Being cooped up in my house for most of 2020 allowed me to rediscover some crafts that I had put down for a while as well as trying some new crafts. I’ve always loved crocheting. My grandma taught me when my sister and I would spend summer days at her house. She was a master, making some very intricate pillow and banner designs. I was always amazed at all the wonderful crafts she made including plastic canvas and cross stitch. After she passed away I was able to keep one of her pillows (see photo below). So crocheting has always been a nice, soothing activity for me in the winter while sitting on the couch and watching TV. For a long time I stuck to the basic stitches I had learned from her. My favorite thing was to make large, bed-sized granny squares.

As I grew older I realized that I should probably learn more but each time I tried something new I got frustrated and put it down. I couldn’t seem to turn rows without dropping stitches and my tension was all over the place. A few years ago I found this great Youtube channel - Bella Coco - and was able to follow her instructions easily. Now I’ve learned some really nice stitches and have been making baby blankets - mostly because it’s an easy project and I’m hoping to sell them in the shop in future.

I’ve tried several different yarn brands over the years and most wind up feeling scratchy to me. Since I want to primarily make baby blankets, I was looking for something softer, sturdy and washable, and also hypoallergenic. I found Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn and fell in love! This yarn is durable, gets softer with each wash, and is great for sensitive skin. Best of all, they come is these amazing multi-colored skeins that just make my heart happy!

Joanns recently had a big yarn sale and I scooped up as much yarn as I could for future projects. When it started getting colder in fall, I made a lovely blanket with fall colors. I’m currently working on one with more of a muted Christmas pallette. The new colors I picked up are all beautiful - some muted, some bright. I can’t wait to get in there and make some new blankets! I recently decided to make my blankets larger as the ones I’ve been making are on the newborn size and not as useful long-term as the baby grows. So that means that I also had to go through my current stash of yarn and get more skeins to make the larger blankets.

So I’m all ready to go for 2021! There are a few new stitch patterns that I found on Bella Coco’s channel and on Pinterest that I would like to try out. I’m going to try the Bloom Afghan, Alpine Stitch, Larksfoot Stitch, Jacob’s Ladder Stitch, and the Onward and Upward Afghan. All of these look intricate and interesting. I’d also like to start making hats. I’ve made a few granny stripe hats in the past but they don’t really keep your head warm with all those holes! I’d like to make something with a knit texture. And I would love to make sunburst squares - maybe turning those into a scarf.

So see below for my yarnspiration photos and stay tuned for all the beautiful projects I’ll be creating in 2021!

You can also see all my crochet inspirations on my Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/heatherkane/crochet/
And I just started a Ravelry account: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Lemontreecorner

My Grandma’s Pillow: