My Favorite Yarn

I love Bernat Baby Blanket yarn.  It is my favorite yarn - thick and soft like chenille.  I've made lots of baby blankets that I've given away or sold in my Etsy store.  (I have a few available right now ;)  It comes in lots of variegated colors for babies, and best of all, it now comes in grown up colors!  I could go on writing about it, but it's so much easier to show some of things I've made with this yarn:

I can't get enough of this yarn!

Cindy

Fuzzy Pink Stashbuster Blanket!

I was clearing out some yarn and made this.  I really like it.  It makes me happy when I look at it.

It was so easy to make.  Just gather up a bunch of leftover yarn in similar colors.  I used regular worsted weight, bulky novelty yarn, fun fur yarn and bouncle yarn.  I combined them three strands at a time and just used single crochet.

Whenever I was tired of a particular yarn, I cut it and tied on a new one.  I didn't always wait until the end of the row and I didn't change out each of the three strands at the same time.  That kept the pattern fun and random.  The hardest part was the most basic problem of making an afghan - counting, counting, counting.  There were several times when I had to rip out rows of stitches because I miscounted and saw that telltale wavy side - yuck.

The specifics on this - chain 61 and 60 stitches per row.  It's 33" x 45" - kind of the size of a lap blanket.  This was really freeform, so I didn't make it to a certain size specification.  I'm going to be raffling this blanket as part of a raffle basket to benefit Pueri Cantores St. Bernard of Clairvaux youth choirs later this fall and I'll let everyone know when that is happening just in case you want to buy a raffle ticket.  Maybe it will be part of a "girly-girl" basket.

cindy

Delicate Pastel Shells Afghan

I've been working on clearing all the baby yarn I was given and having a lot of fun with it.  I'm pretty proud of this one.  It's really delicate and soft.

 I used 1 skein of Bernat Baby Coordinates in each color: white (Color A), pink (Color B) and mint green (Color C).  I used a size G hook and the pattern was a Catherine Wheel.  I'm pretty pleased with this one.  If you like this one, you can buy the finished product or an electronic version of this pattern in my Etsy store.  

Stash Buster Challenge - Thick & Cuddly Baby Blanket

In April I joined the Stash Buster Challenge to get rid of a stash of baby yarn I have.  

If you read Straddling the Gap you also know I absolutely love Bernat Baby Blanket yarn.  Evidently others do too, because it has been popular in my Etsy store.  A little while back I started using a new pattern with my favorite yarn.  I'm not sure what to call the pattern, but it does make a thicker (and thus more cuddly) weave, so I'm going with the name "Thick and Cuddly Baby Blanket."  (Note - if you have a stash that includes the old version of Bernat Baby Blanket yarn - it won't be very thick or feel like chenille - you need the newer version that does.)

It's one of the easiest stitches to do.  I used a size N hook, but depending on how tight you want to make the weave, you can use as small as a K.  I used 1 1/2 skeins of 10.5 ounce size.  (Yes, this is a pig on yarn, so plan accordingly).  To make a blanket about 33" inches square, you start off with chain 53.  (It's 2 + 1 regardless of the size you want.)  Row 1:  Make a double crochet in the third hook from the last chain and double crochet all the way across.  Chain two.  Row 2:  Make a single crochet on the second chain from the hook.  Yo and run the hook behind the post immediately below, yo where your hook comes out on the left side of the post and pull back up.

You will now have three chains on the hook - just like a regular double crochet.  Yo and pull through two chains and then yo again to pull through the remaining two chains.  Then continue in that pattern - single crochet and double crochet behind the post below.  It will look something like this (this picture shows the stitch a bit sideways):

Continue across Row 2.  You should end with a single crochet.  Chain 3.

Row 3 is another row of double crochet.  Chain 2.  Continue with Rows 2 and 3 until you get the desired length.  Make sure you keep those special posts lined up with the ones below.  That's probably the hardest part, but generally this is a very easy blanket to make.  The look of this is great because one side has these ridged posts and the other has almost a basket weave look.

