Christmas brought Crochet and other goodies

It is wonderful when your husband supports your hobby. This year was no different and I got some new cool stuff to work on for both my donations and my holiday project for my relatives baby girl.

First off was the annual Crochet 2018 Day-to-Day Calendar which I already completed a doll blanket from that I'll be posting about later this week. My one disappointment is they've reprinted items from previous calendars. I did get a new doll outfit from one of my favorite doll designers so that was a plus.


I love fairy tales sets and like to make the toys and send them with the corresponding book. I was thrilled with the Three Little Pigs Playset

I have some of Amy Gaines Christmas ornaments so when I saw she had fairy tale patterns Little Red Riding Hood made it to my Christmas list.

Cradle purses were not a great success for me, but I saw Annie's Bassinet Baby and thought this might be a cute addition to the doll donation that I could actually make work for me.

The baby doll donation dolls now can have some holiday outfits 15" Christmas Outfit and Valentine's Day

There is no longer a concern about what lovey to crochet for St. Patrick's Day as I also got the Leprechaun Lovey pattern, which I will be working on for the St. Patrick's day package.

In post Christmas shopping I found a gift for my niece's bday from Herrschnerrs and they had a great shipping deal if you met their minimum. They also had a set of my Bates Bamboo hooks B-N on sale at quite a good price. After finding they'd discontinued my Bates Bamboo thread hooks I decided having a complete back up set of the regular hooks to make shipping was not a bad idea.

I also went wild at Knit Picks 40% off book sale picking up several ami titles along with a dishcloth book. Again I am a sucker for free shipping.

Amigurumi Parent and Baby Animals: Crochet soft and snuggly moms and dads with the cutest babies!


Amigurumi Winter Wonderland: 15 Original Crochet Patterns

Baby's Buddy Amigurumi | Crochet | Leisure Arts (6853)


Cute Crocheted Animals: 10 Well-Dressed Friends to Make

Leisure Arts, Dishcloths

Edward's Crochet Doll Emporium: Flip the Mix-and-Match Patterns to Make and Dress Your Favourite People

I found this book after I'd made my Christmas wishlist so it seemed like a great time to pick it up during a great book sale. Literary Yarns: Crochet Projects Inspired by Classic Books

I'm hoping to make some great stuff with all these inspiring patterns.

Orange Scarf

One of my nephews loves orange, so I was looking for a pattern that would work with some cool variegated Caron Super Soft I discovered. I had recently purchased a pocket scarf pattern, which has a neat texture and without pockets I thought would work for him. You can purchase the pattern here.

Sadly my phone camera didn't do justice to the colors. I hadn't used Caron's Paint or Ombre colors before. Having worked with both recently, I really like the colors have already started a second scarf with a red paint selection for his Mom that will have pockets.

This gives me my first Christmas gift completed. I'm hoping to make a practical and a silly scarf for each.

Christmas Brought Crochet

I had a wonderfully long Christmas break with DH. I am fortunate to have a husband who supports my crochet habit. He always asks for a list of things I might be interested in having for my hobby and I can almost always expect to find some of them under the Christmas tree. The beauty is I never know just what he will pick.

This year I am starting to make some clothing items. I had looked at this book and put it on my list. Figure Flattering Plus-Size Fashions has some pretty looking items that don't look like they'll be too hard to make.

I'm still working on my doll projects and have another finished project to post this week. I got two cape projects. The first was a Capelet found here. The second was for a hooded cape that reminded me more of a Little Red Riding hood look found here. I've made my own patterns for capes in the past, but these had looks I haven't tried before and I wanted to make something different for my donation project this year.

From Annie's Attic I got Summer Styles for 18 Inch Dolls. I also got two Shady Lane patterns I've wanted School Girl Fashions and the Waterfall Wardrobe.

For my 5 Inch dolls that I love dressing up, I received Fall Costumes for 5 Inch Dolls.

I joined two swaps at Crochetville this month. I was not that involved last year with swaps, but this year they started with a dishcloth and magic ball swap that sounded interesting. My dishcloth is finished and ready to go. The yarn is ordered for the Magic Ball swap. I just need one more shopping trip to get the items that go in the ball. I'm looking forward to the Ami swap in the Feb-March swap. I just can't decide if I'll do the pet swap or the favorite color swap.

