Crocheted Baby Blanket April 19, 2011

For some reason, when I hear that someone is pregnant or about to have their baby, my first thought isn’t “I should make them a (insert cool gift here)!” I don’t know why, but I just fail to plan ahead.  So when some family friends announced they were expecting their first son, I didn’t actually start on a gift until the little guy was born.

I think it turned out pretty well, and Brian dropped it off at the post office yesterday morning before work.  Apparently I’m obsessed with wide stripes of color right now – I need to branch out a little bit!

This is also my first experience adding an edging to a blanket once it’s finished.  The other two blankets I’ve done were nice clean edges that didn’t need any help and looked better plain.  But this blanket seemed to constantly pull and stretch thanks to the fact that it’s homespun.  I seriously hate homespun yarn, still.  It’s a pain to work with and never looks right since it stretches out.  But it’s what I had on hand that was baby-colored and it feels nice.  And it has a nice drape, too….

It was a nice blanket to work on, and I’m glad to send it off. For some reason I like the close up shots of crocheted stuff. This is just a simple double crochet, skip a chain sorta pattern, if you’re into that sorta thing. This photo makes me want popcorn…

Next up, a blanket for my sister in law and a shawl for Mama. Right after a huge rush of Easter sewing. Someday I won’t procrastinate….

(I uploaded photos a different way this time.  Please let me know if it doesn’t work for you!)

My Downfall March 1, 2011

I have discovered a problem with one of my loves.  I love to crochet.  I love to take yarn and Make Something.  Sure, it takes forever.  But the reward when you get a blanket or scarf (or lately, a tiny flower) finished is the feeling of satisfaction in having Made Something .  The problem is this:  most of what I make are gifts or for sale.  Sometimes, I fall in love with what I’m making, and then it hurts to send it out into the world.

This was the case with a recent throw I made for Brian’s grandmother for Christmas.  I called Nurse Baileys and checked on appropriate living room colors, and then I started trying to stitch up something pretty.  I usually use natural fibers, and this was my first good experience with an acrylic yarn.  I expected to hate it, but I loved it.  It didn’t hurt that it was my favorite colors: ivory, brown, and more brown.  Or that it matched my living room.  Or that it was freezing in said living room this winter and the throw kept my legs warm while I worked on it.  In the end, I fell in love.  So I did what we’re supposed to do in this case: I took pictures.

I took pictures of it draped over my rocker….

…folded neatly on the couch….

Pictures of it in all it’s 6×4 feet of glory….

Don’t you just want to snuggle your fingers up in this while you take a nap?

Packing it up in a box and sending it to Charleston was made easier by the thought of Emmie all snug on the couch in it, and also by the fact that the yarn had a pattern for a zigzag’ed blanket made with the lightest and darkest shades on here paired with a lovely blue that will match the curtains I hope to make for downstairs.  Making myself one will make missing this one so much easier to bear!

((Of course, if you’d like to order one from my store,

I’d happily fall in love with yours first…))