Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails...

...that's what little boys are made of.

...which is kind of exciting considering my brothers wife is due soon and she's having a boy!

Oh and beards and elephants... pretty sure they are made of those too! ;)

My brother and his wife were happy to help me pick out the right kind of colors for these projects. They are in Iowa so we did a lot of picture taking and texting! :D The elephant set to match the nursery and the hat and beard set to match my brothers beard. ^-^ 

The pattern for the elephant lovely & rattle set will be available in my etsy shop, eventually :).

I freehanded the hat & beard because I couldn't find a pattern online.

The hat is knit and the beard crocheted to match the photo my brother sent me.

The buttons were added to face away from the babies head so that they wouldn't rub against babies head and mom and dad can adjust the beard to sit where they want it. :)



I can't wait to see the little man play with these things or wear them!

Good times are ahead! :D

Thank you for looking!

Status of Harlequin Pattern Blanket with Fall Colors

It's true this lovely has been in and out of hibernation mode between projects :) Today I feel I've made enough headway on 'er to show a few pictures of the progress. Initially I thought I'd use a repeating color scheme, instead I'm pulling from my yarn stash whatever color I like next. :) This has given me a very  "free" feeling while working on it which I love... plus you know, fall itself, all the leaves and color changes are not standard ;) so why should this be? :)

Currently measuring 44 inches wide by 35 inches long here she is :) ...so far ;)

Looking to make one of these for yourself? The pattern can be found on ravelry for free!

Study Blanket - Round Two Complete!

I hope you are enjoying the photos of this blankets progress... I feel the need to document it as if part of this blogs purpose is to tell the story and share the timeline of production. I realized its been 4 months since I decided on the colors :) - and I understand why castles are not built anymore... not when people can shell out McMansions at record time. No, we live in a microwave world it seems - at times I find myself wanting to slow it down! :). I suppose that's part of the reason I crochet/knit and craft. ^-^

Alright - so onto the photos! Here they are folks! I now have 192 circles completed (33 of which are already assembled) to the 2nd row of green! :D

I received a few custom orders recently so I will be hibernating this lovely for a little while - before long  I will be adding the orange level! ^-^ This is the last level before putting them togther with the brown! 

I've been using this box to store and transport he project though it's kind of busting out at the moment! :) I may just pile the lovely circle on top just the same - for a mountain of circles! muhahahahhaaaa. ;)

How do you store your projects? 

Thank you for reading! :) ~Dawn

192 Brown Circles - DONE! :D

I'm so excited - the first round of brown circles for the study blanket is done! All 192 of them! :) now to get to my favorite part - the green! ^-^

192 brown center circles! :D Let round 2 begin! 

Study Blanket Squares Update - 33 out of 192

 Here we are! 33 squares done and attached to each other just a bit bigger than a rug or baby blanket. We aren't  stopping there though folks! :) As the post title reads - this is just part of the beginning. At least 192 in total will be created and stitched together before I go to town on the edging... of which I'm looking forward to! :) I have a book with 150 crochet edges to choose from so it will be fun browsing the options when the time comes! :) 

Study Blanket in Sunburst Flower Granny Square Motif 33 of 192 connected! 

Study Blanket in Sunburst Flower Granny Square Motif 33 of 192 connected! 

 Because I found I really enjoy working with the green on 2nd round I've been working on the first level of brown and have a total of 81 done (what's on the blanket is included). Below you are looking at 48 brown circles :D. I'd say my favorite part of the whole blanket is the green because there isn't a whole lot of it - but there's just enough that it pops and makes the colors dance!

48 brown squares! :) Only 111 more to go! ;)

 I'm hoping to shell out a bunch more brown circles tonight but wanted to share the progress since it's been a lil while since I've given a status on this project.

 I have a custom order for a friend I need to tackle this weekend too - a custom carabiner :) similar to one I've done before but with a different embroidered symbol.

I hope you're having a good week! Any projects brewing in your neck of the woods?

