Dream in progress... part 19

OMG, I can't believe that this dream is finished!
Jip, really & totally finished. I'm so proud of you because without you guys cheering me on every time I posted about my Babette blanket, I couldn't have done it.
I can recommend anyone that starts a large crochet project, to blog about it and show processes as that's a drive to actually complete it. At least, that was what is was like for me.
I was determined to show something the next week & I often did.
I did take a few breaks from it as it does tend to get rather boring crocheting the same squares all the time. Even though the use of different colors does not make it less boring, the stitches are all the same so it's like crocheting on automatic pilot really.

So, that said, I want to share some facts with you...

• I crocheted this blanket with 2 threads of cotton 8 yarn.
• I used 23 different colors.
• The blanket weighs 1,5 kilo or 3,30 pounds.
• Each ball of yarn weighs 50g so according to the weight I used about 30 balls yarn.
• The cost is approximately 50 euro or 70 dollars.
  
• It took me about 13 weeks in total to finish it completely (it took me longer in time but I took some breaks)
  
• I did curse quite a few times - especially when sewing the blocks together.
• It measures 1,20m by 1,30m or 47,2inch by 51,2inch
  I perferred having it a bit larger but that would mean I had to make more blocks & it fitted nicely over our couch so I found the perfect excuse not to make it larger.
• 5 of my Babette images got explored on Flickr. Jippee!

And now are you ready for the result?
So now excuse me while I go relax under my blanket for the rest of the weekend! :)

Dream in progress... part 18

I'm snuggled in under my Babette blanket on the couch and I started edging my blanket with red thread. I've only done 1,5 of the 4 edges so far and I plan to make it 3 stitches wide.
With the little time I seem to have these days, I 'm glad to have actually started it.
It will probably be ready when all the snow and cold is gone...*sigh*

Crazy about granny squares?

Jip, I finally have the red yarn to finish my Babette blanket but again haven't had time to start yet. So I'll be sharing this picture with you too. Kirsty from Kootoyoo made a granny square necklace & ring. She has a tutorial on the necklace in her blog. Quick, run! :)

In between project...

Still didn't get my red yarn for finishing off my Babette Blanket and don't feel like starting my ripple blanket yet until my Babette is finished.
So I've been doing some in between projects. Last week I made and send some granny squares for the European Streetteam project-blanket initiated by Baahar.
Did you know that making granny squares is addictive? I just couldn't stop.... so I decided to make 'em until I get my red yarn. I've been wanting to make a granny square blanket for a long time so this is just a start. I'll pile 'em up and see how far I get - don't even know how many I need to make a blanket really. I only have 9 by now... not even enough to cover my feet! :)

Dream in progress... fail

I know I promised to show you a finished Babette blanket this week but alas I have to dissapoint you. I really appreciate all the help I got with choosing a border color.
I did not expect such a big response so thank you for that! :)
Of course it did not make the choice any easier but soon I learned that most people leaned towards the mossy green or red border.
My whole being screamed red so when I went to the yarnshop to get my yarn, they did not have red in stock. Aarrgghh! So I bought mossy green but when I got home I still was not convinced so I decided to just leave it until I have red yarn.
*sigh* so as soon as I have my yarn, I'll finish off my Babette and will show you the result. This still gives me the time to change my mind too! LOL
Anyway, I have not sat still and finished a project that I have been wanting to make since I got inspired by this lovely artist I found via Flickr.
Do you know the feeling of amazement when you find inspiration?
The feeling of wanting to create immediately after you've seen a picture or a project?
Well, this is what this artist did to me. It has been on my mind forever and since my Babette was nearly finished I decided to start it.
This person is called Ingrid from Wood & wood stool. She is a Dutch designer and has an Etsy shop and recently started a blog too so check it out.

Besides, my new studio needs to be 'dressed' a bit more so I thought this would be a good idea to make it even a more happy place. I love the old stools she makes herself but I just took it easy, went to IKEA and bought this Oddvar stool and decided to make a cover for it.
I have to be honest: the corners are not really perfect since I still have to figure out a way how to do it best but I don't mind that they are not perfect. It's such a happy stool that it doesn't really matter.
Since a few friends told me they want to come and play with clay some time, I'll have to make some more. At least I have one ready for Kim from ViltalaKim who will come and play next wednesday! :)

