Tag Archives: afghans

Sweet 16 Afghan

Julie's Sweet 16 AfghanThe first project of the year is finished and delivered! My Niece Julie turned 16 in January and I wanted to make her a nice, grown-up afghan.  With her favorite color purple, I started in on a corner-to-corner afghan.  This is a very simple pattern that you can easily google instructions for.  It works up perfectly square, or rectangular with very little effort and I really like how the variegated yarn looks in the pattern.  (We know I just love variegated yarn.)

My own creativity comes into play with the edging on this piece.  I did not write down the pattern for this one, but I will include a very rough account of it below.

Julie

This is Julie with her afghan after she received it today. Sorry it was late for your birthday!

Edging

Join all rounds with a sl st in beginning st.

Round 1: A round of single crochet. Two sc in each ch 2 at the end of each row and 3 sc in each corner.

Round 2: Dc in each sc. 3 dc in each corner.

Round 3: Dc, ch 2, sk 2 dc, dc in next dc around.  Dc, ch 2, dc in each corner.

Round 4: Dc in each dc around, 2 dc in each ch 2 sp. 3 dc in each corner.

Round 5: Repeat round 3.

Round 6: (Dc, ch 2, dc) in each dc, ch 2.  (Dc, ch 2, dc) in each corner.

Round 7: (Dc, picot, ch 1) 3 times in first ch ch 2 sp, ch 1, dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 1. Around. (Dc, picot, ch 1) 5 times in each corner.

Round 8: Dc in ch 1 between first and  second picots, ch 5, dc in ch 1 between second and third picots, ch 1, (dc, ch 2, dc in next dc, ch 1. Around.  Dc in ch 1 between second and third picots, ch 5, dc in ch 1 between third and fourth picots, ch 1 for each corner.

Round 9: Repeat round 7 with 5 (dc, picot, ch 1) in each ch 5 sp.  (Dc, picot, ch 1) 7 times for each corner.

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Filed under 2016 Project List, Afghans, Gifts, Patterns

2016 Crocheting Goals

I’m going to take a slightly different approach this year.  Last year was the first year that I created crocheting goals for myself. And although there was a lot that I did not complete, I think in the first half of the year I got a lot more done than I may have in previous years.

Instead of going quite as structured as I did last year with laying down what projects I was going to do in which month, I’m just going to make myself a project list of things I want to get done.  I will start this list out with some semblance of the order I want to complete these project in, however, I expect it to be more of a living, ongoing, occasionally changing list – especially with regards to when I get custom orders from my Etsy store. So here is the first draft of the…

Stitched In Love Crocheting 2016 Project List:

  1. DONE – Sweet 16 Afghan – This is started and needs to be done soon because it will need to be mailed out as soon as I can.  It’s already going to be late for her birthday.  There’s just so much going on right now!
  2. Buddy’s Afghan – I have designed an afghan pattern in honor of each one of my new babies.  As soon as the Sweet 16 Afghan is done, I need to get working on Baby #3’s.  I’ve already done quite a bit of R&D (i.e. Pinterest pinning) and I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do.  I even have the yarn. Now I just need to sit down and start work/writing the pattern.
  3. Christmas Stockings for Family – I think I’m just going to continue working on the Christmas items after the immediate projects are wrapped up so that they don’t just get put off until the end of the year and not get done again. I need to finish the stockings for the new baby and myself. Then I would like to do some embellishments on everyone’s stockings, including names and maybe some holly berries and leaves.
  4. Christmas Tree Skirt – I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to this one and have not yet decided what I want to do for this exactly. However, I might see if I can get a plain, solid tree skirt on sale after the holidays this year to use as a backing for mine to lend more durability to it and potentially act as a background depending on what design I settle on.
  5. Afghan Christmas Present #1 – I have three different afghans that I want to make family members for Christmas gifts.  Hopefully I can get them done in the first part of this year and then just block them and package them come Christmas next year.  These projects are going to be difficult to post about while maintaining the Christmas surprise. I might have to  come up with some creative pictures of extreme close ups and do some fun editing to disguise the true results.
  6. Afghan Christmas Present #2
  7. Afghan Christmas Present #3
  8. Curtains – We have  a great big bay window in the new house and instead of putting up some boring curtains or sheers, I really want to crochet some pretty lace-like curtains that I can just slip onto some tension rods for a sort of 3/4 cover.
  9. Rugs – We also have all hardwood floors in the new house which we have refinished with a beautiful dark stain. But we need several rugs in multiple areas of the house. I also want to do a “street and lawn” rug for the kids’ room
  10. Happypotamusses for kids – I thought about doing these for their birthdays or for another holiday through the year, but I think I’ll stick with making these and saving them for Christmas next year.  The designer of this very cute stuffed animal has actually designed quite a few others, so I’m actually thinking about making the Hippo for Bubba, an Elephant for Sephy because she loves them, and something else fun for Buddy instead of just doing 3 hippos in different colors.
  11. Mitten Ornaments – Another small gift for the family members to make and save for next year.
  12. Top for myself – Finally on to non-Christmas items! Hopefully by this time I will have been able to loose some baby weight and can make myself something pretty.
  13. Dress for Sephy – I’d like to try again in making a dress for Sephy, this time in a very light weight yarn, or even thread.
  14. Parasol – I would still like to try and get this thing made. I have two different umbrella frames ready to use for it.
  15. Masquerade Masques – My sister is having a Masquerade Ball for her Halloween party next year and I want to make the masks that my Husband and I wear. I also have a whole Pinterest board for this one!

