[IN PROGRESS] Wedding Anniversary Temperature Blanket

Those of you who remember my last attempt at creating a temperature blanket might find yourself asking, “Why? Why do this to yourself again?”

Because clearly I hate myself.

This time, however, I have a plan that might make me hate myself - and my blanket - a little less.

But first, the reason I started making another temperature blanket was because I saw this video from Toni at TL Yarn Crafts about her 2021 endeavor. She had gotten behind and spent a few hours - yes, only a few hours - catching up; I was floored because there always comes a day where you get behind on these blankets and it can feel overwhelming - but she did it in an afternoon!

Well, that’s because she’s a genius who crocheted linen stitch squares instead of making a gigantic blanket 300 stitches across, which means it’s easy to catch up with your blanket in one sitting. In fact, I’m not even bothering to work on them during the month. Instead, I’m sitting down at the end of each 30-day cycle and making a whole square, then putting it away for another month.

It also helps that I’m not following the calendar year; I’m following our first married year. My first square starts on October 23rd (our wedding day) and ends on November 22nd. Each square will be 33 total rounds and follow the same formula: start on the 23rd of a month and end on the 22nd of the next month, using rounds of white as a border for however many days are missing at the end.

With any luck, that should mean I’m ready to sew these puppies together and crochet a border on our one-year anniversary.

Let’s be honest, though: I’m going to get all the blocks done and not make a border or weave in ends until at least next January. My life blows up every October with the WestKnits MKAL I always say I’m not going to do, on top of making Christmas gifts.

But still, this is probably the closest I’ll ever get to finishing a temperature blanket within the same year and I’m excited about it.

How about you? Are taking on this task in 2022, or have you decided to keep your marbles and stay far away?

Other stuff I’m currently:

• Reading: As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock

• Watching: The Righteous Gemstones

• Loving: Power Zone training on my Peloton

[FINISHED] Crochet Turkey Baby Hat

Hello, and welcome to “the cutest baby hat I’ve made in years.”

In all seriousness, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve made any baby stuff, specifically photo props. I detest the things because they’re so fiddly to make and remind me of my hatred for amigurumi and other toys (which, to be fair, I still make because I want the toys, not because I enjoy the process).

But when my bestie sent me a photo of turkey hat inspiration that she wanted for her son, I couldn’t resist.

I didn’t use a pattern, so it’s based entirely off the photo and required fiddling around with shapes until I figured out what looked right. Thankfully, I’ve made enough of these props in the past that it didn’t take much to figure it out, and I think the entire hat took just under three hours to whip up - including the dreaded tassels (I despise tassels).

The original hat was very obviously made out of Lion Brand Homespun (or something like it), so I made sure to migrate what was left of my Homespun collection to the new house when I moved my supplies. Like tassels, I’m also not a fan of Homespun, and my skein was low enough that I had to untangle more than a few knots from what’s already not my favorite yarn. Imagine my glee.

BUT, as always, it was worth it in the end. These hats are always adorable when they come together and, all things considered, it’s over and done with quickly because, ya know, baby heads. I’d probably actually sob if an adult asked for one of these. Spoiler: Scott has asked for one of these.

There’s a big chance I might not blog again before the upcoming holiday, so with that, I’ll wish you all a happy and - more importantly - safe Thanksgiving. I hope all my readers are choosing to celebrate with only their own households considering COVID-19 is running rampant across all states. I suppose this should be my daily reminder that even if covid is “only” as deadly as the flu, it’s far more contagious, the general death rate this year is statistically higher than previous years (meaning more people are dying from it than we know), and its long-term effects can last a lifetime (google POTS). I’m not going to keep my blog a safe space from covid because it’s a matter of life and death and, frankly, if you don’t view it that way, I don’t want you in my circle. I simply care about my fellow fiber artists and want you all to take care of yourselves.

Except any rat-licking conspiracy theorists. Y’all can go balls out with the holiday. Just enjoy your ventilator away from the general public.

[FINISHED] C2C Mandala Blanket

It finally happened. As I binge-watched the third (and final - *whine*) season of “Anne with an E”, I finished off the last block of Scott’s C2C blanket. I literally heard the angels rejoice.

I started crocheting this blanket on New Year’s Eve when we saw a bunch of marked down Lion Brand Mandala at the now-defunct ACMoore (RIP). We picked up four of the only blue cakes left because I thought that would be enough to make a decent-sized blanket.

