Hooking on Hump Day – Kaleidoscope Blanket Update

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to show you the progress so far on my Kaleidoscope blanket.

I’ve spent many weeks crocheting a variety of triangle shapes since my first post about this blanket and finally this week we’ve been able to put some of those pieces together.

A large section on left and a small section on the right.

Each large section uses different combinations of colors and is unique.

Two more sections

There are also 4 different combinations of the small sections that we make two of.

Third pair of large and small sections

I still have one large section and one pair of small sections to join. Here is how the pieces will fit together when it’s completed.

Blanket layout with joined pieces so far

You can see that the large section in the lower right of the picture still has to be joined as well as the small section to its right and the same colored small section in the top left.

The grey of the blanket I laid these parts on is a perfect match for the grey that is in the Kaleidoscope blanket (although none of these triangles have any grey in them except for the joining yarn that you can’t see on the back).

I’m enjoying the work on this project as well as the extra work I’m doing to create the stitch charts for the various parts. As you can see there is still a lot of work to be done but I didn’t lay out the 36 squares I’ve already made as they weren’t part of this joining process.

You should stop by the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to see some of the other projects people have posted.

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Hooking on Hump Day – Kaleidoscope Blanket Crochet-a-long

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about my latest crochet project. A week or so before Christmas I was perusing the internet and discovered a beautiful crochet blanket by a designer I have admired.

Kaleidoscope Blanket – Tequila Sunrise Colorway
picture courtesy of Catherine’s Crochet Corner

Catherine is a designer in the UK and this is the first time she is releasing a pattern through a crochet-a-long (we will get parts of the pattern every 2 weeks). This is a very challenging pattern with color work (using more than one color at a time) and dimensional stitches. She designed it in three different colorways and I’m doing the Tequila Sunrise you see above.

That’s a lot of yarn mom.

The yarn the pattern was designed for is Stylecraft Special DK which is very popular in the UK but not readily available in the US. A couple of sources from the UK were offering the yarn in kits with enough yarn for the entire project. I ordered mine one week before Christmas and was pleasantly surprised to have it arrive the day after Christmas.

Part 1 squares – 24 out of 36 needed for the blanket.

The first part of the pattern was released on January 3rd for the square you see above. It is a well written pattern but lately I’ve found it easier to use a crochet chart when working a pattern. A Facebook group was set up to bring anyone who is working on this blanket together and to offer support if you were having difficulty with something. There were a few posts asking if anyone had created a chart so I thought I would give it a try.

Chart for Part 1

After I posted the chart to the Facebook group there was a lot of positive reaction. The next day I was contacted by the group administrators and asked if I wouldn’t mind making charts for all the parts of the pattern. Of course I said yes. I was sent advance copies of the upcoming patterns so I could have the chart ready when it was released to everyone.

These don’t smell like they would taste good.

The second part of the pattern was released and this time it’s for a triangle shape.

One triangle out of 28

Chart for Part 2

I did one of the triangles before I made the chart so I would know how it went together. There is no real rush to complete all the parts before the next pattern is released but I’m trying to keep up.

No wonder you haven’t done any blog posts lately.

Walter is right that I’ve been a bit preoccupied with making charts and squares lately. I’m much faster making each square than I was at first. I only have a dozen squares left to do and then I can work on the triangles. It will be fun to see how this all comes together. I’m amazed how anyone can come up with a pattern with so many pieces that work so well together. Stay tuned for more updates.

You should stop by the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to see some of the other projects people have posted.

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Hooking on Hump Day for Feel Better Friends

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about my most recent Feel Better Friends (FBF) doll that I made.

Emmalynn

Emmalynn is a 9 year old girl with epilepsy and some other health issues. She recently received a VNS device that helps control seizures.

Emmalynn is pretty in pink

Emmalynn’s mother said that her favorite color is pink and that she is in and out of the hospital a lot. She hopes that a doll would be a great comfort for Emmalynn when she is having testing or when she is admitted to the hospital.

Doll and accessories for Emmalynn

I noticed in the pictures that were sent to me that Emmalynn was often accompanied by a stuffed Teddy bear so I decided her doll needed one too.

