Baby Dress

I crocheted this baby dress this weekend, just because. I wanted to crochet something, but I didn't want to start a big project.

This actually started because I fell in love with the yarn - I saw it over at Trish' blog here.  I asked her about the yarn and she said she didn't know the brand, she had picked it up at Wal-mart in the baby yarn section. I happened to find it at my local Wal-mart, it is Bernat Softee Baby and the color is called Pyjama Party.

I used a pattern I had used before, only a different variation on it. It is the Angel Wings Pinafore pattern by Maxine Gonser, but Suzetta at Susie's Stuff re-worked the pattern so that it is worked in the round. I really loved it, will definitely use it again. The pattern can be found here.

Sad News

We got the dreaded telephone call early this past Sunday morning that my father-in-law had passed away sometime during the night. As you may or may not know, he had been battling lung cancer. It was still quite a shock, because he had just seen the oncologist on Friday and, although he was going to go in for more radiation, things weren't as bad as we had thought. We're still not sure exactly what happened, but it is suspected that he either had a massive heart attack or stroke.

We are thankful that we were just there the weekend before celebrating Mother's Day with my husband's family and got to hug him and tell him we loved him. Now he is at peace, and thankfully will not have any more pain.

Even though he was not my husband's biological father, he treated him as his son from the very beginning and was a great adoptive dad to my husband and his sister. He will be greatly missed.

This 'n That

Just a mix of different things to show you today. I have been busy crafting and sewing lately, so not that much crochet to show you.  I did make a mug cozy for my sister-in-law who is crazy about purple:

I found a free sewing pattern for a dog harness, so I made one for Lulu:

A friend of mine saw the picture of it I posted on Facebook, and asked if I would make some for her dogs too. She wanted girly colors, so here is what I made:

I hope she likes them. 

Here is another picture of our sweet Lulu with one of her favorite toys:

She is the smartest, cutest dog in the world! Course I might just be a tad bit prejudiced.. ha ha!

Hope everyone has a great week. 

Mickey Mouse Baby Set

I finished the Mickey Mouse Baby Set (thanks so much Debi for your help with the booties pattern!) and was able to get it to my friend in time... yay!

She is a huge lover of all things Disney -  even her bathroom is decorated in a Disney theme! She asked me to make her this set and I think it came out really cute:

The back of the diaper cover even has a little tail:

I can't wait to see pictures of her new baby boy in his Mickey Mouse set - she is due to deliver in early May, so it could be any day now. 

Details:

Pattern can be found here. 

I used Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Black, White, Bright Yellow and Hot Red. 

Pattern Help Needed ASAP Please!!

Hi everyone!

I am working on a pattern for a Mickey Mouse Baby Set for a friend, and was hoping to drop it off to her tomorrow. Of course, waiting till the last minute to try to finish it was not a good idea, as I am stuck on the pattern for the booties.

Normally I would contact the author of the pattern, but she has closed Comments on this post and I cannot find an e-mail address or any way to contact her anywhere on her blog.

Here are the exact directions:

Bootie (make 2) with yellow hook size 5 mm

chain 2

row 1: 12 sc in second chain from hook, slip stitch to join, ch 1 turn (12 sc)
row 2 to 7: sc in each sc around, slip stitch to join,ch 1 turn (12 sc)
row 8 to 13: sc in each sc around ch 1 turn, do not slip stitch to join
join the end of the bootie by slip stitch every stitch fasten off
join yarn at the space left were you did not slip stich to join every row sc around repeat two more row

I have gotten through Row 13 with no problem, but now I am totally confused as to what to do next. The directions make no sense to me, starting with "join the end of the bootie by slip stitch..."  Maybe I haven't had any coffee yet today??!!

Can any of you please explain this to me so that it makes more sense?? Thanks in advance for your help :)

Ain't Too Proud To Beg ...

For crochet help that is!

I finished my Attic 24 Granny Stripe Blanket with only a day to spare until the baby shower - talk about cutting it close! Here is the finished product:

 

After completing all the rows of granny stripes, I had tons of ends that needed to be woven in before I could start on the border. As I started to weave in the ends, I began to find spots where my work was literally coming apart!  In some spots I had to add more yarn to bring the work together. Here is what I mean:

 

I had to add some black yarn to connect that part with the yellow . And here:

 

I had to add some yellow yarn to keep this part together, but as you can see, the cream colored stitch at the end doesn't look the same as the rest in that row.