It will be interesting to see how much of this I will actually be able to get done this year. Fifteen doesn’t sound like a lot on this list, but with 3 afghans plus a tree skirt that is basically a whole afghan itself, it is definitely going to be a challenge.

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2015 – A Dud for Crocheting

I got nowhere near to what I wanted to accomplish this year with my crocheting.  My work came to an abrupt halt in June when I got sick because I became pregnant with our third child. Three months later I was finally feeling a little better, but by then we were really trying to get our new house renovated and moved in.  We are moved in now, though not even close to being unpacked and settled. And of course, now we are preparing for the holidays and the arrival of little #3.

Obviously with a third on the way, living in a house that still needs a lot of work, and trying to get our old house ready to rent out, there is probably not going to be a lot of time to crochet in 2016 either.  BUT I will be pumping 2-3 times a day again after returning to work, which is when I was able to get a lot of of crocheting done last year and early this year. So I do still have some things planned.

Here is a rundown of things I am working on immediately, and where I ended up with the goals I had for 2015.  I’ll post again later with what I want to accomplish for 2016.  I did get a few custom orders completed through my Etsy shop along the way but not a whole lot else.

Current/Immediate Projects

  1. Christmas Stockings – Two done for the kids, working on Husband’s now.  Baby #3 and I may have to wait until next year.
  2. Christmas Gifts – Working on a few small/quick gifts for family.  Will post on this after all the family get-togethers are done for the holidays.
  3. Sweet 16 Afghan – This needs to be started as soon as the stocking and Christmas gifts are done because it will need to be mailed out very soon after the first of the year.
  4. Buddy’s Afghan – I have designed an afghan pattern in honor of each one of my new babies.  As soon as the Sweet 16 Afghan is done, I need to get working on Baby #3’s.  I’ve already done quite a bit of R&D (i.e. Pinteresting) and I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do.  I even have the yarn. Now I just need to sit down and start work/writing the pattern.

2015 Run-Down

  1. ADDED (Custom Order) – Baby Afghan Success! See June 6th 30 Days of Blog Post for this one.
  2. ADDED (Custom Order) – Second Baby Afghan Success! I’m sad about this one because I do not think that I took a picture before I delivered it.
  3. ADDED: Baby Gift #1 – This was the Strawberry Cocoon and Beanie Success!
  4. ADDED (Custom Order) – Baby Gift.  Surprise gift to be posted at a later time. Success! I’m sad about this one because I do not think that I took a picture before I delivered it.
  5. ADDED: Baby Gift #2 – Was in progress in May, but I don’t even remember what this was right now!
  6. Finish writing Cuffs and Monkey Patterns –  Cuffs done. Monkey on hold till Fall. I never did get back to the Monkey pattern.  But the boot Cuffs pattern did get finished and posted in my Ravelry store.  I even had a lady contact me about it because she is doing a class on cable stitches at a retreat and wanted to use my pattern for it.  So I have seen multiple pattern sales as a result of that.
  7. Christmas Stockings for Family (4) – On the immediate list.
  8. Baby Gift #2 – I’ve had this done for awhile and I’m sad to say I keep forgetting to mail the darn thing!
  9. Baby Gift #3 – This one has also been done, but never got delivered. (Facepalm.)
  10. Top for myself – (Laughing.) Not a chance. It wouldn’t fit me right now anyway.  Maybe this Spring or Summer.
  11. Christmas Tree Skirt – Sadly this one did not get done yet either.
  12. Afghan Christmas Present #1 – Nope.
  13. Afghan Christmas Present #2 – Nope.
  14. Afghan Christmas Present #3 – Nope. (Sorry family. Maybe next year.)
  15. Happypotamusses for Sephy and Greyson – This is another one I’m really sad about.  I really wanted to get these done for them.  Maybe I’ll make it a trilogy and give one to each of the three kids for Christmas next year.
  16. Sweet 16 Afghan – On the immediate list.
  17. Mitten Ornaments – Replaced with another quick project for Christmas gifts on the Immediate list.  I would still like to do these for next year.

