Baby Doll Carrier

The first doll carrier and blanket for the 2018 doll donation are done and I am so glad. I love the doll carriers and the pattern isn't challenging in general, but working the three strands of worsted weight yarn together is hard on my hands. Finishing a set is always a welcome time. For those of you interested in the doll carrier it is a free pattern found on Ravelry here. The blanket is another of Michelle Crean's doll blanket patterns found in Crochet 2018 Day-to-Day Calendar. This year's entry is called Diamond in the Sky and I rather liked it. Red Heart makes the blankets a little larger, but I like to give the child the option of wrapping the doll, which a shorter blanket doesn't allow.

Now for my notes to myself that I make so I can remember what I did that makes all of this stuff work. For the carrier I need 3 skeins of the same color Red Heart Super Saver Yarn. To make this a workable size for the donation doll start with an I hook for rounds 1-10 switching to a K hook at row 11 to end. This is strictly based on my funky gauge. The first time I made this I tried the K hook through out and almost had one big enough for a real child. Those of you reading should test your own to determine how to proceed. My notes are really for me to come back to should I lose the pattern I've written the notes on for next year. I'm trying to get better with my documentations because I have lost patterns and then have no recourse but to experiment again.

As for the blanket I had hoped to start with the yarn left over from the carrier, but situations being what they are hadn't finished with the carrier when I started with the blanket. However, for my purposes I need 2 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver for the blanket and an H hook I was able to use up the remains of the yarn from the 3 skeins I used for the carrier. I love it when I don't have tons of little balls of yarn left over from projects but instead can roll them into the next project. It does wonders for my yarn storage issues.