Crocheted Shell Stitch Baby Blanket

I have a confession: Months and months and months ago I had such an urge to crochet a baby blanket. I don't like making things without a purpose so I thought about who I could make one for? Random coworker I don't really know too well? "Friend" from high school who just announced on Facebook that she was pregnant? No, no...that's just too weird ...

"Hey, I don't know you too well but here's this thing I spent hours and hours on for your baby I will probably never meet."

A crochet blanket is a lot of work and anytime I set out to crochet something for someone I like to make sure it's for someone who will appreciate it. That being said, it was perfect timing for Cameron at Krug the Thinker to announce her pregnancy. Still a bit weird since I don't actually know her personally but I adore her blog and I knew she would totally appreciate it. And it was just so neat to read all her pregnancy updates. It was like I was along for the ride...definitely kept up my motivation to finish the blanket in time.

I've been meaning to post pictures of this blanket for a while but I'm just now getting around to it. Truthfully, it's perfect timing since the baby was born this past week! So, without further ado...

Apparently I lost all the photos I took and these are all I have left so these will have to do. I loved making this blanket. It was easy, it was gorgeous, I love how the yarn looks! (It was quite the yarn eater though since I used two strands to make it go quicker.)

Here's the stats:

Quick(ish) Shell Stitch Baby Blanket

• Yarn: Tons of  Simply Soft Paints in Spring Brook and a little bit of Simply Soft Medium Country Blue for the border. (I lost count on the # of skeins but it was seriously like 8-10 skeins.)
• Hook Size: Don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure it was a Boye Crochet Hook, Size K
  
• Time: 2-3 months. But honestly it was probably only about 1-2 weeks of daily crocheting. I would work on it in spurts.
• Size: 36in x 34in (ish.) I think that's about right. I don't remember exact measurements. I actually think it was a bit larger than that. I just know that it wasn't as long as anticipated but I had given up buying more yarn. Lol.
• Fun: 8/10. Would have been more fun had it hooked up a tad quicker but it went pretty quick for two strands. I think was really made it awesome was the yarn. If you see the blanket in real life it looks like your staring into an ocean of crochet. I think it's a very relaxing color palette and pattern to look at.
• Pattern (ish): I didn't really use a pattern. It's just a simple shell stitch with a couple rows of HDC border except I used two strands to make it thicker and quicker to work up.
• Help: Stitchin' Mommy has a similar blanket with tutorial. Also, here's a video if you like that sort of thing better.

Happy I could share with you! And super happy for Krug the Thinker's new bundle of joy. If you'd like to see more of my crochet projects click here.

-Mrs. 246

*Affiliate links used when possible. I do receive a (very) small amount of commission which will probably be used to buy more craft supplies. ;)

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Our Vacation to Ohio!

 

For weeks I have been counting down the days until our trip to Ohio and it's finally come and gone. The first week of Ohio we visited Mr. 246's family and celebrated Luna's second birthday. (Can you believe it?!) I won't bother you with the hundreds and hundreds of pictures that were taken but I will share some!

We actually left the night of June 30 to take an overnight. I was weary about how taking a almost two-year-old on an overnight would be but it turned out okay. She only slept a little over two hours but was such a little trooper and very much well behaved. She was just excited about all of it. The pictures above are from the drive to SFO and the really neat hands on science playgroup thing that was right near our gate at SFO. (A genius came up with putting playgrounds in the airport!)

Hours and hours, and one layover later we landed in what we determined was the world's friendliest airport - Dayton, OH. A McDonald's breakfast and a quick drive lead us to Mr. 246's hometown and childhood home where this was waiting for Luna:

LUNALAND! My mother-in-law is the queen of details and niceties. They had so much stuff set up for Luna! And enough birthday presents for five children. Not pictured: the full size Christmas tree covered in pictures of Luna and origami ornaments made out of dollar bills (for Luna of course!).

Luna could barely walk right when we got there since she was so sleep deprived. (On her birthday no less!) We laid her down for a nap pronto because had to get rested up - it was the beginning of her unofficial birthday week! Presents were opened wherever she went and there were so many that she ended up opening presents on a daily basis. I joked that she probably thought that's just what strangers did now - meet a "stranger" and they give you a high five and a present to open.

