Managing to crochet a little...

It has not been my intention to be so scarce here, but we've had some beautiful weather - perfect for working outdoors.  But as good as working in the garden and yard feel to me, it's also been exhausting. 

And then there were a lot of veggies needing picking at the same time. Preserving some of the harvest has also been tiring.  Satisfying, but tiring.

And somehow we've also been living life, coming and going, spending time with friends and family, physical therapy, fitting in a new exercise regimen, "fall activities" starting up. This past week, we celebrated our 44th Wedding Anniversary. 

I feel like I've got at least a half a dozen blog posts in me to write.  

In the evening, when work and play is done and I've been torn between sinking into the recliner or sitting at the computer to type a blog post, the recliner has won every time.

That said, I have crocheted a bit here and there, and managed to finish a larger doily I've dubbed Autumn Splendor: 

Crocheted with Curio #10 thread in the colorway Clementine

The pattern name is Summer Splendor, but for some reason I always seem to make this doily in autumn colors.  I've also apparently given away the others I've made, and I was wanting one for myself.

Also, a crocheted basket project has been calling out to me for a while, so I finally dug out some yarns and started making one.

This is the tutorial I'm (more or less) following:

I really like the handles shown above.  I'm hoping I have a leather belt or two hanging around - that I didn't donate in one my recent decluttering challenges.  

Here are the yarns I'm starting mine with:

It will be fun when I make color changes.  This is a great project for using up yarn scraps.  I have a feeling once I get one of these baskets under my belt, I may want to make more.  That said, this is not the easiest thing to crochet - I'm using 4 strands of worsted weight yarn together, and crocheting with an 8mm (or size L) hook.  With a bit of arthritis in my hands, I find stopping and stretching often a good thing to do.

Someone commented on the last post that the doilies I've been making lately have an autumnal feel to them.  That would be because I pulled out some autumn colored threads to work from:

I do the same with my "kitchen cotton" yarn.  I pull together yarns that evoke the season I'm in (or will soon be in).  Whether I knit or crochet anything with those yarns is only evident when the next season rolls around, but gathering certain yarns and threads in seasonal colors is a regular thing here.  

Some people decorate with the change of seasons; I gather yarn.

Do you do anything similar?

Time is going way too fast...

Can someone please tell me how we are approaching the middle of August already?!?  Summer is not my favorite season because of the heat and humidity, but this summer, except for a week or two here and there of temps in the 90's, it's been pretty pleasant so far.  We've not had droughty conditions, as we often have through July and August.  I'm thinking I might almost be sad when summer is over, it's been so nice here.

With produce from the garden needing picking almost daily, and having enough green beans to can a batch every few days, added to the normal stuff of life, I haven't been crocheting much.  Last week I finished a couple more little doilies, but it was just last night that I got around to blocking them.

First up is Doily # 44:

Made in Curio #10 thread in the colorway, Turmeric

The spoke shape in the middle was a bear to work.  I  struggled to make total sense of the instructions to make FPdtr's (that's Front Post Double Triple stitches) criss-crossing each other, so finally I just studied the photograph of the finished doily and made this section the best I could.  I'm not normally a fan of crocheting via diagrams, but this pattern would have benefitted from having a diagram to consult.  

The first thing that came to mind as I looked at the picture of this one was a carousel, so that is its name.

Nearly beat by Carousel, I thought I'd look for a simpler doily, so I worked up Doily #17:

Crocheted in Curio #10 thread in the colorway, Clementine

This one wasn't hard until the last two rows.  For some reason I kept drifting off, and I ended up having to repeat one or more of the last two rounds two or three times.  

In the end, I'm not sure I completed this one correctly, but on the final row of many fiddly picots, I started to not care.    Finished was better than perfect, I decided.  I named this one Windmill; you may be able to see the four "blades" better in this picture: 

Or maybe not?  

That's all for now on the crochet front.  It appears there's another gorgeous week ahead, and I may be pulling up the green bean plants since they're taking up a lot of space and not producing much at this point.  For the first time ever, I'm considering planting some things for a fall garden. 

The last jar of green beans before going into the pressure canner.  Tomatoes are up next!