Wednesday 20 June 2012

Baby blanket Ta-dah



I was so pleased to getting round to finishing making Mrs.W's baby blanket this past weekend. Mrs.W is one of Alice's year 6 teacher's whom she adores. She is off on her maternity leave today and we wanted to thank her in a special way for all the love and care and nurturing she has shown Alice over this last year.


These photo's are of some very white little crochet cotton doilies I bought from a charity shop some months ago and stashed away waiting for the perfect project. Now, don't get me wrong i like white but sometimes it can be a little too stark for my liking, so I decided to dye these with good old fashioned tea bags. All I did was pop 2 normal teabags in a bowl of boiling hot water and a half teaspoon of salt to ensure the colour fixed.

Here's how they turned out...


I quite like that more "antique" look about them rather than the stark, crisp white on this occasion. What do you think? Have you ever tried this before?

The idea for the style my blanket came from here, although this is just a little baby buggy blanket and not quite as big.
As you may remember I posted about the beginnings of making this blanket here


I quite like the "hole-y" effect that was made by me hooking the squares together. I made the squares with Rico baby classic yarn in UK trebles, chaining 30 + 3ch(as 1 treble) and crocheting 16 rows in each square. I don't normally go for pastel colours but I allowed Alice to choose these as I wanted her to be part of the making, so, here it is in it's entirety with me playing around for positioning of the little doilies.


Can you see more of the hole-y effect I was taking about? All in all I really enjoyed making this sweet, soft baby blanket of 12 squares and first a half-treble row and then 3 treble crochet rowed border followed by a slightly shelled/picot edge.


I just made this up as I went along and seemed quite satisfied with the end result.


I also had to stain some white cotton thread in the tea before sewing the doilies (I used 6 in the end) onto the blanket so as to make it match the doily colour.


I think I like it, despite never having made a blanket with such pastel colours. I do hope Mrs.W will get pleasure out of using it to keep her second baby cosy.


All wrapped up in this pretty Ravilious ABC wrapping paper and vintage lace bow. Alice wrote her the sweetest card which she preferred for me not to photograph for my blog (she's at that age!).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have enjoyed this bit of crochet for a change. I am linking up to Ta-Dah! Tuesday on Lakota's blog where you can see her makes as well as links to other great blogs and their makes.

Now...... for my next project!
Take care and see you soon
Penelope
xox

16 comments:

  1. Looks lovely, what a thoughtful gift, I like the tea and salt idea, and especially liked that you remembered to dye the cotton at the same time, I would definitely not have thought of that! The teachers at Alice's school are incredibly lucky to have such a caring pupil with such a talented mum!

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  2. What a generous gift, Mrs W will be delighted that's for sure. I completely agree with you about the starkness of white doilies and it just so happens I have quite a stash, only not yet used on account of the colour. Thank you so much for the inspiration. My daughter and I tea stained a home made treasure map the other day and I've been meaning to stain fabric for some time. You have inspired me!

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  3. That's a lovely blanket. I have, for a long time now, wanted to make one of those 'dottie angel' blankets. I even have the thrifted doilies standing by in a cupboard. I might even get around to it one of these days! Thanks for the kind comment you left on my blog just now. x

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  4. It's so so pretty, lovely colours. I've never dyed anything fabric with teabags, but I have made 'aged pirate scrolls' for treasure maps using that technique! Alice's teacher is so lucky.

    Thanks for linking up (could you please add a link in your post?)
    x

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  5. Oh it's beautiful Penelope! I'm sure Mrs W will LoVe it! Love those little doilies and the tea has made them look even prettier!
    Victoria xx

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  6. That is a very clever idea with the teabags. They go really well with the blanket and make a beautiful present. A thoughtful gift always means so much. Rachel x

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  7. I love the colour the doileys turned out. Must remember how to do that - quite a nifty idea. The blanket turned out lovely and I'm sure the mum to be will love it, especially as it is from one of her pupils. Thanks for sharing. xoxox

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  8. Well Well Well Penelope I have never thought of doing that!!! tea dye! You've given me food for thought.
    I am convinced Alice's teacher is going to be thrilled with this blanket...I would be, especially as it is handmade and thought has gone into it.

    Have a great day.... its hot and windy and nasty here .

    Amanda :-)

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  9. I'm sure Mrs W. will be very happy with her baby's blanket ... it's lovely Penelope.

    I've done lot's of 'taking the white off' with tea over the years, on thread, cloth, yarn and paper. Sponging cold tea onto things can give a lovely variegated effect. Your doilies look wonderfully vintage!

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  10. That is a very sweet blanket, made with love and Mrs W will adore it I'm sure. Love the doilies, wouldn't have thought of doing that myself.
    Hope all is well in your household.
    xx Sandi

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  11. I love how the tea-stained doilies give your blanket such a wonderful vintage look - I am sure that favourite teacher will be delighted :)

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  12. Hello again Penelope. Thank you so much for your sweet comment .. patterns, well well that is something to think about but way in the future I feel. You are kind to suggest it though .. made my day :)

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  13. Such a beautfiul blanket with so much thought and time gone into it. I'd have been thrilled to get it when mine were wee so I'm sure Alice's teacher will be.

    Hope Andy is mending well. You've all been in my thoughts.

    By the way we're actually making it to the south coast this summer. Got a cottage in Steyning and then just want to show the girls absolutely everything we can pack into the time we have.

    X

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