Blanket Fever

Posted on February 6, 2016 by atangledyarn84

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

Posted on January 29, 2016 by atangledyarn84

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.

A Question of Leftovers

Posted on January 28, 2016 by atangledyarn84

I’m starting to get quite a stash of leftover sock yarn and worsted weight. None of it is enough to make much of a project in and of itself. So I’ve been toying with the idea of a leftover blanket. A nice mashup of my leftovers woven into a nice memory project.

For my sock scraps I’ve always eyed the The Beekeepers Quilt by tiny owl knits. This project has the awesome portability and quick gratification of socks. But the offset is a TON of seaming at the end. There are also a ton of mitered square blankets on Ravelry that would eliminate seaming but the project would be much less portable over time. I just can’t decide!

And the worsted scraps also present a unique challenge. They are mostly acrylic from my early knits. My inner wild child says to just cast on a bunch of stitches and work a crazy garter stitch blanket with random scraps. It might be ugly but it would be my memories keeping me warm!

What are your thoughts on scrap patterns and uses?

Working Out The Kinks

Posted on January 25, 2016 by atangledyarn84

I finished my crochet baby blanket! I definitely had a few kinks in the process. I feel fairly clumsy with the hook still.

This is definitely a test piece! I had trouble controlling my tension and losing stitches at the end of my rows. Look how wonky this sides are! But I did get the hang of the half double crochet stitch and where to place my hook. This finished blanket turned out to be 21 inches by 27 inches so that’s not bad for baby sized. I’m still not ready to start a huge blanket and I had another single skein of this Bernat Baby blanket in my stash so I started a second one.

Upside is that this one is more even and the stiches are easier to see in the blue color. And boy howdy is this faster than knitting. I finished my white blanket in four sittings or roughly 8 hours! I don’t think I’ll end up being a huge crochet fiend but it is a great way to knock out a quick baby knit!

Never Will I Ever…

Posted on January 19, 2016 by atangledyarn84

I never thought I would ever have the urge to crochet….and then this happened…

I have several LARGE skeins of Bernat baby blanket and my mom has been dropping hints hard core that she wants a lap blanket out of this. I tried to knit with this chenille yarn several times and HATED IT. The yarn is very grippy and sticks to itself. (My last project was here)

A couple fiber friends reccomended crochet. I experimented with double crochets and half double crochets. I settled on the half double crochet and an ergonomic size N hook. Mostly because my fingers found it comfortable and I could remember it. I chained a butt load of stitches then took off.

This will be a baby/receiving size blanket. I’m still working on hook placement, reading the stitches, and evening out my tension. This yarn is definitely easier to work with in crochet than in knitting. This peice is definitely a practice object. I don’t plan on giving it away as it’s terribly uneven. But I want to get better so I can do a nice blanket for my mom some day!

Happy Knitting…er, I mean Crochet!

The Project of Loathing

Posted on December 19, 2015 by atangledyarn84

I really wanted a blanket on the needles this winter. I do so love snuggling under a warm winter project while the snow is swirling outside. Thus I cast on my Knitted Chevron Baby Blanket in a rainbow theme with some Homespun from DEEP stash.

It’s a pretty straight forward garter stitch chevron blanket. Back in November I started with red and only got three rows done and it’s been sitting ever since.

I just don’t like it and I have tried really hard to like it. The texture of the homespun obscures the pattern. It’s incredibly hard to “read” as I knit. I have zero desire to pick this up. So this iteration is going to the frog pond. But I really want to use this yarn in a blanket! Stitch definition is going to be a problem so I was leaning towards a straight up garter rectangle with the rainbow colors progressing in order. Though I really feel that a baby blanket needs a distinct border to look a little more polished and finished.

I have black yarn in Homespun so I could outline the rainbow square to set off the colors. Perhaps I could work a small seed or moss stitch black section at the beginning and end of the blanket. Then pick up and knit the long sides of the blanket log cabin style. Or maybe it should be ribbing instead of seed stitch?

Any thoughts from the blogging world?

Knitting and Snuggles

Posted on October 2, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Just a quick check in from Jellybean and I!

This was a Chevron Baby blanket that I made back in 2013. It’s a Purl Bee pattern that was super addictive. And now it’s keeping my little man warm!

We haven’t accomplished much other than nursing, sleeping, and making dirty diapers. I’m just rolling with the flow and soaking up ever minute until I go back to work…

Happy Thursday!!

FO Friday: Jellybean’s Blanket

Posted on September 12, 2014 by atangledyarn84

It’s done!!

The edging turned out beautifully! It really cleaned up the edge and tied the whole thing together. And I only had to go round the blanket twice, phew!

And for all those interested, the all important stats!

Pattern: Hexa-ghan by verybusymonkey

Yarn: Universal Cotton Supreme Yarn
I used 3.09 skeins/556.2 yards/309 grams of lemon, 2.54 skeins/457.2 yards/254 grams of beige, 3.17 skeins/570.6 yards/317 grams of lime, and 3.09 skeins/556.2 yards/309 grams of teal. That brings the total to 11.89 skeins/2,140.2 yards/1,189 grams of yarn total. I worked a total of 44 hexagons in eight rows!

Needles: US 8 dpns

Mods: I added a single crochet border around the edge to neaten it up and tie the whole project together.

Now it’s washed, dried, folded, and waiting in Jellybean’s crib! I can’t wait 🙂

Happy Knitting!

Happy Labor Day!

Posted on September 1, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Happy Labor Day to those in the US!!

This is just a quick post to show you something awesome, my last hexagon for Jellybean’s blanket! Just need a little more decaf and then power through to the end…

Of course it needs a good bath and blocking to flatten out the hexagons. And I plan on crocheting a simple single crochet border, probably in green? So it’s not done but oh so close!!!

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday: Jellybean’s Hexi-ghan

Posted on August 27, 2014 by atangledyarn84

I only thought I was done….

My blanket for jellybean is just slightly off of a square. I know it will stretch some when washed and blocked. But I really want more of a long rectangle.

Argh, that means at least one more row right when I thought I was done. Must knit faster… Only 5 weeks to go!

Happy Knitting!!!

My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures

Ramblings from an obsessed knitter

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