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.

My Bear Cocoon Project

I know I've mentioned my expectant friends before. My friend Sarah wanted to make the project to the right, and I agreed to do it with her. I thought it was a cool idea. Sarah made hers for her baby, and I made mine for my friend Nicole. The majority has been done for awhile now, but I've been putting off doing the feet, which I finished tonight.

In the meantime, I've been working on a few things in addition to transferring everything I need over to the new computer (which is about 98% done). Sarah sent me a nice pattern for a baby hat. I made one while we were watching a movie at home one night, and I'd love to make more, but I'm not sure where all those hats would go. I'll have to find somewhere I can donate anything I might make.

Anyway, I bought this beautiful bear cocoon at Etsy. I had to make an account, which I plan to use more in the future. The seller of the pattern was Sandy's Cape Cod Originals. She has so many nice patterns that it'll be hard to chose another. :)

New year/new project

Happy New Year!

Last night we went out with my friends Rus and Sarah. We did dinner and a movie, and then we came back to our place, where Sarah and I started on the project to the left, this bear hat. It's an adorable combo pattern of this hat and a sleep sack. Together, they look like a little bear.

I bought the pattern on Etsy, at Sandy's Cape Cod Originals shop. The pattern is fairly easy to follow, even though it contains some stitches I've never done before. I'm working on the sleep sack now, and I'll take a picture of that when I'm done.

I think I might look for some more of Sandy's patterns when I'm done. But first, I checked out Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker from the library yesterday, and I saw a few nice patterns in there that I might want to try in there first. The book has the cutest pattern for a sock monkey baby afghan that I'd love to try. It's granny squares, which I haven't done in ages, but hopefully it can keep me occupied long enough to finish it. I have up on my last granny square baby afghan. The idea of making so many small squares lost its appeal after about 25 squares. :/

Sweater Finished!

I finished up the sweater I've been working on today. It's from the
post I made about two weeks ago about Suzie's Pretty Shells Baby Sweater and Hat. I posted the hat last week. Since I was finished with some of my gift projects, I decided to finish the second sleeve on this sweater. I decided to use the ladybug buttons I found in Joanne's a few weeks ago. The camera in my cell phone didn't really capture the color right, but it's Bernat's Super Value yarn in Yellow.

We're supposed to be getting a huge amount of snow overnight, and it started earlier, so we've been in the house most of the day. Before I finished the sweater, we wrapped Christmas presents. I just have a few more gifts to go, and I'll finish those on Monday night. In the meantime, I'm going to try working on a sleep sack pattern that I also found on the Suzie's Stuff blog. The hat that goes with it looks like it's the same as the one I made with the sweater, so that should go very quickly. I hope the sleep sack goes fast as well.

Baby hat

I just have one more sleeve to do on the baby sweater I mentioned in my last post. (Link to the pattern creator's blog is there too.) I decided to take a break from sleeves and work on the hat that goes with the sweater. The picture to the left is my finished hat. I think it's a cute pattern. I took the picture with my phone, so you can't really tell how pretty the color is. I used Bernat's Super Value yarn in Yellow. I've gotten so many compliments on the color this week.

I've decided to work on another gift in the meantime. It shouldn't take me too long. I can't really post pictures of the gifts I've been working on, because some of the recipients check out my blog from time to time. *g* I will say that my newest project is using a really pretty yarn that I've never used before. It's Caron Simply Soft Paints in Harlequin, pictured below. The picture doesn't do it justice; I think it's much prettier in a crocheted pattern. I'll post pictures of the gifts after they're given.

Picture from the Caron website.

Busy work...

I've been busy working on a few projects. I made a a two scarves, two hats, and a pair of baby booties. The booties are a little strange looking, so I'm not too sure about those.

Right now I'm working on a cute project for my friend Nicole's future baby, Suzie's Pretty Shells Baby Sweater and Hat. I just have the arms of the sweater to go before I can start on the hat. The link I have to the original pattern has a picture of the items in pink. They look really cute. I'm doing the patter in yellow, and I've gotten a lot of compliments at work on the color. I can't wait to post pictures here when I'm done.

Another sweater

Since the last sweater went so well (see previous post), I thought I would do another sweater and hat for my friends Rusel and Sarah. I made a blanket for them with the same yarn (Red Heart Soft Baby Steps), and I had two skeins left over. I want to make some booties too, so I'll work on those this weekend. I love the buttons. Rus and Sarah have quite a few turtles as pets, so I'm hoping they'll like them, too.

The hat is the same pattern as the previous post as well, but I made it a row longer than the pattern called for. I also wasn't sure about the row where I had to do the front and rear post double crochets. I wasn't sure what that meant, so I kind of winged it (obviously not correctly *g*). I guess because it's a row larger than normal, the bottom kind of cuffed up when I was weaving in the ends. I figured since it's for a baby boy, it looked kind of cool like that, so I'm going to leave it.

Now that I know what I'm doing with these patterns, I'm thinking of making some for charity. I just have to find a good place to donate my items. I would like it to be a local place. I might contact my church's rectory to see if they know of anywhere. I checked the latest bulletin, but there was nothing in there this week. I'm pretty sure I've seen information in a previous bulletin.

In the meantime, I'm working on some presents. One is a really cool scarf. I'll post it here after I give it as a gift. :)