A perfect bear for a doll

I found a cute little Teddy bear pattern from AmigurumiToGo.com. Emmalynn’s bear has lighter colored paws and nose so I made that adaptation to the pattern. I love the way the bear turned out and think he is the perfect size for the doll.

Every doll needs a bear for a sidekick.

To go along with her fancy dress I made a pair of “Mary Jane” shoes for the doll.

Cute little Mary Jane’s for the doll with her pink socks.

The hair for this doll was made using Knit Picks Shine sport weight yarn that was first hooked into the scalp. I then styled it as close to Emmalynn’s hair as possible.

The last thing I did was to try and simulate this doll having a VNS device. I started with a small piece of wood that I covered with muslin and then sewed into the chest of the doll.

I also added scars where the surgery left scars on Emmalynn.

VNS scars on the doll

A VNS device is sort of like a pacemaker for the brain. The wood piece that is in the doll doesn’t really stand out but it can be felt just below the scar on the chest.

Emmalynn loves her doll

According to Emmalynn’s mom, “My daughter Emmalynn loves her Feel Better Friend! Thank you so much! You did an amazing job! And to make her teddy also. You made my little girl so happy!!!!”

Making Feel Better Friends dolls has been a great way to use my crochet skills for charity work. Right now FBF is in need of more volunteers to make dolls. We are an all volunteer organization and recently the number of requests for the United States reached a point that the leaders have had to shut down requests for the USA so we can catch up. If you would like to help please click here to learn how to become a volunteer.

You should stop by the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to see some of the other projects people have posted.

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Hooking on Hump Day – A Baby Afghan for Meredith

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about a baby afghan I made for the newest member of my extended family.

Paris Matelassé Circular Baby Afghan

This past August my niece welcomed a baby girl to her family.

Meredith Anne
7 lbs. 12 oz. and 21” long

When I heard that a new baby was coming I started planning which afghan I would make. I made a circular afghan for the first baby in this family so I picked another one from Priscilla’s Crochet Matelassè collection. Pricilla’s patterns can be found on her website or on Ravelry.

Paris Matelassé Circular Baby Afghan

I really like these afghans because they have lots of texture for a little one to explore and finish at a nice size of about 36″ across.

Paris Matelassé Circular Baby Afghan

The pattern only calls for a single color but when I checked out other projects for this afghan on Ravelry I saw a few that were done in multiple colors and really liked how they turned out. The yarn I used was Caron Simply Soft in white for the main color, Bernat Softee Baby in Prettiest Pink for the darker pink, and Bernat Softee Baby in Pink for the lighter pink.

The Rolling Cable stitch gives the afghan dimension

I really like the way the rolling cable stitch (the dark pink) looks but it is a lot of work. To make this stitch you have to work over the same 8 stitches 3 times. The first to create a chain, the second to crochet over the chain and the third to work behind the cable to get to the start of the next cable.

Even the back looks nice

In addition to the afghan I made a pair of booties and a nice little bonnet for Meredith.

Sugar & Spice Bonnet
from Crochet World April 2017 Issue

The pattern only calls for one color so I did a little modification to give it a white accent on the front.

Meredith wearing her bonnet

Since Meredith was born my niece has been taking monthly pictures of her on the afghan and posting them on Facebook so those of us not living close to them can see how she is growing.

Meredith at 1 month

Meredith at 2 months

Meredith at 3 months

Meredith at 4 months

Meredith also enjoys some “tummy time” on her afghan.

Meredith checking out those cables

I don’t want you to think that Meredith doesn’t share her afghan with other family members. She has been very generous in sharing it with her kitty sister Downton Tabby.

Downton Tabby enjoys a nice nap on the afghan while Meredith plays

Downton Tabby napping on the afghan

Downton Tabby is such a sweet kitty and is one of my favorites among the family cats (check us out a few years ago here).

As you can see Meredith is a happy and healthy little girl. She and the rest of the family enjoy the afghan I made. It’s always nice to see that something you made is well loved.

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Hooking on Hump Day – A New Afghan

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about a new afghan I made.

Grenoble Matelasse Afghan

This is a project that I’ve worked on, off and on, for the past couple of years and I decided at the beginning of the summer that it was time to finish it. The design is from a collection from Priscilla’s Crochet. She can be found on her website or on Ravelry. This afghan is from her Matelassè collection and is the same collection that I used for the baby blanket I made last year.