The first night we went to Mr. 246's paternal grandparents. (Luna's GREAT grandparents! I wasn't around my grandparents growing up and I don't recall any great grandparents but now Luna has two sets of grandparents and two sets of great grandparents to spoil her. Hehe. How awesome is it to have that much family?)

An amazing dinner was made with no less than four casseroles....I was in midwest cooking heaven. I had seconds, then I had thirds. (I may or may not have gained five pounds in one week while I was there...)

We had a nice evening walk after dinner. Luna fell in love with this little car my MIL borrowed for her. Check that birthday girl out! Well, maybe not the second picture...

Then there was the house in the country:

Another afternoon we visited Mr. 246's maternal grandparents. Delicious cooking again but my favorite part was the perfect weather in the country and a HUGE yard for Luna to run in.

She loved every second of it and my heart tugged a bit and began yearning for a house of my own instead of the apartment life. All she wanted to do was play with stone birds, collect rocks, run in the grass and frolic about.

The next day, for a change of scenery, we went to Columbus area. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, The Claddagh, which isn't on the west coast. It was just as delicious as I remembered it. Then, thanks to my almost brother-in-law, we were able to have prime rooftop seats to watch the fireworks over Columbus for the 4th of July. Totally felt VIP to me to be able to go up on the roof of one of the big buildings. It was one of those perfect nights where everything fell in to place. We couldn't have planned a better night.

We stayed at my sister-in-law's apartment, stayed up late, played board games, enjoyed each other's company. So much fun. Then the next day was the best part....the zoo!

The weather was perfect for the zoo and Luna had a blast! She quickly became obsessed with the kangaroos and we got the VIP treatment again from an old high school friend of Mr. 246 and his sister. She works at the zoo and got us into a special area to see the giraffes and African savannah area.

Another awesome night of hanging out together at my sister-in-law's apartment and sadly we were onto our last full day. We ordered some pizza and had some campfires and it was the perfect ending to our trip.

Conclusion: This post is greatly lacking in detail and emotions....if I were to include and describe the awesomeness of our trip and my in-laws it would be about five pages long. They are all such wonderful people and I am so blessed to have married into such a loving, fun, and supportive family. I don't know how I got so lucky. So, speaking of which...

Here's my somewhat big (not-so-new news): We're aiming to move back to Ohio toward the end of next year!

Mr. 246 will be finishing up with his masters and I'll have enough money saved up by then. Ever since I had Luna I knew I wanted to move back to the midwest. The west coast has a different vibe and somewhat different values. I want my child(ren) to have a somewhat similar environment to what I had growing up and you can't get that here in California. Plus we have a ton of family and lots of support in Ohio, it'll be fun for Luna to grow up around grandparents and cousins and friends. It's also cheaper to live there - maybe I'll be lucky and we'll be able to afford to homeschool. Hmmm...

Yes, anyway. So I'm super excited. And super motivated to save up my money. I even found my dream home already! Chances are it'll be gone by next year but I can dream. Haha. This seems a bit different then when we moved across country the first time. Anyone ever made a big move with children? How did that go?

Thanks for letting me share!

-Mrs. 246

Yosemite in April

I got my nature fill this past Saturday. Friday night we got all packed up so we could leave early(ish) Saturday morning. We even turned Luna's car seat to forward facing for the occasion. (They say you're supposed to wait until they're two but she's almost there. Happy early birthday, Luna. Lol.) She actually threw up in the car when we were half way there. This child never throws up so I'm thinking the views might have affected her a bit. The Comfort Inn we pulled over near was nice enough to donate a towel to us for Luna to sit on. (Note to mommy self: pack car with paper towels and some sort of cleaner for next trip.)

By the time we reached Mariposa (a cute little foothill town), Luna was feeling much better. We had  to stop in Mariposa because there's always a taco truck at one of their parks and Mr. 246 was determined to have some taco truck. Lol.

It was about that point Luna took a really early morning nap. Hey there little sleepy Bean.

Driving near the park there were fields of poppies everywhere! The above picture isn't the greatest, but it's the best I could do with my little point-and-shoot while driving in super bright sunshine. So many of the hills just had almost completely orange sides. It was awesome! I've never been early enough in the year to see that.

