Saturday 25 April 2015

Accidental blanket and matching toy

I accidentally started making a blanket. I didn't mean to but all that knitting woe in March made me want to succeed at something. I have sorted the purple leftovers into a summer dress top and the red school cardigan is or course finished so just the man knit to regain motivation on.



I have wanted to try the clamshell crochet stitch from Cherry Heart for a while now but couldn't face a massive blanket project. My cousin revealed to me that she is having a baby girl so I thought a car-seat-pram sized baby blanket would be the perfect size to try out.



After about three rows I turned off the tablet thinking I knew the pattern. I crocheted on only to realise I had been doing it wrong but I liked the jelly bean effect so I made a clamshell stitch on the top and bottom to get away with it. Can you spot it?



The yarn is a dent on the last of the Art if knitting yarn I was given a couple of years ago by my mum's friend so it is a freebie pressie which was ultimately satisfying to make. 



But you know, as ever there are still scraps. I hate putting scraps away so I made this too on the train to Stratford the other week while a small nine year old boy watched me then I taught him to read a crochet pattern because he could already crochet!! I know amazing... he actually understood it and read out the decreases as I did them on the head. I let him stuff the head because he was so keen. Talking of scraps..


Ahh, so that is why I kept that teeny bit of black yarn...for eyes on toys. I wondered what it was doing in there.


She is really rather lovely. I am a bit picky about hand knit toys but this one is a corker. You can get this giraffe pattern free from Ravelry HERE. This one is for Little M because I promised it her ages ago. She has called it Gerry.


Jo xx



15 comments:

  1. Love them both. I love that the babies of today get a big choice of colour, not just pink and blue.
    And Gerry is gorgeous!

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  2. You work so quickly I can't keep up with you, very impressive. I love both the blanket and the toy, delightful.

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  3. What a beautiful little blanket, Jo, and Gerry the giraffe is just as cute as can be! Amazing ... about that little boy! xo

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  4. A wonderful toy and a beautiful blanket. I love the story of the little boy on the train reading the pattern and stuffing the head. A fun trip for him.
    Hugs to you,
    Meredith

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  5. That is a gorgeous giraffe. My daughter would have loved that when she was younger. As for the blanket, I spotted the different stitches but only because you encouraged me to look for them. This looks like a really practical blanket.

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  6. Beautiful blanket and the giraffe is so cute! :)

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  7. You are one talented lady! I've tried to do 3d crochet but all I can manage at the moment is blankets. Well done on such beautiful projects. Judy.

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  8. Love the blanket design! I'm always thinking I know the pattern, stop looking then...do it completely wrong. Unfortunately mine does not turn into a new unique pattern like yours but ends up having to be unravelled! That's great about the 9 year old boy-how great that he could crochet! xx

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  9. Beautiful blanket and darling toy. I'm out blog walking...too rainy to walk outside and am enjoying finding more knitters and crocheters who blog.

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  10. Too cute! Your cousin will treasure these gifts!

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  11. Too cute! Your cousin will treasure these gifts!

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  12. So gorgeous. The blanket works just fine and I wouldn't notice any difference even when you pointed out out. The tot is great too. I'm not great at crocheting toys. Knitted a few but not crochet. She's lovely.
    Rosie

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  13. Gerry is brilliant. Short for Geraldine perhaps ?
    Have a great week :)
    Jillxo
    ps have sourced mans old Tshirt for transformation into a top. Still trying to psych myself up for it lol

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  14. I like the jelly bean effect too - you have created your own new crochet stitch! I love the colours too.
    What a clever boy on the train - his mum or gran must be ardent crocheters!
    Caz xx

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  15. I love that you got chatting to a boy on a train and he helped you with your crochet - that is too cute for words. Excellent blanket (I didn't notice the pattern difference) but Gerry wins hands down, what a great pattern and the colours work well. x

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