Another Christmas gift share. Yes, I know the last Christmas is further away from us now than the one coming up, but I kept forgetting to get photos! This huge jar was nearly full when I gave it to my daughter for Christmas. We all love using them.
Sometimes it is difficult to find a good dish or pot scrubber. Well I found one at a handmade market in Cardston some time in November last year. There were some incredibly beautifully made things for sale there! One thing I found was a kitchen scrubber. My sister was with me, and swore up and down that these were the best scrubbers ever. So I bought one to test out. Boy, was she ever right? They work beautifully on everything, without scratching.
I set out to find a pattern and the right kind of yarn, and found both. I made about 18 of them for Christmas! I gave 12 to my daughter and 6 to my sister.
I am, of course, already making gifts for this Christmas, but those posts will have to wait a bit as I am in the middle of a few of them. Sometimes I need a change from the project and go to another one...
I am guessing that you too are starting to work on your Christmas gifts. Homemade gifts take a while, but I like the fact that making these gifts brings the Christmas spirit into my life while I am working on the projects, and I love that feeling!
We now have 5 blankets ready for our November community project. I know of four more that may still come, but who knows, there might be more!
I know that this one is a bit of a mish mash or colours, but sometimes you don't have a choice. I did the best I could with the colours and a budget. But it is bright and cheery, and kind of reminds me of the beach. The fun thing is that this is my first project using Velour Yarn! And I love working with it! It's so soft and fussy, and because it is a #6 yarn, it crochets up pretty quick. I am definitely going to use Velour on other projects.
That is the blanket folded (above), and here it is laid out on the floor.
Here it is again with my nearly 13 year old grand-daughter (3 more days) laying on it so that you can see the size of the blanket.
She almost did not want to get off of it because it was so soft and fuzzy.
For this blanket I actually started with the middle section. When I purchase this yarn there was still plenty left in this colour. However, buy the time it used up what I had bought and returned to get more, it was all gone! I went back for months checking to see if more would turn up, but sadly it was not to be, and I couldn't wait any longer. So, not having the blanket with with me, I remembered the bright colours and went to see what I could find. I thought the bright green would match the bright green in with the pink & blue yarn, but it turned out to be even brighter. I knew there wouldn't be enough of the bright green even with getting all the store had left in the colour, so the next thing to get was the bright with blues and greens.
Then when I got home I decided to add to both ends of what I had started to balance the colours and give it a wide stripe look. Whoever get's this blanket may not be thrilled with the colours, but the softness and weight for the winter, they will definitely love.
I think that we are all enjoying working on this project, so if you ever get a chance to volunteer crochet or knitting skills, or even just the yarn for others to use, I encourage you to participate in something like this. It's fun and fulfilling.
Yesterday you saw a knitted blanket made from squares by a friend of mine. Today I am showing you a blanket that I made for this project. This will be my 2nd completed blanket. I mentioned in a previous post that I was getting tired of making squares (almost enough for 2 blankets) and that I decided to take a break from that, and crochet an entire blanket. Well, it's done!
I was inspired by a through made on Daisy Craft Farms. I just used a regular #4 yarn, and changed the border.
So here we go. First, you will see it all folded up.
I just love this simple and easy pattern.
OK, next opened up entirely laying on the floor.
This time I did not have anyone around for them to lie on it, so that you could see the size. However, it does fit the top of a twin bed.
I love this border! There's only one problem, which I'll show in the next photo.
Above, you can see both sides of the border. The one on top is supposed to be the right side. My problem is that I like the other side just as much!
I'd be real interested on your thoughts about which side you like and why.
So, now I am on to making more squares and finishing those 2 blankets. I have other projects not related to the community blanket project on the go too.
In the last post about the Relief Society Community project of making blankets, I reported a great way to join up all the squares we are making to create the blankets. Since then a friend of mine dropped off her finished blanket. She gave me permission to post her blanket. My friend is a knitter, not a crocheter, and there's one lovely thing about knitting, it is softer.
Here is her blanket all neatly folded up.
Now, here is a blanket close-up so see here beautifully knitted squares.
I love how there is this hidden pattern of x's or squares, depending on you look at it. Here is is all laid out on the floor.
