Mermaid Tail Crochet Baby Blanket

My poor blog has fallen by the wayside in the last couple of years. A lot of life stuff has happened while I've been absent and I'm now a busy mama to not just Poppet (who is almost 6, btw!) but also to my sweet boy who just turned 11 months. It's busy around here these days and I have a lot less time and energy for crafting but I have noticed in the last few weeks I'm feeling a lot more inspired to get making (and I have several projects underway!). I've managed to make a few things recently. My biggest make of recent months has been a mermaid tail baby blanket for my second niece who's arrival is eagerly anticipated by the whole family (and not least by her mama!). A few more weeks to go before we get to squish her!

This new baby has a beautiful mermaid themed nursery ready and waiting for her. As soon as I knew the nursery theme I just knew I had to make her a mermaid tail blanket! These have become very popular here in the UK in the last few years but I wanted to make one that is different to the rest. Most mermaid tail blankets are like cocoons that you put your legs in and pull up over you to make it look like you're wearing the tail. These are cute and I even made one for Poppet a couple of years ago, but for a baby I wanted a flat blanket. Those cocoon/pouches are sweet but so impractical. Have you ever tried to stuff an octopus into a sock? That's how I'd best describe what it is to get a squirmy baby into one of those!

I scoured Pinterest for inspiration and looked all over for a flat mermaid tail blanket. I knew in my mind's eye what I wanted it to look like but it appeared that no one else had thought of it yet (and I'm not clever enough to design my own!). But then I found this great post which was just what I wanted! Kali at the Friend Red Fox had already done the hard work for me and written up her pattern for a mermaid tail baby blanket. So I dived right in! I had a few setbacks due to choosing the wrong thickness of yarn and then trying to upscale the pattern but I just couldn't make it work. I eventually went back to my local yarn shop and bought the right kind of yarn and whipped the blanket in just a few evenings. It's amazing what can happen when you stick to the pattern, ha!

Mermaid Tail Crochet Baby Blanket

I particularly wanted to share this project as I found it so difficult to find a pattern for a flat blanket with a mermaid tail that was suitable for a baby. I used Caron Simply Soft in Ocean for the main blanket colour and in Teal Zeal for the tail and border with a 4.5mm hook as I wanted a tighter fabric. For the border, I used this great pattern to get that seashell/wave look and using the ombre yarn has really given it a nice effect.

 

This blanket has turned out so well, I may be making more for future babies! I didn't measure it before gifting it but I would say it's a good size for a baby or toddler and ideal for a carseat as there is plenty to tuck in around the legs. I think for the best effect, the blanket is ideal for use in a crib or cot as then you'd see the full tail. I can't wait to see my baby niece snuggled under this!

Baby Makes

Here's a little selection of items I've crocheted in the last year or so for some new babies.

Tiddly mary-janes for a little lady's christening

This is the beginnings of a little baby blanket

There were a LOT of ends to sew in!

Tiny granny squares, all joined up with dc

I worked on it everywhere I went, even in the car on the way to Cornwall!

Here's how it turned out, and I must say I love the colour combination

Checkout the mustard!

These cute wee turban are always a hit for new baby girls

A pink granny square blanket with a white ruffle edging

A teensy turban for a wee baby born several weeks early

A wee dolly blanket for Poppet's little baby Susie

A wee teddy hat for a boy due to be born very soon

There's something special about making items for new babies. I think I prefer making baby items the most! I know I treasure all the handknitted and crocheted items Poppet has received over the years, and I always hope the items I give make a little difference to a new baby's wardrobe!

Until next time!

K x

Pram Hydration Station

I always have a bottle of water with me whenever I leave the house. It's a habit I've had for years, and it greatly contributes to my drinking 2-3 litres a day. Pushing a pram around, especially in the heat we've had recently, is thirsty work and in a bid to make my life a bit easier when it comes to rehydrating, I have been on the lookout for a nice but practical water bottle holder. Well, they apparently don't exist! So I decided to make my own based on a few ideas I found floating around on Pinterest.

