The Evy Lovey Doll and Blanket Set

A couple months ago, a friend of mine asked if I could crochet a lovey doll for her daughter's first birthday. A lovey is a small security blanket with a doll or stuffed animal head and arms.  It's a very cute idea and of course I took the challenge!  We did some brainstorming on colors and design and soon the lovey was underway.  The colors she chose were pink, purple, and a dash of teal.  We went with a star-shaped "dress" for the lovey and a flat chevron pattern for the matching blanket.  So after hours of drawing designs, researching how to shape a doll head, inserting individual hairs, and crocheting back and forth on the blanket... I can now present to you the finished set!!!! Woo hooo!!! (Please forgive the super harsh light, I took these outside in the afternoon the day before delivering the set to the birthday girl.)

Seeing my friend's daughter looking at the doll and then at her mom like "is this for me" was the cutest thing ever lol! Later on I got a text that she's been trying to put shoes on her and is really loving her lovey.  That, for me, was the best part of this whole experience ^.^

Hook and Needle Adjacent Dreamin

I've had a profile on Ravelry for a few years now.  I never use to be very active on the site though.  Recently, since discovering a love for shawls, I've found myself on there more often drooling over patterns.  Within my time on Ravelry, I've amassed quite the library ^.^

Currently I have two projects going, one crochet and the other knit.  And lemme tell you, I'm itching to start something new!!  So I'm going to plan my next couple projects because actually starting something right now is probably a bit obsessive. lol!  I've chosen 2 crochet patterns and 2 knitting ones.  So here we go!

1. All Shawl by Doris Chan

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by Doris Chan)

This is a super simple crochet shawl pattern.  I really like that the pattern is very flexible, you can make it as long or short as you like and gauge doesn't really matter.  It looks like a quick project to make and probably won't take much more than a week.

2. Sonny's Socks by Sonny321

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by fmlcrochet)

I am very interested to see how crochet socks wear and feel.  I think if I like the texture I'll definitely have many more handmade socks ^.^  I like the shell stitching on these and they look comfy.  We'll soon see!

3.   Ventura Wrap by Rebecca Hill

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by MissBecca)

To continue with my love affair with shawls :)  I'm going to try knitting this one.  It will be my first knit shawl.  Allegedly, it's an easy pattern.  I'll be the judge lol!  But hey, I have youtube and a local yarn store if I get helplessly stuck.  I'm excited about this pattern.

4. Seaforth Hat by Karie Westermann

Click Photo for Pattern Page (Photo by David Fraser)

I think this is going to be the most ambitious of all my hook/needle adjacent projects.  I'm actually quite nervous to attempt this, but just like the Ventura Wrap, I have youtube and knitters nearby to help me if needed.  I really want to make this hat because, 1- it's really pretty and 2- I'm getting a little tired of wearing my same old crochet hats to work.  I want to switch it up.  Or maybe that means I need to design a new crochet hat... that's a possibility!

So there you have it!  Four projects that I will hopefully be starting within the near future ^.^  My Ravelry pattern library is bursting with projects that are inspiring me and I'm so glad that I found that site! 

Finally I'm Finished: The Clover Lace Tank

May I introduce to you, the Clover Lace Tank!  This was a labor of love, lemme tell you!  I think that this tank called for the smallest crochet hook I've used thus far... It's worked up with a 3.25mm hook.  Whaaat?!?!  I've always been one to stick to bigger hooks, well 5.50 and above, for my projects.  I found the smaller hooks to be quite fiddly in my hand and the tiny stitches didn't grow fast enough for me.  So when I came to the 'crochet a top' list item on my 30Before30 list I knew it was the perfect time to make that plunge.

Enter the Wide Strap Tank pattern by Maz Kwok.  The construction was very simple.  I used Red Heart Shimmer yarn in the Shamrock colorway from my stash.  I also used a Boye ergonomic crochet hook with a rubberized handle.  That made using the tiny hook way easier on my hand and wrist.  If you're a crocheter and haven't used any of those ergonomic hooks, you should get a Joann's coupon and buy one! 

The only thing that eventually got to me was going round and round with the shells on the bottom.  My goodness it got boring!  At one point I was actually falling asleep while crocheting!  I think I had gotten a couple rounds into the shells when I decided to stop and work on the Frankenshirt.  Taking that break was just what I needed, because after Frankenshirt was done, I powered through the rest of this top.

