LittleJudy.com

Star Blanket

I just finished this unusual baby blanket, from a pattern by Monica Zenberg on Gather.com.

I made this blanket for a couple who are about to have their first child. I chose this pattern because they're from Turkey and I thought it was evocative of Turkish design (see what I mean here and here).

I used Bernat Softee Chunky Yarn and a size K crochet hook. The pattern is simply crocheted in the round using mostly double crochet. The shape of the blanket is perfect for swaddling, as demonstrated by Buddy in the photo below.

Mile-A-Minute

Here's my most recent blanket, made for a coworker who just added a new baby girl to his family. It took me about 5-6 weeks to make.

This design is "Miles Of Shells" from LeisureArts "Our Best Baby Afghans." The pattern has blue as the main color and pink as the trim, but I reversed the colors to make it more girly. This is one of the best pattern books I've seen so far -- I can't wait to start working on more of the patterns in it!

I used Red Heart worsted weight soft yarn and a G hook. Mile-a-minute blankets are crocheted in strips (in this case 10 of 'em) and then assembled. Mile-a-minute is a great style for commuters to make because you can work on one strip at a time and never have to shlep the whole blanket around (I do the assembly and final trim at home).

The difference with this pattern is that that it's assembled using a zig-zag of double chains (put two strips together (WS), sc on first side, ch 2, then sc on the opposite side and so on.)  I think it's a neater looking join then putting right sides together and single crocheting. Here's a detail:

Next up is another blanket for a co-worker. This one's really unusual so stay tuned. I hope to finish it up by mid-week.

Pineapple Baby Afghan

Well...it's done! Perhaps the most difficult afghan I've made yet... you really have to pay attention on this one or else you're constantly ripping and re-doing. There was also an accident with a cup of tea that ruined two weeks'  worth of work. Luckily, it was the top half of the afghan, so I was able to rip out the stitches and start over!

Can't wait to present it to the new mom.

Pattern is from the Leisure Arts book Pastel Pineapples For Baby.

Work In Progress: Thread crochet garter

I was always intimidated by thread crochet. Those tiny little steel hooks looked impossible to work with. But, I really wanted to try making the garter for my friend to wear at her wedding so I took the challenge.

It's actually not as difficult as I thought it would be. Turns out that with thread, the stitches are clearer, so it's easier to see what you're doing.

I'm using a pattern from an old issue of Crochet Home magazine (Nov/Dec 1991). I added little pearl beads as embellishment. This is also the first time that I've crocheted with beads, but it's much easier than i thought as well. The only important thing is to string the beads onto the thread prior to beginning the pattern.

Ribbon (blue of course) is woven through the double crochet 2 ch sp shown in the photo on either side of what will end up being the center of the garter.

Thread is Coat's Opera Size 10, and the hook is also size 10 (steel hooks are sized by number, the bigger the number the smaller the hook). Beads are Jewelry and Craft Essentials size .16 in pearls.

Finally finished this baby blanket...

I've been working on this blanket since, wow, March I think. It was made with a sport weight baby yarn and an E hook (what was I thinking?) 

I normally don't do a gauge swatch when I'm making an afghan, since sizing is not an issue, but I'm rethinking that philosophy. Next time I do an afghan, I'm going to do a swatch, track how long it takes to make, and then calculate how long it will take to finish the entire blanket.

Anyway, it's a combination of shells and clusters, with a simple shell edging. Here's the free pattern on About.com.

Next up, a shawl made from Trellis yarn.

Super Knit Sunday

Sure, I'll probably flip channels to the big game here and there, but tomorrow I'm going to celebrate Super Knit Sunday and watch the Knitty Gritty marathon on the DIY Network.

In addition to the marathon, knitters will be creating squares for Warm Up America! a charity that provides blankets to be distributed to women’s shelters, nursing homes, and daycare centers.

So, I'm going to bring out the odds and ends in my stash and do both crochet and knit squares...maybe even some granny squares. It should be fun and for a good cause.

If you're worried about missing all the Super Bowl commercials, don't'worry. We've got 'em on CBSNews.com.

Link: CRAFTS : Warm Up America / Knit-In info : DIY Network.

My current projects....

I'm working on two projects right now.  The first is a sweater using the Bernat Country Wool I bought at the Smiley's yarn riot.  I've completed the back and am starting on the left front.  Here's a picture of the back:

This sweater, well, jacket really, has a collar and is supposed to have a zipper. I'm totally intimidated by the thought of putting in a zipper, but I figure if I have trouble I can always go to the tailor and get help there.

