Winter Projects

I worked on many projects over the holidays and the beginning of the year. All were for gifts, so I couldn't post them! FINALLY, I can talk about my FOs (Finished Objects).

This was a milestone birthday for our friend Natalie, so I wanted to make her something special. Natalie is a very creative quilter, seamstress and knitter. I asked her months ago if she had an afghan. I knew that she had started a few, but I'd never seen a finished result. Natalie let me know that she had her grandma's classic granny square afghan and that she used it often.

OK! A household needs more than one afghan! I set about looking at patterns, thinking about colors, etc. I knew that I wanted to make Natalie's afghan with acrylic yarn. There are dogs and cats at Nat's house and it's always good to make washable household items.

I looked through some quilt designs and thought I'd make an afghan that resembled a quilt, since Natalie is a quilt designer herself. I came up with a design of different sized squares, but the colors I chose just didn't work. I ended up crocheting the whole thing and not liking it. 

Modern Design Afghan

The Modern Design Afghan now sits on our side bench, next to our bed for chilly nights.

Victorian Lattice Square

I've always liked the Victorian Lattice Square. I chose some bright colors, along with white trim and went to work. I used a classic afghan design of solid squares, repeated on the diagonal. In order to join each square without sewing, I crocheted a classic granny square border and joined the squares as I went along. I like it! The afghan is cheerful and bright!

Victorian Lattice Afghan

My secret label

We had postponed our birthday celebration for a couple of months, so I had even MORE time to make something else for the birthday girl. I recently was attracted to the art of intarsia knitting. You can read about my interest HERE. I decided to attempt knitting a beanie with little dachshunds running around the circumference. Natalie is a doxie owner and lover.

Mary Jane Mucklestone's book of Scandinavian Motifs and the Doxie Beanie

The little doxies are so cute, trotting around the hat!

After I knitted the doxies, I realized that I really should have used 100% wool yarn for the hat. Wool is more forgiving for intarsia designs. The acrylic I used are the perfect colors, but they just don't "give" that much. Sigh. Oh well, Natalie likes her doxie beanie! It looks great on her.