Melyssa's Crochet!
When I was in New York City for New Year's 2001-02, my aunt Robin taught me how to crochet. I fooled around with some simple patterns, but I couldn't figure out what to make. Then, my good friends Nate & Suzy Tibbits had baby Will on January 17, 2002. I decided that he needed a baby blanket... not just any baby blanket, mind you - if it was going to be from me, it had to be red and blue, of course.
I searched the web and found a pattern (pdf) for a flag made out of afghan squares. I took some digital pictures as I went along, so I could show everyone what I did! The results are below. If you crochet, you might notice that my squares go clockwise rather than couter-clockwise - that's because I'm a lefty! (As usual, click on the pic for a larger image)
Other duckie recipients in 2004 - Hannah Diehl, Madison Black, Anika Shah Gupta, Leo Conley-Goldstein, Alexander Mockapetris, and Estella Rosen (Yes, I've been duck-crazy!)
I am now involved in the Arlington Stitch 'n' Bitch, and spending time at Knit Happens (our favorite little yarn store) in Alexandria. I finally learned how to knit, but I have so many crochet projects to finish (and many more duckies to make) that I can't start any other projects just yet.
| NEW: I
couldn't just keep making duckies, so I decided to turn the duckie pattern into a PENGUIN. This one is headed to California (where they don't have many penguins) for Miss Melina Rosen. :)
Basically, I made the duckie in black yarn, with slightly longer wings and a bigger beak, and made a white "patch" for his belly. The scarf and hat were added for fun. |
I finally made something for MYSELF! I
found a book of sweater patterns and decided (after many different sample
swatches) that this was the one. Here it is on a chair - I will post a
picture of me wearing it soon. :)
It's made of Mondial Splendid 100% Cotton yarn -- |
I made this adorable sweater for my niece,
Samantha. It is being delivered by
her grandparents over Halloween weekend. I just hope it fits! |
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In addition to the duckie I sent to Alexander M, his brothers (both 5 years old) requested their own animals - a spider, and a bat! So I accepted the challenge, and here they are! |
 Here's Mr. Spider. Made with black yarn and long black pipe cleaners (which I crocheted around so they're softer and less dangerous). If you want the pattern, let me know. :) |
 Mr. Bat. You can't see the little red beads I sewed on for his eyes (red yarn looked awful!). He also has pipe cleaners in his wings to allow him to stand up. He was much more of a challenge. I haven't written out the pattern yet, but I will! |
Here are the three animals as they were being boxed up |
This is my third duckie
full frontal duckie duckie 'mug shot'
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 This is Aunt Martha's dog, Shamas, wearing the sweater I crocheted for him last winter. (those are supposed to be snowflakes and a doggie bone) :) |
| I also bought a booklet of patterns for bags,
so here are a few of the bags I made.
Black drawstring bag - approx 8" long x 5" wide. Made it in an hour so I'd have a bag to carry to a dinner out! |
 Same bag with r/w/b variegated yarn. The stripes happened automatically! |
 Baby socks with self-striping yarn. (I just made a smaller version of the socks I had made for myself) My first attempt at socks - not pictured here. As you can see, the stripes didn't exactly line up correctly, but they're close enough! |
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Finished all the squares, laid them out on the rug. |
Sewed together each row of squares... changed the star arrangement. |
Close-up of the rows sewed together |
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The finished product |
Close-up of the finished flag (oops- got the camera strap!) |
(picture coming soon)
Wilson George Tibbits - |
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Once the flag was finished and given away,
it was time to do something else - so I made GLOVES! |
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Any ideas for my next project? let me know! |
