Tag Archives: crochet

Here are the latest projects in yarn.

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Even though I haven’t updated my blog in a while, I have been busy crafting.  Granted, I haven’t had a lot of time to do it but the least I can do it post them.cable baby blanket 3

Pictured to the right is my most recent creation, a cable knit baby blanket.  I’ve never been much of a knitter but have always been intimidated by doing cables so, since a friend of mine at work is preggers, I decided to take the plunge.  Much to my surprise, it was incredibly easy to do!  Since I’m not one for following patterns, I decided to design my own and this is what I came up with.  It looks incredibly difficult but I’m very happy with how it turned out.

 

 


 

 

 

flower granny square blanket This is a granny square blanket that I ended up doing for one of my co-workers before his daughter was born.  Again, not being one for following patters, after the lavender flower was created, I pretty much went on my own for this one.  I was so happy with how it turned out, I entered it into our local county fair, last year, and got a blue ribbon for it!  A local yarn shop liked it so much, they gave me a $25 gift certificate also.  I’m glad because I really love the store! http://www.sageyarn.com/


granny square blanket 1Again, this is another granny square baby blanket for another of my co-workers that had a daughter on the way.  When I asked him what colors his wife liked and what the color of the nursery was, he said that she’s a big fan of pink and yellow.  This picture doesn’t show the colors very well but trust me…it was REALLY pink and yellow!  Again, no pattern…just winged it.


tunisian crochet baby blanketThis is another baby blanket I made, during the creation process, in a different technique called Tunisian crochet.  It’s actually a very old technique that was used quite a bit during the 30’s and 40’s but was called an afghan stitch instead of Tunisian crochet.  By mixing up the colors, I found that it makes a lovely hound’s tooth pattern.  I also made the crochet hook because, at the time, I couldn’t purchase one in the large size that I needed.  You guessed it…no pattern!


hippy bag tunisian crochetThis is the final picture I’m posting.  This is another example of Tunisian crochet, in the hound’s tooth pattern, but this is actually and handbag.  I did make this with a commercially available crochet hook and it made a very tight and rigid fabric.  I call this my “Dirty Hippy Handbag”.  Once again, without fail, this one isn’t from a pattern either.

So, there you go!  I hope I made up for my absence by catching my blog up with my crafting activities.  Thanks for looking!!

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Handmade Crochet Baby Blanket

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Well, here’s the latest creation!  This is a prime example of the baby blankets that I’ve been making for the members of my Squadron at work.  Unlike like the blanket that I previously put on my blog, this one is a double crochet stitch in a Granny Square style; a timeless pattern that is absolutely warm and versatile.  I think I like this style the best because you can do anything with it.

If you make little squares of different colors and sew them together, you have a Granny Square blanket.  If you make rows over and over, like the one pictured to the right, you can make it any size you want (this one is 3 foot squared).  Or, you can keep going and going on adding rows…I’ve made 3 king sized afghans, to fit king sized beds, in this exact style.  The color combinations are as limited as the yarns that you can find!

As for colors…I have something to say about them too.

I’m kind of on a mission to try and redefine what a baby blanket should look like.  If you compare the blankets that I’ve made, and blogged about, they aren’t made in historically “baby” colors.  I have a reason for this.
When I grew up, I guess it’s safe to say that I wasn’t “type-cast” into anything.  The only time that I was forced to wear dresses or dress the roll of “little girl” was when I was in church or the flower girl in a wedding or something like that even though I was a pure Tom Boy to the core.  I think because of that, I was able to develop my own individuality over time.  Don’t get me wrong,  there are occasions where nothing is better than a nicely tailored skirt and elegant heals and I’m happily wearing them.  Believe it or not, and this may surprise people that know me, there are times where I like to wear pink!

But babies really don’t have a choice in the matter.  I’ve known many women, especially being in the military, that were drowned in pink growing up and refuse to wear it to this day.  So, that is why I like to make baby things that are beautifully neutral.

I also feel sorry for the fathers that really step up to be good, involved fathers and they are trying really hard to ignore the fact that they are carrying a Pepto Bismol pink diaper bag but overjoyed to have their little girl in tow.

So, I’m completely on the unisex bandwagon when it comes to baby colors!!

UPDATE AS OF JANUARY 16TH, 2011

This baby blanket was donated to one of the MANY expecting families at the squadron that I belong to at the end of last year.  I hope their little one likes it!!