Stage Three-Complete

The border is done and it finishes the blanket off very nicely.

 

This was done using up all the yarn leftover from the afghan, and has given me an extra blanket, perfect as a lap blanket, or as a baby blanket. 

 

That's my crochet projects completed for now, although it shouldn't take too long to find another one.

Stage Two

It took a bit longer than I was expecting, but all the squares are now joined.

I'll go around the whole thing and finish it with a border.

Stage One

Another session of crocheting yielded another small pile of granny blocks.

That's the last of them, so I went and collected them altogether to get a layout for the final blanket.

It was changed after this photo was taken, as I had two colours the same next to each other.  They sometimes get another shuffle as I sew them together, so it will be a surprise to see how they all turn out in the end.

 

I've made a start, two rows are done and joined, only seven more to do.

Granny Squares

These granny squares just keep coming.

This is the perfect project for relaxing.  I've now been able to empty the carrier bag, and have about half a dozen little balls of yarn left.  Now I can see the end, I'm hoping to get all the squares done this weekend so I can think about putting them altogether.  It's surprising how much room these squares take up.

Bits and Pieces

Last week was definitely one of "those weeks" in our house.  It was a week of anticipation and expectation which, combined with a general feeling of being under the weather, wasn't conducive to much productivity.  What I did try, ended up going wrong, so I was undoing much of what I did.

 

In the end, it was worth it.  On Saturday, myself and Number 1 son were on the train down to Bristol to pick up a car!  You can't believe how much difference it makes to be mobile again after four and a half years!  Monday was spent ferrying the boys to and from college.  After working out it took up three hours of the day, they are back to getting the bus, there is a limit to this taxi service!

 

Anyway, now that's settled, I can get back to a routine.  First, here is the round up of the few bits and pieces that did get done.

Another crumb block to add to the collection,

four more granny blocks for my blanket,

and the white work is mounted onto a canvas.  I like the texture of this canvas, it has a linen look to it.

 

All being well, the brain will be back in gear this week, and I can catch up on a few more loose ends.

They Just Keep Coming

Another session with the crochet hook, and I have these to add to my pile of granny squares.

By the look of the balls of yarn I have left, I may have to do some squares in solid colours, but I think they should go well with those already done.  I don't have to think about that yet, there are still some different colours to add to the ever growing collection.

Fusion Blanket

Five more blocks completed.

I've found that it works best to have a session of blanket stitching the edges, then I have a session of crochet.  Still another fifty to go.

An Off Day

What do you do when you're feeling under the weather and haven't had enough sleep?

Curl up in a corner with some wool and a crochet hook.

This is the next contribution to the granny square pile, and I haven't even started on the carrier bag!  There looks like there will be plenty more of these to come.

Bah, Humbug!

Some things don't go just as they should, but it is possible to turn it around.

I am trying to catch up with the "It's a Little Bit French" from Willowberry Designs.  In the bottom of my basket, I found I had done an extra piece to make a lavender bag. 

I went off to the machine, quite happy in the knowledge that I knew what I was doing, sewed the french seams only to realise I hadn't folded the fabric properly.  Instead of having the seam going up the centre back, it was at the side.  This meant the stitching was in the wrong place.

I wasn't going to undo two lots of stitching and came up with the idea of making a humbug.  I filled the bag with lavender, folded and stitched across the top, and have a unique, lavender filled humbug.  Mistakes don't always mean things are ruined!

Another treasure found at the bottom of the basket, was some cotton leftover from the panda.

Having a son that loves black, I've crocheted a black face cloth.  Waste not, want not seems to be the perfect motto for this house at the moment.

Pester Power

For what seemed like months, Daniel kept asking for an owl, and the answer was consistently no.  He looked at all the rules and regulations, even spoke to a keeper who offered to mentor him while we were out, and the answer was still no.  Almost every other sentence was, "Can I have an owl?"  The answer was no, but then I saw this:

This was a design in one of the Cross Stitch Gold magazines I wanted to clear out, but now, unknown to Daniel,  he can have four owls, although, I'm not sure he will be as delighted as I am.  Fotunately, he has a great sense of humour, so he will see the funny side.

As I can only do this while he's out, I'm not expecting them to hatch quickly, but the first eye has appeared.  He's away for a few days next week, so hopefully, good progress will then be made.

Daniel has now moved on to pigs, so guess what I'm looking for now!

In the meantime, I needed something that I could do in the odd few minutes that I had available, and to do while waiting for Daniel at various activities.  While moving furniture and cleaning last week, I found a neglected project which is just perfect for those times.

It's just a crochet square that will just grow and grow until I run out of cotton.  Once it's done, then I'll decide what it's for.

Using up Leftovers

The cotton yarn leftover has now been used and put to good use,  I got another two dishcloths crocheted.  I now have a small space cleared from under my work table, and have two more useful objects.  Now if I can get some of the quilts done, an even bigger space will appear.

A simple start

The first finish for the new year, was quick and simple, a large crocheted dish cloth.  I had some bits of cotton yarn left over from previous projects, so I wanted to use them up in  a useful way,  This is a large dishcloth, but a couple of smaller ones are on their way.  Now onto something a little more challenging.

