1893.  It is a work of non-fiction with dramatization, not unlike "based on true story" books and TV shows.  This is true crime that occurred during the World's Fair.  The boring parts for me, but interesting because it is how history was made, were the sections regarding how the Fair came about and who was in charge of what and the difficulties that the organizers and architects faced in order to meet the Fair's Opening Day in time.  Interesting because the Fair was when the Ferris Wheel was born and other inventions such as mass electricity, fireworks and Shredded Wheat debuted.  You learned that Frank Llyod Wright was an architect that was fired from a firm that did not win the bid for Fair and other interesting tidbits of historical information.  The interesting parts were the demonic ways of a silent serial killer on the loose during this time.  He used the lure and excitement of the Fair to gain property, loans, false identities and especially women.  He would lure women with his charm, and dupe them into signing over any property they had with dreams of marriage and extravagant trips.  Once he got what he wanted he would murder them in gas chambers that he built and in other horrific ways.  He went undetected as a serial killer and only was caught when he tried to cash in a life insurance policy on someone that he killed or so it would seem they died "accidentally"; he was caught for insurance fraud .  That was when they explored his personal belongings and uncovered another world in which he lived in.  The Fair and the serial killer story lines occurred in parallel, so reading this book tended to go slow during the historical parts.  It was a good book, well written based on hundreds of letters, other types of correspondence, photographs, trips to the Chicago archives and countless other sources of information.  One must be a great writer, to piece all of these events gathers from various sources to make a book that coherently tells this story of a great World's Fair.

I am getting burnt out on my knitting and crocheting projects, so I think I am taking a break from them for awhile.  I will do some sewing projects and some reading this summer.  I do love yarn and want to buy pattern books of beautiful pieces to create and soft yarn to touch, but I must resist!  I have a ton of yarn and a ton of books; I do not need to buy anymore.  I can finish my Scrappy Quilt that I have pushed the pause button on.  That should tide me over for a bit.

Is anyone else in a crafting slump?  Knitters block?  Eye twitching from too much reading?  Let me know...

Kathy's Cardi Conversions

Way back when, like last year, my sister gave me a bunch of sweaters to convert into cardigans.  She saw my post, Unbiased Cardi, and wanted some!  Well...let's just say I have been sitting on them...not making them into cardis.  Ugh, I know, I'm a procrastinator.

When my sister came down, one of the days we finally worked on those sweater conversions.  The first one was a polo-neck style:

Before

We cut this one up the middle, sewed the front band towards the inside and sewed a hem up each side.  Here is Kathy modeling:

After

Next, we took a cabled crew neck:

Before

We cut it up the front and cut the sleeves down a bit.  The sides were hemmed.  Here is her modeling that one too:

So, for the last one, we did something very different.  Well, not so different that we did not cut it up the front, but different enough.  Here is the before:

Before

This one was a cashmere turtleneck.  We cut it up the front, but at a slight angle, cutting right through the turtleneck.

Angle Cutting - In Action

Then, we took some yarn that I used for the Fuzzy Wuzzy hat and scarf set last Christmas and crocheted it on the edge.  Huh?  Yes, we did a mixed media project!!

Just Poke It Through

We took a steel crochet hook and poked it through, grabbed the yarn and pulled it through.  This part Kathy did, I was working on the other cardi conversions.  She did a single crochet around the whole edge, then crocheted double crochets for two rows.  Wait until you see it...pretty neat...

After

We looked through my button jar and found a nice Celtic silver button to cinch it closed.  I'm proud of her!  Here are a few more pics of it:

Close-Up

Ever After

I can say we had a good 'ole crafting time with her sweaters.  They all got a new lease on life when Old Man Winter hits Mass again this year.  Kind of funny to see her wearing a sweater next to a cactus in the month of June.

Let me know if anyone else has done their own "cardi conversions"!

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.......

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

Star Baby Blanket - Part 1

I have one more baby blanket to make.  This one is quite a bit late, but it'll come.  I wanted to try something new, like always.  I chose a cute star-shaped baby blanket pattern and started it the other evening.  Then I ran into a road block where I was doing something wrong and I can't figure it out.  Again, as usual!

Let me introduce the pattern: It is called "Pipsqueak Star Blanket" from Bernat and it is crochet.

Picture from Bernat's website

Isn't it adorable?  I thought it looked easy and it is marked as a 2 out of 4 skill level. 

I am going to use Loops & Threads Country Loom (100% Acrylic) in a light blue (Ocean Tide) and a brown/blue mix (Landscape), in addition to Bernat Soft Boucle (97% Acrylic, 3% Polyester) in a natural color. 

My issue was with Round 3, in which I am left with a gap before I connect to end the round.  I redid it several times and still a gap.  

I don't get it.  So, above was my first attempt.  I should have 6 points, for one thing and I only had 5 and not enough room for the 6th.  After fooling around with it for a bit, I decided to try it with regular yarn so that I may see all the stitches.  I was thinking that maybe it was the yarn and I could not see the stitches in order to count them correctly.

My next attempt with regular yarn, still yielded a small gap.  I have 6 points this time, at least.  I have put a call in with my sister and she left me a message that the pattern was working out fine for her.  Of course it is!

I will try and try again until I can get it right.  So, enough typing, I need to get hooking!

Related Posts:

• Star Baby Blanket - Part 2
• Star Baby Blanket - Part 3