I'm Crafty Too!

It's true, while I can't crank out masterpiece after masterpiece - I enjoy the arts and dabbling in all things crafty. I'd say I'm a pretty decent quilter - although don't have me venture too far beyond straight seams because I just don't have the patience. I enjoy scrap booking but many of my ideas are borrowed rather than invented... and most recently I've added dabbling in crocheting. I have tried before and that resulted in self-taught pot holders and coasters for Christmas to my mom and grandma. They amused me by being excited. I gave up after that. However, while out several months ago with my crafty friend Stacy, I got a new surge of excitement for the art of crochet. I found a book of baby blankets that looked fun and well, I decided that I needed something crafty that didn't have me chained to a table with several elements required before the crafting ever begins. And so crocheting is the perfect thing for me. I just need a ball of yarn and a hook and I am ready to craft!

I picked up Crocheted Baby Blankets On the Go at our local yarn shop and headed over to JoAnn's to get some yarn. This was back in May. I picked out some Lion Brand Cupcake Yarn in blueberry for Ace and with Stacy's help got started. Reading a pattern was a complete foreign language to me, even with the key. Where was I suppose to put the yarn? Who what? HuH?! Stacy patiently helped me get started and I was off! The pattern called for 5 skeins of yarn, I made it six and it called for a border - and I thought it didn't need one. So like the rebel I usually am I didn't stick with the pattern entirely. :)

Ace patiently and sometimes impatiently waited for me to finish the blanket (the yellow aka lemon drop was for the border I chose to leave off) and he was SO excited last week (before our city turned into a blazing sauna) to now have his blanket. He carried it around all over the place and played peek-a-boo with us. He truly was excited that he could play with it after all this time. Now to be fair to myself, I didn't work on it every day, I went a few days or even weeks without even touching it, but I wasn't lightening quick either. However, the important part is that it was enjoyable and it kept my hands busy while my boy napped in the car with me sitting in the front seat awaiting his return from slumberland. Or when he busy running around the room and I didn't want the tv on.


The blanket turned out pretty nice (in my humble opinion) there are obvious mishaps and it isn't entirely rectangular (I added some extra inch(s) at the end... not sure why at the end, but ah well) it was made with love and it will cover Ace for a long while. Heck it works as a lap blanket for me, it's long enough. Hehe Since completing this blanket I have started on another crochet project for my niece who will be arriving in September. I started this project last night an am well on my way! I'm using Lion Brand Pound of Yarn for this project in the lavender color (my brother said "no pink!", hmmph!) so the lavender is just as pretty! It's almost comical though at how LARGE this ball of yarn is, as it is just that ONE ball of yarn that makes a 28"x28" blanket with a hood! The pattern is super easy AND I read it all by myself! I'm so proud. We'll see how I do when I get to the hood, I'm a tad weary when I have to start shaping something. We'll see. For now, enjoy Ace in his cute excitement over his new blanket.