Baby Bright Afghan

Although this afghan began life as a different project, it became clear pretty quickly that it was just meant to be a baby blanket.  Although the pattern isn't difficult, it does eat up a lot of time--mostly because I agonized over each color combination for each block (I really didn't want any repeats).  I have seen a few afghans like this where the outer rounds are all the same color (or two colors) and I really like that look as well.  This is a great project for using up your loose ends; just don't give yourself a deadline for this or you might go crazy.

One innovation I introduced with this afghan is a slit in the middle (look at the pictures again, you'll see it!).  This feature was actually requested by my brother-in-law; they like to throw a blanket over the baby's carrier, but he says that it is hard to grip the handle through a blanket--so, voila!  Dad can grab the handle and baby stays warm.

The other neat thing I figured out while working on this was how to organize the rounds as I was working.  All the little bits had a tendency to disappear into my work basket, so I strung them onto one of the flexible cords that came with my interchangeable knitting needles and put the stoppers on the ends.  This way I could add and subtract without any problems.

Well, clearly there is now a knitting/crochet void in my life.  However, expect an update sometime soon featuring knitting with Cool Whip bowls.  Yes, I kid you not.  It is pretty awesome.  

What I've Been Working On

More baby crochet! This was my first attempt at amigurumi, and I think it turned out so cute. Jordan and I have been joking about adopting this little fox as a pet instead of giving him to the nephew. He wasn't too hard to make, and I liked that I could use scrap yarn instead of buying new.

I think the tail is the cutest! I embroidered baby's initials for a special touch. You know, I love a monogram - apparently on pretty much anything!

Lucas also needed a hat to wear home from the hospital, so I made this, my first attempt at cabling. I love cable-knit (almost as much a monograms) and this was actually pretty easy. I don't knit as much as I crochet because knitting is harder and slower, but baby items are so small that it's quite gratifying to do something tricky because you can be done fairly quickly. I am afraid that this may be a bit too big at first (Jordan has joked that it's so long he'll be able to keep his eye warm), but hopefully I'm underestimating newborn baby heads =) Anyway, I think this will be the last baby crochet for a while. There are a couple more amigurumi I want to try, and then all the little sweaters are actually for 6-12 months, so I'll wait a bit on those.

Monet Sweater

Here is my latest crochet project completed. I am beginning to feel pretty good about how quickly I can get a sweater done now. What once would have taken several months, I can now do in a couple of weeks. I am rather pleased with the results, although I thought about scrapping the project in the beginning. The pattern would not come out to the right measurements, so I had to adjust to make it work. However, once I figured out what adjustments to make, things went pretty well.

I really, really, really love the colors. They remind me of the colors in Monet's waterlilly paintings, which is why I am calling this the Monet Sweater. The main color is that pretty jade and it is shot through with purple and pink and white and yellow and blue. So, so pretty. Thanks a ton to Natalie for gifting me her stash.

I'm not sure about these buttons. I like the kind of Art Nouveau style (my latest obsession), but I think the buttons should be bigger (these were in my stash). The pattern calls for 1.5 inch buttons, and these are on 7/8.

Anyway, I am very happy with my latest creation, and hope to later make a dress to match. I haven't done any large-scale sewing in a few years, so that will be an interesting endeavor.

Baby Things

I feel like I have been hibernating for the month of February, at least in the blogosphere. In real life, I have not been able to hunker down and wait for the return of spring (it's coming soon, right?) Instead, I have been working and reading (for the diss, more than for fun) and crocheting! With the new nephew arriving in June, I have gotten a few items done.

The first is this afghan, which is bigger than pictured. The pattern is from a Vanna White book, and incredibly easy. The only complaint I have is that after about seven rounds, it started warping and pulling in a dozen different directions. Even after blocking it, it still isn't perfectly straight, but I think it will do.

I am also very happy with these booties. They are the essence of cute. The pattern was a free project sheet picked up at Michaels, with a few aesthetic alterations. They look like small loafers, and baby will be able to wear them at 3-6 months. My only complaint about this project is the stitching up the back. I did it in the blue yarn and so it looks a bit sloppy, but maybe that's just home-made charm, right?

I have a few more baby related projects planned, but I am currently indulging in some selfish crochet in the form of a cropped tweed cardigan in a beautiful jade green color. The combination of an off-guage pattern and a tricky yarn has caused me to frog and start over at least six times with much mental cursing, but I am determined to see it through.

If you are a fellow crocheter/knitter, be sure to check out Ravelry.com and consider friending me there (Stephanie728). Happy stitching.

Sweater Complete!

I finally finished the sweater that I began a few months ago. It actually didn't take that long to complete - it was just that I was distracted by other projects that were claiming my attention. This is the "Raeanne Shawl Sweater" pattern from Robyn Chachula's Bluepring Crochet, and it is done in Caron Spa, a bamboo rayon and acrylic blend. I particularly love the color, which is called Ocean Spray.

There are several things that I love about this sweater. First, it fits. Unlike past projects, this small was actually small, and it was also adjustable, since it is a wrap sweater. Second, it is not the dowdy, chunky style common to most crochet wearables. It is light, and delicate and soft. And, I think that this loose, drapey, wrap is very stylish. The hardest things about it were the band - for some reason, I couldn't stick to 16 single crochet stitches - it would suddenly morph into something far too long or too short, and it is actually still wonky in a few places. Oh well. The other thing is that the individual squares have a tendancy to unravel, no matter how tightly I have tied them off.

Other than that, I think that this was a big success. There are several other patterns from Chachula's book that look promising, and I will likely try them out later. For now, I have niece/nephew crocheting to take care of!

'Heel Afghan

So, apparently my sister has taken sole claim of the afghan that I made for her and her husband for their wedding. My brother-in-law, consequently, has been wishing for one of his own. Thus, the Tarheel Afghan. Hopefully, I'll be done with it in time for Christmas. (I am a very slow and sporadic crocheter, especially during the semester). At any rate, it took awhile to figure out the cross-stitch pattern for the UNC logo - in the end, I free-handed it on graph paper and then outlined the closest square. It is not perfect - the N in particular is rather deformed, but it is recognizable, and, I think, pretty neat. The intial square began to get unwieldly and awkward - I prefer stripes to rounds, so I scrapped my original idea of making the square large enough to cover the entire width of the afghan. Instead, I am currently adding stripes to the bottom, and when it is long enough, I'll add stripes down the sides to make it wide enough. This is my first attempt at an afghan without using a pattern, so we'll see how it turns out.