First Baby Blanket

I have finally finished my first baby blanket. It's not what I hoped it would be but it is kinda cute all the same. I actually bought this yarn to make another pattern with little bunnies on it. Here is a photo of what I wanted to make.

 

But with all the nausea and exhaustion I could only muster enough brain and physical strength to make a large granny square blanket which I can practically do asleep. I finished it off with a simple scalloped edge. Here is a photo. 

Maybe a little later, now that I'm getting my mojo back, (blessed 2nd trimester!) I can attempt to make the bunny blanket.

Speaking of bunnies I would like to introduce you to our newest fur child, Gloria! We adopted her when friends of friends found a rabbit who two days later gave birth to 4 kittens. They couldn't keep them so we helped out. Our George is not impressed about sharing his house with a new 'girl' bunny! 

Gloria was a very scatty rabbit, scared of any movement or noise. She would take ages to catch and would not let you pat her. With a few treats and lots of patience I have manage to tame her. She is now actually the most affectionate out of the 3 bunnies we have! 2 weeks ago I would never have guessed!

Home Improvement

I have some photos of a couple of projects that I am working on at the moment. Above is a section of an afghan I'm making for our new red velvet couch. I thought I'd be a bit more daring and use a variety of different colours. So far I am very happy with the results. I'm thinking of making it about 8 by 10 squares just large enough to cover the couch seat.

I'm also working on a quilt for our new bedroom. We bought a new bed frame because Axel keeps on hitting his feet on the bottom of the one we have now. (I guess being tall is not always an advantage!)

Here is a catalog photo of the bed. We haven't actually got it yet, it's on order.

Our walls will be a light blue and the ceiling, skirting boards and doors are white so I decided on making a blue and white quilt with a hint of orange and peach for contrast. Here are some progress photos.

At the moment I just have the blocks finished (simple maple leaf blocks without the stems. Did I mention I hate doing the stems on maple leaf blocks?) I'm planning on adding a 3 or 2 inch white border around each block and then a 1 inch navy border, finished with another 6 inch white border. I'm also considering putting a border of triangles made from the left over blue and orange material. I will see how it looks after the first white border and see if it needs more colour.

Anyhow I hope everyone is well and enjoying the first month of the new year. I can't believe 11 days have already passed! 16 more days before I go back to work! I have so much to finish at home that I am no longer looking forward to getting back to work, I just want more time so I can get things finished!!!!!!!

Bad Blogger and Crochet Disaster

Yes I have been a bad blogger. It's been over a month since I last posted and I feel a little guilty about having neglected the blog. I am proud to announce though that I have been a good girl and have kept For The Love of Crochet Along, another blog I manage with a great bunch of crocheting chicks, up to date.

It's not that I haven't been doing anything crafty it's just uninspiring photos of my stuff and a lack of patience to sit and write. Above is a snippit of a doily I made a few weeks ago. I made another one (same pattern) last week too with the intention of making a set of three for under my sugar, coffe, tea pots. I've also been crocheting a baby jacket but the whole thing went to poo when I realised the neck wasn't wide enough for the body. Have to start the WHOLE thing again. It was almost finished when I realised. (Mind you I had already undone half of it when the arms were not the right size) I have a pattern now to work from, no more making it up myself!

Here are some photos of the disaster!

I tried to cut a bit of the top to make a larger neck opening but of course you cannot undo crochet from the opposite way that it's been worked... found that out the hard way.


It was looking cute, there was a bit more blue on the end and then a red edging all around. The sleeves also had a few read stripes on them. I will try again at a later point with the pattern found.

A Little Crochet Heart Doily

I have been working on a little doily for a few weeks now, on and off between reading and crocheting the cardigans. I was thinking of using the doily to make a ring bearers cushion for our wedding but I am still undecided, I think I might make it through cross stitiching a pillow. Anyhoo, this is the first time I´ve attempted to crochet using cotton rather than yarn, and it is the smallest hook I´ve ever used too (1.25). I must say it is tricky. Getting the tension right takes practice and I don´t know how many times I´ve undone rows. I am getting better though, thank goodness and I am happy with the results so far.


