Wednesday 20 July 2011

The blanket stash

Well, its not so much of a proper stash considering 5 of them aren't actually for us.
But as I can't blog about how many stitches I've done on the Neonatal blankets everyday I dug out Little H's blankets for a bit of a stash session.

I love his blankets so much. There are only 3 that I have made, he does have more, but they weren't made by me (they were made by my much more experienced Nanna and no way am I putting my work next to hers! haha)

First of all we have my shell blanket (left). I *think* I made this in 2007, when being a mummy felt like such a pipe dream but I discovered youtube & "The Art of Crochet by Theresa" (as it was then!) and her shell tutorial (that I can't actually find the video for, but it was kind of like this one) And I just made it into a blanket by working out the multiples and going from there.
It was the first time I'd actually "followed" a pattern, even though it was more watching the video, rewinding it and watching some more to make sure I did it right. And then I made up the ruffly edging by chaining 6, doing a slip stitch back in the blanket and chaining 6 again to give it a wee ruffly effect.

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Then on the right is my first attempt at Attic24's Ripple Blanket I saw the link to her blog on a parenting/pregnancy forum I go on in the home & hobbies section. I think my eyes popped out of my head all cartoon like when I saw the pattern. And it truly was the first time I'd seen a written pattern (the pictures at the bottom with the 2tr's etc totally freaked me out)
So I bookmarked it and went back to it when I was feeling brave, and that was the result.

Since then I have made 3 more Ripple Blankets. One for a craft swap on the parenting/pregnancy forum for my recipients little girl (the wool is my blog background, Rico Baby DK) and 2 were custom made for members of the forum, they picked the colours and I just got to work. I also sent the link for the pattern to my Nanna, and much to her annoyance she can't do it, *but* she's insanely proud of me that I've taught myself to read the patterns as she never did and can now only crochet her way!

Next up is the only blanket I made when I was pregnant with Little H. I started it with the colours I had laying around the house (amazing how much my wool stash has grown since then!) and I said at the time "Now I've put pink in a blanket Flo (bump) will be a boy!" and of course, bump was a boy!

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Unfortunately I can't remember where I got the pattern for the edging from, it was probably from youtube but I have no idea, and the laptop that I was using back then broke shortly after Little H's arrival so I have none of my bookmarks. But it was easy to do and I still have it written on a scrap of paper somewhere!
& I must find a "proper" pattern for a granny square, the off-square-ness of it bugs me when I see it but its my "totally made up way to do a granny square"

And finally a quick picture of all of the blankets that are made by me and are in the house all together.... Cheese! :)


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9 comments:

Apple said...

Gorgeous! I am so itching to learn to crochet but I worry it will go the same way as my knitting! I can knit a scarf but that's about it. The edging on that blanket is so pretty xx

TrulyJaded said...

Hey Apple!
I found youtube really did get my confidence up because no one could see how many times I paused and pulled the video back so I could copy hand movements and stuff. I think if anyone had been teaching me they'd have given up! haha x

Heather said...

Your blankets are lovely! I really like using the Rico Baby dk, it's beautifully soft and you hardly even realise that it's acrylic when you work on it. Your colour choices are really pretty.
Heather@littletinbird xxxx

Unknown said...

OH, I just love to see new blogger. You will love it here in blogland. It takes a while to get going and find your rhythm. Hang in there and so happy to see you have found the courage. I was a lurker over at A24 for a long time before I started. Now, I wouldn't know what to do without it.

Blog On,
Kate - The Garden Bell

GerryART said...

Read your comment on The Garden Gate and decided I'd pay you a quick visit - - - - unannounced.
Hope it's not an inconvenient time for you TJ.
I love that you have the stick-to-it-ness to get to cranking these blankies out like crazy.
I truly enjoy Attic24's sense of COLOR, it sounds like you feel the same. Such wonderful inspiration and motivation.
Must say though, my ripple blanket is lingering, haven't picked it up in months.

Kamerei said...

You're so talented! I can crochet, but only amigurumi dolls and solid squares for some reason! These blankets look so perfect!

Nicole said...

Wow that's an impressive stack of blankets! Baby will love them :-)

Nicole said...

*babies!

K @ Aurora Blythe said...

These blankets are beautiful! What a great work you do!