March is International Crochet Month!

My favorite month!  Not just for the crochet, it's also Otter's birthday on the last day of March.  But this post is about this:

Which means this:

(This is just a very small sample of my yarn stash)

(Yes, everywhere!)

(Yes, great pain.)

Just a few thoughts!

Today is I Love Yarn Day!!!!!!!

One of my very favorite days, that's for sure.

There is so much that can be done with yarn.

My chosen art/addiction is crochet, which is probably no secret at all.

It doesn't matter if you crochet, knit, weave, or any of several other crafts that involve yarn, today is a good day and I encourage anyone who might be interested in yarn art to find a way to learn and see where it takes you!

Yarn is magic.

Ripple Afghan Lap Blanket

After nearly 3 years, I finally finished the afghan!  I started it on the way to TEXAS for Thanksgiving, 2010.  I got quite a bit done, but then we had two hot summers in a row and the last thing I wanted to work on was a blanket.  So, it got put aside and then the winters were also warm so it stayed in the closet waiting on me.  I have been working on it a few rows at a time and last Saturday was a wet, chilly day so I worked on it most of the day.  It started out with the idea of becoming a bed-sized blanket, but it really wasn't wide enough so it decided it wanted to be a lap blanket instead.  I figure I can always add to it if I decide to, but I'm thinking that it will probably stay the size it is.

 

21 sets of 4 rows each, 84 rows.  Base row is a chain stitch and the rest are single stitch.  The yarn is by Caron and is very soft.

Here it is!

This is the first actual row.

24 rows, not including the foundation chain stitch row.

Close up of the stitches at 56 rows. 

The safety pin with the orange yarn is to mark my place and keep it from accidentally being frogged when I stopped each time I worked on it.

This is the completed afghan, it's not quite square.  This picture is taken from the bottom, which is the straightest edge but because it's ripple pattern it isn't actually straight edged.

A closer shot of the foundation edge, the corner is flipped up a bit but you can tell that it's straighter.

This is the end edge, the ripple is more evident in this shot.  If I do ever decide to add on, this is where it will happen.

 

I'm just so glad to be done with it!

 

Photography credit:  Otter.

Blue Granny Square Afghan Lap Blanket

Lots of names for this one!

 

A while back, a long while back actually, I started a project that was supposed to be a robe made out of granny squares.  But it decided it didn't want to be a robe, it wanted to be a lap blanket instead. Sometimes that happens!

 

6 squares by 8 squares, each square is 4 rows of royal blue with a light blue outer row.  Then the squares are stitched together with the same light blue.

 Here's a close up of a square.

This is what it looks like where the rows are stitched together.

The squares are all triple stitch, it's stitched together with single stitches.

 

It's actually going to be pretty warm.

Crocheted Afghan Progress

It's been a while since I posted an afghan update.  I haven't worked on it too much lately, it's big enough that it's like having a blanket over me and the summer was just too hot to even think about it!  I put about 10 rows on it yesterday.  It's folded in half width-wise.  It's probably about 1/2 way there.  I'll know when it's long enough.

56 rows!  All double stitch.  I'm using Pound size skeins, it's taken nearly a full one of each color so I figure that it will probably take a total of 4 skeins, 2 green and 2 cream.  Which will leave me with two unused skeins of each color, but I've learned:  buy more than I think I'll need because the colors won't be there later on if I run short!  But it's good, soft yarn and I will use it.

I started row # 57, the safety pin is keeping the stitch from unravelling and has orange yarn on the end of it so I can see it easily.  I prefer to stop a project in the process of the next row, it's too easy to get confused and start on the wrong end or on the wrong side.

Now that the weather is finally getting cooler, I'm probably going to be working on this a lot.  I want to get it finished fairly soon, but I don't always have a lot of time during the week so it might be what I do for the next few Saturday afternoons.

Ripple Afghan Status Report

This is the start of the afghan, the first row.  It's a foundation chain with double stitches as the first row.  You can sort-of see the ripple pattern, which is caused by way the stitches are made.  Also visible in the top of the picture is part of my knee, and a beagle foot!

This is the same afghan, but now it's up to 24 rows.  The tails are still visible, I won't weave them back into the body until I'm through.  Which will be whenever I decide it's long enough, but won't be any time soon!

I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out.  I'll post updates on it again.

Crochet Granny Square Afghan Blanket (EDITED)

On my main blog, I mentioned a crochet project I've been working on. This is it.

Sweetie's birthday is towards the end of this month. Otter picked out the colors and the yarn, I did the actual work and Bill's contribution was to tell me when he thought it was big enough. Well, we had to let him have some input! :)

It's a shape known as a Granny Square. It's more of an afghan or blanket, which is what it was intended to be, because of the size. This is a close up. (EDIT: I just noticed that the afghan wasn't squared when I took the pictures. It looks a little wonky, both on the sides and on the close up. Pilot error, it's actually a square but I didn't get it straightened out when I was taking the picture so it looks a little odd and so does the center, but they are not like that in "real life." Part of the reason (a big part, actually) for the pictures not being the best was that I was trying to take the picture BEFORE the beagle could get inside the house. Because any blanket on the floor is fair game for her to park her furry behind on, and I didn't want to give Sweetie a dog-haired blanket!)

Two rows each of pink and white, alternating.

I did remember to take a picture, which I have been forgetting to do lately. But I forgot to measure it!

I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. Triple stitch is one of my favorite stitches and Granny Squares are enjoyable to make. And blankets are really good to work on when the weather is cool, because they cover you as they get bigger.

(We gave it to Sweetie today, otherwise I wouldn't be posting the pictures yet.)