Tag Archives: blanket

FO Friday: Baby Boy Blanket

Posted on by
6

I kind of fell down the crochet rabbit hole and couldn’t put it down. And then viola…I have a finished Blue Baby Blanket!

Pattern: Crochet Blanket of my own improvisation

Hook: N or 10MM Hook

Yarn: Bernat Blanket Ombre in Teal Dreams

I cast on a whole whack of chained stitches and just started doing a half double crochet stitch. And then I worked through the first ball of yarn and started the second. It was at this point I realized based on my unscientific and not counted cast on, that if I continued on this path I would end up with a long skinny rectangle. And that wasn’t what i was going for in a baby blanekt. So I crocheted until I got to something that was square-ish and then I started working around the edges to add a border with my remaining yarn.

I ended up with a 29 by 33 inch blanket. So while not square, its close enough for me. I really found this a project I couldn’t put down. With the super bulky yarn it I could really see progress. And that just felt so good! I got two LARGE skeins of yarn out of my stash that amounted to roughly 439.6 yards out.

I have no plans for this FO. I think I will just put it in the gift box and wait until I have a need for a cute baby gift. But this has left with me with the itch to do another one of these projects but that would mean buying more yarn for a project I don’t have a recipient for. I think I will put a pin in that thought and see if it keeps coming back.

Happy Crafting!!

Warming Up My Crochet Muscles

Posted on by
7

After my craft project purge, I found the inspiration to keep picking up this long languishing blanket project.

I am having to warm up my crochet muscles a bit. This is super bulky yarn and a big hook so I have to take breaks to avoid soreness and injury. But so far I have crocheted through the first skein of Bernat Blanket and I’m starting the second.

I’m having a little trouble maintaining good edges. One side is okay and the other is a bit wonky. But I’m going to keep moving forward and it will be blanket-like in the end. I have no recipient in mind, I’m just enjoying getting this yarn out of my stash and having a “new to me” project to work on.

Happy Crafting!!

Knitting Poolside

Posted on by
8

We are in the middle of a long heat wave in the Midwest right along side big increases in COVID cases. So my family and I are doing our best to find ways to have fun and stay safe at home. This week’s adventure had water balloons, lots of driveway swimming pool time and me knitting in the shade.

Modified version of Helen Stewart’s Habitation Throw

This photo was taken 10 minutes before I dropped a stitch and made a huge hole in my Rainbow Habitation Throw. I literally spent the next hour tinking back two and a half rows to fix my mistake because it just wouldn’t ladder back down and back up again correctly. So that means I’m still in my fourth color of twelve.

But the good thing about knitting garter stitch is that you can just knit and knit and eventually you look down and a blanket has popped out of nowhere!

P.S. I completely see the irony of knitting a lap blanket during a heat wave. I’m a special kind of crazy!

Happy Knitting!!

Sunlight and Knitting

Posted on by
6

I took advantage of my parent’s deck to take some beauty shots of my Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the sunlight looked shining through the fabric.

This is a modified Habitation Throw by Helen Stewart. I’m omitting the eyelets and adding a fluffy alpaca stripe in between each color change. I’m just starting the fourth color of the gradient. I have 12 colors total so I’ll work the increasing section for the first six colors and then decrease for the last six.

This has been a nice lighweight knit to keep in my lap while it’s hot. It’s also soothing garter stitch with a little interest at the edges. So it is balm for my troubled mind and spirit. I haven even started weaving in my ends so I don’t leave them all to the end. You are welcome future Rachelle!

Happy Knitting!!

Habitation Obsession

Posted on by
3

I’m really starting to pick up steam on my second Hibernation Throw with my Teal Torch Knits 2019 Christmas advent yarn.

I’m omitting the eyelet rows in the pattern and it’s going to be solid garter stitch. And I’ve put some suri alpaca lace weight held double in white in between each color to create some visual interest and to make my blanket just a smidge bigger.

I blew through the first two colors really quickly but now I’m slowing down a bit on the third as the rows get longer. This is my meditation/no extra brain space knitting right now. The color keeps me interested but I don’t have to think about anything but maintaining the garter edge.

