More baby blankets

Here are a few more crocheted baby blankets.  I fell in love with the Baby Love design when I saw it, but I used yarn I already had for a new color variation. This one took 3rd place (out of three :-)) in our fair's Crocheted Baby Blankets class.

The pattern can be purchased (and seen in pinks) HERE.  The hearts are worked up first, linked and sewn together, then the blanket is worked in toward the center before finishing the outer side of the hearts.









And my most recent baby blanket is this - I just couldn't resist the super squishy soft yarn (Deborah Norville "Serenity") on half price!  And the chunky weight and V stitch works up so quickly - less than a week for me, and I really don't work very quickly.

 

Close to a pattern found on Lionbrand.com, but you'll need to be a member to find the "Sea Blue Baby Afghan".  I used four full skeins (109 yds) of Baby Yellow and about a half skein of Alaskan Blue (two stripes), to make it about 33 x 26.

Kept in stitches!

I know, I haven't posted my crochet projects for a while!  Partly keeping gifts under wraps, partly because my camera had some grudge and wasn't talking to my computer.  We've patched up that relationship now, and finally I had an afternoon to get a few pictures.  I took some at our fall fair, too, but the quality is something to be desired, so I'm not sure if I'll include any of those. We'll start with these...

First, "The Little Caterpillar's" Owl Lovey and  Blanket. 

The owl pattern (without the blankie) is HERE.  And inspiration for the larger blanket is HERE. (Aren't those colors gorgeous!)










My spring teapot really needed a winter sweater.  This took 2nd in "Other household items" at our fair.  I followed the gist of the pattern HERE, adapting to fit my pot, and using THIS rose pattern and the leaf from HERE. 

I think I should also make my winter teapot a spring sweater.  Just so I'm not showing any favoritism.

And likewise, I now have one more Barbie to stitch for.  Here is Ms. Malibu Barbie in her new outfit.

I was looking for something to do with MIL's yarn, the fair has a category very few enter (Yay! first place out of one entry!), and my Barbies' wardrobes were seriously lacking - they were always borrowing Midge's or their older sister Barbie's things...  I mostly followed the directions HERE, with some adaptations for my "earlier model" bust size and artistic license.  Yeah, did you know they changed Barbie's figure!?  There was nothing wrong with her size before, she just had some weird, probably corset-inspired, rib cage deformity.

All right.  That's enough for one post.  Time to go feed my award-winning compost and run a few errands.

Video of the week: Watch the vibrato (Two Cellos)

I mentioned this to one or two of you this week, and came across the video again.

The Two Cellos ( Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser) play a Shostakovich Prelude.  They both have great vibrato, though it is very different.  Watch the way their hands and fingers move.  Yet it all starts back in the shoulder! That is not evident from watching them, but you can see that their whole forearms are moving.  In both, notice how relaxed their hands are. 

Student question:  In relation to the last note, when does the vibrato stop?

Video of the week: Happy Together!

Just feels like the right time to bring this one back for video of the week!

Students, please tell me what your favourite scene or activity is in this video!

And remember - YOUR cello is not a stunt cello!  Don't try these at home!

Video of the week: Ariel Barnes plays Bach

Canadian cellist Ariel Barnes and solo Bach. If you'll be in Edmonton, Victoria, Denman Island or in France this summer check out his concert schedule! http://www.ariel-barnes.com/

Enjoy here: The prelude from Suite for Solo Cello No 2 in D minor

Video of the week: Land of the Silver Birch

Our newest group piece. Too bad we can't play along since it's not in the same key as this recording by Michael Mitchell. Still, it would be beneficial to listen to it repeatedly in order to learn and memorize it quickly for our recital on June 13!

Video of the Week: Perpetual Motion Variation

No lessons this coming week, so use this video by Abigail McHugh Grifa for a short lesson to review and improve your technique on Perpetual Motion Variations.
Show me your improvement at your next lesson! (Q. Where should your left elbow be?)