Crocheting for "Bubba"

It has been my tradition to crochet a baby blanket for each of my children before they are born. Alyx's blanket was in a sage green since we didn't know whether she would be a boy or girl and because green is my favorite color. Larissa's blanket was in yellow. We knew that she was going to be a girl, but I was a little hesitant to do a definite girl color. Sydney's blanket was in a lavender. We knew she was going to be a girl, and by #3 I felt pretty sure that we could trust the ultrasound. =)

Since we found out we're having a boy this time around, I was excited at the prospect of making a "boy blanket." Once I decided on the pattern to use, we all went shopping for the yarn. I wanted every one's opinion, since I can't always trust my judgment when I'm pregnant. =) We all chose a blue and white yarn that is supposed to create stripes in certain patterns. I didn't necessarily want stripes, so I was hoping that the pattern I chose would end up a little different. It did, and I love it! The interesting thing is that the border has 2 rounds, and yet the colors still pretty much stayed together. Here it is...


The pattern that I chose called for a certain amount of yarn which required me to purchase 3 skeins of yarn. I crochet pretty tightly which always leaves me with an extra amount of yarn. When I finished this blanket, I had almost a full skein of yarn left. I hated the thought of putting it in a closet somewhere, so I started looking through my pattern books to come up with something else to make. I came across a pattern for a teddy bear and thought that it would make a great combo with the blanket. The pattern projected the size of the teddy bear to be a little bigger than I wanted, so I just decreased the hook size by two sizes and figured that my tight crocheting would also decrease the size of the bear.

Now, for those of you who know me at all know that I have a serious case of OCD. When I first considered making this bear, I wanted to make sure that the colors would all end up in the same place on each side of the bear, but Jason encouraged me to just do it and let it be random. He thought it would be cuter. I trusted him and am very pleased with the results. When the kids saw it completed, they said that we should name him "Patches." If you look closely, you'll see that he has two different colored ears and arms. The legs ended up pretty close to the same, and, oddly enough, I was almost dissappointed that they didn't turn out different. =) The pattern called for buttons for the eyes, but since that's a choking hazzard for little ones, I decided to just hand stitch them. We also had to take a vote on what color ribbon to use. The majority of my family (including my parents, sister and brother-in-law) voted on a red ribbon. So, here he is...


I can't wait for "Bubba" to be able to enjoy his teddy bear, and if for some reason he doesn't, I know three little girls who will. =) Here's one more picture of them together...