Snowman

This snowman also comes from a pattern my DH purchased for me from NeedleNoodles here. I used my phone for this photograph and did not get as good a shot as I would have liked. I love the way the hat sits to the side on his head. It gives him a different look.

He worked up very quickly and like my comment about the Claus family, my only issue was with the stitch count. It would have been much easier to work the pattern if a stitch count had been included.

If you arrived here looking for free patterns you may be interested in the following blog pages:

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Litwick Pokémon

I had an amazing Christmas vacation and am once again behind in my postings. Litwick was a last minute addition to my Christmas presents. I have an adult relative that requested a Litwick for a birthday gift shortly before I had surgery and took a crochet break. As I restarted crocheting, I had the pattern in my folder of items to do, but never seemed to get to him. With my Christmas box mailed, I found him and realized he had to be made. With a week left until Christmas, Litwick made his appearance and was warmly welcomed to his new home on Christmas Eve.

He worked up quickly from a free pattern found here. This was one of the easier Christmas gifts I made and it seems to have brought the most pleasure.

Polar Bear

I finally finished and posted the polar bear from Crochet Village's North Pole Resident's pattern set. I love the body part of the bear, but I think next time, I will use a different hat pattern. I was not as happy with the brim of the hat as I would have liked. I have the penguin finished and ready to photograph and post, along with the Humpty projects I have been writing about for a while now. I really like the way Humpty came out and would make another one.

I contacted the woman regarding my Christmas donations projects. I have to box them, but the doll clothes and toy food should be going out sometime this week. I hope to post a picture and a thank you to all the people who helped.

I have completed all the ornaments I need to mail and am scrambling to finish the last two crocheted items I want to include in my Christmas boxes. My December birthday box is gone and two other Christmas boxes have been mailed. Now comes the scramble to finish, wrap, and mail the items before the deadline.


If you arrived here looking for free holiday or toy patterns please see the following pages:

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Countdown to Christmas Projects

I finshed the snowman ami project and will post the pictures when I download them. DH has taken his early Christmas present to work already.

I spent Sunday pushing hard on the cat afghan, but I think the deadline is going to be close. Thankfully that is the last of the handmade presents I need to finish before Christmas Eve. Of course there is all the wrapping that needs to be done. I already have ideas for things I want to make for next year. That seems to be the way. I haven't finished one holiday before my mind is racing on to new projects.

Afghan Experiment

As I mentioned before I wanted to make Christmas Afghans this year. I purchased Lion Brand's Thick and Quick Wool-Ease Yarn to make one of their free patterns. I soon realized while I loved the color selection of the designer, that I was not as crazy about the pattern. Since most of my other patterns use traditional worsted weight yarn I decided to experiment using just the ripple portion of the Connor's blanket to make just the ripple without the bobbles. As I mentioned in the post about Connor's blanket this makes a blanket with the ripple on the long side, not the short side. The original pattern is available for purchase not a free pattern.

The heavier weight has created a longer blanket that was one of my goals as this child is older and I am hoping the blanket will not be outgrown. The pattern also has a different look to it, which I am pleased about because I do not want the blankets to be duplicates of each other. I want the brothers and sister to have individual blankets. I have a traditional worsted weight ripple with a blue pattern for the last child in this family.

If this pattern comes out well I have Lion Brand Hometown Yarn that I bought for a relative on the other side of the family. The pattern I bought it to use with was another free Lion Brand pattern that uses the same stitch I did not like. Therefore, I will need another substitute pattern and this would be a great option. If not I will explore other options.

If you arrived here looking for free afghan patterns check the following blog pages:

Free Afghan Patterns

Toy Theme Afghans

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Connor's Crayon Ripple Afghan

Just to be clear this is not a free pattern. My copy came from the Crochet Calendar. If you wish to purchase the pattern it is available at Treasured Heirlooms.

My blanket is slightly smaller than the pattern suggested size. I knew the gauge was off, but I am not concerned. The pattern called for Caron Wintuk, which I have been unable to locate. Instead I used Caron's One Pound Yarn. Instead of worrying about gauge, I spent quite a bit of time focused on making sure I had the stitches correct.

