Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hoppy Easter! In Pictures

Happy Easter everyone! We've been busy preparing ourselves for Easter in all the ways, including, of course, crafting. Here's a smattering of what we've been up to:

Easter Goosie
Pink!
Serious work here
Orange!
Eggarland construction
Eggarland construction
Eggarland

Nesting
Bird nest!
Flower cupcakes
Flower cupcakes
Felted buns
Basket time!
Rapunzel makeup!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Oh Baby!!

Hello there! It's been a while and I've been busy. Did I mention all the baby things happening around us? We know of 5 (I think) expecting friends that we know in person, one couple had their baby, one couple got their twins, and there are about 10 more friends I know online who are expecting or recently had their babies! It's babyland! So I've been creating since January. Here's a quick run down:

One hospital hat with either a bear or a flower that could be pinned on.

Hospital hat for boy

Hospital hat for girl

We didn't know if this baby was going to be a boy or a girl. Turned out it was a boy, but I don't want to post his cute mug without mom's permission :)

Four blankets-3 girls, 1 boy:

Garter and Bows

Baby blanket peach

Baby blanket blue

Baby Blanket-cotton candy pink

The blanket pattern (Ravelry link or look here) is the same for each blanket, but I used different edges for each, and different yarn. The one with the ribbon is I Love This Yarn! and the other 3 are Baby Softee. Is that Bernat? (Yes, it is. I checked.)

Now, see that cotton candy pink one? It used to look like this:

Crochet blanket, so pretty

It was so pretty! A lovely Ravelry pattern (or look here) by my friend Brenda. It was my first crochet blanket, a huge undertaking for me! It was really nerve-wracking too and took way longer than I thought it would. And I messed it up.

Crochet blanket-Ugh!

Oh no! I lost stitches on the edge, a lot. At first it was no big deal, a stitch here and there could be camouflaged with a nice border, right? Right! But not this many lost stitches. Oops. This became an "UGH!" and I frogged it and it became the knitted blanket up above. Please note! This "UGH" is by no means the pattern or pattern-maker's fault! This was purely a n00b-crocheter's problem. Make this blanket and show me how it can be made right! I actually think I'll try it again.

And we have friends expecting a girl very soon and I made this set for them for baby pictures.

Baby Cocoon and hat

Baby Cocoon and Hat photo props

It's a baby cocoon and hat set, and I made different flowers for the hat. They just button on/off. I loved making all those flowers! Can't wait to see baby in them!

hat with alt flower peach

hat with alt flower purples

There are more pictures on my flickr account.

The pattern for the hat is the Shell Stitch Beanie and found on Ravelry or here. It's crocheted, which I was very excited about after the blanket snafu. There is a link to the main flower I made from that pattern. Other flowers are knitted and crocheted, and can be found here (Rav link) or here. (Ok, I can't find the link right now and need to make dinner. I'll come back to edit this!) The rest I just sort of made up as I crocheted along. The main yarn for the cocoon, hat and main flower is Bernat Bamboo in the "linen" colorway and the flower is "wicker" colorway.

:Quick aside, when I first started knitting, I strongly disliked the word "colorway". Why not just say color? "It's so foofy", I thought. But I get it now. It's just something that does make sense once you've played around with color in yarn and fiber after a while. If it bugs you, start playing with yarn and fiber more. Then tell me what you think. :) /weirdness

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. It's been fun and motivating and I'm ready to stash dive and find more little fun projects. The girls need flowers for various things-head scarves, a patch on a hoodie, bracelets, rings, a necklace or two... I have enough to keep me busy for years. :)