Hahaha.

We ended up having to buy more and more cakes until finally, this thing weighed in at 12.5 cakes, total.

It’s big enough to more than cover my queen bed, so you know this thing was a labor of love. It also weighs about eleventy pounds and is really warm, perfect for the global warming-induced snowfall we received for Mother’s Day weekend (when I actually finished it).

Scott, however, is super upset because Fritzy has claimed the blanket as his own:

Mowgli is also a big fan, using it for “making biscuits” every night at bedtime. All of which means I’m probably going to be making a few repairs on this thing until it eventually falls apart in five years.

Project Details

Pattern: I didn’t really use one. C2C is really just a technique that I learned back in college -mumble mumble- years ago, but you can find a lot of tutorials online. Here’s one from Moogly on the Lion Brand YouTube channel.

Yarn: Mostly Lion Brand Mandala, but I also worked in one Caron Cake I had sitting around hoping it would be the last cake needed, but no.

[FINISHED] Boho Crochet Rainbow

As you can imagine, I’ve been spending way more time on Instagram than I’d like to. I was already addicted to it, especially when it came to looking up new knitting patterns (and staying up-to-date on all the news pouring out of my favorite hashtag = #toefluff [you’re welcome]), but lately, it’s helped brighten my days with new ideas to salivate over and happy, bright colors, too.

That’s how I found a whole slough of boho crochet rainbows people made using a pattern available over at The Stitch Foundry. They were all so colorful and I loved that it had clusters and floofs and other fun design elements that I decided to spend a Sunday night indulging in a wee ickle project for myself.

As an added bonus, the rainbow has become a) a symbol of solidarity and support for healthcare workers, as well as b) part of the #rainbowhunt (seriously, check out the hashtag if you need cheering up). It should go without saying that I legit needed a rainbow in my window.

Fast-forward, and my rainbow (with all its glorious and tedious fringe) has been featured in an article on the Better Homes & Gardens website. Make sure to check out the post to see all the rainbows people have been making out in the wild.

Project Details:

Pattern: Boho Crochet Rainbow by Sharon Murphy of The Stitch Foundry

Yarn: Literally anything I had laying around. I think most of it was stashed scraps of Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn (that I’m looking for any excuse to get rid of because, well, Hobby Lobby is what it is.

[PATTERN] Mask Mates

Earlier this week, I promised myself I wouldn’t add to the fray of Mask Mates patterns littering the web right now. Cue today, where I’m spending my evening getting a PDF together for publishing on Ravelry so everyone (maybe?) can enjoy these colorful little stashbusters.

I originally made these for my boyfriend and his parents because they had sewn us some masks. Since it seems like we’ll be wearing those for awhile, and because I’m a sensitive snowflake who can’t handle my ears being bothered more than they already are, the next natural step seemed to be making Mask Mates.

Of course, I immediately took to Ravelry and found a few simple patterns that I didn’t dislike but they didn’t work for us; they still seemed to pull pretty tightly. Plus, although they “worked”, I’m more of a form over function kinda gal and needed something that catered to my superficial needs.

Cue me creating my own pattern that fits really well (for the way we wanted them to fit). It’s based off sizing information Scott’s mom found for fabric Mask Mates, so I worked back from there. I also added a reverse single crochet border for an extra pop of color, thoughtful finishing, and some sturdiness.

The finished size for these guys is approximately 5.5” wide and 1.5” tall

I’ve made quite a few of these now and am pretty happy with the result. If you find yourself in the market for a quick little project you can gift to friends and family while using a bunch of your worsted stash, then head over to Ravelry and download the pattern for free.

In the meantime, here are the details so you can gather your supplies and get to making:

Terminology

Pattern is written using English terminology

• ch: chain

• sc: single crochet

• hdc: half double crochet

• rsc: reverse single crochet

• st(s): stitch(es)

Supplies

• Worsted weight acrylic or cotton yarn (note: this heavily depends on who will be wearing the Mask Mate; some hospitals require the nurses wear cotton. Make sure to check any requirements before deciding on your yarn).

• Size G-6/4.0mm crochet hook

• Two (2) 1” buttons

• Sewing scissors (for cutting yarn when done)

• Tapestry needle (for weaving in ends)

Download Pattern