Dream in progress... part 17

I can't believe I sewed in ALL the ends on my Babette blanket this week. Yay, I'm such a good girl sometimes! And what a relieve to get it over and done with too.
I also would like to thank you for all the lovely suggestions I got on the use of the border color last week. Kylie suggested to be a rebel and not use a border at all. Even though I AM a rebel on many things, I do like a border somehow. Still I couldn't make up my mind so I decided to do some quick samples to show you.
Turquoise and (soft) green were two suggestions that were mentioned most. I also liked the idea of a red border somehow. I remember that in the very beginning of my blanket I found the red kind of harsh and then someone mentioned in the comments that it would look really good on the blanket in the end. I didn't believe her right away, but I certainly do now. Thank you to whoever convinced me not to leave the red out.
Will you help me pick one last time? I promise to show you a completely finished blanket next week! :)

Here is the blanket with 4 different corner colors.A close up of the corners.Some suggested to use black or cream/white.Difficult choice huh?

Psst... the yarn for my new project arrived too! Wanna see?
Click on the picture to see where I got the yarn... Beware dangerous place! :)

Dream in progress... part 16

Ohh, it's coming together at last! I have joined 8 of 10 parts and am actually able to cover myself already! Still 2 more to join and... sew in all the ends at the back! ;)I really dislike sewing in all the ends but it has got to be done. Hopefully I'll manage to get it done this week. Than I can start thinking about what color to use for the border. Any ideas?

Dream in progress... part 15

Oh joy, I got a lot of sewing done on my Babette blanket this week. I have been working according to the pattern which suggests to sew together blocks. I have 8 of the 10 blocks done. I have the bad habbit of not sewing in the loose parts directly so that particular boring task still lays ahead of me...
But look how much I'm already able to cover myself! :)While laying out the blanket on our floor, our cat thought it was a good idea to mess it up... Naughty, naughty kitty! :)

Dream in progress... part 14

The past week has been busy with lots of things so I didn't get much done on sewing together my my Babette blanket. However, even though I haven't done much sewing, I'm showing you anyway. I'm afraid it will also be a very slow process as sewing is really not my thing... I'm sure it is going to take me forever to finish this blanket... but I will persevere!
Well at least I'm already able to cover a little bit of me! :) Hopefully a little more each week!

Dream in progress... part 13

In between all the painting this week, I did manage to crochet the last 7 squares I needed - still have to tuck in the ends but I'm so glad I got something done at all.

Now I can start putting my Babette blanket together. Will lay it out on our new floorboards first. Not sure if I'll share a pic of that yet 'cause that will spoil the surprise I think...
But this gives you an idea already how it will look on our couch! :)
I created a Babette blanket set on Flickr so you can see the progress all together! :)

Dream in progress... part 12

I took all the squares that needed to be sewn in to the fair last sunday in case I could do some work while people were looking around.
I also took a second needle in case my friend felt like helping me! Haha, and she did! We did get quite a lot done in between and it certainly was more fun to sew together then do the boring task by myself.I'm quite happy to be able to show you all the finished sewn in squares. Now I'll finish the last round of squares I need to crochet and then I can start putting my Babette blanket together. How exciting! :)
I created a Babette blanket set on Flickr so you can see the progress all together! :)

Dream in progress... part 11

Time to update you on the progress of my Babette blanket. I finished crocheting the remaining three 6-round squares. When I put them away in my box I saw all the thread ends screaming at me. So I decided to sew in all the ends before I would continue crocheting on the last 7 8-round squares. I'll be doing lots more sewing when putting the blanket together so I'm just spreading it a bit. If anyone is starting a blanket, I advise you to sew in all ends after every round! :) But I can't show you the done pile yet, as I have been too busy claying this week.
Hopefully finished piles next week! :)

I created a Babette blanket set on Flickr so you can see the progress all together! :)

Dream in progress... part 10

After all the encouragement from you all last week, I managed to crochet 12 squares. I already had 1 done so that makes 3 to go! I was on fire the past week!
My Babette blanket is slowly coming to the end stage of crocheting.
Only 7 more 8 round-squares - yay! Then I will need to weave in all threads and start putting it together. I hope that it will be done before it gets cold so I can snuggle underneath it... I'm so looking forward to that part! :)

Dream in progress... part 9

Last week picked up my weekly progress posts on my Babette blanket. Initially I thought it a good idea to share my progress via my blog 'cause that would make me actually have something to show. This week I feel embarrassed as I only managed to crochet one 6-round square and start another one. I need 16 squares in total and I really hope that I won't be showing one each week in my progress posts! I started another one this morning so hopefully I have a bit more to show next week! :)

