A Lot Has Happened & Something New!

 Hi Everyone!

It is amazing what all has happened in the last year! Not just Covid19, but all the crocheting I was able to do, my move into my own space again, finding a job after over 10 years (and one that I love), only to loose the job again nearly 3 months later due to lack of work. It seems to have come full circle.

Now I do have a little more time again to finish off some projects I had started last year. One of these projects was something I had never done before and wanted to try out. A jacket made out of Granny Squares. The funny thing about this project is that I had intended to gift it to my daughter here, for Christmas. I had asked her what colours she liked to normally wear. She said neutral earthy colours. So I went through my yarn stash and then went out to get a few more colours to add to what I already had.

In the following photo are the colours I put together for her. I made all the squares I needed following the diagram I had drawn out and started putting them together.

It turns out that when I asked her to try it on, she seemed disappointed. So I asked if there was anything wrong. It turned out that she had seen me crocheting other squares and was hoping it was for her. You see I had decided to make all my girls a Granny Square jacket in the colours they liked. I had also been working on a smaller square that had a yellow centered white daisy with green for leaves, and a royal blue. Now these colours are much brighter than what she had told me. So, I said I would make her one like it too. That left me, however, with what I had been working on. But for who? I put it aside. 

Now that I am not working I decided to pull it out and finish it. But again, for whom? My sister likes these kinds of colours, but I was sure it would be a little too small for her, and I was past the point of being able to add squares to it. Then I though of my new friend from work. We started on the same day and became instant friends even though she is younger than my oldest daughter that I had started this project for.

I pulled it out, hung it on a hanger, and decided I would finish it for her. I think the colours would be good for her too.

 I still had to finish the edging, add the green all around, make belt loops, add a collar, and the cuffs.

Last week Jaymie came over to help me put together my new microwave unit. It took a lot longer than we thought it would, and I was sure grateful for her help. When we were done, I gave it to her. She was thrilled. Because of the lateness of time, and the not so great weather, we did not take photos of her wearing it. But, today we did.

 I think she looks great in it! Next she shows you the back.

You can see below how I made the underarm of the sleeves allowing for more freedom of movement.

 Next is our favorite photo of the shoot. It turned out well.

I'm now thinking maybe I would like a Granny Square jacket too!

Anyway, I have too many other projects on the go and need to finish them. Hope to have another project to share with you in a a couple of weeks.

In the meantime hope you are enjoying your creativity even if not in crocheting or knitting.

Happy Crocheting!

It's Been Awhile...

 Hello everyone!

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post! It certainly hasn't felt that long! Let me begin by thanking you all for following my blog and for sharing it with others. It is greatly appreciated, and I love sharing with you the things that I have made; whether they are personal creations, for family, or for donation to a cause. And in that light, I would like to wish you all a wonderful and very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Obviously a few things have been happening to prevent me from posting lately.

FIRST:

Since moving back to Alberta, I have had wonderful doctors that have helped me keep my back pain under better control, and therefore was given the OK to go back into the workforce on a part-time basis. So I have been actively job searching, and you know how much time that can take out of a day. So I took a little time off to fulfill my job searching, and just this Thursday the 17th, I had my first day at work after 10 years.

SECOND:

At the beginning of October a family member ended up hospitalized, and though recovering well, is still in the hospital. Don't worry, it isn't Covid related, but it did affect our available time at the beginning of it all.

THIRD:

At the beginning of November I finally have moved into my own place after having lived with my Dad for close to a year and a half, and then with my lovely daughter and her family for two years. And of course this had to happen not long after the hospitalization. I still have some unpacking and organization to do, but I hope to have that done by the new year.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

So now that I have employment, I will not have as much time to devote to sharing the things I love to do. I am not quitting, just letting you know that there may not be as many posts. Perhaps once I get settled into my job, I could increase the posts again, but I don't know for sure yet. So I hope you will be patient a little while longer as my schedule becomes settled and more familiar.

I do plan to make a couple of posts on my favourite projects of 2020 in the new year, so be sure to look for that. I hope that you enjoy the posts I have made thus far over the years, and please feel free to leave any requests or suggestions in a comment below if you wish.

