Some colors are just weird...

While I'm working on some projects in the background that I won't be able to show for a while, I decided to give myself a break from a somewhat complicated pattern and crochet another small, quick doily.  This may be how it goes for a little while.  And Marsha, I'm not working on a Hiddleston doily.  I'm still not quite confident enough to tackle one of those.

All I have to show today is a humble 5 1/2" doily named #29. 

But first, here is a picture of how #29 was presented in the book, 99 Little Doilies:

It's okay... Very unassuming.  Honestly, I had written "meh" beside the doily number on the record I'm keeping of this long-term project, with the intention that I'd probably never make it.

But I decided to look on Ravelry for what other people have done with Doily #29.  I thought I was just looking for pretty colors, but someone decided to take a different approach to blocking it, and I didn't have to think twice before following suit:

Are we all in agreement that this is so much better than the original?

Now for a little experiment with trying to photograph it...

The crochet thread I'm using is Artiste in the color, Antique. It's not a particularly pretty color.  A kind of dutsy mauve is the most generous way I can come up with in describing it.

A picture I pulled from Hobby Lobby's website:

This is it at home outside in the natural light:

Pulling the camera back, this is it (top center) next to three neutrals:

Honestly, it's not nearly as pretty, or pink as it appears in any of the pictures here. Truth be told, I only bought it because 1) it was inexpensive and being discontinued, and 2) I kind of felt sorry for it.  Along with feeling sorry for it, I imagined it might crochet up prettier than it spools up.

What I didn't quite bargain for is that in person, the color totally depends on the lighting, and the surface it's laying on.

So, like I did with another doily a few weeks ago, I photographed the same doily in the same room, next to the same windows, just minutes apart, on different table tops.  The difference in how my phone camera picked up the color is crazy.

Neither one of these is bad.  But neither one is true, either. The first picture (just above) is truer in its coloring, but it's not quite that pretty of a pink.  Clearly, this color is going to do whatever it likes, whenever it likes. I can only imagine how long the designer looked at the color before giving up and simply called it Antique.  Antique is a hard name to argue with for such an odd color that in person looks old and dusty.

Not sure what I'll ever use it for again, but for now it goes into the bin of other threads!

Happy New Year ~ Happy New Projects!

Today, the first day of the year, is a glorious free-from-commitment day in the middle of a very good and full new year's weekend.  And as soon as I post this, I'm going to commemorate...?  celebrate...?  accept...?   the transition from 2016 to 2017 by - you guessed it - crocheting!   I can almost hear you thinking  "how redundant".   Aahhh... it's anything but redundant, my friend.   I've been waiting excitedly for three new CAL's to start today.  Three new CALs!  That's Crochet-A-Longs for the uninitiated.

Oddly, I've hardly crocheted at all since right before Christmas, but it has not been time completely devoid of yarn.  What little yarny time I had last week was devoted to perusing ideas and finally choosing colors and yarns for the upcoming CALs.  So... while I have no pictures of finished projects (or even wips), I'm happy and excited to show you the colors of my upcoming projects.

The first CAL is one I'm hosting.  In the Our Happy CAL Place on Ravelry, we're doing our first ever blanket CAL, and for this first blanket CAL we're crocheting the Moroccan Tile Afghan.  The  CAL will run from January 1 through March 31 of this year.  Some people are starting later, but the "hook-off" officially starts today.  Consider yourself personally invited to join us there - if this blanket appeals.

I pulled yarns from my stash to make a blanket that closely resembles the original Moroccan Tile Afghan:

In a basket, I'm thinking all those colors might look a bit clownish, but hopefully in the finished blanket it will look great.  One thing's for sure, it will be fun to switch colors and watch this thing grow and change.  I can't wait!!!

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Another CAL I joined is in the Red Heart Lovers' Group.  We're all doing a blanket called Trip Around the World using a tunisian crochet technique called Entrelac.  While I've done some small projects using a simple tunisian crochet stitch, this will be a leaning experience.  I'm making a baby blanket and I picked out much softer colors for this CAL (here's my project page if you want the details):

And here's the thread for that CAL in case you're interested in checking us out and joining us. This CAL will also run from now until March 31, 2017.

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And last, but definitely not least, I joined the 2017 Crochet Block-A-Month (BAM) CAL group on Ravelry and am so excited to make my first pieced-together blanket this year.  I've admired these types of blankets for a long time -- in fact, one of my first projects (when I first got back to crochet six or seven years ago) started out as a granny square blanket, but after years of on again-off again working on it, I ended up quitting and donating what squares I had crocheted up to that point - hoping someone else would finish what I couldn't bring myself to work on anymore).  

