Another baby afghan

I found a pattern for a slanted shell baby hat awhile back, and I decided to make it last night while I was watching tv.  I finished very quickly, so today I decided to look for a slanted stitch baby blanket pattern.  I found one at The Art of Crochet by Teresa, and that's what I'm working on now.  I had a little problem with the ends of rows when I first started out, but I quickly figured out how to end the row without adding a shell and distorting the shape.  I decided to use some yarn out of my stash: Bernat Softee Baby in Chiffon Print.  I'm using an H hook, because it's what I used to make the baby hat, and I liked the way it came out.  Once you get the hang of the slanted shell pattern, it goes very quickly.  I'll post another picture when I'm further along.

I'm supposed to visit my family this weekend, and hopefully that will include a visit to see my best friend, who's expecting her second daughter in a few weeks.  I'm going to pack up everything I made for the baby, and I'll take pictures before I do.  I'm really impressed with myself.  Before I started to crochet again a few months ago, I never thought I'd be able to make anything more intricate than the most basic patterns, but I'm learning.  :D

Basic Baby Hat

Late last night I decided to start another baby sweater.  There were two cute sweater that Kelly from Bella Bambina posted on her site recently, and I decided to go with the baby sweater with ruffled bottom.  Since I didn't have any Snuggly Wuggly yarn in my stash, I decided to go with Bernat Softee Baby yarn in Chiffon Print. I finished the project this afternoon while I was watching tv.  I only have to figure out which buttons to put attach, and then I'll take pictures and post it here.  I wish I had the patience to figure out how Kelly did the chain attachment she had pictured, but I'll have to ask since I couldn't figure it out from the picture.  :-)

I did ask Kelly about the hat she had posted with the two sweaters I liked, and she shared the link with me.  I really like the yarn the designer used.  I decided to go with the leftover yarn with which I made my friend Nicole's baby blanket as a trial run.  I like the way it came out, so I'll probably make more of them.  I also found a new blog to follow: Manner's Crochet and Craft, and you can find the pattern to the hat here.

Almost finished...

So this is the baby blanket I'm working on for my friend Nicole.  I'm so excited, because I'm so close to being finished.  I'm hoping to give it (and some other projects) to her this weekend.  I'm going to take pictures of everything before I wrap them up so I can post them here.  The picture was taken with my cell phone camera, so the colors aren't as pretty as they are in real life.  The yarn is Red Heart Soft Baby Steps in Princess Smart Print.  I've gotten so many compliments on the blanket as I've been working on it.  I really love the colors.

I'm also happy because Michael's was having a sale on the Red Heart Baby Cloud yarn.  I have a pattern for a cute baby blanket from my Susan Bates learn crochet book using that yarn, so I ran up and bought some.  The biggest challenge was to find five skeins with the same dye lot.  Very frustrating.  I managed to find five skeins of Sunny Multi: a mix of yellow, green, blue, and pink.  I can't wait to see how it looks worked up.  I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with the blanket when it's done, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.  *g*

I'm also working on a throw blanket for myself with a pretty pattern I found online.  I'm using Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Rose, and I think it's coming out very nice.  I'll post a picture of that when I'm further along.  I started it while I was waiting for the yarn for Nicole's baby blanket, so it's really not that far along yet, maybe 10 rows.  I'm not in a rush with it, though, because it's for me.  I'll be working on it when I have no other projects to do.

Yesterday was my friend Sarah's baby shower. I was so happy to finally give her all the stuff I'd been working on for baby Ben. I really need a better way to take pictures of my work. LOL!

First up was the baby blanket. I got the patter off a skein of Lion Brand Baby Soft yarn, but I used Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn in Mellow Yellow Smart Print. I love the feel of the Red Heart yarn. It was softer than the Baby Soft yarn, but the stitches didn't come out as tight, It's an easy pattern to work up, though.

Since it seems to use up more yarn than the Baby Soft, I ran to AC Moore's and bought up whatever they had left in the dye lot. I had a few skeins left over, so I made a sweater and hat as well.

I got the sweater pattern from Bella Bambina.  It's a very simple cardigan pattern that I love.  My husband helped me find some adorable turtle buttons in Joanne's (my friends have several turtles as pets).  The hat I got here: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/preemieround.html.  I accidentally made an extra row, which made the hat roll up when I finished it.  I thought it made it a little more boyish, so I left it.  I believe I've posted about the hat and sweater before.  


The last items I gave was a sleep sack with a matching hat.  I made this one before I made the bear cocoon, so I had some idea how they worked.  I finished it fairly quickly. I still have some light blue yarn left.  I can't remember if it was Red Heart or Bernat yarn.  There was a sale when I got the baby pink, yellow, and blue yarns.  I like to roll the yarn into balls, so the label is most likely in the heart of the ball of yarn.  LOL!

I'm not sure how long the sleep sacks are really good for.  They might be better for preemie babies.  I loved making the hat.  I think that even if I didn't make the sleep sack that I might make up the hat again.  We'll see if this is something I can make for charity.


Right now I'm working on a baby blanket for my friend Nicole.  I'm using the Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn in Princess Smart Print, which I am crazy about.  I've gotten so many compliments on it.  (I did with the Mellow Yellow Smart Print as well.)  I finally joined Ravelry, and Nicole's blanket is the first one I put up.  I can't wait to look around the site more to get more familiar with it.


As I said in my photography blog, I haven't really posted in awhile, because my dad is in the hospital, and I just haven't been up for it.  I've had an upper respiratory infection, so I can't make the trip to visit him.  He's suffering from congestive heart failure, and they're still doing tests. Any prayers, well-wishes, etc. would be greatly appreciated.