It's a...

Boy!!! We had our 20 week ultrasound last week and found out our new addition is a healthy, strong, growing baby boy!! Of course, we're thrilled that he appears to be healthy at this point, but I was hoping just a bit that I would have an opportunity to make up some of the adorable little knit dresses I've been pinning on Pinterest. I guess I can still make them, and just post them and give them as gifts...if anyone I knew ever had girls! This will be the 13th boy born in a row on my Dad's side of the family, and 8 out of the last 13 were boys on my Mom's side. I told my hubby we'll just have to try again! (To which he replied, "Nuh-uh!!") He still really has a desire to have a little girl, but I just don't think he would ever be up to having that large of a family. We'll just have to see how this one goes...

We are nowhere near choosing a name for him yet, so we'll still call him Blessing until we figure out who he is.

I've been trying to wrap up my current projects so I can move on to bigger and better things, and this set is my most recent completion. I used Mosaic yarn, although I can't recall if it was Red Heart, Bernat, or something else. I had a couple of skeins of it I bought a few years ago, and finally started on the scarf over 1 year ago, but ran out of yarn before it was finished. I had it sitting in my knitting bag all this time. I ordered a couple more skeins from Etsy (I couldn't find it in stores anymore) about 6 months ago, finished the hat, and started on the fingerless mittens. I have had them sitting in my bag as well, while I've been working on baby items, waiting to match colors and get finished. I finished the ends and tucked in all the loose strings last week, and I think it makes a beautiful set.

I also made a couple of little hats for the baby, including the little lamb hat, but one of the hats was more feminine, since I had so much purple, and had pretty much convinced myself that we were having a girl. I got to make the hat again this week in a cute light blue, and all of it used up yarn I have in stock. Another opportunity for gift-giving...

One of the items I knew I wanted to make for this baby is a cocoon, and I found this beautiful pattern on Ravelry shortly after we found out we're expecting. I had a skein of the cream that hadn't been touched yet, so I bought two more to finish the project. Unfortunately, the original yarn was several years old and was apparently a different dye that has changed, so I ended up having 3 different shades of the same ivory in the cocoon. It wasn't even a cool "ombré" effect, so I had to go back to the store, buy 2 more skeins that matched the dye lot of 1 of the others, and start over. I had plenty of yarn leftover, so I found this great tutorial for a matching hat. Even though they're different shades, I don't think you'll notice when the pieces are on the baby.

My current projects are 2 different baby blankets, using essentially the same yarn. A few months ago, I was going to attempt to make an entrelac blanket, so I picked up 6 skeins of navy, teal, and purple (2 skeins each). I got bored with that idea, and after seeing how much the boys loved the granny square, I started on another one, using the purple as my base, and switching after 3 rounds. I worked on it for a few days, but it is slow going, so I decided to start another blanket for Blessing with the other 3 skeins. It will be a chevron ripple blanket, similar to the car blanket, with the same 3 colors. 

I figured having 2 blankets in the works was not such a bad thing, since we are taking a nice long car trip to Colorado next week, and I'll need something to work on that doesn't require a lot of pattern reading. I can work on the blankets without having to read anything, which will help with the motion sickness I'm sure will come and go with being in the mountains. I'm excited to have lots of time to crochet, and having something to help pass the time will be welcome. 

Since we'll be gone, I'll hopefully be back with some pretty photos of snow and mountains in a couple of weeks. Wish us luck with our 2 little guys, and a safe return next weekend!

April Showers!

I wish that the old saying were actually true, that April showers bring May flowers, but this year, it seems February drought brought all the March flowers! All of the trees have been flowering for weeks now, and many of them are already starting to turn green. Nonetheless, I figured it would be a great time for some spring cleaning and organizing, including taking inventory of my yarn and unfinished projects.

Going through my yarn was such an eye-opening experience! I now know exactly what colors and types I have, approximately how much of each kind, and can start planning my projects based on that. I am usually quite organized, but since we moved to our new apartment, I've not been as diligent about putting the yarns away when I'm finished with a project, or paying attention to how much is left. I've even started a project or two without realizing I didn't have enough yarn to finish, which has come back to bite me. I've got a whole queue now of projects that I already have yarn for, as well as the projects I have in the works and was already planning to make.

I love crocheting, and I love knitting, but sewing and weaving in ends and such has to be my least favorite part of any of my crafting. It's a great feeling to put the final touches on a project and send it away, give it away, or wear it, but sometimes I need a little push to get there, after it comes off the needles or hook. So I have several projects in my bag in need of that final TLC to get them ready to gift or use. 

One of the projects I've been working on is a granny square baby afghan that I've had since the boys were a few months old. I finished a beautiful elf hat at the time, and even made some adorable party hats out of the same yarn, and meant to even make a diaper cover with some of the leftover navy, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish all the little ends where the colors switch, which, in my defense, is every 2 rows. 

I hook and I Love This Yarn in navy, Red Heart with Love in iced aqua, Deborah Norville for the edging, and Vanna's Choice in radiant lime

I have finally managed to complete the project, and as much as my little men love their sleeping blankets, they LOVE this afghan! I wish I had finished it sooner, now that I see how much they love snuggling with this one. I will probably end up making another granny square (besides the ugly square) for them out of random skeins so they don't have to fight over it. 

Another project I finished up recently was this adorable little newborn hat, for our little one coming in August. This was the first project I started, literally the day after we found out we're expecting, and it's been in my bag for months now, waiting to be sewn together. I finally got out the darning needle and it took less than 10 minutes, and I think it turned out great. I can't wait to see it on our little lamb!

Vanna's Choice in white, Red Heart in pink

The next project was one I didn't realize how much yarn I had available, and ended up having to change two-thirds of the way in. I can not find more yarn anywhere, and even though I'm 90% positive it came from Michael's, they don't carry anything like it anymore. It was supposed to be a knit knot bag that I found on Pinterest, but when I couldn't find the yarn to finish the handle, I decided to turn it in to a loose cowl. The wool is a little itchy for my taste (or it may just be sensitive skin due to pregnancy hormones), but I love the color and know it will keep someone's neck warm through a cold winter. I still plan to make the bag at some point, but I'll have to buy yarn to do that, and I have enough to keep busy with for now.

I'm still not done tying up loose ends (ha!), but the few projects I have left shouldn't take too much time, and then I'd like to focus solely on the boys' project. I've had all the materials to finish it for over a year, so I think it's time to get it off my plate and move on. I'll hopefully have the rest of my unfinished projects done over the next week or so, and then with an empty yarn bag, I can start posting photos of the big project. 

Do you have a hard time doing the finishing steps on your projects?