My Crochet - Recent Projects

I haven't finished reading my latest book yet. So I'll write about something else I'm doing.

I've been crocheting a lot lately.

Friend 1 had some yarn her mother was discarding. She gave it to Friend 2 for a thrift shop she was involved with. Then Friend 1 thought I would like the yarn because I've been crocheting so much. Well, I didn't want the thrift shop to lose out, so I told Friend 2 that I would use the yarn to make things for the thrift shop to sell. 

Friend 2 delivered the THREE BOXES of yarn to me. Wow. And I thought I had a lot of left over yarn. 

I sorted the yarn and decided to use up the baby yarn first. Started with making granny squares, which turned into blankets. I also made a one-piece blanket. I used up pretty much all the baby yarn I could use. Then I switched to some reflective yarn. I've been having a blast, really. Here are pictures of the items I made in the last few months:

This is the first baby blanket I made using left over yarn. I basically just started making squares until I ran out, which proved a little troublesome when it came to assembling it. I like patterns and couldn't figure out what to do. Then another friend suggested diagonal. That seemed to work.

This second granny square was made with finer yarn (so I couldn't mix it with the first blanket). There was a lot more there and I was able to figure out a pattern first then just used the rest of the yarn as edging. I goofed a little on the edging (it wouldn't lay flat), but I loved the way the colors turned out.

There weren't enough yarn to make more granny squares to suit me so I just started crocheting a one-piece blanket using a pattern I found in a book. It's not very big, but would work good in a stroller. 

After I posted pictures of the blankets I made for the thrift store, my cousin asked how much it would cost to make a blanket for his niece. He didn't care what kind, just that it was blue! I told him I would do it at cost. I've made this blanket before and think it's cute. 

I was finished with the baby yarn and found some patterns for the reflective yarn I had (which was a bulky yarn). I had just enough in these two colors to make this hat. Unfortunately, it was too small for my head, so hopefully it'll fit a child. I've since made a larger one and will probably make another (as I have more bulky yarn to use up).

Found this pattern for ear warmers and the orange reflection yarn seemed perfect for this. You can't see the reflection, but if you hold it up to the light just right, or take the picture with a flash, it shows up. I was just happy the ear warmer fit my head so it's good for an adult. I also made one of these in neon yellow & neon green (since you use two strands of yarn--yes this will really warm your ears!).

Before I started using all this donated yarn, I had my own project - place mats for my table. I found a cool pattern and made one of each color. They turned out larger than I thought, but it's cotton and will probably shrink when I was them. I'm just afraid to wash them now, so I'll wait until they've been used at least once!

I'm making scarves and more hats for the thrift shop since they could use winter wear. It's fun to crochet, but I don't always have someone to make things for. I feel like I'm helping doing this, and it feels good. 

So... Are you a crafty person? What's you're talent? I tried knitting, but that's just too frustrating. And bulky to carry around. Crocheting is easier and if you drop a stitch, you only drop one stitch. And if I make a mistake... well, that's what makes handmade items special. They're one of a kind!

Stacy