I think making squares in the company of other crochet lovers will be the motivation I need to actually complete a blanket like this.  I sure hope so, anyway.  I'm giving it a go!   While the first blocks were revealed today, and I plan to make at least one of them this afternoon, for now I have a picture of the yarns I'm hoping to complete a full-sized blanket with:

My inspiration came from various blankets others have made, and it was difficult trying to decide what colors I truly wanted to work with for such a project, but the overall look I decided to go for was "colorfully vintage".  I felt like that satisfied my desire for something soft-toned, but interestingly colorful.  All of the yarns above are Stylecraft Special DK and the main colors I'm working blocks in are:  Silver, Stone, Lime, Gold, Soft Rose, Raspberry and Parchment.  Accent (and shading) colors will be Duck Egg, Storm Blue, Claret, Mustard and possibly Cream.  That's the plan, anyway.  We'll see if those colors evolve over time.

This project goes all year and I look forward to sharing the blocks here as they are made.  Feel free to join - while the CAL officially started today, truly anyone could jump into the BAM CAL at any point. Many people's large blankets are made with blocks they've crocheted in various BAM CALs, or blocks they've pulled from other sources, but if the idea of crocheting a surprise (often a newly designed) block each month appeals to you, you could join in at any time.   I know some other YOPPERS are also doing this CAL - in fact, those YOPPERS are the reason I was inspired to jump into this one.  :)  It will be fun seeing how the same squares will look different from one another because of the different colors we work them in.  Squares are already showing up on Ravelry and it's fascinating.

I'm sure I'll also be working smaller projects in the mix of these large CAL projects, and I plan to keep up my simple knitting, but boy am I excited about these CAL projects and to share my journey on them here.

And that's it from me!  I'm ready to get my hook and yarn and start crocheting in the new year!

To see what other YOPPERS are up to, click the graphic below to visit our group on Ravelry.

And HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

Wrapped in warmth...

My heart is filled with memories today.  Yesterday my husband and I attended a "celebration of life" service in honor of the pastor who married us 36 years ago.  After numerous moves between us, we had lost touch over the years, but oddly enough, found ourselves living in the same general area again.  I wish I could say we had connected in a meaningful way when we realized this some years back, but sadly...  except for visiting the church Pastor Ted was then pastoring, we didn't connect further.  Life has a way of taking people down varied paths; and busyness (among other things), too often keeps people from reconnecting in meaningful ways once paths have diverged.

We were surprised a few days ago to open the paper and find his obituary and picture.  We had no idea he had been ill.  How thankful we feel, though, for having seen the notice and for being able to attend his memorial service.  It was quite a memorable memorial service.

As the church gym/sanctuary filled first with the Purdue fight song, with alumni (my husband included) standing and clapping as they sang; then laughter and tears while we watched a video of Ted take the jump of his life when he took a tandem sky dive - exclaiming on the big screen that he'd waited 54 years to do this; and throughout the service hundreds of people joining voices singing happy hymns we used to sing in the Free Methodist Church, I was transported back in time.  Transported to an earlier place my middle-aged heart has been hungry for in recent years.

There were surely at least 400 people attending the service and all were strangers to us except for Ted's immediate family.  But it's amazing how a common faith, and in this case a common friend and pastor, will instantly bring people together in spirit.   It was a great day.  Our spirits were heartened and memories abounded. Greg and I topped it off with a pizza meal at a nearby Arni's.  It seemed fitting.  Purdue alums (or fans who live anywhere near Purdue), know Arni's - "in busy Market Square".  Pizza at the Greenwood, Indiana Arni's doesn't compare to the Lafayette Arni's, but it's the closest facsimile we have in our neck of the woods.  As we filled our tummies, we enjoyed our memories and full feelings from the service we had just left.

And what does this have to do with this week's Year of Projects post?  

Nothing.  

Absolutely nothing.  

But once in a while it feels good to share the stuff of life with those of you who visit here, and Sunday's YOP post is the time most drop in.  :)

So, on that topic... this week saw the finish of my latest crocheted Linen Stitch Scarf (pattern here).

I mentioned last week how much I enjoy this stitch pattern. And how I love combining non-obvious colors together to see what they produce in the end.  Last week I showed a picture of two very unlikely colorways of yarn I was using to crochet this scarf.

I'm happy to say...  the colors played very nice and did not disappoint.  The yarn is Red Heart Unforgettable in the colorways Tidal and Sunrise.  It's a wonderful yarn for a drapey scarf.  Super soft and luxurious feeling.  And purchased on sale or with a coupon (which I almost always have) I consider it very affordable.  

