Florida Blanket

"Is that a blanket in the shape of Florida?"

Good question, but no. Actually I started this blanket in the car when my roommate, her cousin and I drove down to spend a week in Florida with their family.

When I chose the pattern, I wanted something that could be finished quickly so I purchased extra bulky yarn and used my biggest crochet hook. The drawback of all this is that now the blanket is SUPER heavy as far as blankets go. On the bright side, I'm pretty sure that this blanket would keep you warm in the middle of winter, outside, during a blizzard.

The blanket isn't all that wide (oops) but it's enough to cover your lap or wrap over your shoulders. It took about 12 skeins of yarn and at the price I got them; it's my most expensive project to date! That's mostly why it took so long to complete. There were a couple of weeks there where I was out of yarn but couldn't quite budget it in.

I'm very excited about it and already I'm working on another blanket. Hopefully the new one will cost significantly less and be less heavy. It's nice to have options!

A Purse for Your Granny?

I have to be thrifty in the coming weeks because my budget is all out of whack and I have to make a month's pay last just a tad longer. SO instead of running out and buying all new yarn for a new and exciting crochet project I've decided to see what I can do with my stash yarn.

Last year, I'd found a book on Granny Squares at a library book sale. I'd never quite been able to get the hang of Granny Squares before and I'd hoped that the book would help. With my stash yarn, I found instructions for a basic Granny Square and FAIL. I could not get it right. Everything would go smoothly and then suddenly the first round looked like it was missing a double crochet. Finally I gave up and asked Christy to help me try and figure it out. Luckily she's been working on a project with similar rounds and TAADAA my double crochet magically appeared!

Anyway, I couldn't imagine creating a bunch of Granny Squares without a purpose, so I tracked down a pattern I'd found weeks ago. I'm not really a crocheted purse kind of person, so I as going back and forth on whether I really wanted to build one or not. Since I was already building Granny Squares, I decided to go for it.

This piece was fairly easy to create. I had a little trouble figuring out how to assemble it, but after a little bit of thought I was able to pull it together nicely. The strap was of my own design and attached very easily. I used Red Heart Sport weight yarn, but it's fairly floppy. I just might create another one with a stiffer yarn later.

I still have no idea if I'll ever use it... Anyone want a new purse?

First Baby Blanket

I wanted to make a baby blanket because its small size would be easier to carry around while working on it. The problem was that I didn't have a baby to give it to and I wasn't sure what I would do with something that small in size. Then it struck me, I DID have a baby in my family! My cousin Audrey (who I haven't seen since she was physically unable to have a baby) recently gave birth to her son Wyatt. As if it was meant to be, I happened to have two shades of blue stash yarn and immediately went to work.

The first pattern I tried was great. The instructions were easy to follow and it was starting to work up nicely but VERY slowly. Here it is when I started:

It was a single crochet stitch and was taking forever, plus the instructions only wanted me to crochet in the back of the stitch so the blanket was taking on a texture that was less than soft. At the same time I was making similar blanket with different instructions which was faster and much easier. I had to slightly modify the pattern but I think it turned out quite lovely! I can't wait to send it to Audrey!