Baby Love Blanket Drive

We are doing a baby blanket drive throughout the summer. Our goal is to have 50 baby blankets by September.

The picture above is the baby blanket I just finished. It was so fun to make. It is double stranded and done as a magic blanket with a K hook. You basically just keep going around and around with different stitches. These blankets are so fast and easy to make.

Here's another double stranded blanket I just finished. It is done as in the round blocks. This was also a very fast and easy blanket to do and it is so nice and warm. I know some family will love it.

Road Blanket

I finally finished the child's afghan that I made into a "road" out of gray scrap yarn! Well, it still needs an edge all the way around in black (you can see strings still hanging on the bottom that need to be tucked in) but it's finished enough to see that it really did come out looking somewhat like a road....

Knitterbugs

Last month the Knitterbugs, a charity knitting group from Southlake, joined us at our monthly meeting. The group was started by a mom who teaches school age children to knit 7 x 9 blocks to put together for blankets for the homeless. She has quite a few children involved in her project and it warmed my heart to see all of them busy working on their blocks!

At the meeting we helped the Knitterbugs sort and sew together blanket blocks that were donated to them. Since they are a fairly new group, they don’t have a lot of experience in putting blankets together so this job is left to the group leader Nicole and what a huge job this is! With all of us working together we were able to put together several baby or lap size blankets that day.

We really enjoyed the Knitterbugs and hope they visit us again soon!

Thanks Yvonne!

Some of the donated yarn.

Thanks to Yvonne, a generous donor in New Mexico we have baby yarn! Yay! We will be able to make quite a few baby hats, sweaters and baby blankets for some sweet little babes in need of some warmth.

Last night Heather, Vööbe and Tina took some to make hats and Patti will be getting some this week to make a baby blanket.

I will post a picture of what we made with Yvonne’s yarn when we are done!

Thanks Yvonne!

Flight of the Bumble Bee

I get bored easily. Call me "flighty" if you will. I change my hair so often, that you never know if I will look the same one month to the next. If I were a younger woman, I would put me some hot pink or purple streaks in it!

That said, it stands to reason that I get bored in my crochet life too. I have exhausted my "tight, warm" stitch stash of stitches and need to add to my repertoire. So, to break up the monotony of blocks, I make a baby blanket or two. When I tire of that, I will do a few hats. Then maybe a sweater and booties. Basically, I have to change it up a bit and may have several things going at once.

Recently, I finished a "magic" blanket that Kat started for an online auction to benefit Angel Covers. It was so much fun (and I think it turned out nice, if I do say so myself) that I made another one similar to it. It's kind of fun to think of crocheting in some magic love into every stitch. Makes me wonder who will be using it and if they will feel it?

I know that those who receive items from us on Pine Ridge are thankful because Kat receives thank you notes and photos of folks using our items. It's so nice to know that the work is cherished and helping to warm someone. It's cute to see the pictures of kiddos in hats and scarves!

When it is cold here (well, as cold as it gets in North Texas) and I am snuggled up all warm, it makes me want to go make something for someone. So, tonight as I am cold and layered in Sweats and blankets, I will make a hat or something; hoping to get it to someone who truly needs it more than I do.

Sensational Side Note

I love working as a team with the Halfknits making a beautiful blanket together and nothing will ever make me tired of doing it but sometimes things pop up that although are for the group are not with the group. Sometimes it’s some yummy yarn, or something someone wears, or a new pattern I found. Sometimes a little change is good for the soul. One of our friends gave us a bag of UFOs (unfinished objects) the other day. It’s always fun to treasure hunt in a big bag of yarn. There was some great chunky yarn that we plan to make hats out of. Next I found a bright granny square blanket that has been passed on to Tiffany to have fun finishing up. Scattered in the bottom was a miscellaneous furry cluster of yarns I added to the “Box of Fur” that we use for edging hat, slippers, hair srunchies and such. And last but the star of this post was a scarf started in Jo-ann’s Sensations yarn using black and white skeins. I was ready to toss it in the back of my closet to spend time with the other donated UFO’s, there to wait until some rainy day when the group blankets didn’t need me (a day that in 4 years has yet to come, but still I plan for it). But when I picked it up and felt its yummy softness running through my fingers I stopped…. pulled out my favorite needles….knit, knit, knit. Finally the next morning while sitting in Star Bucks with the girls the spell wore off leaving me with a scarf and just barely enough yarn left for a matching hat. Thanks friend for thinking of us when you found the bag and providing some little boy with a hat and scarf made from soft angel hair to warmly dream in.

Toddler-sized Scrap Blankets

Hi! Since I was given permission to post on this fancy new Halfknits blog, I thought I'd do so. :o) And I wanted to share a photo of the latest blanket that I made for the Halfknits. I usually just make 6" squares that we frame and sew together, but I guess I wanted a little variety this time (and I forgot my scissors at home while I was crocheting out one day) so I just kept going and ended up with a 6" strip instead. Now, the Halfknits as a group have completed many many blankets made from 6" squares, and we've done a few from strips. But, as far as I know, this is the first combo blanket. Turned out kinda nice, if I do say so myself, especially given that it was made from leftover scraps of green yarn. And now we know it can be done if anyone ever gets bored just making squares.

Of course, my daughter, Evelyn, wanted to get in the picture while I had the camera out...










I can't wait to see how my next blanket turns out. I'm hooked on these "toddler-sized" afghans and love using up scraps. It seems I'm still looking for something different to do because when I picked up a skein of gray yarn to start the next blanket, I came out with a 9" block instead of a 6" one. That's ok as long as I see it through to the end of the blanket instead of trying to pass it on to a different group member to piece together! Like I said though, I can't wait to see the finished project because I'm planning to add some narrow yellow pieces in the middle and use strips of some green yarn found on a clearance sale down each side. What little boy wouldn't enjoy his own road blanket? Well, if it turns out like I'm picturing it, that is....