Crochet project - ripple blanket

I have decided to bite the bullet. I am starting a crochet project that will look unfinished until it is finished. In the past I have made small/baby size granny square blankets that were finished when I was done making squares. But now I am starting something that is big. I measured me and a similar sized blanket. I crocheted a sample. I measured and multiplied it until I knew what I was making. Start with 227 chains. Double crochet 114 rows. Starting with 5 balls of yarn (or the equivalent...more later), with more to be bought. 

I'm making a blanket that I can snuggle with while reading in the chair in my bedroom. It will be roughly 67 inches long and 56 inches wide. I am using colors that match my duvet cover of greys and taupe. 

The colors I chose are by Lion Brand. From back to front, they are:

Vanna's Choice Charcoal Grey

Vanna's Choice Silver Heather

Vanna's Choice Linen

Vanna's Glamour Moonstone (this is a sport #2 weight yarn, so I am doubling the strands to match the worsted #4 weight of the other yarns)

The pattern I am using is from attic24.typepad.com. Lucy has several lovely ripple designs, and I chose the interlocking ripple. 

So as I sit here at McD's waiting for a call from the mechanic telling me they are on the way to pick me up after doing routing maintenance on my car, I have finally started this epic project. See how far I have gotten?

I am using an app on my phone to help keep track of stitches and rows. We will see how it works, as I haven't used it before!

I will try to post every couple days with my progress. I am hoping this will help with my stick-to-it-iveness, as in the past I have dwindled down and not finished large projects. There are the remains somewhere of a baby blanket (not grannys) for a friend's baby who is now almost 24. I think it measured about 30 inches by....maybe 6 inches. Not even a good scarf. But it was a pretty pattern!

Wish me luck...

Gingerbread man pin

I was browsing Pinterest last month looking for Christmas crochet projects. I saw some cute ones, but nothing that was exactly what I wanted. So I made my own gingerbread man.

After my initial attempt, I liked the proportions of arms, legs, head and body, but his head was a little cocked to one side...oops. So I diagrammed the base circle with the other parts so I knew where to put them. Then I tried again. And I did it!

So, here is my pattern:

Gingerbread man

Ch: chain
St: stitch
Slst: slip stitch
Hdc: half double crochet
Tc: triple crochet

Make a Magic circle (google it if you don't know how)

R1: ch2 (counts as first hdc), 8hdc, slst into ch2 (9 stitches)

R2: ch2 (counts as first hdc), 1 hdc in same stitch, 2 hdc in remaining. Slst into ch2 (18 stitches)

R3: 1 hdc in one st, 6tc in one st, 1 hdc in next st. Slst next 2st. 1 hdc, 2dc, 1hdc in next st. Slst 3, 1hdc 3tc 1hdc in next, slst next, 1hdc 3tc 1hdc in next, 3 slst, 1hdc 2dc 1hdc in next, 2slst. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Add decorations as desired. I embroidered white yarn in zig zags on the arms and legs, looped a piece of red yarn thru the neck and tied a bow (I dabbed tacky glue on the ends of the yarn and the knot to prevent it coming undone), and stitched small black beads for eyes, and green beads for gum drop buttons. I then stitched a pin back onto the back, just under neck level.He comes out 2.5-3 inches tall.

I think he is rather cute :)

Small print: if you post this pattern somewhere, please link back to me :)

Knitting!

Well, I did it! I taught myself to knit! My mom tried to teach me eons ago, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. When I was working on crocheting my friends baby blanket a while back at a coffee shop, a woman and I started chatting about knitting. She suggested I try learning Norwegian or continental knitting (which picks at the yarn held in you left hand with the needle) as opposed to English knitting (which most people do, which is when you "throw" the yarn over the needle with your right hand). I looked it up on YouTube, found a helpful video, and there you have it! So I knitted this cute bunny...which wasn't that difficult, once I realized I needed to pay attention to my knitting so I didn't forget to let an old stitch go after knitting into it :P The bunny is just a square of knitting (garter stitch from what I have learned). When done, it is gathered up across the middle, and from those ends to the top center (three gathering threads) and stuffed. I named this one Lettice :) I am in the process of knitting a chubby chirp, which involves double pointed needles and increasing and decreasing. I will post pics of that when I am done ;)

I am thnking of cranking out little cute things and selling them this summer at a local farmers market...better get busy!

Btw, I got the bunny pattern from a friend who posted a pic of it on Facebook...I am not sure where she got it, so don't know where to give credit :(

Spring!

I am hoping that spring shows her face around here soon! She has peeked a few times recently, but it has been grey and rainy more that it has been sunny.

In the past for Easter, our church has had us bring fresh flowers to decorate a cross that we display outside by the street. This year, they are asking us to bring flowers in a vase that they will distribute to the various homebound members of our congregation. I am seriously considering crocheting my flowers...they last longer, and are pretty cute, if I say so myself! This daffodil is inspired by a pointy five-petalled flower on a blog at crochethealingandraymond.typepad.com. I added a petal to make it like a real daffodil then made my trumpet with a round of double crochets and a scallop edge. I then sewed it onto the middle of the flower. I am in the process of trying a slightly differend edge on my next trumpet, so we will see. Creating things is a trial and error process! I am trying to decide if I want to try other flowers as well...hmmm...

Baby afghan!

I decided a week before my friend's baby shower that I wanted to crochet a blanket for her baby. So I decided to make a granny square lap blanket that can be tucked around him in his car seat. Figured I could get that done in a week...and I did!

I got the pattern on a blog (http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/summer-garden-granny-square.html). I used a variegated yarn and didn't switch between rounds. Once I mastered the bobble stitch, it was pretty brainless :)

The blog also gives instructions elsewhere on how to crochet the squares together, and how to do an edging. I did most of the edging...it was two rounds of chain loops and then a round of scallops. I skipped the scallops, partly due to time constraints (the shower is today at 4!) and partly because I wasn't sure I had enough yarn for the round of scallops and don't have time or money to go buy another ball of yarn. I think it is pretty cute with just the chain loops :)


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