The afghan is made up of octagon and square motifs.

The pattern is called Grenoble and consists of octagon motifs that are joined together using a flat braid join. In between the octagons the spaces are filled in with square motifs.

This afghan has a nice texture

I wanted this afghan to be big enough to cover Charlie so I finished it using 9 x 6 octagon motifs. The final size is about 72″ x 50″. I used Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage and it took 14 skeins to complete it at this size.

Even the back is attractive.

One of the things I like about this pattern is that the back looks nice too. The textured style uses a lot of front post and back post stitches which creates a very dense fabric. It makes an afghan that is very warm and cozy to lay under.

Close up of the back of the afghan

The pattern is well done and easy to follow but I found reading the words to remind me what to do for each round became tedious. To make it easier I made a chart of the pattern for the octagon. It was much easier to figure out where I left off if I put the project down for a little while after I created the chart.

The edge is finished with a very simple stitch pattern

After all the octagons and squares were put together the edge is finished with a simple stitch pattern that mimics the style of the flat braid join used to put all the blocks together. I’m happy with the way the afghan turned out and like all the Matelasse patterns I’ve done so far. I wish you could see the color in real life because the pictures don’t really do it justice.

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Hooking on Hump Day – Summer Sunhats

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. It’s been a while since I told you about my crochet projects so today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about a couple of sunhats that I made.

Summer Sunhat for mom with white flower pin

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you may remember that I made a sunhat for my mom for Mother’s Day 2017. She took that hat with her when she visited her brother in Arizona this past winter and wore it many times. When she returned home she said how much she loved that hat but since it was navy blue she couldn’t wear it with some of her outfits and would it be possible to get one with more neutral colors.

Summer Sunhat for mom with tan flower pin

Since Mother’s Day was approaching again, by the time my mom returned from her trip, I picked out a nice khaki and used black and white for the accent colors. I used the same pattern for the Sheer Southern Style Sun Hat by Kathy Lashley as the previous one I made. The yarn used for this pattern is Omega Sinfonia DK-weight yarn which is the same yarn I used for the first hat.

Summer Sunhat for mom with black flower pin

As you can see from the pictures above I also added three pins she can use to accessorize with.

The hat is a hit and looks great on her

Needless to say she loved it and has been wearing it all summer long. In addition to the hat I wanted to give her something to safely store the hat in.

Claire’s Fancy Hat Box

After scouring the internet I discovered that Joann’s had the perfect sized hat box.

The 14″ hat box was a perfect fit

I found a fun hat embroidery and added some lettering to create the top of the box. With a little sewing and some spray on glue the box was covered and lined. I love how it turned out.

While I was working on this hat for my mom one of the young ladies in a group I get together with to crochet and knit told us she was just diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She knew she would be losing her hair during her treatment this summer and wondered if I could make a sunhat for her too.

A Sunhat for Hope

Hope picked out the colors of cream with light teal and navy accents.

Hope’s sunhat with cream flower pin

Just like with the other hats I made a couple of pins to go with it.

Close up of light teal flower pin

I don’t have a picture of Hope wearing her hat but this past weekend we had one of our get togethers and Hope told me of how much she wore it on a family vacation. She even had to rescue it when a gust of wind blew it off her head and sent it flying into the ocean.

My maternal grandmother died from ovarian cancer when I was about 1½ and I have no memory of her so I was more than happy to help Hope with this small gesture. She offered to pay but I only let her refund me for the materials.

Hope is doing well on her fight against her cancer but I’m sure she would appreciate any crossed paws or prayers you could send her way.

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Hooking on Hump Day – A “Feel Better Friend” for Rylee

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about my most recent Feel Better Friends (FBF) doll that I made.

Rylee’s Mini-me and “Extras”

Rylee is a 15 year old girl with Cerebral Palsy who recently received a feeding tube. She loves music, camping, fart jokes, crowns, jewelry, feather boas and her favorite colors are pink and purple. Her mom writes that, “She knows that we don’t have one (a feeding tube) and she doesn’t like ‘being different’. She’s sad and she looks at her f-tube and just cries. She needs a ‘friend’ that looks like her.”