I made a few modifications to the pattern, nothing to change the structure, but more aesthetic changes.  Primarily, the pattern calls for relief stitches to create horizontal ribs over the upper bust part.  I didn't want them, so instead I just worked regular double crochet stitches.  I like that the change made the overall look of the top less fussy which is more in line with my style.  I also replaced the foundation chain with a foundation double crochet row.  That made the join of the back section more seamless.

I've worn the tank out once so far.  It wears well and it's very comfortable. If I make this top again I'd definitely narrow out the straps a bit.  Their maybe half an inch too wide for me.  I may also go up a hook size to see if I can get a more loose drape to the fabric.

Start Date: Feb 15, 2016
Finish Date: Mar 7, 2016

Finally I'm Finished: The Frankenshirt

In the midst of furiously crocheting away on my wide strap tank top, I decided to start a different top in hopes of finishing it before my birthday.

I used the Textures Crochet Top pattern from AllFreeCrochet.com.  The yarn, Red Heart Boutique Magical in Top Hat along with some other black and grey skeins, came from deep in my stash.  The pattern was quite easy to follow and it did work up quickly.  I finished it the Friday after my birthday, but I'm totally counting it as my 30x30 top!  I can see myself making another of these tops in the future... although I'll use a solid sensible color next time.

This top is called the Frankenshirt because when I finished the front panel in that Top Hat yarn, the first thing I thought was it looked crazy and a bit like a monster...  the yarn was made up of roughly 5 or 6 wildly different types of fibers.  Honestly, I doubted it would get much wear at all.  But for some reason when I finished the whole shirt, I wore it and it didn't look terrible.  One of my friends said I looked like something off a runway.  But we all know some runway looks are... how do you say... gar-baaage lol.

The Frankenshirt was fun to make and I'm glad I got to use that yarn because it was just taking up space in my stash.

WIP Wednesday: Cozies and a Cowl

I am currently languishing beneath these two crochet projects... I want them to be finished soo badly, but they're such slow going!  The first is a large order of Beauty & the Beast themed cup cozies.  I have five or so left to make and then on to sewing on the contrasting details.  They are really cute and all, but man oh man are they quite boring to crochet!  lol!

The pattern is very simple.  Just 12 rounds of single crochet with 30 stitches per round.  I decided to work in joined rounds instead of a spiral because sometimes I slip into auto pilot and would totally lose count while spiraling.  Originally, I was going to crochet a chain with the darker yellow and attach it around the cozy body, but I didn't like how it looked.  So after a bit of brainstorming, I decided to switch to two strands.  I think it looks much better.  Wish me speedy fingers as I need to get these finished this week!

The second project that is loooooming overhead is a hooded cowl with ears.  I started working on this a few weeks ago and got all the way through the cowl part and into the hood... only to realize that it was going to be too small.  So I had to frog the whole thing out and start over again.  Something about frogging and restarting a project really takes the wind outta your sails -___-  Anywho,  this is how far I've gotten in the reboot.

 
I'm working from an inspiration photo my friend sent me (-via Ravelry-).  I originally wanted to make the piece out of a super bulky yarn, but I couldn't find any in the right color.  So I'm holding 2 strands of red heart worsted together.  Even though the yarn is very thick, it still is slow going.  I just wish these projects would go faster so I can start on other things!

This experience has shown me that when I commit to projects like these I need to try my best to knock them out immediately.  Since they're been in progress so long I'm really losing my steam behind them, but I have to finish.  I need to get re-motivated.

I know that after I finish these pieces, I'm taking a nice break from crocheting anything for other people.  I've been doing more daydreaming and project planning for things I want to make myself.  I just need to get these done in order to start those new things.

Finally I'm Finished: Calli's Christmas Afghan

I decided, towards the end of the October, to start a stash-busting afghan themed for the holidays.  It's made from a variety of my red and green colored yarns with a beige strand carried through.  I organized the colors from light to dark then dark to light.  At one point in the midst of the red section, I was cleaning my yarn stash and found another ball of yarn that matched.  So I wishy-washed back and forth about frogging back to that color to add the new ball in.  Finally I decided to do it since I was suppose to be stash-busting anyway.  That was quite a gut-wrenching frogging session.  Lots of weeping and gnashing of teeth in real life and on instagram lol. 

Anywho, I worked on it throughout November and finished it a couple days into December.  To be exact (thanks to instagram for helping me narrow this down ^.^) I started "Calli's Christmas Afghan" on October 29th and finished it on December 3rd.  I used up a good chunk of my red and green yarn and about 2 whole 1lb skeins of beige yarn (one stashed one purchased).  O.o That's quite a lot of yarn.  And as expected with all that yarn, the afghan is nicely heavy and warm. 

