You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘crochet’ category.
I made some pretty potholders for my wonderful friend, Amy. She is getting married on Sunday! I was sort of stumped on what to make for her until I saw Grumperina’s beautiful potholders. Potholders=perfect gift for someone who loves to cook and also loves handmade things. At least, they’re what I would want…
They’re a little uneven and funny-looking, but I like them. 
I’ve been snuggling a sweet (but super spit-up-y) baby boy as much as I possibly can. But I’ve been squeezing in the knitting and crocheting and baking and sewing in the cracks… Here’s an update:
I’ve crocheted a baby blanket, a full-size afghan and two fancy squares from Jan Eaton’s 200 Crochet Blocks. I’ve knitted 2.5 fish-shaped dishcloths and a pair of socks and cast on another pair of socks.
And I started crocheting another baby blanket.
And I cut out the pieces for Edda’s Easter dress.
And I’ve been baking bread almost every day. (We’ve switched to homemade bread for our sandwiches and toast. Yum.)
It’s been busy around here! I have been sacrificing “blogging time” for “doing time” lately (obviously), but I think things are finally calming down enough around here for me to get back to blogging again. I certainly hope so, because I enjoy it.
I have caught the crochet madness. For some reason, crochet has never been my favorite craft. Maybe I have too many itchy, red heart, great-grandmother afghans in my past. But now, the crocheting has me hooked (ha). I am really enjoying it! I want to crochet more and more and more. Blankets, specifically. I’m about to start another afghan as a wedding present for my sister, who is getting married in May. Because it’s totally sane to add one one more work-in-progress to this pile.
This, unfortunately, is the only photo I have for you today. I promise, this thing looks waay cuter in person.
It’s the “Wishy Washy Fishy Tawashi” (say that five times fast). They are addictive… cute, made of cheap, readily available yarn and so quick to knit that you can make 10 in a week…. if you wanted to… Not that you should or anything. But I do… hehe.
Knit in Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool
Dyed with food coloring.
Gifted to my sister-in-law.
I, of course, wanted to keep them.
But I didn’t. (ha)
…this afghan in progress.
I have a huge collection of superwash wools and wool blends in my stash, mostly single skeins and partial skeins leftover from baby projects and Christmas stockings. Since the way I am able to justify my “huge” (in Ryan’s opinion) yarn collection is by saying that all that yarn could one day be used for something, I have decided that now is the time to use that yarn. I am buying two skeins of yellow and one of purple (knitpicks’ swish worsted, my favorite), just to balance things out. Apparently, I don’t ever knit with yellow and purple.
I decided that the most my distracted brain could handle right would be a huuuuge granny square. We’ll see how it works out, I guess.
I feel like I should mention that I took this photo on Friday of last week. The afghan is now roughly twice this size. I have had two sick babies and a sick husband this week so the amount of time between taking photo and posting blog has been a bit stretched out. I neatly cropped out the pile of Edda’s snotty tissues and the bottle of hand sanitizer that were also on the table…
I finished this scarf before Christmas… you know, because it was a Christmas gift for my mom. I think she really liked it! The pattern was really easy to memorize, even for a novice crocheter like me. (I’ve been crocheting for almost 17 years and just now learned to read patterns about a year ago.) The yarn was so neat; Araucania Ranco Solid. It didn’t pool at all, it just subtly changed colors a little here and there. Perfect.
The pattern is “Isar Scarf” by Julia Vaconsin. (It’s a free ravelry download.) I left off the fringe called for because my mom is not really into fringe. The look of the scarf really changes a lot after blocking, as is usually the case with openwork-type things. Also, I would recommend using a larger hook than you might think you should, because when it’s worked tightly the scarf does not look lacy and nice at all. It just looks stiff and odd.
I, of course, wanted to keep it for myself, but I gave it to my mom like a good daughter. Now she’d better wear it… haha.
I had the great idea to use my waterproof heating pad to accelerate the drying of some felted slippers I made made for Edda.
But there is one member of our family that cannot leave a warm heating pad alone.
He approaches…
And this is his disappointed “you mean I’m not allowed to sleep on it?” face.
Poor Oliver.
The slippers are from the pattern “Crocheted Felt Slippers for Children #CH-32” from Fiber trends. I’m in the process of sewing some handmade leather soles on them so she can wear them. Photos of that to come (I hope.) The pink yarn that is threaded through the holes in the top of the slipper is temporary; it was only there to keep the holes from closing up during felting. It has since been replaced by cute, crocheted ties in matching wool yarn.
—————————
Unrelated note: today is my due date! But no baby has arrived yet… I feel like it will be soon, but then what does that mean?
Nightgown: Yes.
Jacket: NO.
Though, to be fair, I should point out that the jacket is made of a very itchy-scratchy wool (Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool) and I haven’t lined yet so it is rather uncomfortable, I imagine.
Patterns: Simplicity 3586 (sewing), Drops b14-25 (crochet)
I’m having a crochet revival of sorts. It’s really fun! Here is a potholder I made using a block from 200 crochet blocks (great book, by the way) and a simple brown square for the back. The yarn is Lily Sugar and Cream, which, in my opinion, is the only yarn for potholders.
In other news, yesterday we found out that we are expecting our second child! This is so exciting to me, as I have been wanting another baby for quite a while now. It still hasn’t completely sunk in that we will have TWO kids, though…
Follow Me on Pinterest!
