Sunday, June 28, 2009

A new plan! I has one...

Well, I had to surrender in my battle against the Mesh Cover Up sweater. After an entire week went by where I worked on it not one bit I have come to realize I apparently really just don't want to make it at the moment. So I have made the decision to frog the sweater, put the pattern on the backburner, and use the yarn for my next project.

My next project will be another, and likely my final, blanket for my baby girl. She's due in a little under two months so I should be able to get this done well ahead of her arrival--assuming I can actually find the motivation to crochet again. Hopefully a change of project is all it will take.

I am making the blanket in a pattern I have made before and loved, but adapting it from a full afghan pattern to a baby sized one, of course. The pattern is #4 from the Leisure Arts "Contest Favorites Afghan Squares" book published in 1997. It was designed by Duaine G. Olsen.

I have previously used this pattern to make a housewarming gift for my best friend's parents. I love this pattern because it has a really cool texture and isn't that hard to make but has a gorgeous end result.

Here is a look at one of the individual squares from my original blanket:



And here is a shot of the finished blanket (sans the border):



To adapt this to a baby blanket I will be doing three things:

1--Using a lighter weight yarn. I've chosen TLC Baby in Powder Green, with the variegated Lovey for the border.
2--Using a smaller hook. The pattern calls for a size H hook but I am going with the size G recommended for the yarn.
3--Making fewer squares. I believe I can make 20 squares with the yarn I have. (The original blanket calls for 48 and is quite large when finished.)

So, there you go. I am going to also attempt not to get overly ambitious about this and just set myself a small daily goal of a minimum of one square a day, but at least two if I get in a groove. Hopefully this will get my hook mojo going again.

Anyhoo, so that's where I am at. I hope you all have a wonderful week. My hubby gets back from his international wandering on Tuesday, so mine should be pretty uphill from there, to be sure.

Take care, and safe travels to those of you who will be on the road during this upcoming holiday weekend!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Project fail.

Sigh, really no progress to report this week. I just wasn't feeling the crochet vibes. I got a few rows done on my sweater, but no significant progress.

Anyhoo, maybe this week will be more productive. Fingers crossed.

Hope you have a great one!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A little progress is better than no progress...

Well, on one hand, I really thought I would only get the gauge swatch done for my new project (the Mesh Cover Up sweater) this week, and I ended up actually starting the sweater. On the other hand, I really didn't get very far at all.

Mostly that's because it was a crazy week, and while I totally started out yesterday intending to work on it, I realized that I really just wanted to veg out and watch tv without thinking about anything else.

This coming week shouldn't be quite so crazy (though it probably won't be that dull either) so I should have time to hopefully get the first piece finished.

Here is a glimpse of the back of the sweater so far (with a Tony deciding to inspect just as I took the picture):


It doesn't look like much at the moment, but hopefully it will turn into a nice comfy sweater I can throw on over tank tops and such.

I did end up going with the hook size called for in the pattern (size E) even though my gauge swatch came out a little bit big. I did a swatch in a hook size smaller that came out to the proper width, but both swatches were too long and the smaller hook wasn't cooperating with the yarn so much. So, bigger hook. I bought a whole extra skein of this yarn and I am thinking that since my last two sweaters came out smaller than anticipated when I was right on with the gauge, maybe using the bigger hook will be to my advantage. This is a sweater that I think will work well even if it is a bit oversized.

So we'll see I guess.

Sigh, my hubby is gone off to Europe for the rest of the month. 16 days 'til he comes back. I think I am going to make it my goal to finish the sweater before his return. We'll see how that goes.

Hope you all have a great one!

Later,
C

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Finished project and May Squares

Well, I did manage to finish my Blooming Bolero this week. Unfortunately, as I surmised, it did not fit me. There was just something weird going on with the sleeves and shoulders, boo.

Here is a shot of the final product:


Thinking maybe I just was too big for the shoulders to fit correctly, I sent it to my little sis (who is a tiny tiny thing), but she said the shoulders and collar were weird on her too. Dang.

Saving me from feeling completely worthless though, she said that it will, however, make an excellent karate costume for my five year old nephew. Yay!

I think that I might try this pattern again down the road but without the sleeves. Maybe it will work as a vest. Those darn sleeves just didn't want to cooperate with me. They were the root of all evil--on this project at least.

Now I only have one more piece of apparel in my queue, at least. I did go get the yarn for my next project this week, but haven't gotten any farther than that. I am in the middle of having a yard sale this weekend (had the first leg this morning and will also be out there tomorrow), so I have been pretty busy getting things ready for that.

The diagrams in the pattern for this project look much more helpful though, so hopefully it will actually end up being a wearable sweater.

The pattern is the Mesh Cover-Up from the May/June 2008 issue of Crochet Today magazine. The yarn I got is Read Heart's TLC Baby (I wanted something thin and light) in Powder Green and Lovey (for the contrast). At the very least I want to try to get the gauge swatch done for this project this week, though it's looking like it will be another crazy one so I don't know how much else crocheting I will get done.

Also, I think this is the yarn I want to use for the last baby blanket I want to make, so I will be able to see if I like working with it and if so, to use the leftovers to figure out if it will work for what I want to do, yay!

I did also manage to get my June swap square done this week and sent off as well, go me!

And that's about it for over here. As it is the first post of the month, I will wrap things up with last month's swap squares. The May pattern was chosen by my sister and was the Flower Burst by Chris Simon. Can I just say I love this pattern? I am already plotting a "garden" blanket I will be making with it down the road.

My May square:


My sister's May square:


Good stuff, huh?

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy crafting! Now, I am off to bed. I have to get up early for a yard sale in the morning.

Until next time,
C