Baby Girl Afghan

I used Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn in Neopolitan

   When I found out that my cousin Mal was going to have a baby girl, I knew that I wanted to crochet an afghan for her. Her mom told me that the nursery theme was going to be mossy oak camouflage in pink. Perusing the shelves of Joann Fabrics one afternoon I came upon the lovely yarn that I would use for this project. The shades of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry come together perfectly in this afghan and will hopefully match the nursery theme as well!

Personalized label from Etsy shop Ananemone Labels

I chose to use a shell stitch for this afghan. A shell stitch is so cute and cozy for a baby girl's blanket! The above video is the one that I used to learn how to do the shell edging on the afghan. 

I wish that I would have remembered to measure the dimensions of the blanket before I gave it to Mal. Then you would know the actual size but it was big enough to keep a baby warm and small enough for an older child to carry around as their "blankie".

I also made some reversible flannel receiving blankets for Mal's baby girl. I will post about those soon.

The Crochet Bug

I got the crochet bug when I was a little girl. My grandmother Mary taught me how to do the basic stitches and I was hooked (pun intended) for life. I would pick up the hook and yarn on and off over the years until three years ago when I really got serious about it again.
To freshen up my skills and add some new stitches to my arsenal I turned to YouTube for video tutorials. I never could read a pattern and being a visual learner this was the perfect solution. Learning from the videos was even a little tricky for me. It turns out that I do things a little bit differently than everyone else because the grandmother who taught me crochet is left handed! So I hold my yarn differently and I tend to work from the back instead of the front. I tried to change how I work but I am so used to the other way that I gave up. I might have to adjust some projects to my way of doing things but as long as the end result is the same I figure it doesn't matter how I get there!

I love to crochet. It is the perfect cold weather hobby. Curled up under a blanket with a fresh skein of yarn watching a show with my husband is a perfect evening. The satisfaction, pride and accomplishment I feel when completing a project or mastering a new stitch can't be beat. 

Do you crochet or knit? What are your favorite things about it?