This was a fun pattern to work on. Instead of a traditional ripple pattern that is worked along the short side of the blanket, this ripple is worked the length of the blanket. The white baubles give the blanket a unique texture. I also learned a new method of edging which I plan on using on another blanket I am experimenting with at the moment.

I love this pattern and am pleased to have finished my first Christmas afghan. I have several more to go before my shipping date, but it is always great to get the first one finished.

Ripple Afghan Project

Every time I start one of these projects, it is a learning process. The ripples are similar to the Circus pattern I did before, but this has little bobbles on the white that have been more of a challenge. I have been using safety pins to help track my stitches for the ridges and the bottom of the ripple and this technique has caught a few of my mistakes before they worked into the next row.

I am using the Caron One Pound Yarn as a substitute for Caron Wintuk which I have not been able to locate.


If you arrived here looking for free afghan patterns check the following blog pages:


Free Afghan Patterns

Toy Theme Afghans

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Fleece Blankets

I am already working on Christmas presents and I know I am not the only one out there. Fleece blankets are one present that has worked out well and is still popular in my family. I purchase the fleece material on sale or using coupons.

There are several options for finishing the blankets. You can hem the ends. I have used this approach in the past. My Aunt has generously used her sewing machine finish the edges for me. I have seen people cut and tie the edges at craft fairs. Another option I am considering is crocheting the edges. There was a pattern in the Crochet Calendar and I found some in some older magazines I purchased.

My husband and the dogs enjoy blankets from all the local sports teams with the exception of the Boston Bruins and the New England Revolution. I have found Red Sox, New England Patriots, and the Celtics. For kids you can update blankets as their interests change. While I love the knit and crochet afghans, the fleece are more dog friendly for our home. We have our couches covered as it makes it easy to wash and remove dog hair on a frequent basis. They also resist claw damage better than yarn.

These blankets have been popular gifts across generational gaps. Younger family members have enjoyed many of their favorite characters as warm blankets. I have found themes to match the interests of teens, young adults, and our parents. I like that it is much cheaper to buy the material and make the blankets than it is to buy the blankets already made. Another advantage is the ability to control the size of the blankets. My husband is tall and often the sports throws you buy are too short. When I buy the material, I control the size.

Free Sources for Instructions on Blanket Edges:

Designcary

No Longer Conforming

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Rectangle Granny Square Project

I really enjoyed working with the bright primary colors on the Circus Baby Afghan. That project got me thinking about making some afghans for Christmas projects using primary colors for some of the younger children on my gift list. I went through my patterns looking for three candidates.

In the past, I have tried using the same pattern and different colors. I learned the last time I tried this that color variation does little to help keep my interest. Once I have completed a long project, I have little desire to repeat the project. My hope is that by finding three compatible projects to use the same color schemes I will finish all three.

I started the first project over the weekend and this where the projects stands. This pattern is from the out of print Annie's Attic Afghan club. When I complete the project, I will post the pattern number for anyone who may be looking to locate it.

I love granny squares, but have two issues with granny afghans. The first is making the squares all the same size. The second is having the patience to sew them all together. My Mom had a paper bag full of granny squares that my little sister and I played with for years. We would lay the granny squares out on the floor to design our own afghans. I do not know if Mom ever assembled the squares. It is too bad she did not donate them to a group that would have used them. I remember them as being beautiful squares, just needing someone who would put them all together. I suspect that even if I get the grannies to match, I may never have the patience to put them all together. I keep hearing about alternatives that allow you to assemble as you crochet. As of yet, I have not located a pattern that will let me do that.

This is a compromise and a practice pattern. I have never seen a rectangle granny. It has been fun learning how to work with one. There is also the size of the piece. Most of the items I crochet tend to be much smaller. It is challenging getting used to working with heavier pieces.

The other two patterns I am considering are variations on the ripple. It is a challenging goal to complete all three before Christmas. I will have to see how far I get before they need to ship.

If you arrived here looking for free Afghan or Baby Afghan Patterns:

Afghans Free Patterns

Baby Blanket Patterns

Toy Theme Afghans