Mini Rylee showing her feeding tube port

One of the things a FBF crafter does is to try and make the doll as much like the child as possible so the Mini Rylee has a feeding tube port (also known as a G-tube). G-tube ports look a lot like the valve of an inflatable toy so that is what I used. I found a package of 12 inflatable emoji beach balls on Amazon for a reasonable price and started from there (I receive no compensation for the Amazon link and include it for others to use).

How to insert a feeding tube port (inflatable toy valve) in crochet doll

I included two outfits for the doll. The crocheted dress you see above was adapted from a pattern for a barbie doll. I also made an outfit of pants and a t-shirt and to finish off the outfits a pair of purple and white sneakers.

The hair for this doll was made using Knit Picks Shine sport weight yarn that was first hooked into the scalp. I then styled it as close to Rylee’s hair as possible.

Rylee and her mini-me wearing their crowns

Since Rylee loves crowns I made matching ones for her and the doll. I found a pattern that included sizes from adult to newborn. I made the adult size for Rylee and the infant size fit the doll perfectly. I used Caron Simply Soft in white with Red Heart Shimmer in Snow held together to make both crowns. The Shimmer yarn gave the crowns a bit of sparkle. Then I added a few “jewels” to spruce them up a bit more.

According to her mom, “Rylee loves her doll! The crown and book were hits too. She squealed with delight, she was so excited!” The book she is referring to is Walter the Farting Dog. When I saw that she enjoyed fart jokes I knew I had to get her that book. My Walter included a note with the book for her too.

G-tube pads

Another one of the extras I included were some G-tube pads for Rylee with a matching one for the doll. I found some pads similar to the ones above on Etsy and knew I could make some just like them with my embroidery machine. They are made from 3 layers of absorbent cotton with flannel on the back for softness.

Rylee and Joy wearing matching G-tube pads

Rylee’s mom said, “Rylee named her ‘mini me’ Joy. Our moto is Choose Joy and we say that a lot to remind ourselves that God is good and we can choose our attitude. Thank you for bringing us a little Joy!” So far each of the dolls that I’ve made have had something new to work into them. I enjoy the challenges these dolls give me and I think Rylee’s smile is all the thank you I need.

Making Feel Better Friends dolls has been a great way to use my crochet skills for charity work. If you know of a child with medical problems that you think would benefit from having a Mini Me to help them you can visit the Feel Better Friends website to request a doll. I am assigned to the northeast USA but I think you can request a specific crafter if you would like.

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Hooking on Hump Day – A “Feel Better Friend” for Noah

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about my most recent Feel Better Friends (FBF) that I’ve made.

Noah is a 6 month old boy with clubfoot. Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inwards and downwards.

Noah sitting with his boots and bar

The treatment for this involves surgeries and requires Noah to wear a pair of boots that are held apart by a bar. This treatment is supposed to last for about 4 years. His mom was hoping that having a little friend that also had to wear a set of boots and bar would help him on this journey.

Noah with his best friend Beans

Here is my version of the boots and bar. The boots are crocheted and the bar is made from plastic canvas that I covered in grey yarn by needlepoint. I sewed the boots to the bar and the straps of the boots have Velcro on them to close the straps so they can be taken on and off.

Noah lives in the Buffalo area and is a Bills and Sabres fan so I made a shirt for the doll with each of the teams logos. I didn’t want Beans to feel left out so I made a couple of matching bandanas for him and included a squeaky fire hydrant too.

I’m glad I have a sewing machine that can do embroidery. With the software I have I was able to digitize the logos I needed and make them as small as I could to fit on the doll clothes.

The most rewarding part about making these dolls is to see the pictures I get from the family after the doll has arrived.

Noah gives his Mini Me a hug

In this next picture Noah is checking out the dolls boots and bar that are just like his.

Your boots look just like mine!

These Bills fans are ready for next season

Even though the Sabres aren’t having the best season a boy and his dog can still root them on.

Noah’s mom was very appreciative and sent a lovely email thanking me for making this doll for her special boy.

Making Feel Better Friends dolls has been a great way to use my crochet skills for charity work. If you know of a child with medical problems that you think would benefit from having a Mini Me to help them you can visit the Feel Better Friends website to request a doll. I am assigned to the northeast USA but I think you can request a specific crafter if you would like.

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