Such lovely bright colours. Here is the blanket again with another of my granddaughters laying on it so that you may see how large it is. I'm sure it will cover the top of a twin easily.
There will be one more person a littler warmer come this winter. Thank You Karen for contributing to our community project.
Today I am giving you an update, or rather progress report, on how our blanket project is coming along.
Last update I posted a completed blanket from yarn scraps, and before that I was showing you how our squares where building up in number.
Now I am going to share with you that I have started to connect some of the squares together, just for a change of pace. I wanted to do something different than just slip stitch, or single crochet, or sew together, so I searched on YouTube to see what I could find. I was surprised to see all the many different ways you can join squares together! I chose the 'ZIGZAG SLIP STICH JOIN'. I think this will be a good one for these squares, and you get sit at the table, using the table, to make it easier. It's quite easy to do.
So without further words, here are some quick photos I took as I am working on joining the first squares.
As you can see, I am using black to join these bright colours. It will have a black border as well.
You will also note that the joining is done in a long strip first, with the cross joining coming last.
In this nest photo you can get a closer look at the ZigZag pattern.
So, if you are interested in viewing the video tutorial that I watched, I am including it here for you.
Now, onto one more share for you. Because we are making blankets for the needy, and homeless too, I have been trying to find ways to make the blankets thicker. I found a blanket pattern that was shared by Daisy Farm Crafts that I thought might work.
I started one in cream and ran out of yarn. So I decided it is a yarn I always see where I get my yarn from, and started on another colour, dark heather grey. It too is a yarn that is always available. When I ran out of that colour I decided it was time to go and some of these yarns so that I could finish them. I went to my source and could not believe what I saw! The shelves were nearly empty of yarn! I guess with Covid-19, everyone is at home crocheting!
So the following week I thought that they might have restocked. But, when I arrived, the shelves had a bit more in them, but still on the empty side, and the colours I needed were still not there. However, they did have an unusual colour that I thought would look nice in this pattern I was using, and there was enough of it there for an entire blanket, so I got that instead with hopes of finding my cream and grey yarn in a few more weeks. The colour I got is called Red Clay.
This is what I can show you.
This stitch makes the #4 yarn thickness much thicker for these blankets, and you do not have to use the velvet yarn as in the pattern provided at Daisy Farm Crafts.
Here is the video demo from Daisy Farm Crafts in case you are interested in trying out this pattern.
Once I have complete one each of these blankets, I will post them for you so that you can see what they look like finished.
In the last post I shared with you a project that I am in charge of, and one of the photos I shared was a blanket made using up all my leftover ends and balls of yarn from previous projects. Well I have finished that blanket!
You can see it above, all folded up, and close enough to notice that I used double the strands of yarn to make it a thicker blanket.
Here it is laid out on the floor.
And a close up...
Maybe I should have shot a closer photo so that you could see the stitches better. In this next photo, I have my 12 year old granddaughter lying on it so that you can see how large it is.
I think the bright colours will be liked by many people, and by anyone that will end up with it.
I've started 3 other full blankets, not of this type as I do not have enough scraps to create another blanket with, but each is a solid colour, and I will post them when I get them done.
Thank you for checking in to have a peek. Happy crocheting!
You may remember the slippers I made for four girls this last Christmas. I had adapted them from a pattern made for adult slippers. Well I found a way to adapt them once again to make baby booties. It turns out that I didn't have to adapt them much at all. By using sport or baby yarn and a 4.00 or 3.75mm hook, I could still use the same number of stitches to start them off and just create fewer rows for each section of the booties!
Now you might be wondering why I made so many. Well there are three that have been born in our church congregation since in the last two moths. All three were baby boys. We've had so many baby boys born this last year that I am getting tired of crocheting with boy colours. Hence the addition of some Yellow. I couldn't just make one pair of booties for the babies, since in the past I crocheted blankets. So I decided that making three pair would be a good compromise. And they whip up so much more quickly than blankets.
As you can see these little booties are made using the the Front & Back Post Double Crochet stitches.
The foot length measures 3 1/2 inches, just to give and idea of how tiny and cute these are.
