Crochet - A Baby Blanket on Pause

When Daisy, my future sister-in-law, got pregnant with her daughter, I vowed to make a baby blanket for the child.  Fortunately we found out that she was expecting a girl, so I set out to make a lovely. A lovely is a doll blanket. The center is usually a doll head (with or without arms) with the actual blanket as the doll's torso and bottom. 

There was a princess pattern I had been eyeing on Ravelry, a free knitting and crocheting website.  I chose this pattern because Disney princess are deeply cultural for us Americans. They are simply iconic and even though the younger generation of children only know the newer princesses, they are still able to recognize the classics: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Cinderella is Daisy's favorite princess, so I researched as many images of Cinderella as I could to find my template for the lovely.

I picked the princess pattern by Briana Olsen (pictured in the center above)  because she included ways to adapt the pattern for each princess.  She included hair customizations and patterns for crowns and wings.  Hers is so comprehensive and universal that I can continue to use the pattern over and over again for many different figures.

Once the pattern was chosen, I created a project page on Ravelry.  Ravelry doesn't simply have patterns.  Ravelry allows every user to sell, buy, or give away free patterns and also allows every user to queue patterns for a later time and create project pages to track the progress.  Here is mine for the Cinderella Lovey

It's difficult to see, but there is a list of materials in the center and a progress bar in the upper right corner.  In that same location, there is a status and a start date.  My start date is April 20, 2015.  It's almost been a year, but my blanket is only 70% finished.  A part of the reason why the blanket is unfinished is that I lost steam.  I have a tendency to start off a project really strong, then fizzle out and die towards the middle.  At least for this project, I made it through the halfway point!  The other reason why is...I hate finishing up knitting/crocheting projects.  Finishing involves a lot of sewing and hiding the loose ends and oh man..I HATE THAT PART.

I also have to block the blanket.  Blocking is a process where you use water to shape a project so that it looks the way it is supposed to.  With most circular projects (knitting and crocheting), there is a scrunched and misshapen look in the finished projects.  Blocking softens the yarn so that it can be shaped into the proper form.  Corners are pointier; edges are straighter, and patterns are better highlighted.  Blocking requires wetting the project in some way so that in it's wet state, it can be shaped.  There are many processes out there.  I use a process called wetblocking.  Maybe I'll go over the different kinds one day when 1) people other than my fiancé finally start reading my blog 2) those people want me to go over the different kinds of blocking.

Here are some pictures of the individual, unfinished parts

In the above picture, you can see that there are the end strings hanging off and the edges of the blanket are curled.  Blocking will make those edges flat and straight and make the corners pointy.
The hair and bun....

I love the color of the hair.  It's a warm gold and it reminds me of a sunset over a meadow.

I started off this post with the intention of just writing about an unfinished project.  Yet, pulling out the different parts and taking pictures made me realize just how much I miss knitting and crocheting.  Also, I keep on thinking of baby Addison, my adorable to-be niece.  I get so happy just looking at that golden hair; I want her to share in that joy.  Also, she's 6.5 months.  This gift is 6.5 months late.  Now yes, she is only now developing depth perception, learning to really look at objects as a whole, and recognizing softer colors, but I want her to have this lovey.  This lovey will be a blanket, a doll, and her best friend.

No pressure on Addison, but I picture this lovey as her baby blanket.  You know, the one that she'll bring everywhere and won't be able to sleep without.  Her blankie.  Ok! I'm motivated to finish this and finally gift it!  It is currently April.  My goal is to have this gifted in May :)

Links to Patterns, Blogs, and Supplies:
Teddy Bear Lovey - Carolina Guzman
Pretty Princes Lovey - Briana Olsen
Mini Hippo Lovey - Lorraine Pistorio
Knit Picks - Billow (in Clarity, Natural, and Cornmeal)