What Katy Did . . .

I just had a look at the date of my last post, and it shocked me that it was almost 3 months ago!

I really don't know where that time went, although I have to confess that I slept through much of it, so it shouldn't be such a surprise that so long has gone by :(

But, despite the lack of posts, and the slow-down in my ability to crochet right now, I have kept myself busy doing what I can, and when I'm able to.

I spent a lot of the time I was able to crochet, in making items for my new step-granddaughter, as I'd promised her mum I'd make a cot blanket for her and, as I've never been able to just make one item at a time, I decided to make a cushion cover to go with it, and a birth date hanging, too.
Skyla's mum loves butterflies and hearts, and the colour pink, so I made sure there were plenty of all of them to brighten up Skyla's room :)

I crocheted well over 100 4" squares to make these items, and it took me a long time to sew them together (a definite labour of love for my poor arthritic hands), but I thought it was worth it to give Skyla a hand-made gift, with love in every stitch, rather than just buying something that lots of other people would have, too :)

I also made a few bits for Skyla to wear, as I had some gorgeous baby yarn in my stash, so I made her a jacket, headband, and booties set with them, making 2 sizes of booties, so she can still wear them all as a set as she grows. The Jacket doesn't quite fit Skyla as yet, as she's a tiny little thing, but her mum reckons they'll fit by the time she's 3 months old - if I get a pic with her wearing them, I'll put it on here :)

While I was about it, I also made some bits and pieces for baby Harry, my daughter's best friend's new son. They haven't been given yet, but I couldn't resist putting them on here, too:

I made a lovely hoodie and hat set for him, and I used a new pattern I'd just come across on the Caron website. 

Here's the link for them:

http://web.archive.org/web/20100926005238/http://caron.com/projects/br/br_cno986_baby_hoodie.pdf

I also made a Bunny rattle, from a pattern I found on Crochet Spot. It's my very first attempt at making a rattle and, although there's definitely room for improvement, I think I did a fairly good job of it - I just hope Harry finds amusement with it, anyway :)

The link for the pattern is:

http://www.crochetspot.com/crochet-pattern-baby-ring-and-rattle-toys/

I also attempted to make a mini Amish Puzzle Ball, from a free pattern by that awesome designer Dedri Uys - unfortunately, I'm a terrible photographer, but you can sort-of see what it's meant to be like. 

Here's the link for the pattern, on Dedri's Look At What I Made Blog, and you can see clearly on there what it actually looks like, although I've used a different selection of colours for mine:

http://www.lookatwhatimade.net/crafts/yarn/crochet/free-crochet-patterns/mini-crochet-amish-puzzle-ball/

I had a lot of trouble crocheting after making all this, and it was another week or so before I could make anything else. I then started on a series of woodland animals that I've now finished making, for my friend Candi, who lives in the USA. Hubby posted the parcel to her today so, after she's received it, I'll be able to post the pics I took of them all - although, once again, my photography isn't as good as I'd have liked it to be - but, despite this, the pics will give you an idea of how they look - and I'll also post the links to the patterns I used :)

So, that's everything I've done - that I can show you now, anyway - since my last post, and I'll, hopefully, be posting again in a couple of weeks to show you the rest :)

Have a great time crafting until then! :)