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm not a great sewer and me and my sewing machine have a love/hate relationship, but I decided to look past that and get making. And boy am I pleased with my first water bottle holder!!

Pram Hydration Station

The way my pram (I drive a Mothercare Spin in limited edition black jacquard, for those of you who may be interested) folds, I need something that can quickly and easily be taken off the handle bar, and many of the shop bought items I've seen just don't offer that, hence my own creation. This bottle holder wraps around the handle bar and secures with two popper studs. It literally takes 5 seconds to put on/take off and that's just what us Mummies want when packing and unpacking the pram for a trip out of the house.

I used some scraps of floral fabric I had in my stash and borrowed Mr PC's popper stud gadget, so this wee project didn't cost a penny! Those are the best kind of projects, aren't they? 

What I really like best about this bottle holder is that it's so versatile. It will fit onto pretty much any type of pram and can be positioned anywhere you want it, unlike so many branded bottle holders which have to go on a specific part of the pram chassis. You can also use it for a baby bottle, and possibly for your takeaway coffee cup, although I have yet to test it for this purpose.

I uploaded a pic onto my Instagram feed and it was very well received with several people wanting to purchase one, which was a great surprise! I am currently working on some ideas and they will be appearing in my Etsy shop in the near future, so keep an eye out there for them. 

Sublime Baby Poncho

Oohh, look at me blogging twice in a row!

Today I'm showing off my latest make for Poppet, a poncho! When I was a teenager, ponchos were all the rage but not crochet ones. Crochet was not cool. I had a grey fleece one with a funnel neck, it was tres chic because it was from Next and it cost me several weeks pocket money in the sale. Anyway, I digress. Apparently ponchos are back and they are cool and crochet is cool again, so when I saw a pattern in my copy of Cute and Easy Crochet Baby Clothes, I just had to make it!

As usual, I didn't have the suggested yarn, but I did still have some gorgeous Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK  (I think this is my top fave yarn ever) which I've previously mentioned here and here and here. This stuff is utterly sublime to work with and it washes up pretty well. I also made Poppet a turban with it and it still looks pretty good after umpteen washes.

The stitch is a cluster stitch I hadn't tried before but once I got the hang of it, I flew through the patten. It took a lot of yarn to make, I used four 50g balls which I think is a lot consideing it's a baby item. It was a quick project as it only took a few hours to hook up and it is absolutely adorable! 

I added a couple of rows of dc around the neckline as the foundation row was a bit stretchy and I think I added a few rows on the bottom as Poppet is quite tall and I want it to last that wee bit longer. I wish you could feel the srumptiousness of this stitch, it's just lovely. I don't have any pics to share of Poppet modelling as a) it's summer and way too hot for a poncho! and b) Mr PC and I have decided not to feature her on the blog for reasons I'm sure I don't have to explain. I hope you can imagine the poncho's loveliness from the below pic.

Roll on the return of poncho season! I may even work out how to make one in mummy size!

Finished WIP: Crochet Elephant

A couple of weeks ago I managed to finish the crochet elephant I was making for Poppet. It turned out to be a whole lot bigger than I expected it to but I love it! We've called her Rosie.

Here's a pictorial 'making of'.

If you would like the pattern, you can find it here. 

Lampshade spruce up

We are finally nearing the end of Project Nursery, and boy has it been a long process! I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say, it has involved a lot of 'argh when is this going to end' moments. Today I want to show off my spruced up lampshade.

The nursery is pink and white and so I took a plain boring white lampshade from Ikea (where else?!) and got myself some trimmings which I glued on with the glue gun. You gotta love a glue gun, it's great for everything!

Here's how the lampshade looks now it's hanging in the nursery.

Pink ric rac, white ric rac and some mini pink pom pom trim.

Introducing some old friends

As Poppets estimated arrival date approaches (7 weeks to go!), Mr PC and I have been working on getting organised and sorted with the nursery and all that stuff. There's a whole long story about this process which I will spare you for now, but as I formulate the plan for the nursery in my mind's eye, I have been squirrelling away some items and also fishing out some old items from my own childhood.