If you want to do a single crochet border, that's great, or any other border you would like.  I wouldn't get too fancy because this is very thick yarn and by this point you've probably used more yarn that you would like.  However, you will love the results - a thick and very soft blanket.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

cindy

Bernat Baby Yarn

I've been doing a lot of crocheting lately and making a lot of baby blankets.  They are selling pretty well in my Etsy store, Pretty Pretty Cindy, and it doesn't hurt that I need so many baby gifts.  The best part of is I get to use my favorite yarn, Bernat Baby Blanket.  If you crochet or knit and haven't seen this yarn, you are really missing something.

This yarn is thick and the absolute softest yarn ever.  It feels like chenille and babies love it.  I had one customer whose baby liked it so much, she ordered a second one for day care.  It's a joy to work with.

I like the color of this blanket - it's called Pitter Patter.  It's a very popular color and sells well.  I haven't used the pink/orange color yet, but it's my favorite.  It's called Peachy.  There are also solid colors that are great compliments to the multi-color.  My most recent blanket was for a boy:

Isn't that cute?  As you can tell, I'm pretty proud of this work.  I'm definitely going to keep using Bernat Baby Yarn.  Watch for more coming soon.

cindy

The Best of 2012

I'm sitting here on New Year's Eve about to begin the festivities with close friends.  2013 is coming very fast, so I have barely enough time to think back on 2012.  Here's the quick and dirty "best of"

My Craft Room!  In 2012, I went from Dreaming of a Craft Room to Craft Room Musings, DIY Fabric Storage, and ultimately, the Craft Room Reveal.  I love my craft room, even if it is a mess right now.  2013 will bring more sewing and crafting, God and time willing.


Etsy and the creations in it!  Pretty Pretty Cindy opened in 2012, with all of my various creative projects.  I love having a place to share my projects/creations without needing to find a family member or friend to give it to.  One of my favorite items was this Catherine Wheel Afghan.  It will always remind me of Kawaii where it was made.  I made a few rag quilts (I really need to get back to that):  Raggedy Rag Baby Boy Quilt, Chocolate Pistachio Quilt and Pinkie Rag Quilt.  Then there was the dress making frenzy:  the Watermelon Dress, Upcycled Gauze Dress, Upcycled Denim Skirt and Black Slip Dress.

I also started to share my Arizona with you:  javelinas, other Arizona critters, the Arizona Biltmore, Arizona's Centennial, Sedona and roses, clouds, the State Fair and Verde Canyon Railroad.

See you in 2013.

cindy

Revisit October Project List

I've tried several times to announce a project list for a given month.  Last month I used Pinterest to come up with a project list for October.  Each one of my project lists has something in common - I have never finished one.  It seems that establishing a project list is a death wish for those projects.  So what the heck did I do in October?  Well I did a few things, several of which are not completed:

1.  Tranquil Sea Baby Afghan - I referred to this in my October project list as one of the afghans I needed to finish.  I finished it - and I'm pretty happy with the result, so much so that it's in my Etsy store.

2.  Softest Baby Afghan Ever - I'm bragging now.  I not only finished this afghan, I made another exactly like it - all in October.  The first one was for a friend's baby shower and she loved it.  She also agreed that it was the softest baby afghan ever.  This second one is at Pretty Pretty Cindy.  

3.  Catherine Wheel Scarf.  I can't show you a picture of this one quite yet because it's out being photographed for my Etsy store.  As the title infers, this scarf is made using a cream yarn in the Catherine Wheel stitch.  I will be showing this one off soon, but if you want to see an example of a Catherine Wheel stitch, check out the most popular item at Pretty Pretty Cindy - Raspberry Sherbet Catherine Wheel Afghan

Now begins the started, but uncompleted items.  Some are really close, but others not so much:

4.  Scrap afghan - this one is sooo easy.  It's just double crochet with scrap yarn.  You change the colors at random.  You tie them together (which you would normally never do).  The extra strings you tie together to get a look like a tied quilt.  This one should be done soon.

5.  Pastel Baby Granny Squares.  This is more scrap yarn.  I love the colors, but haven't quite figured out how I want to put them together.  I am thinking of sashing like you would see in a quilt, but I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet.  Once I do, this project should be done quickly.