 

I could not believe this was happening - to make matters worse, after I washed and dried it, there were more areas that needed repair. I certainly hope I was able to fix everything, because I gave this away as a gift and would be mortified if it came apart!

 

Here is the part where you come in - what am I doing wrong??

 

What I did on this blanket was after finishing with a color I would fasten off the yarn (to me that is cutting off my yarn and bringing the end through the loop and tightening it). Then I would start again with a new color by making a slip knot and beginning again in the first stitch of the next row. Now that I think about it, though, there is one row of this pattern that has you bring the yarn through the first open space of the previous row, not a stitch, so maybe that is the row I was having troubles on. Since I don't have the blanket anymore, there is no way for me to check. Her instructions said to insert your hook in that space and bring the yarn from the back to the front (which I did by putting the slip knot onto my hook and pulling it through) then starting my chain 3. Maybe this did not secure it enough?

 

I was so frustrated after finishing this blanket that I swore I would never crochet another blanket again! This is why I usually only do projects that use one color yarn throughout, or a variegated yarn - I don't have these problems.

 

I sure hope all of my blathering on makes sense!! If anyone can help me figure this out, I would be so grateful.

 

 

For those interested, here are the particulars for this blanket:

 

Pattern: Granny Stripe Blanket by Attic 24 - pattern is available for free on Ravelry.

Crochet Hook: Size K

Yarn: Red Heart with Love. Colors were: Iced Aqua, Black, Eggshell, Tan, Pewter and Daffodil.

Border: I did a simple edging of a row of Granny Clusters around the whole blanket, followed by a row of DC, a row of HDC and then finally a row of SC.

Size: 41 X 46.

 

 

 

A Finished Project, Crochet Books and a WIP

While my great-niece Ashley was here staying with us, I made her something very special. She absolutely adores cows, and we just could not find a cute stuffed cow in any of the local stores. I decided I should just make her one instead, and after looking through many patterns, I chose to make the Chibi Cow pattern that I found on Ravelry. It was a really easy pattern to follow, with well-written directions.

Ashley was absolutely thrilled with it (even though the udders somehow got sewn on sideways!)

 

This past weekend I went to visit my sister in the big city and got to go to Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann. I found some great crochet books and magazines that I wanted to share with you.

 

The first crochet book I found was called Farmhouse Crochet:

 

 

I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but this book was marked down to $2.36... such a steal! There are several great projects in here that I want to make, including this pillow:

 

And these cushions for my kitchen chairs:

I also liked this Yo Yo Afghan:

There are quite a few nice projects in this book, and the price just couldn't be beat!

These are the two magazines I bought:

I purchased the Crochet Gifts to Go for this pattern:

I fell in love with this table runner - isn't it pretty? It is also a join-as-you-go project, which makes it even better. There was lots of variety in this book, including some really nice cardigans and tops, as well as baby items, placemats, socks, and afghans. The retail price for this one is $9.99, but I got it with my 40% off coupon.


I found the Glorious Granny Squares magazine at Jo-Ann, and since it was already 10% off the retail price of $9.99, I wasn't able to use a coupon for it. I thought it was well worth the money, though, as there are almost 40 projects included, ranging from home decor items to clothing to afghans. Look at this beautiful afghan:

After I finish my baby blanket that I'm working on, I think I will start one of these projects.

I finally started my Attic 24 Granny Stripe blanket.  Thankfully it is one of those easy patterns that you can memorize quickly. Here is what I've done so far:

I added the black yarn to hopefully make the colors pop and also to make it not so girly, since it is for a baby boy. I haven't decided yet what kind of border/edging I will put on it. As you can see, I'm going to have lots of ends to weave in :( 

Oh, also wanted to let you know that I changed my blog so that you can now find my reply to your comment immediately underneath yours in the comment section (think it is called a thread??) I have always been lax about replying via e-mail, so this way will be much easier.

That's it for now - hope everyone has a great week :)