Country Loom Baby/Child's Blanket

Little boy blanket in progress

This week I discovered my "willpower score".  It is zero.  Nowhere to go but up really. After declaring this week's crafting agenda to be about earring organization and this Country Loom childs blanket I'm working on, a fantastic new crochet pattern caught my eye and I just had to intersperse a new little project.  Out comes the worsted wool as well!  I bought the pattern and made up two hats before the sun set.

Green/Teal dots baby blanket

It was my friend Amy's baby shower today, so now I can show you my most recent baby blanket. Another version of the shell blanket that I liked so much in pink.

Crayola Childrens Blanket

Do you remember when Crayola crayons came out with the 64 pack?  That was such an exciting day.  It was a good day for my multi-coloured crochet childrens blanket today.  Especially good considering I have, for a few weeks now,  been contemplating taking it all apart for either a different stitch or different project all together.

Good news though, it survived, and I've persevered and added a few more 'layers' since the first posting.  All the colours I'm using are in now - a total of 24 - so it's time for their second appearances.

I plan to follow a similar colour wave, but not an identical repeat.  I'm hoping it will look more interesting this way.  This should make a really fun play blanket for a young child, and one thing is likely ... they'll be good at their colours.

Freddie is doing his very best to learn the new "DON'T TOUCH!!!!" policies, but he sure likes to push the limits.

Relaxing with Wool

It's very crafty around here right now. Beads everywhere and I'm pretty sure I swallowed a sequin yesterday. Oh well, probably not the first and likely not the last, but I thought I'd have a change and enjoy the relaxation of wool (ignoring the fact that there is also wool everywhere).


Mum recently brought back to me several large bags of wool that I had passed along many years ago when clearing out the cupboards. One of the bags was all Patons Astra wool that I had been once using to make little dolls and ornaments - translation - only one ball of each colour. So, I'm crocheting that up into a childs play blanket. When I'm finished it will be a good size for playing on the floor, or for a child's snuggle blanket.

It would be a little intense for a baby blanket I think, but hey, I bet they learn their colours early! I have a few more colours to add into the sequence, and then I will be repeating. It's a very simple pattern: worked on 5.0 mm crochet hook it's two rows of double crochet. I recently learned a new technique for changing colours - pulling up the new colour with the last stitch rather than finishing the row and then joining - and it works very neatly.

One more thing - so I don't forget - the Patons Astra wool is gorgeous to work with! Welcome back lovely wool.

Over on the knitting needles - I'm experimenting again with the Bernat Baby Jacquards. I did try crocheting this, and although it was pretty and looked a bit like the sky, it seemed a waste for the Jacquard wool. The knitting - especially with 'striping' - really brings out the pattern which is rather subtle in this Boo Berries colour wave.

This - if I ever finish it because I really don't enjoy knitting with tiny (anything under 5.0 mm) needles - will be a small blanket for a premature baby. Because the wool pattern is so interesting I'm working up with a simple striping of gartar stitch and stocking stitch. A border of gartar stitch on top, bottom and sides helps it keep a nice shape.

You can find this pattern as well as a multi-colour and basket weave variation at Little Blankets by Nancy Hearne.

A little over half way

It's been fairly quiet on the crafting front, but I thought I had better do an update of some fashion before too much time passes. It is a challenge for me to keep focused - and a challenge I intend to conquer vis a vis maintaining this blog and doing more crafting this year.

What's your favourite colour?

Q: What's your favourite colour?
A: All of them!

I am completely in love with this new blanket concept! The idea had been knocking around in my head for a while, and after seeing other blanket projects online, and being inspired by Lynn's fantastic scrappy scarf, the time seemed right to give it a go when I decided to put another blanket project on hold.

This is a simple shall pattern, like the pink dots baby blanket I finished recently, but you change colours every row. I find it grows quite quickly as you're really keen to see the result of the next colour you add into the mix.

I did think after several rows that it would make a very nice scarf pattern done lengthwise - as opposed to vertically as most shell scarf patterns are - but I neglected to take a photo at that stage so you'll have to imagine.

I will no doubt be grumbling about all of the ends to sew in - which is a negative result of this kind of patterning - but I think I might just love it enough! I also intend not to leave that all to the end - or it could be trouble.

An Uncertain Future ... for the Ripple

So much for the rain. Winter came back - but it's sunny today, so all's good.

The same can't quite be said for my ripple blanket which faces an uncertain future. As I am well underway, I find myself somewhat dissatisfied. It's okay, but is okay good enough? Both arguments in my head are on fairly even footing at the moment, in short, I'm really not sure.