The finished afghan measures 4.5 feet by 5 feet.  Which is the perfect size to fit over the top of our queen size bed.  It's just enough extra warmth since the nights are getting a bit colder here, and Lamar has totally been hogging it more often these days, lol!  The pattern was super simple.  It's one row of v-stitch (double crochet, chain 1, double crochet in the same space) and then one row with clusters (3 double crochets) in each chain one space.  I love super simple patterns like this because I can go into autopilot very easily. 

I don't often crochet large pieces like this for myself, so finishing this afghan was kind of an early Christmas gift.  I love carrying it around the house with me and we recently took it to Alabama with us.  It is a great sleeping-in-the-car blanket too!  We've snuggled in it outside stargazing and inside watching movies.  I'd say in the couple months it's been finished, it's definitely been worth the hours of work to make it. ^.^  So here is a photo of C.C.A. in its natural habitat on our bed.

What do you think?

Finally I'm Finished: Chunky Yellow Blanket

Recently I've been seeing a lot of chunky crochet pieces throughout my Instagram feed as makers were getting their fall lines ready.  I love the look of the squishy bulky yarns and wanted to take a break from the worsted yarns I generally use.  So I pulled out a huge ball of Bernat Chunky Collegiate from Joann's clearance and worked up a giant granny square.

My initial idea was four the blanket to have a lacy look to it, so I worked the whole piece with a 15mm hook.  I haven't used that hook in quite some time ^.^ There was no real plan past 'use all the yarn'... It only took me a couple days to finish.  When I got to the last row, I had to frog it 3 times and go down to a 9mm hook to get the last bits of yarn to stretch for the whole border o.O

I love how lacy this blanket came out while still retaining the chunky squish I was craving!  I have 3 more skeins of the Bernat yarn in my stash and just might have another of these blankets in my future! ^.^

WIP Wednesday: Baby Photography Props

Last week all the portrait studio district managers had a huge meeting.  One of the ladies made a bunch of crochet coffee cup cozies for the group and my manager's first response was 'hey Caleisha... you should make these and sell them.' Lol ^.^  Then she went on to tell the group about all the things I've crocheted for the studio.  (She's been super awesome at pushing me to actually make moves with my Etsy shop dreams.)  Anywho, a few of the managers asked me if I could make some baby props for their studios [insert kool-aid grin here] and of course my mind went zooming down the design/crafty road.

I've been eyeing this book at Joann's for a while for the basic diaper cover pattern and this developing interest in my work gave me the excuse reason to buy it.  My plan is to make a few costumes and price them for the studio managers.  So far I've been asked if I can make a cowboy costume, a monster, and a turtle.  I also started a board on Pinterest to collect photo prop ideas.  I'm so excited for this opportunity to share my crochet work with more people.  ^.^

It's such a blessing to have a manager that no only cares about me as a worker, but also as a person with ideas and dreams of my own outside of the job.  I'm so glad that I walked into the portrait studio 2+ years ago and that Liz thought it was a good idea to hire me :)

WIP Wednesday: Chevron Lace Cardigan

About a week and a half ago I finally started working on a crochet sweater! In my 30 before 30 list I have "crochet a shawl, a top, and a sweater" and I'm so excited to have my first sweater underway!

It took me a really long time to settle on a pattern, mostly because I wanted it to be simple enough to to not be frustrating at my first try, and also something I could wear in Florida.  I had spent days scrolling on Pinterest and Ravelry when I came across the Chevron Lace Cardigan.  It was very pretty in the pictures and I was pleased to see it was a free pattern ^.^ huzzah!  So I started working on it on August 9th and it's been as simple as I hoped.  Starting the sleeves has been the most fiddly part.

My plan is to finish it up in the next few days and wear it... Everywhere!  It's light enough to wear to church and hopefully warm enough to keep me comfy in the studio.  After this one is done I want to make another in white maybe, bolero length with cap sleeves.

One of my teacher friends has already asked if I can make her one for her classroom.  I love it when my friends like my work enough to ask me to make things! Plus as far as I'm concerned that's free advertising ^.^ 

 

Finally I'm Finished: Bellatrix in Purple

Back in March a friend of mine asked me to make a blanket for his soon-to-be baby girl.  He asked that it be shades of purple and of course I obliged. At the time I was working on my first Bellatrix blanket and figured I'd use this as an opportunity to get more familiar with the color changes.