Driving into the park is always nuts. You almost break your neck looking from one view to another. It's just so awesome. We actually ended up buying a 12 month pass (which I'm super excited about). If we go at least one more time it was worth the deal.

Once we were in the park, Luna woke up. I think instinctively she knew awesomeness was going on. The above picture is when we told her to "smile," lol. What a silly face.

Hey Bridalviel Falls! I see you up there!

Hey Upper Yosemite Falls! I see you too! I know it's prime waterfall time because of the snow melt but I was a little worried there wouldn't really be any since we've been in a drought but I have a feeling there may not be too many waterfalls later this summer.

We had an early lunch at the car before setting out, then it was off to the Lower Yosemite Falls trail. We picked this one for Luna because it's short, there's a pretty waterfall, and there are huge boulders that Mr. 246 loves to climb. Lol.

Here we are in front of Lower Yosemite Falls. There's a bridge that crosses the river so you get a pretty unobstructed view. In past years there has been so much water if you stand on the bridge you will get soaked from the spray but this year you only felt a teeny tiny bit of spray when the wind blew really hard.

Above is another view of the falls. If you can see where the arrow is pointing...that's a person. (If you look super close you can see lots of people.) That gives you some sort of scale of just how huge this waterfall is. Amazing, isn't it?

Luna wanted to go "smimming!" and it scared me how willing she would have been to go swimming in that water. Haha. Ahh, to be a reckless almost two year old.

There was obligatory rock climbing on the hike back. Luna thought rock climbing meant daddy holds her and she just walks up the side of rocks. It was pretty funny. She went as high as Ryan could lift her and she still wanted to walk higher. Haha.

Once she got the hang of it, Luna wanted to climb on everything. She found that slanted rock above and instantly decided it was a slide and would sit at the top of it and scoot her butt down saying "weeee!" as she did it.

The last time I was in Yosemite I was 8 months pregnant. I knew I probably wouldn't go that year once Luna was born so I was determined to go before she was born. As we were walking back to the trail head I remembered taking a picture in this spot and even though I didn't get the exact spot it was pretty cool to take a picture in the same-ish spot as last time. Once with me be pregnant, and then again with Luna herself.

There were more pictures throughout the day, most of it scenery. Truth be told once we got our "official" hike done with I didn't take as many pictures. This was my 6th trip to Yosemite and Mr. 246's 7th and since we were doing trails and areas we'd already been I didn't feel as inclined to take a lot of pictures. I think the next couple of times we'll venture out more but since it was Luna's first time. We wanted to go places that we knew would be easy and fun (and not stressful and scary) to take Luna too.

I was on a Yosemite kick yesterday after I had gotten home and I decided to see if maybe there was a random campsite available (they're pretty much booked solid already for the whole summer by this time of year) and there was!!! I won the lottery and we will be spending a night camping in the Yosemite Valley two weeks from now! Yay!!!!!! It'll be Luna's first camping trip so I'm really excited. (And a little nervous. There's two streams/rivers surrounding the particular camp ground we're staying in. Am I allowed to put my child on a leash? Can I be that parent?)

I even got a field guide at the gift shop and had fun looking up some trees. I think next time we'll go I'm going to spend a while trying to identify things. I always wanted to be that person who goes hiking and says, "See that plant? That's a blah blah blah. It only grows the last two weeks of this month at an elevation of between 2500 and 4500 feet. You can tell it's a blah blah blah because there are clusters of 3 leaves that grow together and the branches grow in multiples of 5. Native American's used to use this plant for..." and so on. Haha. I don't think I'll ever be that good but it's fun to do when you're looking at stuff and try to figure out what it is.

I can't wait to go on more day trips this summer. As much as I don't like the immediate area we live in, I love the fact that there are so many amazing places you can go for just a day or two. We're very lucky. :)

Has anyone else been someplace neat lately? Where do you plan on going this summer?

-Mrs. 246

Quarter Life Crisis?

Ummm...hello? Is anyone still there?

Yes, I know....I've been gone quite some time -- and I left quite abruptly. I've been going through another quarter-life crisis I think.

