How can you show love from 5000 miles away?
My dear friend recently had her first baby, and as much as I long to be there to lend a hand, I am on another continent. So I decided to make her a special gift. I'm not sure about you, but some of my favourite gifts are homemade.
I browsed Pinterest for some inspiration, I was feeling very indecisive; What kind of blanket would she love most? How could I make it unique? Should I go for a fun shape, add appliques or do a patchwork style? Then I found this beautiful star afghan pattern.
This is my fifth crochet project, you can see some of my previous efforts, a Steem Hat and a MLP Pinkie Pie Hat on my page (I will blog about my fourth project soon!) I encountered a couple of challenges along the way, but I am very proud with the end product and I think my friend will LOVE it (well I hope so and in about 2 weeks when it reaches England we will know!!)
I had to restart a few times and in the end I watched a YouTube tutorial and crocheted along with it for a few rows. But once I got the hang of the pattern I just memorized it and kept on adding rows. I chose to use a glittery white and purple, alternating every 2 rows.
It was tricky to work with the 2 balls of wool connected to the blanket at the same time, but I didn't want to keep casting off and on with each colour. I think in the end it worked out nicely.
I would appreciate a little advice, in the photo below you can see how the line where I joined the old row and started each new row has migrated slightly and gone a bit wonky. I didn't notice until I laid it flat, and I am not going to unpick it all- it was made with love and shows that it really is homemade right?! But I would like to understand what I did wrong, so that next time I can correct it.
In this photo you can see how the star points came out, I really love the effect. It was 3 double crochet stitches then a chain stitch of 3 then 3 more double crochets. I like the little holes it makes and how it rounded the corner slightly.
To check the finished size my little girl tried it out! The baby will definitely have room to grow into it. M really loved it and really wanted to keep it, but she sweetly wrapped it up for the baby and helped me mail it out. I can't wait for it to get there :)
Also I apologise for my absence lately. My grandmother was sick and passed away, so I went home to England to be with family. My babies and I are back stateside now, and ready to get back in the swing of things.
I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmom.
Your blanket is beautiful, I like the colors and the shape.
Thank you, the star shape is what appealed to me among the sea of rectangles! It was actually surprisingly easy once I learned the pattern. Great for a beginner!
That blanket looks so cosy, a lovely gift.
Thank you :) I think my friend will love it. It is really soft.
See how beautiful the blanket looks. Its amazing how we can learn fast from the internet. Overjoyed will be the expression on the mom's face.
Really sorry about your grandma. You needed to do that travel. Welcome back☺
I love the internet, such a great resource of ideas and inspiration. I find YouTube videos are great for new skill tutorials. I can't wait until she gets it in the mail.
I am so blessed to be able to travel back and spend time with family. Thank you for your kind words.
What a cute blanket! Ah, me too, I prefer a homemade gift as it has a personal and emotional touch in there.
Thank you :)
Sorry to hear about your grandmother. I hope the family reunion brought you some comfort.
This is an incredible star blankie. I love the contrast and it looks great on your little girl, awww.
You are so sweet, it definitely helped. I think it also helped my family to have my 2 little monsters running around and being cute! I feel very honoured that you suggest I enter your contest, some of the entries are so beautiful.
Aw, the little monsters. Always good for cheering people up :D
Can't wait to see what you bring to the contest.
Anj xx
Sorry about your grandmom @thriftymum. And the blanket is beautiful. I really like the alternating purple and white colors. I am sure your friend will like it too :)
Thank you :) purple is my favourite colour and I thought white is a traditional baby colour! I am very pleased with the overall effect.
Wow! That is one amazing looking afgan @thriftymum! I love the star pattern and the points. That must have been hard to make! How sweet that your daughter wanted to keep it but helped you pack it up! Happy #NeedlworkMonday to you!
She is all about presents right now! So when I told her it was a gift for the baby she immediately wanted to wrap it up! Happy #needleworkmonday to you too, I really look forward to them.
@thriftymum I send my condolences to you and your family for your loss. I’m glad you were able to get away and spend time with family for awhile. I admit when I saw that you posted for #NeedleWorkMonday I was excited. I have missed seeing you around and I am glad you are back. 😊
This star blanket is soooo pretty! I love the design and the colors you chose. How were you joining your rows? Normally when I am adding a new color to a row I always add it in before I sl st to the beginning of the next row. So I’ll add in the new color then sl st and ch 1 (if pattern calls for it). I’ve learned that it comes out smoother that way instead of adding your color in later if that makes sense.
Welcome back and thank you for sharing with us this week~ 🌸
Thank you @crosheille, it was nice to make new memories as well as reminisce together. That is so sweet of you :) there are so many amazing posts for #needleworkmonday and I feel flattered. I have really enjoyed catching up with the creative ladies here on Steemit this week.
I did add the colour and then do the sl st and chain in the new colour, when I didn't in the beginning then there was a part of the colour before in the row and it looked funny. I think I maybe accidentally added some stitches, well that is what google suggested! haha.
You are very welcome~
I am so glad you have been able to catch up with some of the ladies!!
Lol oh okay I see now! It sounds like google could be right!! 😅