Ta-Dah: My First Crocheted Blanket

Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! I'm so happy because I finished my first ever crocheted blanket. Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy. It really was a wondrous day as I never thought I would complete it, it has been a mammoth project, well it certainly felt like it. So the story goes...

I started crocheting in August having come across the craft magazine Mollie Makes and I started with a crocheted apple cosy. Before I could master the apple cosy I needed to learn the basic crochet stitches and so I learned how to crochet using YouTube and the wonderful Beth from bethintx1 who so kindly has a whole host of really easy to follow tutorials on YouTube. Beths tutorials are so easy to follow and I was totally bitten by the crocheting bug. The apple cosy aside, the main reason that I decided to start crocheting was because I wanted a craft to do that was quiet (my sewing machine is not particularly quiet), that I could do while my baby was sleeping. My little dandelion, Baby R was really not doing very well at sleeping during the day and definitely would not go into his cot to sleep so in the end I gave up (it was too painful letting him cry in the cot) and let him fall asleep on my bed while I sat beside him. This seemed to work and while I know many people would tell me off for 'spoiling' the child I just had to do something to get him to sleep and also it just felt right. I actually loved having him sleep there beside me and anyway I knew it wouldn't be forever so I just followed my instinct. So while I loved having this time together I also wanted to do something with my hands and to achieve something. I dug out my granny's old 4mm crochet hook, some dodgy luminous green yarn that my mummy had bought me a while ago and I sat on the bed with headphones in watching crochet tutorials on YouTube on a 3rd hand iTouch while little R slept. So then I wanted to make a blanket and I have to admit I kind of jumped with both feet into this blanket project and didn't really do much research on yarn, colours or styles of blankets which I sort of regretted because then I discovered Coco Rose who let me to Attic24 and the blankets they were doing look A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and the yarn they used was so beautiful and luscious, but hey you live, you learn. I visited the yarn shop in my home town, The Yarn Barn, a treasure trove of yarny delights and picked Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK yarn (a 80/20 Bamboo/Wool mix). I had been looking for something by Rowan or Debbie Bliss but the shop owner had stopped stocking these as they were too expensive and people just weren't able to afford them. For my next big project I think I might try to build up a stash of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino as I have discovered another shop near my home town which stocks it, now I just need to rob a bank to afford it (or save up)! Anyway there won't be anymore big blanket projects for quite a while as I am only just recovering from this one and I'm back to work soon so I'm not sure how I'm going to fit in looking after my beautiful baby boy, working 4 days a week and crocheting a blanket, so only small projects for the next while. Anyway I digress, I think I've blethered on quite a bit and maybe now it's time for some photos. Here it is in all it's glory my very first ever crocheted granny square blanket.....

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140 five round granny squares 

4 granny rows 

finished with scalloped edging (courtesy of Attic24 pattern can be found here).

I think the edging looks really pretty and transforms it from a bog standard blanket into something much more special. Well that's just what I think

This is where the blanket is going to live so we can see it every day. I'd like some more crocheted items around the living room, I'm still trying to talk D into some granny bunting to adorn the arch between our living and dining rooms but discussions are still ongoing (but just between us I'm going to make it anyway and put it up, he might never notice, ssshh don't tell!).

I'm still not in love with the green colour and I maybe should have thought through the colour choices a bit better and also thought more about the type of yarn I chose. When I started this blanket I was a total novice and I didn't realise how many balls of yarn I would need to finish the project (a whole 30 x 50g balls, eek), how long it would take (3 1/2 months, but it wasn't exactly full time plus I made a quilt for baby R, bunting for baby R, bunting for my niece and christmas decorations while being a mummy, a wife, a dog lover&walker and all that life brings along) and how expensive it would be (I don't even want to go there)! But having said that I do love it. 

♥♥♥

I love that I made it myself. 

I love that it reminds me of sitting on the bed beside baby R as he slept. 

I love that it will always remind me of the year baby R was born. 

I love that I saw it through to the end even though I wanted to give up as I decided I didn't like the colours or the yarn.

I love that I am now a crocheter.

I love that it's mine.

