MAM CAL

Strip 1!

For the Mile-A-Minute Crochet-Along over at Crochetville. This is the first MAM I've done simply because I'm not crazy about doing motif afghans. I love the way they look, but I hate assembling them. ;)

This is my own design that I'm making up as I go along. I figure it will be probably 3 or 4 more strips like this one and then joining. If anyone has any tips on joining MAM strips, I'd be grateful! :)

The body of the strip was easy and took about an hour. The rounds of edging has been a nightmare. I've stitched and frogged and stitched and frogged and so on and so on. I started this yesterday and crocheted quite a bit last night and eventually after tearing it and my hair out, I decided I needed to get it away from me and go to bed and then wake up to look at it with new eyes. Uggh! I have a new appreciation for those of you who regularly do your own designing for ANY type of crochet item. It's difficult! And I'm by no means in the same class as several of the people whose work I've seen on threads in the forum. Wow.

Anyway, I think I've got all the kinks worked out now and have everything I've done so far written down so I *should* be able to work pretty fast for the rest of it. And then my next great adventure will be joining them.... *sigh* I hope that goes smoothly.

A couple of close-up shots:

Think Pink

Finally finished this one. I think I started it about a month or so ago and set it down because I'd already done two in the same pattern and was kind of "tired" of it. I'm not quite sure who this one will be going to - I've had 3 different little girls in mind while working on it.

I like the way it turned out - almost like looking at cotton candy. :)

I've had to take a few days off of really working on anything. It's that time of the year for me right now - the time to be sick as a dog. Uggh. A sinus infection doubled up with a small case of bronchitis is no fun, but hopefully a few more days of antibiotics and I'll be almost 100%.

Diamonds & Lace

It's finished!

I took a few days off doing this one to work on the Rectangle Granny and the Homespun afghan (I'm going to frog the LB pattern and start a different one -- more on that later.)

Anyway, I LOVE how this turned out. It drapes beautifully and looks so lacey. I'm very happy with it, if I do say so myself.

For the edging I just did a border of DC's all the way around (to match the DC row between the pattern sets) and then a simple picot edging to give it a delicate feel. This was my first time with picots; they were slow at first but I love the finished look.

It's going to be hard giving this one away. I'll have to remember to write down my pattern first!

Thanks, Erin!

Hot off the hook! ;) I just finished this one this afternoon. I got this Rectangular Granny pattern from Erin's site - I love the pattern! It's just too cute.

I hope things start to get easier for you soon, Erin. My thoughts are with you.

Works In Progress

Started this one yesterday. I don't have a pattern for it -- I've been working from two tiny pictures of an afghan for auction on ebay. Sadly I didn't bookmark the auction link, I only saved the pics so I can't provide a link to compare.

I'm really pleased with the progress so far. It's been deliciously easy to reproduce this one, mainly because it's very similar to the one I did for my son T. That one was called "Diamond Trellis" and the pattern came from a Leisure Arts book I've got.

Well this one, according to the ebay auction, is also called "Diamond Trellis". The stitches are exactly the same only the layout of them is different. I decided to do this one where it's stitched horizontally with the starting chain being the long side. That way the stripes will be vertical rather than horizontal. I can't wait till it's done!

Here is a close up shot of the pattern:

#2

From a pattern I found in my Leisure Arts "Our Best Baby Afghans" book, but I modified it a little bit. I didn't like the placement of the lacey tr's in their example, so I switched them around. I think maybe only 9 more rows and this one should be done.

#3




The 2nd ripple I've done. I keep going back and forth on whether I like the colors I picked for this one. Made with Caron Simply Soft White, Victorian Rose, and Plum Wine. This one is completed except I still have yet to weave in all the ends. Uggh. I'm not looking forward to that job!

#4

I got this pattern off the Project Linus website: it's called "Star Shell." It's time consuming for sure, but I love how soft it is. There's still quite a bit more to go on this one. I'll get around to it someday ;)

#5

Another one in the pattern of C's blanket. I'm using Bernat Softee Baby in pink, purple, and pink parade. The edging will be in pink.

