I made a star blanket for an internet acquaintance that recently had a baby boy.
I had some Caron Simply Soft left over from some previous projects so I used that. It's dark country blue, country blue, gray heather and white. I edged the blanket with white in one row of reverse sc, and I used an I hook.
The blanket measures 27" across.
I like it. The pattern is easy. I started this blanket on May 22, in the evening and finished it this morning, May 24.
5/11/08 Update
This is not working out - I've tossed this in the, pineapple scarf? What Pineapple scarf? pile. :P
I wanted to make a friend of mine a scarf. No, not the wintery kind - we live in Florida. I had seen her wear a long scarf with a dress the other day and it gave me an idea.
I went to Michael's Art & Crafts and picked up some Paton's Brilliant in Crystal Cream. It's a good color for her and the specks of gold add a bit of classiness in my opinion. :)
I was going to to a lacy tunisian stitch, but wasn't loving how it was turning out. Then I remembered a pineapple motif pattern I had and got the book and decided to do that.
I'm on the forth motif, not sure how it's all going to turn out or how many more skeins I'm going to have to use, but I'll play it by ear.
Even though I ranted about the Marshall Amp blanket (the cross-stitch part), I am going to work another cross-stitch blanket. I saw a book at Herrschners with panda bears and it was crochet. I simply had to get it. :)
It's called Cross-Stitch Crochet Afghans 2008 National Afghan Contest Winners. I had been happily working away on it when I got flooded with a few other projects, so it's setting aside for the time being, but I will get back to it because, well, it's pandas!
My second personalized baby blanket is finished. I used dark country blue and grey in Caron Simply Soft and an H hook. It is 28" x 31 1/2". Hubby helped chart out the crown on the mat. I used tunisian stitch for the mat and cross-stitched the name and crown in. I used a reverse sc for the border.
I knew I was going to use the Soy and simply adapted the pattern on the skein wrapper. It's a small blanket, but so soft and I really love the design. I had a bit of yarn left over so I made up a cap for him, too.
My friend has asked me for another baby blanket. Another family member on her son-in-law's side recently gave birth to a baby boy.
She said the first blanket was a hit with the family so we decided on a second one for this little guy. Since he has already been dubbed "The Prince", I decided to modify the border with crowns in place of the hearts.
When I first charted out a crown, I didn't take into account that my graph paper was square but the area I was working with was more rectangular, given I'm using dc. But I did think ahead to make up some swatches to see what it looked like. I decided to modify the border even more. The pattern shows 6 hearts along the bottom, top and 2 hearts along each side. Because I don't want my crowns look like they've been squished from the sides, I am making 3 crowns along the top and bottom with nothing along the sides.
I've also charted his name and need to chart another crown for the mat portion of the blanket. I've completed the bottom portion of the crown border and am about halfway done with one of the sides.
About 2 months or so ago, a friend approached me, wanting me to make a baby blanket. She had no specifications, and I asked her if she knew if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl. She said, a boy and they are naming him Marshall. I said ok and she proceeded to tell me that the father is a musician and they are naming him after the Marshall Amplifiers.
When I got home that night, my mind wouldn't stop thinking about this blanket. I had an idea to make an amplifier blanket. I discussed this idea with my husband, who is also a musician and has a fondness for Marshall Amplifiers and we both were very excited about this idea. Now I had to talk my friend into it. After all, Marshall Amplifiers, unless you are a musician, aren't very pretty or cute to look at.
I told my friend about the idea and even warned her that if we went through with it, it would not be received well at the baby shower by anyone but the parents. She saw how excited I was about this blanket and told me to go for it.
I picked up several skeins of different kinds of yarns to experiment with. I knew I wanted to do the tunisian stitch as that would give me the look I wanted - squares, lots of squares, to look like the front of the amplifier.
I made several swatches and asked hubby to pick out the best one. He chose the one made from Caron Simply Soft Heathers in Charcoal Heather.
After I worked up the blanket, I did an image search on the logo and worked up a chart using photoshop. I then got some graph paper and plotted out the name.