♥♥♥

Christmas and Ta-Dah's too

So finally I get to post something that I have made and that's Christmassy, happy-happy-joy-joy. WARNING BIG MOAN COMING UP: I'm finding it very difficult to get the time to do anything these days, I just don't know how other people do it. My little baby boy is 11 months old and we are having so much fun together but it's just very difficult to get anything crafty done, let alone get to blog (originally when I started the blog I had hoped to get a post a week but that was very wishful thinking!!). But anyway enough moaning although I did warn you! So I have been veeery busy - I have been working furiously on my granny square blanket (I am on the last row, although I'm wondering if I should make it bigger, haha I am my own worst enemy!), I made a Christmas present for my 9 1/2 month old niece (some sausage doggie bunting, a post to follow *crosses fingers*) and I made some Christmas decorations (hurray!). Would you like to see them???

 I made some FIMO snowflakes as inspired by the lovely Coco Rose. I came across this post and I realised that I had the exact snowflake cookie cutters that Vanessa used and I love red and white Christmas decorations so it was the perfect mini-project for me. I really loved making these and as soon as they were made I gave most of them away as presents, so I had to keep making them and finally I got to keep some myself!

 Then I made some crocheted snowflakes as inspired by the lovely Lucy at Attic24, who so kindly made a super easy-to-follow tutorial on how to make the lovely snowflakes (after the miserable winter we had last year crocheted snowflakes and FIMO snowflakes are the only kind I really want to see this year *crosses fingers again*). These were really easy to make, I think Lucy's instructions are always really easy to follow, she is the crochet oracle to me! Again as soon as I had made these they were also out the door like hotcakes and so I kept making them and finally got to keep some for myself. I had intended to make a garland of snowflakes but without complaining again I will just say that time really is not on my side. But there is always next year Haha! 

We did manage to get our Christmas Tree up on the 1st of December which has been the tradition in our house for quite a few years now and we still managed to get a real tree. We were worried about a number of things (I am a worrier in case you hadn't noticed), firstly that we wouldn't have the space anymore for the tree because we have had to re-jig our living room/dining room to give Baby R more space for cruising and for speeding about in his walker, secondly that the tree wouldn't fit in the car with Baby R in the back too and thirdly that Baby R would pull the whole thing down (that last point lets just say is a work in progress!!!). But we managed to get a smaller tree (we love the Fraser Firs and fortunately the garden centre we love had a smaller tree that was perfect for us, still cost the same amount as the massive one we got last year mind you!), which fitted in the car with Baby R smiling at it as we drove home and it fitted in our alcove (minus lots of it's back branches). 

This was taken on the night of the 1st of December as we enjoyed a well earned glass of wine after decorating the tree and Baby R was tucked up cosy in bed.

This was taken then next day with the top of the tree included (we were very tired after all our hard work!)

You might have noticed that the bottom of the tree is a little bare, well that's because we've had to gradually move the decorations up the tree out of reach of teeny tiny fingers who can't resist the sparkles and dangly bits and bobs.  

Some snowflakes in situ

I also made some FIMO hearts.. I ♥ hearts

This is my favourite new decoration.
  

I wish I had made my favourite new decoration myself but I bought the wreath from the internet in the summertime and then a few weeks ago I bought some battery powered fairy lights and wove them around the wreath. I love, love, love it, it's been the missing decoration from my life!

This Christmas is so special for my husband and I as it is the first with little Baby R. I am loving every minute of December 2011 (I love the run up to Christmas with Christmas Eve as my favourite day of the whole year), it's just so special because we have Baby R to share it with and really that's all I've ever wanted. Last December I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and the snow was so bad that I couldn't leave the house. Baby R was due on the 27th of December but he decided he was too warm and snug to come out into all that snow so he stayed tucked up like a bug-in-a-rug for an extra 11 days. This year I'm happy and sad all at once, Christmas is tinged with sadness for me because I have to return to work on the 3rd of January. I have to let go of the light of my life and give him over to someone else to look after (Granny 1 day and a lovely lady childminder for 3 days and I have Fridays off on a temporary-to-be-reviewed basis). I think it's the toughest thing I'll ever have to do and I just wish I didn't have to. Then sensible, rational part of me knows that it will be good for both of us as it will help little R to become independent and hopefully to socialise and make wee friends. I was a terribly clingy child, even when I started secondary school I was so anxious, I didn't want to go and "leave my mummy", I wanted to be with her all the time and while this sounds nice it was stressful for me as a child and for my parents to have a child crying every day before going to school so I really don't want baby R to experience this. I want him to be a happy-go-lucky child who enjoys life and new experiences but the emotional, irrational part of me is having her heart torn out and while I know I should be enjoying the time I have left I can't help feeling so sad about what's around the corner. I wish I wasn't so sensitive and could toughen up, I knew this time was coming but it's crept up so fast and in the blink of an eye he'll be sharing his laughter and tears with someone else each day, but I want to be the one to make him giggle and to wipe his tears away. I'll have to settle with wiping my own tears away with an entire box of kleenex 