The pattern is a free pattern I found online, Crochet Memories, Free crochet-a-long Hearts doily pattern. The pattern is pretty good just had trouble in one spot, still don´t know what its trying to tell me but I made up I didn´t understand myself and it seems to be still working. There are three different rounds of it, this is just the first two so I´ll keep you photographically posted as I finish the last two parts.

It's Finished and It's Cute!

Just a quick post to show you the finished baby cardigan. I am very pleased with it and very glad that I pushed myself to try a new pattern for the bottom half. Usually I just continue in straight rows. Although, the pattern for the bottom half takes a lot of yarn and thus this little piece has taken about 6 50gm balls of yarn to complete, usually I get away with just over 3 balls. I'm not sure what aged baby it would fit, I think maybe about 12- 18 months. I made the arms very long so that the child won't grow out of it too quickly, when it's younger we can just roll the sleeves back in the manner you can see in the photo.

Another Baby Cardigan, but with a Twist, or More so a 'wave'

Yes I am at it again crocheting baby cardigans for a baby that has not even been concieved yet. But this time I got a bit more adventerous and incorporated a different pattern for the bottom half. It takes forever to grow, 2 rows = 1 cm but I think it´s worth it! Here are some update photos.Hope everyone had a great weekend I did and even spent some of it crocheting on the subway in Berlin hehehehe people dont seem to care which is good but one lady asked to look and she spoke in German. She saw that it was for a baby and said something I just shook my head to say yes because I had no clue what she was saying later Axel told me she was congratulating me on being pregnant Oops! hehehehe oh well. I should probably tell people I dont uncerstand rather than pretending I do.

Lena´s First Birthday Present

I got some great 4 ply yarn from one of the Saturday markets last week with the intention of making a baby cardigan for our ´someday´baby. I asked Axel to choose some yarn that he thought could be for a boy or girl and he chose this great yellow ball with specks of green, pink, red and blue.

Having completed it though I realised it was quite big and probably for a 1 year old not a new born. I could wait and keep it for when our future baby turns 1 or is big enough for it but then I thought why should it wait that long to be worn, Axel´s niece is turning 1 next week she would look great in it and it goes with the t-shirt we already got her. So alas the cardigan is now packed for Lena´s birthday and I will just have to keep on making others for our ´future´kids. We are that eager to make some but waiting until a better financial time. pooey also I don´t want to be pregant in my wedding dress.

Here are some photos of the cardigan...


Happy May Day to all the Germans reading this! Have a great weekend everyone.

Neck Warmer From Germany

There were a few things I made while I was away in Germany. Being a lazy blogger while I was there I didn't actually post any photos of the stuff I made. I've decided to make up for that and post some now. This is a neck warmer that I made. I was so sick of wearing scarfs that didn't really cover my neck well that I decided to go online to find a pattern for something that would keep me warm. It is a ribbed effect even though it is crochet. I love the effect and think it would be a great way to make a whole jumper, crochet but with the 'knitted' look. The only problem I had with this neck warmer was that the top would curl and expose some of my neck to the cold. I had to reshape it every night to make it uncurl.

Crocheting up for the Winter

I am going back to Germany for Christmas and the whole of January so I've decided to make a few scarfs and beanies to take with me, keep me warm while I'm walking around Berlin, gallery hopping and scouting the local op shops, second hand book stores etc. (Ahhh man I can't wait) Anyhooo this is the first scarf that I am working on. It is an idea I stole/borrowed from another blogger Inkberryblue who took the idea and pattern from an other blogger Crochetroo who originally wrote the pattern as a bookmark. Click on Crochetroo for pattern. Just like Inkberryblue's mine is also pulling a bit because of the weight of the yarn but I am ok with it, I jusr pull it back into shape every now and then.

I actually spent a bit of money this time and bought the most beautiful Jo Sharp wool which is also 5% cashmere and 10% silk and boy can you feel those two fibers in the mix! At our local wool and tapestry shop there is a lot of tweed yarn and I am not complaining because I love that look. This one has spots of cream and black through it which I really like. So far the scarf has cost 20$ in yarn I hope this ball is going to see me though to the end because I don't think I could justify another 10$ for another ball. 30$ scarf, hmm a bit much don't you think? Anyhow see how we go!