This next step almost derailed me and made me scratch the whole idea. Cross-stitch. I had never done this before. My first 3 attempts (yes, I said 3), I was making the xs INSIDE the squares. This produced a black outline of each x. Not an attractive logo.
I almost gave up.
I prayed and asked God to help me with this. I knew He gave me the idea for the blanket and wouldn't let me down when I was so close to being done. I was looking through some crochet magazines I have, just browsing through, unrelated to the blanket, when I came across a piece that had cross-stitching over an afghan stitch. This is what I needed! Although looking at the illustration completely confused me, I finally figured out how to make the xs on the afghan stitch.
After the name Marshall was stitched on, I bordered the blanket with a round of sc in Lion Brand Homespun, color Golden. I had brought my husband into Michaels' with me one day and told him to pick out any yarn, any color to border the blanket with. This is what he chose. I then followed that up with 2 rounds of hdc in the Charcoal Heathers.
I also made up a hat, hoping to cross-stitch the name Marshall on that, but my lack of skills in cross-stitching prevented that from happening. ;)
6/6/08 Update - Sadly, Savannah passed away about 2 weeks ago. Prayers of comfort and healing to her family.
My friend's daughter's friend, Savannah, is 14 years old and has a brain tumor. The doctors are saying she will not live long.
When I crochet, I touch every inch of every fiber that goes into the project. I pray over the items when I crochet them.
When I heard about Savannah, I immediately wondered what I could make for her.
I was thinking a hat, because I thought she would be losing her hair during the treatments. But the doctors say that with the type of treatments they are using, she will not be losing her hair.
And, we live in Florida, so hats aren't too helpful.
I went to the craft store to pick out some yarn. I picked up some Bernat Bamboo in Water and used an L hook. It's one of my favorite yarns to work with, it's so soft. It's 89% Bamboo and 11% Acrylic. One of the free patterns on the label was for a shrug (basically a rectangle sewed about 8-10 inches from each end to make sleeves). I thought this would be a nice accessory to give her.
It's about 42" x 14". I used my 14-year-old daughter as a model for sizing and for photos.
I just kept hearing, in my head, "Savannah's Song" as I was making this. I also like to search the scriptures to add a Bible verse to the items I make. I really felt that these verses are for Savannah.
Psalm 42:7-8
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
I have been asked to make a baby blanket for a friend whose friend is having a baby. The baby is due in April. I asked if they knew if the baby was a boy or girl. She told me a boy. She told me his name and why he was going to be named that. I am creating a blanket in afghan stitch and will be adding his name to the blanket in cross stitch (I hope since I've never cross stitched before). The blanket will then be edged appropriately.
I'm keeping this a secret until the project has been finished, but let's just say that the musicians reading this may appreciate it. I have also consulted my husband with textures and colors.
A friend of mine had seen a jacket/bolero worn by Joyce Meyers and asked if I could make her something similar. I was confident I could find a pattern in my millions of patterns around, but nothing jumped out at me. I then became nervous as I knew this would me I would have to try my hand at designing. And since I'm a perfectionist, this was not something I looked forward to.
I started by choosing the yarn. She told me the color she desired and I had in mind a certain yarn. I went to Michael's to check it out and the yarn was perfect. I chose Bernat Satin Sport in Jade. My friend wanted the jacket to have small openings so one would see the color of the shirt under it. I chose a pattern in Jean Leinhauser's book 101 stitches for afghans, stitch #40. I crocheted it in 8 pieces. Front left and right, back, sleeves, edging left, right and bottom. There were a few times I needed to frog it, however that was due to me not taking measurements properly. I was so concerned with making sure it wouldn't be too big that it was too small. It would have fit like a shirt, but she wanted to wear a shirt under it.
I must say that the Lord really showed me what to do with this jacket. I had crocheted vests before and took my knowledge of that to make the pieces, but a jacket is a bit different. I prayed and asked for guidance and He really met me and showed me what to do. I have not been to design school or anything like that. I learned to crochet reading patterns and sometimes panic if I don't have a pattern to follow - I just draw a blank. So this jacket was an awesome work of God. He used my hands to make it. :)
Well, I had finally finished it and she wore it Sunday. I got a picture of it on my iPhone, and once my camera comes, I'll get some more photos.