Oh dear I was so happy at the start of this post because I finally got to share my Christmas decorations and now I'm just so sad. I hope I haven't totally depressed you, somewhere in here I'm still feeling happy-happy-joy-joy I just need to let the sadness out from time to time. Baby R and his Dada are off visiting Santa in Dada's work, I thought it best to stay at home to work on my blog so that we would both get used to being away from each other (it's horrible being so sensible), and from the reports I am getting from his Dada Baby R is handling it much better than me, which was to be expected really. Maybe a hot cup of Lady Grey tea and a dark chocolate hobnob will cheer me up and maybe a cuddle from Luca and Monty. Sorry for my ups and downs over this post I hope you can forgive me.... *crosses fingers and toes*

And now for some Crochet

Well I thought I would share some crochet WIPs that I have on the go. I guess crochet is the reason that I started this blog but so far I haven't had anything significant to show and therefore post about. I've been working on a granny square blanket as my first ever crochet blanket and it is slow going. I started it at the very end of August while on holiday with my husband, baby R, doggies and friends (and friend's babies and doggies!), but it's still a WIP. I guess I did have a little break to work on baby R's quilt and I also made some bunting for his nursery (I should really share a pic of that with you). Maybe I should have started with something a little smaller and more manageable because, although I am absolutely loving crochet, I'm afraid I have fallen out of love with my blanket. Maybe if I share a wee photo that will reinvigorate me and I'll get it finished. 

A sneak preview: 5 round granny squares, 14 squares/row, 10 rows, joining as I go 

I had always set myself the target of finishing it for Christmas and that is still on the cards. I think it will be a nice Christmas present to myself (I'm imaging snuggling under it on Christmas Eve and then snuggling under it on Christmas morning with Baby R and his Dada, oh and maybe Luca & Monty too!). I think another reason for my stalling with this project is that I'm not entirely convinced of my colour choices. I love the dark pink and the dark blue (the photo doesn't do them justice - difficult light conditions on these autumnal days) but I'm really not convinced about the bottle green colour, I only chose it because the other green the shop had (which I really liked) was discontinued. Also the yarn is Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo (80% bamboo and 20% wool) which, while it does feel nice, is expensive and therefore I wish I had gone the whole hog and used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino as so many lovely bloggers seem to use. The fact that the blanket is also costing me a fortune is putting me off it as well, the purse strings while on maternity leave are being pulled a bit tighter and there I go spending a fortune on yarn! Oh well... now that I have blogged about it I'll have to finish it. I'm on the 8th row out of 10, just need to keep 'er lit and not get distracted by other projects. Speaking of which...

/\/\/\/\ ripple-ripple-ripple /\/\/\/\

Well after reading so much about Lucy and her lovely ripple blankets, I decided I just had to have a go. I sought yarn advice from the lovely Lucy (as much as I'd love to use Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino as mentioned above I think I better save up or maybe wait for Father Christmas for this!) and decided to use Stylecraft Special DK. As I intended to order the yarn from the internet I thought it might be wise to order a yarn shade card to see what the colours were actually like as opposed to on a laptop screen (purchasing from the internet is sooo handy but difficult where colours are concerned). I decided to make a baby size blanket as I thought I would get this finished in a reasonable amount of time, so baby R gets another blanket (this was another reason for going for Stylecraft, being acrylic it will withstand lots of washing and wear&tear from baby R). Although I'm making a blanket for a boy I didn't really want to fall into the gender stereotype trap (blue only y'know) and I wanted to make something bright and fun, so in the end I went for (clockwise from left): Sunshine, Plum, Meadow, Aster, Cloud Blue, Lipstick and Turquoise.

