Clarabelle and Her New Blanket

My little Clara is such a sweet sleeper.  I always love to look at my children while they're sleeping.  There's something so very precious about them.

 Today, I thought I'd take the opportunity to snap a few photos of my girl while she slept away and also show you the blanket I made for her for Christmas.

 I used a pattern from this book and worked it up very quickly because I used two strands of yarn and a big hook.  You do what you gotta do when it's a week before Christmas! I actually love the way it turned out.  The color is lovely and cheerful, the pattern is sweet pretty and feminine, and the blanket has an unexpectedly graceful drape.

I love those little curls.

Little toes, usually so busy.

And those dear little toddler cheeks might be my favorite thing right now.

She's every bit a sweetheart.

The Big Reveal: Noah's Geometric Boy Blanket

I finished Noah's blanket!

Actually, I finished it a couple of months ago, but I only just now took photos of it.

I wanted a more boyish pattern--the boyish colors help, of course, but something more geometric also seemed to be in order.

Although I do wish I had made it bigger, I am pretty pleased with how it came out.  The punch of red in the border, especially, makes me happy.

Two down, one to go!

--

I adapted a pattern from this book, changing it so that it goes back and forth rather than round and round.  And then I just experimented with borders until I had something I liked--sorry, I didn't write it down!  But it was pretty simple, and you can probably figure it out by looking at it carefully, if you are so inclined.

Pattern:

-Foundation Row: Chain a multiple of 4 (such as 80), then ch 3 more.  Turn. 
-Row 1: In the fourth stitch from the hook, dc.  Dc two more times in the following chain stitches.  *Ch 1,  sk 1 ch, dc in each of the 3 following ch* all the way across.  Turn.
-Row 2: *Ch 3.  Sc in the sc sp between clusters* all the way across.
-Row 3: Ch 3.  2 dc.  *Ch 1, 3 dc in ch 3 sp* all the way across.  Turn.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the blanket is the length you'd like, changing colors as you go if you'd like stripes.  **Important: Row 2 is the contrast color row (the red in my blanket).  You will only see the stitches that you single chained between the clusters.  I only used the contrasting color every fourth row.**

Finish with any border you'd like.

The Big Reveal: Janey Beth's Flower Blanket

 I finally finished Jane's flower blanket!

 

I have little doubt she will love it, considering that any time I happened to leave a square or two out, she'd clasp it to her chest and say, "Oh, Mommy!  Will you make me a blanket like this, please please please?"  And I'd just smile and say, "Oh, maybe one day, Janey."

The colors will suit her perfectly.  Girlish and childlike, simple and sweet.

 

It'll be a merry Christmas for my Jane to receive it and a very merry one for me to give it.

Here's the pattern (my very first!), in case any of you crocheters would like to give it a whirl:

Flower:
-Ch 4, sl st to join.
-Ch 1, 9 sc in center of loop, join with sl st.
-*Ch 3, skip sc, sc in following sc* four times.  Ch 3, skip sc, sl st in final stitch.
-{If joining new color for petals, bind off, then with new color, sl st in ch. 3 sp.}
-*Sc in ch 3 space.  Ch 3.  4 dc.  Ch 3, sc in same ch 3 space (one petal made).* five times, once in each ch 3 space.  Sc in first ch 3 space to join round.
-*Ch 5.  Carry chain behind petal, sc in the sc between the petals* five times.
-*Sc in ch 5 space.  Ch 3.  8 dc.  Ch 3, sc* five times, once in each chain.  Second round of petals made. Sc in first ch 5 space to join round.
-*Ch 5.  Carry chain behind petal, sc in the sc between the petals* five times.
-Bind off.

