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For months I have been working on baby blankets. AND FINALLY, I’m nearing the end of my epic baby blanket crochet-fest!

Since late February, I’ve started 4 blankets. Frogged one, finished two, and will finish the final blanket tomorrow. All of the blankets were finished by the baby’s DUE dates…. But babies do what they want and ALL of them were EARLY!

The Failed Bobbles

I had dreams of designing/creating a super textured bobble blanket for the twins. From the beginning, I had difficulty maintaining my stitch count. Even in my swatch I lost a stitch. But for whatever reason, I carried on and worked on it for over a month. It was SO heavy, used SO MUCH YARN (because of the bobbles) and they edges were a wreck. I could fudge a couple lost stitches, but not 8. No edging on the planet could have saved it. Plus the weight alone would have crushed a small child. I needed the yarn to complete both blankets, so I frogged as I worked the C2C blankets that ultimately were created.

Fraternal Stripe C2C

I wrote a post a couple of weeks about learning a new skill under a deadline, C2C crochet. Here are the results! Both blankets measure approximately 36″ (91 cm) square. I used some stash yarns: the light blue, the cream, the taupe. And purchased the navy and the light green. My gauge is different between the two blankets; therefore I needed to add additional rows to the 2nd (blue cornered) to make them even. The borders are single crochet. I wanted something simple and unifying to avoid the focus being removed from the stripe pattern.
Both blankets are reasonably weighted and large enough to carry to boys through early childhood. I finished the two blankets between 4/5-21, about 2.5 weeks. I only have a few hours a day to dedicate to fiber arts, with the largest block of time in the evenings after the kids go to sleep.

These blankets were also a commission, something I rarely undertake. But they were for a close friend and I had creative control so it wasn’t too restrictive of a project. I challenged myself to do “random” striping. I did OK in that aspect. I enjoy regularity and strict pattern; randomness is chaos in my brain. I will definitely do another C2C blanket in the future, I have some yarn that I plan on using for said project. Since both of these blankets are square, I may venture into rectangular C2C. You know, to grow my skills set.

Preemie/NICU Octopus

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I hadn’t really heard about these until a week and a half ago. Amigurumi isn’t really my thing, because of the tight stitches. Yet when the situation arises, one must rise to meet it. It took me about 5 hours to work this guy out. I ripped out my first attempt because I wasn’t thinking and out too many stitches into the beginning magic loop. I used Sugar and Cream cotton worsted weight yarn. I only kind of followed a pattern mainly for the tentacles. I couldn’t find my small hooks, so I used a G/4mm and purposely tugged my stitches tight. I was feeling unsure that my gauge would be sufficient enough to hold in the stuffing through washing and use, so I stuffed the poly-fil into a new “knee high” to keep everything in order. I think it’ll survive the hot wash intact! I also embroidered a little face on it- no buttons, safety eyes. But I forgot to snap another picture before I put it in the box and shipped it off to my friends. My embroidery skills are rubbish. Add to my long list of skills building I guess.

Despite all my kvetching, I’m thrilled with the completed project. However, my fingers ached from the super tight gauge with cotton yarn. If I ever need to make another one, I will in a heartbeat. But I don’t think making these will become my new passion, they made my left hand ache.

Ranclaw Blanket

I’m so close to completing this blanket! Its been a labor of love since late February. I’ll give it its own post and the (free) PATTERN upon completion. I cannot wait to send it off to its new family. Two amazing people who have been blessed with their first child.

Quarantine Dye Job

I always color my own hair, so my dye job isn’t outside of my wheelhouse. But it is the first time since college that I’ve dyed my hair a crazy color. My blonde hair needs to be toned occasionally. I can’t just pop over to the beauty supply store and grab a bottle of Wella T-18 toner, so I decided to play the long game. Enter my (temporary) purple hair! By the time we are free to move about the community, it will have faded to an ashy blonde. I think. My kids are tickled by my current purple hair.