Projects - June 27, 2010

Been a while since I've uploaded projects... here are some of the latest!

Crochet baby cap and matching blanket for my friend, K.








Wire crochet agate stone bracelet.






Wire crochet white stone bracelet









Wire crochet sparkle purple stone bracelet.

Recent projects

I haven't posted here in a while, but that doesn't mean that my fingers have been yarn free! I've just been lazy and haven't gotten the pictures off our camera in a while. Anyway, here are some of my latest projects.

This is my latest baby blanket I've made... currently, the recipient has not yet received the blanket, so if you know who I was making this for, please do not comment about the recipient in blog comments just yet :) This is a crochet version of a "log cabin" quilt. The yarn is Lion Brand yarn Vanna's Choice. This really has been my "go to" yarn lately. I really love it. It is very soft, and all of the colors have been created so that you can put ANY of them together and they are hues that will just work together.





Me holding the blanket for sizing perspective:




When we were spreading the blanket out on the floor, Al immediately thought the blanket was for him. Don't worry, I washed it afterwards! But, it was really funny because he just would NOT get off of it!











My first "garment". I put the quotes around it because it isn't like a sweater, but is way more complex than a scarf. This was a cape I made for my grandma for her 90th birthday. It is made with cotton yarn.





Close-up of the clasp and neck...




Baby Cap with matching booties... this was only my second time making booties. This time, I think I really found a good pattern.





More baby caps!

Easter Egg Blanket

I've affectionately named this blanket the "Easter Egg Blanket". When you see the colors, you'll know why. This was made for a friend who recently had a baby girl. They didn't know what they were having beforehand, so I waited until the baby was born to make the blanket.

The blanket is a square, so I folded it into fourths. You can imagine what the hole thing would look like :)




Close-up of the corner and stitch detail.




And, as always, I made a little hat to match!

Birthday afghan for my FIL

This afghan was a belated birthday present for my father-in-law. I tried my best to get it done by his birthday, but I missed it by like a month. I was able to give him the finished project this past Tuesday. This was a Vanna pattern with Vanna yarn. It was the first afghan I made with an N hook.

Me holding up the full afghan:




Up close detail (I just noticed that you can faintly see my outline through the stitches... hehe):




It is really soft and warm! (please ignore my blotchy face)




Over the chair:

White Baby Ensemble with Blue Accent

I finished and delivered (excuse the pun) this baby blanket to my friend last night. Note, the subtle blue accent French knots throughout!





Close-up of the stitch work:




Matching hat:




...and (a first attempt!) booties!:

Presenting... my brother's afghan! (FINALLY)

I've now finished my brother's afghan. I'm so proud! It is HUGE! Probably the biggest one I've ever made. I made it using Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Soft Navy, Gold and Soft White in honor of Pitt's school colors (my brother's college alma mater). It was made to look like "pinwheels" (see the white and blue pinwheels? Kinda looks like an optical illusion). It was super easy to make, 9" squares of three colors, made with half double crochet stitches. The squares were all made the same, and I just turned them as I went to make the "pinwheel" shape.

Full afghan (Chris had to hold it up for me because it is too big for me to hold). As you can see, Chris, as tall as he is, cannot see over the top of the afghan, and it is almost to the floor as he is holding it!





A more "artsy" pic of the blanket:




The blanket folded, closeup of the boarder and one square.

Honest!! I swear!!

Ok, so since I've now given the big project as a(n almost complete) gift, I can tell you what it was. My brother has been bugging me for almost 10 years now for an afghan made of his college (Pitt) colors. So, for his 30th birthday, I bit the bullet and knocked that bugger out (the afghan, I mean)! Well, with the exception of the boarder. It is made of squares that I sewed together to give it to my bro, but I didn't put on the boarder until I got some input from him. He left FL to go back to PA before I was able to finish the border completely, but he didn't have room in his suitcase anyway. So, I don't feel so bad about not being complete yet.

But, honest, I swear, I'm close! I have 2 and 1/2 rounds of the boarder to go, and to give you an idea, at my crochet group tonight, I was able to finish almost that much just in this evening. The goal is to have it in the mail by early next week at the latest, maybe by Saturday...? Once it is complete, I'll be SURE to post some pictures!

Crochet. Pray. Love.

I've completed another group of charity projects. I was contacted by a UCF student to make some "prayer shawls" (or "good vibe shawls", depending on your religious persuasion) for a students' class project. The shawls would then be given to a battered women's shelter in Orlando. I decided this would be the perfect project to use up my Grandma P's yarn that my parents gave to me when they were cleaning out her house. Here are the results!

Shawl #1:




Shawl #2:




Shawl #3:




Shawl #4:




I also received a number of knitted squares in sport weight yarn from a friend at work. She was given the squares by a friend who wanted to have the squares donated to some charity. I took the squares, sewed them together and crocheted a boarder around the edge.

Super-quick Baby Afghan for Our Nephew!

So, I've been working on another baby afghan for our new nephew, but I have to re-work part of it and I knew I wasn't going to finish it in time to give it to him for his Christening this past weekend. So, I searched for a different baby afghan that would work up quickly. Fortunately, I had the gift of time in the form of our drive from Orlando, FL to Raleigh, NC.

I found this pattern for "Little Victory" baby blanket on Lion Brand's website (it is free to sign up and become a member where you then have access to loads of free patterns!). The "V" stitch worked up so quickly! I was able to finish the blanket with time to spare to make a hat to match... (although I put the final stitches in the hat in the parking lot of the restaurant that we went to following the Christening service at the church ;)

What was great about this pattern is that it is a smaller blanket, perfect for car seats and/or strollers!

Anyway, here is the blanket and hat (honest, the blanket really IS rectangular and NOT uneven, but I guess I didn't do a good job of laying it out!):




Here is a close-up of the detail and edging of the blanket:




Here is a close-up of the hat:




Here is Saki wearing the hat (it is a little big for him now, but he'll grow into it!):




The yarn I used is Phentex Fashion Six in 905 4/06.

Off-White Baby Blanket & Hat

This baby blanket and hat was made for our friends Anna and Dimitri, for their first baby, due any time now!!

Pink Baby Blanket & Hats

This baby blanket and hats were made for my friend Becky for her first baby:








This baby hat was made for my boss Jill's daughter: