Current WIP's

I have a few WIP's that I didn't frog over the winter. These are the ones that I felt like continuing to work on, for some reason or another.

WIP #1

 Granny squares in Aran, Buff, and Cornmeal. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add another color (not really) and how to sew them together. I really like these colors put together but I can't seem to find any of the Buff and Cornmeal yarn in the stores around here. So...I'm in limbo on this at the moment. All of these squares were made with yarn from my yarn stash. Now I'm out of these colors and have to buy some more.

WIP #2 

 These are the Knit A Block A Week blocks that I started in January of 2014. I had so much work in them that I hated to frog this project. So I picked up the knitting needles again and finished the blocks last week.

 After putting them out and a lot of rearranging, this is the final layout for the blanket when I started seaming the blocks together. I'm glad I took a photo of this as I referred to it often.

 This is a quick photo of the finished blanket. I absolutely love it! So does Small T. She has requested a knitted chevron blanket in white, gray and light blue for college. *sigh* I've never made one of these, so it should be interesting.

WIP #3

 Turqua granny squares with white centers. I used the yarn from my stash, thinking that I had a lot more of the Turqua. But no...I can't find any. So this project is in limbo until I buy some more yarn. Shouldn't be too long though.

 A gratuitous up-close photo of one of the squares.

WIP #4

 The Pink Camo knitted diagonal baby blanket. I finished this last week, but haven't taken a photo of the completed baby blanket

WIP #5.

The Cherry Red and Heather Grey chenille throw. This is in the beginning stages and I started it with yarn out of my stash. I think I have some more of it downstairs, but I haven't been down to search for it yet.

More WIP's without photos:

The first one is a white knitted baby blanket that I'm following a more complicated pattern on. I've never tried anything other than a basic or easy knitting pattern, so I'm hoping for the best with this.

The next one is a Seabreeze color baby cardigan that is crocheted. I'm actually to the part where I can sew in the ends and add the button.

Then I have a soft yellow baby dress that is crocheted. I'm only about 1/3 of the way done on this one.

These are ALL of my current WIP's.

Homespun "Crocheted" Doll Blanket - Free Pattern

A few weeks ago, I felt the need to make a crocheted version of the Homespun Knitted Doll Blanket.

I gathered up a bag of mismatched, but somehow related, yarn balls and set to work.

I used a size K crochet hook and started out with a ch of 58. Then it was "sc in 2nd ch from hook, and in each ch across". "Ch 1, turn. sc in each st across". Repeat each row until you have the desired length. The border/edging is a basic sc worked in each st around, with 3 sc in each corner st. I worked several rows of this. Then, I wove in the ends and it was finished. TaDa!!!! Another lovely little doll blanket pattern to share. Hope you like it. :)

Final Four?

I finished the last 4 squares yesterday. These are the color Buff. Then I laid them all out on the floor to see how big the throw will be, and that's not very big.  But...it will still work. Now I have to do some thinking on how I want to join them. There are so many different methods out there that it's going to be hard to choose.  I'm trying to use a different method than I normally do though. So it should be interesting, figuring it out.

The Squares Are Adding Up

I'm still making squares. Right now, I like making them. Eventually, I'll get tired of them and have to take a break, so for now, I'm sticking with it.

 Last night, I made 5 more Cornmeal squares.

 This morning, in between housework and laundry, I whipped out 6 more of the Cornmeal squares.

 I tried to get a 7th square, but there wasn't enough yarn.

 My totals at this point are:

Aran - 14 squares

Buff - 16 squares

Cornmeal - 14 squares

So...I need 4 more in order to have 48 squares, but I used all of the yarn I had in these 3 colors. I headed downstairs to my yarn stash and started digging around, seeing what I could find. And the yarn fairy was smiling upon me!!!

I found a ball of Buff yarn.  Yay!  That's hopefully enough for 4 more squares! I'll be working on them shortly.  Don't you just love it when you find something you were sure you didn't have??? I do!

Seeing Squares

I took a little homework break last night to watch "The Librarians" and crochet a few more squares.

 I made 5 more Aran squares.

 And this morning I made 4 more of them (while waiting on Small T to get ready for school), using the last of the Aran yarn.

 Here are the Aran and Buff squares all stacked up together.

Then I started on the Cornmeal squares. I have 3 of them made.

I'm getting a bit tired of working on them today, so I'm putting them aside for a bit.  I may or may not come back to them later on this afternoon/evening, depending on how much I get accomplished on the homework front and on the housework.

Granny Squares

Back in November, when I cleaned out my yarn stash, I chose a few skeins of yarn and started making Granny Squares for a throw or small afghan. Since that time, they have been sitting in a bag waiting for me to work on them again. I got them out yesterday and made some more squares.

 I made 6 more of the Buff squares.  I have a total of 16 of them now.  And then I ran out of the Buff yarn. Hopefully these will be enough for the throw as I'm NOT wanting buy any more yarn for this project.

Then I started on the Aran squares.  I made 5 of those.

I have 21 squares completed and I'm aiming for 48 squares out of the 3 skeins of yarn I chose to use (Buff, Aran, and Cornmeal). Once I get these squares finished, I'll lay them all out and see if I have enough for a throw or small afghan.  If not, I'll have to re-evaluate my plan. These squares are one of the quick and easy projects I have lined up that I can work on in small increments of time during this next semester at college.

More Of The Same

I've still been in the mood to make the "My Stocking Ornament(s)" so I've been whipping them right out. I made these on the 3rd, 4th, and 6th.