When I was a kid we moved house and country a few times which means that many things like toys and clothes were parted with throughout the years. Now at the grown up age of 28 there are just a few items left which are the ones that I could not bear to part with. Everyone needs some of their childhood toys and games, right?

Well, two items which I wanted to add to Poppet's nursery have been unearthed from their storage box in the loft and have been spruced up ready for their new home. And Mr PC's Steiff bear has been fetched from his parents' loft and has joined the crew too.

So without further ado, I'd like to introduce three of our old friends:

Hamish 
Hamish is my teddy bear which my great grandfather bought for me when I was born. He went everywhere with me and even has a wife and son (Mrs Hamish and Baby Hamish).

He looks rather dashing now as he had a short stint at the Teddy Hospital the other week and got a thorough wash and blow dry along with a new leg and a new spiffy pair of boots.  This is a pic of him before his treatment:

I'm not sure if you can see the difference, but he really came back looking good as new! And the story about his leg goes like this: Way  back when we were still kids, my little sister somehow managed to pull his leg off and although mum sewed it back on, it went awol after a while and poor Hamish had been one-legged ever since! Now he is back to his former glory and I realised how much I loved this bear. I hope Poppet will love him just the same too.

Dolly
This pink knitted dolly was another of my top favourite toys and she came along on many days out. I carried her in my 'handbag' (a pink plastic shopping basket) whenever I went anywhere.

She's in pretty good condition all things considered and just spent a couple of nights in the freezer to make sure any dust mites etc are exterminated.

Ted
This is Mr PC's childhood bear, a Steiff teddy that his granddad bought for him when he was born. He too went to the Teddy Hospital for a wash and blow dry and has come back looking good as new. Isn't he adorable?

 

This is Ted's 'before' pic and I must say, what a massive difference!

So there we are, three old pals waiting to meet Poppet's acquaintance when she comes! Do you still have your childhood teddy? Maybe unearth them from their storage box, spruce them up and give them pride of place once again.

Finished WIP: Bright stripe blanket

Way back in April I posted about my (then) latest WIP which was a blanket for my little baby who's on her way soon. Well, I can FINALLY say that it is finished!! I did a wee happy dance when I stitched the last stitch as this has been a mammoth project.

Here it is all finished!

Folded in half!

Look at those vibrant colours!

 It is so large I struggled to get it all in the picture at the same time!

It's too bright for Squeak...

Now for some blanket facts:

154 stitches per row (double crochet or single crochet in US terms)
180 rows
27,720 stitches in total
35 hours of crocheting

This has been an interesting project as I had no idea how big it would turn out to be, and a certainly had no idea how long it would take me to make! At times I thought I'd still be crocheting it while in labour! At times I hated it and felt like I wasn't getting anywhere with it. And at times I just ploughed my way through, ticking off the number of completed rows.

I'm glad it's finished, and I love the bright colours and how 'in your face' it is compared to all the other baby related items you can get in the shops. I'm sure this blanket (which is actually more like a rug in size) will feature in many baby pictures once Poppet it here, so watch this space!

Babycakes

My babyshower had an afternoon tea theme and I just had to share some pics of the scrummy cakes we had which my mum, sister and aunt made.

Creamy meringues

Pram shaped cookies for thank you gifts

Chocolate and coconut strawberries

Cupcakes!

Iced ginger loaf

Scones, cream and jam

Decorated baby vests

This weekend was my baby shower and family and friends got together to celebrate this baby's imminent arrival (well, she actually still has 7 weeks to go). It was a lovely afternoon which involved much eating of cake and drinking of tea alongside some little activities.

The biggest part of the afternoon was when we each decorated and personalised a baby vest for Little Poppet to wear. It was so much fun and I thought I'd share some pics of how they turned out.

 I can't wait for Little Poppet to wear each of these! Did you spot the ones I did?

And I just had to share this baby vest, which was not decorated but us but a friend found online and it is perfectly hilarious!