Rainbow Baby Blanket

I've been working on this project for a few months and finally finished it a couple of days ago for my lovely friend who's expecting a baby on the 5th Feb.  I was originally making two of these as I found out I was pregnant myself back in September.  My plan was to make one for myself and then one for my friend but sadly, I miscarried.  It took me a few weeks before I felt able to pick up my project again and continue without feeling teary and upset.

These granny square blankets are so easy to make and are perfect for the beginner.  They only use Triple Crochet and Chain Stitch, so there's not a huge amount to learn.  It's amazing how quickly they grow but then eventually you do get to a point where it takes an age just to finish one side! I'm not the fastest crocheter in the world.

I decided on a rainbow theme as the sex of the baby had not been confirmed and cream or beige just gets a little boring.  I'd made a few granny squares before in various patterns but this was the first blanket.  I'm a bit annoyed at how the squares came out twisted but I've seen a solution for this since finishing.  Apparently, if you turn your work over after each round (ie. working on right side, wrong side, right side, wrong side etc) this solves the problem.  Needless to say I shall be trying this next time.  I did decide to block the blanket when I'd finished and this went some way to helping the twisted look and at least made the side line up nicely.

My Basic Concept (UK terms)
DK Yarn
4mm Hook
The blanket follows a basic Granny Square pattern (You can find these anywhere on the internet but try - Little Tin Bird , Girly Bunches - Granny Square Part 1 Video).  I decided that I would like tighter stitches so only chained 1 stitch between each cluster of triples.  The corners were also completed in the same way using one chain but with - 3 tc, 1 ch, 3 tc into the same stitch.  I did 6 rounds of rainbow colours, changing colour after each round and then 5 rounds of white.  This I repeated twice more before completing the blanket with a final round of red.

To finish the blanket I used a slightly different round, this time I used 2 tc, 2 ch, 2 tc in each stitch to create a scalloped effect (or double V edging as it's actually called).  For the full pattern see here - Bunnymummy-jacquie.blogspot.com.au

My friend thinks she'll have her new arrival any day so looks like I finished it just in time!

Thanks for stopping by! x

Some 'old' posts for you

Hi all

Just to let my old and new followers know that I've now imported all my old posts from Tales from a Mother, Musician and Multi-tasker over to here as I now intend to use only the one blog for everything!  So those of you who don't know me too well, have a browse through my old posts.

You'll notice I now also have some additional pages which include Crafty Blogs and Sites I love and a couple of pages dedicated to my other great love....making music!  If you have a craft site you'd like me to add, please just get in touch and I'll head over and have a look.

Thanks for stopping by! x

Packing and crochet projects

After my rather cynical last post of 2013 I did actually have a lovely peaceful Christmas. No rushing around and lots of family time with games and films galore. But I'm quite pleased to say goodbye to certain aspects of 2013, so bring on a new year!

2014 so far has seen us packing a few boxes in prep for our move. We don't have a completion date as yet but we're hoping for end of Jan/start of Feb. Unfortunately this means I've had to pack up my craft room for the time being. Lack of creativity is driving me insane so I've picked up my crochet again to do a little hooky! After being inspired by some of the lovely items on Pinterest and Instagram I decided to have a go at making a yarn wrapped wreath. 

I bought a small polystyrene heart from Hobbycraft and wrapped it with a mint green yarn from my stash. I then made a variety of small crocheted flowers using various online tutorials in pink, white and purple adding a button to the centre of each one. I pinned them individually onto the wreath and then completed by tying a hanging ribbon.  I'm quite pleased with the result but I didn't realise how large the flowers were on the wreath until I started to the pin them on.  In hindsight I would use a smaller hook next time for a wreath of this size.

Since my miscarriage in November I've not been able to pick up my crochet as my last project was a large granny square blanket that was intended for our baby. I've decided to carry on with this now and give as a gift to my friend who's expecting in a months time. It's coming on nicely and I reckon maybe 8 more rounds and it will be finished. Pictures to follow!

I've been out and bought a lovely stash of cotton yarns in super bright colours. I'd like to make a flower garland and maybe some bunting for our new house, so time for some experimentation I think.

Thanks for stopping by! X