"One Skein" Throw

A college friend of ours just got married on Saturday. We got the save-the-date months ago, but I have been so delightedly distracted by pattern designing that I didn't think about crocheting something for the couple until two weeks before the wedding. It has become a recent personal goal of mine to crochet a blanket to accompany every wedding gift I give and a baby blanket to accompany every baby shower gift. I needed to act quickly and ended up trying out the free One Skein Throw pattern from Coats and Clark. I highly recommend it, though it certainly took more than one skein! I cheated a bit and used an 8mm hook and 8mm yarn for a very plush throw rather than the 6.5mm that the pattern calls for. The pattern is based on a relaxed two row repeat that works up quickly and I'm quite pleased with how the throw came out. I worked mine up a little differently from the pattern example. I hope that the newlyweds enjoy it!

I thought it would be nice for them to snuggle under it on the couch and watch movies. Making this blanket was enjoyable enough that I will most likely make it again in the future.

Lullaby Baby Set

Hello there, yarnies. I'm sorry to report that there won't be a Friday Focus today. I took a little too long to get the ball rolling on a couple of designers I was interested in, so there wasn't adequate time given to expect a response from them by Thursday night. Not to worry! Friday Focus will be back next week and I've got several amazing designers lined up.

The day is not a total loss. In fact, a little greedy part of me is actually a bit happy that I get to post my own work today...perhaps I subconsciously neglected the Friday Focus? In any case, what I have to share with you today is a brand new pattern! I'm really proud and excited to share it with you. May I present the Lullaby Baby Set.

Although the pattern uses basic stitches and could be accomplished by a beginner, the appliques were an intense amount of work to both design and attach. When I was finished I truly felt triumphant. Those who make this set are sure to take pride in their work.

The blanket shows a musically accurate version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in the key of G. When I first began designing crochet patterns I knew I wanted to make a baby blanket based on sheet music. It took me a little while to decide which song to go with. Another strong contender was Ode to Joy (for your little bundle of joy!), but I ultimately went with Mozart over Beethoven and selected this children's classic. Did you know that Mozart formally arranged Twinkle, Twinkle at one point? I didn't before I wrote this set! I stumbled across that little tidbit while I was deciding which key and meter to put it in.

 

A few of my appliques ended up a little tipsy, but I think it gives my blanket character. The pattern is available on Ravelry. Special thanks go out to my incredible pattern tester who whipped up her sample in less than a week! She is super duper speedy, I really don't know how she does it. Keep a look out for her upcoming project page on Ravelry. She said that the colors she chose reminded her of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Cute!

Stayed tuned to Illuminate Crochet, folks. Next week we will resume our usual broadcast schedule!