Girly Sunburst Square Blanket

I started this blanket a while ago and then it got forgotten about.  But I pulled it out about a month ago and vowed to finish it!

I do love how the pattern works up, but it is time consuming, as are all patchwork blankets.  The pattern is the Sunburst Square by Priscilla Hewitt.  You can find it for free on Ravelry.

I found this yarn at Hobby Lobby. It's a rather thin yarn, but works up beautifully and they have lots of colors.  It's Baby Bee Sweet Delight yarn in pooltime, white, lil princess, boo pink, sugarplum and grape jelly.

I used a 4.0mm hook throughout the blanket.  It's made up of 48 squares total and measuring 4.5" each.  With the border, the blanket measures 30"x40"

The border is a camel stitch in the pink and white and the scalloped edge is from LittleDoveCrochet, which she has posted for free on her blog.

I really enjoy the look of the blanket, but it'll be a while before I try another!

Until next time!

Courtney

Rainbow Blanket

I usually have anywhere from 8-10 WIPs in my stash because I have crochet ADHD so bad.  I will work on a project for a couple days and then get bored and move onto the next.  Well, lately, I have actually been finishing up so many projects because they are all getting to the point of being done. 

That being said, here is one that I finished relatively quickly.  I started this blanket back in May with the intention of using the yarn for another blanket, but I started the other one and just didn't like the pattern that much.

So became this blanket.  I learned about this stitch from one of my favorite IGer's, @littledovecrochet.  If you have an Instagram and love looking at crochet items, she is fantastic.

This is the Moss stitch, or linen stich, or granite stich.  There are so many names for the stitch.  It's a basic sc, ch 1, sc, over and over again.  Very simple, but it creates this fantastic look and feel.  It is also a very stretchy stich.  I have a hard time keeping the blanket in a rectangle because when I pick it up, it just wants to stretch.

I used my trusted Clover Amour 5.5mm hook for the body of the blanket and then a 5.0mm for the border.

The border is three rows of the moss stitch and then a final row of a crab stitch in a 5.0 mm hook.  I've found over the years that I work with three different hook sizes when I work on a blanket.  The starting chain is a hook up from what I will be using for the body, the body hook, and then I work the border in a hook size down.  So, I used a 6.0mm for the starting chain, a 5.5mm for the body, and a 5.0mm for the border. I don't know why it works, but it makes the blankets come out much more even.

Yarns used were all Caron Simply Soft.  I don't have the actual names anywhere, but they are easily found in your local yarn shop.  I got all mine at Joann's when they had a sale on them.  I didn't even use a full skein of each color, so it looks like another rainbow something will be in the works. The blanket turned out to be 35"x 54" and turned out bigger than I anticipated.  I'm so happy with it!

I'm so excited to be able to cuddle under this blanket this winter, but for now, it'll be nice and folded across the couch for me to admire.

Until next time!
Courtney

Follow me on Instagram @courtneys.crafts for more day-to-day updates on all my WIPs.

Rectangular Granny Square

I started this blanket about 4 months ago and barely did anything with it.  It got shoved to the back of my mind and pushed way down on the project list.  I work nights at a hospital and there are some nights where it's super slow and every one of patients sleep and don't need a thing.  These are the nights where I crochet and I need something smaller to be able to work on.  

Enter the forgotten baby blanket:

I used the basic granny square method, but I didn't want it square and a Pinterest search remedied that problem. 

I used Big Twist Baby in elephant, tutu, aquarium and white.  The pink is a very baby pink, but it's not capturing appropriately against my dark wood table.

The border is just a basic shell stitch around. I wanted something simple since the blanket is so simple.

I'm very happy with how it came out and am excited for some baby to cuddle up to it someday.

💝

Courtney

Heart C2C

One of the IGers I follow, @kaidalys, posted a blanket like this and I fell in love.  I already had the yarn and I couldn't resist.

It's worked with Big Twist Chunky in purple and cream with a 7mm hook.  

I finished it in about 6 hours and am definitely going to be making others in different colors!

It's so lush and I hope she doesn't mind that I totally used her idea!

Go follow her if you are on Instagram!

💜💜

Courtney

Mother's Day Shawl

Both the mothers received handmade gifts this year since they are so hard to shop for.  Steve's mom likes to wear wraps and things like this so I figured it would be perfect to make her a shawl.

I've had this pattern in my queue list for quite a while and finally had an excuse to make it.  It's called Bruinen shawl.  I found it for free on Ravelry.  The pattern is a little rough to follow since the pattern designer does not speak English as her first language, but I made it through.

I used Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable in Dragonfly and used 4.5 balls to complete the project with a 4mm hook. 

Maxine absolutely loved it and I was so excited to give it to her!

Until next time!

Courtney

Bright Baby Boy Blanket

I bought these colors in mind for my best friend's little boys.  She has twin boys that are three weeks older than Ivy.  I started the blanket and tried doing each individual square one at a time and join as I went.