Square:
Round 1:
-With color for square, join yarn with sl st in any ch 5 sp.  Ch 3.
-In first ch 5 sp: 4 dc, ch 2, 3 dc.
-In second ch 5 sp: 7 dc, ch 2, 1 dc.
-In third ch 5 sp: 8 dc.
-In fourth ch 5 sp: 1 dc, ch 2, 7 dc.
-In fifth ch 5 sp: 3 dc, ch 2, 5 dc.
-Join with sl st in 3rd ch of very first ch 3 of the round.
Round 2:
-Ch 3. *Dc in each stitch to corner.  In corner, dc, ch 3, dc* four times.
-Dc in each sp to finish round.  Sl st in 3rd ch of first ch 3. (Each side should have 12 dc.)
Round 3:
-Ch. 1. *Sc in each st to corner.  In corner, sc, ch 3, sc* four times.  Sc in each sp to finish round.  Sl st in first ch 1.  Bind off.
Round 4:
-With contrasting color, join with sl st in any sc.  Ch 1.  *Sc in each st to corner.  In corner, sc, ch 3, sc* four times.  Sc in each sp to finish round. Sl st in first ch 1. Bind off.

Stitch squares together with a tapestry needle, first making the rows, then joining the rows together.

Edging:
Round 1: Join edging yarn with sl st in any sc.  *Sc to corner.  5 sc in corner* four times.  Sc in remaining stitches to finish round.  Join with sl st to first ch 1.

Round 2: Ch. 3 (counts as first dc).  In the same sp, 5 dc.  *Sk 2 sc, then sc in following sp.  Sk 2 sc, then 6 dc in next sp.*  Repeat from * all the way around, fudging a bit to ensure a 6 dc fan is placed on each corner.  Join with sl st to complete round.  Bind off.

A Nice Day

And now I sit--in bed, lamp on, a laptop being a ridiculous convenience, when you think about it--writing about what a nice day it's been.

Bright and early yesterday morning, we got up, got the kids out of bed, and headed out of town to go blueberry picking.  I love to pick fruit, and have long before I was a gardener and got interested in such things.  It started when I first went blueberry picking about ten years ago (at this same farm, now that I think of it).  Anyway, I always enjoy the picking process, how much cheaper you can usually buy the fruit for, and the absolute bounty you can drive home with.  I love how you can actually be in the position of finding as many recipes as you can to use up your ____ (blueberries, strawberries, peaches, apples...).  There is just something about the surfeit of one type of food that makes you feel like you are reveling in Plenty.  And having a large amount of one item also makes me feel connected to my farmer ancestors, who would have been doing what I'm doing with my blueberries: making hay while the sun shines, if I may use an agricultural expression.  Making lots of blueberry dishes while you have blueberries, then canning the rest, perhaps.

Anyway, I made a blueberry crisp last night (which, my friends, you must make if you ever have six cups of blueberries sitting around--seriously, ten years ago it made me a true blueberry fan), and since it was cooked after the kids went to bed, I let Noah and Jane have some for breakfast.  It does have fruit and oatmeal in it, after all.  Then, I made blueberry muffins and blueberry pancakes.  We had a regular blueberry feast for breakfast!  And breakfast wasn't until 10:00 (read: leisurely morning).

Clara was under the weather this morning, so we skipped church and stayed home.  Throughout the day, there was lots of neatening on my part, kiddie pool time for the kids, and video games for Nathan (his brother, Andrew, stayed with us this weekend).  My kitchen is now ready to face the week.  And I even watched a movie and relaxed a good bit.  I hand-pollinated my cucumbers to make sure they keep producing (I've picked three so far! Hooray!) and soaked some beans so I can plant them tomorrow.

Janey Beth has taken to making nests out of her bedding, putting her stuffed animals in the middle, then sleeping on top of them, pretending she's the mama bird.  It is the cutest thing.  Her bed is a complete mess, but that's nothing new (I even let them make pallets and sleep on the floor all last week). I love to see the sweet, nurturing side of her.  Sometimes I look at her little toddler face and wish I could bottle the cuteness so I could pull it out for a big jolt of joy and love whenever I want.  There is something about those little faces.

