Sunday, August 10, 2008

Crocheting and Knitting Kick!

Where have I been, you ask?

I took a sabbatical from blogging to catch up in needlework projects for friends and family with precious ones one the way. Last month, Jamberry gave birth to short boy #3, and I had nothing to show for it! I bought a one-pound cone cone of pure cotton yarn in a shaded denim ombre colors and whipped out one project after another until I had just enough left for baby doll clothes. I decided to concentrate crocheted items since Jamberry, not a crocheter, knitted many projects for her wee one. I made a hat, booties, burp cloth, and bib plus a lovable pair of baby socks made out of Baroque Crochet Cotton white thread that proved irresistible to me. Aren't you amazed at how much you can squeeze out of 787 yards of yarn (not including the baby doll clothes to follow)?



Last month, Pamela's Tia Patty bought her a baby wearing a pink bath robe, whom Pamela insisted was a boy named Baby David! Since the poor babe has been touring South Carolina with nothing but a diaper, I decided to clothe him in some proper boy clothes. I could not find any baby doll patterns that I liked, so I picked out ones for premies and used a hook two sizes too small: a going-home outfit (which I slightly adapted) and booties.

As you can see, the shirt and pants turned out adorable and so easy to crochet! The booties were a bit trickier. I made one bootie from a pattern. The result was too large, even with a much smaller hook, so I unraveled it and invented my own pattern, very loosely based on the one already tried. With a bit of tinkering, the first bootie turned out great.

However, I did not know how many rows I could spare to make the cuff for there was very little yard left. So, I pulled the yarn off the cone and made a ball with the center near the end of the first bootie (not cut yet since I might have enough yarn for a row or two of cuff). You can see the end of the cone trailing the ball. In essence, I made the first bootie from one end of the yarn and the second bootie from the other end of the yarn. That way I could keep lengthening the cuffs of each bootie until I ran out of thread. Pretty cool, huh?



As you can imagine, I have been getting burnt out with crocheting, so I chose to knit a dress for another cyber friend whose baby was born a couple of months ago. She does not know I am doing this, but, as (a) she has many children, (b) she has a newborn, and (c) she homeschools, she is probably too exhausted to read my blog. So, I know my secret is safe with you! I picked up a cone in the color shaded pastels ombre. Anyway, I found this adorable Cotton Candy dress that I am knitting in I have finished the skirt and am working on the right back. The back, front, and sleeves should go fairly quickly. The first ten rows were a nightmare--I relished the challenge of making the row of triangles, but I felt like I did when I was trying to get through the first level of Crash Bandicoot and kept dying and starting from scratch! Honestly, it took me a week to get through the triangle obstacle course! Apparently, I'm not the only one who has trouble with counting on this dress, LOL . . .

Finally, I just started a baby blanket using the same stitch as the blanket I made for baby Leilani last year. Steve's parents are going to be great- grandparents for the first time, so I have until November--when Steve's niece in Guatemala is due--to work on a gift. I picked up four cones of daisy ombre cotton yarn, which I think will yield a 40 inch by 48 inch blanket plus doll clothes and potholders.

13 comments:

Prince Andrew and the Queen Mum said...

beautiful stuff! 'everyone' is doing the knitting thing...i'm going to have to start or be left behind...

Anonymous said...

What beautiful work! Glad you're back.

Autismland Penny said...

Wow! I am tired just looking at it. I am so jealous! I can crochet but not knit. I am all thumbs! I am so jealous but I am NOT having a baby to get a present. No way!!!!

Unknown said...

Oh COOL! All the matching things are so NEAT. I would have loved that as a new mom... what a great friend you are. Ü

walking said...

Queen Mum, I was knitting before knitting was cool! LOL! My mom taught me how to knit, crochet, and cross stitch when I was twelve. I am very thankful for that.

Chef Penny, I am thinking about making Baby Alive a dress and, if it turns out nice, I know of a little girl in Florida who has a Baby Alive, too . . .

walking said...

A friend at Aut-2B-Home asked me about the pattern for the potholders. I found a great blog post with pictures and a description of how my mother taught me to make potholders. It also works well as a hot pad, especially if you make a rectangle by finishing off too early. The pictures of the ones I made are here.

Bonnie said...

Wow, great work. I'm sure Pamela is enjoying her new boy doll clothes!

Mama Skates said...

wow, what talent - i'm soooo impressed! and a bit jealous that i don't have a wee one to wear such yummy stuff! ;0)

Anonymous said...

You are so talented! Those are beautiful. Few people do such things anymore. I don't know how to do them, either. My grandmother and mother were very talented crocheters. My mother still does a little but it's hard on her hands. Yummy stuff!

walking said...

Bonnie, Mama, and Karla,

All the praise needs to bounce off me and hit my mom! She is the one who taught us the importance of weaving in threads sneakily and counting at the end of every row and making everything pretty. You should see her quilts! WOW!

JamBerry said...

Tammy, we got the gifts in the mail, and they are WONDERFUL!! You are an absolute GEM of a friend, and tell your mom that she raised a real treasure! Thank you SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

walking said...

My biggest question, Jamberry, DO THE FILET CROCHET SOCKS FIT??????

JamBerry said...

They fit PERFECTLY!  He won't be wearing them long, but he's wearing them right now!!  They are SOOOOOO cute! I'll snap a picture and send it to you!  :)