Robots in Spaaaace baby blanket (FREE crochet pattern)

Hello again! I've got another great pattern for you! First I have to give 95% of the credit to a gal named Jessame. She designed and posted a free pattern for a Nautical Afghan in February of 2014. I came across her pattern sometime in early 2015 and I made it (only 16 of the squares) for my cousin's baby boy.

Well, now I'm having a[nother] baby boy of my own, and I wanted to stick with the Robots theme that I already have for my little girl's nursery (it's already blue in there... no need to redecorate!), but I kind of wanted to add some space stuff to it. So I was thinking of ideas for this little one's baby blanket.... and then I thought to myself that I should just modify the Nautical Afghan to have robots and space graphics instead of the nautical stuff.

Here's my Robots in Spaaaaaace blanket. (You have to read that with, like, an echoing, booming voice. Go back and do it. I'll wait....)

And here is the Nautical Afghan I made for my cousin's little boy, following Jessame's pattern:

So the major changes I made between the two are the following:

1. Instead of the red, white, green/blue, navy blue colors for the nautical, I changed the colors to red, white, blue, and grey. (So where there is the green/blue color in the nautical, I swapped it for grey in the robot blanket.)

2. The white cable squares call for 19 rows in Jessame's pattern. I found this to be too long, so I did 17 rows for the robot pattern.

3. I only used three different graphics in the nautical afghan (anchor x 2, life saver, sail boat x 2), but in the robot pattern I used five different graphics. (Robot, gear, star, battery, rocket ship.)

4. The stripes squares I just did my own color repetitions.

5. I always do my own border.

6. Oh, the original pattern for Jessame's nautical blanket is for a much larger blanket that could probably fit on a twin size bed. It has a total of 30 squares. I just followed the bottom left 16 squares (4x4) to make it a good size for just a little baby blanket.

7. The squares that are comprised of 4 smaller squares came out pretty small this time in comparison to the other squares, so I added a row of hdc around it in different colors.

The instructions for the various squares can be found for FREE on Jessame's blog. You can access that pattern here. If you have any questions about her instructions, she is great at responding to comments on her blog. (You can also ask me here, if you want, but I'm not looking to steal her thunder.)

Here are the graphs for the graphics that I created for my Robots in Spaaaace blanket. They are 30 squares by 30 squares. Each square represents one sc (single crochet) stitch.

Gear

I used red and blue to stitch around the edges after it was done, because I thought it looked a little plain just like this.

Rocket Ship

 I flipped this one over and had it facing the other way for the "right side" of the blanket because it just looked better that way to me. :-)

Star

 Pretty self explanatory. I considered just using white for the star instead of yellow, but then I was almost out of white.... So that sealed the deal for the yellow. Ha. I think it looks pretty good like this.

Robot

 My original plan was to stitch on a mouth after it was done, but I actually think it looks pretty good as is. No mouth needed!

Battery

And there you have it! My awesome Robots in Spaaaace baby blanket!

Thank you, Jessame, for sharing your amazing pattern for free! You were my inspiration, and you're a genius! :-)

Basic Striped Baby Blanket (free crochet pattern!)

I just finished this little blanket today!

It's 30" by 33". I didn't use a pattern, but it is so very simple for even a beginner crocheter! So I'm going to write down the pattern for free. :-)

As you can see, each stripe is a different color. The little color stripes don't use much yarn at all, so if you have lots of scrap yarn you may not even need to acquire more (for the stripes).

The main color I used is Grey Heather, from the Red Heart Super Saver brand. I used up what was left of a 10oz skein, then I had to purchase a 5oz skein and used about half of that. I'd wager it was about 8-10oz total of the grey. Then I just picked one of the colors from one of the stripes and used it for the border. This blanket is for a boy, so I went with the light blue. I followed up with two rounds of grey--one on top of the other--so that the very edge feels sturdy. 

Here are the instructions! Let me know if there are any mistakes!

Materials:

Crochet hook--size I / 5.5mm
Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Grey Heather for main color
--other scraps of Medium (4) weight yarn for stripes and edging
yarn needle (to weave in ends)


Main body:

Row 1: With grey, ch 92; dc in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across; ch 2, turn (90 dc)
Row 2-6: (the "ch 2" does NOT count as a dc); dc in each st across, ch 2, turn (90 dc)
Row 7: dc in each st across; finish off grey.

Row 8: turn your work and attach your first color stripe (lime green for me) with a sc in the last st worked of row 7; sc in each st across; finish off. (90 sc)

Row 9: turn your work and attach grey with a sl st in the BACK LOOP ONLY of the last st worked of row 8. **Work in BLO for this whole row.** ch 2, then dc in same loop where you joined, and dc in each st across. ch 2, turn. (90 dc)

Row 10-15: continue in pattern, putting a dc in each st across.

Finish off after each grey section has 7 rows of dc stitches, then attach a color for a stripe and work it as Row 8 was worked.

After each color stripe, repeat row 9 and then continue on in pattern, working 7 rows of dc for the whole grey section.

The blanket has 6 color stripes, and seven grey block sections. There are a total of 55 rows in the main body of the blanket.

My rows went:

grey block of 7 rows dc
lime green row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
blue row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
light blue row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
red row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
orange row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
yellow row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc.... then finish off main body.



Now for the border:

Pick one stripe color, or even go for a light grey if you wish, and attach at a corner with a sc.

