It's About Time!

It's about time I posted something!

I've done a lot of crocheting, just not a lot of posting about it!

I finished the Bernat Mystery Afghan blocks. I just haven't finished putting them together yet. Soon, very soon! This bag is full of blocks.

I made this little lion for my niece for Christmas.

I made two scarves for the Special Olympics. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of them before I turned them in.

I made this scarf for my sister for Christmas.

I made this scarf for myself.

I started working on this sweater for myself. I haven't gotten too far!

Now I'm working on Caps for Good. Caps for Good is a program sponsored by Warm Up America that runs from November, 2010 through February, 2011 and calls on knitters and crocheters to help protect infants in some of the word’s poorest countries so they survive the critical first month of life. Visit www.goodgoes.org/caps today for more background information about the campaign, FAQs, basic crochet and knit patterns, where to ship the caps, and a colorful greeting tag which you can cut out and attach to your cap with well wishes for the new mother.

My goal is to make two pounds of Caps for Good. Two Pounds? Yes, two pounds. I used an A.C. Moore rewards certificate to purchase two huge Lion Brand Pound of Love yarns in Lavendar and Denim that I intend to make nothing but Caps for Good with! So far, I have nine lavedar caps made. I am using the basic hat pattern that is suggested (with one minor alteration). I don't see a need to get overly fancy with these tiny hats when their main purpose is warmth.

I took a break from baby caps to make this ugly doll hat for Jalen's friend. It's a surprise for her birthday!

Ugly Worms

Jalen had a friend spend the night this weekend. Friend likes Ugly Dolls and I thought they looked easy enough to create. So, Friend drew me a picture of her favorite (Ugly Worm) and I got busy creating.


A couple hours later, I had two happy little girls!

FFO!

Finally Finished Object!

It's taken at least a year and a half, but I finally finished the Granny's Daughter afghan I have been making for Jalen's room.

(note: this picture is supposed to be sideways, the program keeps flipping it)

She was so excited that the main part of the afghan was finally finished that it took a little convincing for her to allow me to put the scalloped border on each end. I think she was afraid it would take me another month to finish!

60 Scarves in 60 Days UPDATE

The 60 Scarves in 60 Days challenge started on September 1st. I committed to making 6 scarves, however, by September 15th I had the 7 scarves below finished. I have since finished one more, though I haven't taken a picture of it.

I found a great way to use up leftover stash yarn and make scarves quickly! Four strands of yarn in complimenting colors and a huge crochet hook! Genius!

I thought I was finished making scarves, but then I received an email about Special Olympics scarves, so here I go again. This year's colors are Red Heart's Blue and Turqua. I'm hoping to get three more scarves made out of the yarn shown below:

Double duty: more scarves to add to my 60 scarves in 60 days challenge that will be donated to the Special Olympics!

Bernat Mystery Crochet Along!

The Bernat Mystery Crochet Along began on September 22nd. The afghan is being constructed of Bernat's Softee Chunky yarn. I wasn't feeling very original when I purchased my yarn and opted to use the colors recommended by Bernat. They sure are pretty though, and will make a stunning afghan once completed.

Clockwise from the top left: Fern, Topaz, Forest, Natural and Lavender.

Each Wednesday a new clue is unveiled. So far, there have been three weeks of clues.

We began with a simple sc, dc square. Next was a granny square. Last week's clue was a V-stitch pattern. Each week the patterns get a little more complicated. I'm really enjoying this "mystery" because sampler afghans are one of my favorite projects...and not knowing what's coming next makes me look forward to each new clue!

60 Scarves in 60 Days

Today starts the 60 Scarves in 60 Days challenge and this year I am participating.

My local CGOA Chapter (Those Yarn Crocheters in Harrisburg, PA) will be donating the scarves made by our group to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and a local shelter.

Though I don't think I can make 60 scarves in 60 days, I did commit to making 6 scarves. I'll be making 3 pink scarves to be donated to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and 3 scarves of another color. I got started on two of my pink scarves today.

I am using Bernat's Wool Blend Natural Blends yarn for both of these scarves. It is a 75% acrylic/25% wool blend. The color is Pink Icing. This yarn is so soft and squishy, and I believe will be very warm.

As you can see, my first scarf worked up very quickly! The pattern above is a simple shell pattern that creates a nice scalloped edge along the long sides as you go. I can't wait to try a variegated yarn with this pattern.

