Another crochet WIP

I love exchanges. I love planning the item to make, putting the puffy together with thought & loving care, and the anticipation of what I'll be receiving from my partner. I'm the co-ordinator of the small doily exchange for Happyghan which is fun. Here's a small taste of the doily I'm working on for my partner for this exchange:



It's from the leaflet "One-Day Doilies" by House of White Birches. It's funny, whatever's called "one-day" always turns out to be a three day project for me. I'm not the fastest crocheter and family stuff always gets in the way. :) I hope to have it finished, washed and blocked by tonight and in the mail by tomorrow afternoon. It will be just a little late, but I hope my partner will understand. When my partner receives her puffy, I'll post the name and pic of the doily.

Warm thoughts for Warming Families

Members of the Toronto Hookups Crochet Guild bring one 8" square to each meeting (12 per year), which are then compiled into afghans for Warming Families. In my stash, I found this wonderfully bright & colourful Bernat yarn I had picked up at a thrift shop for 59 cents and it made up this pretty granny square:

I then decided to do up the rest of the skein and submit them all to the co-ordinator for Warming Families. Well, I ended up with six squares (it was a Super Saver sized skein) and then came up with the idea to submit a whole crib blanket instead. At first I thought to make up the rest in white and assemble them from there. Then, little lightbulbs went off. A shocker for me considering I usually follow a pattern to a tee and don't usually come up with stuff on my own. I frogged all six multicoloured squares, bought some RH Comfort (454 g) in white, found some lavender and raspberry yarn in my stash, and came up with these:

There will be 4 of each square, thus making it a 4x5 crib ghan. I have to still add the last two colour rounds of the square on the hook, and finish off 3 more of those as well. I plan on using the flat braid method to join them...I've never done that before so we'll see how it goes.

Now, I know many will be saying, "So what? She's making a granny square blanket." Well, those who know me will be surprised as believe it or not, I've never joined motifs nor squares before, and I absolutely detest weaving in ends thus almost never change colours in my work. So, this is a real accomplishment for me. :) I hope to submit the afghan at our next guild meeting on April 16.

Dishing about dishcloths

I recently completed this dishcloth:




The pattern was filled with yo's (yfwd) and k2tog's which were totally new to me. It actually surprised me how easy it was and although I miscounted a few times (missed a yo here & there), I managed to get through it pretty quickly. It's a free Bernat pattern: Dishcloth - Feather and Fan.

I'm currently working on a different dishcloth: Heart Dishcloth. I love how simple & pretty it looks. I'm only on row 10 of the main body (after the garter stitch border), so I haven't yet encountered all the ssk's and psso's I have to do. My friend Stashaholic is waiting for me to call her for help with this one. :)

My First Knitted FO

Well, I finished this scarf just over a month ago, and was meaning to post a picture of me wearing it, but I was waiting to have my "back-to-work makeover" so I'd look pretty for my blog photo debut. I haven't had that makeover yet...who has time with two kids on her hands? So, I'm finally posting the long awaited picture. The boa is actually a silver colour. It's the ww acrylic yarn that gives it the multicolour effect as it's variegated.



This is a closeup showing the two yarns in more detail.



I have one more of these Bernat "Cool Scarf" Kits (see post of Jan 25/05) and it's in black. Who knows when I'll do up this one. Winter's just about over and I have a ton of projects and ideas on the go. Regardless, it was certainly a great buy for only $12.99!

Kitchen Stuff

Here are two kitchen items I just put in the mail for a kitchen exchange for a web crochet group I belong to.

The Teapot Trivet was the first kitchen item I ever made with thread (the pattern is from Annie's Favorite Crochet - July/Aug 2000). My tension's so tight...I used a hook 1 size larger and still ended up with a finished product smaller than the dimensions given in the instructions. Oh well. It still came out ok.

The hearts dishcloth is actually a thread coaster pattern done in ww cotton and a 5mm hook. It puckers a bit, but I figured it would have to do as it's pretty senseless to block a dishcloth. I got the idea to use a coaster pattern from an online friend (thanks Gloria!) and regardless, I think it looks pretty good. Actually, it reminds me of a 4-leaf clover and considering we're now in March, it's almost appropriate. :) This pattern is from The Ultimate Book of Miniature Doilies by Annie's Attic. I only changed the last two rounds a little bit but essentially it's the same pattern.

I'm now working on some knitted dishcloths for my cousin. For me, they're a great way to test new patterns and other things new to me (ie. ssk, yfwd, psso, etc) and for her, well she loves to use them. I'll post pics once I'm finished them.