What's New Pussy Cat?

It feels like ages ago that I last posted an entry. I've still been sick, every week it's something different, stomach bug, runny nose, sore throat, aches and pains, sinuses then stomach bug again. It has been never ending this term! I am just waiting for the boss to call me into his office and say, 'Kathy you are too sick, you are costing us too much in sick leave so I'm going to have to let you go!' then I imagine myself breaking out in tears and crying 'oh I'm sorrryyyyyyy... boo hoo' Ah thank God for school holidays which start this Friday at 2.30pm!! Two weeks of relaxation, sleep and warm cosy indoors without having to come within and inch of a school kid with runny nose. If I don't feel better by the end of the two weeks I will be feeling pretty close to jumping off the Westgate bridge!

Anyhow some crafty news... I've finished sewing my first shirt! I started one for my sister who then decided she hated it and wouldn't wear it, so it didn't matter when it didn't work out. Then I made one for myself with cute bumble bee material and it turned out perfectly! I was so pleased but disappointed that the pattern was so dodgy, short and tent like. I've decided that I need to add pleats at the back to give it some shape. I'll post a photo once I've done the adjustments.
I also finished the baby cardigan that I started a while back, adding the buttons last night. I've decided to give it to our neighbours who just had a baby boy called River. I haven't seen him yet because I don't want to share my sick germs.

I can't wait to make more of these, it was so easy to make and so cute. I hope baby River likes it!

Another Crochet Baby Jacket

Here is a photo of the finished crochet jacket that I was working on. I think the yellow star buttons finishes it off quite nicely. I've started a new jacket but this time using nice pure wool with a 4mm hook instead of 4.5mm. I am getting nicer edges without wholes just by ch2 instead of ch3 to make a dc at the start of a new row. I also have realised that quality yarn is the way to go and that $2 yarn looks like $2. So I've gone and bought some pure wool yarn for $5 for 50 gm balls. I must say I cannot wait to use the stuff. In this jacket below you can see some of the orange yarn I bought. I am going to make the rest of the sleeves orange and brown stripes. I am also thinking of putting teddybear buttons on this one.

Afghan is in it's New Berlin Home!

I just received some photos from Axel depicting the afghan I made for his apartment set out on his bed. I think it looks kinda neat. I do think his room needs a make over though. Something for me to do when I go over there for Christmas. Axel will be at university so I think it's safe to say I can do what I like to the apartment, deco wise.

I am nearly finished sewing the jacket I've been working on in sewing classes. I just need to heme the bottom. I am going to try and make a shirt next for my little sister, she's probably the only one out of all of us that will wear it. We shall see but I get the feeling that most of the stuff I'm going to make is never going to be worn.

Five Buck Shawl, and the Cat Loves it!

Just a little note about this wonderful crochet shawl that I found at a thrift store or what we in OZ call an Op shop. 5 bucks can you believe it? I can't even buy the yarn for that much. I think Puff the cat is also pleased with it too! I was acutally hoping I could use it to work out the pattern, I really like it and think it would make a great baby's blanket or wrap.

Crochet Baby Hat fits a Real Baby!

Ah I am so happy, at Easter the other weekend I got to see if my crochet baby hat would actually fit a real baby. And to my surprise it does! My poor cousin's baby had to look like a dag for a while while I took him around to show off that I could make a hat that fit. Everyone was yelling at me to take it off that it made the poor baby boy look poofy. I think if he was a girl their reaction would have been different but anyhow. So here is a photo of baby Lukas modeling the crochet cap.

Maybe I can make him a nice blue one without the trimmings oh and without the flower hehehehe.

It's Willow Time!

Ah finally I have made a Willow block made famous by many a Flicker groups which are dedicated to making bags and what-nots using this block. I fell in love with this block the first time I saw it on Granny Along and after searching the web for the pattern and asking others I finally found the book it came from and quickly snapped it up on Amazon.com, as they say, the rest is history.

