Latest finish

I have now made several shell stitch crocheted blankets. This is the latest one that I just finished today. 

I made it for my third granddaughter who requested blue and green. I did buy the navy and the colour in the middle which is sort of between blue and green. The other green is now finished as is the navy blue. 

In the beginning I started out making these little lap blankets for my grandchildren with the idea of using up some of my yarn. I shall be knitting a couple of hats for two of my other granddaughters with the greeny blue yarn in the middle and I may make a couple of extra hats to keep in my chest that is in my hall. There are a few children's gloves, mitts, scarves and hats in there, along with a sweater and light jacket. These are extras in case one of the little ones needs something. Some of the hats seem like they are stretched out of shape so new, better fitting ones would come in handy.

I will be putting my little snowflake wall quilt on the frame next and then there's a Minecraft quilt top waiting. I just don't know how to quilt that one.

Over the holidays I did manage to finally get Covid but I had no symptoms at all. Perhaps it's the seven boosters and latest flu shot that kept me well. Hopefully, none of you have been ill over the holidays.

There are lots of projects out there to do and so many free quilt patterns. My own list is mainly in my head and I am just going from one unfinished project to the next. A few things have not yet been started but hopefully, this will be a productive year.

Blankets

It all started with one shell stitch blanket to use up some yarn. It was made years ago while I was in BC visiting my eldest daughter and her family. It ended up in Toronto and is now used by my middle daughter's children in the stroller.

Then, I made another - this time in the UK while I was visiting my youngest daughter and it is a smaller stroller blanket for a grandson. Once again, to use up some yarn.

I bought this yarn in England when I was visiting my youngest daughter and her family. The yarn was a package of three or four big balls on sale and I figured I could do something with it so I crocheted a lap blanket for stroller walks for one of my granddaughters.

After making that blanket, my granddaughter liked it so much that she now takes it to bed with her every night. Her sister then wanted a blanket and this pink striped one is the one I made for her. 

Here's her cousin who wanted a blanket too. I used up that middle yarn that I had purchased in England and a few other pinky yarns that I had. 

And then her twin sister wanted one.

This time, a blue blanket. All the yarns are worsted weight but they seem to be different. Some are softer than others. I actually bought the lighter blue variegated yarn which was a big ball. I just finished this one and have to weave in the ends. These last two blankets are about 38 inches long and they do stretch over time. The twins want them to cover their legs when they watch TV which is housed in the basement. 

I think I will now take a break from crocheting blankets. 

Stay tuned...

I have so much more yarn to use up.

Going back in time

 In January, while I was in England, I kept busy doing a bit of crocheting.

I had purchased a couple of balls of yarn from Fabricland with the idea of making the new twins something.

Luckily, there were two different balls of yarn.

I don't often crochet but I don't mind doing it.

These are the finished items - a ball of yarn, directions and a soft, stuffed head.

I thought this was interesting. 

It's a little hand impression on a soft, thick blanket. It was of one of the twins in England.

I saw this on the way to the park. It's a hanging basket of flowers - in January.

Tomorrow is Canada Day and instead of wearing the traditional red and white, a lot of people will be wearing orange to "honour the Indigenous children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada." My middle daughter got an orange t-shirt from a friend of hers but it was a large size. She brought it over along with a book that has instructions on 101 ways to transform a t-shirt.

Here's her sister wearing the t-shirt after I transformed it. I just cut off a large chunk from the hem, sewed it so it's thinner and then gathered the top part. I sewed the two pieces together and voila, an easy fix.

While doing some searching and cleaning, I came across some needlepoint that I had forgotten about.

There were actually two. I asked my eldest daughter, who lives in British Columbia in an area where there are a lot of mule deer, if she wanted them. 

They need to be framed and the buck actually should be cleaned first. I still have another 'oldie' that I made but it's quite slanted. It's a couple of pandas and I suppose I could finish it and give it to one of my grandchildren.

Keeping busy

While this virus has us all staying put, one needs a hobby to keep busy with. I wonder if there are any people out there who don't have a hobby but have now started one? We, who already paint, draw, write, sew, knit, embroider, crochet, do woodworking or stained glass have a wonderful creative outlet to keep boredom away. I have friends who don't have a hobby and they apparently are bored with TV already. Too bad. There are all kinds of free things one can do on the internet too. Research the weird and wonderful. Learn about something new. I wondered about toilet paper the other day - because it was so talked about. Who invented it and why is it that no matter who manufactures it, it's all the same size? Who came up with the size and the perforations? 

