Crocheted: Happy Baby Blanket

So, I like to collect those little project pages that stores like Joann's and Michael's usually have near the yarn aisles.  Most times you can find them and more online by just visiting the project sites for the stores.  Anyway, this is one I picked up a while ago.  Finally had the opportunity to try it out when I found out my friend was preggers.  Anyway, I went to work on it, and with much frustration (all due to me), I managed to finish it.  

The blanket itself, is very easy to crochet, mainly using double crochets throughout the project.  The frustration in my part was due to the fact that the yarn I had wasn't enough to make it to the end -- and I couldn't find the yarn at the store anymore. Grrr...   I also made the mistake of using both ends of the yarn skein to work with a two yarns for the blanket -- this is actually what made me run out of yarn.  To resolve this, I ended up unraveling the entire blanket (or at least half of it which was where I realized I was going to run out) and start over and mix the colored yarn with white.

The outcome turned out to be better than I expected.  The white gave the color just a lighter hue, perfect for a new baby girl to enjoy.  Here's the pattern for it. Yup, I found the project sheet online. 

So... lessons learned.

1.  Buy the amount of yarn that you're going to need all at the same time.

2.  Don't use a skein from both ends unless your project is surely gonna fit the skein.

By the way, if you're new to crocheting or wanna give it a try check out this book.  It's how I learned. :)

Happy Crocheting!

Crafty Sightings from New Mexico

Earlier this month, I celebrated my birthday by going to New Mexico's International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM.  It's always been something that I wanted to go and see, and let me tell you, it's absolutely amazing.  :)  The sight of hundreds of balloons in the air at once is simply stunning. Even got to go on the field and see some of the balloons get packed away (yet another amazing feat -- how they fit the balloon in this tiny sack).

Moccasins Kit from Alaska

As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to Alaska this year on a family vacation.  You can see some of the crafty sightings here.  Okay, so while I was there (I believe we were in Ketchikan),  I bought myself a souvenir... a moccasins kit.  I was thinking, "oh cool real Alaskan moccasins... me want. What? $30?  That's a lot... but moccasins would be so cool. Sold."

Sigh, sadly, that did turn out to be overpriced as I saw the same exact kit (same brand, etc) at a local Michael's for half the price.  Oh well.  Now that you know where to get them, here are some tips I learned on putting them together. :)

1st tip:  Make sure you pull the cords tight.  Going back because you ran out of lace is very annoying.

2nd tip:  If you still have to go back and re-tighten because you ran out of lace, you can use a crochet hook to pull the cord.  It just gives you a better grip of the cord.

3rd tip:  The kit comes with 5 laces.  If you're like me you'll automatically think... "Am I missing a lace?"  The answer is, you're not.  It turns out that you use two and a half laces per moccasin.   The tie at the back of the moccasin only requires a small bit of the lace, so half does fine.  It doesn't exactly explain that in the kit.

4th tip:  When you're done, you can trim the laces at the back (the laces that you cut in half).  Then put a flame to the ends of the cut laces, and this will seal the cord close.

Overall, the kit was easy to put together, but some of the instructions were a bit understated. Hope this helps if you decide to put together your own kit.  Also, I made a copy of the undone pieces, so technically I'll be able to make more (I'm thinking fleece) -- will share the results, if I try it.