New animal friends

One of my new orders is a request from a very sweet mom up in Maine. Her kids have a few of my blankets already, and she asked if I could work up some new hats. She requested a cat, a pig, an owl and an elephant. Here is the graphic "pattern" I came up with...stay tuned to see how I translate it into yarn!

Long time no blog

I can't believe it's already been a month since my last post! Having a four and five year-old really add to the already hectic holidays. We had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope you and yours did too.

I was able to finish up quite a few jobs as well as sneak in a new baby blanket (and another cable hat). This one really makes me yearn for spring. Especially after last week's snowfall. I can't really complain; it's been so mild up until now.

I saw this little fellow outside my window this morning.

He doesn't seem to mind the cold at all. Until next time, stay warm!

Having fun with edgings

Here are some photos of the finished edge of my purple patchwork afghan. Of course I can never follow anything without adjusting it in one way or another...the book calls for a dc base and I did hdc and the picots were ch5 and ch9 - I didn't like how loopy they were, so I trimmed them down to ch3 and ch5 picots. They are more nubby, but I like them that way.

Have a wonderful week!

Scrappy purple patchwork

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I've been so busy these days finishing up some large orders for Christmas, I haven't had much time to spend on new designs or posts to this little blog. I did however get Tillie's costume done for Halloween as well as finish up some works-in-progress including this one:

I started it this past summer! I used mainly end-of-skeins that I pack into little Zip Lock bags I always keep handy (I also use baggies for my snipped tails to stuff projects!) These poor little purple squares were sitting around for too long.

Instead of using my usual go-to edgings - sc/dc or scalloped edge - I've decided to use one of the lovely edges from a new book I purchased: Around the Corner Crochet Borders. Once again, Edie Eckman does not disappoint! I'm so pleased. I've got plenty of border books, but not many that address the corners!

There were so many to choose from, but here's the one I picked.

Stay tuned to see how it turns out...

Tillie the mermaid princess

Halloween has come and gone, but I'm finally getting around to posting a photo of Tillie's finished costume. I started a couple of months ago with a crocodile stitch skirt. I wanted her to be able to walk, so I only went to her knees with the pattern and then created a dc "tail" in the front and back - open at the sides. I thought it was cute enough (to be honest, I ran out of time, so I kept it simple!). I made a little bandeau top and was going to crochet some seashells, but ran out of time, so I put a simple flower on one side. The colors were all chosen by Tillie. I just tried to coordinate for a little consistency! She was so excited to wear it, and that's all that mattered.

Back from the beach

Tillie greeting the Atlantic...

I feel like I've been away forever, but it was only a week. We had a very nice trip out to the coast. The kids really enjoyed the beach. I always leave feeling renewed. How could you not after staring at water like this?

I can't tell where the sky ends and the water begins.

EtsyMom Color Challenge 2012

I was so excited about this color challenge, that I stayed up to post pictures of my finished blanket. It's a simple granny square pattern using colors from the palette I selected. I also added some other shades of the same colors to give it a little depth and interest. Then I finished it off with a sc of the vibrant blue and a picot edge of the medium blue. I don't expect to win anything, but it was a nice diversion, and the challenge helped inspire me to try new color combinations.

I didn't want to leave the girls out, so I did one in pink as well (this one is not part of the challenge). I thought it came out with a "woodland-y" feel to it. I'm picturing little fairies, mushroom houses and woodland animals.

This was a lot of fun.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!