Blue Lace Baby Blanket

Here is a small blanket that I made for my doll.

It's very light and airy in texture.

I used fine (fingering, category 1) crochet yarn. Specifically, I used two balls of Woolike by Loops & Threads and a size E/4 (3.5 mm) crochet hook.

This is a very beautiful stitch that involves front post and back post double crochets. This stitch can be adjusted for many other crochet patterns.

The pattern is available in my Etsy shop. 

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Whipped Cream Dress, Free Pattern from Leisure Arts

When I saw the free pattern for this dress, I instantly dropped all the other crochet projects that I was working on. I just knew I must make it! 

It only took me a few days. I posted my progress in Crochet Gate group on Facebook and I got lots of compliments and positive feedback. Thank you! I also got some questions. 

So I thought I should make a post and address some of the most trickiest parts of this pattern. 

The free pattern comes from Free Pattern Friday Crochet, a free online newsletter by Leisure Arts. I loved this pattern so much, that I actually signed up for this newsletter, and I'm looking forward to more patterns from Leisure Arts.

Click here for the free Whipped Cream Dress Pattern 

The pattern comes in size 12-18 months. 

It calls for baby fingering weight yarn and hooks size D (3.00 mm) and E (3.5 mm).

I used Woolike yarn by Loops & Threads.

I can't say exactly how much yarn I used (my yarn came from another project that I wasn't happy with and had to unravel. Yep, things like that happen to me often).

Here are some notes that might be useful:

After I completed the first four rows, I realized that my piece is not symmetric. Somehow I had more dc(s) on one side than on the other. "Arhh, I thought, I must've made a mistake!" So I unraveled my work and started over, just to realize that once again my piece is not symmetric.

So I took a careful look at the pattern, glancing at rows and rounds ahead, and I realized that this dress has a placket, and those extra double crochets on one side are precisely for that. 

So, don't unravel your work when you realize the piece is not symmetric. That's how it's supposed to be!

When you get to Round 1, you will leave those extra 6 dc unworked. And that's your placket. 

One of crochet friends from Crochet Gate group asked me about Round 14. At the beginning of the round, the pattern says "dc in next 3 dc" and later in the same round it says "dc in next 4 dc." She was confused where those 3 dc and 4 dc come from. 

Perhaps it will be easier if you read that round this way:

Round 14: Ch 3, dc in next dc, skip next ch-3, sc and ch-3, dc in next 2 dc, ch 1, (dc in next dc, ch 1) 7 times, * dc in next 2 dc, skip next ch-3, sc and ch-3, dc in next 2 dc, ch 1, (dc in next dc, ch 1) 7 times; repeat from * around; join with slip st to first dc.

I also tried to show it in the picture bellow. See how 4 dc come together (Sorry for the quality of the photo. I took it last night past the sunset, so the lighting is bad.)

I had a bit of confusion at Round 35 (last round). In this round clusters are used. And I always think of crochet clusters as something like dc3-tog or some sort of variation of it. But in this pattern, clusters are different. Make sure to carefully read the instructions for special stitches used in this pattern. 

Now back to the placket. Seems like some people had trouble with it. So perhaps some visual help will be useful. 

Here is what it looks like. 

When working on finishing, after completing Row 2 of buttonhole band, leave a tail long enough to sew the bottom of the placket to inside of the buttonhole band. I used a tapestry needle for that. 

Here is what the back of the dress looks like when bottom of the placket is sewn in place and buttons added. (I didn't have white buttons on hand, so I went with pink ones. White ones would probably look better.)

I think this is it! I love the way my Whipped Cream Dress turned out, and I enjoyed making it. 

I hope my notes and suggestions will be useful to my crochet friends who are working on this pattern too. 

Happy Crocheting! 

Olga

P.S. If you have any other questions, you can ask me in the comments bellow. But hurry, while this pattern is fresh in my head :)

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Simple Crochet Square, Free Pattern

I tried to recreate the crochet square pattern for this vintage afghan. Hmm, looks like I made the beginning chain ring too big. I started with chain 8, but chain 5 would probably work better. 

Anyway, I'm sharing my pattern below.

Ch 8 (or better 5), join with sl st in ring.

Round 1: ch 2, dc2-tog in ring (counts as 1st cluster), ch 5, *dc3-tog, ch 2, dc3-tog, ch 5* three times, dc3-tog, ch 2, join with sl st to 1st cluster.

Round 2: sl st in next ch-3 space, ch 2, dc2-tog (counts as 1st cluster), ch 3, dc3-tog in same ch-3 space, *ch 2, 3 dc in next ch-2 space, ch 2, (dc3-tog, ch 3, dc3-tog) all in next ch-3 space (corner)* three times, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch-2 space, ch 2, join with sl st to 1st cluster.

Round 3: sl st in next ch-3 space, ch 2, dc2-tog, ch 3, dc3-tog in same ch-3 space, *ch 2, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, dc in next 3 dc, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, ch 2, (dc3-tog, ch 3, dc3-tog) all in next ch-3 space (corner)* three times, ch 2, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, dc in next 3 dc, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, ch 2, join with sl st to 1st cluster.

Round 4: sl st in next ch-3 space, ch 2, dc2-tog, ch 3, dc3-tog in same ch-3 space, *ch 2, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, dc in next each dc across, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, ch 2, (dc3-tog, ch 3, dc3-tog) all in next ch-3 space (corner)* three times, ch 2, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, dc in each dc across, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, ch 2, join with sl st to 1st cluster.

Round 5: same as Round 4, but you will have more dc across. 

You can actually add more rounds if you wish. Simply continue crocheting as Round 4, but in each round you'll have more and more dc across.