Baby blanket - finale!

Here it comes - my first crocheted baby blanket ever!

It is the baby blanket that I began to make in November (see previous post here) and all and all with distractions of every day life, sick kids, Christmas shopping and decorating, other crochet projects, running out of yarn twice and a number of corrections it is now finished. It took me about 5-6 weeks, 15 bunches of yarn (50 gram each) in 4 different colours, 41 times of changing color of yarn and 82 yarn ends being fastened off and now I measure a blanket being 100 x 130 cm (approx. 39 x 51inches). A little bit bigger than I expected. More like a sofa throw than a baby blanket but who cares. It is lovely, soft, cozy and I am so proud and satisfied with the results.

After I finished it I had a small amount of yarn left and decided to make baby booties for the baby (who was expected to arrive on the 22nd (of Dec) but still is curled up in his Moms womb not showing a sign of interest to enter this world yet...). Easy, I thought. Sure...

One bootie was okay to improvise but to make a second one looking the same as the first one was a completely different story. So I ended up trying once. Twice. Three times...

After several test runs I finally just got it and came up with these cute small baby booties, totally improvised as no free pattern from the Internet seemed to be very easy to follow. And the best of all - I managed to make them both in pretty much the same size. Perfect for a newborn. Aren't they just adorable?

With still some yarn left I am now completing my project with a funky baby hat. And then the baby blanket, baby booties and baby hat are ready to leave my home and go by air mail to the baby in Sweden... As soon as the baby decides to come out that will be.

While chatting along I also want to share my lovely Christmas gifts from my kids. Two very nice crochet books by Jan Eaton. The 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix and Match and The Encyclopedia of Crochet Techniques.

I absolutely adore these books and can't wait to try out new squares, ripples and stitches. Perfect for a beginner like me with excellent illustrations and step by step instructions. Tips and advice and basic crochet information.

And as a graphic designer I have to say I am happily surprised by the functional, simple and stylish graphic design which is completely my cup of tea (or bag of chips as I usually say as I am married to an American and it is more common to eat chips than to drink tea in our household...).

Well, what else to share on this lovely sharing day? These maybe. I love it when my kids are creative and these were made by Nelly and given to us all for Christmas. Aren't they cute these play dooh, silk paper creatures? Mama, Papa, little bro and baby sis. Cheese!

And what about my new slippers being identical to my baby daughters.
"Mama! Look! Same!" That is cute too.

Kärlek
Annette