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.

What was CeeLo wearing???

Now this isn't my typical kind of post, but after watching The Voice last night I couldn't help but state the obvious... what was CeeLo wearing? I have to admit that I not a regular to the show, so I apologize if any of the following comments are misunderstood.

Don't get me wrong, I am a lover of crochet, and usually most crocheted things but I do draw the line somewhere between, baby blankets and CeeLo's closet.

For those of you who didn't see last nights ep let me describe it to you, it was what appeared to be a crocheted, patriotic afghan/pancho with matching saggy cap.

CeeLo...
*was it freezing in the studio?
*must have been laundry day.
*you donated all your money to the political campaign and all you got was this lousy outfit.
*Betsy Ross was your great great grandmother and your honoring her by wearing one of her first projects.
*Your hopping on a plane to Colorado, to return to your hippie commune, right after the show.
*You needed a project to finish up all your spare yarn from the political campaign.
*when you get board with the singing you can make something out of the fringe.
*you wanted to make sure your singers can see you through the bright lights on stage.
*Does The Voice pay you in yarn?

That's all i've got for now while still keeping this clean... feel free to add to the list.

Photo credit: NBC

New to hooking?

This reminds me of our dear friend Emalina, and our "HDH Initiation" blog from 8/5/10 :)

Thank you obeycrochet.com for this wonderful sketch!

Halloween Crochet Ideas

Looking for some crocheted Halloween Ideas?  Try renting/buying Nicki Trench’s book SuperScary Crochet: 35 Gruesome Patterns to Sink your Hook Into, which boasts that ‘these toys and accessories are murderously macabre rather than the usual cute and cuddly.’ I recently rented this book from my local library to see what kind of fun decorations could be made for this upcoming season. While I don’t think I have time to work on any of these little projects this year, I thought I’d share them with the rest of you. It’s a fun little pattern book to pick up because each of the patterns has a little story behind how the object you’re crocheting has become haunted or evil!

Here’s a picture of ‘Willy the Wily Wolf’ scarf from her book, this would definitely be a conversation starter.

Or perhaps you could make this pattern...

Make this pattern from the book, "Bubbles In Trouble."

There are a bunch of other great ideas in the book too, from making the killer tomatoes to more creeped out dolls and vampires.

Will hook...

Hehehe

Picture credit to http://www.obeycrochet.com

Prayer Shawl Ministry Afghans

Two weeks ago when I went to church, we decided to go to the my husband's old church since his retired pastor was coming back to do the sermon.  While there I noticed a large rack of quality afghans at the entry way, as well as a handful more near the pulpit. 

This greeted me as I entered the church.

I opened my church bulletin and saw that they had a 'Prayer Shawl Ministry' going on.  It mentioned that 'as each shawl is being made, the person will be praying for the recipient.' I thought this was a nice idea and perhaps one day I can make one of these.  However, upon further reading this bulletin I saw that these could be made for any reason (medical, death, celebration of engagement, birth of a baby, divorce, illness, jail, loneliness, celebrate a friend).  So perhaps we're all making these prayer shawls already.  Because with each project I create I'm thinking about the person I'm making it for... I just need to add a prayer in there too :)

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!