Crochet Blocks

While I was away, the next four issues of the Art of Crochet arrived.  In my attempt to clear up, I thought I'd get the four blocks crocheted up and the magazines and folders would be away for another month.  This took a little longer that I'd first anticipated.

 The four blocks didn't take long to do, but it was then time to stitch up the next quarter of the afghan.

It took the rest of the afternoon and evening to sew all these blocks together.  Now I need to join the two quarters I have and I'll get to see what half the afghan will look like.  I do know there is going to be quite a bit of weight in it which will be perfect for the winter evenings.

The Catch Up Begins

The boys arrived home safely from their travels yesterday afternoon, and with them, the camera.  Now I can truly get back into the swing of things.  First of all a catch up on some of the things that have been keeping me busy, before, after and during my holiday.

While we were away, we missed a wedding, but the boys chose what they wanted from the gift lift.  I had to smile at their logic in making their choice.  They chose dish cloths and tea towels, "because you(being me) can make them"!  Although, I will be buying the tea towels, I did have a dish cloth making spree before I went away.  I've done two each, knitted and crocheted.

Out of the scraps left, I did myself a couple too.  I don't care that the yarn is  a bit mismatched, they will still do their job.

 The next project is one of those that will take a while, it's the project I do to use up the odd time between finishing and starting projects, usually the evenings.  I chose this one from an older copy of Cross Stitch Gold.

 The great thing with this sampler, each elephant is like having a finish in itself.  As each one is done, I'm doing the back stitching, so it seems to come together quite quickly.  Eventually, this will become a central panel for a baby quilt or wall hanging.

As my hands are never idle for long, I had to think of something to take with me on holiday.  It had to be something I could do and still be sociable, and not cause airport staff any concerns for safety.  The answer was some crochet, plastic hooks do not set off any alarms!

This is going to be a jacket, and is a much darker purple in real life.  The back and one front has been completed.  The pattern is another from the Art of Crochet magazine, and was well chosen for it's simplicity.  I'll get back to this one once I've managed to catch up with the other projects I missed while being away.

Next Four Blocks

As the crochet hook was already out, I polished off the next four blocks pretty quickly.  These four won't be hanging around all month.

You may notice that there is a mistake in the raspberry square.  I must have got distracted and repeated the second pattern row when I should have done the first.  As it's a sampler afghan, and for me, I've left it.  I'm just happy to know I can spot the mistake and work out what went wrong, a big improvement from the start of the project.

Now these blocks are off the list, I can do something else, not sure what yet, but there isn't a shortage of things to choose from.

Back to basics

After the success of the little jacket, I thought I'd better catch up with the latest squares for the afghan.  They've been waiting for some time, and I knew the next batch was due to arrive at any time.

I liked how this four turned out, especially the top right.  Not only do you get a wavy line with the colours, but you get a ripple effect in the square.  I really liked it, I might even use it to make a little blanket one day.

Before I'd even had a chance to finish these, the postman arrived, and yes, the next batch have arrived.  Think I'll be doing those sooner rather than later, and it will be something else to cross off the list.

Happy Dance

Ever since being shown the basics of crochet as a child and forgetting them as I grew up, I've wanted to be able to read a crochet pattern, and make something "proper".  It didn't take long to remember how to do the squares and the basic stitches, but I wanted to be able to make garments, just as I did with knitting needles.

Well this week, I did it!  I read a pattern and I have a jacket.

It might be small, but it's still a jacket, and it's the proper size and shape.  More importantly, it's wearable!  I love the little flower decorations too, and in case you're wondering, the other bits are leaves.  Next time I go into town, I'm hoping to find some pretty buttons to finish this. 

This was crocheted using a cotton yarn mixed with kapok.  The kapok really softens the feel of the cotton, I'll look forward to using it again.

Well, tonight is Friday Night Sew In.  I have a cross stitch in progress, so I shall work on that as it's one of the projects on my list to finish before the boys come home.

Crocheted Squares

I needed to clear some space in my working area, so I thought I'd better get the next four blocks of the crocheted afghan done, especially as they arrived in a box this time.

Three of the blocks I've done before, but I don't remember doing the pattern on the top right.  These are getting easier each time as I get more comfortable with the stitches. 

Next months, or should I say this months magazines are due this week, so these have been done just in time.

Crochet Blocks

My crochet magazines had been sitting around for quite a long time this month, they waited so long the dog opened them for me.  Fortunately, he was more interested in eating the invoice to do any damage to the wool. 

I was quite pleased with the purple square, this was one of the patterns I couldn't get the first time round.  This time it worked, and it worked for the whole block!

As I didn't do these straight away, I don't think it will be long before the next months installment drops through the door.

March Heart and Crochet blocks

Raspberry Rabbits released the pattern for the March heart earlier in the week, so that's now stitched up and ready.

 This months crochet blocks are all done, so I think that's all the monthly projects done for March.

Now all I need is some sunshine, cold germs to go away and a good nights sleep!