Two down, like a bazillion up...

Yay, I finished my CAL blanket on my trip!  I am really pleased with how it came out.  It is making a wonderful blanket to curl up with on the couch and watch my DVR stockpile as I try to get over the cold I picked up on my trip.  

I think my very favorite part of the blanket may actually be the border though.  I definitely have a new favorite border.  Here's a glimpse of my practice swatch (looks a bit like a tiara to me, or as my husband pointed out, Lady Liberty's headpiece).

And here you can see it on the actual blanket.  

I really do like this blanket pattern, though I do think the next time I make it I will use a smaller hook.  

I also finished up my secret project on the trip.  I will post pictures and write more on that once I've given it to the intended recipient.

I can post some fun pics of me working on it though.  Here I am at the ballgame with my project.  Mom's right next to me working on her own knitting project.

I also found an excellent way to keep my ball of yarn from rolling onto the ground at the stadium!  Huzzah for seat back cupholders--I wish we had those at the Ballpark in Arlington.  Of course, I always get bleacher seats for home games, so maybe it's just my frugality keeping me from the cupholders...

  

While this trip was great for finishing projects, it was also great for adding to the upcoming pile immensely.  First off, I went with my mom to a really cool yarn store in San Francisco called Art Fibers.  It's a pretty spiffy place.  They have sample yarn that you can play with, and you can keep any swatches you make, free of charge.  I also bought a few "taste samplers,"  snippets of yarn you can take home and try out to see if you want to buy more.  My mom also got me a cone/skein of this really awesome (and ridiculously expensive) yarn called Tasmania, in a very beautiful grean/brown color scheme (color 11).  Thanks Mom!  I've been trying to figure out what to do with my new fancy yarn, and I think what I may do is search for a pattern for a stuffed dragon to crochet.  It's a good color scheme for it.  

I had toyed with the idea of maybe trying to make a sweater out of the new yarn but I don't quite have enough.  I did find a few sweater patterns I want to give a try though, so wish me luck on those.  I also found a really cool baby blanket pattern that will be perfect for my co-worker if she picks more than one color.  

Then I was talking to my mom and sis about the awesomeness that is Ravelry and they were discussing the swaps that they are involved in.  I was thinking it might be fun to get involved in a blanket square swap group, so stay tuned on that front...

Plus there's still my Accepted's blanket and there was a sale on Vanna's Choice at JoAnn's that has fueled the additional projects I feared my secret project might lead to...so it looks like I am going to be busy on the crochet front for a bit.  And you know what, not complaining one bit.  

So yeah...there you go.  Hope all is well with everyone.  

Have an awesome week!

C

The gears are turning...

So, I was visiting one of my company's other locations on Thursday and some of my co-workers noticed my faux vintage purse.  When they commented on it I mentioned that I had made it and they were duly impressed.  In the ensuing discussion I mentioned that I mostly make blankets and one of them asked what I would charge to make a baby blanket because it turns out her sister is expecting.  

Now I seriously do not crochet for any other reason than because I enjoy doing it and because it is something to do with myself while I watch those zillion hours of television a week.  Also, this is one of the few people I work with that I genuinely like, so I of course told her that I would love to make a baby blanket for her pending niece or nephew, and she would just need to pay for or supply the yarn.  

I spent most of the drive back to my office pondering baby blankets.  I think that, depending on what color(s) yarn end up getting chosen, I will either use the pattern I did for my friend's parents or I will use the triangles pattern.  I am very excited about this.  It will probably be a bit before I get started on it because my co-worker is waiting to find out if it is a boy or a girl before she picks out the yarn.  

Whee!  I love happy projects like this.

The Accepted's Blanket is definitely a go in the near future as well.  I think I am going to make it completely round, so I am looking forward to playing with stitches a little to see what will lay flat the best.  

I just finished the last row of my CAL blanket tonight.  The blocks are also all assembled, so I will be spending my non-driving road-trip time tomorrow working on the border.  It's only two rows so that should be finished up hopefully by the time we hit St. Louis.  Then I will be all set to start on my super secret portable project.  The yarn came on Wednesday and I had a hard time not just starting it then.  Ooh, I am excited.  

Isn't it pretty?

I may even throw my Doctor Who Scarves into the bag to work on during the drive home next Sunday, in case projects one and two wrap up as quickly as it seems they might.  Man, I am kind of excited for all of the crocheting I am gonna get done on this vacation.  

Well, until next time, I wish you all well.  

Have a safe and fantastic week!

C

Ooh, planning vacation projects...

So, as of this coming Friday, I am on vacation!  I am heading out to California to visit my little sister.  My mom is going to be there for a few days as well, so I am really looking forward to the trip.  Of course, part of planning a trip is planning the project(s) I will take with me.  Ooh, fun.

I have completed four of six rows on my CAL blanket.  I am fairly confident I can finish this blanket by the end of my vacation.  I will be taking it along to work on in the car for the road trip to St. Louis and back (we're driving up to StL then flying to California and back to StL because my high school reunion is on the 27th, and it was the most feasible way to fit that in along with the visit to my sister, since I am going to visit for her birthday, which is on the 26th).  

But blankets are big and not terribly portable, at least not by current airline standards, so I have also been trying to figure out a good small project to start.  I have come up with a solution and ordered the yarn (which will hopefully get here by Friday).  I don't want to say too much until it's finished because it is a gift for a friend, but I am kind of excited about it.  It also may lead to more projects if it comes out well.  Ahh...dominoes.

I also have been kicking around the idea of making an "Accepted's" blanket.  This would be my homage to the late great Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series.  The Accepted are Aes Sedai (Jordan's equivalent of witches/sorceresses) in training, and their status is denoted by white gowns with a trim along the hem that is a band of color for each of the seven Ajahs (factions) of the sisterhood.  Okay, so, what does that all mean, crochet-wise?  Well, what I want to make is a blanket with a white center and then the seven bands of color (the colors are red, green, brown, blue, grey, yellow, and white--I need to do some hunting to find the proper order they'll go in).    I think this could be a kind of spiffy (and also rather nerdy, but fun) project to do.  I am still debating whether to make it completely round or to do it with a round center and square it off, or do it as a big ol' granny square...so many choices.  I also think I am going to make myself finish my Doctor Who Scarves before I can start this one.

Anyhoo, so that's where I'm at the in the crochet world.

I hope you all are doing well, have a good one.

C

Keepin' on...

Nothing terribly exciting going on this week.  I am just working on my CAL blanket.  I think it's going pretty well.  I've got two of six rows done at this point.  I should definitely get another row, maybe row and a half, completed by this time next week.  I am starting to fall into a rhythm with the squares now, so they are coming a little more quickly.  

I have to say, until I finished the second row strip and attached it to the first one, I still wasn't too sure about how this was going to turn out.  After seeing the completed two rows, however, I am much more confident that I will be proud of the finished result.  Part of me does wish that I had gone with a smaller hook in order to have a tighter weave, because I think that would look awesome.  On the other hand, the fabric that the size P hook is working up is really light and fluffy and airy, and I do find that I am enjoying the feel of it very much.  

In other news, Mr. Picasso Pants' brother came yesterday!  Huzzah!  Meet The Dread Pirate Snugbug!

Also, he loves his vest.  Hopefully he'll love his new home just as much!

Y'all have a great week!

Until next time,

C