Well, I got bored with it really quick. I finally got my mojo back with it and decided that I was going to finish all the circles before I started joining them again.

Once all the circles were done, I turned them into squares.  This was the first blanket that I have ever completed using a 4mm hook.  I'm usually all about the bigger hooks because I can get the projects done faster.  But this yarn called for a smaller hook, so therefore a smaller hook it is.

Once all the squares were done, I tried the continuous join-as-you-go method and I absolutely loved it.  I will definitely be using that method again!

 

Here's the finished project:

I have another blanket with the same yarn in the works since there are two boys, I need two blankets.  It won't be the same blanket, but roughly the same size.

Pattern is the Sunburst Granny Square by Priscilla Hewitt; you can find it free on Ravelry.  Yarn used was Baby Bee Sweet Delight in celery, toy elephant, tangerine, and cobalt.  It's worked with a 4mm hook and the border is a camel stitch.

Stay tuned for the pair!

💙💚,

Courtney

Mother's Day Present

My mom asked me for a "lacy, Victorian, shabby-chic" blanket a while ago. I had been putting it off because...well, I don't know why lol.  But Mother's Day was coming around so I guess it was time to kick it into high gear

I was excited to be able to use my new blocking board that my dad so kindly made me.  I used a pattern by Donna Mason-Svara called Just Peachy Blossom (link at the very bottom).  It's free on Ravelry.

 

I did 24 squares in a 6x4 pattern.  Yarn is Vanna's Choice in pink, Loops & Threads Impeccable in Aran and Stylecraft special dk in sage. I worked the whole blanket in a 4.5mm hook.  I used a flat braid join to connect the squares.

I used a border from Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman.

I am very happy how it turned out and my mom loved it!

Pattern link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/just-peachy-blossom-6x6

Until next time!

Courtney

Follow me on Instagram @courtneys.crafts for more of the day-to-day happenings.

Pastel Rainbow Ripple Blanket

I started making this blanket because one of my favorite IGer's posted something similar and I fell in love with her color scheme.

 

I chose similar colors, but not exact since she used all stylecraft special DK and I used a smattering of aran yarns that I had in the stash.  I used a 5.00mm hook.  Yarns are Red Heart with Love in lilac, red heart super save in hot pink, stylecraft special dk in clematis, Lion Brand Baby Soft in apricot, Loops and Thread Impeccable in blue and Fern, and I wish I could tell you what the yellow is, but there wasn't a label on it.

I used Attic24's neat ripple pattern and every color change I worked in the back loops to create that edged effect.  

The border was pretty genius on my part, I must say.  I worked the purple, blue, green, yellow and pink in a camel stitch and then did a three dc bobble to create a cloud like appearance. 

I absolutely love how it turned out!

Rainbows for days!

💙💚❤️💜💛💜💝

Until next time!

Courtney

 

RIP Lucy; Bichon Frise Amigurumi

Steve's parents have had Lucy and Wanda, Bichon Frisé's, for many years now.  Lucy was a puppy when they got her.  Over the past couple months, Lucy's health had started to decline.  Steve's parents were taking her to the vet but there wasn't much that they could do for her. She had a tumor growing on her bladder and late at night on April 18th, Lucy took a turn for the worst.

Maxine, Steve's mom, told us that she was non-stop whimpering and shaking uncontrollably.  They took her to the emergency vet were they found out that the tumor was now blocking her ability to urinate.  Steve's parents made the hard decision to help Lucy across Rainbow Bridge.

Lucy was a great dog and will surely be missed by both Wanda and Oscar and her loving parents.

I decided to make a little stuffed amigurumi to commemorate Lucy for Maxine and Gary.  Here she is.  

She is about 6 inches tall and super cute.  I bought the pattern from Yunies on etsy.

I used a simple white worsted weight yarn with a 4.0mm hook.  One of Lucy's distinct characteristics was that she didn't have any teeth and her tongue would always hang out the side of her mouth. 

Here's to you, Lucy.  You're free from pain and suffering.  Run free and we'll see you on the other side.

Till next time,

Courtney

Gender Neutral Baby Blanket

One of the lady's at my work is having her third baby and of course I had to make her a blanket!  She picked out the colors and the pattern and they look fantastic together.  

Yarns used were Red Heart Super Saver in soft yellow, Caron Simply Soft in white and Loops & Thread Snuggly Wuggly in soft grey.  I used a 4.5mm hook and the finished size is 33x36in (84x90cm).  Pattern used was Attic24's neat ripple (http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html) with the first row of every color change worked in the back loops.

The border was done with a cable stitch in each color and then a bobble edging also by Attic24 and found on her blog.

I'm in love with it and I can't wait for her little one to get here so he or she can snuggle with it!

Until next time!

Courtney

PS: follow me on Instagram @courtneys.crafts for a more day to day smattering of all things crochet, crafts and my family!