As always thank you for reading! :) ♥ Dawn

Study Blanket Squares - 19 out of 192

I want the study blanket to be a pretty good sized blanket. Not quite as big as a twin blanket but not as small as a throw blanket either. I did some digging on the internets and decided 73 x 51 inches was a good goal to shoot for. I measured my finished granny square swatch and it's 4 1/4 inch squared, ;) of course :). Doing a bit of math I realized I was going to have a blanket 12 squares wide by 16 squares tall or vice versa ;) to get close to my number of 73 x 51 inches and still allow a bit of edge work to be done. I can appreciate that crocheted blankets are forgiving in that should I work up my 12 x 16 granny squares blanket and find I want it wider or longer I can just add another row of squares :). I could be wrong, but I can't see sewing a quilt being that forgiving. Just saying ;)

Naturally I'm now aware that I will be making a total of 192 of these warming granny squares. O.O It's going to be great :). I don't know how long it will take as I may be asked to work up something for the shop as I work this up, (this reminds me I have a keychain to make!). But I will be faithful to share the my granny square progress! Last night I purchased 5 more Saffron skeins having done the math there as well to see how many would be needed. The color was on sale for $1.99 a skein which helped me clean out their lot of it ;). Oh yes, I'm in it for the long haul now. :) 

Here are the pics of 19 completed squares - as you can see I am joining the squares as I go. :) 

Study Blanket Color Idea...

By Study I mean the Study Room in our house - mkay? Not hey, I'm studying... I should grab this study designated blanket... that's just silly... or is it? I like to coordinate things... but lets not limit ourselves mkay? :)

Mkay I'm ready to get on with this post... just one more mkay after this though - mkay? :) K :) 

I am on my second cup of decaf just now... but it feels like I might have... (this is when I ran upstairs, checked the coffee bag and realized I made regular coffee...) ...have made regular... a really strong regular coffee... crap... how I will get to sleep tonight I'm not sure - meh. Here I thought I was super excited about the colors for this blanket... sigh.

Awe wells - so this past 3 day weekend for me :) I took on a room in our house that has been left destitute because we found out we had to fix our siding, our roof, our windows, etc. to stop the leak that was happening in the Study ceiling. We've had the house for a little over 3 years so I was really looking forward to digging in, super cleaning, painting and primping this room and make it part of my "nest"... my home if you will ;). What an undertaking though! :) I promise to share pictures with you of the progression once I have the Study reasonably decorated. It's a bit bare bones at the moment. 

Of the yarns my grandma gave me I have 4 hanks of the lovely earthy green and the thick brown in the middle I have 2 hanks. I might unravel the yarn as I go to give it a worsted weight instead the current chunkiness it has going on, this will make it go farther too for this project :)  

...and yes... you are welcome... the desk, and walls are a "sneak peek" of the study :) muha ;) 

I present from bottom to top Saffron by Lion Brand, Brown by LeeWards, Green by LeeWards and Coffee by Red Heart

I'm thinking of doing a granny square blanket unless I find another design I like better... at the moment I plan on using this ravelry pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/free-smoothfoxs-tea-for-two though I think the square favors solid colors. Still debating :) Maybe this one... http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flowers-in-the-snow ...still granny square but the color change is eye candy! :) We shall see.. I hope you like the colors! I'd be elated to clear up some of my yarn stash and put it to use... just have to decide and start now huh? lol ;)

I hope you're having a great week! I'll share what I can when I can! Thank you for reading! :D ♥ Dawn

Fall is in the air! This means hats and blankets people!

Indeed! My sister will be off running a 10 miler tomorrow morning and I just cannot get past the chill in the air to go root her on! Okay actually, no, its more because I will not get up in the wee hours of Sunday. That, that's the truth... :)

It's Saturday! I love me some Saturdays! This Saturday was a trip to pick up the sister running packet then to  Michael's to get some yarn for my next custom order! O.o It's true I have a list of orders at the moment and its true I get a little overwhelmed at times and wonder if I should be out and about (doing what I'm not sure ;) ) on a Saturday but I really love being productive and seeing the fruits of my labor okay?! ;)

Speaking of progress.. I must show you something... I found out each row of squares takes me about an hour - hey no one said handmade items were made overnight ;)

I'm still deciding who this will go to and how big I'll make it (who it goes to will be the deciding factor of course :)) but I think in the end I'll be making 3 of these kind of blankets. Each will be full of fall/winter colors and different textures. I love it! ^-^

Onto the custom order! A baby viking hat is in the works! Here is the loot from our trip to Michael's this morning :) (no worries, I paid for it...and used a coupon.. haha :)) This my friends is the beginning of my next pattern making venture... my first knit pattern venture... cover your ears there may be cursing! :) Just kidding, just kidding... 