I hope :)

The pattern I'm using is from the wool's label.

The scarf I'm working on is for a co-worker who's moved on to a new company. I made a scarf for the last person to leave and so I guess I'm starting a tradition! 

The free pattern for the scarf is from Crystal Palace Yarns, but the yarn I'm using is Patons Rumor. What a delicious yummy yarn! It's an acrylic/alpaca/polyester blend.

Rumor is one of three new yarns from Patons. The other two are SWS, which is soy and wool, and a mohair/acrylic/wool/metallic blend called Nuance. I saw all of them at Michael's today and they're really nice.

I'm hoping to finish the scarf by mid-week.

It's 10 p.m., do you know where your yarn is?

Well I do! I've sorted everything.

I put all the yarn scraps into one bag and old or unfinished projects in another. That went behind the chaise in my living room (can't see it). In the foreground in the picture, clockwise from lower left, I've got my Wool-Ease in one basket, all my cotton yarns, two imported wool yarns, and all my bulky chunky yarns.

Then, luckily, I had two bigger baskets left for the remaining yarn, which barely fit.  I don't want to buy more baskets because, yes you guessed it!, that just will give me an excuse to buy more yarn. It's a well-known law of physics that yarn will expand to fill the the available space in a crafter's home.

At left is a picture of the two bigger baskets. The front basket has all the baby yarn, the novelty yarn and some extra plain old acrylic yarn that didn't fall into any other category.

In the other basket are all the delicious new yarns I bought at Smiley's Yarn Riot last month including a beautiful Cervinia black mohair, some Lion Brand trellis yarn, Bernat Sox, Bernat country wool, Filatura Chaco from Peru, Filatura Royal Linen from Brazil, and some bulky chunky Wendy yarn from the U.K.. All very yummy stuff.

I guess this means I have a lot of projects ahead of me for the winter! I better get to work!

Divine Shawl

I wanted to make something nice and cozy for our news correspondent Kimberly Dozier who was injured in Iraq a few months ago.

They just moved Kimberly from Bethesda Naval Hospital to a rehabilitation center in Baltimore where she'll be undergoing physical therapy.

She has a long recovery ahead of her so I thought she might enjoy something to cuddle up in when she's resting or reading a book. Because of the airy stitches, this is the kind of shawl that you might wear at home in the summer when you've got the air conditioning on full blast, or throw over your robe on a cold winter night.

I tried a bunch of different shawl patterns, didn't like any of them, and then decided to just make up my own pattern.  This shawl/throw is made using Patons Divine yarn.

Here's a close-up of the pattern:

I've never done formal pattern instructions before, so please email me or comment below if you get stuck and have a question! Basically you will do two rows of single crochet, then four rows of double crochet ch1 in every other stitch. Then three rows of single crochet, four rows of double crochet ch1 in every other stitch twice and another two rows of single crochet.

• Materials:
  3 balls Patons Divine (Bulky/5 acrylic/mohair/polyester), Denim Storm
  N hook
• Row 1 - Chain an 131 stitches or odd number of stitches to desired length (you'll be working lengthwise)
• Row 2 - Single crochet in second chain from hook across (130 stitches), turn
• Row 3 - Ch 1. Sc across.
• Row 4 thru 7 - Ch 3, (skip next sc, dc) across.
• Row 8 thru 10 - Ch1, Sc across.
• Row 11 thru 17 - Row Repeat rows 4 thru 10
• Row 18 thru 21 - Repeat rows 4 thru 7
• Rows 22 and 23 - Ch1, Sc across.
• Weave in ends.

Baby ripples

I finally finished the baby blanket I've been working on for (I think) 2 months. The pattern is from the Leisure Arts book "Baby Ripples."  This is design number 1 from the book. The yarn is Lion Brand Baby Soft and I used the whimsically named color #283 "Twinkle."  The pattern calls for a G hook. At left is a photo of the pattern detail. Below is the blanket elegantl draped over my dining room chairs.

If you click on the photo, you'll be able to see the pattern more clearly. Four of the rows were single crochet working the back loops.  That gives the blanket a more textured look.

The blanket is for a co-worker who has a new baby girl.

For my next number, I'll be making either a shawl or a throw for a co-worker who's facing a long convalesence.