Sands Blanket.

My garden has been so pretty this year, I love cosmos.

Busy Bee working away on this beautiful dahlia.

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I blogged on here time just seems to fly.  It's bank holiday weekend and once again the weather has let us down, very windy here today and very rainy yesterday so I have used the time to finish off quite a few projects I had on the go.  I can never do just one thing that's too boring for me I must have a few different things going on so that I can hop from one thing to another.  I'm still in Teddy Bear mode at the moment so although I'm not doing any more angel bears, I am making Teeny bears for the shoe box appeal and some tiny one's for the angels.  I have a feeling this bear mode will last for a while because it's such a transportable kind of project and I can quickly crochet all the bits needed wherever I go.  So pictures to be posted when I'm done.  

One of the projects I have finished is a Sands Blanket.  These are given to bereaved parents who have just lost a newborn.  These blankets are lovely to make because it's just simple garter stitch knitted from corner to corner making a square, so you can watch TV and knit without even thinking about it.   Then a beautiful lacy border to finish it off.  I must admit doing the border is a bit monotonous, but it is worth it as it finishes the blanket off beautifully. 

More to come later :) xx

Angel Bears

I was on holiday this week I chose this week not because I was going anywhere but because I though it would be nice and warm and sunny and I could do lots of outdoor jobs that really need doing, after all it is August, I was wrong it has rained and rained and rained.  I have been so unlucky with the weather this year, last week was beautiful and I bet next week will be too when I'm back at work. :(

Anyway Loving Hands has been asked to make some of these cute Angel Bears, they are to be taken to children in Belarus in October,  because the weather has been so bad I have had the time to make quite a few of these little cuties so I have made good use of my holiday after all.  They are a bit faffy especially the loopy ears but they are worth it, I did find I was going over the top with the loops, they were getting bigger and bigger with each bear I made, so I have had to control the loopy madness and make the loops smaller. 

There are knitted and crochet versions of these I have tried both but most of mine are crochet however the crochet pattern on the link will give you a very small bear, I increased the number of rows to make mine bigger, the small bear was made to the actual pattern.
Crochet Pattern here

Small bear made from original pattern

Shell Stitch Preemie Blanket

This little blanket started out as a jacket believe it or not, but when I realised how wide the sleeves were going to be instead of shaping I just continued on and made it into a blanket.  The pictures don't really do this little blanket justice, the pattern is so simple to do, it's made in 4ply yarn and it's sooo soft just right for a little teeny baby.

Unfortunately the pattern for this blanket is no longer available but this one here is very similar.

Autumn Challenges

The new challenges for Loving Hands came out a couple of weeks ago and this time it's for all the things I love to make.  Nice easy things that can be finished quickly and give you no time to get bored.  Even so I still find myself with a few works in progress I like to flit from one thing to another :) last week I made these little preemie blankets in crochet trebles.  I did  managed to finish them off but I still have two other things on the go and I am about to start two more lol

I made this sleep bag too, I still find it hard to make things for these little Angels :(

Isle Of White Baby Blanket

I'm back after a couple of busy weeks holidaying and general tidying of house and garden.  

I have been to The Isle of White with a couple of friends. It rained the whole time we were there, beautiful Island very friendly people but awful weather which is apparently quite unusual for that part of Britain but that's just my luck I always seem to have bad weather when I go away.  We still enjoyed ourselves though and I would love to go back again one day.

 I took all sorts to amuse myself on the long journey there and back and I managed to almost make a crochet Baby Blanket.  I ran out of wool when I only had 10 rows left to do!! however a very clever lady on Loving hands suggested I pulled the blanket back 10 rows add a contrast colour for 10 rows then crochet last 10 rows with original colour, this I did and I made a border with the contrast colour.  I'm very pleased with the result, this was easy as can be to make and is a lovely stitch to do for blankets.