Last night I caught myself looking at the wool and thinking ... you (the wool) could do so much better. So, before it became balls of wool again rather than a nearly completed blanket, I decided to put it away and pause.


The sunset promises nice days ahead!

Easy Ripple Afghan Pattern
at HandCraftingwithLove.net

It grows!!! ... and it grows ....

Oh how I loved today! DEEEEElightful little spring tease it was, with most of the snow disappearing to reveal the hints of spring below.


Yes, I have lived in Canada for several decades and therefore yes I do know that it won't last long at all, but it sure does give you that burst of energy that feels vital to make it through the cold, grey days of winter. Windows open!

So, in the spirit of growth, I took a little down time this evening to carry on with the first of my stash-busting afghans for this year. As it's clearing out wool, I figure this can go in the "tidying up" category - but then I can justify almost anything.

Pinky/purley/reds, etc blanket coming along ... At this point, I'm thinking it would be most fun to have as many colours as possible, but we'll see what develops.

And we'll see what develops weather wise as well. As I update this, who knows what the nearly 100km/hour winds are bringing in for the weekend. I'm thinking probably not good stuff, but am thankful for today. I can make it .... COME ON SPRING!

Clear the Decks!

Eeek! I'm being invaded. I'm getting ready to tackle several 'work related' projects but as I look around my office it is hardly productivity inspiring. And my crafty projects ... they're all a bit of a frenzy. Somehow half the craft room acoss the hall has wandered over to my office - and yet, there is no extra space from whence it came.

OTG - Ripple Blanket pinks/purples
Easy Ripple Afghan
(162 stitches, 6.5 mm hook)

I see surfaces covered in beads that I am 're-organizing' for the umpteenth time, balls of wool from various on the go projects are towering up the wall from the back of the sofa, bags of new craft bits that haven't even found a home and, as always, I'm surrounded by scribble notes on all manner of paper. I'm constantly trying to stop that habit!

OTG - Fuzzy Blue Christmas Tree Skirt
Source Pattern at Crocheville.org

I have a big basket in the corner for projects on the go, but it is .... ummm... overflowing ... and I already know that some of them are not destined to make it. Rework!

So, it's time to clear the decks a bit. Wool projects - off the couch and at least sorted into their own project bags. Then we can work to finish things up and thin out the wool stock - a 2011 mission - de-stash. It's looking like a go for these projects.

Crochet Ripple Baby Blanket

And, as for some reason (probably the surrounding of scribble notes) I never print out the pattern and keep it with my work - this should help me figure out what I'm doing when I return to it!

Yes, there is a bit of a ripple theme going on, isn't there? Each one is a little different, so I can decide which I like the best. This is how I tend to work.

Next up - clear the decks ... beads.

Related articles

• RIPPLES IN THE SNOW: Baby Granny Stripes Blanket (manyhorsesmane.wordpress.com)

Hunker down ... storm warning

Marley

Who's got it good around here? It's a cats life for sure!

Freddie

Well, I don't know what got into me today - a new month, feeling a little better, and needing to get away from the computer for a while, I've been at it non-stop since early this morning having a clear out and catching up on the laundry. Even the cat blankets are getting a wash - and that takes several cycles.

Oliver

So, as we hunker down for the apocalyptic storm of the billenium (gotta love the media), it seems a good time to introduce you go the gang and document one of the past obsessions. The novelty yarn.

Maggie

For a while, you could get this very inexpensively - never much of the same colour/style at once - but coming in waves so you HAD to keep buying it. I was re-acquainting myself with knitting and crocheting so it served a very worthwhile purpose, after all.

Quincy

Most of these are crocheted on a very large hook with multiple strands and types of yarn. So not just is there the thrill of all the variations BUT the combination of all the variations. As you can see a glimpse - it had me hooked for a while.

Maggie & Marley

So, for quite some time it was a constant production of countless scarves (many of which I sold for my 'Crafts for Kiva' project), loads of blankets (anywhere there's a surface), and what must be a Guinness record for 'kitty blankets'.

Jake

Strikes me you've got it pretty good if you're a cat in this house.


Stay safe and warm everyone!

Related articles

• Southern Ontario hunkers down for major snow storm (canada.com)

Job Done: Christmas Tree Skirt

Reading through other crafters' blogs I feel much less guilty about the amount of projects I constantly have 'on the go'. And this blogging format is definitely motivation to get out that (insert any project) that has needed just a teeny little bit more work for (insert any number of weeks/months/years). So, just needing to sew in some threads and add some ties, the first of my crochet Christmas tree skirts is done!

Pink Dots Baby Blanket

At last! The first real baby blanket that I have completed and been satisfied with in a very long time.