Round 1: sc again in the same corner st of your sc join (there should be two sc in this corner st); sc in each st across to the next corner; 3 sc in corner st, *sc along side of blanket placing 2 sc in each dc row, and 1 sc in each sc row* to the next corner st; 3 sc in corner st, sc across to next corner st, repeat * to *; put one last sc in the same corner st as first two st; join to first sc with a sl st.

You should have three sc stitches worked in each corner stitch of the blanket.

Round 2: ch 1, DO NOT TURN, work 3 sc in same st as join, *sc across to next corner st, 3 sc in corner st*; repeat until you reach the beginning of the round and join with a sl st to the first sc.

Round 3: ch 1, DO NOT TURN, sc in same st as join, work 3 sc in corner st, *sc across to next corner st, 3 sc in corner st*; repeat until you reach the beginning of the round and join with a sl st to the first sc.

Round 4 - 6: Continue in this pattern, working 3 sc in each corner st and joining at the end of the round, until you have completed 6 rows of light blue. Finish off.

Round 7: Attach grey yarn with a sc anywhere on round 6. Following the same pattern, sc in each sc around the edge, and place 3 sc in each corner st. Join with sl st to first sc.

Round 8: ch 1, sc again into the stitches in round 6. This means you are essentially working your stitches in this round AROUND the stitches made in round 7. Insert your hook down into that same blue stitch that you crocheted into while working the previous round, and finish your stitch. You'll need to pull it up a little taller. When you get to the corners, work just TWO sc into the corner stitch of round 6. Do this all the way around, then join with sl st to the first sc of this round. Finish off....

Make sure you weave in all your ends... and you're done!



****Do not copy this pattern and pass it off as your own. You can definitely sell finished items made from this pattern.****


Check out my other patterns here on Etsy, or here on Ravelry! I'd also love your feedback on this or any of my other patterns. :-)

Compliments are Important

Long ago, before I was the official trainer for my week at my job, I came up with an activity for groups of trainees to do. Each trainee must come up with some positive feedback (a.k.a. a compliment) for the person to their right. They go in a circle sharing their feedback, and then I surprise them with the news that they now get to go the other way. I never participate in the activity because I feel it would be weird if I threw that in there just so I could hear how awesome I am. Instead, I am an observer. I must say this activity makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside!

I have had trainees break into tears for the simple fact that they never receive compliments. Isn't that horrible??? There was one week I will never forget during which one trainee stopped the whole show and said, "You guys... I'm not used to this! This is so amazing! I love it! I NEVER heard stuff like this when I was growing up! I was always told that I'm ugly, I'm stupid, I'll never find a husband... This is so great!"

That right there is why I love, love, love this activity. The whole time the compliments are being shared, I sit there with a ridiculously cheesy grin on my face. It just makes me beam from the inside to see this positivity impact these people so deeply. On a few occasions, trainees have had to leave the room upon completion of the activity because they are too emotional to go on with the day just yet. The complements that usually bring the most tears are those along the lines of "just from what you say, I can tell you are a really good mother." That is a big one! The lady I quoted in the previous paragraph was told "You have a really great smile." Can you believe nobody had ever said that to her before? And that one, small little complement impacted her so profoundly...?

Positive feedback is a really big deal!!!

A few times, the follow-up conversation has moved into the realm of positive self talk. I'm sure you all realize that we say some pretty horrible things to ourselves—things that we would never let anybody else get away with! (Well we need to knock that junk off!) I think it's been 2 or 3 times that I have had my trainees go around and tell me something that they really like about THEMSELVES, which, for whatever dumb reason, is something our society tells us not to do. That is ridiculous.

I think we need to make a distinction between having a healthy self esteem and being conceited. It's OK to like yourself. It is healthy to be proud of things you have accomplished. Saying, "yeah, I am really good at that" does not make you full of yourself. I, for example, believe that I am really really good at crocheting. I really admire that in me. I am very proud of myself for having something that I am super good at! This does not make me conceited! Just think how weird it would be if every time someone said "WOW... you MADE that????" I responded with, "oh it wasn't very hard, anybody could do it, I'm sure it's been done better, it's really not that big of a deal." Sure that's being humble, but that is also being dishonest. It is 100% OK for me to respond with, "Heck yeah I did! It's the most epic thing I've ever made!!!"

Here's the most epic thing I've ever made:

Yep, I did that, I'm proud of it, and that's OK.

Think about what you like about yourself today. Give compliments to those around you, too! If you see something good, say it! I know I am really good at pointing out that my boys are handsome, intelligent, wonderful boys and I am glad that they are mine. I say this stuff to my super adorable tall husband as well. I imagine the day that I can shower my baby girl with praise. I can't wait to raise her to know that she is so incredibly awesome!!! I wish she would just be born NOW, darn it!

What things do you like about yourself? Can you make a list? Can you admit to yourself that you have good qualities?

Compliment yourself and those around you DAILY! You will be shocked at the immense impact it will have on your life as well as the lives of others.

Latest crochet creations!

I learned to crochet when I was 18. Since then, I must say I've made some pretty amazing stuff! This past weekend I made the following hats for two of my cousins.

Each of those took about an hour, I'd wager. These are just little side projects. Here is the big project I've been working on for the little bun in my oven:

It will literally be a big blanket of flowers! Isn't it wonderful? :-)