Dream in progress... part 8

It's about 2 months ago since I posted my last picture about the Babette blanket. I have still not much more to show you but I wanted to let you know that I will pick up where I left it.
I got some more yarn & have missed crocheting a lot so I hope that this combination will make sure I can show my progress again... This is what I got so far...I also want to show you some goodies that I got at the Craftparking fair last week. Just because... How sweet! :) Thank you FleurFatale, DinaFragola & Viltalakim.And this is what was inside:
I jumped about half a meter high when I saw the beautiful cat brooch that FleurFatale gave me. I lost the first one that I got from her and she made me a new one - and I love it just as much! And if that was not enough yet, she also added another one - I love the colorcombo's that Fleur uses!
I think I will have to hide the 'kitsch it yourself'-kit from DinaFragola when my nieces visit 'cause they will love it!
And last but not least two beautiful felted soaps from Viltalakim. Too bad you can't smell 'em 'cause they smell divine!
Are you curious what was in my 'I read your blog'-goodybag? Have a look at Fleur's blog to see what was inside! :)

Dream in progress... part 7

The progress on the Babette blanket is about halfway now. I finished all the four row squares.
It seems like it took me forever but hey, there are 49 of them and it covers a lot of space layed out like this:
And the most boring part is yet to come: sewing in the ends! Yikes! :)
I might need to take a break for a bit as I have run out of some colors of yarn & I tried to get them at our local yarnshop but they only had a few of the colors that I needed. So as soon as I go back to my big supply shop in Holland, I'll be crocheting away some more...
I did try to attach a few squares and I think with some trial and error I'll be able to make it a blanket.
This one I just sewed as I though I had to do it but the seams are supervisible.This one is crocheted together... I would love to crochet it together but again, the seams are very visible.
Pfft! I knew ther must be another way to do this, but which one?
Off to the Flickr group 'Babette Blanket' for some answers as I was sure I was not the only one with this question. Some people used the mattrass stitch. What's that? I'm a complete stitching illiterate so you tube was my saviour. But I could see seams still...The search goes on and I found a blog where the Kathy Merrick tells the secret how she does it.
A step by step tutorial, just what I needed! :)
But OMG, I didn't realise that here would be so much sewing involved, I think I would have thought twice about this... :)

Dream in progress... part 6

The progress on the Babette blanket is slow but that's OK as it's still a very fun & relaxing project to work on. This week I made the second 12 row square. I love the colors on this one - very vibrant and fun.
I can't wait to put it all together but it's still long from being finished so I just have to be patient.
And I drew the winner of the brooch I made via random.org!
Congrats Kerrin from Sigmosaics! I'll be sending off the brooch soon! :)

Dream in progress... part 5

Uh oh, am I in trouble for not getting much to show this week?
I have had a very hectic week so only got one of the two 12 round squares done of The Babette blanket I'm making.
I hope to show the second square one next week. :)
Since I thought it was so little to show you, I decided yesterday evening to wip up something fast and fun. I'm subscribed to Lion Brand's newsletter. It arrives every friday and it has lots of fun links to patterns and projects. Last friday, this chrysanthemum flower was the crochet flower of the week. It looked like fun to make so I gave it a go.
I decided to use the sugar 'n cream yarn that my friend Stephanie sent me just because...
I'll make a brooch out of this and if you like to receive it, please leave a message. I'll pick one lucky person in my next saturday crochet post. :)

Dream in progress... part 4

OK, I have been cheating this week. When I realised I wasn't getting the 4 row squares done by today, I decided to make the 10 row squares ones. I only needed to make 2 of those so that was easy! :) They are quite big: 25 by 25cm or 10 by 10 inches. However, these still are not the biggest ones, I also need to make 2 pieces of 12 rows. I might do that this week as the bigger squares are quite fun to make.
Colorwise, I didn't keep to the pattern either so I'm curious to see how it will all look when it's finished.

Dream in progress... part 3

Because the four row-squares take a lot longer to make, I haven't finished all the squares yet. I know the pattern by heart now so I can actually crochet this blindfolded! :)
Who would have tought that a few months ago? I still remember all my attempts on the slippers. The Babette blanket calls for 18 colors of yarn but after the two row-squares where finished, I found that the red was a bit too vibrant in comparison to the other colors. Instead of making all the squares all over again, I decided to add more colors of yarn to the blanket. I added seven more colors. So, I don't actually keep track of the suggested colors of yarn all the time - sometimes I just throw in a combination that I like a lot. I hope by doing this, that I'm not going to ruin the whole blanket... Off to finish 26 more of these...