These 3 colors are samples for Small T.  The colors (from the left) are Buff, Paddy Green, and Cafe Latte. She thinks that I need to make a few stockings that can be used in a primitive decorating scheme, which is what she leaned toward when we decorated our house for Christmas this year.

I haven't made any stockings since I finished these though.  I think I need a break from them. They are getting boring and once I get bored, I'm done.

Starting Early

Every time we put out the Christmas decorations, I always think, "What could I have done differently this year" and I always long for more decorations. When we took the decorations down this year, I made a list of items that I wanted to make for the next time we put them out. So, I'm being proactive and working on some of those things now. The only challenge will be NOT losing them before Christmas arrives again.  lol This past weekend, I made...

6 little pink stockings and 7 little red stockings, 

and Tuesday I made 6 little green stockings.

Now I need to go get in my stash for some light blue yarn.  That color is next.

A Little Experimenting

Yes, Christmas is over.  But, I'm trying to "think ahead" with a few projects for next time. One of those projects is "stocking making".  We're in need of a few smaller ones, but I wasn't sure what style I liked. So I went through my patterns, chose 4 potential stockings, and set about making one of each to see which ones appealed to me.

I think I'm a traditionalist or at least a bit of a conservative, because I like the 2 solid red, white trimmed ones the best. I'm already planning some embellishments for them. I did like the size of the striped stocking on the left, just not the construction of it. I might have to do some more experimenting and see what I can come up with.

The patterns I used are (from the left):

"Waiting for Santa Stockings" at www.redheart.com

"Little Christmas Socks" at www.lemondedesucrette.com

"Mini Stocking Pop!" at www.joann.com/projects/

"My Stocking Ornament" at www.suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com

Christmas Vacation - Crafting

I was really excited to be able to pick up my yarn and work on different projects during my four week vacation. Here are a few things I have completed during this time.

A Seed Stitch Infinity Scarf for Small T.  I used Red Heart With Love yarn in White.  It's the same pattern I have used previously, just half the width.  I started by casting on 19 stitches, which is just right for Small T's slight frame, and isn't so overpowering. This is finished now, and she loves it.  I just don't have a photo to share.  Sorry.

I made this hat for a friend's son. I used Red Heart Team Spirit yarn.

I completed this Homespun Knitted Baby Doll Blanket.

I finished this Diagonal Striped Knitted Baby Blanket.

I crocheted this Doll Blanket.

And this one too.

I knitted this doll blanket with more of my scrap yarn.

And this one too.

And I made myself some new slouchy hats. This one is Celestial (blue).

I really like this one.  It's Celestial, Autumn Red, and Charcoal Grey.

This one is Autumn Red and Charcoal Grey.  I like it too.

Small T made me clean my book shelves around the fireplace and in the process, I found all my crochet notebooks.  I didn't realize I had so many of them.  I've had a good time looking through them.

When I got tired of knitting and crocheting, I broke out my needlepoint bucket and started on a set of cross stitched pillow cases.

I have one of them done and have started on the second one.

Then I knitted another doll blanket.

I've really enjoyed spending time with my crochet and knitting projects and I'm really going to miss them when classes start again.  I'm going to need to find myself some small projects that I can work on every now and then, in short doses, so I'm not missing it so much these next four months.

New Projects

As if I don't already have enough to do, I started 3 new projects today.

 Another Homespun Doll Blanket.  I'm using some of my green, blue, white, and multi-color scrap balls of yarn for this.  Can you see some of the texture in the photo?  I'm loving it!

 This doesn't look like much, but it's going to be a crocheted infinity scarf.  I swear.  lol  It's a pattern I've got in my head and I'm writing it down as I go.

And this little piece is going to be another knitted scarf.  Another simple design in my head.

It will take me a while to get these done since my yarn time has been limited to just one day a week now.

Gauge

Something I never do is to make a gauge swatch.  I know.  It's stupid to not do it.  But I just don't learn.

This past week, every time I get on Facebook or look at a blog, the subject of "gauge" is coming up.  So, I have finally admitted to myself that gauge is important and I will strive to do better in creating a gauge swatch BEFORE starting a new project.

Another Doll Blanket

Today, I finished knitting/crocheting another Homespun Doll Blanket.

 The body of the blanket is knitted and it uses scraps of Caron's Simply Soft yarn as well as some white Sugar 'N Cream cotton and various types of Red Heart yarn.  I like the way it looks to an extent, but I regret all the ends that had to be sewn in.  It was a real trial.

The edging is crocheted.  I did 2 rounds of sc working (sc, ch 1, sc) in each corner.  The 3rd round is (sc in next 3 sts, ch 3) all the way around, working a (sc, ch 5, sc) in each corner.  The 4th round is worked in the ch 3 or ch 5 space as follows (6 dc in the next ch 3 sp, sl st in the next ch 3 sp), all the way around, but for the corners, you sl st in the last sc before the ch 5 sp, then work 8 sc in the ch 5 sp, then sl st in the first sc after the ch 5 sp.  I hope that makes sense.

This blanket was made using the same pattern as the original Homespun Doll Blanket on my blog.

Softball Beanie

Our High School Principal showed me a photo and asked me to make a softball beanie for her baby girl to wear during softball season.  So...I looked it over and came up with this.  I hope it fits.  This is a 6-9 month size hdc beanie with a cute flower (with ladybug button).  The "stitches"  were horrible to put in.  I ripped them out at least four times before finally saying "enough".