Baby Afghans

If you've been around here long you know I love to knit and crochet baby stuff. It seems I've been on a blanket/afghan kick for a while now and today is no exception. I've often wondered why some people call these rectangles of fiber blankets and others call them afghans. I looked up the definitions and here's what I found:

Blanket ~ A large piece of woolen or similar material used as a bed covering or other covering for warmth.

Afghan ~ a blanket knitted or crocheted in strips or squares; sometimes used as a shawl

 (definitions from google)

That explains it then ... I'm sure I've been using them interchangeably when in fact there is a difference.

This book Best of Terry Kimbrough Baby Afghans has been in my possession for over a year now and I really like all the patterns in here but I haven't finished any. I think I found them a bit intimidating with the fancy borders. I tend to be a more "fly by the seat of your pants" type of crafter and am queen of fudging to make things work out. These patterns don't look like they have much of a fudge factor involved.

 

 I have finally jumped in and am working on Snuggle Up, pictured on page 25 of the book. Currently, I'm on the easy part of the border and it has been a really fun (and unintimidating ... is that a word?) project. I will let you know how the final border works out and how much funding I have to do!

The blue blanket I posted about last time is finished as of last week and is on it's way to a hospital in Mississippi with 5 others. They will be used by low income mothers (mostly teens and 20 somethings) for their new babies. 

Happy Crafting!

Squirrels

Squirrels and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ... what do those two have in common you might ask. Well, there are squirrels in the musical and even though this book was one of my favourites when I was a kid I had no idea. Now, you might ask what does this have to do with me? ... The middle school my daughter attends is putting on this musical in a few short weeks and I was asked to sew squirrel costumes. Here is my daughter in one of them. Though she is actually a reporter in the play and not a squirrel I think she makes a very good one!

So, three squirrel costumes down and one more to go by Monday. I think I will need to eat a few nuts before I go squirrely :)

Crocheting is keeping me relatively sane. I started this blanket a few weeks ago based on a stitch I found in a crochet stitch dictionary. Making up the border as I go and hope to write up a pattern for it in the near future. Could make one in pink and white to count towards our Pink and Blue challenge going on in the Heavenly Angels In Need forum this month and next. The short version of this challenge is you join either the pink or the blue team and cheer your team on to making the most items in the two months. I am on team pink and we seem to be having a bit of a hard time cheering each other on ... do you want to join us? I would love to have another cheer leader on board! Happy Crafting!

Ripples

As in ripple style blankets. Stripes that undulate up and down and have an infinite number of color combinations. Check out Linda's ripple blankets ... I love the color combinations she uses. And best of all she gives them all away to kids who will love on those blankets for a lifetime!

The latest 2 ripples I've finished will be going to a Pine Ridge Indian Reservation hospital in South Dakota. The hospital has approximately 30 births per month and there is a group on Ravelry (Bundles of Joy) that endeavor to provide 30 each of blankets, hats, booties, sweaters, outfits, snug sacks, and receiving blankets. There are a few guidelines on size but other than that one can be very creative with color and fiber. Just what I like!

The top ripple is from the pattern booklet Our Best Baby Afghans published by Leisure Arts. It uses worsted weight yarn and I chose to use Loops and Threads Impeccable Solids purchased at Micheals. They have a wide selection of colors and the yarn seems to be durable though not as soft as I would like for a baby blanket.

This round ripple blanket was really fun to make. Though it does take longer and longer to get a section of color completed as the blanket gets bigger. Being a big fan of getting projects completed as fast as possible this does get a bit discouraging for me! But it's done and about 40" in diameter. The pattern is a free Ravelry downloadable pattern by Celeste Young called Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket. Very easy to create and memorize once you get started.

One more ripple is this one also made for Pine Ridge Indian Reservation but finished more than a year ago. It was the first ripple blanket I made and then found I was addicted to creating them. This pattern, Neopolitan Ripple is also free. Thank you to Michelle Tang for writing out the pattern for us to use!

So there you have it .... 3 very different ripple patterns that are open to creative color choices. Happy Crafting!

More Wedding Dresses

I am so excited because a friend is trying to get a few more wedding dresses for me to use to make preemie baby gowns. Here are 4 that I've just finished from a beautiful wedding gown given to me a couple of years ago (yes it does take me a while to get finished with each dress). The 2 smaller baby dresses will fit 2-3lb preemies and the 2 larger gowns will fit 4-5lb preemies. The wedding gown was so beautiful I really didn't want to cut into it. But once I got started I absolutely loved the gowns I've made from it.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the wedding gown before I started cutting. I just love all the bead work and lace but it does pose a challenge for how to cut it to get the most out of all the fabric.

I've made a few other gowns/outfits from this dress (9 total) and still have fabric left to make a few more.

These baby dresses get donated to hospitals and Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) photographers through a charity Heavenly Angels In Need (HAIN). HAIN is always looking for more volunteers who can knit, crochet, sew, or make memory boxes as we have a very large list of organizations looking for donations from us. There are many free patterns online for preemie and micro preemie gowns, outfits, hats, blankets, booties, and wraps that the hospitals and photographers like to receive from us.

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