Baby Trio

This is by far the largest project I have been commissioned to make and completed. As I said in the previous post, the request came from a friend of a friend. I thought it was just going to be a blanket, but once the lady emailed me, she was asking for a blanket with a ribbon border and booties and toque to match. I agreed and it took me a little longer than I had anticipated due to a teething, fussy baby.

The hat was easy enough to make, but I could not find a pattern using lightweight yarn like I was using for the blanket. Finally found this one at Tampa Bay Crochet.

I made these cuties for the booties. It took me a while to decide on the size as the infant seemed too small, but following the larger pattern seemed much too big. I decided to size down my hook and they turned out a good size. I hope they fit. I wanted them to be big enough to fit for at least 6 months. If the baby's feet are anything like my son's, they will be lucky to fit for 3 months.

And now for the blanket. I knew the pattern already as I used it when making my son's blanket. I like how gentle it is compared to the traditional chevron look. I used Loops&Threads Snuggly Wuggly Silly Sprite. It is a beautiful and unique colour and I like it. I filled in the valleys on border so as to make the border a straight line. I thought this would make sewing on the ribbon when the time came.

When the time came to choose the ribbon, I found out the woman had had a baby boy and so the customer requested a blue ribbon if I could find one that matched. If I couldn't, she was leaving the colour to my expertise. I found a dark navy bias that seemed to look nice with the green. I bought it, ironed a centre crease, and began sewing it on.

The sewing machine was a huge challenge. More than it should have been. My sister allowed me to borrow hers. I had to look up how to create the bobbin and the way to do the zigzag stitch I wanted. Then I did a test strip. The bobbin thread kept bunching and breaking off. After probably a good 30 minutes of frustration, I turned to my husband. He came and sat down beside me while holding our son and I showed him what I was doing. He then took the piece from me, looked at it once, and figured out that I wasn't pushing it in far enough for it to lock in like I thought I was. Oops. I did a couple test strips for the stitch and then began on the actual blanket and border.

Since this was my first time sewing a border, let alone a border on a crochet blanket, I'd say it turned out pretty well. The front looks good, but the back isn't as even. I'm hoping that it is normal, or at the very least alright because it is on the back. I do like how it looks with a border and would like to try more borders some time, but I would like my own sewing machine first.

I do have the other mermaid blanket to work on, but I think I can safely take a break until next week.

~Em