On And Off The Hook...

It feels, this past week, as if I've made a grand start to my YOP year.  Very productive with lots of yarny goodness.

As of July 1st, I'm participating in a Ravelry Crochet A-Long of the Spice of Life Afghan.   When we were voting for an afghan to make together this was not my first choice (or actually among any of the afghans I voted on), but now that I've begun, I'm loving it!  So much so that I'm making two.  At the same time.

One in colors approximating the designer's original colors (using yarns mostly in my stash):

And a second one in a more earth-toned (sorta) palette with some pops of color:

It's great having two on the hook at the same time.  If I get tired of one, I can switch for some variety. But the real genius of doing two simultaneously (that I discovered this week) is that by working a section in the designer's colors first (which I know I like), I then know what those rows look like, how the stitches lay, and how one row plays with the rows preceding and following it. That's a great advantage as I ponder what colors to use next in the second blanket.  Not that I feel all that confident about my color choices, but it does help.   If you're interested in knowing what colors and yarns I'm using, click on the links preceding each picture.

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Near the end of June, in the 2016 Weekly & Dishcloth CAL group  a small group of us recently took up the challenge to learn Tunisian crochet. We all made dishcloths:

After making a couple of these cloths, I decided to explore another tunisian stitch pattern and for the Red Heart Lovers' June CAL I started to make a Shadow Stitch Scarf, but feeling like the fabric I was creating was too stiff for a scarf, I took a deep breath, contemplated frogging it, but then got the great idea to make a pillow!

It's a simple thing, but I kinda love it!

I don't know how much I love tunisian crochet itself, in all honesty, but it's been interesting to learn.  And it's really not difficult.  Of course, the things I've made are among the simplest things to make (squares and a rectangle), but still... For first projects I was pleased with how well they came out.  I'm going to try to get some cabled tunisian hooks so I can make something larger.  I guess then we'll see how easy I think it is.

And I've recently discovered the 2016 Ravelry Ravellenic Games.  I'm hoping to participate on a team - just because that sounds like a lot of fun, but the only group I'm active in that I know is hosting a team is the Ravelry Red Heart Lovers' group. They are a wonderful, encouraging bunch, and I definitely want to join them, but if everything that team makes has to incorporate Red Heart Yarns I may have to go it alone for some "events" if I get the itch to make something with other yarns. Check out the Revellenics if you haven't already.  You can join a team, or participate as an individual in events. Some amazingly creative and energetic folks have put together a fun group activity to coincide with the 2016 Summer Olympics in August.

There's more I could share (I said I've been productive), but I think I'll save some stuff for next week. For now, if you'd like to see what other YOPpers are up to, check out this week's thread.  Our small group of participants doubled, I think, as we began this new YOP year.  I'm looking forward to being inspired by all the wonderful creations everyone makes.