WIPs - Blankets

I wanted to share some progress I'm making on some lovely blankets for my son and my great-niece who will arrive in July.

For my great-niece, I made this blanket (Happy throw pattern from Mamachee):

The yarn in Red Heart Soft yarn in Off White, Pink, Guacamole, Lilac, and Honey.

I am working now on a Chevron blanket (pattern by Mamachee) in White, Light Grey Heather, and a surprise color (to be revealed later)!

For my son, who is about to turn 13, a variation of the Chevron blanket in three shades of his favorite color:

I really like the ombre effect. The yarn is Red Heart Soft yarn in Seafoam, Deep Sea, and Teal.

 Truth be told, two of these blankets are "completed", except for the dreaded weaving of the ends. Of course, you can't tell that from the pictures (creative editing, haha).

My Latest Projects, Cont.

Well, we all managed to survive the first week of school (and for me, the first time my sons were all at different campuses -- nervewracking!). I had very little time for crocheting this past week, but I realized it's been months since I blogged about my latest projects.

I'm working on a blanket for a special little girl. (Shhhhh - it's a surprise.) It's made in a waddle stitch (single crochet, chain 1, double crochet) pattern in alternating stripes of solid Orchid and a variegated yarn called Melonberry. Both colors are Red Heart Super Saver. I'm in love with the Melonberry palette: shades of pink, lavender, yellow, tan, and orange. Trust me, the picture does not do it justice! I think I'll be using Melonberry for something else real soon!




I'm working on a smaller blanket for a baby boy due to appear in October. It's a green and ivory striped blanket made with Eco-Ways from Red Heart. This is the first time I've used Eco-Ways, which is 30% polyester made from recycled plastic. So my green blanket is actually "green" too!
How cool is that!

I had an opportunity to create a custom beanie for a 4-year-old boy recently too. This was the photo his mom posted:

I guess he likes it! When I sent the beanie I included two angel ornaments:

The reason why is best told in Connie's words.

My Latest Projects

I'm happy to report that I have completed another afghan in the long-running and ever-growing list of blankets for the primos!

Plus the next one for the primos is almost complete; just 10 more rows to go.

In the meantime, I have started a baby blanket for a dear friend who is due in November (yay for Scorpios!). It's made with super-soft, super-plushy Buttercup yarn by Red Heart. I chose the white-multi color since I'm not sure of the baby's gender yet.

I also made a flower scarf for a gift using 2 colors of Loops and Threads (Michaels own brand) Impeccable Yarn, an ombre called Holland and a solid named Soft Fern:

And I liked the combo so much (reminds me of a fruit salad) I made a long, skinny scarf that will be listed at The Lavender Lizard.

Baby Boy Blanket

I confess: I'm a bit of a yarn snob. Not in the "I only use $15 a skein yarn" way, but more like the yarn I use must feel soft. I admit that I avoid anything labelled "acrylic." Usually.

Then I found Cotton Ease by Lion Brand Yarn. It's made of 50% cotton and 50% acrylic, and it feels thick and luxurious, almost velvety. It has the softness of cotton with the durability of acrylic, and I thought it would be perfect for the custom order baby boy blanket a friend of mine requested.

My friend's sister-in-law is expecting her first baby soon, and my friend asked me to make a blanket for a baby shower gift. She left the colors and design up to me. So I hit the Lion Brand Yarn website for inspiration and found a super-cute pattern that I just fell in love with. (Note: you may have to sign into the LYB website to see the pattern.) The only problem was the girly colors they used, but I soon fixed that!

I chose these 6 colors:

From left to right and top to bottom: seaspray, almond, lime, maize, lake, and violet.

I started working the pattern, which is a simple ripple design with double-crochets. After using just the first three colors (seaspray, almond, and lime), I decided these were sweet for a baby boy.

But I was curious about how the rest of the colors would look together, so I made a swatch that included the dark purple and denim blue (violet and lake). I love the way these five colors look together. They are perfect for an older boy. DS3 liked it too, so I promised him his own blanket.

Then I added the gold (maize) to the mix. I'm not sure the gold adds much to the boyish blues. I think I will save it for another project, probably mixing it with purple and reds and browns for an autumn look.

And here's the finished baby blanket:

I just repeated the stripe pattern using seaspray, almond, and lime, and ended with seaspray. Another choice could be to alternate the almond color between the seaspray and lime. (That would "lighten" up the design.) I also made it longer and wider than the pattern called for because I like to think the child will use this for many years to come.

A Special Request!

I often make special requests for friends and family that don't make it to Etsy, so I'd like to share a recent one.

Eight months ago, one of my best friends gave births to twins, a boy and a girl. For her baby shower, I crocheted little caps out of the softest bamboo yarn, one blue and one pink, of course. Everyone loved the softness of the bamboo (which, if you have never felt it, you would not guess came from a tree!)

After the babies were born, my friend called me to say she wanted me to make blankets for the twins out of the bamboo yarn. I delivered the blankets yesterday. The twins both loved their cuddly softness and fell asleep clutching them. (My heart sang!)

Here is Gabriella's:

And this one is Aiden's:

Sweet dreams always, little ones!