The scarf below uses an easy block and fan trellis stitch taken from a sampler afghan square pattern that I altered to be narrow.

I am hoping to get my 6 pledged scarves completed quickly because I have a lot going on this fall crochet-wise, including a Mystery Crochet Along hosted by Bernat yarn. I've never participated in a CAL, so I'm looking forward to this project, and the fact that the end result is a mystery makes it all the more fun!

VACATION!

We recently spent a week full of wonderful weather with some good friends at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.


As I was packing, I made sure I had plenty of sock yarn and patterns to keep me busy. Did I touch any of it? NO! I had my face buried in a book all week. I spent every spare minute reading the first book and half of the second book in the thrilling Stieg Larsson trilogy.

Even though I didn't get any new stitching accomplished, some of my past projects made an appearance at the beach:


I had the opportunity to visit the local yarn store called Kitschy Stitch where I spent a considerable amount of time browsing at all the beautiful yarns. I gave up buying ice cream for myself all week so I could treat myself to some Plymouth Encore Colorspun yarn in the grey/blue colors of the beach.


I'm still not sure what I'll do with this yarn, maybe it'll become a new shrug or maybe a lacy cardigan. Regardless of what shape this new yarn takes it'll be much more becoming than what a week's worth of ice cream would have done to MY shape!

Addicted to Sock Yarn

Hi, my name is Olive. I am addicted to buying sock yarn. In the past two weeks I have bought embarrassing amounts of sock yarn. All kinds of pretty, pretty sock yarn. See for yourself:

Aren't those colors lovely? With the Patons yarn below I plan to make the toe, heel and cuff with the greyish color in the center and the foot and ankle sections with the heathery-blue yarn.

I read about something called "monster socks" where you alternate rows of your funky colored leftover sock yarns along with a main solid color yarn. That's what led me to buy the basic black yarn on the left in the picture below. Why did I buy the rest of the yarn in the picture? So I could get free shipping. And because I have an addiction to buying sock yarn.

I even have the pattern picked out for my next pair of socks. The pattern is called Ravissant Socks by Robyn Chachula and I plan to use a fingering weight spring green tonal colored yarn.

But first, I should finish my current project. The pattern below is called Step By Step Socks. I have one sock completed so far.

I really like the linked double crochet stitches used to create the sole of the sock. It makes a very sturdy fabric. The top of the foot and ankle sections are made up of alternating rows of a v-stitch and a dc ch 1 stitch. I modified the original pattern slightly. Instead of using 16 rows of single crochet to construct the after-thought heel, I continued with 8 rows of linked dc. I also made the ankle section longer, but I shortened the length of the cuff from 9 stitches to 5. Another thing I like about making this pattern is that counting your rows is very easy, so I'll be sure to make another sock in exactly the same length.

The kids have put me on a yarn diet. And I can't say that I totally disagree with them. I mean, yes, I may have blown my grocery money on sock yarn this month, but who needs groceries? At least I'll have warm, pretty socks to wear this winter!

SOCKS!

I'll start by saying that I found myself sitting at two nights of cheer leading practice and one night of Boy Scouts this week...soooo...I had plenty of time to "yarn" while I waited.

My first pair of socks is finished. I chose a pattern called Toes Up Socks by South Bay Crochet. The pattern was very easy to follow. The heel decrease/increase was very easy. Overall, these were very easy socks to make. Here they are, don't they look very easy?
The only pattern deviation I made was that I added a front post/back post double crochet cuff.

As I previously mentioned, I used Juniper Moon Farm Sock yarn in the colorway named Daisy Fay & The Miracle Man made of 80% Super Wash Wool and 20% Nylon. I had 420 yards of sock yarn and have a good bit left over. I'm hoping I have enough yarn left over to make Jalen a pair of ankle socks.

Now that I have my first pair of socks under my belt, I will be searching for a pattern with a little more difficulty. I'm all about the socks right now! So much so, that I bought a set of sock blockers and some more sock yarn online. Oh, and a pattern book with a pretty sock pattern in it.

Other than working on the socks, I have been busy adding some of my finished projects to my Ravelry profile this week. This takes a little bit of work. Finding the correct pattern name, finding a corresponding picture, remembering what size hook I used, remembering what yarn I used, figuring out what size I made, etc.

So, what am I going to work on next? Well, I really should force myself to finish my kids' afghans. Not that they need them NOW, but in a few months they will and I will be nagged to death by Miss Jalen if hers isn't finished by the time she needs an extra blanket on her bed.