So there we are. Here’s hoping that 2016 will leave me feeling more accomplished with the projects I want to do!

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Stitched In Love on Etsy

Go check out my Etsy store!  My collection of finished products is growing and there are some very cute pieces available!Etsy

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Filed under 30 Days of Blog - 2015, For Sale on Etsy

Baby Afghan and Pillow Set

MainI received a custom order request for this baby afghan from an old friend of mine and I was very honored to be able to accommodate.  Her Grandfather had crocheted baby afghans for all his great-grandchildren before he passed way.  Deanne is now expecting the first great-grandchild since his passing and asked if I could try to reproduce the pattern.  Though the result is not exactly the same as his pattern, it is very close and I hope reminds her of him.

I think this is probably my favorite request ever.  Crocheting an afghan for an order is one thing.  But to try to stand-in and create something on behalf of someone who is now gone is very humbling.  I was so touched to be asked to make the attempt.

EdgingDeanne selected three Bernant Baby Sport skeins in a coral, light taupe, and a matching variegated yarn.  These colors turned out to be just fabulous together and I must say it is one of my favorite afghans I have ever made.

DetailWhen I completed the afghan I still had a lot of yarn left; so I made two solid color pillows to go with it.  I made four flowers using the same stitch as the edging on the afghan and sewed them together on each side of the pillows, using a button in the center and adding pearl beads for embellishment.  I love how the solid pillows look against the stripes of the afghan.

FullIt turned out so pretty that I have listed the set in my Etsy store.  I would love to make the set again in some other customized colors.  I am also working on writing up the pattern to add to my Ravelry store.

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Granny Assembly

I got a lot done on the assembly for  The Granny Square Project last night.

Placement

Placement

First I laid all my squares out on the table in the planned 4×6 order and started swapping them around to determine placement.  I didn’t want similar colors or squares with the same yarn too close to each other.  I stood there moving squares for about 45 minutes and then asked my husband to come take a look and we made a few more adjustments.

Join2

Joining

 

 

 

Then I started joining.  I used the slip stitch method of joining on the wrong side in the two outside loops of the last round of the square.  There is a good tutorial here for this and I really like how it looks on the front side.  I’ll get a close-up of that tonight.

Join3

Vertical Edges Joined

I finished joining all of the vertical sides and tonight I’ll go back and do the horizontal edges.  Then I’ll do a few rounds of single crochet edging to finish it out.  I really do like the continuity the grey yarn has brought to the squares.

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Blocking Squares

I’ve had to pause only slightly on the Granny Square Project because I got another Etsy order for the Very Hungry Caterpillar Cocoon and Beanie.  But it really hasn’t set me back much for two reasons.

Blocking

Blocking

  1. I’ve actually been blocking my squares and haven’t really been having to crochet much anyway.  I found this great idea for blocking on Pinterest where you drill holes in a board (plywood in this case) and use small knitting needles to shape the squares. It has worked perfectly! So most of my time on the project lately has been waiting for the squares to dry.
  2. When I went to get the yarn for the cocoon, I found that I already had a completed beanie and a half completed cocoon!  So all I had to do was finish the cocoon and make the pieces for the eyes, nose and antennae and assemble them!

    Very Hungry Caterpillar Cocoon and Beanie

    Very Hungry Caterpillar Cocoon and Beanie

The blocking is all finished now and the last squares came off the block this morning.  So I am very excited that tonight I will be able to lay all the squares out and start deciding placement!

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Afghan Order Complete

Ribbon CrossHere it is, all ready to package and mail out!  It’s a good thing I got this order actually because as I was working this up I found and corrected two errors in the pattern.  I got an updated PDF loaded to Ravelry and sent out to those who have already purchased it. Fortunately (and unfortunately) that’s only 3 people.

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Afghan Order

Afghan 3

Well I was started back up on the Granny Square project, but then I got an order for an afghan on my Etsy shop.  So now I’m working this up again real quick this week to ship out. Then it will be back to the grannies again, again, again.

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Black Friday Sale on My Ravelry Shop!

PatternsI have 12 patterns available in my Ravelry store.  Seven are for sale and the rest are free!  No pattern  is more than $5.00 full price.

Starting today and running through this Sunday, November 30, 2014 take 50% off your entire purchase with the BLACKFRIDAY2014 coupon code!  There are no limits.  Purchase all of the patterns or just one!

Have a great holiday season!

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