Teacher Appreciation Blankets 2017/18

So I haven't really been knitting and crocheting much over the past year, so there hasn't been much to update. I'm going to start trying to get into it again, though. I just finished this year's teacher appreciation blankets and am getting ready to start a sweater that my dad has requested, so I'll try to remember to blog about that. Obviously I'm an awful blogger, though, so no promises. But anyways, teacher appreciation blankets:

My son's teacher's favorite colors are blues and greens, so I dug through the yarns I have in my stash and came up with this color palate (yarn details here) and flipped through one of my favorite crochet block pattern books to find a block I thought would look nice. Here's what I came up with:

Block #35, "Tricolor Square," from the book
"200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans."

My daughter's teacher this year was obsessed with Star Wars. He has a whole room in his house dedicated to his Star Wars obsession, in fact. I spent a long time trying to figure out his favorite movies, characters, etc and designing his blanket based on that. Here's what I came up with for him:

Some graphs from here, and some from here.

Hi, I'm the World's Worst Blogger!

So obviously I am a terrible blogger. Sorry about that! It looks like I haven't posted a thing since July 2015... so a year and a half now. Maybe I should update and get back into it a little bit, huh?

I only have a few months left until I finish my Bachelor's Degree program (with a cumulative 3.7 GPA --I've been working hard!), and I am taking a year off before starting my Master's Degree program, so I should have a lot more time for things like blogging and making patterns soon. I have an 8 years old, 6 year old, and 2 year old (this Friday!) now, so they keep my pretty busy. My 8 year old just had her tonsils and adenoids removed a week and a half ago, so we've been recovering from that, recently. I have also been doing a lot of sewing and heat-transfer vinyl projects over the past year or so, which I can talk more about later on, maybe.

As for knitting and crocheting, I've finished a number of projects over the last year and a half --not all of the sweaters I was hoping to work on, but a couple! (By the way, you can always find what I'm working on or have finished on my Ravelry account --here-- if you're interested!) I am also working on finishing up a few more afghans/blankets at the moment, and a couple of little stuffed toys, and have been making quite a few of those new trendy bun hats, so stay tuned for pictures of those (I promise I'll do better with blogging!) Meanwhile, here are a few pictures of some of my favorites from the past 18 months:

My daughter is maybe not the world's best model, but I heard that fish lips and crossed eyes are
very "in" with the 8-year-old crowd this year. 😉 Pattern can be found here.

Pattern can be found here.

Pattern can be found here.

Pattern can be found here.

Pattern can be found here.

Teacher Appreciation Afghans

Sorry it's been so long since I posted! I'm not the world's best blogger, obviously. But, if you're open to excuses, I was on bed rest for 15 weeks, then had a baby in February, and then had to deal with colic for a couple of months after that... all while finishing my Associate's Degree and starting my Bachelor's Degree... so I'm just now getting to a point where life feels a little "normal" again. During that time period I did manage to work on an afghan for my daughter's teacher, which is something I did for her Kindergarten teacher as well and seems to be becoming a bit of a tradition. Last year I made a St. Louis Cardinals "graphgan" because her teacher was a big Cards fan.

This graph was from Loopaghans --message

her for a list of graphs she has available.

(Sorry the picture is such poor quality!)

This year her teacher was really girly, so I tried to go with something girly without being so girly that her husband wouldn't want it used on their bed or as a throw in the living room. It took a little trial and error to get the colors figured out, and I made a huge mistake on the second row by messing up every single hexagon... which led to me having to go with sort of a "striped" effect alternating the way the hexagons are meant to be and how I messed them up in the second row, but it ended up working out ok. And, if you're still open to excuses, I did have a lot going on that made it hard to concentrate on crocheting. I was pretty happy with the finished product though and do plan to make more hexagon afghans in the future using the same pattern, but it will probably be a while before I forget just how long this one took me. I made the teacher cry because she loved it so much though --she called it an "heirloom"-- so all the work was definitely worth it in the end!

I used a pattern by Lucy of Attic24 for the hexagons, and border #16 from

the book "Around the Corner Crochet Borders" (with an extra round).

Daisy Cottage Designs "Owl Toy"

Recently a friend of mine requested an owl stuffed toy for her niece as a Christmas gift, and since I asked all my friends and customers to get their orders in by the end of September, she had to order early! After doing some searching and pattern comparing, we settled on the Daisy Cottage Designs "Owl Toy" pattern (with a few modifications).

The pattern was very easy to follow and so easy that even a beginner could do it --seriously "first project" kind of easy, so if you're nervous about toys, this would be a great one to try!

The first modification I ended up making was leaving off the legs. Not that they're not cute, we just went with a simpler style this time. The second mod I made was to go with two colors for the body instead of just the one color of the original pattern. Another mod I made was adding wings to the sides, just as an extra little element to add to the "owliness" of it. I also changed the eyes and beak to my own style, which was just a personal preference. Instead of a flower we went with a bow, and voila! Cute little owl toy/pillow for a cute little girl. Hopefully she loves it as much as I do!

2014: The Year of Sweaters

I know I've said it for the past two years, but this is the year! I only have to finish up the never ending sweater I'm working on right now (a Harry Potter "Weasley Sweater" that I only have 8" left to finish but it seems like I never get anywhere on), an elephant, an infinity scarf, a monkey, and a child's wrap sweater (that is already partially finished) ... and then all of my current orders are finished and I can start on personal knitting. Here is my list of some sweaters (in no particular order) that I hope to accomplish this year:

I really want a cozy, fuzzy, warm open cardigan. This one is for me!

This one is for my daughter. She is five and a half, and I let her pick out
both the pattern and the yarn. If you couldn't tell, she's very girly.

My dad asked me a few months back about knitting him a cardigan a la
Mr. Rodger's style. (I'm kicking it up a notch.)

This one is on my Christmas gift list for my mom. She picked the pattern
and the yarn, I just have to put it together.

Another one for me! I just can't resist this lacy pattern and I love the
berry color.

Another for my daughter. Now that she's to an age where she's not
growing out of each new size within just a few months, I'd really like to
make her a couple of sweaters.

I'm sure this list will grow as the year progresses --hopefully I'll find at least one sweater to knit for my 3 year old son as well-- but this is it so far. Not that it isn't already substantial. I'm excited to take a break from knitting solely for profit though and make some things for myself and my loved ones. Now I just need to start saving up for all that yarn ...

All sweater pictures were found on Ravelry.com. Yarn sample pictures are from Lion Brand and Knit Picks Websites.