Birthday Gifts

I recently attended several birthday parties.  Everyone has so much stuff nowadays that it's really either gift card or something hand-made for gifts.  There really is no point blogging about gift cards so here are the hand-made ones.

I whipped up a couple dish clothes for one.  I had asked what her favorite color was and she said she really liked the blue and yellow in her kitchen, perfect!

One of the balls of yarn had a pattern for this bag.  I knew that this person liked to go to the farmer's market and stuff so I decided to try it out with the leftover yarn from the dish clothes.  I think it turned out pretty good and would be very handy for carrying fruits or vegetables.  And because it's made out of the cotton yarn, you can just throw it in the wash if it gets dirty!  It came out a little smaller then I had hoped but pretty good for a first time.

The second gift was for a chick that is currently trying to become a vet and loves frogs.  I came across these cute fellows in a magazine and just had to make them.

Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts.  Cheap, easy, and mostly useful!  Just the way I like it :o)

A Blanket For Baby

I have just finished my most recent crochet project.  A friend from work is having a baby so I decided to make a blanket set for her.  Her theme is kind of safari/zoo so I figured a nice giraffe set would go well.  This project involved a blanket, a pillow, and a toy.  This is the first "set" project I have done.  I think it turned out pretty well.  It took about 3 months but it was well worth it.  I hope baby likes it!

First the blanket.  I made the base first (the green and blue).  Then added the tree and grass.  Then came the leaves and clouds.  I then made both the giraffes and sewed them to the blanket.  Last came the clouds and the fringe.

 

 

 

Once the blanket was done it was on to the pillow and the toy.  The pillow was pretty simple.  Make the pillow then add the trees, leaves, cloud, and grass.  Then leg loops for the toy to sit in.  I took an old pillow case and cut and sewed it to fit in the pillow instead of just stuffing the pillow to keep the stuffing from pulling through the crochet.  I could not do the same for the toy so hopefully the stuffing stays in the toy where it should be.

 

If my pictures would have been better you might get a better view of the cute smile on the toy but you will just have to imagine.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  Half the instructions were "Follow the picture" and the picture didn't even show most of the project so I think I did a pretty good job.  Sometimes you just have to toot your own horn!  The mom seemed to like it so that's the main thing.

On to the next project!  Not sure if I'll move on to the next baby set (a sheep theme that is really hard) or whip up some quick dish clothes or slippers for my sister or a blanket for my mom!  Ahh!  So many projects, so little time!  And Christmas is right around the corner!  Better get working!