Woven Plaid Baby Blanket

This baby blanket is so darn CUTE! I love the technique involved here as well, but I will be honest, I was a skeptic when I first read about it. I decided a baby blanket was the way to test it out.

It is incredibly simple and fairly quick to work up. You're basically making a mesh stitch blanket that is striped, and then weaving the exact same stripe pattern perpendicular through your mesh work. SO EASY!

Here's what you came for!

Hook: 6.5mm
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver (~260yds each of Soft Navy, Soft White, Light Blue, and Country Blue)
Additional Supplies: Yarn Needle (or bobby pin)
Pattern: Woven Scotch Plaid Afghan (also available on Ravelry)
Here is the grid for the striping pattern I used. It turned out MUCH larger than I had anticipated, but I still think it looked great in the end. Next time, I might try a simpler striping pattern.

I started mine with a base chain of 123sts and went until it was about 36" x 36" Large. I added a row of SC sts along the outer edge to hide my tie-ins. If I were doing this project again, I might wait until after the weaving to do that, as there was a little change in the shape during weaving.

I marked the middle stitch and cut some of my weaving strands about 60" long. People on Ravelry complained about not having enough excess, and I felt like more was better for this project. Using the middle stitch to mark the middle of my weaving pattern, start weaving with a yarn needle. You weave with a single piece of yarn, doubled over, and you'll do two of these into EACH mesh stitch - alternating your ups and downs. You'll end up with 4 strands in each mesh (two double-strands woven).

I changed my mind and ended up using the light blue as the center section,
but you can see the first double-strand being woven here. 

As you weave, be careful to pull on your blanket. The weaving snugs it up a bit, and you're going to want to keep it as even as possible. I found that it was better to work on a table or another flat surface for this part. Unfortunately it is not a lap project. Also, after my first few strands proved to be a good length, I had my hubby build me a template so that I could cut 20 strands at a time.

When you're done weaving, tie your strands together top to bottom and then again left to right. After that, you can cut your fringe to any length you desire and you're all DONE!

Like I said, this project turned out so CUTE! And as a bonus, I got it completed and shipped off before the baby arrived. The expectant mommy and daddy got it yesterday and they loved it!

Thick and Quick Baby Blanket

So my one of my cousins is due with a baby girl, and had her shower this past weekend. She said her nursery theme was pink and brown, and I sent her this blanket for it :)

This is the second time I have used this pattern, and I adore it, especially when worked with a super-bulky or a double-strand of yarn.

Pattern: Stashaholic's Brain Dead Afghan
Yarn: Loops & Threads Impeccable in Neopolitan (2 of their "Big" Skeins, held 2 strands together as one)
Hook: 10.0mm
Pattern Notes: Made my starting Chain of 96 sts. Worked until I started to run low on yarn, then added the tassels on the ends of the zig-zags. The tassels were a suggestion from Grandma, and I honestly think that they are so cute. They really make this blanket unique!

PS: My Hubby got me a new camera for Christmas! Its a Nikon DSLR and I am so happy with the beautiful pictures of my projects!

Settlers of Catan Quilt

This was my first adventure into quilting, and I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself for this one! Lucky for me there are quite a few quilters in my family, so I had plenty of places to turn to for help.

If you've never played Catan, you really should check it out. Here's the game board I was working with:



I could have crochetted this project, and probably quickly too, but I loved the idea of capturing the pattern and picture of each hex. I got fabrics that really helped to accentuate the meadows, fields, and forests just like the tiles on the real game.

I did a lot of online searching for other projects, and there are quite a few other people who have done variations on this theme, but none that I fell in love with. I decided to try doing my own thing.

Each hex was 6" from side to side, with a 1/4" seam allowance on all sides. The finished quilt was 36" from side to side and 42" from corner to corner. I ended up putting little triangles around the edges so that I had flat sides to deal with when it came to adding the edging. I machine stitched the top pieces together, and then I hand-quilted it. I was planning to hand-quilt the edging on, but I was worried about it holding up to frequent washing, so in the end I machined the edging.

Ok! Here are the pictures!

Picked out the fabrics for the center!

Cut all the pieces and started assembling the top.

Top assembled, pinned out with batting and backing.

Quilting done, pinned on the edging.

DONE!

King-Sized Blanket

So, first and foremost, let me apologize for my long absence. It has been a CRAZY year thus far, and we're only at August!

I chose a pattern for my Lace Veil and I've been working slowly but surely away on that. I've also been busy with some home improvements. I re-did the laundry room so that I have an organized place to store ALL my bins and bins of yarn! Yay!

Anyways, all those other projects aside....