I chose 3 shades of purple and a cream.  There's something quite satisfying about a nice monochromatic color scheme.  I think I'll be doing more monochrome. Anywho, I really enjoyed working with the colors.  Plus, I was able to use up some of my yarn stash (which is always nice).  Since I knew this baby's gender, I chose to use a scalloped edging instead of the original reverse single crochet to make it more girly.

The baby shower was about 2 weeks ago and they loved the blanket!  I was secretly hoping that some of the guests would ask me to make them one, but alas no one did. I got lots of compliments tho. So hopefully in the future someone will remember me and my awesome crochet skills :)

WIP Wednesday (on a thursday): Leo Baby Blanket

A few months ago a past coworker of mine asked me to make a crochet blanket from her grandbaby coming in august.  She sent me this photo from pinterest with the colors she wanted and I decided on the pattern.

The pinterest pin

I've been working on this blanket on and off for a couple weeks now and I'm probably half way done.  I must say that the chevron pattern is kinda boring, lol. Its repetitive fashion is really peaceful but since every row is the same and the stripes are the same size, it tends to wear on me.  I find myself only wanting to working on it a little bit at a time.  Hopefully I'll be done with it within the next couple weeks.  It is a really pretty color combo and I'm sure I'll log the pattern away as an item to list in my etsy shop.  We'll see :)

 

I named this blanket Leo after the constellation since the baby is due within that astrological sign.  Leo is also one of the first constellations I was able to identify.   It also shows a juxtaposition of ideas... a soft vulnerable baby and a powerful lion.  As I'm typing this so many other ideas are running though my head stemming from the baby & lion image. Thoughts of protection and Heaven.

I hope you like this blanket & I cannot wait to finish it and get it to it's new home!

Finally I'm Finished: the Andromeda Shawl

Hi there!

One of the items on my 30 Before 30 list is to crochet a sweater, a top, & a shawl and I figured making the shawl would be the easiest of the three items.  Now this shawl is the product of SO MUCH FROGGING!!! I mean, I must have restarted the thing something like seven times!  There was this picture in my head that I was trying to make real... I wanted it to be lacy but have enough body to give warmth.

I began with the idea to make it triangle shaped but it just wasn't working.  So I abandoned that shape to go with a rectangle design.  Then after some inspiration browsing on Pinterest and more frogging, I figured out that a few rows of trellis stitch followed by a solid row gave me the look I was imagining! Hurray!

I wanted it to be long enough to wrap around and have a bit of "hang-time" so I made it nearly 6 feet long and about a foot & a half wide.  It took me a while to do all that lacy crochet, but the end result is pretty awesome. I've been finding myself pulling it out and matching my church outfits to it just so I can wear it. ^.^

I used 3-4 balls of the Martha Stewart Crafts Extra Soft Wool Blend yarn (65% acrylic / 35% wool) in Bakery Box White.  Now I want to make another in a bright color and maybe black.  I'm considering making the next using Caron Simply Soft yarn... we'll see how that turns out.

Finally, I named it Andromeda after the beautiful daughter of Cepheus & Cassiopeia in Greek mythology.  Her parents bragged about her looks so much that a sea monster was sent to terrorize their country.  To get the monster to go away, her parents had to sacrifice her to it, but she was saved by Perseus and went on to marry him.  Moral of that story, don't brag ^.^

Anywho, I do love how nice this shawl came out, but I won't brag on it :)  I hope you've had a wonderful day/week.  Hurray for finishing projects!

P.S. While I was taking my blog photos, Kiva decided she wanted to get in on the action.  She walked up and just sat down like, "Ok. I'm ready for my close up!"

W.I.P. Wednesday: Bellatrix Baby Blanket

Hellooo there ^.^

I have started yet another baby blanket.  One of Lamar's friends is expecting a little girl in July and he asked me to make a blanket for her.  Of course I obliged :)  I love it whenever I'm asked to make something and I have just about all the necessary colors in my stash.  Or maybe my stash is too big... nah!

This is the color scheme. Monochromatic purple :)

After doodling a bunch of different pattern ideas, I decided to just use the same striped pattern from the gender neutral blanket I recently finished.

I'm loving how the colors are working together.

I've named the pattern Bellatrix and it is the first confirmed product that will be listed in my etsy shop. ^.^ huzzah!  I hope to be finished with it by next week.  Then it's back to the drawing board for new designs and ideas!