Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Baby Blanket That Almost Wasn't


Late in my pregnancy with my son I decided to crochet a baby blanket for him. I had completed various and sundry other projects for him, like a denim play quilt and a bassinet skirt,  but I suppose I wasn't quite done "nesting" yet.  However, I didn't get it done in time. I blame this partially on the fact that the size of the blanket got away from me and it turned out quite a bit larger than originally intended, thus taking far more time to complete. And partially on the fact that I really should have started sooner.


After our son was born I took a three month hiatus from my crochet project. Being a new mom was all encompassing enough! I eventually picked it up again and worked on it in the evenings after the baby was in bed. It was taking so long, though, I was afraid the poor kid would turn one before I got his "baby" blanket done. But I am happy to report that I finally finished it this week!



I decided to try out a new stitch for the blanket so I pulled out the book Basic Crochet Stitches and flipped through it until I found one that A) made a pretty pattern and B) wasn't too difficult to do. I went with one called the Crunch Stitch, which is basically a half double crochet alternated with a slip stitch.


The reason the blanket turned out so large is that I wasn't working off a baby blanket pattern per se, I just knew I wanted to use a particular stitch. Meaning I estimated how long to make my foundation stitch, and crunch stitched from there. Let's just say my foundation chain was a wee bit too long. Oops.


But it all turned out okay in the end, because the baby is now nearly seven months old (!). So having a blanket that measures roughly 45" x 36" is actually perfect because it is large enough for him to roll around and play on. Glad to be done, but also sort of sad. Maybe I'll need to find another crochet project to keep my hands busy in the evenings. :)


SUPPLIES
Carron Simply Soft Yarn, white
5mm crochet hook

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Embossed Oak Tree Stationary


A while back I made a set of stationary featuring this lovely oak tree image on some simple deckle paper.  I loved how they turned out and wanted to explore that theme again.


This time I wanted to see how the image would look embossed in gold. To complement the gold tree I chose to use Chocolate Chip card stock. I love how these turned out! So elegant and simple! These are also a bit larger, a traditional A2 size. 



The inside of each card is lined with a panel of ivory colored card stock. Thanks for taking a look!


SUPPLIES
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree (SU!)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla (SU!)
Ink: Versa Mark
Embellishments: gold embossing powder