I made this scarf wider and longer than normal and I really like how it turned out.  It doesn't go with any coat or sweater I own, but I think I may need to work on that as I love the colors in this! The blues are perfect for me - and the bright oranges, while not necessarily "my colors" work with the blue to complement my very pale complexion and white/gray hair.  As I began this scarf I was sure it would end up being gifted to someone, and now here I am happily contemplating keeping it for myself!

To see what other Yoppers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Let's talk color...

I knew half way through this busy week Sunday would roll around with no finishes.   And then a couple of days ago I remembered that I was hosting a Crochet Along (today! eek!) in the Our Happy CAL Place on Ravelry, and I hadn't even begun the project I wanted to invite others to join me in there!

So I got busy on that and today I have another started project to show:

What is it, you ask?   It's the start of one of my favorite projects.  A crocheted Linen-Stitch Scarf.

I love this stitch pattern for so many reasons.  First of all, it is super easy. Mindless, even.  And it's a perfect stitch pattern for playing with color.  Because each row overlaps the one before, you get to watch how colors play with one another - the whole effect changing with each new added color.  And...  It's a stitch pattern that's fun for all sorts of projects: scarves, shawls, pillows, blankets, tote bags...  really anything that requires a square or rectangular piece of fabric to create. You can use various yarns and colors to create subtle shading, or a wild cacophany of color.

In this scarf I'm using Red Heart Boutique in the Unforgettable line in the colors Sunrise and Tidal:

You can probably figure out which is Tidal and which is Sunrise.

I'll admit, from the above picture these two colorways do not look like a natural fit. Not to me, anyway.  While blue is opposite orange on the color wheel and therefore complementary, these two colorways don't appear to be complementary because they are so dissimilar in tone.  The blues in the Tidal are muted and the colors in the Sunrise are nearly off the chart vivid.  

Using these two colorways in most projects probably wouldn't work if each is used by itself to create much width at all before introducing the other colorway.  But when working the Linen Stitch pattern, the colors are laid on top of each other and the end result is much more interesting (I think) than either colorway is on its own.  The muted blues of the Tidal colorway are lifted from being kind of gray to being truly blue.  And the bright orange in the Sunrise skein is still vivid, but it isn't overwhelming.  Separated from the other bright colors each vivid color in the Sunrise skein gets to shine on its own, rather than compete with the other colors.

Truth be told, I wouldn't have had the courage (or sense) to put together the above two colorways if the Sunrise didn't have a smidgen of blue running through it.  And, as I've come to look at these scarves as a total experiment in color, I was eager to give these two colorways a try together.  I think the end result will be something totally unexpected, but hopefully fun and interesting to wear.  I can't wait to finish and see what I finally have!  :)

To see what other Yoppers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Creativity is sometimes an awkward process...

This week I began working on the Mandala Madness CAL and below is as far as I've gotten (I've finished Part 1).  For the record, I'm almost two weeks behind, which means I can see two levels beyond where I presently am in working the design.  This has some advantages.  Or so it would seem.  I can anticipate, a bit, how many colors the next section will use and how they play with each other - so it seems like this would help me pick out colors, both in the part I'm presently crocheting and in thinking about what colors will look good in the next part.  But I'm finding, in some ways, it paralyzes me from making any firm decisions about colors at all. Not only am I second-guessing the section I'm working on, but I spend the time I'm crocheting one section stewing over the next section as well.  This does not seem to me to be a good thing.  Sigh.  All the things I fear about mystery CALs are coming to fruition, and  I'm thinking it was pretty impetuous of me to jump into this one.

I've recognized my color challenged-ness in the past, but something like this presses it to the limits.  I'm going for bright, flowery and fun (thinking I'll just make a small blanket that maybe a little girl will like), but I'm afraid all I'm going to achieve is gaudy, loud and crazy.

As much as I feel intimidated by this CAL, I guess the only thing to do is press on through each next part and hope for the best.  The first best is that I will create a masterpiece (giggling).  The last best is that I will learn some things about how colors play (or fight) with each other. And I'll learn my lesson once and for all that it takes a truly special person to enjoy a mystery CAL.

And I can't help but once again see the irony of the book I'm still (sort of) reading The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin).   Me, a woman who isn't sure she can successfully put more than three colors together, reading a book about unleashing and freely exploring my own creativity.  It's at times like these I wonder if I have even the smallest smidgen of honest creativity to my name...

But I'll keep on - for now - dabbling with colorful yarns in this CAL, and I guess I'll keep plugging through this book - as long as I can continue to renew it (it's a library book) -  and we'll see where it all leads.  Creativity is sometimes an awkward process.  But it is a process...

Joining this post with Ginny Sheller's Yarn Along

Yarn Along...

