January 21, 2012 · 12:26 pm

Copy-Cat Angel

Remember the Copy-Cat Pansy doily that I made while at my In-laws place for a visit?  Well during our visit with them again earlier this month I saw a crocheted angel that my Mother-in-Law had and decided to copy that too.  I’ve been wanting to make an angel for the top of the tree and this one was just perfect for it.  The left is what I came up with, and the right is the original piece.  

The angel was finished by soaking it in fabric stiffener and then pinning it to a styrofoam cone for shaping and then using hot glue to attach the halo and wings.

I didn’t get the shaping of the wings quite right.  I wasn’t able to finish the wings while I was there and had to work from pictures.  It was hard to see exactly what needed to be done for the wings from those pictures.  But it generally came out pretty good.

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January 19, 2012 · 11:16 pm

Christening Gown

I got the pattern for this Christening Gown  designed by Kathleen Harell from my Mary Maxim catalogue.  Persephone wore this for her Baby Blessing, which we had given during the Christmas Eve Service this year. 

I really loved this pattern.  Clothing is generally not my favorite to crochet, however this pattern was very easy to work up, very well written and easy to read.  The bodice, which you can see better in the stock photo here, works up in one piece, from one side to the back to other side.    This is done with increases for shaping at each shoulder.  The sleeves and the skirt are both just worked onto the foundation of the bodice.  Click on the stock photo to go to this pattern for sale on the Mary Maxim website.

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January 16, 2012 · 1:35 pm

Persephone Belle

I hadn’t realized it had been so long since my last post here.  I haven’t had a lot of time since the baby was born, but I do have several  projects that I need to post, so here’s the first catch up post…

This is Persephone Belle on the Ribbon and Pearls Christenting Afghan that I designed in her honor in her newborn photo shoot.  Doesn’t she look cute on it?!  (Thanks to Krista for the shots!)

Incidentally, I’ve sold 5 of my patterns for this on Ravelry since posting there.

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September 27, 2011 · 6:56 pm

Project Linus

I have joined a new organization!

Project Linus is an organization that “Provides love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.””

And here is the first afghan I have made to donate!  This baby afghan is a fairly simple pattern.  The pattern stitch is made by alternating a wrong side row of double crochet + slip stitch, with a right side row of straight double crochets.  The combination of the double crochet followed by a slip stitch creates an interesting textured bobble type stitch. 

This stitch gives the simple 12-row repeat before changing colors some pleasant detail without complicating the design.

I continued the simplicity to the edging where I completed one round of single crochets in white, followed by one round of the pattern stitch.

I have added the websites for both the National and Kansas City chapters of Project Linus to the Links menu if you are interested in more information!

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August 27, 2011 · 10:45 am

Pattern – Ribbon and Pearls Christening Afghan

The pattern for this afghan is now available for sale on Ravelry!  I’ve set the price for it at $5.00.  I would love to hear from anyone who purchases the pattern and see pictures of your completed afghan!  I may even post your picture on the site here!  Click on the picture to see the Ravelry listing, or just the “buy now” link.  Enjoy!

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August 25, 2011 · 6:46 pm

Ribbon and Pearls Christening Afghan

As promised, I designed an afghan in honor of my baby girl and I just love how it turned out!  I even submitted this one to Leisure Arts to see if they wanted to publish but they didn’t.  Oh well. 

I think I’ll sell the pattern for this one on Ravelry.  So I won’t post it for free here, but I will get the link added to the item on Ravelry once I get it posted there.

I loved how the ribbon and pearls turned out.  I was initially going to use white pearls but I’m glad I used the pink.  This pattern could be real pretty in reverse colors too with pink yarn and white ribbon and pearls. 

Update:   I have added the pattern for sale to my Ravelry store!

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August 6, 2011 · 9:55 am

Sage Lattice Prayer Shawl

I’ve been working on several different prayer shawls and the patterns for them lately, both because we’re in need of them in the Prayer Shawl group we have at church, and because I’ve got a lot of different yarn left over from other projects that I need to get used up.  I figured this was the perfect way!

Being the middle of summer I wanted to design something that could be used to keep warm in the air conditioning, but still be delicate and light to match the time of year.  This yarn is very light weight and would work perfect for that.  I combined it with the very simple, open lattice-work stitching which is just double crochets and chains, and it turned out very nicely.

To add just a little bit of weight and definition to the piece I did a reverse single crochet, otherwise known as the lobster claw, edging.  It put a nice rolled-hem like finish on the shawl and really defined the edges.  I’ve used the revers single crochet on some dishcloths before, but I’ve never used it on a full sized project and I really like it.