I bought the yarn for this project back at Michael's Black Friday Sale (that happens on Thanksgiving evening, instead of Black Friday). There is generally very little crowd, the deals are still incredible, and I picked up six Jumbo Skeins (744yds) of Red Heart for only $3 a piece, before my 30% Off coupon!

I know that I don't like making blankets, mainly because they take so long, but I figured that I could hold 2 strands of worsted weight yarn together to make a bulky strand, and work with a 10mm hook and it would go faster.

I planned to make a queen sized blanket, and even cast on with one of the stitches from The Complete Book of Crochet Stitches. Unfortunately, because the 2 strands I was working with were different colors, the color of the resulting stitches totally hid the pretty stitch pattern. Plus, it was a 3-row repeat pattern, which meant I spent half of my time looking up the pattern to see what row came next. I ended up shelving the project for the better part of six months.

Well, two weeks ago, the hubby and I decided that we needed a new mattress. Plus, if we're getting a new mattress, we should probably upgrade to a king-sized bed so that we have room for our 70lb German Shepherd bed hog.

"But if we get rid of the queen, we're going to need all new blankets!" I said, "and we've already got oodles of queen sized blankets for the guest-room!"

So, I pulled out the queen-sized blanket that I had started and frogged the whole thing. Yes, You heard me. I took 12" of beautiful queen sized blanket and I frogged it. And I cast on for a king.

And do you know what? I finished it. In 2 weeks. Booya!
I did end up having to hit the craft store for more yarn there at the end, but those 6 skeins would have easily finished a Queen Sized Blanket.

Ok, so here is what you came for:

Pattern: Shashaholic's Brain Dead Afghan
Hook: 10mm
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Aran and Coffee (744 yds per skein, 4 skeins Aran + 4 Skeins Coffee)
Notes: I LOVED this pattern! It was easy, it was simple, and it was QUICK!

I began with ch 228, and that was about 84" after the first row. By the time I finished 6" of pattern, it was only 66"! Oh no! So that became the height of the blanket, and I just kept going until I had sufficient width. At the end, I went over the first and last rows freehand to even them out (I didn't want the wavy edge) and I added 2 rows of hdc in just white + 3 rows of dc in the mixed colors just to add a little extra flair.

Find it on Ravelry!

Hexa-Puff Baby "Quilt"

A long time ago at our local craft circle, I was introduced to the Apiary Puff and the concept of a crochet/knit "quilt" of sorts, using stuffed crochet tiles in a larger blanket design. I fell in love immediately, but I knew it would be quite the endeavor to make a whole project out of them.

Well, when Lydia (a fellow crochetter) found out she was expecting, I knew I couldn't do anything less! I changed the pattern, because I was trying to find a simpler way of making, stuffing, and then sewing together the puffs. Here is what I came up with!

Yarns: Pound of Love (in Pastel Yellow), Red Heart Super Saver (in Coral), I Love This Yarn (in Hot Rose).
Hook(s): 5mm for Pound of Love, 4mm for Red Heart, and 3.5mm for I Love This Yarn
Gauge: Overall gauge is unimportant, however, you'll want all of your hex pieces to be the same size in the end, so with every different yarn you use, test the gauge with different hooks until you match the gauge of your existing hex pieces. I had to use a different hook for each yarn to get the sizes to match!
Additional Supplies:
Stuffing (I buy $1 GOSA Pillows from Ikea and one pillow was enough stuffing for this project)
Yarn Needle
Yarn Scraps


Hexa-Puff Pattern

Back Hex:
Begin with a Magic Ring
Into the Magic Ring: Ch 3, dc, ch1, *2dc, ch1* Repeat from * to * 4 additional times. Tighten your magic ring. Sl st to top of the ch 3 to join.
Round 2: Ch 3, dc in next st, *(dc, ch 1, dc) into the ch 1 space, dc in next 2 sts* Repeat from * to * 4 more times, end with (dc, ch 1, dc) into the remaining ch 1 space. Sl st to top of the ch 3 to join.
Round 3: Ch 3, dc in next 2 sts, *(dc, ch 1, dc) into the ch 1 space, dc in next 4 sts* Repeat from * to * 4 more times, (dc, ch 1, dc) into the remaining ch 1 space and dc into the next st (right before the ch 3 that started the round). Sl st to top of the ch 3 to join.
Round 4: Ch 3, dc in next 3 sts, *(dc, ch 1, dc) into the ch 1 space, dc in next 6 sts* Repeat from * to * 4 more times, (dc, ch 1, dc) into the remaining ch 1 space and dc into the next 2 sts (right before the ch 3 that started the round). Sl st to top of the ch 3 to join. Fasten Off.