Merry Christmas,

KITCHEN SCRUBBIES - A Past Christmas Gift.

Welcome everyone!

Another Christmas gift share. Yes, I know the last Christmas is further away from us now than the one coming up, but I kept forgetting to get photos! This huge jar was nearly full when I gave it to my daughter for Christmas. We all love using them.

Sometimes it is difficult to find a good dish or pot scrubber. Well I found one at a handmade market in Cardston some time in November last year. There were some incredibly beautifully made things for sale there! One thing I found was a kitchen scrubber. My sister was with me, and swore up and down that these were the best scrubbers ever. So I bought one to test out. Boy, was she ever right? They work beautifully on everything, without scratching.

I set out to find a pattern and the right kind of yarn, and found both. I made about 18 of them for Christmas! I gave 12 to my daughter and 6 to my sister.

I am, of course, already making gifts for this Christmas, but those posts will have to wait a bit as I am in the middle of a few of them. Sometimes I need a change from the project and go to another one...

I am guessing that you too are starting to work on your Christmas gifts. Homemade gifts take a while, but I like the fact that making these gifts brings the Christmas spirit into my life while I am working on the projects, and I love that feeling!

Happy Crocheting!

Fifth Completed Community Project Blanket!

This is so awesome!

We now have 5 blankets ready for our November community project. I know of four more that may still come, but who knows, there might be more! 

I know that this one is a bit of a mish mash or colours, but sometimes you don't have a choice. I did the best I could with the colours and a budget. But it is bright and cheery, and kind of reminds me of the beach. The fun thing is that this is my first project using Velour Yarn! And I love working with it! It's so soft and fussy, and because it is a #6 yarn, it crochets up pretty quick. I am definitely going to use Velour on other projects.

That is the blanket folded (above), and here it is laid out on the floor.

Here it is again with my nearly 13 year old grand-daughter (3 more days) laying on it so that you can see the size of the blanket.

She almost did not want to get off of it because it was so soft and fuzzy.

For this blanket I actually started with the middle section. When I purchase this yarn there was still plenty left in this colour. However, buy the time it used up what I had bought and returned to get more, it was all gone! I went back for months checking to see if more would turn up, but sadly it was not to be, and I couldn't wait any longer. So, not having the blanket with with me, I remembered the bright colours and went to see what I could find. I thought the bright green would match the bright green in with the pink & blue yarn, but it turned out to be even brighter. I knew there wouldn't be enough of the bright green even with getting all the store had left in the colour, so the next thing to get was the bright with blues and greens.

Then when I got home I decided to add to both ends of what I had started to balance the colours and give it a wide stripe look. Whoever get's this blanket may not be thrilled with the colours, but the softness and weight for the winter, they will definitely love.

I think that we are all enjoying working on this project, so if you ever get a chance to volunteer crochet or knitting skills, or even just the yarn for others to use, I encourage you to participate in something like this. It's fun and fulfilling.

Happy crocheting!

Another Completed Community Project Blanket

 Welcome everyone!

Remember an earlier report on the progress of our blanket squares? Well I have finally finished putting squares together for one blanket. I used the brightly coloured squares for this blanket. I crocheted the squares together using the Zig Zag Slip Stitch.

I also crocheted the same border as I did with the previous blanket. I guess you can tell I like it a lot, plus, it's easy. It's the Camel Stitch Border and if you would like to know how to crochet it too, here is the link to the video I watched.   

So I guess you'd like to see how it turned out. Well here it is all folded up.

  Here you can see the border a bit better.

And, below you see the blanket unfolded on the floor.

And here is one of my granddaughters laying on it to give you a better idea as to the size of the blanket.

I am disappointed at how the squares all bubbled up. I was careful to join them loosely but I guess the squares where not square enough. One reason that I prefer crocheting an entire blanket. One day I'll get this square thing worked out.

However, we do have another warm blanket for our Community Blanket Squares Project completed!

I still like these squares. I like the fact that they are solid crochet. I had started a bunch of other squares for a second blanket like this one, using neutrals and shades of purple. Hopefully that one will come together better.

All the best in your knitting, crochet or sewing project!