It all kind of started in September...I was unhappy with my job. I left for another job - with lots of good benefits. This new job was quite a bit different though and after only a week (and lots of stress) I knew it wasn't going to be for me. So after a weekend of MUCH deliberation and many conversations with Mr. 246 we decided I would quit this new high-paying, awesome benefits job in search of something that would make me happier. (Something with less hours and less stress.) I've been job searching ever since. I was sad when I didn't get a second interview for Planned Parenthood. I'm happy I did receive an "on-call" position at a nursing home. I'm waiting for the background check to clear then I'll be starting orientation. I'm still looking for the right job. I'm being kind of picky - at least in the beginning, so I can find a job I like.

Alternatively, Mr. 246 is loving his job. And we've decided to have him go back to school in January to start working on his masters since he's found something that he really loves. This makes me very happy for him and he's really excited to go back to school (well, do school stuff...it's an online program).

Things will work out for us. They always do. Once Mr. 246 is done with schooling it'll be my turn to make a change. I just have to figure out what I want to do with my life if it isn't nursing.

So...let's get back to some happy things! Here's a couple pictures from my most recent Project Life layouts.

See? Things haven't been all bad here! I'm very grateful for all this time I've been spending with Luna. It makes me sad that it can't last.

Anyway, after this post I'm going to try to get back into the blogging swing of things. I've been up to a lot of stuff lately (especially crafting/Project Life) and I can't wait to share!

Hope you've all been well!

-Mrs. 246

Granny Square Toy Blanket!

So, during my cleaning spree last week I came across some granny squares I had put aside two or so  years ago. They were my first granny squares and I was going to make an epic blanket. Being my first granny squares and out of crochet practice, they were all a bit wonky.

I decided instead of throwing them away I needed to do something with them. I decided to sew them all together and make Luna a "play blanket" that she could carry around and/or tuck her stuffed animals into bed with.

Luna was napping as I did the finishing touches so I laid it out in the middle of the floor to see if she'd notice once she came into the living room.

This is the first thing she did:

She ran up to it, squatted/sat on it and pet it. Then she picked it up, toddled about the house, and showed daddy.

She is practically a blur in all my shots of her 'cause she's running around like crazy these days. (Oh, and do you like her shirt? She picked it out at Wal-Mart and is in love with it. I think it's adorable on her and the dinosaur looks Reptar from Rugrats.) I took the blanket and showed Luna how she could tuck in her animals. Here's "Frankie Bear" enjoying the first use:

 

So, a cute little toy blanket for Luna out of something I was going to throw out. Lovely!

Project Stats: 

•  Measures: 24 inches x 20 inches
• Yarn: Impeccable (After using this yarn I don't care for it much. It's kind of thick and not very soft. They do have a somewhat decent selection of colors for being a major store chain.)
• Pattern: I don't recall the exact granny square pattern, but I found this instruction and it is pretty much the same thing. The border is two rows of double crochet - nothing special.
• Joining: I usually join-as-you-go but since I had a bunch of squares I had my first delight of sewing them all together. I have realized I like join as you go a lot better, but I do like the look of sewing them together. I followed the instructions here from the blog Do You Mind if I Knit and it worked out beautifully. Mr. 246 likes how flat all the squares lay when you're done.
• Extra: Since the granny squares were so wonky, the blanket was a bit wonky as well when all was said and done. I followed Lucy's instructions on steam blocking here (at the end of the post) and it ended up laying pretty flat. I love steaming certain projects afterward. I think it makes the whole blanket softer and more user-friendly. It's amazing!
• Likeablity Factor: Would do again if I had more spare squares (ooo...a rhyme!). It was completely worth it once Luna was smiling and running around the house with it. 

That's about it! If you want to check out more crochet goodness, feel free to peruse my Crochet Board on Pinterest: Hooking Makes Me Happy.

Alright, I'm off to enjoy the evening. Thanks for stopping by!
-Mrs. 246

The Amazing Bean!

I didn't make jam tonight. I think the combination of work and the afternoon lack of energy put me in quite a funk. Oh yea, and the letter from the county clerk saying our marriage license wasn't put through. It didn't say why, it just gave a #. I called and left a message but I knew it was probably too late to actually get a hold of someone. Sigh.

