Diary of the Ladybugs Part 2

As previously mentioned in Diary of the Ladybugs, I had planned on doing a ladybug hat for a friend of mine.  You may remember this friend, as I also did the Olivia Blanket for her first granddaughter.  She had requested a ladybug hat for Olivia's first birthday, as it's still a while away I had not begun the project.  Since she was going out of state to see them this weekend though I did go ahead and whip it up and take it to her.  Here is my finished project. :)

It's hard to tell, but the top of the antennae have curly q's.  I did not add very many dots and I did consider putting a black crocheted line down the middle, from the front between the eyes to the back, to aid visualization of two sides or wings.

For the rim of the hat I used standard black Red Heart Super Saver Yarn but for the dots, antennae and face I used Caron Super Soft in black.  I did this because it's a thinner yarn.  When making things to put on a hat it's easy to just slap things on there but when you look at it later you think there is fiber fill or something beneath it because it seems puffier than the rest.  I hate that.  This yarn I stitched on but it wasn't as thick and I feel good that it won't be very heavy.

At the last minute as I was choosing the eyes I decided on fancy buttons. I don't usually do that, however I thought, if I ever were that close to a ladybug it might have more detailed eyes than just a plain button or a yarn blob.  I think these are so adorable that I'll zoom in for ya. :D

Yep, those are awesome!  Hopefully the hat will be the correct size, as I generally go by the sizes found at Bev's Country Cottage when it comes to doing hats for children.  I have been told that they run a bit big but I suppose I'd rather have that than too small.

I had the ladybug hat, another flower for a second hair wrap and a baby hat to complete and mail.  It was super busy and I enjoyed it.  I think I'll do another post about the extra flowers.  Yes I shall do that now.

Olivia Blanket

Oh my, they've updated blogger and I have no idea what I'm doing lol so work with me for a moment. ;)

I've been working more toward putting more time into my crochet. I have several projects going at once and I tend to overwhelm myself then put things off. In November I had told a friend of mine that I'd love to try my hand at crocheting a baby blanket for her first grandbaby and all I needed to know was the sex. I have never crocheted a blanket before. A few months later she found out they were expecting a granddaughter. I had lots going on at the time and forgot about the blanket. In May they were getting closer to the baby's due date. I had yet to start this blanket. I had lunch with my darling friend and she told me that the new mommy's colors were a light pink and brown. I believe my words were "shut-up!" I just so happened to have two small bundles of Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn in Cherry Cola. It's a gorgeous yarn and I'd started playing with circles ages ago but never did anything with them. Here was my chance!

I piddled around with the circles and made them squares. It's easier to stitch them together into a blanket that way. I had many made up so I used them up and looked at the remainder of my yarn. Hm. After spacing things out and moving them around I decided to put squares in there also. I made several "basket weave" squares and put those in. I was worried it would be too light around the edges with the baby yarns and would cause the edges to curl. It would also fray/frizz easily with more use on the outer edges. I went to Walmart (as where I am now it's a 45 minute drive to a yarn store) to find more Cherry Cola yarn or something like it. I searched online once before for the Cherry Cola yarn but they want, in some cases, as much as $6 a skein for it and it costs nearly that much to ship it. Um. What?

Instead, I found the Red Heart Super Saver Pink Camo. It's very similar in color, though it is thicker. This should minimize any frizzies! I finished the blanket and added shell edging. It measures roughly 29" x 42". The new grandbaby was born in early June and her name is Olivia. I present to you, the Olivia Blanket. I'll be mailing that this coming week.