Simple Blue Boy Set

I'm back and trying to get into the swing of blogland again. I just finished up a blanket, hat, booty set for a lovely customer in New York. She asked me to put together a simple blue and white set for a friend who just had a baby boy. It's nice to do simple and sweet sometimes. I used Caron One Pound white and light blue -- a simple 4 round granny square in light blue with a join-as-you-go edge in white. The booties are done using my favorite booty pattern over at Lion Brand. Click here for the pattern.

I also included a plain blue fleece blankie that I added a reverse single crochet (or crab stitch) edge. I think it's a nice little extra to have handy. You can never have too many little blankets with a new baby!

Happy Easter!

From our family (including our little woodpecker) to yours. Hope it's a wonderful day!

Coming along

Here's a photo update of the pretty aqua blanket. It's oh so sunny!

As I mentioned in my first post, This one is going to be a coverlet for a double sized bed, so I have a little ways to go, but I just love these colors together. Again, I am using: Lion Brand Gold Fish and Sweet Pea, Red Heart's Cornmeal and a discontinued Robin's Egg, as well as Bernat Aqua. I'm using the join-as-you-go method to put them all together.

Little feathered friend

I've been admiring these little birds outside my window for awhile now. Today was the day to finally figure out what they are, so my husband and I got out the bird books, and still couldn't find the little bugger. This is where the internet is such an asset. I typed in something along the lines of "sparrow-like  bird, white breasted" and the first link I clicked on gave us the answer: Dark Eyed Junco.

He's a sweet little guy. He mainly lives in Canada, but comes down south in the winter. My guess is for our balmy weather (we were in the teens this past week).

Anyway, here he is sitting in our peach tree.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, and staying warm!

Back on my aqua kick.

I just love aquas, greens and blues, and I love to pair them with a clean white. A few weeks ago I started a yarn purge. I've been trying to slowly get rid of some yarns that I just don't see myself using anytime soon. In the process, I came across these beautiful colors that made my fingers itch to put together into some blankets. A few of them are vintage, like the bright greens. Those are both vintage wintuk yarns, so the downside is that I won't be able to reproduce these exactly the same. On the same token, the upside is I "won't be able to reproduce these exactly the same", so they are truly unique. I like things that are one-of-a-kind.

I finished the first granny rectangle, a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had the chance to post it to tillie tulip for sale. I was dragging my feet a bit, because I wanted to include a onesie with a little matching heart for the upcoming Valentine's Day. Why do hearts make things so cute?

I used Creme de la Creme cotton yarn in aqua jade for the center, and single crocheted the edge in aqua. You can find my heart pattern here. 

Happy 2014.

It's been way too long since my last post, but life has kept me busy, and this little empty blog has had to suffer. I hope to be a better post-er now that the kids are both in school. I hope everyone has been having a wonderful new year so far.

I'm working on a couple of new custom orders: a pretty 3D daisy blanket in coral, and another "citrine blanket", similar to one I've done in the past with a more muted, earthy palette.

This one is going to be a coverlet for a double sized bed, so I have a long way to go, but I just love these colors together. Speaking of, I am using Lion Brand Gold Fish and Sweet Pea, Red Heart's Cornmeal and a discontinued Robin's Egg, as well as Bernat Aqua.

Have a lovely Sunday!

New custom order...pretty pansies

A special customer down in Texas, who I have worked with over the years (has it really been years?), requested a special blanket using the pattern from Leisure Arts #100318, Afghans for All Seasons, Book 1. It's called "Pretty Pansies", and they really are.

She wanted colors similar to the photo, but on a white background, so this is what I came up with:

(I used Caron One pound in white, jonquil, light blue, lavender, lilac; Vanna's Choice in sweet pea; and Red Heart's pretty in pink.)

She was happy with the samples, so off I go...

Happy weekend!

Custom daisy blanket complete

I finally finished up the pretty custom order, so I thought I'd share a little happiness with you:

It really is a sunny square. It somehow makes my day brighter. I hope it makes yours brighter too.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Loads of color surround the daisy

I'm back after a long break. The spring and summer have been busy months with travel, work and family. I've also been working on a steady flow of custom blankets, so unfortunately this blog has been a casualty.

One of the newest orders is for a baby afghan to match a shower invite. My customer liked the daisy pattern, but was looking for colors similar to the image below:

So I came up with this square:

I still need to ask if she would like it bordered in white or just purple. Maybe even a darker purple? What do you think? 

I'm really looking forward to seeing all of the squares together. I'll be sure to post a photo when I'm finished. I hope you've been having a wonderful summer!