Anyway, since I do several needlecrafts, I tend to switch from one to another. Just before leaving Canada to come here to England, my daughter told me that the blanket I made two and a half years ago as a stroller blanket for her little son had gotten thin and worn. I was surprised since it was made from James C. Brett's chunky yarn. It was nice and soft and a good size too. I had knit that one and so when I decided to make another one, I thought I would crochet it. I had crocheted a blanket about 8+ years ago for my eldest grandson when I was visiting British Columbia. It has gone through many washings and has held up fairly well. It's now used by a cousin as a stroller blanket and because it is crocheted, it is thicker. 

Anyway, I had a huge ball of yarn in a pretty green colour and so I thought I would use it up because it was a Red Heart yarn that wasn't all that soft. It does become soft with age and washing but I couldn't think of anything else to use it for. I started it before getting on the plane and finished it shortly after arriving here.

This is what I used up the green yarn on. If I had done more crocheting lately, I would have known that it didn't need to be so wide. It's not symmetrical but I like it this way. The stitch is a shell stitch and I thought the navy blue would look nice on a boy's blanket and I liked the white accent too. I have a big ball of white to use up now too.

Little Atticus uses it in his crib so it hasn't made it outside yet. I'm glad he likes it. I think I may make more shell stitch blankets. They are easy (not that fast), look very nice (because of the stitch) and they are warm. If you've not tried it, there are youtube videos out there to show you how.

Happy creating.

Knit? Crochet?

Want some yarn?

Yarn Canada has "started what will hopefully be a yearly event of giving yarn to individuals and groups who knit or crochet for good causes.

[They are] giving away $2000 worth of yarn and are hoping to get as many applicants as possible to ensure it goes to whoever it will have the maximum impact."

The contest is open to Canadians and Americans and you can win yarn for yourself or for your group. Many of us knit or crochet for charities. 


One such good cause that has been dear to my heart lately is Octopus for Preemies.
This is a worldwide group with many countries participating. The octopuses are made for premature babies who start off their lives in incubators. The tentacles of the octopus resembles the umbilical cord and doctors and nurses have found that it calms the babies and their little hands hold the tentacles instead of getting caught up in all the tubes that they are hooked up to.

Each country has a facebook group you can join and there are very strict rules for making the octopus. There has to be in order for the babies to be safe. Once an octopus is made, it gets sent to a co-ordinator who checks it over to make sure that it is tightly made and that the tentacles are within the prescribed length. If the octopus passes, it gets washed, bagged with instructions for the new parents and then given to a participating NICU. Not all hospitals are on board with this.

Here's a photo of my little grandson Atticus and the octopus he got from the hospital. He is sleeping on a heart that I knit for him.

Here's the link for you to enter:  https://www.yarncanada.ca/for-good

I was approached by Yarn Canada to see if I was willing to do a blog post about this.

A link to more information on the effect of octopuses on preemies.

https://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/the-reason-this-hospital-is-giving-preemies-stuffed-octopuses/

Here's a link to the countries participating if you wish to join or get more information.

http://mynomadhome.com/the-octopus-for-a-preemie-project-a-list-of-countries-and-their-websites/

Something new and something old

Not only have I been sewing for little ones lately, I also made a dress for my daughter.

My middle daughter, Maili, had this fabric. It's a cotton knit and was from my stash. She was supposed to make herself something out of it. She even had some of my patterns.

I made the dress for her. It has snaps instead of buttons and a tie belt.

For some reason the fabric was a pain to sew through. I ended up with very little fabric left over. Enough for maybe a pocket or two and that's it. I'm always glad when fabric gets used up.

In that vein, I used up a little piece of flannel and made a pillow for one of the grandchildren. The little ones now sleep with pillows and every once in a while they sleep over or have naps here. The flannel is soft and I have quite a bit of stuffing so this worked out well. So well in fact, that I made two more using up small bits of flannel.

And now, something from my past. 

I crocheted this little dress almost 40 years ago for my eldest daughter, Laila. I don't crochet much and this little garment is mostly the popcorn stitch. I knew I didn't have enough of one colour to finish the whole thing and that's why it's pink and mauve. There are three faded pink buttons on the back. I have not crocheted anything for quite some time and wonder if I could replicate this. Sometimes I amaze myself at what I have done in the past.

This lowly little white shirt, badly in need of ironing and made of white polyester/cotton, has to be my favourite garment of all time.

I had forgotten what buttons I used.

Aren't they cute?

This is the back. I made this for my eldest son Mark. He wore it in junior kindergarten.

I have no idea where I got the little ducky drawing from. My son liked to wear bow ties and this little ducky has a puffy one. I stuffed it so it would have some dimension.

