Something Quick and Fun

Last week I got the chance to attend a reading and book signing by author Jenny Lawson. I have really enjoyed reading her blog and book and I like that she comes across as very accessible. Part of this is because a lot of what she writes about involves her anxiety disorder and how that affects her life. So, when I realized I was going to get to meet her, I wanted to make her a present. Just a little "thank you" to her for sharing herself with the rest of us and reminding those of us who have trouble adjusting that we are not alone.

Here's what I made her:

Bloggess Towel by Cori 2012.

This gives you a better idea of what it says.

Pattern: Improvised from Baby ABCs Afghan by Coats & Clark
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Violet (2 balls)
Hook: US H

It was so freaking hard to photograph this thing! I know that you are supposed to photograph your projects outside in daylight for the best results, but I never finish them during the day it seems like, and usually I want to get the photos taken and done with as soon as I finish the project. Otherwise I forget to do it and to update it in Ravelry and whatnot. Also, outside is dirty and I don't really have a good surface to put my nice pretty projects on for photographing. Sigh.

But I think you can get the gist of it. Basically, it is straight-ahead single crochet with the letters spelled out in bobble-stitch (I used the templates for the letters from the baby alphabet blanket I recently made, but modified the size of each letter's space to accommodate a towel). It worked up really quickly, only took me two days to whip out (even with several false starts on the border). It says "Don't Panic" (in large and friendly letters, even) in reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This seemed doubly appropriate for Jenny Lawson because of her battles with anxiety as well as her love of geekery.

I am really happy with how it came out and I hope that she enjoys it as well. It dawned on me as I was making it that this would have been perfect for National Towel Day, which is later this month. If I hadn't already bought my yarn for that (which sadly does not lend itself to this pattern), I would be making another one for myself for that event. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Baby Blocks

As I mentioned last week, I finished a baby blanket recently. As it turns out, I was just in time, since the baby in question arrived the same week I sent the blanket to the office with my husband (it was for a friend of ours that he also happens to work with). My husband kept forgetting to ask when the baby was due, so I kind of thought I was handing the blanket over way early, but figured it was better safe than sorry. Turns out I got it done just in the nick of time! Whoo!

I am pretty happy with how this one came out, too. The proud parents also enjoyed it quite a bit. Hopefully the baby is digging on it by now as well! Anyhoo, here it is:

Alphababy Blanket by Cori 2012.

Pattern: Baby ABCs Afghan by Coats & Clark (Available in Blue Ribbon Afghans from America's State Fairs)

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Sage (6 skeins)

Hook: US G

I loved this pattern! It was pretty simple and easy to do, it just required me to keep count of my stitches pretty much the whole time. I think it is super fun for babies because the bobbles give them lots of extra texture to play with, plus, you know, it's educational. Win-win. The really cool thing is that it would be super easy to take the pattern for each letter and make your own design up with a name or whatever you want it to say too. I can see myself playing around with that at some point in the future for sure.

In other projects, I actually managed to finish the next baby blanket in line this past weekend. I am not sure how that happened. So this week I am going to give my socks a little TLC before I move on to the next, full-sized, blanket. I went ahead and picked up the yarn for that and the pattern seems pretty simple, so hopefully that one will go quickly too. We shall see.

Wishing you all a wonderful yarn-filled week!