Simple

Sometimes simple can be elegant. My latest blanket is for a lovely lady in New York who will be giving this as a gift to her friend (what a nice friend!) She asked for an all white blanket with flowers. I used the rose pattern, but added one more round of petals and sewed them onto an 8" simple granny square.

These squares will be for the middle of the blanket. Then I'll have a border of several rounds (haven't figured how many yet) of 3dc shell pattern and another border of roses. I'm excited to see how it looks when it all comes together. I love the all white though.

This is the schematic I drew up as a guide:

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Neglect, neglect, neglect

I realize I have been neglecting this little blog, and I promise to try to get some new patterns together to share. I am a freelance graphic designer, and I have been busy with work coming in (I can't complain) and a few new custom orders at the shop. When it rains, it pours. I wish I could knit and crochet all day, but unfortunately beyond work, I am a wife and mother which means, maid, chauffeur, cook and teacher as well!

I did just finish up a new daisy blanket for a very nice customer over in Illinois. She requested a white border, and I think it turned out quite nice. This is the same pattern I wrote about here.

Next up, an all white rose blanket...

Gifts for the twins

I've been racking my brains trying to come up with something special for my cousin's new twin girls. I came across a lovely sunburst pattern (seems very "floral-ly" too) over at Purple Chair Crochet. I think I've seen similar patterns out there, but she has some nice photo instruction as well.

I chose Lion Brand Baby's First cotton/acrylic blend in Twinkle Toes, Fairy Tale, Cotton Ball and Bean Stalk. I'm going to add more squares and perhaps do some granny border in predominantly light pink for one and the darker pink for the other to keep them similar, but not the same. Just like the twins (whose names are Sofia and Lauren - I always want to say "Sophia Loren" :)

I'll post some final photos when I get these done, so you can see how they turn out. Hope you're having a lovely President's Day!

(Un)Perfect pink patchwork

Happy belated Valentine's Day. I sound like a broken record, but I've been busy working on a couple of custom requests. One of which I finished up yesterday...

It's a throw sized afghan. I used Hobby Lobby pink and hot rose as well as Red Heart's perfect pink. Usually, I work each square, lay them all out, and use the join as you go method with a border color, but with this one, I made up and attached each square as I went. It's a bit more difficult, because I like to be able to move things around, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I hope my customer is too. I'm in love with random patchwork -- afghans, quilts. I think it's a little like life: it's never perfect, and you make it up as you go along!

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend.

A Valentine's Day gift idea

With Valentine's Day coming up fast, I thought I would share a unique idea I had for a gift to my husband several years ago.

I'm a folk art lover, and I have long admired Catherine Holman's beautiful work, so I contacted her to do a custom painting of the building we were married in. My husband and I were married in December 2005 in a rustic building called the "Chestnut Shelter". We had a massive snow storm roll through on December 2 which made for long travels, but a beautiful setting for our big day - everything was covered in a blanket of white, and there were giant icicles hanging from the awnings of the shelter.

I was thrilled with her rendition and couldn't wait to share it with my husband. Catherine is an amazing artist, and I can't thank her enough for sharing her talents. It is a gift I will treasure forever.

Dreaming of spring

It was in the 60s here earlier in the week, but now we are back down to 17F with bands of lake effect snow. The cold temps and snow are typical for this time of year, but the warm weather had me dreaming of spring. Maybe that was the inspiration for my purchase on Etsy. That and my love affair with the "tempestuous tulip" (if you are a Room with a View fan, like myself, you will appreciate that last bit). Whatever the case, I spied this beautiful watercolor and had to have it.

The painting is by Nancy Dopler of Midwest Gypsy. She has other beautiful art there, so check her out.

Now I just have to find the right frame...

A butterfly variation

I'm finishing up a purple patchwork blanket for a very nice customer over at my Etsy shop. She asked if I could add a butterfly to it, so I used a pattern by Teresa over at CrochetGeek, but I altered it slightly. Here is my finished flutterby.

My variation: I used three colors and added a third round of the lilac color using a sc and 2 ch picot in the middle of each wing on the last round.

Pig pattern

I'm still working on my pattern writing skills. I must admit, they're pretty lacking, but that's partly because (I have two kids under the age of 6, and) I haven't figured out the best way to keep track of my scribbles, aka chicken scratch, when I'm coming up with new ideas.

I'm usually jotting down notes on a folded piece of paper from my son's schoolwork. I hate throwing away or recycling paper that's only been used on one side, so I always fold them to use for grocery lists...or my crochet patterns! Maybe I need a proper notebook, but my scrappy papers will have to do until I can get my act together.

