Another Blanket for Guendie

So it's been quite some time since our last post, not because we haven't been busy crocheting, but because all of our lives have been quite full.  We've all been working on making gifts for the babies that are entering/have recently entered our families... something must be in the water!  Anyhow, I thought I'd send a quick blog out here before I get too sidetracked with taking care of baby.  After making two afghans for Guendie I wanted to make a real special afghan for her.  I bought some cute pink and variant yarn and started on a new stitch.  After about 4 incredibly long rows, I wasn't happy with how it was turning out and after showing Marvin it, he said it looked a little old lady, so that project went to scrap.  I then realized that I have a pattern I really like, one that I've used three times before on afghans and twice on scarves... I would make my baby version of the Classic Style Afghan from this blog I posted a few years back.  I originally started with just pink, blue and white, but after crocheting those three colors together realized it looked a little too patriotic, so I went to the store and bought a purple skein.  This pattern was great because it only used 2 skeins of white and 1 skein of each color (in Jo Ann Sensations Cuddle brand).

Baby Afghan and Headband

With a little of the leftover yarn I made a baby headband to match the style of this blanket and then created the flower I did for my cousin's headband last year (read how to make it in this old blog).  I still have some extra yarn in these colors so I'll probably make more headbands as little Guendie grows.

Baby Boy Afghan

It appears to be baby season again... so after I created this baby girl afghan, I started on a baby boy afghan.  I got the pattern online from Redheart.com, it's the "Crochet Aran Afghan" an intermediate pattern.  The pattern itself was fairly easy, however I did not like the bobble stitch in this pattern.  With previous bobbles I haven't had an issue with them, but if you give this one a try, perhaps you'll see what I mean.  If not, it might just be me. 

Another nice three dimensional pattern.

Overall I enjoyed this pattern, however the edges got a little wavy, and the border didn't really help that.  I again made this one that the baby can grow into through their toddler years. I'm glad to be done with this pattern so I can start work on my pink monkey!

The finished product.

Baby Bobble Afghan

For my birthday this year, my mother-in-law got me a huge bag full of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn.  I received the basic colors - pink, yellow, blue and green.  Since there again appears to be a boom in people who are pregnant near me, I decided I would make a pink and yellow and then a blue and green afghan. So I went to my local library to pick out some new crochet books since I wanted a new pattern.  For my pink and yellow afghan I wanted to use the Baby Bobbles pattern from Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet.  For me this pattern was perfect, because it had the bobbles that I love to make while adding a new spin on the overall appearance of the afghan.

I liked the little bobbles and small v-stiches it created in the different color for yarn each row.

As you can probably tell from my previous posts, I usually aim to not change yarn.  It's one of my least favorite things to do.  The afghan is done and then I need to spend hours sewing in the ends... yuck!  So when I saw that this pattern changed yarn at the end of each row, but had a fringe for them all instead of being sewn in, I thought I'd give this pattern a try.

It took awhile to cut all the fringe,but it was definitely easier than weaving in each end!

This pattern came out to be 40"x50" with the fringe, so it will allow the baby I give it to, to grow into it through its toddler years.  I also loved this pattern because it was a relatively quick pattern that was easy to follow.  One row of bobbles and single crochets, then next row just double crochet and then repeat till you reach your desired size.

Final result, ready to gift!

I have a good chunk of pink and yellow yarn left that I hope to make an Owl hat with it.  The pattern seems relatively easy, but I first need to finish my green and blue afghan that I just started.  So hopefully I'll be able to post about that one soon and then get started on the hat!

Baby Blanket & Headband

Imagine a baby where the bear is.

A few months ago I rented a book from my local library called Oh Baby, Crochet!, and there were lots of cute patterns in there.  I rented this book so I could stockpile some baby blankets for when my friends started having babies.  Turns out the day this book came in was the day I found out my brother and his wife were expecting a baby, followed by a cousin just a few weeks later!  I immediately flagged one of that patterns titled “Merry Go ‘Round the Block” since it had a neat 3 dimensional look, (using mostly a dc and a modified dc stitch), and made one for my  brother.  It was such a quick and simple pattern I decided to also make one for our cousin, since I knew it looked like a nice quality blanket. 

It's great when a cute pattern is easy!

I had some leftover yarn from that blanket and knew I wanted to make a little matching headband with a nice big flower on it.  I was keeping my eye open on pinterest for things that might pop out as a cute flower pattern, and finally I found a real cute pattern, only thing it was in Russian. Luckily the Google Translate button translated most of the words and there were picture diagrams to make sure I was making the correct stitches.  After I made this flower I decided to just crochet a single crochet band with about 4 rows to attach the flower to, and added a jeweled button to the center of the flower to give it more baby pizzazz!

Isn't this just pizzazz-y?

At the end of this month I'll be posting another blog about the stuff I made for the other future baby, as I'm waiting to have their shower.

Baby Afghan

One of my friends is having a baby so of course i thought the perfect present would be a beautiful baby blanket.

Wanting to try a stich I haven't used before I pulled out my Reader's Digest "The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches" that my mother had given me for Christmas a few years ago. After browsing through all the stiches I decided to go with the Ridged Chevron Stitch which is an easy quick stitch to do.

Starting chain must be multiple of 12 sts + 3.

The pattern for the Ridged Chevron Stitch is 2 rows repeated for the length desired, rows as follows:

Row 1: Skip 3ch (count as 1 dc), 1dc into next ch, *1dc into each of next 3ch, [over next 2ch work dc2tog] twice, 1dc into each of next 3ch, [2dc into next ch] twice; rep from* ending last rep with 2dc once only into last ch, turn.

Row 2: 3ch (count as 1dc), 1dc into 1st st, always inserting hook into back loop only of each st *1dc into each of next 3 sts, [over next 2 sts work dc2tog] twice, 1dc into each of next 3 sts, [2dc into next st] twice; rep from *ending last rep with 2 dc once only into top of tch, turn. Rep 2nd row.

For this Afghan I used the Caron Simply Soft yarn in colors Strawberry, Soft Pink, and Heather Grey, and Size H/8 hook. I did 10 chevrons/per row with 7 rows of Strawberry, 3 rows of Heather Grey, 7 rows of Soft Pink, 3 rows of Heather Grey, repeating that pattern ending with the Strawberry. Final Afghan size measured 36x50 which is a little larger for a baby afghan but should be perfect for the toddler to childhood years.