So this shawl is ready to go to our Prayer Shawl Group’s monthly meeting on Thursday to be prayed over and then given to someone in our congregation in need of it.  I can’t wait!

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July 30, 2011 · 10:49 am

Hooded Baby Blanket

So I made this afghan a few weeks ago.  I had been holding off on crocheting anything for the baby for a couple different reasons.  First, I felt so crappy during my first trimester that I didn’t even feel like crocheting anything for two full months after I found out I was pregnant.  And second, I wanted to wait until we found out if we were having a boy or a girl so that I could crochet in appropriate colors.  But fortunately I started feeling better at just under 3 months, and at about a week before my sonogram at 19 weeks I couldn’t stand it anymore and had to crochet something.

A fellow blogger had posted this baby blanket (pictured at right) she had designed on The Blue Brick and a few of us who commented on the post were able to convince her to write out the pattern.  She did so, and graciously shared the pattern!  Click on the picture with the yellow hood to see the pattern.

Since we didn’t yet know the sex of the baby I didn’t want to crochet my traditional Ripple Baby Afghan yet.  So I opted for this great little piece in neutral colors.  It’s very simply done in rounds of double crochets with shell increases at the corners of each round, and was very enjoyable to work on on my bus ride into work a few days that week.  Once I got up to the last round and the hood I decided put the piece down for a few days until after the sonogram and then do it in either peach or blue.  As you can see I did peach.  Yes, we are having a little girl!  I did struggle with the pattern on the hood a little bit and I could not get it to come out quite like the original picture, but it’s a really cute piece and lovely for the first afghan that I have crocheted for my daughter!

This did get me thinking though.  I’ll still do my traditional  Ripple Baby Afghan, but I should probably also design my own baby afghan in honor of my baby girl.  I think I’ll do something in white that we can use for her Baby Blessing – perhaps with some pink ribbon embellishments.  But I can’t decide if I want to do something square or another version of a ripple afghan.  We’ll have to see about that.

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July 29, 2011 · 4:36 pm

Birthday Skirt

I made this skirt as a present for my Niece Abbi’s 4th Birthday this month.  I wanted to make her something fun for summer so I went looking for a pattern on Ravelry.

 

 

The pattern is very simple and easy to make – done in a spiral of single crochet stitches instead of in rounds.  The lack of joining each round and chaining to take the work up to the next row makes the piece seamless all the way around and I really liked how that turned out.  The ruffles are fairly easy, done with shell stitches.  The first, or lower ruffle is just worked around the bottom edge of the skirt before finishing off.  However the second, or upper ruffle is made separately and then sewn on about an inch and a half above the lower one, gathering in as you go.  If I had that part to do again I would have worked it into the skirt initially instead of making it separately.  Joining the separate ruffle was a bit of a pain.

The top hem is folded over about a half inch and sewn in place to make a pocket for a draw-string.  I really liked that to allow me to make it a little bigger so Abbi can hopefully wear the skirt longer.  (Plus she’s so tiny for her age, I was afraid it was going to be too big to begin with.)

You can view the original pattern and pictures by  clicking on this picture.  In spite of how I personally didn’t like how the second ruffle was done, I did very much like this pattern over all.

 

And here are some pictures of Abbi in her skirt!

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March 27, 2011 · 11:12 am

Ripple Baby Afghan

Alright everyone.  Here is a project I have made probably more than a dozen times for so many friends and family when they were expecting a baby.  I’ll of course be making one for myself now – as soon as we figure out if we have a little boy or a little girl.

If I have made one of these for you, PLEASE send me an email with a picture of it.  If you have one with your child using it that’s even better!  I would love to do a post with pictures of several of these gifts!

I taught myself to crochet from this pattern book.  Some of the patterns in this leaflet are rather dated as it was originally published in 1989.  Certainly not new anymore, but it still works for beginners.  I even wore out my first copy and bought another.  You can still order this leaflet on the Leisure Arts website for just $6.95.  Click on the picture for the link to the listing.

The ripple baby afghan was one of the first afghans I’d ever done, and has been one of my favorite patterns for a long  time.  It is made with double crochet stitches and shells, skipping stitches to make the ripple effect.  I like to use Caron Simply Soft yarn to make this, although I have been very disappointed to find that they have discontinued the very pretty Victorian Rose color that I like to use for the pink.

I hope to see many emails here shortly of your pictures!

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