Baby Blanket for Co-Worker

This is what the blanket looks like right now, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue with this. It’s for a newborn so I don’t want to make anything with holes in it that might catch tiny fingers, but I don’t want it too plain either. I’ll offer the mother some suggestions on patterns and see which one she goes with.

I am using Lion Brand Ice Cream yarn in UBE. I have no idea what that means, but that’s the name on the packaging. I just like all the pretty colors that could be for boy or girl.

I am also using a “G” or 4.25mm aluminum crochet hook.

The stitch you might see above has many names, but I prefer “Moss Stitch.” It’s simple, works up quickly, and it keeps its sides even.

I’ll let you know next week what pattern the mother decides to go with. 🙂

see you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

A Fresh New Year!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday season including ringing in the new year!! I was too busy with work and family to do any posting until today so I’m a bit late to bring in the new year with you. However, better a little late than never at all – right??

Let me begin by saying I am so very grateful for each and every one of you who read these posts of mine. I don’t mind if you don’t comment or anything, I’m still going to write regardless. Would I like more interaction? Of course, but I’m not going to push things. I will eventually write something you’ll want to respond to, and I’ll be happy to respond back. To those of you who do respond to certain posts, I thank you most warmly. I enjoy the feedback and the interaction with all of you.

So what’s in store for the new year? I think we all have lists of things we want to do, see, make, visit etc. I don’t have a travel list, but I do have a To Do and To Make list. In fact, I’ve already begun several, and I hope you’ll follow along on my journey through this year as I show off what I’m doing, discuss things I’m interested in and so much more.

Projects Begun:

Mystery Sampler Stitch-A-Long called Changing Seasons by Fox and Rabbit(formerly Linen and Threads) – I had to order the Aida cloth because none of my local sources carry them that large. I have also joined the Facebook group for this project, and I’ll post the link when I discuss the project further with you on Saturday.
The Land Baby by John Collier – I have seen this pattern for sale on Etsy and Ebay both. The Link I’m sharing is from a free site with the charts and thread list. I saved them as images and am going to use my Paint program to help me mark off what I’m doing.
Crocheted Baby Blanket for a Co-worker – she’s due in March, and I offered to make her a blanket. I think every newborn should be gifted with a handmade blanket.
Health Potion Twitch Stream Prop inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, the game – my son streams on Twitch, and I have an empty brandy bottle he wants me to turn into a “Health Potion” as a prop for his stream. It should be fun to make.
Frederick the Literate puzzle – this is going to be a challenge, and it’s not exactly like the cross stitch project of the same name so that’s good. 🙂

I have a great deal more planned including the ongoing project called Golden Knave. I’ll keep you in the loop on all my projects, and I hope you will all share with me the projects you all have planned for this year as well.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!!

Free Pattern Friday: Completed and Ongoing Projects

So, I’ve been quite busy crocheting. The ongoing projects are ones I’ve been commissioned to make, and the completed ones are some things I just happened to make while figuring out what else to make.

Finished Projects

The Block Shawl aka Call the Midwife Blanket

This pattern is the property of Patons and was created by a company they took over back around the 1980s. It’s actual name is The Block Shawl and was originally intended to be a shawl. It was used in a show called Call the Midwife as a baby blanket, and a fan of the show then reverse engineered the pattern when they couldn’t find anything close to it – it was out of print at the time -calling it the Call the Midwife Baby Blanket. They have since done due diligence in finding out the original owner of the pattern and its copyright which is now Patons.

I am linking to a page hosting the pattern as supporters of Patons and not the fan who reverse engineered the pattern as I believe in giving credit where it’s due. The above is a stroller blanket size of the original pattern, and if you’d like to make the actual Block Shawl or tweak it a bit to be baby blanket size here’s the link : The Block Shawl

The above is a gift bag I free handed. I needed something to put a pretty present in, and I wanted it to be as bespoke as the gift is.

Ongoing Projects

The below are all items I have been commissioned to make. I have been commissioned to do 9 of the octopi, and the client picked out all the colors. I don’t normally do embroidery on crochet so it’s a learning process. 🙂

For some reason the group picture didn’t fully show up, but the individuals look pretty good. I am by no means a professional photographer so pardon them not being perfect. They are all “asleep” as they are being given to babies for nap and bedtime.

The colors and the pattern for this blanket were chosen by the same person who commissioned the octopi. This half finished blanket is for a 2 month old preemie girl. The yarn is Lion Brand Mandala Ombre in Serene. The color change is the result of working with the yarn as is. I didn’t try to stripe it or order it in any way. I showed this to my client, and she loves how it looks so I will continue with it. Here is the link to the pattern should you want to try this pattern yourself: Linen Stitch Blanket

I’ve been asked to make a blanket for an 8 month old preemie baby boy by the same client, but she’s only chosen the colors so far, not the pattern. I think she’s going for a star or starburst shape, but she hasn’t told me exactly what she wants. I’m hoping she’s going to let me know before I’m done with the above projects so I can get them done.

I have three shawl/scarves with pockets another person has commissioned me to do – they are deciding on the yarn as well as the yarn color right now so I have to wait to get started on them. The pattern for this project is not free – the client bought it for me. Even though it’s not free, I’ll still post pictures and the link – just in case.

So that’s it for this week. I should have all the octopi and the blanket done by next week. I should have another project almost finished by then as well – a little sachet I’m planning to make for my son’s girlfriend. 🙂 Fun stuff to look forward to!!!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!