Mermaid's Medallions

Ahh...It feels so good to complete an afghan. I just love it and when it is a new pattern I am using I am even happier about it. It still amazes me how simple it is to turn a ball of yarn into a functional blanket or sweater using only a hook...and some skill.

I think I may try knitting again at some point but Crochet just feels right and good in my world.

I get super excited when I have a pile of squares growing higher and higher.

Then the moment I get to put it all together comes and Pow! I have a new afghan. Mermaid's Medallions is her name. She took me appox. 36 hours to make. I am trying to keep track so I can figure out a fair price. Not easy!!!This afghan has a lacy edging. I have never stitched up anything like it before and it was a blast. Looky...

Oh yeah, this one is a keeper.

Of course I already have another afghan on my hook and this one is named "Hugo". ;0)

An Easter Candy First...I think

I have had a hard time in recent years with the commercialization of Easter. When my brother and I were kids, we had Easter Sunday Outfits

Easter baskets filled with candy and toys, Easter Egg Hunts and of course we went to church...in our new clothes.

I mean check out those faces and those sponge curlers. Easter Happiness.

As my son grew up we had fun with all of the usual Easter festivities but now it seems too cute and fuzzy.You know... with all the bunnies, chickies and lambs, although they are a super cute sign of Spring. As a result I don't really decorate for Easter. Which is weird for me because I decorate for every holiday...even Elvis Day.

Today I was at the Rite-Aide drugstore and found chocolate in the shape of a Cross! I don't think I have ever seen Easter candy that actually had something to do with the true meaning for Easter. Have you?

Maybe it is a sign of things to come? I hope so.

Sea Glass Done...

I did it! I have finally finished "Sea Glass and Snow". This beauty took me approx. 24 hours to complete. Is that a long time? I don't know. It will soon be on it's way to my fabulous cousin and his new wife.
I am in love with it, I hope they love it too.


Ah...Breathe...I'm finished...I am finished!
Ok on to the next.
While I was working on "Sea glass and Snow"( ;0) the names are cracking me up...so dramatic) I noticed a new to me color scheme. I pulled out the colors plopped them in a basket and watched...

What did they want to become? An Afghan for sure, but something I have never done before. I have wanted to try a "Squircle" type afghan square so I began an online search for a simple/easy circle turns square pattern.

I tried a few different ones and they all frustrated me,too fussy. So I went to my own hodge-podge crafting library and low and behold I had the perfect squircle afghan pattern all along.It is called Elegant. I however have named it "Mermaid's Medallions".

It is from Afghans Traditional and Modern (1976)
I do not remember when or where I acquired this fantastic book but I am so glad I did. I can't wait to start that lacy border!

So I began by crocheting 63 circles using 5 colors. I doubled up on the 2 blues.

Ah...I love them all stacked up like Pringles.

Then I surrounded the medallions with white.

Well...I'm not done yet, I still have twenty or thirty to go.

It is going fast though, which is good because I already have another basket of yarn I am watching. I am waiting for it to tell me what it wants to be! ;0)

Warm and Mostly Dry

Last week we went to find a little adventure with Rugby. The sun was shining, it was warm enough to wear only a T-shirt and the terrain was mostly dry. Today we have another foot of snow. The storm that blew through last night was a good one, a gusty one. Last week though... Rugby needed a bit of fresh snow to eat. That's how warm it was.

We came across this small pool of snow melt in a rock.

Warm...so warm under our blue sky.

We even left footprints in the sand.

I hope you find some sun today.

Rugby Rue

Happy Mardi Gras!!! I hope you all get to have a little or (a lot) of fun today in honor of Fat Tuesday. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Oops I did it again!

I started another afghan. I know...but... These gorgeous colors were calling for an Irish Rose type square and I finally found a pattern I liked in a book I have had forever.
Forever Favorite Crochet.

Here it is...

Please excuse the crazy lighting in every one of my photos...nothing is working with this overcast sky and I have better things to do.

Like eat chocolate roses and crochet!

;0)

No Yarn Left Behind

When I start a new afghan I use large 8oz. skeins that I have rolled into balls. The yarn in this basket is intended for my next crocheted project but I have told myself not to start another one until "Sea Glass and Snow" is finished...and it isn't...yet. Mmm...I am lovin' these colors. Melon, sea foam,cornmeal, tan and white. I still need to decide on a pattern.

As I crochet afghan...

after afghan...

after afghan...

and so on...

The balls get smaller and smaller, naturally, and I save them in a pair of jars and a bowl which recently began to overflow their boundaries. So I had to start two new projects! Yes...I had to. The pattern for one of them is again from Attic24, you can get it here. The tiniest balls are only about an inch around and are too small for anything but the inside of this awesome flowery block.
The next size up is the perfect amount of yarn to complete the next round.

See... pretty little flowery circles.

Which are quickly becoming a cozy creation.

The next size up in leftover yarn balls are a few inches around.
Just enough to make a small Granny square for a future project.

After all this tiny work I am still left with a bowl of yarn bits and I happened to see a photo on Pinterest, which I now can't find 'cause I didn't PIN IT,of a suet bird feeder filled with bits of yarn for the birdies to build their nests with. Brilliant I think, so that is what I will do with the last of those 8oz. balls!

Very thrifty I think. Yes...No Yarn Left Behind. ;0)

Bloomin' Crochet

I have been inspired by Attic 24 yet again. I can't help it. That girl ,Lucy, is on fire and her fire has spread clear across the pond to my snowy mountain. Yes, we finally got a bit of snow last night. Whew...we need more snow around here.
Uh...So back to Attic 24. A few weeks ago I decided to start a flower pillow ala Lucy but as my fingers flew... it grew...

and grew... ( sounds "Seussy", I've got Lorax on the brain)

and it is now too big to be a pillow. Well...I guess it could be a very large pillow but my tiny house does not need anything "large" let alone "very large". I think it will make a gorgeous floor rug but my family thinks it is too pretty for that, so it may end up becoming a round afghan. Hmmm...

not sure about that, I am not sure if it is finished yet either!

I am thinking it needs a few rounds of yellow next then maybe some orange...

How to Tie Dye pt.2

Now our Tie Dye has spent the night all wrapped up in it's cocoon and it is time for the reveal.
Put on your vinyl gloves and take the plastic off the shirt.It is important to rinse the shirt out very well in warm water...

Dunk...take the rubber bands off...

Oh Boy! Look at that. Mardi Gras greatness.

After you have rinsed and rinsed most of the dye out you can put it in the normal wash.

I hang the shirts up to dry after rinsing

(do not let them touch each other).

Once they are dry I throw them all in the wash together.
Here is the shirt I made for this tutorial...fab huh?!It is now available for purchase in the shop.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Have a terrific day!