Mom's "Lemon Drops" Afghan

Here's another beautiful afghan crocheted by my mother for our local Project Linus. She calls this one "Lemon Drops." It's made with all donated yarn and is approximately 30 x 40 inches. She is such a fast crocheter and is helping me out tremendously. Thanks, Mom!

For the last couple of months, I have been knitting socks, slippers, hats, and sweaters with some lovely superwash wool yarn that I purchased at Knit Picks. I love buying yarn from them and I'm very happy with it. It's extremely soft. I encourage knitters to try their hand at knitting socks because it is not difficult if you just follow the directions. Socks are fun to make, easy, and work up quickly.

Mom's "Lotsa Berries" Afghan

My mother finished another beautiful afghan for Project Linus. She calls this one "Lotsa Berries" because of all of the beautiful berry colors. She used all donated yarn again. The afghan is about 30 x 40 inches. Another beautiful one, Mom. Thanks again for the help!

Mom's "Jelly Beans" Afghan

My mother finished another afghan for Project Linus. She is a very fast crocheter! This afghan uses all donated yarn again. This one has a lot of a very pretty variegated color. Mom calls this one "Jelly Beans." Notice the beautiful lacy edging on this one. The afghan is about 30 x 40 inches.

It's really helpful to me that my mother is continuing to make Project Linus afghans while I'm busy working on some other projects. She's choosing wonderful colors for the children.

Mom's Second Project Linus Afghan

Here's another afghan my mother made. It's made entirely with Caron Simply Soft yarn, some of which was donated. It is 30 x 40 inches. It's a really great pattern because it goes so fast. Mom calls this afghan "Sherbet Flavors."

Thanks, Mom, for helping out with the Project Linus afghans.

Mom's Project Linus Afghan

I have received so much yarn from generous people that I asked my mother (Myrna M.) if she would like to help in assembling afghans. She was very excited about it. She crocheted this colorful afghan entirely with donated yarn. I am donating it to my local Project Linus chapter. It is approximately 30 x 40 inches and uses all worsted weight yarn.

I am still slowly working my way through making one afghan for every state. Any afghans my mother makes to help me out will go on my blog, and the afghans that I actually make myself will go on the Project Linus Photos section of my website.

Thanks again, Mom, for helping out. And thanks again to all of you who sent in yarn donations.

Ponchos and Hats

For the last several months, I have been knitting and crocheting hats for the military and ponchos for Children of the Night.

The knit hats were made with Patons Merino wool and I used this free pattern. The colors used were chestnut, treebark, and cream. For the cream cap, I used mistake rib pattern. For the chestnut and treebark colors, I used a simple 2 x 2 rib. I sent all the caps to The Ships Project. (Click on the pictures for a larger image.)

For the ponchos, I crocheted this adorable pattern with bulky yarn. I used mostly Lion Brand Jiffy yarn and some Lion Brand Homespun yarn. I used this free pattern from Lion Brand yarn, but I omitted the fringe at the bottom and crocheted a simple reverse single crochet stitch.

This teal poncho was knitted on a knitting loom. I used Lion Brand Jiffy yarn in teal (which I bought for half price on a clearance sale at Michael's for $1.00 per skein!), and Lion Brand Microspun yarn in French Vanilla. The knitting loom is super simple to use and makes gorgeous items. No knitting skills are needed - anyone can make a lovely garment like this!

This lacy crocheted poncho used Red Heart Super Saver yarn and just a basic crochet pattern. I made a chain about 18 inches long and joined. Then I did one round of half-double crochet. Then I did a chain 5, skip 3 chains, and sc in the next stitch around. For the next and subsequent rows, I slip stitched into the center of the next ch-5, then I did ch-5, sc in the center of the next ch-5 around until it was as long as I wanted it. For the bottom I did some simple shells.

Sweaters

I've been very busy the past several months making sweaters for charity and for family. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

I made this sweater for Guideposts Knit for Kids. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn and I made it to fit an older child according to the patterns on their website. This is the crocheted pattern.

I also knitted this lovely layette set with this pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. This yarn is Red Heart Soft Baby in blue, but I used two different skeins that were donated and they were not the same dye lot, so the cap and booties are a little darker. I modified this pattern to give it a shallow V-neck and I added extra buttons down the front. I made the 6-month size. This layette will be donated, along with several other baby items that were donated to me, to a maternity home or a crisis pregnancy center for Miracles Happen charity.

Finally, I knitted the cutest sweater for my adorable niece with the Lion Brand pattern above, but I modified the pattern and used the rosebud pattern from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. I used Red Heart Soft Baby yarn in white and I made the 24-month size. My niece is just 2 years old and it appears to fit her well. Isn't she just a little doll?