Testing My Crochet Skills on an Advanced Pattern!

Thank you for stopping by today. 

I am so excited to share something with you. Have you looked at some crochet or knitting patterns that you really like, but then find out it is rated 'advanced' and only tell yourself you aren't good enough to do that pattern? Well I have. I have a board in Pintrest with all these beautifully crocheted patterns that just seem beyond my capability.

Last night I was looking at them again, and clicking on some to view their origin. Some do not have written or video instructions, just these beautiful images. Quite a few are accompanied by written instructions, but I am a visual person and sometimes the instructions do not make sense to me. But last night I found one with a video showing step by step, row by row, instructions that were easy to follow.I can't tell you how excited I was at finding this. I watch it for a bit, and knew that I could do this if I followed along!

The square that I wanted to try is the Tropical Delight Square. You will need to scroll down a fair bit to find it, but if you want to give this a go, the instructions are easy to follow.

Before I show a photo of my finished square, I need to let you know that I only had these colours to work with in a #3 yarn. Although the end result is not bad, I would choose some different colours. I was just practising to see if I could do it, so mixing types of yarns and colours were not a priority.

So here we go, my square!

I am so happy about being able to do this, that I plan on making something in the future with this pattern. Have any of you caught my mistake yet? There is a pretty major mistake, but I wasn't worried about it as it was a practise piece.

A blanket made with several of these squares would look quite beautiful on a bed. or even as a smaller afghan.

Any way, I am ready to see if I can tackle another one of these advanced creations I love! I guess the saying is true; you never know until you actually try.

Thank you again for having a peek at today's post.

Happy crocheting!

More Community Blanket Progress

Welcome Back!

Yesterday you saw a knitted blanket made from squares by a friend of mine. Today I am showing you a blanket that I made for this project. This will be my 2nd completed blanket. I mentioned in a previous post that I was getting tired of making squares (almost enough for 2 blankets) and that I decided to take a break from that, and crochet an entire blanket. Well, it's done!

I was inspired by a through made on Daisy Craft Farms. I just used a regular #4 yarn, and changed the border.

So here we go. First, you will see it all folded up.

I just love this simple and easy pattern.

OK, next opened up entirely laying on the floor.

This time I did not have anyone around for them to lie on it, so that you could see the size. However, it does fit the top of a twin bed.

I love this border! There's only one problem, which I'll show in the next photo.

Above, you can see both sides of the border. The one on top is supposed to be the right side. My problem is that I like the other side just as much!

I'd be real interested on your thoughts about which side you like and why.

So, now I am on to making more squares and finishing those 2 blankets. I have other projects not related to the community blanket project on the go too.

Happy creating!

More Community Blanket Progress - Made by a Friend

In the last post about the Relief Society Community project of making blankets, I reported a great way to join up all the squares we are making to create the blankets. Since then a friend of mine dropped off her finished blanket. She gave me permission to post her blanket. My friend is a knitter, not a crocheter, and there's one lovely thing about knitting, it is softer.

Here is her blanket all neatly folded up.

Now, here is a blanket close-up so see here beautifully knitted squares.

I love how there is this hidden pattern of x's or squares, depending on you look at it. Here is is all laid out on the floor.

Such lovely bright colours. Here is the blanket again with another of my granddaughters laying on it so that you may see how large it is. I'm sure it will cover the top of a twin easily.

There will be one more person a littler warmer come this winter. Thank You Karen for contributing to our community project.

Check in tomorrow for some more!

Happy creating!

Blanket Project Progress

Good to have you here again!

Today I am giving you an update, or rather progress report, on how our blanket project is coming along.

Last update I posted a completed blanket from yarn scraps, and before that I was showing you how our squares where building up in number.

Now I am going to share with you that I have started to connect some of the squares together, just for a change of pace. I wanted to do something different than just slip stitch, or single crochet, or sew together, so I searched on YouTube to see what I could find. I was surprised to see all the many different ways you can join squares together! I chose the 'ZIGZAG SLIP STICH JOIN'. I think this will be a good one for these squares, and you get sit at the table, using the table, to make it easier. It's quite easy to do.

