The Bright & Cheery Blanket

Now that Laney is a 'big girl' now, she needed a new bed and of course, I took that opportunity to also crochet a blanket.

So, here it is, a big bright colourful blanket. 
Do you like it? 
Laney loves it and it has all her favourite colours, yellow, orange and of course pink.

I made this blanket with a 'new to me' yarn called Bernat Pop which I got from the super helpful shop called  American Yarns. 

I hadn't crocheted anything in acrylic for ages and was super pleased by this yarn. Yes it is acrylic but gosh, it's lovely & soft, working up like a dream.  I also loved how the colourful yarn cakes are. I didn't plan any colour changes in this blanket, the balls of yarn decided that for me!

To make the blanket, I crocheted 4 big granny squares of 8 rows each in the colourway Pop Art. I joined the 4 squares and made 8 rows to form the bed width & length. I then used the soothing creamy colourway Snow Queen to add depth the blanket (for the sides & top & bottom). 
In total, I used 14 balls of Bernat Pop, 8 for main body of it in Pop Art and 6 for the edges in Snow Queen.

Would I use this yarn again? Big fat YES!

Would I grab the yarn from American Yarns again?  Big fat YES, they were lovely to chat too with super quick postage.

Riley Vest

My latest sewing project was this super cute vest for Joe. It's just starting to get a bit cooler here in Tasmania, so it'll keep him snuggly warm whilst playing outside.

Pattern was the Riley Vest and it's wayyyyy easier than I though it would be!  I made this is one afternoon, so yes .. I'm impressed with myself! It's also supposed to have pockets but after being sick for two weeks and not having hot water for entire week (the hot water system busted), I just kind of forgot to do them.. oops.

Using a 'new to me' type of fabric for the exterior of the vest, a quilted fabric and for the inside of the vest I just used a unisex kids patterned fabric because when Joe grows out of it, Laney can then wear the vest. 
The toughest thing about this sew was sourcing a zip! I needed an open ended zip and couldn't find one in my local store & ended up finding one online. So to make life easier for you, here's a link to a few different stores for you that sell open-ended zips  ..here... & here... 

I totally want to make one of these for me now, seriously, I do and yes, the pattern comes in doll sizes and women's sizes, so yes, I can make one for me now!  I would need to figure out how to do an FBA (with this) and then I'm thinking I'll use this gorgeous fabric for the outside and either this or this for the interior.

So, what do you think of it, does it look ok?  Hubby took one look at it & asked if he can have one!  ...I actually contacted the designer to ask if she is thinking of doing a mens version & she is seriously considering it! Yes!  

I utilise affiliate links throughout my blog as a way to help me keep crafting. If you click on an aff link, I receive a very small amount from it at NO cost to you. So please help me to keep CraftyRie up and running by clicking on my aff links! Many thanks, Marie

"must reach ankles"

Ok, so when Laney walked up to me the other day and quite firmly told me that she doesn't have a dress that reaches her ankles and Mumma needed to make her a new dress now... well, yes I did drop everything and make that girl a dress!

She very clearly stated that the dress must reach her ankles and be shaped like her purple Elsa top. Here is a photo of her trying the dress on for size, showing me the ruffles that needed to go on and oh, not forgetting the very 'clear & precise' pattern that she drew for me.











Here is the finished product. I got it right. I got kisses, squeals and then she twirled and twirled.

 Winner.

Oh, by the way, I did also get a very stern lecture about not having any yellow fabric in my stash. Oops, bad me.

The 'NO mystery' mystery knit project.

If you scratch your heads a bit & think back to this old post where I was telling you about a disappointing knitting project, well, I finally finished it. Kind of.

Firstly, I got sick of knitting the shawl as it was supposed to be a mystery knit-along. A mystery knit-along is when the pattern is released in parts, so you don't know what it will look like next week or when it is finished. BUT... this project, there was no mystery, it was the same every week (just a few more stitches) and it was a major disappointment. I was so frustrated with it as it was supposed to be fun & exciting but it was boring, predictable and I felt that I'd wasted my money on a "mystery" pattern when it was just a regular shawl.  I ended up tossing the project into a bag to unravel and reuse the yarn another time.

Well, that 'another time' came and I was about to unravel the shawl when my 4yo daughter, Laney, finds me & asks me what I'm doing.  I explain that I'm undoing my knitting and making it yarn again. She grabs the shawl, hugging it, telling me that it is so pretty. Hmm, I think, so I ask her if she would like it.  "Yes! Oh yes peez Mumma!"  
Ok then, plans revisited, so I cut the yarn and crochet to bind off that last row and give it to her. 
This is the end result: one very happy little girl who will be super warm in winter!

 

...sometimes failures can be successes!

Have you ever joined in a Mystery Knit-along, Crochet-along or Sew-along only to discover that there was no mystery in the pattern? That it was the same over & over again and the only mystery was why you fell for the sales pitch & bought the pattern?

I utilise affiliate links throughout my blog as a way to help me keep crafting. If you click on an aff link, I receive a very small amount from it at NO cost to you. So please help me to keep CraftyRie up and running by clicking on my aff links! Many thanks, Marie