6.  Crazy Crazy Quilt.  I have been working on this for months and I can't decide whether I like it or not.  Either it will be one of those heirloom, one-of-a-kind quilts, or just a hot mess.  I used scraps for the patchwork and hand stitched the embroidery between the squares.  My embroidery is less than rudimentary, so I added some ribbons, ric-rac, buttons and fabric yo-yos randomly.  I better like it by the time I'm done, because I've spent far too many hours at this not to like it.

I'm not sure I want to do a November project list.  I need to start thinking about Christmas - make or buy?  I do think I'm past my crafter's block, but haven't figured out how to get more time to sew.  

Have a good Monday!

cindy

Softest Baby Afghan Ever!

This is another one of those projects I needed to finish and I love this one so much I'm going to make another one just like it.  This is Bernat Baby Blanket yarn in "Pitter Patter," a multi-color yarn in white, pink, blue and yellow.  It is a super bulky yarn that feels just like chenille - but thicker.  I've never worked with a super bulky yarn, but it is worked with a size N crochet hook.

The result is a super soft, cushy afghan - perfect for a baby.  It's also easy to work with because the stitches are so big.  It also doesn't take long to make a blanket like this.  It measures about 32" square and is worked from the middle, which makes it easier with this type of yarn.

I made this one for my Etsy store, but it didn't take long before I had to give it away for a co-worker's baby shower.  She loved it, as did everyone else at the shower.  I still listed it on Etsy because it won't take long to make another.  The pattern is from Bernat, but you can find it here.

Aren't these pictures gorgeous??  They are from my very talented friend, Kate Eschbach, who blogs here.  She has been taking photos for a long time and does a great job on product shoots as well as portraits and landscapes.  Great news for folks in the Phoenix area - Kate is now available as a full time photographer!!  I'm so excited for her because this has been her dream for some time.  It is a wonderful thing when you can work doing what you love.  

Speaking of doing what you love - I loved working with this yarn and I'm on a roll with crochet right now.  More coming soon.

cindy

Tranquil Sea Baby Afghan

Finally - here's a project I finished!  I didn't make this for anyone in particular (which is why you can find it in my Etsy store - PrettyPrettyCindy).  The yarn was a bit difficult to work with because that baby yarn can be so thin.  But the shell pattern with the delicate look of baby yarn was beautiful.

The best part of this afghan was a little trick I learned to give a regular shell pattern a three-dimensional look.  On each stitch, I inserted the hook into the back loop of the stitch below.  It looks a little like this:

O.K., it's hard to see in my picture, but I'm not great at taking a picture while holding fine yarn.  However, if you notice, the loop on the far right is the previous stitch and the one in the middle is yo over for the double crochet.  If you look at the stitch immediately to the left of the back loop, you will see that there are two loops on each stitch.  If you insert your hook into just the back loop instead of both loops (like you normally do), you get this three dimensional look.  It's also cool because that dimensional work appears on both sides of the afghan.

The other thing that was a little difficult was that the thin yarn appears to pull the stitches out of shape so they don't appear tight enough.  This is just amplified by using only the back loop.  But as you can see, it works just fine.

The other advice I would give working with this thin sport yarn is you really have to COUNT!  I hate counting stitches and many times when I'm making afghans, I just "eye" it so the sides line up.  But with fine lightweight yarn, that's nearly impossible.  I learned that the hard way when I had to rip out rows of stitches when I discovered I messed up many rows back.  Now wonder why it's been a while since I finished a project??

Anyway, I'm really proud of this one.  And, because I was given a lot of this baby yarn in white, pink, blue and green, I'll probably be making more baby afghans.

If you want the complete pattern for this afghan, you can find it here.

cindy

October Project List

As promised in my last post, I'm picking some projects for October.  As usual, I'm being ambitious with 5 projects, plus I would like to finish the projects I've been working on.  Well, at least I can try.  I've picked some I've been meaning to do for a while, but I also found a few new ones that look intriguing.  All are on Pinterest, so if anyone cares to join me, feel free (but let me see yours too!).  So without further ado, here are my five projects for October:

1.  Tutu - Oh man, I have to do this because Mackenzie has been begging for a while and I bought the tulle over a month ago.  There's no way I would hear the end of it if I decided to do a bunch of other projects first.  Like so many of these projects, this one is from Make-It-Love-It.