Stylecraft Special DK

However once I started the blanket I sort of felt it was going in the territory of 70s rainbow hippie-ness, not that I have a problem with this as such it's just not the look I was going for, for a baby blanket! I guess I was a bit worried about the yellow and it being too ultra bright. Anyway this is how it looks so far...

From bottom: Cloud Blue, Aster, Plum, Lipstick, Turquoise & Meadow... 

143 chains and 12 ripply rows so far....

I guess I'm a little afraid of the yellow yarn and not too sure where to bring it in but I am happy with how it looks so far. Overall the colours kind of go against the grain for me as I prefer much more muted tones however I have to remember that this is for baby R and it really needs to be happy and sunshiny. I really wanted something that felt like Attic24 as this was the inspiration for the ripples in the first place so I just need to be brave and go for it. I must admit the ripple pattern is quite therapeutic and addictive so I just hope it doesn't distract me from the granny square blanket for too long!!

♥ Baby Quilt ♥

Well hooray, I finished the quilt for Baby R! I never thought I would as I purchased the fabric ages ago but was so occupied with my lovely R that I couldn't seem to find the time to get started. Plus I am a total scaredy cat when it comes to cutting fabric, I put it off as long as I can because I hate the cutting stage as you can never go back but I've since learned a helpful phrase "check twice, cut once" so this is my new mantra with fabric. No longer will I be so afraid of fabric, no longer will it look at me, sticking out it's tongue out at me and goading me. I am not afraid of cutting you anymore, fabric beware, I've got a rotary cutter and I'm not afraid to use it!  Ok sorry about that.. 

As I said I purchased the fabric what feels like a longtime ago from the lovely people at Seamstar (who were soooo kind and helpful, they even helped me pick my binding fabric). 

This is how the fabric arrives from Seamstar. Attention to detail. Scrummy!

My lovely fabric bundle arrived and I oooohed and aaaahed over it for a while and then I put it away in my craft cupboard in the hope that someday I might get the time to start (and I still had issues about cutting fabric then!). So the quilt began life as this lovely fabric bundle by Monaluna, called Anika. It's really fun and super soft, 100% organic cotton.

All wrapped up in a neat little bow

Mmm fabric goodness

The planning stage of the quilt I did in the evenings when Baby R was sleeping, dreaming of dachshunds with long tails licking his toes and tickling his nose. The planning of a quilt is very important and I drew lots of sketches and deliberated and cogitated long and hard about the size and layout of the quilt, size of the squares etc, until finally I was ready to begin. Then a few weekends ago my husband (who is very supportive of my crafty endeavours) took Baby R to visit his Granny which gave me the chance to get started. I must add though that I am not a quilter, I really don't have much experience but I am of the opinion that you can learn as you go and this is what I did with help from tutorials on YouTube along the way. 

I must add that the internet is really a lovely place. I am so grateful to the very talented and clever people who give up their free time to make tutorials to teach people like me the art of quilting, crocheting, hand-stitching and whatever you fancy. You name it, some kind soul has made a tutorial on it. ♥♥ Thank you all ♥♥

So eventually, after a few weekends of baby R and his dada doing the rounds of relatives and friends, I finished the quilt. Yay, Yay and double Yay. 

Would you like to have a look? (Teehee as if you have a choice!)

The front of the quilt

 So I chose to make the quilt using 4" squares with 6 squares across and 7 down, I added a plain white border and as mentioned the lovely Courtney at Seamstar helped me match the fabric for the binding (in addition to cutting fabric stressing me out, all things binding also stress me out, but not anymore I have also overcome my fear of binding! Hip hip hooray).  