I don't know if one of the little grandchildren will wear this shirt but I am thinking of re-creating the ducky on another little garment.

 There may be a few more garments from the past that I will show. I haven't kept a lot of the things that I made over the years - just a few.

Charity update

Since the Champagne Quilters like to take a break for the summer, we wanted to finish up the quilt that was on the frame.

We finished putting the last quilt stitches in this quilt last Wednesday and I bound it the very next day. So now we have two quilts going to The Silent Children's Mission.

Marg has been very busy crocheting little baby hats. Here's 75 hats that she completed in a few short weeks.

And here's a dozen more that I picked up from her today. 

I was told that there was a shipment of baby things going overseas on July 28th so I'm glad that these items were all completed in time.

I'm busy with a quilt on the frame at the moment and that's why I've been a bit quiet. Once it's finished, I'll take a photo and show you.

Go and check out what other Canadians are up to this week at: The Needle and Thread Network.

Another Champagne Quilters Update

My ride last night was stuck in traffic so I didn't make it to Marg's at the regular time but, we did manage to get the top put together.

It was tricky but we took it slow and didn't have to use the seam ripper. It feels good to get this together but we don't think we will be doing another one. I think I will sew a small border around the cutting lines before I cut the points off to square it up.

I had given Marg some ends of yarns that I had and it looks like she kept busy. Eleven hats were made in two weeks and now she needs more yarn. I old her I had lots so I will have to go through my bags to find some that are suitable for baby hats.

I hope you all have a great weekend. My daughter's baby shower is on Sunday so I will be busy sewing today and baking tomorrow.

All done

Enough curly worm bookmarks for one grade three class with 5 extras in case someone doesn't like the choice that's left.

Pixel on guard in case one of them decided to escape.

Now, I'm on to working on one or two quilts.

A little update

I have now finished quilting the big red Christmas star quilt and it is off the frame.

Here it is, not yet trimmed. I am in the process of putting the binding on. Then comes the label and a hanging sleeve. I left this on the floor - just for a little while and...

Pixel found it. I think she just adds a little extra to the overall design of the quilt.

This is the backing fabric that I used. It was a piece that was just hanging around and, for the most part, it fit. The quilt is 46 inches square and the fabric was close to 60 inches wide so I just cut off a bit and added it to the other side because it wasn't quite long enough. However, I was a tad too short and had to add a little piece. Can you see it? It's in the lower left corner. Here...

can you see it better now?

However, even though it isn't really noticeable, look at how much gets trimmed.

See? 

It just sort of blends right in. Once the label is ready, I can put it in this little corner and no one will be the wiser as to the extra little piece in the back.

Oh look. The 16-patch is all done. I just have to sew it all up and add a small border.

These are little curly worm bookmarks that I am crocheting for my son's girlfriend's class. She teaches a grade three and I thought they could use something fun to keep them interested in reading.

Here's a few in various stages of being finished. I have about 15 more to make (I figure extras are always nice so the children can have their choice.) I am getting to use up some odds and ends of yarn and that makes me happy. Just one worm takes roughly 3-4 yards of yarn. There are several free patterns out there and I have used two different ones. Not much difference in the overall look.

I am, once again, linking up with The Needle and Thread Network so pop on over to see what else is being made this week in Canada.

If you haven't yet entered the Sew Sisters Giveaway, it's here. Hurry, it closes on Friday, midnight.

Tuesday Treat

Here's a photo of my new little grandson with the cocoon I made for him and a matching hat.

Patric Gilles, born March 22nd and weighing 7.0 lbs.

Here's what I have been up to creatively. I am making more baby hats to donate to a hospital. The one on the right is the one I am donating and the one on the left is a close-up of the one in the previous photo. There are so many great free patterns on the internet. The leaves are crocheted. I used the same basic pattern as the leaves on the cocoon but I just used a couple less stitches to make them a bit smaller.

This is the matinee jacket I made. Newborn size, for little Patric.

Done - the big reveal

Since these have now been seen by the recipient, I can show you what I was working on.

The cross stitch card got finished and I like the colour I used instead of pink.

 

My crochet project was a cocoon. My daughter chose the colours.

 

The pattern is from Red Heart but they had it in Christmas white with red pompom yarn. I changed the pattern since I thought the original was a tad too wide.

 

I added the vine and leaves because I thought it was a bit too plain.

 

So, now you know what the little sneak peak of crochet ended up being.

I'm linking up with the Needle and Thread Network. Pop on over to see some great projects being worked on.