Last night, we had the first of the three baby showers to come, and they where a hit with everyone there! Even the boxes and card that I made to go with them.
Last night I found out that there are a few more babies due through April of this year, and guess what? They are all boys! So much for a break from boy colours. I had started some booties in feminine colours thinking that surely a girl would come along soon. No such luck. So back to the boy colours for the next 3 or 4 babies.
Well, that it for this post. If you would like for me to write down the pattern for these little booties, just make a comment and I will write it out on another post for everyone.
When you are crocheting most of your gifts, what can you make a 14 year old grandson? I made him a pullover for his birthday; I made him an ear band or head band with mittens for Christmas, but what else could I make him? My daughter suggested a vest. So that is what I made him. I think he liked the vest better than his pullover.
I thought I had chosen a pattern that would be easy to work, but it turned out a little more complicated than anticipated because in order to keep the pattern fairly even, it actually had to be changed every so often to keep the 'v' in that pattern evenly spaced. I had to unravel a lot, and after completing saw that I had missed getting some of those 'v's' in the right spot. But overall, it was worth it.
Again, getting close with my camera in the below photos changed the colour of the vest.
Here he is in his PJ's and the vest.
Well, that's the pics for this christmas project. Hope you enjoyed seeing it.
Welcome back for some more Christmas gift sharing!
My daughter can work from home most of the time and she says she can get a little cold in her office. So for my daughter I wanted to make her something to help keep her comfortable and warm. I decided a shrug might be just the thing, along with some hand warmers (fingerless gloves).
I made a smaller version of this shrug for one of the four girls that would be here for Christmas (posted here), but this one is in a different colour, yarn size #3 (sport yarn), and is a size larger.
Because I used a sport yarn (#3) I had to adjust the pattern slightly, and also I used a 7mm hook keeping the Elizabeth stitch nice and loose, and very soft. The pattern I had to purchase, but there is a bit of a video showing the 'Habitat Cardigan' as labeled by the designer.
This is what it looks like spread out on the kitchen island. I did not get a photo of my daughter wearing it....yet.
I took a close up of the stitches, but the photo came out with the yarn looking grey in colour. I guess the colour doesn't remain true when the camera gets too close. But at least you can see what the Elizabeth stitch looks like, and the Half Double Crochet Ribbing too.
HAND WARMERS
I did one pair of hand warmers in the same yarn, and in the Elizabeth stitch, but it looks different than the Elizabeth stitch of the shrug. Why? Well that's because I worked the hand warmers in a round, rather than the back forth rows of the shrug. That's what made it look different. I like how they turned out, and they match the shrug nicely should my daughter need both when working.
The light mauve warmers are a remake of the ones I made for her birthday. They were a little too large, so I made her a new pair in the same yarn I did for her birthday.
These are just done in a Single Crochet stitch and a Slip Stitch Ribbing.
Well that's it for this gift, and there is more still to come.
Hope your New Year is getting off to a good start.
I'm continuing with the sharing of the Christmas gifts made for that didn't get posted before Christmas.
One of the last minute gift ideas was to crochet a pair of slippers for the 4 young girls that would be here. It took just 2 days to make the four pairs, I got the pattern from Stephanie Zed's YouTube video. A great pair of slippers! I did not use chunky yarn, and since I was making them with a #4 yarn and for children, I did not use the large hook either. I used a 5.5mm hook, or a 6mm hook for the larger girl feet, following the same pattern in the video. It worked! I just had to adjust the number of rows for the different lengths of feet.
Here are the girls trying on their slippers after having just opened them and putting them on their feet (hence the paper bits you see in first photo). I did not get the chance to take photos of these slippers before wrapping them up for Christmas, but I do plan on making more and will post a few more details then.
This is a sister blog to my other two papercrafting blogs. Here, on this blog, I can share my crocheting and sewing projects with you. Maybe even cooking, baking, & Canning! As a grandmother I love to crochet and sew for my grandchildren and others. At this time I will not share 'how to' videos, etc., I just want share my project adventures and some links here and there to other blogs with instructions and videos, if I use them to create my projects. Please feel free to comment and share your experiences, too.