The back of the quilt with the super cute swedish forest fabric 

 I had originally thought to use a plain fabric on the back of the quilt but then I decided to go the whole hog and make the quilt reversible so I picked one of the main fabrics from the bundle. The one called Swedish Forest just looked so cute and I thought that Baby R would have fun with the animal characters on it as he grows up. It might have been a bit more cost effective to use a plain fabric on the back but this is something that will stay in our family forever and I really hope Baby R loves it as much as I loved making it for him (oh dear writing that just brought a tear to my eye!).

Now for a few close ups of the fabric as it is just so lovely you really have to see it

Is it bedtime yet? I think I'd like to climb under the covers  

The clever fox

Check out that naughty fox slinking it's way around the hen houses!

Can you see the hens? I tried to protect them from the crafty foxes by placing some dots in between!

All is well in the Swedish Forest

Now this brings me to the small matter of the binding. Well I have never done the binding of a quilt before and I was very nervous about doing it as it has always looked super difficult. So I did extensive research on the subject and watched many YouTube videos and thought about it and dreamt about it. But I did it! I made my own binding and joined it together with mitred seams and joined it to the quilt without the aid of a binding tool (the lovely American woman on one of the youtube videos I watched said "if you can finish your binding without a binding tool more power to ya" so that made me even more chuffed as that's exactly what I did). And the other thing about binding is that I am petrified of hand sewing, I just don't have much experience and I really never thought that I would be able to hand sew the binding to the quilt. I thought long and hard (yes lots of thinking and burning of grey cells has gone into this quilt!) about machine sewing the binding to the quilt and in the end I just couldn't because I wanted to do the job right and I don't think the finish of the machine stitching would have been very good. Also I wanted a part of me to be in the quilt for Baby R so slightly reluctantly I decided to hand sew the binding to the quilt. And I am so pleased with the result, this is my proudest moment of the whole quilt.

NB: When the EXPERTS in the YouTube videos tell you that it is vital to match the colour of the thread to the colour binding fabric you must not say "pfft" and ignore this because it turns out that the ladies (and sometimes gents) in the YouTube videos really do know what they are talking about with their countless years of experience. So after starting with white thread which looked absolutely horrendous with a capital H, as the ladies in the YouTube videos said it would, I went out and purchased lovely green thread to match the binding! 

Binding done

Now you may not think it is up to much but to me it is my finest hour!

Folded and ready to be presented to Baby R

So now that I have finished the quilt I must hand it over to it's rightful owner. And do you know what, I think he likes it. He had a play with it this afternoon and tussled with it and played peeka underneath and it truly made my heart swell with joy and happiness. 

♥♥ Thank you Mama ♥♥

Giveaway

Ooh just had to take a minute before taking baby R and the doggies for a walk to say check out the lovely giveaway from Sew Sweet Violet to get you in the mood for Christmas 

Aah a wee baby Robin red breast!

Breakfasts with Baby R

What could be lovelier... breakfast with baby R, hot cup of Lady Grey tea in my favourite mug, listening to Camera Obscura... is there a better way to start a Saturday or any day for that matter!

Baby R very graciously permitted me to take this photo while he patiently waited for his weetabix!

Dachshund ♥

I thought I would share an insight into my world, I love dogs and in particular I just love love love dachshunds. Long-haired miniature dachshunds are my absolutely favourite and as it happens I have two of my own. Say hello to Luca and Monty...

Taken in Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal, after much running on the beach tired them out just long enough for us to get this photo! (Monty is the red one on the right and Luca the black and tan on the left)

They are my puppy dogs, even though they are now 6 and 5 respectively they are still my puppies! I'd love to breed dachshunds and have an army of them running around but unfortunately we don't have the space and baby R gets priority at the minute so my dream of a wee miniature dachshund army has to wait, for now!

So kind of them to pose, but why so serious?!

The 2nd and 3rd pics were taken when the dogs were a wee bit younger. Makes me a little sad to see them growing older, they are my family too and I want them to be around for a long time. Would love Baby R to remember them as he grows up as he has grown very fond of them in his short life. Nothing makes him giggle quite so much as Monty fetching the ball or has him so intrigued as Monty frantically biting the squeaky toy and he loves to have his toes tickled by Monty's tongue and a breeze in his face from Monty's tail (Luca is too cool a customer to get up to these sorts of antics I must add). Ahh what could be better, happiness is babies and dogs...