A while ago, I had crocheted a cozy/cover for my husband's guitar stand. It was an older stand and he just wanted something soft around it so his guitar could be protected.
He has the guitar stand on the stage at our church where he leads worship. One of the team members saw it and asked if I could make one for him. His brother makes guitars and uses a finishing on the guitars that the stuff on new guitar stands eats through or something. So he wanted something that would also protect his guitar.
I explained to him that the cover was crocheted directly onto the stand. I would need the stand in order to do the project. He went out and purchased a new stand and I used a skein of yarn that had been given to me by an online friend. I have no idea what kind of yarn it is. It appears to be wool(ish) and worsted weight. But it's a bit silkier than wool.
So I crocheted 2 rectangles for the legs and sewed them on, leaving a hole towards the bottom where the body of the guitar rests on the stand. That is covered by a foam that we do not believe eats through the finishing. If it seems to do so, I will cover that part as well. I also crocheted a cap for the stand. I crocheted it in 3 pieces, front, back and top; sewed them together and then sewed the cap to the legs.
He was very pleased with the outcome, as was I.
A new picture will be added when I get my new camera.
I made this cape for my daughter. I'll be making a second one for my younger daughter as well. It's from a pattern from Gourmet Crochet.
I used Caron Simply Soft Shadows Moss Green and a J hook.
I was inspired by Ashley Blalock and created this banner which I plan on hanging at my church above my table which shows some of my crochet work.
I used size 10 crochet thread, a 7 hook and FFF Kristha ribbon and an L hook.
For more pictures, see here.
I got myself an iPhone on Saturday. I LOVE it. I had to crochet up a pouch to keep it safe in my purse or pockets.
I first made one up using a hdc stitch, which wasn't bad, but I like the sc look better.
This one is made up using Bernat Cashmere which is 65% Acrylic, 30% Nylon, 5% Cashmere. The color is Rain.
I also crocheted a hairband around the top to keep it closed.
On September 6, I ordered some Susan Bates crochet hooks with bamboo handles from Coates Collection by Herrschners. They were having a sale (still are) where you can buy a set of 8 hooks for $12.97. Good deal since, if you purchase them separately, it would cost $22.xx.
They were on backorder so I had to wait FOREVER. I almost gave up, and would have given up if they were sold locally.
I received e-mail notification that they shipped last Thursday. They came today. I ripped out my current project - a baby blanket a friend asked me to make for her friend. I hadn't gotten very far, so it wasn't a big deal. I like them. I like Susan Bates hooks and figured I'd like these. I was right. :)
I was working on that filet banner thing. It's going to say, "Emmanuel God With Us". Us and With are finished. DO and part of G are finished. But I just have to work with yarn again.
Last night I drove to Michaels and picked up 8 balls of Patons SWS in Natural Pink. I'm making a vest - #8 Empire Vest as featured in Paton's The Look pattern book. It's coming along nicely. I needed to switch to a size larger hook than the pattern called for, of course. I should have started large. SWS is NOT frogger friendly.
This with be for 1 of 4 or 5 girls at church. Who knows. Maybe they'll all love it and beg their mommies to lay down $51 each so I can buy the yarn to make the vest. LOL
I'm making a thread project. But I miss working with yarn. I want to go to Michael's and pick up some Lion Brand Suede to make a vest or some Paton's SWS to make a vest. The dilemma? Scott is going to be taking me to a LYS on Saturday. We're going to the Boca Town Center Mall (Apple Store) to get him a new iPod (Emily, our oldest daughter is going to be getting his old one for her birthday) and I figured since we were in the neighborhood, could we check out Great Balls of Yarn. I've never been there.
I don't usually like going into a LYS without having a project in mind, and I don't know what they carry. I suppose I could go to "scout" the joint out.
See? Dilemma. Go to Michaels, spend my money on Suede or Wool/Soy or wait (that's the key word here) until Saturday to see what the LYS has in store for me.
