Recent projects: Baby Blanket

Good morning friends,

Coming soon, I will share my round up of my favorite free crochet afghan patterns, but first I wanted to share my completed Baby Blanket.

I followed a beautiful free pattern from Modern Grace Design. The pattern as written creates a stroller/crib sized baby blanket, however the pattern is easily adaptable to create a larger blanket.

I especially adore the edging, which alternates between the primary color and the contrast color and finishes with ruffles. 

My blanket turned out a bit lopsided, I likely added a few extra stitches here and there, but I don't think the baby will mind. :) 

Baby blankets are a great way to tell someone you haven't met yet how much you love them and can't wait to meet them.

Big thanks to Alison of Modern Grace Design for sharing this free pattern with us. I have already started my second blanket with this pattern for my niece who will be joining the universe in March. 

Thank you for stopping by and be sure to visit Thread by Thread Zen again soon!

Cheers,

- Katie Rose

Vegan Yarn

While perusing Meijer for my weekend groceries this afternoon, I got distracted by - cue dramatic music- the yarn aisle.

I couldn't resist picking up a few skeins, because can a person ever have too much yarn? I think not!

As a vegan, I crochet exclusively with yarns that do not contain animal fibers, so no wool for this girl. Most of my yarn stash is acrylic yarn, because it tends to be very inexpensive and available in a wide array of colors (Red Heart Super Saver, Bernat Super Value, Lion Brand Homespun). Other plant-powered yarn materials include cotton (Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton and Lily Sugar N' Cream), bamboo (Bernat Bamboo), and hemp (Lion Cotton/Hemp Blend). I chose these examples because brands like Lion, Red Heart, and Bernat are easy to find and well-stocked in crafting stores like Joann Fabrics and Michael's. If you're interested in learning more about vegan yarn, The Fake Sheep has an excellent, detailed blog entry that breaks down the different types of vegan yarn and has links and reviews for less mainstream yarn sources. 

What are your crochet plans for this weekend? I think I may use that hot pink Red Heart Shimmer yarn for one of the Valentine's Day Patterns I posted earlier this month. 

Cheers,

- Katie Rose