Tuesday Tally

I have completed a 5 x 5 square grid that is about 24."  I want to add another row of squares at the top and the bottom, but I don't know which side I should put them on, and which colors I should use.  Please advise.  Any input is appreciated.

Gingerbread Girl

Crocheted Baby Dress

This is a dress I finished today that was based on a pattern at the Miracles Happen website.  Miracles Happen is a network of knitters and crocheters that help to provide for newborn babies' early needs.  From the website:

        "Sometimes, when a woman is pregnant, she experiences feelings of confusion, she may feel scared, or helpless. Her whole world is changing and she doesn't know what to do. Many women have their own resources (family, friends, medical professionals) to turn to in this time of need. But many do not. Staff at pregnancy crisis centers are there to listen to these women, to share their concerns, and to offer real hope for their future.

Miracles Happen is a network of volunteers who make and distribute handmade items for a newborn baby's early needs."

I have been crocheting for The Sewing Closet, a local charity for children throughout our county that, through poverty, would not otherwise receive new clothes.  Many of the women sew clothing, but I am one of a few that crochet or knit blankets and layettes for our local hospitals' maternity wards, for parents who are not prepared to have the items necessary for taking their baby home.  It is websites like Miracles Happen that are inspirational to me.

I am linking to:

http://www.acreativeharbor.com/

http://creativeeveryday.com/

http://www.create-with-joy.com/2012/01/inspire-me-monday-week-4.html

WIP Wednesday

Since I finished the other prayer shawl on Sunday, I jumped right into a new one on Monday.  I am using the Apache Tears pattern in grey heather, off-white, maroon, and a variegated pink/maroon.  I have twelve rows so far, over 254 stitches.  I like how the "tears" are so prominent with the light/ dark contrast.

One Granny a Day

There are eighteen squares done on the baby blanket.  I finally decided on a  non-random pattern for adding the squares.  I also added the dark purple this week when I ran out of the dark raspberry.  I loved it when one of my blog viewers, Kepanie, noticed  that I am using a different design for each color of square.

Please go over to Carol's blog, Gingerbread Girl, to see more One a Day projects.

Prayer Shawl

Made with Loops and Threads Ombre in the color called "Luxury," and trimmed with Moda Dea Dream yarn. It is so soft and warm!  I pray that it is the comfort intended for the person who receives it.

Inspire Me Monday

Magical Monday Blog Hop

Bubble Suit and Bunting Update

Since I made the bunting, I was in the mood to do more quick projects.  I saw a pattern for a bubble suit I liked on Miracles Happen and decided that was my next project.  I used some scrap sport weight yarn and decided to put my own spin on the pattern by making the bottom part look like a separate pair of shorts.  I hope a new mother will be happy to have it for her newborn boy.  It will be donated to my local church mission project.

I also decided to add the trim on the bunting, and am pleased how it turned out.  It is a little more feminine for the new baby girl.

Newborn Bunting and Baby Blanket

A fellow teacher friend had a baby last week, on my bonus son's thirty-first birthday.  I wanted to get something done for the baby, but I had some other things I felt I needed to finish first.  But, in the middle of the week, I got tired of waiting to finish, so I went ahead and created this. I used a very easy pattern from Miracles Happen  with TLC Baby yarn in the color Powder Yellow Sparkle.  It is very plain, so I am trying to decide if I will add a little ruffle on the collar and sleeves and across the top section, like an empire waist.  What do you think I should do.?

I also finally finished my baby blanket!  It was completed with two skeins of Baby Coordinates in a self-striping blue/green. color.  I am pleased with how it turned out, but next time, it will be a smaller project.  I like to be able to get things done.

WIP~ Knitted Baby Blanket

It seems like I have been making this blanket forever.  I posted about it when I first discovered the WIP sites where I share my work, back in November.  I have done a lot of projects since then, but am now getting much closer to finishing this one.  As you can see, it is worked in a diamond, and I am to the part where I am decreasing every row.  I think it would be easier to knit if I wasn't using my interchangeable needles, since they become unscrewed at least every other row, and I have to stop knitting and take out the caught yarn and re-screw them together.  Oh well, I guess that is what you get for a cheap garage sale find!  ;0p

Tuesdays Tallies on Granny a Day

This is my baby blanket so far, with the first square I made January first, plus the other ones I made the second week and into the third.  I keep moving the squares around, until I get a color combination I like, but I know how it is all going to come together now.  That is, unless I change my mind again, or run out of scraps in those colors. :)

Linking to Tuesday's Tallies

Puppy Snuggle Blanket

Recently, I became blog friends with Melissa at Lazy Day Crochet, and she posted about a snuggle blanket for a toddler, with a puppy's head.  She was looking to find testers for the pattern she had made.  I signed up to be a tester, and was one of the three chosen.

