Striped Crochet Giraffe

So I’ve been brainstorming and collecting ideas for our soon-to-be baby girl’s bedroom, which naturally means I have a new crochet project to share. The first step in planning a new room, as any professional will tell you, is to stop planning the new room and crochet something to go inside it instead.

As I’ve been browsing nursery pictures to figure out the look I want to go for in her bedroom, I keep gravitating to the same sort of style: very simple, very clean-looking white/gray spaces that just have little bursts of color tossed in with wall art/pillows/accessories. And since that room is still packed to the gills and ready to puke forth its mess of craft supplies and discarded projects and miscellaneous crap that gets tossed in when we’re too lazy to find real homes for it, I figured I’d start small (and start far, far away from that scary messy room) with a crochet project that fits into my ‘pops of color’ bedroom plan.

How cute is that? I used this free pattern HERE for my little giraffe, and figured this was a good opportunity to use up some yarn I already have rather than go out and shop for something new. To tell you the truth, mixing colors like this scares me. I don’t mix colors. But I decided to go big for this little project, and I think she’ll make a great pop of color perched on a dresser or bookshelf in the baby’s room.

I thought there were a few confusing spots in the pattern (rows that didn’t add up to the right stitch count, or notes added in later that I wasn’t sure how to interpret), but it seems to have worked out (and sadly, if any of you have questions, I’m afraid I’m not going to remember what I did). I need to work on crocheting as tightly as humanly possible in amigurumi—there are a few spots on this giraffe that look like they’re stretched mighty thin over the stuffing, but it is murder on the hands to crochet that tightly. I need a massage, stat.

And amidst all this colorful, baby-hormone-ridden cuteness, let’s not forget the little man of the house and the reality check that his PMS mood swings always bring about. He literally jumped in front of the camera for the picture above, and when I suggested he go stand by the giraffe for more pictures, he trotted over excitedly ("Yeah! Forry pitcho!”) aaaaaaaaaand:

. . . promptly changed his mind about the whole idea. At least this gives you a sense of scale on the giraffe.

Also, this real conversation really happened when he first saw the giraffe.

Forrest: Is nice goat. Pet the goat.

Me: It’s not a goat.

F: Oh. Nice moose. Pet the moose.

Never a dull moment with this one. Let’s hope little missy is a bit more even-tempered.

Adding some color to my kitchen

When I wrote recently about our kitchen renovation, I mentioned that I really wanted to add some more color to it. I do love me some nice crisp neutrals, but it gets a little dull day after day to be surrounded by white and gray and brown without a hint of real color.

Since we all love a good before and after (or in my case: before, mid, and current. I’m starting to doubt that there is ever a true, completely finished ‘after’ in homeownership), and since I can’t resist the opportunity to show off, yet again, all our hard work, I’ll just walk you through the whole thing again.

When we bought the house:

With the addition of new floors, counters, sink, and light fixtures, and after repainting the cabinets:

And today:

Yay! Color!

The biggest project we undertook since the last time I shared pictures is the backsplash. Jeff and I installed this ourselves a few weeks ago, and were actually pretty surprised at how simple it was. This was our first time working with tile, and after about 3 months of staring at just one sample sheet of tile propped up against the wall, we finally worked up the courage to get started.

This picture makes it pretty obvious that we’ve got some touch-up work to do. We used Tile Setting Mat instead of mortar, which was great in some ways (for tiling beginners like us who had zero experience/confidence, it completely eliminated one scary step of the process), and less great in others (since we didn’t measure and cut it 100% perfectly, we’ve got about 1/4-1/2” of empty, uncovered mat poking out between the top of the tiles and the bottom of the cabinets, which isn’t very pretty). But as you can see, we decided on a mosaic tile, which I really love. I think it adds a lot of texture and interest to our previously bland kitchen. The mosaic tiles came in 12x12” sheets (this isn’t the exact product—I can’t seem to find our tiles online—but here’s a very similar-looking one from Home Depot), and are a mixture of travertine and glass tiles.

But even with the nice new backsplash, I still wanted some more color. I figured the pantry door was a good place to start.

Here’s the view toward the pantry, mid-renovation:

And now:

It was such a simple, inexpensive way to add some personality and color to the room. I used Valspar Almond Glaze, and had the whole thing done before Forrest even woke up from his nap.

I sewed a quick little curtain (using leftover curtain fabric kindly sent to me by my buddy Kim of Newly Woodwards—thank you, Kim!) to carry the yellow across to the window, and hung a few decorative plates on the side of a cabinet to add a little more character.

(I’m posting at The Bungalow Boutique’s blog today with the curtain tutorial—head over there to see how I made it!)

My turquoise mirror (an old gold hand-me-down mirror that got a coat of spray paint) and a vase of (fake) forsythias pull the color across into the dining area as well:

I can hardly believe this is the same kitchen that we moved into. I suppose it’s not, in many ways. But thank goodness for that. And I think I’m done with this room for a while. Just as soon as I decide if the big bay window needs some sort of treatment. And whether or not I should give my scratched up, worn-out table a makeover of some sort. Then I’ll be done. For a while.

Current Color Options

This list represents the colors I normally have in stock--it will be updated as I introduce new colors or phase out old ones. If you don't see the color you were hoping for, just let me know and I'll do my best to find it for you!

Thanks for shopping with Maybe Matilda . . . stylish crochet for you and your little ones!