I have had enough of looking at blue yarn and all the other projects I've made are in natural earthly colours so for this project I've gone for a more candy palette lots of colourful fun for the senses. I saw another bag on Flicker where the crafter used purple and mint green to make a German crochet bag using two different squares, one similar to the willow and the other a normal granny. I have chosen to do something similar but with different colours and a different block pattern. I wish I could remember what the crafters name was but this is a photo of the 'inspiration' bag. If anyone knows who made it please let me know.

And here are the first two bocks from my bag to be. I've used hot pink, jade green, orange and light pink for the border. I don't think mine will look as elegant as the other one, which is just amazingly beautiful and elegant but I hope it will look like a fun casual bag to do the shopping with in Germany because they don't have plastic bags at the supermarket you have to take your own.

What Do You Do When You've Stuffed Your Back...?

Oh dear the last few days have literally been a pain in the back! I was bending down to put the dishes in the dishwasher and bam I pulled my lower back out of place. I couldn't bend down, lift my left leg up or do much at all really. The chiropractor was closed so I couldn't even get in to have my back looked at. All I could really do, without creating the kind of pain that makes you want to scream and cry, was to lay on my back with an ice pack. And what does one do when they can only lay down like this? Try their hand at a new crochet pattern of course!

So there I lay Wednesday night with baby wool and a size 2 crochet needle oh and of course a really poorly written pattern off the web. I soon realised that the patterned needed thin crocheting cotton and not yarn and that even though I had 4 ply yarn it was going to turn out HUGE if I continued with the pattern. So as one does I altered the pattern and made my own very plain version of a baby bonnet. ( I have since bought the crochet cotton and will do a 'take two' of the pattern)

Here are a few pics of the finished baby hat.

We don't have a baby to model the hat for you but this teddy bear was kind enough to fill in. As you can see my first attempt at crocheting something other than a granny square has produced a very daggy item indeed.

Crocheting Around

I just love the german crochet bag that was posted on the Granny-Along blog. I decided to have a go myself and so I downloaded the pattern but couldn't really understand it, then I went on You tube and found a video tutorial and viola I was making solid granny squares! I've tried a few ways one where I am going in between the double crochet and another where I am going through the top link in the double crochet, both which give a different effect. I think I need a bigger hook as the stitches look much smaller than the ones in the photos posted on flicker.

Akki's Granny Square Blanket

Before my boyfriend left for Germany I had him pick some yarn he liked and that I would use to make him an afghan. As you can see he loves blue. I decided to use each colour twice to make a single block and then each block will finish with 2 rows of navy so that will mean each block will look like it is bordered with 4 rows of navy, just like the brown worked as a border in the lapghan. My boyfriend asked for an afghan that will fit a double bed but I think I will only have enough time and yarn to make one for a single bed. Also I have to take it to Germany and it would just be impossible to take something that heavy and bulky. I have 16 weeks to finish it and about 30 of these large squares to make so really I'll need to finish the squares in about 10 weeks with 6 weeks to crochet the borders, sew in the ends and stitch the whole thing together. Now that I put it like that ahhhhh I don't know if I'll make it! But I will try my best.

I just remembered I forgot to show you all how I finished the border on the lapghan. I opted for this simple scalloped edging which I think is quite effective. It took a while to do but I think it was worth it, giving the lapghan a finished and professional look.

The Little Lapghan is Finished!

Here are some photos of the lapghan I started last year. This is my first ever granny square project and I am so proud and happy to say that I have finished it. It has been a great learning experience, first having to learn how to crochet a granny square and then to figure out how to sew the pieces together and then sew in the ends. I am enjoying having this little lapghan warm my legs while I work on the computer or warm my shoulders and back as I use it as an extra blanket when I sleep under my doona. I've already started a new granny square afghan project but I'll save that for another post! Until then I hope everyone is well and happily crocheting along.

Flower Scarf Finished!

I FINALLY finished the flower scarf I started last year and although I changed the colours and pattern I think it has turned out well. It's actually quite warm and feels nice around the neck. Please excuse the photo of me modeling the scarf in my P.J's! Not a great look I know.