Front Hex:
Same as Back Hex for Rounds 1-4. Do NOT fasten off at the end of Round 4.
Round 5: Begin by matching up a completed back hex to your almost-complete front hex, wrong sides together. Ch 1, and sc through BOTH the back and front hex to join the two pieces together. Sc into each st and 2sc into each corner ch 1 space until you're almost all the way around. Stuff a bit of stuffing into the hex before finishing. Sl st to the top of the first sc to join. Fasten off.

Half Hex:
Same as Back Hex for Rounds 1-4. Do NOT fasten off at the end of Round 4.
Fold the hex in half so that the wrong sides are inside. Ch 1 and sc through both halves of the piece, around, placing 2sc in each corner st. Add 3-4 sc stitches along the corners closest to the fold, and sc along the fold as well (this will make edging much easier). Make sure to STUFF your half-hex before you finish sc'ing all the way around.



When you've made all of your hex pieces, arrange them how you would like them and pin in place. Sew them together using a yarn needle and coordinating yarn. Be careful to secure them thoroughly at the corners.

My blanket used 50 Hex Pieces (9 Rose, 9 Coral, and 32 Yellow) and 8 Half-Hex Pieces (6 yellow, 1 rose, 1 coral) and I used scraps of the Rose yarn to add a simple single-crochet border. Final measurements were 24" wide by 30" long.


I LOVE the look of this project, even though it was one of the most involved project's I've ever done. I'd like to make it again using yellow for ALL the hex pieces, and a honey-colored yarn for the joining round (and sewing). I think that it would look like a honeycomb and it would be adorable if paired with an amigurumi bumble bee!



My Grandma also makes Hexagon Garden Quilts similar to this one, and I think that would be a neat arrangement as well!

Lydia Showing off the Hexa-Puff Quilt!

Baby Blankets

It always seems like its that season, time to make baby blankets for my friends who are expecting. I have a BUNCH more to get made after the holiday season, but these were the only two that needed to get done pronto!

I found both patterns through Ravelry, and I think they both worked up quite well.

Sweet Baby Boy Blanket
Pattern Link: http://crochet.about.com/od/babypatterns/a/simple-baby-blanket-free-crochet-pattern.htm
Hook: 5mm
Yarn: Bernat Baby Sport Solid in Baby Blue + Scraps of Acryllic off-white yarn from my stash.
Pattern Modifications:

Added 10 extra sts to base chain. Doesn’t change stitch pattern.
Border Rnd 4:
The pattern as written added lots of ruffle. Since I wanted it to lay flat, I modified it a bit.
On the sides, puff st in every ch 1 sp, and dc2tog over the 2 dc sts between spaces. On the corners, dc in each dc of the previous rnd, and puff st into each ch 1 space.
(Puff st = yo and pull up a loop 4x then yo and pull through all 9 loops on hook, ch 1 to finish off puff)

Cross & Cluster Blanket
Pattern Link: http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/one-ball-baby-blanket
Hook: 6mm
Yarn: Caron One Pound
No Pattern Modifications
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Big Sister Ripple Afghan

For her birthday, my younger sister asked for a blanket that would help tie together the different items of furniture in her living room. She has a brown sofa, a burgundy wingback chair, and a light brown rug with hints of sage green and ivory. So I put something together for her to use on the back of her couch and bring all the colors into one place. Pity that I finished it 3 months after her birthday.

Big Sister Afghan(Ripple Afghan using Shell Stitches)

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Solids
1 skein  each of Navy, Mocha, Buff, Frosted Green, Brown, and  2 Skeins of Burgundy
(and I still have leftovers from all but the burgundy)
Hook: 6.5mm

Special Stitches:
Shell Stitch = 3 Double crochet into the same stitch/space (much like you would do when making a granny square)

Ch 24 for the first chevron and ch 23 For each of the next 6 chevrons, for a total of 162 ch sts to make a 7 chevron wide blanket  (add another set of 23 ch for another chevron if you like, it will make the blanket wider)

Row 1: Ch 3 + turn, shell st in th 4th ch from hook,*( skip 2ch, shell in next ch) 3 times. Ch2, Shell st in the same st as the last shell.  (Skip 2 ch, shell st in next ch) 3 more times. Skip 4 ch, shell into next ch. Repeat from * to * until the end of the row

Row 2: Ch3 + turn, *(shell st in between  each of the next 2 shell sts) 3 times. (shell st, ch2, shell st) in the ch 2 space that makes up the top of the chevron, then (shell st in between  each of the next 2 shell sts) 3 times*. Skip the next shell space, the one that makes up the bottom of the chevron. Repeat from *to* until the end of the row. Dc in the top of the ch that began the previous row.

Repeat Row 2 until your first color reaches a desired length, then switch colors.

Repeat Row 2 in your color pattern until the afghan is the desired length (mine was a grand total of 65 pattern rows)