Noah has been wanting more of my affection lately.  He is very huggy these days.  And I've been so impressed at what a model of a big brother he's been to Clara this weekend.  While she's in a sitting position on the floor, he'll set himself down in front of her and just chat and play with her.  She loves it, and she is really loving that Noah these days.  He's getting some big smiles from Clara.  Unfortunately, though, he is really into antagonizing Jane.  It's actually beginning to be a real problem.

I can relate to that, honestly.  I loved to antagonize my little brother, too.  Specifically, I tickled him.  He was (and still is) incredibly, incredibly ticklish, and I took full advantage of it.  Tickled him to the point of cruelty.  I probably scarred him for life.  My parents tried everything to make me stop.  The only thing that worked was to make me pay him--first a quarter, then a dollar--whenever I tickled him.  That made me stop, more or less.  But sometimes, oh sometimes, it was worth that dollar.

Well, we'll work with my Noah.  As for little Clara, she is, as always, a sweet baby.  Although her least endearing quality these days is that she is experimenting with her voice.  Actually, she is screaming.  Screaming just for the fun of it.  Screaming with everything she's got.  Screaming so big I can see to the back of her throat.  Screaming until she shakes a tiny bit.  It does not make for an easy dinner conversation, I'll tell you that.  We've also discovered that she is extremely sensitive to mosquito bites.  Each mark swells to the size of a quarter.  It is so awful looking, but it doesn't seem to bother her much, which I can't believe.  I'm going to have to start using the car seat mosquito netting that for some reason I have. 

I finished my last flower square tonight!  I took care that the last square I made was one with a pink flower.  The pink flowers, after all, were the first ones I made and more or less inspired the rest of the blanket.  Now all I need to do is block the remaining squares, join them together, and crochet a border.  Give me a couple of weeks.

Sleep is calling me.  Down goes the computer.  Goodnight!

Crochet: Steam Blocking

Hey friends!

So I've been plugging away at the flower squares for Jane's blanket. It's been slow going, though.  The blanket will be 70 squares total: 7 squares across by 10 down, each about 4" square, which will make it a size that will cover her to her toes now but will also be enjoyable as a lap blanket as she grows.  The small size also makes it nicely portable (great for road trips, maybe?), but it's not as small as a baby/car seat blanket.

At the beginning of March, I calculated that if I completed two squares every evening after the kids went to bed, I could have them all done by the end of the month.  They take me about 20-30 minutes each, depending on how engrossed I am in whatever's on TV. :)  Well, there's just something about running after three small children all day that makes you want to crash on the couch at 8:30 without the energy even to pick up a hook and some yarn.  So here it is, June 15, and I am still working on it.

I only have seven more squares to go, though!  I'm excited about that!  I'd love to get them done this weekend.  We'll see if that works out.

There's one thing I've been worried about, though, and that's how much they curl.  I created this pattern myself, and it's a five-sided flower that converts to a four-sided square, and I'm pretty sure that accounts for the extreme curling.  Now, don't shun me, you experienced crocheters and knitters, but I've never blocked anything before.  I've always heard it helps to shape your work and make it lie flat, but I've just never felt the need to do it.  With this particular project, though, I started thinking to myself, "Oh my gosh. If blocking doesn't help these, then I'm going to be in a pickle."  All that time wasted would have been a real blow.

My curly squares:

Thanks to Pinterest and some blog hopping I've been doing, I've started following some crochet bloggers.  One of them is Lucy at Attic 24, who recently wrote a post on steam blocking.  Although I've also seen another method where you pin your squares, spray them with water, and let them dry in place, I decided to give Lucy's method a shot first.

Oh my goodness.  I am a convert.  Blocking is amazing.  Just look at the difference!

I don't quite understand why letting the steam hover over the yarn has this effect, but it not only straightens out the pattern (thanks to some strategically placed pins) but also makes the yarn lay with a lovely drape that it didn't have before.  It somehow makes it relax and makes it softer.  I'll be tempted to steam every project from now on--whether it needs to be shaped or not--just for the drape it gives the yarn.

