cocoon

The squares are off as well as a couple of cradle sets which I forgot to take a picture of. oops.

Here's my latest work. It's a preemie cocoon and hat.

The pattern can be found here. I did change the edging to (ch 2, sl st, sk 1) to make a bit of a decorative edge. It's not fancy but just a bit of something extra.  I used a G hook.

My plan now is to make a few hats. A few years ago I made many little preemie hats. I'm going to look back at those patterns and see what I did then. I have much of this pink yarn - I think it may have been Bernat baby yarn.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

squares

I've been busy making 50 6" squares while once again waiting for yarn.

Some of the yarn used was Red Heart Super Saver Medium Thyme, RHSS Gold, Vanna's Choice Charcoal Grey, VC Dusty Green. I'm not sure what that other one is. I think it's a VC but not positive.

A friend of ours has started a new charity effort in her locale (Houma, LA). The charity is called Heartstrings of Houma. It's brand new so they're just feeling their way but if you're interested, visit the FB page and let Tiffany and Kaci know you'd like to help. They accept a variety of fiber items from preemie hats to afghans as well as plarn blankets for the homeless. All of the recipients will be in the Houma area. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Welcome Home Whisper White

I found some thread at Walmart that matched the ribbon very well (in my opinion anyway). I am no seamstress by any means, but I managed to take the ends of the ribbon to hold them in place. My suggestion here is to do all eight on one side, then you can hold that bit in place and tug gently on the opposite end to straighten the ribbon. Don't pull too tightly or it will bunch up. One of mine is a little snug.

The ribbon makes all the difference in this afghan. It really is a gorgeous pattern with all its quirks. :-)

I don't know if I did it correctly, but I think it came out well. I'm happy with it.

I decided to tie on the bows so the recipient can keep them or not as she chooses. It's for a little boy.

If you're interested in making this beautiful afghan, see my post here for the links to where you can find it. (It's not mine. It's by Terry Kimbrough.)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

ribbons

I had ordered both white and blue ribbon for the Welcome Home / Whispers of White baby afghan. The blue came in and I put it next to the afghan and was in love with it. I think the white would be too much of a contrast. I went ahead and placed it, weaving in and out as instructed. It was very easy to do. It was a little hard on my back and my knees, but not a difficult process.

Then I realized I had no matching thread to keep it in place. :-( I plan to get some tomorrow and hope nothing goes amiss with the ghan until then. I'm not a seamstress and really have no clue how I'm going to do it but it will get done. :-)

The ribbon makes all the difference! It adds a special element. I think I'm going to love it. I left a long "tail" of ribbon to be sure I'd have enough. I still have to make the bows when these ends are tacked down.

Oh, if you missed the update on yesterday's post, I did contact Leisure Arts about what I thought was an error in the pattern. They say there is no error. I respectfully disagree. LOL In my opinion you need that ch-1 but my suggestion is that you try it both ways and see which you prefer.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

baby afghan

I have been busy this past month. The main project that I've been working on is a baby afghan.

This is an interesting afghan in many ways. In my search for the pattern I found out that it has been published a few places under two different names. The pattern, by Terry Kimbrough, was published in the book Vanna's Afghans A to Z which I've had for years. It is called Whispers of White. It was also published under the name Welcome Home in other publications.


You can also find it in the books Terry mentions on her Ravelry page:
Leisure Arts #2853 Our Best Baby Afghans
Leisure Arts #3267 The Best of Terry Kimbrough Baby Afghans
Leisure Arts #1422 Rock-a-Bye Wraps to Crochet

You can purchase the individual Welcome Home pattern on Leisure Arts web site as a digital download. That is what I did and then I realized I already had it in the Vanna book under the Whispers of White name.

The other interesting thing is that there is an error in the scallops part of the pattern in every place I've located it. heh It's a tiny error - well, at least to me it is an error - but it sure confused me. Once I got that figured out, it wasn't difficult at all. The body of the afghan was very easy to do.

Here is a closeup of the scallops, before and after edging was added. Scallops are made individually. In other words, you finish off each scallop.

So here's the deal about the scallops. In this row I think there is a missing ch-1.

As published:
Row 2: Ch 3, slip st in end of next row, turn; 9 dc in ch-5 sp, slip st in end of next row: 10 dc
In my opinion, it should be:
Row 2: Ch 3, slip st in end of next row, ch 1, turn; 9 dc in ch-5 sp, slip st in end of next row: 10 dc

You can turn and then ch-1 if you prefer (which I do).

[Update: I contacted Leisure Arts and they say there is no error. The pattern stands as is. My opinion is still that you need that ch-1, but you should try it with and without and use the one that pleases you.]

This makes a difference because if you don't ch-1 then you have a strand that crosses over.

The chains are in the other rows, but is missing in that one. Rows 1 and 2 use a ch-1. Rows 3 and 4 use a ch-2. 

Things to be aware of in this pattern. Not errors, just things that might confuse.
At the end of Row 1 you do NOT slip stitch. You move right on to Row 2 where you chain 3 and then do the slip stitch thing. This is important because if you add a "slip stitch in end of next row"right there you will be missing a "next" on the last row.

Note that it says the ch-3 counts as a stitch. That includes those that appear to be lying down. :-)

Because I wasn't paying attention, I finished off after the last one where it says do not finish off. LOL It makes no difference, however. I just joined and followed the rest of the instructions. Note that you DO finish off after all the other scallops. Each scallop is made individually. Yes, you have to sew in all those ends.

One thing I might mention. At the corners you are working (sc, ch 3, sc, ch 3, sc). I wasn't clear what was actually considered the corner. There is a dip where the ribbon will go on the sides. Is that the "corner"? In the end I think it should have been there on the sides but I haven't added the ribbon yet so I'm still not sure. (My ribbon hasn't come in yet.)

The pattern calls for an F hook. I used a G hook. This made my afghan a bit longer than it say so I will need more ribbon than it calls for.

I used Knit Picks Brava Sport yarn in Sky blue. I ordered five skeins and used every bit of them for the body of the afghan. I ordered two more for the scallops, but one was enough. 

I had a problem with the skein. I cut out a whole bunch of fuzzy spots and knots. Mostly fuzzy spots.  This skein was the same dye lot as the others. On the others I did cut out a few but not nearly as many as on this skein. Fortunately, I wound the skein before starting and caught all but one of them that way.

Here's a sampling of the fuzzies. Maybe some people would not have cut them out, but I did.

This is what I ended up with after cutting out the pieces. I wound it by hand because I have to feel the bits that are thick or knotted. If I do it with the machine, I miss them.

I did write to Knit Picks and they quickly replied that they were sorry and would replace the defective skein. Kudos to Knit Picks! It just struck me as funny that only the one skein (so far) was troublesome. I have four more skeins in that dye lot. I rewound one of the others and had to cut out only one section. Very strange.

I've also made some squares and cradles but will save those for another post.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie