Gifts for my friend Nicole

I finally remembered to upload the pictures of the gifts I sent to my best friend for her new baby.  I wound up sending a box to her, since I wasn't sure when I'd be able to see her again.  She emailed me to tell me how much she loved everything, and I was so happy.  I even got a picture of her older daughter wearing a hat I'd made for her.  :D

This picture to the right was one of the first things I made for the new baby...one of the first things I made when I started to crochet.  I think I was still getting the arms down.  My newer one is much better.  I'll post that when I find nice buttons to put on it.  (Not sure who the recipient of that sweater will be.)  The sweater is the cardigan pattern from Bella Bambina that I've posted before.  It's a really easy pattern, and Kelly has a excellent tutorial linked to the pattern.  The hat is the same hat that I made for my friend Sarah, but with this one I learned how to do the front and back post stitches, so it's the way it's supposed to look.  :-)  The pattern is Bev's Easy Round Baby Hat, and it was truly very easy.  It was my first experience with rounds.  I really loved the yarn I used, but AC Moore never seems to have enough skeins of it to make a blanket, so I had to be content with just this project.

I made this sweater and hat before Nicole knew she was having a girl.  It's Suzie's Pretty Shells Baby Sweater and Hat, and I received so many compliments on both the color and the pattern.  I used Bernat yellow yarn that I'd bought on sale.  It's nice and soft, and it's a really nice shade of yellow.  I'm very proud of this sweater, because it was the most complicated thing I'd done.  I added the buttons after I found out Nicole was having a girl.

It was so hard to part with this blanket.  It's the same pattern I used for Sarah's baby blanket.  It's from the label of a Baby Soft yarn I bought for my first project.  I like the pattern, and it's easy to work up.  I really love this yarn, though.  It's Red Heart Soft Baby Steps in Princess Smart Print.  It's just so soft and cuddly.  I would love to make something else with this yarn.

The hat on the top is a pattern my friend Sarah recommended to me, it's called a Basic Baby Beanie, and the pattern is on Ravelry.  If you crochet or knit, I would suggest joining Ravelry.  Not only are there tons of patterns to choose from, but there are groups to join that can really be helpful.  I haven't been on the site long enough to join as many groups as I'd like, but I plan to explore the site more thoroughly soon.

The bottom hat is Manner's Basic Baby Hat.  It had a chunk of the Princess Smart Print left over, so I thought I'd try the hat with it, and I liked the way it came out.  Both of these hats worked up really quickly, and I'll definitely make them again.

These last two hats are Suzie's Girlie Beanies.  I've made quite a few of these hats, because she has directions for four different sizes.  I even made one for myself to match my scarf.  I thought it would be cute to make matching hats for the girls.

My current project is a slanted stitch baby blanket.  I'll make a post of that some time next week.  At first I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it, but it turns out to be something that is much easier to do than it looks.  I started it without a recipient it mind, but I recently found out my friend Melissa is expecting, so I'll be saving it for her. :D

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.

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. :/