It only takes about 10 or 15 seconds of steaming per square, but I found that the laying out and pinning of each block was taking a while, so I got smart and blocked a bunch at once rather than steaming one at a time.

Having gone from this

to this, how can I not feel pleased?

Among the Flowers

My Clara had a nice time among the yarn flowers I'm making for Jane's blanket.

A sweet afternoon activity.

Latest Projects

As I mentioned several weeks ago, I'm in a crocheting mood.  It's my craft of choice right now.   I tend to knit and crochet in fits and starts: I'll go to town on a project for a month or two, then I'll put it down for a year.  But I have a goal for this year, which is to make a blanket for each of my kids.  

It all started at Thanksgiving, when my sister-in-law, Emily, learned to crochet (she is already a skilled knitter).  As she asked me a few how-to questions and as we browsed patterns online, we both got interested in a book of 200 different crocheted squares.  And because the bug bit both of us, I thought it'd be a nice plan to put together some yarn and materials so that we could crochet some squares whenever we're all together for a holiday.  Then, after a while, we can put all the squares together and have a holiday blanket we have all contributed to.  (I use the term "all" loosely--of course, not everyone crochets or wants to, but there is a handful who do.)

To that end, this was my handiwork over the Christmas holiday:

After all was said and done, I realized what a great thing it was to purchase the book we did.  Not only does it provide a variety of styles so that anyone who wants to contribute to our little project can find something they'd like to work on, but I also found that by making several different types of squares, my skill level made a real jump.  I was able to try out a new skill for a short period of time, rather than having to make an entire blanket out of it, for example.

My favorite new skill was learning how to make a 3D flower.  I knew right away that I was going to be making flowers for Jane's blanket, that's for sure!  So I combined a couple of patterns, going for a 5-petal flower in a small square, and this is what I came up with:

I love it.  And although she doesn't know it's for her, Jane loves it, too.  

She wants to hold the flowers any time I pull one out to work on it.  "Mommy, can I have this one?"  "You may look at it, baby, but it's mine."  Little does she know....

 I did take a little break from Jane's blanket to make a special little Valentine's Day project.

A heart garland!  I love this one, too.  

Next time I take a blanket break, I'm going to make a few knitted Easter eggs.  If I get them done, I'll post about them.

I hope my enthusiasm for crochet doesn't leave me any time soon, because I'm really enjoying feathering my nest with it. 

This and That

I have lots of things to post and not enough time to post them!  A write-up of Clara's birth, pictures from Halloween, etc.  In the meantime, here's a bit of a potpourri of things that have been running through my head lately.

• I pulled out my sewing machine for the first time in a long time (a year?  two?) to make a dear friend a baby blanket.  I only have very basic skills--on a good day, I can sew a straight line.  But it was really pleasing and gratifying to turn out a sweet little blanket. . . .
• . . . Which sent me into a crafty turn of mind, evidently, because in the last two days, I've found myself planning all sorts of crocheting projects, looking up nice yarn stores, and joining a crocheting/knitting website called Ravelry, through which I found an Etsy shop with super cute patterns.  I think that with two little girls at home, I might have to get some of these rose patterns.  Check out how sweet they are!

 

• The other website where I've gotten some crochet patterns I've used a lot is aliciapaulson.com.  I've made Jane several sweaters and dresses from here, and there's a modified granny square afghan that I would like to make sometime, too.  Jane in the sweater I showed you the other day--->
• The biggest project I have in mind is to make all three of my kids their own afghan for Christmas next year.  I should probably start now, and they'll probably actually be done sometime around 2016. :)
• Speaking of potpourri, Nathan and I (and Clara) had a dinner out the other night (thanks, Mom and Dad!), and we ended up at a little tavern in my parents' neighborhood that turned out to have great burgers.  However, the pear cider that tasted exactly like potpourri was not such a hit.  Gross.
• Gasp-inducing discovery: It is really smart to have your kids spend the night with the grandparents when daylight savings is happening. You actually get to sleep in for that extra hour!