Pretty Primavera Flower Baby Blanket

My sister is having her third baby very soon and with my newly gained confidence in regards to crochet squares from the doll blankets I made my daughters this spring (here and here) I decided to do a slightly larger blanket (ha! so I thought! Try multiple times bigger!) for my soon to be born niece. It was a lot more work than I expected but the yarn I used and the pattern for the squares were a very enjoyable mix. It took me two months, but that was through the summer so sometimes it was just way to hot to crochet in the evenings. Please pardon the ugly carpet in these photos!

I used DK yarn, Sirdar Snuggly Bamboo for the flowers and Berocco Vintage DK for the green and grey. It gave the flowers a nice sheen that made them pop out a bit more from the matte green and grey. I joined them all with a single crochet join.

The only thing that bothered me with the free tutorial on the squares was that while the squares are free, and she tells you that she joined with single crochet I would have had to buy an $8 pattern to do the same border as she did. The pattern is so much because it's for a cushion cover, including a fabric backing that she made with these flowers. I didn't want to pay that just for a border though. I also would have had to buy more yard because I was running low so I just kept it simple with single crochet in grey and then one more single crochet with the pink bamboo.

The blanket is 8 squares by 10 so it's a good size, but that means it can be used on a toddler bed and then as a lap blanket after that so I'm glad it should grow with the child for quite a while.

The tutorial for the Primavera Flowers Granny Square by Dragana Savkov can be found here.

How I Limit Screen Time - A Free Printable List

I have a daily struggle in my house to balance time on screens with the rest of life. We are a family fond of electronic devices of any kind. My kids do not own phones, but we have tablets and computers and tvs and an iPod. I came across this post about the Momentum Optimization Project by Narrowback Slacker. Yes! This is what I need. I implemented it recently with tears from one kids and enthusiasm from the other. I plan to tweak this as needed, and keep it going year round. I think it will be less important to limit screen time because they will not be asking so early in the day, and hopefully this will help them find other things to do before jumping straight to computer games or tv however screen time will never be truly unlimited. Bedtime is also enforced here, even in the summer although it is generally later than through the school year.

I used the Momentum Optimization Project as a springboard but made it my own. I have two printable versions below. In the second one I took out the two things that are more likely to not apply to other families. 

Just click on the one you want for a larger graphic and right click or (CTRL + click) to save and print.

My kids have certain chores they do every morning and I'm adding on a small one: tidying the main bathroom every day. It's not my mess in there. I've made a list for tidying their rooms and for the new bathroom job loosely based again on the lists Narrowback Slacker posted regarding the Momentum Optimization Project.

Again, just click on the black and white lists below and save or print. I also printed them out on coloured paper just for fun.

I love the idea behind this and I'm hoping it sticks in our house.

What are your requirements for screen time for your kids?

A Crocheted Monster Hanging Basket

I found the pattern for this Hanging Monster Basket by Crochet Ever After on Ravelry. It's a really easy pattern to follow. I didn't have super chunky yarn so I used 2 strands of worsted weight yarn with a 6 mm hook for the body and 1 strand of worsted weight with a 4 mm hook for the eyes. It was surprisingly huge!

Check out Crochet Ever After's patterns on Ravelry. Are you working on a crochet project over the summer?