More B&Bs

Just catching up on my basket and blanket repertoire.

Baskets

Back track last summer.  This market basket is probably my favorite.  I like the shape, I like how it turned out, even with one rather weak reed that didn't weave like the others.  I just like this basket, and as soon as I have more handles I'll make more.

Farmers Market Basket

And now for some epic failures.  The Sandy Neck beach basket.  I was excited to make this because it was going to be soft and light.  The pattern says it should be about 15 inches in diameter.

Sandy Neck Beach Basket

As you can see it ended up about three feet in diameter.  I want a redo.  I've made lemonade out of this lemon, as you can see.  It is perfect for corralling my odds-and-ends of reed.  It is indeed soft and pliable and gets thrown around a lot.  

Next fail - I needed six last-minute "something I love" Christmas gift exchange somethings.  I thought I'd be able to put together some baskets out of materials in my stash (isn't that what quilters call their shelves of unassigned fabrics).  This was the result:

Prototype Basket

The picture is actually very kind to this "kid."  It's off centered, lopsided, and scrappy.  It also has been given a job in my work room.  I am proud of the center bottom.  It turned out perfect.

This is what I ended up doing for the Christmas gift exchange.  They turned out nice, little basket Christmas tree ornaments.

About a year ago I got to go with Bob to LasVegas for a month.  We enjoyed exploring the area around Lake Mead.  At one museum I bout a couple of basket kits in the Native American woven grass style.  The basket is made from paper rolls and raffia, simulating the dried grass.  I have a new appreciation for early American weavers.

This represents three days of work.  My fingers were raw and hands cramped.  I haven't worked on it in months, waiting to find some flexible thimbles, which I have now found.  Just can't bring myself to pick it up again.

I just returned from two months with the kids in the U.S. I arrived just before Valentines Day and left just after Easter.  Here are the two symbols of the seasons.

Mini-Heart Basket

Easter Basket

I got to see all but one of the grands around Easter time and made one for each.

When Jenny was pregnant she asked me to make some baskets for the shelves in the Amelia's room.  These were my first self-designed baskets.  There were six in all, and I love how they look on Amelia's shelves.

Nursery Shelf Baskets

I got to share making baskets with Sarah and Alison around Thanksgiving time.  It was so much fun to see them proud of the finished product.

Alison

Sarah

This is another of my favorites.  When Bob gave me a bicycle last year on my birthday, it just wasn't complete without a basket.

Bicycle Basket

~~~~~~~~~~

Blankets

I've turned a corner from more knitting to crochet.  After my first attempt with Chase's blanket I got bold.  While at Tracee's July 2011 I admired a knitted blanket she'd received as a gift and felt sure that I could duplicate it.  This was the result:

IT'S HUGE!!  See, I neglected to get an accurate stitch count off of Tracee's blanket so I totally guessed.  It is about the size of the top of a queen-sized bed and took like what seemed forever to finish.  But it is one of my favorites, one I actually use.  It's like wrapping up in a favorite sweater.  This is the redo, soft and baby-sized, and took no time at all to finish.

When you find a good thing, why deviate from it?  I used the gingham-checked pattern I used with my first knitting attempt for Chase to make a larger blanket for Kelly.

Gingham Checked Knit

This next one I thought was a stretch but the pattern turned out to be lots easier than I thought it would be.  This is the picture off the website - I gave the original away before photographing it.  I'm in the process of making another only all white.

Rainbow Entralac Baby Blanket

This is the last crochet project I did.  It was a very frustrating pattern, in fact I left it alone while I did two other projects.  It seemed like every square turned out differently no matter how I counted and measured.  I finally finished it, though, for what it's worth.

Lacy Valentine