Wedding Gift

Starting back in mid-summer, I decided that for a co-workers wedding I would make a beautiful blanket. I was feeling ambitious and set out to make something completely different. Something that would make a sophisticated throw. I went to Michael's and found exactly what I was looking for in a Lion Brand Yarn book: Thick & Quick Throws. All the patterns in the book used the Homespun and Thick & Quick Chenille yarns. The cover throw sold me but I wanted to select some other colors. I used: Barley, Quartz and Cream in the Homespun and Dusty Blue in the Thick & Quick Chenille. This was an easy pattern to follow, yet has a sophisticated look and makes for a great throw, as you can see from the picture in my dining room. The majority of the blanket was a single crochet and the border was simply three double crochets in each space. To finish this gift, I wrapped it in a beautiful box and attached a couple handy kitchen utensils to the gift wrap ribbon. This wedding also featured me wearing one of the first things I've ever made for myself. More pictures of that to come!

Layette Set

About 9 months ago I began work on this adorable layette set. This layette set worked great as a baby shower gift and then as a welcome baby gift. I gave the sweater, beret, booties at the baby shower and then had time to finish up the blanket in time to visit the baby after she came home from hospital. These adorable items were for our good friends Susan and Murry and their sweet baby girl, Ms. Natalie. The size on these items appears to be about 6 months.

These set was made using a pattern for the pattern book Cuddle Me Layettes (purchased at JoAnn's). This was the 'Flowers' pattern, as the accent on each piece was a flower. The yarn was Bernat Softee Baby - Pink Parade. My only disappointments with this project would be that the bootie pattern didn't seem to work for me, I ended up using my own pattern. Also, I was annoyed with the way the coloring worked in the large size of the blanket.. it was staggered color pattern for most of the blanket and then almost the same for a few rows, then staggered again. By far the beret was my favorite piece, can't wait to see Ms. Natalie in it!

Replacement Blankie

Greetings, I've decided to start keeping track of all of my projects. First a little background.. I first learned to crochet when I was in the 3rd grade and had chicken pox and my aunt decided I needed something to do with my hands besides itch!! After college I became much more serious with my hobby and most of my projects are the result of needing gifts for friends and family, especially new babies! While most of the projects will be crochet related you may occasionally stumble upon some sewing or other random things as I get inspired. The first project I wanted to post about is the replacement blankie for Miss Ella. When she was born I made her this exact pink/purple blanket using the Bernat Baby Coordinates Sweet Stripes and the pattern found on the skein label. She has loved her blanket dearly for almost 3 years.. so much so that she needed a replacement. Attached is a shot of her with her replacement blankie. I was so glad that she was willing to accept the new blankie!! This is a really easy pattern to follow and the self striping yarn for makes for really quick crocheting without changing colors! Thanks for reading!