2.  Redo Sneakers  - This is one I just found, and it's actually two separate DIYs.  The first one is a fabric recover on some Toms (although I'm using my Target knock-offs) and the second is a recover of the soles.  These look fun because it's not anything I need, but if it works, I could use it.  This first one is from Elemental Carbon.  The re-sole is from Dream a Little Bigger

3.  Easy Elastic Band Skirt - This is another thing I've been wanting to do for a long time and I've had the elastic forever.  If this thing is as easy as it says (and they never are), I should be able to knock this out in an afternoon.  Yeah, right.  Again, this one is from Make-It-Love-It

4.  Fleece Hat and Scarf - I've got some fleece I need to use and this looks pretty easy.  I'm not completely sure what I will do with them because I'm in Arizona, but I can always throw them in my Etsy store.  The picture from the DIY is very bizarre because the lady who made these (Nebraska Views) doesn't show her grandchildren's faces.  So, here are some fleece scarves and hats on some smiley faces.

5.  Braided headbands - This is also a new thing I found that also looks so easy.  It should be a quick craft, but that's just not my way.  If these work, I'll also put some in the Etsy store, but I would definitely keep some for myself.  These beautiful items are from Alisa Burke, Redefining Creativity.

So there it is.  Five "simple" projects plus a couple quilts and afghans in progress (and a special project for a friend).  I'm getting a little excited.  Maybe this is a way to get me out of my crafter's block.  Cross your fingers.

cindy

PrettyPrettyCindy on Etsy

Yeah!  I know I've been talking about it for a while, but Pretty Pretty Cindy is finally a reality on Etsy!  I've already had my first sale - My Boucan Checker Afghan

But even better than that - I finally got my remaining inventory listed yesterday!  It took a little longer than I expected, but I'm so pleased with the results.  I have four sections in the store - Girl's Dresses, Headbands, Crochet and Quilts.  Here's a few samples from each section (just click on the picture to see the Etsy listing):

Calico Corner Headband

Here's one from Girl's Dresses (the headband is for sale in the Headband section):

Turquoise and Pink Paisley Size 4 5

Here's one from Crochet:

Raspberry Sherbet Catherine Wheel Afghan

Finally, here's one from Quilts (my quilts so far are just rag quilts):

Chocolate Pistachio Rag Quilt

I was very lucky to have the cutest models: Emma, Charlotte, Julia and my own Mackenzie (in some head shots of headbands).  Aren't they the prettiest?  My dresses look so good on them if I say so myself.  Thanks to their mom, Jennie, for sharing them.

I have a special thanks to my dear friend Kate from Songs Kate Sang Photography for taking all of these gorgeous pictures!  She is so talented and if you are in the Phoenix area, she would love to take your portraits.  She also has a popular blog at Songs Kate Sang and writing inspiring words at Beautifully Rooted.  She has such a kind heart and I'm proud to call her my friend.

So there it is, Pretty Pretty Cindy.  I'm happy to find an outlet for my creativity.  I hope someone else might enjoy it as much as I enjoy making it.

cindy

Checker Afghan

This has got to be one of the best crochet afghans I have made.  It's a Boucan stitch - you can see a video on YouTub with a tutorial on how to make it.

I used three colors to make this - a deep purple, a seafoam green and a variegated yarn can incorporated both colors and a few more.  The stitch requires you to intertwine rows so it is dense (and warm).  It does use a lot of yarn, so I used a pound skein in the  purple and green (obviously I had to use more of the regular skeins in the variegated color).  It also requires that you change the color at the end of each row, which can look messy while you are making it.

I used a crab stitch in a nice cream to go around it.  I end up with a bit of a wavy look, probably because it's not so easy to work in non-stitches.

I may just have to make another one of these.  In the meantime, you can find this one in my Etsy store.

cindy