This is my end result.  It is made with about four ounces of one color, and a small amount of the second color in worsted weight yarn.  When spread out, the blanket is about 16"x18" ~ just the right size for a toddler.  The pattern is easy to follow, and will be for sale soon.

Linking to  Magical Monday Blog Hop, Creative Everyday, and Make Something Mondays

Scrap Yarn Dog Blanket

When I saw a video tutorial yesterday for a Lazy Wave Crochet Afghan from The Crochet Crowd. I decided to use scrap yarn and make a blankie for our dog, Pippi.  I used variegated scraps and some matching scraps to create the piece, following Michael's pattern.  It's not perfect, but I don't think Pippi will complain. ;0p  Besides, it is reusable, washable, and nicer than the old newspapers she used to put in her crate when we had to leave the house. ;)

Granny Baby Blanket WIP

I added another square to my Granny a Day project, and have decided it is going to be a baby blanket.  As one of my blog friends, Stocki, commented in my last post, "I think you should make a baby blanket... it would be gorgeous in those colours... also we would get a 'Ta-dah' sooner!" :)  My tangerine square is the eleventh.

One a Day and Granny a Day

#8--Raspberry

#9--Turquoise

#10--Bright yellow

All joined

I decided to combine two posts into one.  I am crocheting a granny square each day for 2012, and planning on getting several baby blankets and prayer shawls from my efforts.  These squares are my Tuesday Tally for Carole's One a Day, and the latest squares for Ali's Granny a Day project.  The squares may not be square now, but they will be when I block them, after the blanket/shawl is finished.  Which do you think it should be~a baby blanket or a shawl?

Gingham Granny Baby Blanket

This is the finished project!  The pattern is adapted from The Great Granny Crochet Book published in 1984.     I changed the size, colors and border.  I really like how the yellow makes the pattern come out, and wanted the border to be more uniform with the rest of the design.  Now I have to get back to finishing that knitting project!

Grannies for Week #1

This is is how I will be posting the granny squares this week, but I am not sure how I will continue. I may do one each day, or weekly, or monthly, depending on my time.  I have enjoyed the challenge so far, and have used up several scraps.  I have been using patterns primarily from two books.  The first book is "The Great Granny Crochet Book" from the American School of Needlework, and the second book is Better Homes and Gardens "Crocheting & Knitting."  I got each of these books from garage sales, and am eager to complete some more of these patterns.  If you were a follower before this challenge started, most of the granny square ornament patterns I did at Christmas were from the first book.



#2

#3

#4



#5



#6 Diamond Square Motif

#7   Star Motif

My Daughter Can be Crafty, Too

My daughter's name is Melody.  She is twelve and is in 7th grade.  Art was her "specials" class last semester, and one of her class projects was paper beads and beads from polymer clay.  She made it into a necklace using some elastic.

She was cleaning out her backpack the other day, to get ready for school, and pulled out the necklace.  I really liked it.  She said she didn't want it, and pulled out a bag of extra beads, and handed them and the necklace to me.  I added a couple more of the beads using the extra length of elastic that she didn't use, and promptly took a picture of myself wearing it.  Though you might not be able to tell, it is so colorful, it will go with a lot of things.

WIP Wednesday

There are now 75 squares of the Gingham Baby Blanket done.  They usually work up fast, and I get a row of 15 done in an evening while watching TV.  With several other WIPs, this is taking a little longer than I thought.  I am going to continue to add on until I run out of yarn or I decide I like the size.  Right now it is the size of  my old fashioned piano bench.  How many rows do you think I should add?

Prayer Shawl

This shawl was made with Lion Brand's Homespun Yarn in the Fiesta color.  The pattern's title is "Elegant Shawl" and it is from a Leisure Arts Prayer Shawl pattern books.

A New Challenge for A New Year

Ali, at Hooked!! A Crochet Addict's Blog, is continuing a project from last year, which I will be joining this year.  She is doing a granny square a day, and you can join in, too.  You can click on her button at the top left of my blog, or click here at Granny-A-Day 2012.

This is my first square, for January 1.  I made it up as I went along, but I probably saw a version of it somewhere else first.  I do not claim it to be an original, but cannot attribute it to the original designer.  I am looking forward to what I can make every day.