Can You Say Ambition?

Posted on by
3

I took my kiddos to my parents house for a weekend respite. I may have over packed my knitting….

I pulled out my huge 31 tote and piled in the WIPs. It was hot as hades but I pulled a nice ice cold coca cola and worked on some of my projects. In this bag I had my:

One Perfect Skein Shawl

Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw

PB’s Birthday Blanket

Retro Rainbow Vanilla Socks

I managed to put a little work on each of them and it was a very zen knitting session. It was a nice recharge to the dumpster fire that is 2020. I kind of like my big ole bag of WIPs. I’m choosing to see them as a big pile of untapped potential. Maybe it is too much ambition? But I’m excited to see what happens.

Happy Knitting!!

A Blanket Itch

Posted on by
5

I have been using my DK Habitation Throw in the evenings a lot. I made it from scraps earlier this year and it was so fun. I have been fighting the itch to cast on another one. I finally tipped over the edge when I found my Teal Torch Knits minis from last Christmas’ advent calendar.

They came in a full spectrum rainbow in 12 minis, so I used my swift and ball winder to wind them into two equal cakes of six colors. I used a loose knot to connect the colors but I will russian join them when I get to the actual knitting. I also spied some leftover Suri Alpaca that I might work into the blanket. I’m considering using it a separation between the rainbow colors OR holding it double with the sock yarn on just the eyelet rows to provide some visual interest. I have some thinking to do on that one.

This project is living in my Cherry Pie Cottage project bag that is the most perfect summer theme of mermaids and ocean creatures. Probably going to be as close as I get to the beach this year!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: DK Hibernation Throw

Posted on by
9

Spring is around the corner and I have a finished Hibernation Throw! Seems appropriate to be “coming out of hibernation” from winter and to have finished this project.

Pattern: Habitation Throw by Helen Stewart

Needles: US 10s

Yarn: Valley Yarns Franklin Natural coned sock yarn and all the fingering weight scraps from my stash

Mods: I modified this pattern for DK weight yarn (fingering held double) to make a scrappy marled version of this blanket.

This project just ticked all the boxes for me and I’m almost tempted to cast on another one! It was very to memorize and easy to read where I was when I put it down mid repeat. It used up a TON of scraps from my stash. When I weighed this behemoth it weighed 822 grams. Based on some maths I did based on the average sock yarn statistics….this blanket used rough 3,300 yards of yarn!

And I finished this in about a month and a half. That is lighting speed for me and a blanket. But I will fully admit that this became a knitting obsession and I didn’t really work on much else for that period. I did notice that when I was taking FO photos that my blanket is not perfectly square. I found that at multiple times I had to fudge my decreases on the last half because I didn’t have the right number of stitches. I’m pretty confident that this led to the last half being slightly bigger than the first half.

But I don’t care, I have a new snuggly blanket that is 100% mommy’s and no one else can use it without permission! Happy Knitting!!

So Close To The End Of Hibernation

Posted on by
7

You guys….my DK Hibernation Throw is sooooo close to being done. I’m definitely using up the smaller and smaller scrap balls now. And the rows are going much faster. Based on what I can cover up with while knitting, I think this should be a good one person lap throw.

It still feels a little “rustic” to the touch thanks to the Franklin Valley Yarns undyed sock yarn I’m holding double throughout. It might soften with washing but I’m not sure I want to wash the blanket right away. I know for a fact some of the yarns I used will bleed. And I sort of want it to be just so…at least until the first time my kids spill on it.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting For Warmth

Posted on by
5

It’s a mix of rainy/cold and snow/cold here today. So I’m super glad my Hibernation Throw is at the point it makes a nice blanket as I knit!

Can I say how exciting it is to be on the downhill slide of a blanket project? The rows on this project are only getting shorter and shorter as I go. I still have plenty of scraps to add to this blanket. I really think this is going to be a nice personal sized blanket when I’m done. I can admit I have googled more coned sock yarn in a grey color because I’m already planning a second throw….sheepish grin….

I’ll try to spread this blanket out and take proper photos of this blanket when I can grab some sunlight. Happy Knitting!!!