Baby Shower & Blanket

This weekend we attended a baby shower for some friends who are expecting a little boy in the next few weeks. This the blanket I alluded to a few weeks ago. I got the pattern off Ravelry and enjoyed making this blanket quite a bit. It included more counting that I generally find fast but it was a fun blanket and it took very little yarn. I think I used two skeins of the lavender and only had to start a second of white to do the border (not in the pattern).





We had fun at the shower. Everyone was invited but I felt like it wouldn't really be ChocolateSon's scene. When I asked ChocolateSon's godfather if he was going he expressed relief that he wasn't (even though his wife was one of the shower hosts) and said that ChocolateSon could come play with him. Well, that sounded great to ChocolateSon who apparently has some sort of male instinct telling him that he doesn't want to go to a baby shower (plus which I told him it would be boring and he would have to be quiet). He did get offended at the idea that men aren't necessarily welcome at all baby showers but I think that was a matter of principle. It sounds like J and ChocolateSon had a great time and played chess and other games. Later we were in the car talking about J babysitting and ChocolateSon interrupted to say that he thought he babysat J. So we asked why. As it turns out, he figured that since he went to J's house, he was babysitting him.

Anyway, the shower was lovely and the house was just fantastic. We walked in the door, took a look around, and ChocolateWife said, "Oh. I'm so glad ChocolateSon isn't here." Lots of breakable stuff.

Crochetted Cap

I finished making a cap for my friend A. Well, R finished making a cap for my friend A. My experience making this cap confirmed my belief that should stick to making baby blankets. Ok, baby, toddler, big blankets. I think the important factor is that I work in two dimensions. Every time I try to make something in three dimensions like a hat or elephant or sweater or whatever, I end up frustrated and re-doing a lot of work. I pretty much made this cap three times because I had to adjust the sizing so much R did one of the adjustment rows in the body of the cap and did the brim twice. I couldn't even stand to start the brim once. Oh, this cap is made from the yarn that is made partially from recycled water bottles so that's cool.

Anyway, it's done and I hope my friend likes it and that it fits her well. On a totally unrelated note... jeez do I need the back of my neck shaved! Look at that!




Weekly Workout Summary:

Again, not much. I started feeling sick toward the end of the week. It never really turned into much and I'm not sure if I fended off a cold or just had some allergies. I'd post the specifics but Google Calendar has been squirley all week and I can't get to my workout stuff. This week's not looking much better workout-wise so far.

Big Brother Blanket

I finished my friend S's little boy (K's) big brother blanket this week. This is the older brother of the baby I did the swirley blanket for. It's a simple v/shell stitch alternation which I find to be an easy and fast pattern to do. It's also pretty resilient for toddlers to carry around or abuse without doing much damage.

I texted my friend when I finished the blanket and said she could tell the baby that she can come now.

Baby Blanket

I finished this baby blanket for my friend S last weekend. I would have posted pictures earlier but I'm pretty sure S reads this blog and she's a facebook friend so the pictures have languished in the computer, just waiting for their metaphorical moment in the sun. The pattern consists of 52 (4 rows of 7 motifs and 3 rows of 8 motifs) hexagonal swirly motifs. Making them was quite fun and I never got bored of making them. It was nice after making the large afghan I made this summer to get to work on something so portable. I probably made 10-12 of them before I had the first three rounds of the pattern memorized but the 4-12th rounds were easy from the beginning. Actually, I miscounted and made about 5-6 extra motifs. Finishing the blanket meant whip stitching the rows and then whip stitching the rows together in the psuedo-rectangle and then putting a round of single-crochet (sc) and then a round of chain (skip sc), half double-crochet, repeat around.

The baby shower was last night so here are the pictures!

Project Done

I've finished the project I was working on for Christmas presents. I made these 12 dishcloths. For Christmas we're giving most of the members of R's family copies on a book on green cleaning and 3 hand-made dish cloths each. For the 8 brightly colored ones, I used a fillet crochet book that R picked up at some store for $2.99. If you can't make out the patterns, they are (top left to right): pattern, daisy, triangles, pattern, (bottom left to right): dove, tulip, squirrel and triangles. The top four are just some double crochet and some ribbing. Hopefully they'll like them.

Receiving Blanket Pictures

My co-worker sent me a few pictures of the edgings on the receiving blankets. I still find it pretty hard to turn the corners in an attractive way but you can see the work a little here.

Perhaps the best part is that someone attending the picture asked me how you keep changing the thread color on the rainbow one. I was sort of like... well, it's variegated thread?

Receiving Blankets

I made two receiving blankets for a co-worker and took them to her shower on Wednesday. She seemed excited by how soft they were (the material really IS soft) and definitely could tell they were hand-done and appreciated them. The first ones I did (last year) the recipient said "oh how pretty..." until she realized they were hand-done. Then she got really excited and appreciative. Anyway, I hadn't taken my usual pictures and posted them, partially because the recipient is a Facebook friend so I could't post them over there (although I could have posted them here). And I totally forgot to take the pictures at all. I asked her to take some extras and send them so when I get them, I'll post them here as well as Facebook.