Ta-Da: Pink, Cream & Green Dream blanket

In early June, a good friend of mine had commissioned me to make a blanket for a friend of hers who just had a sweet baby girl. We looked over the bedding the baby had and decided to go with pink, cream & green colors... my friend dubbed it the Pink, Cream & Green Dream blanket and I loved the name!

This blanket has been a slow going process. While making it, I had an order for 10 boutique bags with flowers and a few other bags scattered throughout... Overall, it took me 7 weeks to complete. I love the color combo and again, I used the Granny Stripe pattern from Lucy with some slight modifications.

The color pattern was simple: pink, green, cream, green, pink, green, cream...and it continued.

It is 68 rows long with a cream hdc granny first-round border topped off with a pink scalloped edge.

It measures approximately 44" x 38"


Isn't it gorgeous?!

Hooking Happiness

It's been a while since I've shown any of my projects and I'm hoping to get back on track, because crocheting is one of my best stress relievers. 

Right before I started my MBA program, I was a bit crazy and thought it would be great to start a small side venture, Simply Hooked by Amanda.  Well, it hasn't really taken off yet... I've made a baby blanket for the SGK auction run by Cathy's Creations and I donated a boutique bag to that auction.  Now I have an order to make a baby blanket for a friend and 10 boutique bags for another friend.  It's getting busy!  I was also contacted about a potential partnering opportunity with another creative mom, so we will see what it brings.

Anyway, I thought since I originally created this blog to share my crafts, it was time for some photos of my current WIPs:

I adore making those bags... and I'm enjoying a nice, girly blanket too!  I really need to give the blanket some attention soon though, the bags have taken over all of my crafting time, but I'm finishing them up and shipping them out this week!

Ta-Da: Adam's Blanket

Wow, this is a long overdue Ta-Da post. I didn't realize that I hadn't shared the photos of the finished blanket I made for our friends who are waiting the arrival of their first child, baby Adam.

This blanket took about 2 months to create, but between that time I also made the Power Pink blanket, so I would say maybe a month in reality.  

It measured about 42" x 42" or so and was worked in the granny stripe pattern that I can now do in my sleep :) I can't wait to meet baby Adam and see him all snuggled up in his cozy granny stripe! 

Hello, June! Revisiting my craft goals for 2011

Wow, it's June already?! Where has the time gone?!

Once I started school in March, a lot of things have changed. My time for blogging has gone out the window and my time for crafting has been severly limited - though I am producing things, which always makes me feel like I've accomplished something.  I was thinking about the list of Craft Goals I made back in January and thought it would be fun to look back and see what I've gotten around to doing and what other things I've added in!

Here's the list with updates:
1. Finish Teddy's Star, hopefully by the end of January I completed this project in January, you can find more info in the Ta-Da post

2. Finish Derek's wool scarf that has been terribly neglected lately - It's still negelected :( But getting some more love lately as it grew at least 2-3 more inches in the last few weeks.


3. Make 8 Tangled Happy's Granny Stripe Boutique Bags as party favors for the girls that I anticipate will be attending Benjamin's first birthday. I made 10 and they were a huge hit. Used 8 for the party and donated one to an auction benefiting someone who is walking in the SGK 3-Day.


4. Make a blanket for our good friends' new baby that is due in July. I hope to make it either as a Granny Stripe or Neat Ripple or a Mini Hexagon, but we will see when the time comes. They should know the gender of the baby by March, so I plan to decide once I know who I will be creating the blanket for. DONE! Ta-Da post coming soon, stay tuned!!


5. Make myself a tote bag, potentially using the basis for the Granny Stripe Boutique Bag on a larger scale, possibly lining with fabric.


6. Make a large Granny Stripe for our home. We love Ben's Granny Stripe so much that we want it in a larger version for Derek & I to use.


7. Work on more knitting in the round. I've love to make hats for all of us.


8. Attempt some homemade Christmas decorations, like a nice bunting or some sort of garland. To be decided at a later time- but I really love the Jingle Bell Garland and I've also found a granny star garland that I really enjoy but can't seem to find the link right now!


9. Fulfill the Cavanaugh men's hunting wishlist: A new orange hat for Derek(crochet or knit), a new knitted neckwarmer for my father-in-law and possibly some more orange hats for my brothers-in-law.


10. Attempt a knitted garment. Most likely a cardigan for Victoria.

Okay, so I got 4 of my 10 goals accomplished already -- not so bad!!
I've also made another baby-sized blanket as well, which I've dubbed the Pink Power Granny Stripe - see the Ta-Da here.
I also made 2 baby hats for my nephew in that time too. So I've been crafting even though I feel like I haven't.

Next up, which isn't on the list: a baby blanket for a friend's friend :) My friend called and asked me to make a blanket for a friend of hers who just has a sweet baby girl, so I've eagerly accepted the challenge. 

Ta-Da: Pink Power Granny Stripe

Wow, it's been an incredibly long time since I've posted any crochet or knitting projects! I have been working, don't worry!! 


I just finished up this awesome blanket last week - it was my first blanket sale with Simply Hooked by Amanda!!  It was made for an auction to benefit an ambassador for the Susan G Komen 3-Day walk.

It's 42" wide by 44 1/2" long and it took me 1 month + 1 day to finish it in my "spare time". 


This is such a girlie blanket- I love it!! When I was working on this and would take it out to gymnastics to work on while I waited for Victoria, I got so many complements on it - on the colors and how beautiful it was. I love comments/compliments from people who have no need to tell me it looks nice, those are the compliments that I think mean the most.

Wow, It's been a while...

I haven't blogged in way too long! Things have just been so busy with work, family obligations and trying to get my Etsy shop started.

Things are just crazy! I took an awesome Dale Carnegie Leadership Immersion course for work, which was a three day course and it was really inspiring.  I was lucky enough to be able to stay in a hotel and save myself a crazy commute and it gave me some nice down-time to crochet.  I missed Derek and the kids terribly, but it was a nice break when I wasn't in class.

Next week (EEK!) I start my MBA program. It starts with a week-long residency, which means another week away from my family and not a whole lot of "me time" in the hotel to enjoy the break. It's actually going to be pretty intense, but it's fully paid by my company and will provide a ton of opportunities when I graduate. It's a 2 year program, so I'll be finishing up in the spring/summer of 2013.

Aside from that, we enjoyed a trip away for our nephew's baptism:



Ben hanging out with Uncle Joey before church




The Little Man of honor getting all dressed up




My little princess




Victoria having a talk with Daddy

And I've been working on some bags for my Etsy shop:

Good news: I've made my first sale!!!
I was asked to make a custom blanket for an awesome lady named Cathy, from Cathy's Creations (go check out her site!) for an auction she's doing to help a Susan G Komen 3-Day walk ambassador. You can check out more about the auction on her FB fan page.
The blanket is pretty nice, if I do say so myself! I'm doing it a darker pink and light, shimmery pink stripes. One the weather brightens up a bit, I promise I'll share some pictures.

I'm also working on a baby blanket for a friend's new baby who should be arriving in July!

Hopefully I'll be around more often and spare you these loooong update posts!  I can't guarantee that just yet though- I have no idea what I'm getting into with school starting next week!!!

Ta-Da: Teddy's Star

It seems to long since I first blogged about starting Teddy's star.  You can find that post here, for my recollection I started the star on November 12. This weekend, on Saturday, I finally finished up Teddy's star.  It was such a relief to finish it, especially since it felt like I was working on this blanket forever.  Turns out it was only 2 months.  The monotony of a single color for so long was really driving me nuts, but I was really happy with it once I added the contrasting black rows.  To be perfectly honest, I really wanted to do a fun blanket with a few shades of blues and greens, but I let Derek's sister choose the colors and she wanted Blue & Black and she requested a Star.  I know I could have just made whatever I wanted, but if I have the time to think about it, I usually like to get some input from the recipient.

I guess this blanket took so long because after I started it I also made 2 Santa hats, a hat & scarf set for Victoria and 2 purses. So all in all, it really didn't take that long.

Here are some photos of the star- what the center looked like when I folded all the peaks in, an up close shot of one of the points, one of the points along the way when I had gone back to blue before adding the final round of black, and a close up of the center of the star.

 

And here is the finished blanket, all ready to go to Teddy:

And so it begins... a new WIP

I've finally started the star blanket for my newest nephew-to-be.  I asked my sister-in-law if she had any patterns and/or colors in mind and she asked for a blue star with black details.  She seemed to want something different, as she figured she might get normal crocheted or knitted blankets from her husband's grandmothers. She knows I'm able to make a star-shaped afghan, since I had made one before.  I forgot how easy it was to start, once the first round is made.

Here's the blanket after two rounds are complete, it doesn't appear to be a star at this point. Victoria actually thought I was making a flower.

After another two rounds, it's starting to have more of a star-shaped appearance.

I'm assuming that I'll need about 40 rounds, possibly more, to have the proper sized blanket.  I hope to take progress pictures throughout the process.  I'm aiming to have it finished before Christmas, and hopefully before Teddy's arrival!

WIP updates!

My blog has been a bit drab lately without any photos. Here's a quick update on my current WIP: Brayden's blanket. I'm enjoying it now that it's further along. It fits the width of a crib/toddler bed mattress (covers the top only) but it's quite as long. I figure once it's long enough, it'll drape over the sized in width so it'll be nice for the B-Man's toddler bed. I'm hoping to end on a blue group or to at least do a nice border in blue. It's getting closer to being done!

And now I've officially started my first knitting project. I'm making a camo neckwarmer for Derek - hopefully in time for hunting season, the week after Thanksgiving. I've played around with the circular needles and needed to restart about 5 times, but I've finally got it. It kind of looks like a little curled up snake right now - but up close you can see the knit-look and it's so cool.

WIP Updates

It's been a few days since I've updated and thought it was time to show the progress I've made on my ongoing projects. First up, Brayden's blanket. I really like the Rectangular Granny pattern and using chunky yarn makes it seems like you're making progress. I'm not completely loving the Vanna's Choice yarn, but it's the first time I'm using it so I know you learn as you try. I do enjoy the colors of it and I'm told it matches his bedroom a bit with the color blue I chose:

I feel it looks a lot bigger than it is... but I'm happy with the progress so far.

Next up - I taught myself a new skill: KNITTING! I am so thrilled that I've caught on enough to produce something worthy of appearing in the blog. I'm just working the knit stitch and hope to add pearl and then go from there. I really, really want to make knit hats - but I need circular needles first!

And last but not least - a peek at the Mystery WIP. I love playing with these bright, vibrant colors!!

Thanks for looking!