Something EXCITING and my Sunburst Granny Square Blanket

**I have declared July as my "Finish It" month since I'll be too huge and tired and hot to do much of anything except continue to grow a human, so I'm very pleased to introduce you to...

July Finish #1

I wanted to try something new recently and I'm happy to say it's turned out pretty well!  And I'm way proud of myself for two reasons.

1.  I get nervous trying new things because I get really intimidated really easily.  Especially by pattern speak in a craft language I'm not familiar with like crochet and knitting.  But I figured it out and I'm definitely going to try another pattern soon.

2.  I've been pretty dilligent in keeping the progress going instead of letting it sit in the corner and allowing myself to get distracted by something else.  If you came to my house you'd understand...I'm not super great at finishing...starting things I'm aces, of course...

I mentioned in another post, but here is the link again for the tutorial on the blog Nittybits (aren't those pictures luscious?).  Yes, I had to refer to the videos multiple times, and read the directions even more than that, but now I think I'm fairly confident I could make another blanket without much trouble. 

I think the coolest part is turning the round sunbursts into squares.  It's so fun, so for this first one, I made them all into squares and then joined them together using this tutorial on Attic24and I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

Here's the finished blanket!  And it didn't take forever!!  It's about 42" x 37" so it's not huge.  8 squares x 7 squares.  It's got a great weight to it and will be perfect for chilly Idaho winter nights with the new baby.

You can't see, but I'm patting myself on the back!  Yep, this one I'm keeping for sure. 

Here's the something exciting: my husband managed to snag a GA position for grad school!!!  This is awesome because it pays for his tuition and provides a small stipend (extra $$) to go with.  Pretty darn wonderful not to have to worry about THAT anymore!  Not to mention he'll get to teach and have valuable experience for his resume and make more connections and it's so good.  It's pretty rad news! 


Hope you all had a very happy 4th of July! 

Trying new things...

The weekend went fast, as usual, and it's Monday again. 

I'm 32 weeks pregnant now and have reached that stage where bending over is just not comfortable, but fortunately I've got two little helpers (and one very patient husband) so we're all pretty excited to meet the little peanut!

Anyway, end of last week and over the weekend I decided to try a couple new things. 

I really admire people who have skills with yarn.  I can only do one crochet stitch that someone taught me at church in college.  I've made blankets with lots of...um, character, but nothing fancy.  I have trouble counting so I usually avoid patterns.  Sometimes I count backwards mid-count or skip numbers, even if I'm counting aloud... what can I say, I'm just not a numerical person...

I wanted to learn to make a crochet sunburst granny square blanket after seeing such gorgeous pictures on Instagram (mainly from @insidethepaperbox or visit her blog here) and decided to give it a try.  Even though you do have to count. 

I followed these instructions found at nittybits here and so far it's coming along.  I'm trying to get it done before it gets lost in a corner somewhere so you'll be seeing many more yarn pictures.

I picked up a button making kit at JoAnn's (less than $4 I believe) and followed the instructions on the back as a break when my brain started hurting...

My gosh these are so EASY!!!  and so darn fun to make.  They turn out so cute!  But I have no idea what to do with them now.... Besides stare at them obviously. The car and the strawberry are my favorites.  And the snail too. 

I'm pretty proud of myself for trying something new! Here's hoping the rest of it turns out!  I'll keep you posted.

How was your weekend?  Have you tried anything new recently?