Baby hats and more Basketweave

I've been making a bunch of little baby hats recently- they're easy, and use up the last ends of some of my lighter weight yarn. And they're cute! All they are is a quick tube, then cinched and tied together on one end, and turned right side out.

I also made another baby blanket using the basketweave pattern, this one is about 20" square, and I used more of the same color for a smaller border than on the lavender one- I like how this one turned out a lot better.

As with most projects these days, these will all go to charity unless someone lays claim.

The Basketweave

A while ago, I was browsing a craft book's* crochet section, and came across the instructions for the basketweave crochet pattern. It looked pretty neat, and the pattern seemed relatively easy, so I gave it a shot. I had to teach myself how to do front post and back post double crochet stitches (fpdc, bpdc), but I already understood the double crochet, so it wasn't so hard. You just get the project started with a row of regular doubles, then alternate fpdc and bpdc stitches in groups of threes.

Ultimately, I learned that fpdc and bpdc stitches use up a lot more yarn than your average single or double, and the cloth ends up being pretty thick. That piece sat in the project bucket, unfinished for a good year or two, through a couple moves, until I finally ripped it all out and made something else with the yarn.

Eventually I decided to resurrect the basketweave stitch in an attempt to get rid of some relatively fine stranded baby yarn that was sitting around; some yarn that I'd had an idea for at one point, and then just got frustrated with working with because I was so used to thicker yarn. At this point I'm working on a second baby blankie with this yarn (this time in green, which I have more of), and I've gotten used to the weight of the baby yarn- though it helps that this stitch pattern ends up being pretty thick.

I used a white yarn that I had for the trim, and kind of wish I hadn't. I had a limited amount of the lavender (and wasn't going to buy any more), so I had an awkwardly proportioned and small rectangle when finished- and I wanted to gain some size, and even out the rectangle. But, the white is thicker than the lavender, so it stretched the edges out, which is especially apparent at the corners.

*I highly recommend the Reader's Digest "Complete Guide to Needlework"- so much information! Good instructional illustrations! Decent photos of how the patterns should look! Some project ideas are a little dated, as is the entire macrame section, but overall, a good, comprehensive chunk of instructions.

Quick Quilt

Just a quick quilt, made entirely out of fabrics that I had laying around- more goes out the door! Each block is 10"x7.5", and then they're all stitched together, 5x5, for a lap-sized quilt. I used an old scratchy fleece blanket for the batting in the center, so it should be very warm. There is a little bit of bunching of the batting in the center, but it's not too bad, and to be honest- I'm just not willing to take the whole thing apart to fix it. The batting is held in place by top stitching across each row, about .25" inch off from the seam.

All in all, a pretty easy pattern, I finished this off in about a day, from cutting to final topstitching. I used some lavender fabric with little roses on it for the back- I had a substantial amount of it, since at one time I thought I might make a dress with it (and then it sat for 2 or 3 years...).

Once again, goes to charity unless someone wants to claim it for themselves.

Another Afghan

Just another afghan, made (almost) entirely out of yarn I had sitting around. A long time ago, when I was learning the 'basketweave' crochet pattern, I thought I would make an afghan using it. The basketweave uses a lot more yarn than regular crocheting, and it ended up being way too thick, and with not enough yarn (yarn was given to me, so these colors/dyelots were in limited supply), so I quit halfway through, and let it sink to the bottom of one of my project buckets.

I was recently digging through my buckets, found these yarns, and decided to rip out the whole half-finished afghan, and start fresh, this time with squares. It was a MUCH more efficient use of the yarn that I had, and this time I was able to finish the project. I had to buy an extra skein of the ecru color; I managed to find a similar weight and color, but other than that it's all yarn I had around- more is leaving the house!

On a related note: this afghan goes to charity (Project Linus) unless someone wants it.

PS: The basketweave was recently resurrected, but this time with a lighter baby-weight yarn- much more pleasant result.

Net Bag

Found a pattern for a net-style bag in a crochet book that I bought at the craft store.. and I just wanted to know if I could do it! It looked neat, and I remembered having some net bags when I was a kid, two, that we used at the library to carry our books, so there was some reminiscing attached to the pattern as well.

I bought some purple cotton yarn, because it would provide a solid line, with less stretch to it (unlike poufy acrylic boucle-style yarns), as I assumed the bag would get a fair amount of stretch simply from the way it was made. The last thing I wanted was a bag that was a reasonable size when you first looked at it, but stretched down to your knees as soon as you put it on.

The pattern ended up being pretty easy! I had to adjust it a little bit, since the pattern in the book was developed for a thinner yarn, but ultimately it was just 9 half-double crochet stitches on either end, and then alternating 3 double crochets with 4 slip stitches between, working the doubles onto the previous row's slip stitches... it was pretty easy, once I got the rhythm down!

To finish it, I just sewed up the side, and then continued building half-double crochet stitches along one of the anchored ends to make the strap. When I stitched up the other side, I did the same thing, and built that strap. Then all there was to do was tie the straps into loops, and stitch in any/all loose ends!

This bag needs a home.