Action!

Well, I didn't do much crocheting this week, but I thought I would give you some shots of all of my wedding shawls in action.  

Here I am (on the right) with the other two bridesmaids in all of our shawled glory.

The weather turned out to actually be pretty gorgeous but we still went ahead and wore the shawls.  There were some last minute zipper malfunctions with my dress and one of the other bridesmaid's dress as well, so we decided the shawls would be best to hide the weirdness.  Stupid zippers.  

The bride even decided to wear her shawl as well.  Here's a shot of the happy couple.

It was a beautiful cermony and a really fun party afterwards.  I am kind of beat though, so today is a nice take it easy day.

My goal for this week is to get the gauge figured out for my upcoming sweater and maybe get started on that.  I did get one swatch done last week while it was the right height, the width was not quite where it needed to be, so I need to play around a bit.  More on that as it develops, I'm sure.

I wish everyone a great week!

C

One to go...

Alrighty, well, I have managed to get two of my three bridesmaid shawls completed this week.  I am really really digging this pattern, which is Easy Triangle Shawl over at Lion Brand's website.  They really were not kidding about the easy part.  This thing works up like a dream.  It's basically all half-double crochet.  

I did make one change to the pattern and did a crocheted border instead of fringe. I can’t stand fringe.

I worked the shawl until I had 101 half-double crochets in the middle of the pattern (doesn’t count the chain three, 2 hdc in one space at the start of the row or the 2 hdc in once space, chain one, hdc at the end of the row).

Then I did 106 sc across the top of the shawl and continued around doing once sc in each row, three in the “point” (the original circle made at the start of the shawl), and one sc in each row going up, joining with the first sc.

I finished off by doing *2 dc in one space, ch 4, slip stitch into first ch, 2 dc in same space, skip 2 spaces* and repeated from * to * all the way around.

If that sounds familiar, it’s the same border from the Lion Brand CAL Sampler Afghan. That is so my new favorite border, and it looks really nice on these shawls, gives them a bit of a leafy feel, which goes well with the floral print dresses we are wearing.  If I think about it, I will get a photo of me in my bridesmaid dress with the shawl so you can see.  

Here's a few glimpses at the finished product:

Here's a closer shot too so you can see the detail of the pattern and the border:

So now I just have one more shawl to make (mine), and I should get that done by tomorrow night.  

I've got the pattern for the baby blankets I am making for my colleague all figured out and approved, so now I just need to order the yarn for those.  

My yarn came on Friday for my first sweater attempt as well.  I am super excited about that.  After I finish my shawl, I think I will start working on my gague swatch to make sure I can do this.  I am determined though.  

I hope all is well with everyone.  Have a great week!

C

Oh!  Hey, anyone out there on Ravelry, do you know of any active crochet square swap groups?  I joined a group this week that seemed like it would be great for me, but I seemed to have joined right after they all went inactive or something, and I really would like to try doing a regular square swap.  Any recommendations are much appreciated!

TTFN

Secret projects revealed...

So, for anyone who has actually been wondering what those "secret" projects of mine have been, here's a glimpse at the primary one:

One of my best firends is getting married later this month, and it's a Hawaiian themed wedding.  So it's outdoors and her dress is a halter-top.  I thought she might like something to keep warm during the reception and all, so I made her a shawl.  

Here's a closer view of the pattern:

I used the Half-Moon Shawl pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.  I am really happy with how the shawl turned out, but in all honesty, I don't think I will be using this pattern again.  IMO it really wasn't very clearly written and it was more frustrating to follow than most of the patterns I use.  

Next up I will be making shawls for myself and the other bridesmaids in the ceremony.  I am going to give the Easy Triangle Shawl a pattern for these.  I'll be using Vanna's Choice in Seaspray for our shawls.  JoAnn's was having a sale on Vanna's Choice 2 for $5, so I ordered enough for the shawls and it should be arriving tomorrow.  I can't wait to get started on these.  

Other than that, there's not much going on.  I am just waiting for some other yarn I ordered for my first attempt at a sweater.  

I hope you're all having a great week.  Happy crocheting.

C