Playing around

Well I've done quite a few squares of teh lacy flower shawl. I think it's going to look nice. Now to just decide which yarn and what hook to use. I originally started with the Jamie baby yarn. I have at least 15 skeins of the white. I thought with the thread of sparkle it might look nice. Well whatever you gain with the sparkle is taken away with the feel of the stuff....UGH! I have no idea how anyone would allow that stuff to be used on a baby. It's some of the roughest yarn I've ever felt. Probaby why it's discontinued and at the dollar store.

I then moved onto the Caron's pound of love that I have. Much, much better. I started with a G hook and it looked ok. Then I moved up to an I hook like the pattern suggests. Definitely a lot softer and better drape but the square seem huge. I moved down to an H hook, just to see the difference. I haven't decided which I like, nor am I sold on this yarn.

The squares go really quick and it's a join as you go so there won't be any piecing in the end (YAY!!!). I'm making about 4 or 5 squares and then sewing in the ends. Any more then that and all the ends get tangled in my work. So once it's done, it should be done. I could see me taking a whole day and getting this done....no problem. Last night I was thinking it might be cool to add in some squares of her wedding color/ But now I wonder. I'd also thought of doing the 1/2 motifs alone the ends, giving it a zigzag edge. I probably won't though.

I was thinking of trying to block the strips that I've already made. A) to get practice blocking as I've never done it before. B) to see the actual look of each hook size properly. Allowing me to judge which look would be best.

It's killing me not being able to take pictures! This place is boring without it...sorry!

I talked to Allison

Her grandmother is too ill to crochet her the shawl, so I'll do it. I showed her my ideas and I think we're going with the Flower Lace Shawl (the 2nd link in my last post). Only revision so far is that it'll be a stole, not a triangle shawl. Should make it a bit easier as I won't have to make 1/2 or 1/4 motifs. I haven't decided if I want to go with the cotton yarn they suggest or use the Jaime baby yarn I have already. I'm thinking of using the baby yarn as it's thinner and has a thread of shimmer in it. Plus it's on hand. I'm hoping to lay Sean down and play with it in a few minutes (he's sleeping in my arms as I type this). I'll update you later on how it's going.

Can I really pull it off?

Drew and Allison's wedding is set for May 15th. That gives us a little over 60 days to get everything accomplished. Allison is having a family friend make her wedding dress. They'll be meeting tonight to figure out which one it'll be. She'd like a strapless but isn't comfortable with it with her ample top. I suggested a shawl might be nice to cover her and she liked the idea. So I've been looking at shawl patterns lately. Yesterday I tried out this one. This morning I came across this one and I think I like it a lot better. So am thinking of trying a motif or two.

I got to thinking...Allison might want to ask her grandmother to make her shawl for her. Her grandmother has a lot more experience with crocheting and would probably do a much better job then I would. Besides, it might mean something extra special to come from her grandmother. Also I can think of a lot of other things I could/should be doing for the wedding. Of course if she wants me to make it, I will. Just thinking. I'll have to talk to her this week.

I'll probably try one or three shawls anyways since Liz has wanted a poncho since Christmas. I think a shawl is a much classier alternative. I'm sure she'll like either one.

Not much hooking

I never edged the doll pillow last week. It's still sitting here mocking me. We went away Saturday night and I was really tempted to bring some crocheting along. Figuring it was a family outing and we were suppose to be doing things as a family, I left it at home. I probably couldn've gotten away with doing some in the early morning hours when I was the only one up, but not much.

I did manage to pick up a hook after we got home. I've finished 5 of the 6 rows of the blue ruffle on the Ruffles all Around blanket. I'm stalled again as I'm not sure where my Baby Afghan book is at the moment. GRRRRR! Figuring we have 2 mos until I have 2 weddings and the bridal showers will be even quicker then that...I started working on the white ripple blanket for T and E's wedding. I'm afraid I'm not going to be happy with it. The outside of the skein seems to be fuzzing up already. What's the blanket going to look like after a bit of use? WHY do I do this to myself? (2nd guess my choices in the project)

I'm thinking I might do the Tree of Life for Drew and Allison but I'm afraid I can't get it done in time and I don't want that to happen. The sooner I get T and E's done, the more time I'll have to figure out and work on Drew's. Then it's onto the grandbaby's stuff!

My shoulder is feeling it

I wound and wound yesterday. I have just about all the yarn I wanted to do, done. It's all in my bedroom, contained neatly in 3 plastic see through totes. I can see just about every skein of yarn I own by just looking at the container. I also have a cardboard box that's holding the large or full skeins that I didn't want to wind just yet. Oh and then there's my 3 drawer plastic dresser that's in the livingroom. It's holding my books, hook bag (pencil bag), UFO (unfinished objects) and the yarn for the projects that I'm currently working on. I've found a few stray skeins/balls here and there today, but I'm not sweating it. It's made me feel a bit more organized and wanting to do more projects and even get out my sewing machine. It's also pushing me to get my room in order so I put the totes away (need to clean out my closet first)

This morning I found a skein of yellow yarn sitting on the couch and couldn't figure out why I didn't put it away last night. When I picked it up I figured out why...there was a project attached to it still. It was a doll pillow that I'd started for the Christmas Bazaar to go with this blanket...



So I decided to stuff it and finish it. It's stitched in my no thinking, go to pattern of alternating rows of hdc and dc. Looking at it I figured the stuffing would show through the holes though so I decided to make a pillow insert of sc using red heart super saver in soft white. You can't see it and I didn't make it so you could remove it. I probably could've gotten by with putting the stuffing in a piece of pantyhose before inserting it in the original pillow...saving me an hour of crocheting. But I had fun and it was relaxing to just sit there and make it. I'm trying to decide how I want to edge it. After it's done I'll take a picture and share.

I'm hoping to work on the Ruffles afghan later tonight. It's getting to be one of those...I can't wait to get this done!!! projects.

My hook is on a short hiatus

That doesn't mean that I'm not doing anything with my yarn. I've been trying to get it under control. It has a way of working it's way into every part of the house. People are complaining. I don't blame them. Even I get mad when I'm walking out of my room and my feet become entangled in a mass of yarn. So I've been using my Christmas present and taming a bunch of skeins for the last few days. The sucky thing is...as soon as I start winding...my eye and nose start going crazy. My eyes itch horribly and my nose starts running and eventually getting stuffed up. I took some Claratin yesterday and it did seem to diminish the nose running.

I'll be happy when it's all in order. I thought I was almost done until I turned around. I had forgotten about a whole tote of it! So I think I'll finish it up today. Then I can start to take care of some bags of unraveled sweaters. I'm trying to design myself a yarn swift out of K'nex. The swift itself is a no brainer...how to keep it anchored is another matter. I'd also like to see how my yarn winder does with unraveling things. I'm thinking it could speed things along nicely.

I did end up adding a few more stitches onto the All around Ruffles afghan. Not enough to take another picture though. Well off to wreck havoc with my sinuses.