crochet frenzy

this winter season, i went nutz with the crochet. just thought i'd share.

all of these projects were done with Red Heart worsted weight - the cheap stuff from wal-mart.

this first two are a simple double crochet. i started with a width of about 165 stitches and i used a P hook to get big loopy stitches to give the blanket a lighter, cozier feel. remember the shaker knit sweaters from the 80's? it reminded me of those as far as how well it laid on the bod. to finish up, i used an I hook and 3 or 4 rows of single crochet around. pretty simple stuff for you crochet nutz.

(for my 7yo son)

(for my 10yo daughter)

this one is a bit different. i started learning granny squares about 15 years ago. i made the squares, with the intentions of making a rather large afghan. i had green in there too. i got distracted and through the stuff in the closet for the last 15 years. the sqares actually made it through both moves. then i found out the church wanted to make lap blankets for the local nursing home residents and i pulled these out to see if we could do something with them. because of my inexperience, not all of my squares were the same size. i had to throw out the green squares because the stitches were too tight. then i was a couple squares short and i couldn't get the squares right, so i made a couple of make shift, single crochet triangles to throw on the corners. since this blanket is being made for the purpose of laying on a person in a wheelchair, i thought the flat corners might be nice. then i learned how to join with this strange modified granny square type pattern. what i've learned is that i'm not too big on granny squares - not 15 years ago and not now. i hope someone enjoys this blanket because it will probably be the only one of it's kind that i ever make.

this one, i really enjoyed. i designed this pattern before i made the one above. i was thinking that i could save yarn and keep the corners from getting rolled under wheel chairs. it would be like wearing a half skirt. anyway, i started with a simple half circle and it was too short. hub's suggested i add rows at the top and this is how it turned out. i was really pleased with this one. it's a simple double crochet. started with 6 around a 3 stitch loop and kept increasing as needed to keep the shape. this was done with leftovers from the girls afghan at the top so the rows are really not designed ahead, just random-as-i-go-with-what-i-have-left. i have since, designed a horshoe pattern based on this design to make the crocheting faster and easier, but this is by far, my favorite. i hope someone enjoys looking at it as much as i enjoyed making it.


i will post a picture of the horseshoe blanket when it's finished. i also made an afghan that looks like a chocolate bar for my dad for christmas but i forgot to take a pic. if he's able to send me a pic, i'll post that one as well.

hope everyone had a MERRY CHRISTMAS and enjoys their new year.