Enjoy the weather and have no fear! Updates to come! :) 

Beginning of Harlequin Pattern Blanket with Fall Colors

This weekend was another busy one for us. Saturday morning through early afternoon we helped some friends move their house into a storage unit and come Sunday helped a lil more with the last few items they needed to grab to clear the place out. I was so glad we could help this couple - we've known them for years and they've been a huge blessing to us so I'm glad for the opportunity to bless them back :). The mister worked on the car Saturday night and since early this morning... he's still at it as I type this, and I'm hopeful he'll be finished by tonight because I know the week may be very demanding as far as his job goes. Gods grace is sufficient :) - so we shall see! I managed to get the laundry done last night and finalize the patterns for the U900 set (which I'm very glad to have done. :)) and while I have a stack of collar necklaces to add buttons too I need to love myself right now by way of crochet therapy,okay? O.o This is crochet therapy at its best people :) - some rich fall hues with a fun pattern to show them off in - what more could you ask for?

I will be working on this for a bit, may not finalize it before picking up the collar necklaces, who knows. :) I'll play it by ear and post up picks of whatever I'm getting into... but of course! :)

Want to start on your own blanket? Find the Free Pattern HERE.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)

Fall Blanket Palette

SUPER excited about this color palette! I have many many skeins that I need to put to good use and figured it was time to make a blanket :). I asked a friend for a few details about the color scheme of her room and the colors she might like - went home and pulled out ALL of my yarn. It was scary! :) ;) Okay not really. If anything was scary it was the colors I had that I didn't like or want to use :/ (Bright red, variegated yarns, peach... hmmm) - I'm sure I'll figure something out - if I have to dye yarn by golly I will! :)

For now - here is the palette of the blanket all prepped in a basket for me to pull from once I get a few pressing projects done :). Love me some fall colors and of course, my friend does too :) Enjoy the day!

Blues, blues, blues! And lovely brown and jeweled hues... with splashes of green and gray - this is going to be so much fun :) 

***Update*** I realize I didn't share the PATTERN I'll be using for these lovely colors - they call it harlequin and is free :).

Oh baby!

...what an adorable blanket :) no?

All embroidered and stitched along the edge ready to wrap up a bundle of love!

A Bit of Embroidery...

Awe... This pink cotton blanket came into my possession from a freecycler a few months ago. I knew I wanted to put a charming shabby chicesque crocheted edge on it but at the time I only had white acrylic yarn (and a bunch of other projects to tend to :)). Not a problem, acrylic yarn would have worked just fine, but I later recieved a fun care package of yarn from my parents full of cotton yarn and bright white was in there too! Perfect! It was meant to be :)

 I completed the edging last night, still toying with the idea of a scalloped edge but am for sure embroidering a floral pattern of my own to a corner. I so enjoy the look material has stretched across an embroidery hoop poised and ready to be adorned :) It's good stuff! Looking forward to sharing the finished product with you too!

Happy Friday to all! Thank you for reading!

Little Girls Precious Granny Square Baby Blanket

About a year ago now, I was in Iowa visiting for Thanksgiving Holiday. My parents took me and my husband to a thrift store to find some knick knacks for the house and I remember at the time I was looking for a doily for the bedroom. The thrift store had their blankets and larger doilies hung up on hangers and as I went sifting through the rack I stumbled upon this thick soft rectangle blanket. I'm not sure if the creator had further provisions for this piece because it was too wide to be a scarf and not wide enough to be a lap blanket. But the yarn was beautiful and they were selling the item for a mere 50 cents! I realized that the amount of yarn in this item was at least 4 skeins and with the weight of this yarn we were looking at $5.00 per skein. So what would take $20.00 of yarn to make this unloved item was being sold for next to nothing! SOLD! My mom ended up shipping the half a blanket to me a bit ago since we had too much stuff to carry back with us for our flight as it was...once I unraveled the scarf/blanket/thingy and made my 4 balls of yarn, I knew I would make a baby blanket out of it due to the colors but not until my friend from Iowa told me she was expecting did I set to work! I have since purchased the white yarn and a few skeins and changed my mind about what colors I would put together with what.

I also did some hunting for options on how to connect granny squares and found this blog not only helpful but entertaining ;) I love the colors she uses in her creations! I ended up using the effect of "crochet as you go" to connect the squares and I'm pretty pleased with it ;)

Here is the first of two blankets I've created with the yarn from the thrift store.






I love how sweet it looks and I know my friends lil girl will make it all the more precious! :)

I'll share the other blanket once complete! :) I think it will be the boys version but still adorable as ever! :)

Thanks for reading!and yay for thrift stores! :)