Favorite Projects

Happy Sunday!

Well, I just finished crocheting another chevron blanket.  This was a custom order for a baby blanket in shades of pink and purple.

I love the way this baby blanket turned out!

It is made with seven different colors of Vanna's Choice yarn from Lion Brand.

It measures 37"x46", which I believe is a great baby blanket size.  It is not too big to be carried around, and it is big enough to still be used into the toddler years.

The pattern I used for this blanket is the Fans and Feathers Ripple from the book "The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet".  This book is still one of the best resources for crochet, in my opinion.  There are so many wonderful patterns and ideas; I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves to crochet.

I squared off the ends using a mix of sc, hdc, dc, tr, 2trtog, dtr, 2dtrtog.  I finished it off by a simple round of hdc to border the entire blanket.

The blanket only took me a little over a day from start to finish, so I didn't get too many progress shots.  But, I did snap a few photos.

Of course, real time progress can always be followed on my @chirpinbirdie Instagram feed.

I have made a few other blankets with this same pattern in the recent past.

This blue and green ripple is still available in my Etsy shop.  If you are interested, you can click on the tab above.

This one sold out from my Etsy shop already.  This blue and orange is still one of my favorite color schemes, and I would be so happy to crochet with these color again.

This pink and green baby blanket is also available in my Etsy shop still.

Best Wishes,

Alison

An Afghan of My Very Own

So, if you follow me on Instagram, then you know that I have been working on some squares lately.  Well, they are all done, all put together, all the ends sewn in, a border crocheted around, and I not am the proud owner of my very own afghan!

The blanket measures 66"x83" and looks fabulous on my full sized bed...if I do say so myself.

I am so ecstatic about the way this afghan turned out.  It is made with 30 squares, and no two squares are the same.

The morning after the first night I was able to sleep with it, I was so happy when I woke up and saw what was on my bed.  I had kinda forgotten that I had a brand new snazzy blanket to cuddle with.

I think Jixer was pretty happy about it too!

This project did not start out to be a project to make myself a blanket, but a few squares in, I knew that I wanted this blanket all to myself...well, I will share with Jixer, but that is it!

This is when I fell in love, and I knew that I was going to be keeping this blanket all for myself.

I fell in love with this blanket even more once I started crocheting squares with multiple colors.

This is my favorite square of the blanket.

The square I am talking about, the one that I fell in love with, and the one that makes me so happy, is the In Treble Afghan Square by Julie Yeager.  Julie, I don't know who you are, but I know that I love you!  I rarely buy a pattern (this is my 4th ever pattern purchase in the 12 years that I have crocheted), but I really wanted this pattern, and it is only $1.99.  It is so worth every penny!

I followed the pattern to a tee, except I left off the last round of hdc.  For each of my squares, I used the same color yarn for the first row of hdc, and used Red Heart Super Saver in Aran. I also used this same yarn to join the squares with the flat braid join, as well as for the scalloped border.

This was a stash busting project for me, so the squares are a mixture of Red Heart Super Saver, Red Heart with Love, Red Heart Soft, Loops and Threads Impeccable, Craft Smart, and  Vanna's Choice.

Here is the progression of my blanket in photos...

The first square

The only variegated square in the blanket

First photo after I decided to add a row of hdc of Aran.

They are starting to pile up!

I never realized how pretty this color was until I crocheted it with the In Treble pattern.

Jixer is always around to help!  We were trying to figure out the layout of the squares.

All the squares are done and just waiting to be joined.

All joined and waiting for a border.

This afghan is by far my favorite that I have ever crocheted.  I hope you all have some exciting projects going on.  Remember, that I take custom orders at all times for crochet items.

Have a splendiferous day everyone!

Best Wishes,

Alison