#6


I got the pattern for this one off of Dot's site. I'd been looking for a basket weave pattern that went from side to side rather than working in square motifs. (I haven't had much luck with motif afghans yet.) This was exactly what I was looking for. I did modify it a little bit -- instead of repeating each weave four times, I'm only doing two.

#7

Another pattern from my Leisure Arts "Our Best Baby Afghans" book. There are so many good ones in there! This one is definitely going to take me a loooooooooong time. Most of it is sc which I'm not as fast at as dc or tr (I don't understand why). The accents of long and extended long dc are what attracted me to this one. It's going to be beautiful and I think my youngest son will get it. He's been eyeing it.

Little Boy Blue ... and green?

Just finished this one last night. This is the same pattern as C's blanket but this time in Bernat Softee Baby in mint and blue. It will be a gift for the new grandson of the teacher my son had last year.

A close up:

Purple Sweetness

And another shell blanket. Told you I loved that pattern. This one will be given to my brother in law's brother and his wife who are expecting a baby in June. Made with Bernat Softee Baby in purple and white.

Close up for detail:

Powder Soft

And another green one in the shell pattern, this one with the V-stitch border in white framed with the green shells. I used Bernat Softee Baby in mint and white. The combination of this yarn and this pattern makes this blanket exquisitely soft.This one was donated to the NICU.

A close up:

Green Shells

Another one in that shell pattern I love so much; this one in Bernat Softee Baby mint. This was the first one I did in this pattern and it still doesn't have a home yet.

Thank you, NICU

This was the first ripple I'd done. I found a great pattern on the net and gave it a try. This one was made as a donation for the NICU here, since my youngest son spent a few weeks there right after he was born. His birthday was recently and we wanted a way to say thank you to the NICU for all they did for him. Made with Bernat Softee Baby in white, blue denim marl, and blue.

T's Ni-ni

This one was for my 7 and a half year old to replace the one my mom made for him when I was pregnant with him. He doesn't need it for security - he bundles it up on his pillow and sleeps on it. Strange? Yup, but he loves it. Made with Bernat Softee Baby yarn in blue denim marl with a small border of white under the denim border shells. I was afraid to try to even *attempt* this pattern, but once I got the first diamond going, it was pretty easy.

A close up shot:

Pink Parade

I crocheted this one for my niece's birthday later this month. Made with Bernat Softee Baby in white and pink parade variegated yarn doubled up with Bernat Baby Fingering Weight yarn in white.

Pink Spiderwebs

A simply delicate pattern that I fell in love with while doing it. Made with Bernat Softee Baby in pink. We donated it to the NICU here.

C's Ni-ni

I crocheted this one for my 4 year old son C to replace the original one that my mother had made 8 years ago for my 7 and a half year old which has stretched out badly. This one was made with Bernat Softee Baby yarn in white, denim blue marl, and blue. It's passed the test - C loves it dearly.

"Friendship"

A pattern I made up of single crochets and chain spaces. This was a Christmas present for my brother's friend and his wife who are expecting a baby in April. I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn in white.

Buttercream Shells

This is my favorite pattern so far - I've made about 6 baby blankets with it in various colors. This one was made with Caron Simply Soft in off-white. We donated it to the NICU here.

The Big Pink Nightmare

Started in late November as just trying something fun with some left over pink yarn. And it kept growing. And growing. ;)

I still have a bit of work left to do with weaving in ends. I'm also trying to decide whether or not I like the edging I've done or if I want to rip it all out and try a different edge. I do love this one - everytime I get it out from the bottom of my "completed" basket I just have to feel it and stare at it. It's so pretty. And warm!

D1

Just started this blog - not quite sure what kind of things to say, but here goes.

First off, about me. I'm a 28 year old married mother of two boys, ages 7 and 4 (T and C respectively.) I'm a stay at home mom for now but hope to get back into the working field when my youngest is in school full time.

Besides my family, I have two great passions: photography and crochet. So this blog will pretty much be a place for me to show my occasional "arty" photos and then also some photos of the crochet projects I've finished. And maybe a bit about life here and there as we go - I'm not sure.

Um, enjoy? ;)