Mr. 246 did his best to ease my irritability: He made dinner. He made breakfast for me tomorrow. He made lunch for me tomorrow. He even cleaned up the kitchen when all was done. He really is the best, isn't he? I think marrying him again wouldn't be too shabby if I had to. ;)

The thing that brought my mood around though, was the little Bean. She is at that age where she is learning and doing SO MUCH. She's really turning into quite the little person. Here are some things she's done in the past couple of days:

1. The other day we were getting ready to go to the store and she brought me my flip flops (from the front door to the bedroom) then nudged them at my feet.
2. This evening she picked up one of Boo's toys (she knows the difference between his and her which amazes me), held it up, then kept calling out to him, "Puppo! Puppo!" trying to entice him to play with her.
3. We got her new fridge magnets (animals!) and we had a couple in the living room. I tested her and said, "Luna, will you go put this on the fridge?" I didn't point or anything, but she understood! She took the magnet, walked into the kitchen and put it on the fridge! I figured she understood me before, but now we have proof!
4. We had a bunch of books out before bed in the living room and we needed to get ready for bed and I handed her a book and asked her to put it back and she went over to the shelf and tried her hardest to put the book back. Then we worked out a deal where she would hand me the books off the floor and I'd put them back. Success!
5. Oh yea...she will fetch toys like a dog now. The dog didn't want to play, but she was more than happy to frolic down the hallway to retrieve them.

Yea, so I'm being one of those mom's that just talks about their kid, but that's okay. I just find it amazing how much she knows at such a young age! I've never been around kids in my life so I don't really know much about them (I make a great school nurse, right?) so it's neat to witness all the different changes and how much they really know and understand.

Anyways, she changed my mood around so I decided for my crafting for the night I'd work on something for her to have now (I'm making her a Christmas blanket right now). I have a bunch of spare granny squares from my first attempt. They're a bit wonky and the colors are terrible, but I couldn't just throw them away. I'm sewing them together so she can have a little blanket for her stuffed animals. You just wait...it'll be adorable.

Anyways, I really must get to bed. This whole waking-up-for-work business is terrible. (Although I wake up at the same time, it feels so much earlier when you have to go somewhere.) What have your little ones been up to lately?

-Mrs. (maybe?) 246

Wedding Crafts (& The Dreaded Wedding Stress)

First full week of summer: complete! I absolutely love staying home with the Bean everyday. I feel so so so lucky that I get to stay home with her for these 2 months of summer break. If only I could afford to stay home all the time...

I have had a somewhat rough weekend, though, between PMS and wedding stress, but I'm better now. (I think?) Poor Mr. 246...I'm lucky he puts up with me. I've got exactly 46 days until the wedding and I still have a bajillion things to do. Important things...like receiving my dress. (That's a story for another day...let's just all cross our fingers that it will ship soon.) I'm really starting to feel the crunch.

I did get two small crafts done a day or two ago. First up: Cupcake To-Go Bags. Hand stamped 36 of them. (We're expecting around 25 guests, but are planning on ordering 2 cupcakes per person.) This was one of those projects where your go a little crazy toward the end due to the repetitiveness. (I'm not sure though...maybe I'm the only one who gets like that.) Each letter is stamped on individually since I have an alphabet set. I like how they turned out those. Just plain brown lunch sack bags. I think they're lovely.

Next up: "Reserved" Signs for our family members' chairs at the ceremony. We're having folding white chairs for the ceremony. (No church pews since we're not getting married in a church.) So I wanted to block off their seats somehow. Pretty easy peasy project. I did the stitching as an afterthought but I think it makes them look much more finished. They're about 3-ish x 4.5-ish inches and none of them are really exactly the same size. Fine with me...I would drive myself insane if I tried to make them that perfect.

 

Yesterday, after another wedding-stress attack I decided that I would do no more wedding stuff for the rest of the night.  I've started working on a crochet bowl and it's pretty neat so far. I can't wait to show it to you guys. As for wedding crafting...look forward to: chalkboard wedding signs, bunting signs, table runners, and cupcake decorations. :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Ms. 246

This Moment

A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savour and remember.

Happy Weekend!