How is it possible that I haven’t blogged any crocheting since October!? Oh, wait…I guess I did blog about some cup sleeves and crocheted golden snitches back at the end of February. But still! The lack of blogging about it certainly does not indicate a lack of crocheting. Let me show you.

This rainbow blanket is one of the most recent things I’ve crocheted, and I love it. It’s probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever crocheted. It was made it for my friend Joanna‘s sweet baby boy, but Elliora tried claiming it as her own. First she came over and plopped down on the blanket when I was trying to take photos. (That was only two months ago. Now she runs if I point a camera at her; forget her voluntarily inserting herself in a photo she wasn’t asked to pose for in the first place.)

Then she stood, gathered the blanket into her arms, and walked off with it. She climbed into the blue chair still holding the blanket, and hugged it, grinning at me, daring me to take it away from her. The goober.

A photo of the rainbow blanket before Elliora tried staking her claim.

Photo taken two months ago. It’s bigger now, since the blanket is one-third done!

Have I told you all about the sky blanket I’m crocheting? You might have seen the sky scarf on Pinterest. I liked the idea, but decided I wanted a blanket, and went with my trademark spiral squares instead of stripes. I started just after the first of the year. Each day, I look at the sky around noon (or whenever I remember; or unless it rains or snows anytime that day, in which case the day’s square is sparkly gray or sparkly white), and that evening I spend about 20 minutes crocheting one three-inch square out of the appropriate color yarn and then attach it to the blanket. I’ll end up with 360 squares arranged in 20 rows of 18, and maybe a six-round border for the last six days of the year, which will make a decent-size blanket in shades of blue, gray, and white. It’s a totally different color scheme than my usual palette of brights. I’m surprised by how much I like it and look forward to cuddling under it at the end of the year.

My sister-in-law Dana sent me this bag for my birthday. I love it.

These two little nine-patch blankets were made for our friends Lynette and Med’s twin girls.

I didn’t notice till after I’d started working on the purple one that the colors were very Mardi Gras. Good thing Lynette and Med appreciate (and throw!) a good party.

This photo was actually my Day 6 photo from 7 Days this past December. (You know, that 7 Days week I never finished blogging about because (1) it was Christmas, and (2) I got sick on Christmas Eve. Sigh.) Summer complimented a similar coffee-cup sleeve in Mandy’s Day 2 photo, so I offered to make her one.

Queta, another 7-Dayer, complimented the same coffee-cup sleeve. I made one for her too. (Apparently, all it takes is a compliment and I’m falling all over myself to make you stuff.)

Erin peeking over the blanket I crocheted for Indira Jane.

Two-month-old Indy, sleeping under her blanket. She’s EIGHT months old now, and I have not seen her since this picture was taken. That’s so sad. Once we’re back on the west coast, I think I’m gonna be visiting Oregon a lot more often. How else are Elliora and Indy going to become best friends?

Last but not least, some yarnballs! I’ve made a bunch of crocheted balls for my friend Rebekah’s kids over the years. Her husband Jason loves them (balls you can play with relatively safely IN THE HOUSE) and periodically puts in an order for more. Not long ago I made these three for them. And I just remembered, I need to make them a few more! I should add that to my crafting queue…

Mystery yarnballs! For the life of me, I cannot remember who I made these for. Was it more balls for Bekah’s kids? Did I make these for Jen‘s Preston? Did I perhaps make them for you? I honestly can’t recall.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get cracking on about three baby blankets, including one for a baby who is already several months old and another one for Sonja‘s baby who will be born any minute now. (ANY MINUTE, Sonja. I’m sure of it.)

What kinds of crafty things have you been doing lately?

*I have never actually crocheted any ketchup. But now I kind of want to.

“Ree! Ree! Peeees?” is what Elliora says as she clambers onto your lap, shoving a book into your hand.

How could you possibly say no?

p.s. New banner, in honor of Annalie’s 8th birthday party, which will feature miniature golfing and dinosaur cupcakes. Thanks, B!

*cough, cough* Gracious! It’s dusty in here, isn’t it? Let me just wipe away these cobwebs and blow off the dust…there, that’s better. I’m a little embarrassed at how I’ve neglected things around here. I have resolved to do better in May. Wish me luck.

My mom and my niece Aurora are here visiting us for a few weeks! It’s fun having them here, but my mom and I have been a little surprised by how much more exhausting it is to have three kids in the house (two of them toddlers) than it is to have only two. Of course, this is partly because Aurora has never been to our house before, had never flown on a plane, had never been more than a couple hours’ drive away from Omaha before. And Aurora is very two right now. In fact, she’s just about two and a half, which means she’s entering that period of disequilibrium that kids often go through around their half-birthdays. (I’ve talked about this before with Annalie.)

Since Elliora is almost exactly a year younger than Aurora, she’s been going through a bit of disequilibrium herself lately, which isn’t surprising. She’s changing so fast these days, adding new words every day and even putting them together in short sentences. Three of her first-year molars have just popped through her gums, and at the park the other day she was climbing all over the big-kid play structure and going down the slides without any help from anyone. She cracks us up every day with mannerisms and reactions that seem older than her 18 months. She regularly eats more than her big sister, and when we have brussels sprouts or asparagus (!?) she eats as much or more than I do. She is meeting life head-on and keeping up with her cousin and big sister just fine.

Annalie, meanwhile, is almost eight! Her birthday is only eight days away. She’s been simply FANTASTIC with her sister and her cousin. She’s been patient and calm through tantrums and craziness. Since they’ve both been sitting in the back row of the minivan, Annalie has been buckling Aurora into her carseat every time we go anywhere, and unbuckling her at the other end. She’s willingly shared food and toys with the littles, and more than once she’s cheerfully agreed to wait to do something she wanted to do until naptime. I think I’m gonna love eight.

What have you guys been up to?