4 tips for making baby shower gifts

July 12, 2014 by 8 Comments

baby hat

Above is a gift I gave to my coworker at the last baby shower I attended.  This weekend I’m going to another baby shower, and I’m trying to narrow down options for an appropriate gift.  I’ve got some tips to help:

  1. Use cheap yarn.  Baby things can get messed up.
  2. Use yarn that’s soft enough for a baby’s skin.  This might mean counting out your favorite wool, even if it feels soft to you.
  3. Use yarn that is both machine washable and dryable.  This will help busy moms clean your gift easily, meaning your gift is more likely to get used if the mom isn’t worrying about getting it dirty.
  4. If you want to use a natural fiber, try cotton or bamboo.  They’ll keep the baby warm if you’re making something wearable but they will still breathe, keeping the items from being too hot.

With these tips in mind, I’ve found a few items in my house that are already complete and waiting to be gifted to a soon-to-be mom.  The first is made of Stylecraft Special DK leftovers from a previous blanket (100% acrylic):

baby blanket 1The second is also acrylic (maybe Caron Simply Soft?) and has been around for a couple of years:

baby blanket 2Both of these blankets are soft, made of acrylic, and machine washable and dryable.  Since I’m not sure if I’ll have time to make something else, it’s a choice between the two, but the 4 tips apply to almost anything you want to knit/crochet for a baby.

What are your favorite things to make for babies?

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

 

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surprise appearance in “Inside Crochet”

January 30, 2014 by 30 Comments

A follower of NYAC’s facebook page alerted me today that I am in the 50th issue of “Inside Crochet!”

cal114

I was astonished (not the least because I’d had no idea about it) and immediately bought the issue on my iPad.  Sure enough, there on page 6 was a small blurb about the as-we-go stripey blanket that was the focus of our first crochet along!  I’m sincerely honored.  There’s another CAL going on right now following the pattern (only it’s translated into Dutch), and I believe it’s #crochetalong2014 on Instagram.  The blog for that current Dutch CAL is here.

Of course I’m very excited to be in a magazine, but I do wish the magazine had contacted me first so that I could have given credit to Julie over at Little Woolie — her blanket was the inspiration for mine and they are, after all, pretty similar.  I almost feel like it’s cheating, being in the magazine when she’s not given credit.  Well, she’s getting credit here; her blanket is amazing and she’s a great inspiration (she’s also a really nice person!).

Well, that’s my fun announcement for the day.  I haven’t been crocheting or knitting at all in the past week so there’s nothing else really going on, but hopefully there will be soon.  I’ve actually written up a new little Spring pattern that I will be sharing in the near future!  Hope to see you back soon!

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felting in the wash

August 11, 2013 by 18 Comments

I’m no expert on felting, but the general process seems to include agitating your wool (by hand or machine) in warm/hot water.  Easy enough to do on purpose, I suppose, but inconvenient to avoid if you’re in a hurry to thoroughly wash your woolens.  It seems that you can even “felt” acrylic yarn over time, to an extent:

felt2

This is an acrylic blanket (Red Heart, I believe) that was made by my boyfriend Chris’ great-aunt.  It’s a full size blanket made with US single crochet stitches, and I can only imagine how many hours it must have taken her to complete.  It seems that she was very wise in choosing her machine-washable materials and denser type of stitch, for the blanket has held up very well indeed (you’d be very impressed too if you saw how my boyfriend and our dog abuse blankets, and you’d also understand why I generally try to keep my handmade items away from their regular use).  The blanket receives much wear, accompanied by many washes and dries.  It has “felted” a bit over time, as well, which has come in handy.  In the picture you can see the stitch definition pretty well, but if you try to tug on part of a stitch, the yarn doesn’t budge because enough fibers are interlocked.  Our dog’s claws (or Chris’ toes) therefore are extremely unlikely to catch and pull.  It’s perfect, and the chevrons are still in style!

My first ripple blanket, made back in 2011, I’m afraid to say hasn’t seen much use because I’ve been too worried over it’s immediate destruction.  It’s a twin-sized blanket and was made with Berroco Vintage Chunky yarn, which is 40% wool and not exactly cheap.  Inspired by the above blanket’s indestructible-ness, today I decided to try and get my lovely ripple to felt a little bit.  Here’s what happened:

felt3

The stitches did indeed begin to sort of “glue” together, although the navy stripes acquired some of the fibers from the other colors and now look a little rough.  That’s OK though — it’s fixable and the experiment gives me hope that with a couple more washes, I may be able to let go of the fears attached to the use of my treasured blanket!  It would be lovely to see it being enjoyed instead of just sitting in the linen closet.

For comparison, I’ve taken a picture of my most recent ripple, which is also a twin-sized blanket made with Stylecraft Special DK (acrylic).  It has not yet been washed because it, too, has seen almost no use:

felt1

Of all 3 blankets, this one has the best stitch definition.  I’m planning on washing it a bunch of times in a row the next time I have extra change for the laundromat so that hopefully it, too, can be indestructable and worry-free!

Have you had any experiences with felting that have turned to your advantage?  Or have you accidentally felted something against your intent?  If you have any tips or pointers for me on what to do or what to avoid while attempting to further felt my wool and acrylic blankets, please do share!

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!

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ripple #2 ta-dah!

November 19, 2012 by 22 Comments

 

I’ve finished my second ripple blanket!  Using the ripple pattern from Attic24 and Stylecraft Special DK yarn, I completed this in just under two weeks, with plenty of yarn to spare (perhaps enough for a baby blanket).

Here you can see how wide it is:

 

And how long:

 

So it would certainly cover a twin bed.  And here’s the the skinny purple border up close:

Two single crochets along each row of the ripples made a nice even border.  I followed it with another row of sc, then a row of dc, then a row of ss.  Here’s the back of the border, which I also think is neat:

 

And to make the border flat, on the wavy ends instead of that first row of sc I just made a sort of inverse ripple with sc, hdc, dc, and tr stitches:

 

So that’s it!  I’m really proud of this blanket and I hope to get lots of good use out of it.  Hopefully it can withstand me, my boyfriend, and my dog…  I’m just glad the yarn was cheap and the pattern easy!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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yarn mountain and ripple progress

November 15, 2012 by 4 Comments

This past weekend I went to visit my parents, and they had procured for me two large black trash bags full of yarn that someone had left at their church.  Naturally, I was ecstatic about that much free yarn:

by the way, my new favorite color is chartreuse, as you might can tell from my lovely hoodie

 

there’s even more yarn on the couch that I forgot to put on the floor for the picture

 

This vast amount of yarn was then sorted into four kitchen-size trash bags: two for Red Heart, one for Caron Simply Soft, and one for everything else.  I left the bags in my car after returning home, thinking I’d get my muscle-y boyfriend to help me lug them inside later.

Two days later, I was at my internship helping to lead a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy group for people with borderline personality disorder and/or PTSD, and I noticed one of the clients had a lovely crocheted baby blanket in her baby’s stroller.  When I asked about it, she confirmed that she had made it herself, and that it was the only crocheted item that had survived a recent house fire.  Another client, who has said nothing in our groups for 3 weeks, stated that she knits on a loom herself.  I offered to these ladies the yarn that was still bagged up and sitting in the back seat of my car, and they were incredibly happy with the sheer amount of yarn.  They rummaged through the bags, picking the colors and brands they wanted, leaving me with almost nothing left.

I had intended to use this yarn myself for charity projects, but I think that giving it to these lovely ladies, who have no money to buy even the cheapest yarn themselves, was a great thing, especially since it got the previously silent woman to come out of her shell a little bit.  Crocheting/knitting is actually an excellent mindfulness activity, which is something we focus on in our DBT groups because it works so well at helping people with BPD/PTSD.  Sharing with these women made me feel all warm inside, despite the cold temperature of the parking lot in which we stood, parceling out the yarn.  I love to share the joys of yarn crafts, and helping the less fortunate is a great feeling, don’t you think?

As far as my own crocheting, I have progress to share on ripple #2:

it may look bigger than it actually is — that Ikea couch is more like a loveseat

 

I’ve used each of the 17 colors three times, and so far I’ve managed to keep from letting the same colors touch more than once.  I’m thinking that, if I stopped here, I’d have enough yarn for a second, identical blanket.  I’ve ordered two more skeins of the lavender shade to make a nice thick border.  However, I think I want this blanket to be a little longer so that I can stretch out completely underneath it, so I’m not sure what I will do with all the leftovers I will have.  I’ll have to search through Ravelry to find some good patterns for DK yarn.

What would you use acrylic DK yarn for?

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