Then there's the task of trying to decipher what I wrote and put it into a form that makes sense to others! Anyway, with all of that said...

My instructions are for the pieces and parts of the pig - a standard dc beanie can be found on many sites. Personally, I most often start with a ch 4 ring and work 10 dc into it, then 2dc into each dc and continue the following rounds increasing in different increments for different sizes (and depending upon what weight yarn I'm using). Oodles4Noodles has a great sizing chart here. It's a nice guide to crown sizing to obtain a certain hat size.

Little Miss Piggy

I used worsted weight yarn and a size I hook. (You can see the pig in pieces here.)

Snout

ch 5, slip to join

round 1: ch1, 3 sc, 3dc, 3 sc, 3 dc, slip into top of 1st sc

round 2: ch2, dc into same st, 2 dc, 2 dc into next 3 sts, 3 dc, 2 dc into next 3 sts, slip to top of first dc

round 3: ch2, (working in back loops only) hdc into each back loop of round 2, slip into top of first hdc (leave 12"-14" tail to sew onto hat) Note: There is no need to stuff snout, round 3 is meant to add a slight depth.

Eyes (2x)

ch4, slip to join
round 1: 10 sc into ring, slip into top of first sc (leave long tail to sew onto hat)

Outer ears (2x)

ch 11

row 1: 1 sc into 2nd ch from hook and each remaining ch

row 2 & 3: ch 1, 1 sc in each sc

row 4: ch 1, sc2tog, 1 sc in next 6 sc, sc2tog

row 5: ch1, sc across

row 6: ch 1, sc2tog, 1 sc in next 4 sc, sc2tog

row 7: ch1, sc across

row 8: ch 1, sc2tog, 1 sc in next 2 sc, sc2tog

row 9: ch 1, (sc2tog) twice

row 10: ch 1, sc2tog and fasten off (leave 8"-10" tail to sew onto hat)

Inner ears (2x) Note: I used a size H hook for these.

ch 7

row 1: 1 sc into 2nd ch from hook and each remaining ch

row 2 & 3: ch 1, 1 sc in each sc; turn

row 4: ch 1, sc2tog, 1 sc in next 2 sc, sc2tog

row 5: ch1, sc across

row 6: ch 1, (sc2tog) twice

row 7: ch 1, sc2tog and fasten off (leave 8"-10" tail to sew onto outer ear)

Bow

ch 15

row 1: 1 sc into 2nd ch from hook and each remaining ch

row 2-5: ch 1, 1 hdc in each st

row 6: (do not turn) *ch 1, sc across to corner*, repeat from * 2 more times, ch 1, slip into top of first st (leave 8"-10" tail to sew onto hat)

Bow "knot"

ch 10

row 1: 1 hdc into 2nd ch from hook and each remaining ch

row 2: ch 1, 1 hdc into each ch, fasten off (leave 8"-10" tail to sew onto bow)

Finishing

-Add snout holes (optional) using a contrasting yarn and sew snout with tail to lower center of hat.

-Sew eyes above snout.

-Sew inner ears to outer ears; then sew ears onto hat.

-Wrap bow "knot" around bow (scrunching bow a bit) and sew together at back.

-Sew bow to hat.

Note: If you would like to sell items you have made with my patterns, please do give credit to Tillie Tulip. Thank you.

A very pink valentine's day

Amy and Alesia over at AndersonArtworks on Etsy featured my heart hat in their treasury today:

What a fun and pretty group of items.

It's been a hoot.

I finished the parts to my last two hats. My customer requested purple and turquoise-y-blue, so here is the (almost) finished owl.

The elephant is also coming together. Once again, I still need to sew up all of these parts, but I'm pleased with how my ears turned out as well as the little trunk. My customer, Michelle, and I don't care for a droopy trunk hanging from a hat, so I lightly stuffed, then sewed a connection to turn it upward. I think it will look much better when I can attach it to the hat. (Note: I've read an elephant with an upward turned trunk is good luck anyway :)

I think they've all turned out (so far) much like the schematic I drew up. I hope Michelle likes them too!

Hope you have a lovely evening.

Kitty cat hat

I've been working away on a custom order - large throw version of my daisy blanket - as well as these little critter hats.

My little orange tabby cat is in pieces just like Miss Pig, but I'll eventually get these all sewn up. I'm saving that for last. I also only added one whisker to see how the charcoal color looked. I thought black contrasted too much, and I think I'll stick with this softer look.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. We are having unseasonably warm weather, but I'm not complaining!