Carrying on Crafting . . .

It's been very quiet here on the crafting front. Not because I've been neglecting my crochet hooks and yarn, of course, but because I've been making a series of things as a present to one of my daughter's best friends, who is expecting a little boy within the next 8-odd weeks.

I've actually got 3 expectant mum's I'm making things for but, as Jo is due first, I figured I'd do things in order :)
I always enjoy making things for other people, and it gives me so much pleasure when they like what I've made for them :)

For Jo, who loves Dolphins and Unicorns, and the sea, I had a great choice of colours to use - lots of blues and greens - and, as she's having a little boy, they couldn't have been better.

I made a Jo a baby blanket, using Red Heart yarn, in Amethyst, Light Periwinkle, Real Teal, Windsor Blue, and some Oceana, along with some Robin DK Turquoise, as I didn't have that colour in the Red Heart yarn.

I actually made the blanket as the summer's challenge for The Crochet Crowd, as we were making a blanket using the Red Heart free crochet pattern, the Juicy Fruits & Whipped Crème Throw:
http://www.redheart.com/files/patterns/pdf/LW3562.pdf

With a few modifications of the pattern, I crocheted the blanket, hoping that it would look a little like a tropical sea, and I think it turned out OK. I also added some Dolphin appliqués, to go with that theme and, although they didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped, I think I didn't do too badly for someone who's never done any of this before: 

Dolphin-themed blanket

As Dolphins were the theme of the day, I also made a dolphin toy for Jo's baby, crocheted in the same colours as the blanket, and made as child-friendly as is possible:

Bottle-nosed Dolphin

And to keep on with the theme, I also made what Americans call a Lovey - or we Brits call a comfort blanket - done in the same colours, with a dolphin as the main toy, and with a tiny baby octopus as his companion. This was my first attempt at making something like this, and I'm very happy with how it all turned out :)

Dolphin & Octopus Comfort blanket

Now, as Jo is so mad-keen on Dolphins and Unicorns - and everything so far was aimed at her baby, I decided to make her a Unicorn of her own, using a couple of the colours from the baby blanket and appliqués, to keep the theme going. I found the sweetest pattern for this, a free one, created by Rachel H, of Little Yarn Friends: 
http://www.instructables.com/id/Lil-Baby-Unicorn/

Hubby calls him Donkicorn, and has got quite attached  -
I can just see the tussle as Jo tries to take him home! Lol

As I've said before, all this is very new to me, and so the dolphin and unicorn are only the 2nd and 3rd amigurumi-type items I've ever made (with RaggaRory the Lion being the 1st), and so, when it came to the mane and tail, I just couldn't seem to follow the directions well, so I decided to make my own version - it was only after it was complete, and I was chatting to a friend who was also making the same Unicorn, that it suddenly  clicked where I'd gone wrong, which helped my friend, but was too late for me :)

So, as you can see, I have actually been quite busy with my crochet hook and yarns and, rather than that being the end of it all, I've already made a start on the cot blanket I'll be making for my future step-granddaughter, due in December :)

The theme for this, is Butterflies & Hearts, and using a pink & cream colour palette. The blanket is to be made using 4" squares, so I'm going to need 112 of them, using 4 different patterns. Here's the first of them:



As I'd never made a heart, or a butterfly, before, as you can imagine, there was an awful lot of frogging going on, before I got something I was happy with.

I also chose to make a flower-type square, and I used the Not So Square Granny Tutorial by Clare, of bobwilson123 fame for this, as I think it goes well with the whole scheme. Here's the link to her tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q55fHGE8iLg

The blank square will stay that way mostly, except those that I'll be using to add my granddaughter's name on to, of course :)

As I've got another 27 butterflies, hearts and flowers to do, I'm going to try and use different shades of pink, so that there's a little more variety to the colour scheme. But I'll see how that goes as I keep on with them :)

So, as you can imagine, I'm going to be keeping busy for some time ahead - and loving every minute of it! :)