Crochet Baby Elephant and Blanket

When I heard our niece was expecting a baby in April of 2021, I was excited. Baby gifts are my absolute favourite things to crochet. As soon as I finished the sweater for our daughter, I started on a baby blanket and elephant ... such fun.

I was happy to finish this elephant on the very day our niece's son was born - April 23, 2021.

I took a few photos to show you this Crochet Baby Elephant and Blanket. I especially love the last photo showing our niece's baby posed with his gift. This photo was a perfect birthday gift for me!

I picked a new-to-me pattern called "Crochet Modern Moss Stitch Blanket" by Daisy Farm Crafts. I used worsted weight 100% acrylic yarn in white and arctic (blue) Craft Smart Value yarn to make this blanket. With a 6 mm hook plus a starting chain of 150 and a two row border, the baby blanket measured 40"x53".

I made the baby elephant in arctic (blue) to match the blanket with a bit of contrasting red on its frilly white bonnet. If you'd like to make one too, you can find the free pattern here.

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Cross Country Crochet

I decided to pack a crochet project for our drive to Boulder a couple weeks ago. It was a last minute decision I'm so glad I made.

I bought this special yarn a couple years ago intending to make a scarf for myself. Manos del Uruguay Alegria yarn is a hand-painted ultra fine merino blend. I love how soft it feels. I also love these colours. The soft greys and greens are perfect for me. 

I didn't crochet on our drive Friday night. I didn't crochet on our drive Saturday morning. I remembered to grab my crochet bag from the back of our SUV when we stopped for cappuccinos at Starbucks in Peru, Illinois - the one and only Starbucks we found en route.

I finished my cappuccino then pulled out my yarn. Before I could crochet, I needed to wind the skein into a ball.

I looped the skein around my knees and started winding. It tended to tangle, but with patience, I finally finished. It was time to crochet.

I crocheted all afternoon while my husband drove. I crocheted until the sun started to set. I took a photo before packing it away.

My crochet project stayed packed away until our return trip. I drove the first 4 hours on Saturday then crocheted until I ran out of yarn. I love how crochet makes a long drive bearable. I go from "Yuck, I'm stuck in the car with nothing to do" to "Yay, hours to crochet with no interruptions".

I finished on Saturday as the sun was starting to set. My Cross Country Crochet got me through much of the drive. Next time I'll take more yarn. It's a very long drive from London to Boulder and back again.

I love how this scarf turned out. It's even better than I imagined.

I followed this pattern designed by Heidi Beukelman. It is available for free on Ravelry. The moss or linen stitch is one of my favourites.

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Alegria

Hook size: 4.0 mm

Starting chain: 350 (instead of 400)

Worked first row into back bump of chain

Total Rows: 35 (odd # so both edges look similar)

Finished size: 63" x 5"

Time per row: 13-15 mins

Total time to crochet: 10 hours (approximately)

I crocheted until I ran out of yarn. I ripped out almost 2 rows because I was 10 stitches short of 37 rows. I wanted to end with an odd number of rows to keep the edges looking similar.

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Crochet Moss Stitch Infinity Scarf

I am always reluctant to buy really good yarn because it seems so expensive. A couple years ago I bought two hanks of Alegria yarn at The Yarn Factory Outlet in Listowel. Alegria yarn is super soft hand-dyed fingering weight or sock yarn made from a blend of superwash merino so it's both easy care and durable.

To start I had to roll the hank into a ball by hand. I convinced my husband to hold up his hands and support the yarn while I rolled. It takes quite a long time to roll this amount of yarn into a ball so once my husband was tired of 'helping', I draped the yarn over a kitchen chair back to finish. I didn't think to take a picture. The whole process is really quite labour intensive and I still have the second hank to roll. It can wait.

I was saving this yarn for something really special. I finally decided to make an infinity scarf with it. I love the moss stitch so I followed this free crochet cowl pattern. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn which works up much bigger than fine sock yarn. 

I made this pattern last Christmas and it was much easier to do with worsted weight yarn. Working with sock yarn and a 4 mm hook is challenging when you have a starting chain of 215 and have to join it without twisting. I started over about three times before I was satisfied. 

Once I realized how much smaller it was gong to be, I decided to carry on but call it an "Infinity Scarf". It was not going be long enough to wrap twice around the neck but if I made it wide using all the yarn, it should drape nicely on its own.

When I first started working on the cowl in this colour I had my niece in mind as bright colours look so good on her. Once I finished I tried it on and decided it made a perfectly fine Infinity Scarf. I also discovered I could take a decent selfie in front of a mirror. The camera reflection in the mirror shows where you're aiming which is much easier than working blind. My head is cut off on purpose as I just wanted to show the scarf.

I also draped the scarf over a wine carafe to show a close up of the stitches and beautiful colours in this yarn. The crochet moss stitch is one of my favourite stitches. I just love how it looks.

I was so pleased to finish in plenty of time for our niece's birthday today. It's wrapped and ready to go. I hope she likes it.

 

 

I think the colour suits her perfectly and I'm pretty sure she likes it. Another Crochet Moss Stitch Infinity Scarf made with love to help keep her warm this winter.  Happy 25th Birthday to our beautiful niece. 

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