So without further words, here are some quick photos I took as I am working on joining the first squares.

As you can see, I am using black to join these bright colours. It will have a black border as well.

You will also note that the joining is done in a long strip first, with the cross joining coming last.

In this nest photo you can get a closer look at the ZigZag pattern.

So, if you are interested in viewing the video tutorial that I watched, I am including it here for you.

Now, onto one more share for you. Because we are making blankets for the needy, and homeless too, I have been trying to find ways to make the blankets thicker. I found a blanket pattern that was shared by Daisy Farm Crafts that I thought might work.

I started one in cream and ran out of yarn. So I decided it is a yarn I always see where I get my yarn from, and started on another colour, dark heather grey. It too is a yarn that is always available. When I ran out of that colour I decided it was time to go and some of these yarns so that I could finish them. I went to my source and could not believe what I saw! The shelves were nearly empty of yarn! I guess with Covid-19, everyone is at home crocheting!

So the following week I thought that they might have restocked. But, when I arrived, the shelves had a bit more in them, but still on the empty side, and the colours I needed were still not there. However, they did have an unusual colour that I thought would look nice in this pattern I was using, and there was enough of it there for an entire blanket, so I got that instead with hopes of finding my cream and grey yarn in a few more weeks. The colour I got is called Red Clay.

This is what I can show you.

This stitch makes the #4 yarn thickness much thicker for these blankets, and you do not have to use the velvet yarn as in the pattern provided at Daisy Farm Crafts.

Here is the video demo from Daisy Farm Crafts in case you are interested in trying out this pattern.

Once I have complete one each of these blankets, I will post them for you so that you can see what they look like finished.

In the mean time, happy crocheting!

Scrap Yarn Blanket Completed

Welcome back everyone!

In the last post I shared with you a project that I am in charge of, and one of the photos I shared was a blanket made using up all my leftover ends and balls of yarn from previous projects. Well I have finished that blanket!

You can see it above, all folded up, and close enough to notice that I used double the strands of yarn to make it a thicker blanket.

Here it is laid out on the floor.

And a close up...

Maybe I should have shot a closer photo so that you could see the stitches better. In this next photo, I have my 12 year old granddaughter lying on it so that you can see how large it is.

I think the bright colours will be liked by many people, and by anyone that will end up with it.

I've started 3 other full blankets, not of this type as I do not have enough scraps to create another blanket with, but each is a solid colour, and I will post them when I get them done.

Thank you for checking in to have a peek. Happy crocheting!

Still Crocheting Away!

Did you think that I stopped crocheting? No I haven't, as a matter of fact I have so much to share with you, I just never really had the time to post everything!

I still Have some Christmas 2019 projects to post, but decided to share with you some current things going on first before I play catch up.

First off, I wish to share with you that I have an assignment from the Relief Society (a women's organization of my church) to find community projects we can serve in and help others. Many of the women in our congregation either knit, quilt, or crochet. Some even do it all! Any way, in January of this year we decided to make blankets for the homeless, and for those in need with very low incomes.

We did not want people to feel overwhelmed at the idea of making and entire blanket, so we decided that no matter the area of expertise they have, they could work in squares that we could start assembling in September to drop off at the beginning of November. We made a goal of finishing at least 3 to 4 blankets.

Well, it looks like we are going to end up with many more blankets to give out, and some of the ladies decided they would rather make an entire blanket! I look forward to sharing with you the progress of our project with you. I will still post my personal projects as well.

For today I will show you three photos.

This is the first collection of squares made. You can see there are both crochet and knitted squares here.

More squares started arriving so I took another photo.

As you can see, the pile is growing! I think there enough to make nearly 3 blankets here!

Now I wish to share with you something that I thought I would try out. I have so much yarn left over form other projects. Any where from a couple of yards to an almost full ball of yarn. So I decided that I wanted to make a heavier blanket by using two strands of yarn at a time. When one colour ran out, I'd add another, intergrading all my yarns that way to make a nice thick, and hopefully colourful blanket.

So part way through I took a photo to share with you and get your opinion.

I'll share other photos of this blanket soon.

Thank you for stopping by!