Building Blocks Blanket (WIP)

I’ve been hard at work on another baby blanket, this one using 8 fun and bright colors.

Spring Green, Pumpkin, Turqua, Amethyst, Blue, Hot Red, Bright Yellow, and Heartfelt. All by Red Heart.

The ‘dark blue’ in the photo is actually the Amethyst. My phone will not show purple for some reason.

I’ve been crocheting tiny granny squares, small granny squares, medium granny squares, and a few large granny squares.

I cannot show the layout fully yet as I want it to be a surprise for the momma-to-be.

But here is a sneak peek:

All tails from making the squares are weaved. Now I just need to arrange all the squares in a way that I like, then start joining the squares together. Right now it appears to be shaping up to be around 33″x33″. With the border it should hopefully end up 36″x36″ which is perfect for a new baby.

I have roughly three weeks to finish this. Plus about three other projects all due around the same time.

Viviann’s Garden

Finally! I can share Viviann’s Garden, the baby blanket I’ve been working on secretly for a couple months. I had to wait until we knew if JDP was having a girl or boy, but once she found out she was having a girl, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

I posted a teaser photo before:

Using a pattern by Karen from Colour in a Simple Life, I started making squares:

100 squares in total:

I decided to use slip stitches to join all the squares together:

While I was working on joining the squares, my mind jumped ahead thinking about how I would border the blanket. I wanted a border that would enhance the blanket, not distract from it. Then Sandra over at Cherry Heart posted her tutorial for the granny patches border. And my mind said “perfect!”.

I made the decision not to do various colors for the border, staying with the same green as the squares, for the 3dc shell rounds but used pink and yellow for the two rounds that make the peekaboo colors show.

I cannot believe how perfect the border ended up being for this blanket. What do you think?

Thank you to both Karen at Colour in a Simple Life and Sandra at Cherry Heart for these great patterns. Your patterns have helped me make a baby blanket for my best friend’s baby girl, Viviann, who should be making her debut to the world in about four weeks.

Log Cabin Crochet

While pondering ideas for squares for a baby blanket, browsing magazines in the craft store, looking at quilt blocks on Pinterest…I had an idea pop in my head for another blanket.

Out came the graph paper and colored pencils.

Colors to be used: hot red, bright yellow, blue, amethyst, spring green, and a variegated that pulls in most of those colors.

Now that I have the basics figured out, and what mistakes “not” to make, I can go back to the project that I have almost finished and get it ready for Sunday’s baby shower. Pictures of that project to appear after the shower! I can’t wait!

Still Crocheting

In case you’re wondering, yes I am still crocheting too! I did take a break from it while I learned a bit about sewing and worked on my crazy squares, but I’m back working on a blanket that will be a gift for someone that’s due to make her debut in this world in April.

100 squares are the goal. 61 are finished. 14 more just need the final round. And 25 centers are done.

But…I can’t show you the blanket yet! Because I want to keep it a surprise for J.D.P. and her baby-to-be.

How about a sneak peek at least?

Sneak Peek

Here are some sneak peeks of my current projects:

Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2013

Have you seen the Beautiful Blogger Blanket posts going around? If not, here is the link to the blog hosting this event!  Stocki ran an event in 2012 and had a great turnout so she is doing it again for 2013. She has a list of the rules on her blog post, but to sum it up here:

• use 100% DK cotton,
• any colors you want,
• any crochet square pattern you want (including own designs), include the source,
• you can submit up to 4 squares (you earn 1 entry per square),
• size can range between 5x5cm and 20x20cm (which appears to be approx 1.9inx1.9in smallest up to 7.9inx7.9in largest),
• sew in all ends,
• and the deadline to mail them to her is January 31st, 2013.  Include address (in case you win) and blog address (if you have one).

Pretty simple! And allows for a lot of imagination between colors and patterns.

The prize?? If you win, you win the blanket that is made from all the squares submitted by all the participants, who are from all over the world! Isn’t that wonderful!

Take a spin by Stocki’s blog and check out last year’s blanket made with the squares from people all over the world.

(I also added a link to her blog to my blogroll on the right).

Spiral Blanket, New Design Attempt, and more

Since there are at least two babies on the way between friends and family, I decided I needed to learn some new patterns. Such as the Four Color Spiral Blanket found on Smooth Fox Crochet and Knit blog.

Honestly, I was worried this would be beyond my abilities. I’m definitely not a beginner, I’d even consider myself fairly experienced, but looking at the end result of the spiral blanket my brain said “this is beyond you”. Of course I had to ignore my brain for being so mean to me. And I tried the pattern.

Wow! How easy! Seriously, it is easy. The hardest part is keeping four skeins from getting tangled up too badly.

So after that test search above, I gathered up some neutral colors that I like and started on a blanket:

Bernat Satin yarn in: camel, sable, mocha, and foliage.

Today I turned my attention over to a design that has been turning over in my mind for a couple days now. I drew a picture of it, made notes on what I thought the stitches would need to be, then grabbed a couple colors and started to put it together:

What do you think of it? I’m going to tinker a bit with the wording and take a few in progress pictures then I’ll put a pattern up for it.

Edit to add: and the “and more” part of my post title?

JDP is having a GIRL!!!

Baby Squares

I was browsing through my favorite blogs list over there on the right (pointing my finger to the right as I type that…). And on Colour in a Simple Life, I saw her post titled Just Because and saw the precious little squares she made. And I thought to myself “Self, you need squares for a blanket. She has squares for a blanket, and she nicely provided a pattern for them”. After I thought that, I then thought “you need to make those squares”.

So I did! They are super easy and look so cute! But definitely girly. Even in those dreaded ‘boy’ colors.

The middle picture, the last round is actually purple but it’s hard to tell.

After making up a few…dozen…I then thought about the solid granny squares I had been making. So I pulled one out of the tote and placed it with the new squares:

Perfect fit size-wise!

What do you think, still too girly of a square even in boy colors?

Designing, Ideas, and…Frogs?

Thanks to some wonderful news from a very good friend of mine, I get to start working on something that I’ve waited a long time to make. BUT…I cannot find a pattern anywhere for what I want to make!

 

So that means…I get to try my hand again at designing!  I wish I could elaborate more, but the news is not fully out yet, so I cannot.

 

I will, however, share bits and pieces as the days go on and I figure out my design!  Hints: it will be yellow. And a bit of orange. And it will be a blanket.

 

So, where do the frogs come into play, you ask? Well if you’ve ever tried your hand at designing, you know there is a lotta frogging going on too!

The WIP List

Do you know how many UFOs and WIPs I have?

No? Neither do I! Which means its time for The WIP List.

Luckily (I think?) I have like 1,000 pictures on my phone so I’m sure I can figure out a lot of WIPs and UFOs that I have just hanging around, giving me sad sad looks, whispering to each other “what did I do wrong? Why did she abandon me?”.

Never fear, precious WIPs! You have not been abandoned. Merely…given time for my brain to fully imagine your full potential so I can give you your due (sound convincing??).

WIP 1:

WIP 2:

WIP 3:

WIP 4:

WIP 5:

WIP 6:

WIP 7:

Well…I’m sure there’s more, but that list is already making me feel bad! Poor abandoned projects. All those whispers, all those tears. I better get to work! (the last one is not an abandoned one though, it’s the one currently on the hook and slowly piling up the rectangles).