Tag Archives: blanket

Casting On Memories

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I’ve been hoarding my sock leftovers like tiny balls of gold. I’ve been dreaming of Hexi-puffs and mitre squares. I want to gather all these great scraps and memories. (Spoiler alert…I’m getting sappy because my tiny baby has turned in to a toddler overnight. How did that happen!?)

I did feel a bit overwhelmed at starting something so…long term. So I just dove in!


I started with the mitre square part first. (Ignore my wonky edge…that will be hidden by the next square). I’m going to frame each square in some grey sock yarn to ease the transition for some of my crazier colors. I can’t decide if I want to work a square and a hexi-puff concurrently or just wing it with both. I have more than enough scrap yarn to do several of each kind. Maybe I’ll even make a Frankenstein sock of leftovers. I’ve got more ideas than knitting time, lol. Time will tell…

Happy Knitting!

FO Friday: Dad’s Lap Blanket

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Well the blanket for Dad is done. And all I can say is….meh…

  I definitely screwed up somewhere. I crocheted on this almost exclusively at night after Jellybean went to sleep. Sometimes in the dark. And boy did I pay for that. The cast on side of the blanket has at least 12-14 more stitches than the bind off side. My fingers just can read/feel crochet the same as knitting. And I know I missed some stitch placement. Le sigh….
 It’s still beautiful and my Dad will never care. (P.S. he will definitely be able to tell because when you fold it its patently obvious its not square.) For now this is “done” and gone into hiding/hibernation. I did consider un-picking the cast on edge and ripping back to where I realized I was getting smaller and crochet back the other direction. Being as this is crochet I think it would work. But I’ve already wove in ends so I could have a couple tricky places given that. For now…I’m just done with this and it needs to think about what it did!

Mitre Progress

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Germs are once again invading our home. This time it’s a stomach bug, blargh. I guess this is what you get once you have a child that touches/licks/eats everything in sight. We are on the mend but during the worst of it I managed some knitting while holding a sick little Jellybean.

I was unhappy with my first attempt at the mitered square for my Cousins Mitered Square blanket. My travails are logged here. I went down to size US 5 needles and got to work. I also used a firm cast one (long tail cast on) to start the first square. I am much happier the fabric is firmer and squishy. I also knit the first stitch when I remembered. There are few stitches I slipped due to muscle memory and good TV. But those I can hide with the next square. I also did some YouTube research on picking up the bumps. Not to shabby if I do say so myself!

 Now I’ve only like 16 more squares to go….

Happy Knitting!

Blanket Countdown

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I’ve pulled out my Dad’s crochet blanket from the WIP pile. I want to get this done ahead of Mother’s Day because that is the next major family gathering and I really want to get it delivered. Because why wouldn’t you need a super bulky blanket in the blazing May heat!?

  

This one I’m working across 60 inches instead of the 36-38 inches of my mothers. Those are some LONG rows! But I’m making progress…

  

Just A Swatch

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A few days ago I pulled out the yarn for my Cousins Mitred Square Blanket and made some decisions.

  • I’m going to do solid squares because it’s easier not to change yarn and I will like the look better
  • I picked a tentative color layout: one row pink then light blue and one row yellow then brown
  • The edge will be done in the bright blue/teal

I even started the first square. 

 
I pretty much hate it. It took two hours and 24 grams of yarn. So at the very least I know how long each piece will take. But the cast on was too loose and stretchy. The fabric is too loose as well. Not to mention I can’t tell if I should slip the first stitch or knit it in order to make the best surface to attach the next square. Wise blogger/podcast knitters always say to not slip stitches on seam edges but the knit edges of garter stitches just look terribly cuddly to pick up! I’m terribly conflicted. I knit these on 7US and I’m going to try 6US by frogging and re-knitting this square. 

This was just a swatch right?

Dreaming Of Spring Colors

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I am dreaming of spring. In Kansas that usually means lots of wind with an extra side of wind. But the colors are tugging at my heart strings. Deep in my stash are several balls of  Bernat Cottontots Solids that is now discontinued. I really enjoy this yarn for baby projects. And I have been hording this yarn…but no more!

I’m going to cast on the Cousins Mitre Square Baby Blanket. It’s modular and join as you go. So it’s perfect for instant gratification and making decent progress on a larger blanket. The only thing is that I’m not sure I have enough yarn in the various colors to knit the colors as the pattern has laid out. But I know I can make something work. I have pink, white, yellow, brown, light blue, and teal. I’m thinking of doing the pink with the white, the yellow with the brown, and finally the teal with the blue. Or plan B will be to just make solid squares of each and play with laying out the colors. I know I will be using the teal as the border as I have the most of that.

I’m not making this for anyone in particular just for the joy of using this yarn.

  

 

WIP Wednesday: Dad’s Lap Blanket

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Just a quick fly by post. After a stressful day yesterday culminating in getting my rear end kicked in volleyball….I needed to cast something on!

  
I pulled out more Bernat Blanket from my stash and cast on Dad’s Lap Blanket. I’m aiming for a wider blanket than the one for Mom. I chained 80 stitches and I am having Mom measure hers to make sure this one is bigger. Because this crafter didn’t take copious notes 😊!

Happy crafting!

FO Friday: Mom’s Lap Blanket

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Winner winner chicken dinner! I snuck this blanket in under the #dcspigskinparty2015 deadline. This was my one and only project worth blitz points! Woot 😃

  
This is a crochet blanket in half double crochet. I have no clue how many stitches I chained. I didn’t keep copious notes. I know it’s 36 inches wide by 70 inches long. It fits comfortably across my lap and covers even my husbands long legs. I used five skeins of Bernat Blanket in the Sonoma color. It’s interesting to see how the yarn pooled in places. I guess that happens in all yarn craft!

This has been carefully washed and gifted to a happy mother.

  
A little niggle persisted in my brain. It bothered me for the last several days. I finally realized what it is…..I want to make me dad a coordinating blanket to match. I guess I’m not done making blankets!

Blanket Fever

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I’m a complete looney tune. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been sneaking another crochet blanket along. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my mom has hinted more than once that she wanted a chenille blanket. I purchased 5 skeins of the Bernat blanket in the Sonoma color (thanks to a 20% off Joanns coupon). This blanket is going to be huge! I’m carting it and the yarn around in a repurposed comforter bag.  

The deal is that I can kill two birds with one stone with this project. I can get a present for my mother done and score some major points for the #dcspigskinparty2015! The yardage (1,056 yds) alone would be 73 points but since it’s over 1,000 yards I can earn an extra 500 points for a blitz project!

  
I have made more progress since these photos and I only have one skein of yarn left and I need to finish this by tomorrow night.  

Wish me luck!

FO Friday: Crochet Baby Blanket #2

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I talked on Monday about my first (test) crochet blanket and how I started the second one. Guess what it’s done!

  

I chained fewer stitches on this one to make a longer blanket than the first and then worked the same half double crochet stitch. I was able to keep my edges straighter and my tension is much more even. I kept working until I  hit my totally length. But I still had a ton of yarn left so I added a single crochet border to even it out and use every bit of the yarn.

This was CRAZY fast I finished this one in a total of two sittings or roughly 5 hours. I definitely picked up steam from the first one. I don’t think I’m going to become a crazy crochet junkie but this is a nice skill to have to knock out a quick baby present. This blanket is going into the gift pile for a future tiny human.

I might be ready to start my mom’s blanket….maybe. The only caveat is that I think I’ll pick a variegated yarn that will cover a multitude of sins that is my beginning crochet, lol.