Wow, how did it become April already? I’ve been so lax about writing down details on my yarnie projects, but I guess I’ve just been too busy finishing one up and starting another.
The cutest thing I made in March is definitely this adorable lovey. I made it just in time for a friend’s baby shower. She had a cute forest animal theme for the shower so I thought I’d try to fit the theme. Although I found out later that her actual baby room was Helly Kitty themed. Oh well, the lovely was still fawned over.
I happened to have just the right colors in my stash for this project. It was a very quick knit. The pattern was very clear, and the blanket increases were fast and intuitive. I only wish that I had attached the arms to Round 1 rather than Round 2. I definitely recommend the Darling Deer Lovely pattern by Briana Olsen on Ravelry.
I then got caught up on the March BAMCAL and did the main Picture Frame 12″ square, a pattern by Lisa Naskrent. It’s actually part of a free ebook called Chain Reaction Afghan Project which contains 20 squares; and it’s FREE.
The pattern was quite easy though I did make some modifications to ensure that it didn’t ruffle. The mods are on my Ravelry project page. I’m not quite sure about the blue color I chose to put in the middle, but I do love the framed effect with the grey. Also, if you look closely, I totally messed up the concentric circles in the middle, but that’s okay; still turned out well.
The filler square for March wasn’t really my style, and I didn’t think it would fit the overall aesthetic of my blanket, so I searched for another pattern. I ended up making the Spiro Star pattern by Helen Shrimpton. I decided to do it in two colors because I really liked the graphic pattern as outlined by the white yarn on the grey. This was a great pattern, and I really enjoyed making it.
I’ve been enjoying making two blocks a month so far, and I do like that they’re different patterns but are pulled together by the color scheme. I think my next crochet block blanket will be the same pattern though; I’d just love to see how that would look.
Since one of my goals this year was to make 7 socks, I pushed myself to finish another sock in March. I figure: if I make one sock a month, I’ll be well on my way to reaching my goal.
I had a self-striping yarn in my stash that I’d bought back in November so I decided to use that up first. It was a skein of Wisdom Yarns Stanza in Blake colorway that I’d bought at the LYS along with two other sock yarns. It’s a 75/25 wool/nylon blend. I searched on Ravelry for a while for a good pattern that would highlight the stripes.
I ended up using Pin Striped Socks by Julia Swart. I like the pattern created by the slipped stitches. It also featured an afterthought heel, something I hadn’t done before. While I liked that the afterthought heel didn’t break up the stripes, I kinda missed the thicker feel on the back of the heel that I usually get when doing the usual knit and slip stitches. On the other hand, I did get a lot of Kitchener Stitch practice in!