Today was DH's second foot surgery in two month's time - and that meant hours for me to just sit.  And crochet.  I decided to take along two different colors of Red Heart Unforgettable yarn and see what might come of combining them in this linen stitch scarf I've come to love.  At first glance these two colorways don't appear to make good companions.  I give you Sunrise (on the left) and Meadow (on the right):

Would you have put these together?  If you're color-cautious like me, probably not.  Except for the small bit of greenish blue that's occasionally spun into the Sunrise color that gave me courage to try.  The blue-ish skein doesn't vary a lot, but it does have some beige spun into it, which helps to work with the small amount of neutrals in the Sunrise.  So I took the plunge.

As I crocheted a couple rows I had my doubts, but after four or five rows I think it's actually working.   In fact...  I kind of like it.  Good thing, too, because this loosely spun yarn is a bear to unravel.

And looky there.  Together, the two yarns kind of match the book I'm reading!   A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner is a captivating read.  Two stories run alongside each other in this novel.  The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001.  Actually, several mysterious stories are woven around a beautiful scarf that appears in the first chapter - and that's all I'm going to tell you.  It's all I can tell you.  I'm only half way through, but I'm pretty confident I can recommend this book as an interesting read if you enjoy women's fiction.  Or, perhaps, even if you simply enjoy a good story.

Join other yarnies at Ginny's weekly Yarn Along to see what's being read and created, literally around the world this week.

A Chunky Cowl Puts Me In The Mind Of Autumn...

I finished the Chunky Color Block Cowl yesterday.   It's so soft, and squishy.   LOVE!

The pattern is super easy (though I will comment below - near the end of this post - on how I made it work better, I think), and this yarn is pretty scrumptious to crochet with.  That said...I did notice that it splits when crocheting with it.   It didn't keep me from enjoying crocheting this cowl, but the yarn did split.  A bit.  Especially yarn that I ripped out and crocheted with a second time.

That said, I'm super pleased with how this turned out and I will probably choose to use this yarn in other projects.  The yarn is Lion's Pride Woolspun and I chose the colors Cranberry, Sparkle Mix, and Oxford Grey.  

In case it isn't obvious, or anyone is wondering, the Sparkle Mix doesn't sparkle.  It's totally matte and is a pretty mix of gray, black, a sort of coral, a bit of bright red, and cranberry.


I used a size P hook to get these scrumptiously large stitches:

There are certainly bigger and chunkier cowls, but with this stitch pattern and yarn, this is a cowl you can snuggle up inside.    In fact, if you're skinny enough, you can pull it down over your shoulders to take the chill off for a few minutes if you're wearing this inside.  You should take this possibility into consideration and add more stitches to the beginning row if you think you'll want to do this.  I added 10 stitches - and I think my cowl would pull down over the shoulders of a female who's size medium or maybe even large.  No guarantees here.  I can't possibly know how wide someone else's shoulders are or if this would feel comfortable to them.  It's just an idea.

The above picture shows off the pretty slant to these stitches.  This is the Herringone Half Double Crochet stitch (HHDC).  I'd never done it before, but the instructions at the link (in the very first line of this post) are clear and simple.  It really is a lovely stitch - for anything from scarves to blankets.  I'm so glad to have it in my personal "stitch bank".

And if all of that isn't enough, the thing that really makes me in love with this cowl is that when crocheted in a color block style, it's like having two cowls in one -  it can be worn with either color at the top - changing the look, depending on which color looks best with your complexion, outfit or mood, even.

I love it both ways.

If you like the look of chunky cowls or know someone who does, this is an easy project, and would make a nice gift.  Once I knew exactly what I was doing, I'd say this took no more than two hours to whip up.  You could make one (or more) of these on Christmas Eve, for giving in the morning!   Not that I've ever... you know... done anything like that myself...     Ahem

As I wrap up here, I'll offer a few notes for working the pattern for the benefit of anyone who might be interested:

When crocheting in the round, a common problem that occurs is a slanted seam.  I struggled with this at first, but after searching online for solutions I came up with my own method of conquering this (with this cowl, anyway).  Here's how: 

• First of all, each color segment is seven rows tall.  While crocheting six rows of the same color I simply crocheted round and round, aware of where a new round began, but not doing anything differently when I began a new round (except for rows that involved color changes - as explained below).  I just kept count of the rows - which is easy to do since the rows are obvious and very easy to count, but if you fear you'll lose track just use a stitch marker.   

• When I began the last round (7th row) of each color, I joined the new round to the previous round with a slip stitch, chained one, then a HHDC in the same stitch I had just slip-stitched into (this is the typical way to join a round when crocheting in the round),  and then I crocheted around as normal, joining the new color at the end of that round in the chain one (or maybe the top of the HHDC stitch - sorry, I can't remember which, but it's easy enough to figure out when you're there).  Then I simply crocheted 'round and 'round until I was ready to begin the seventh row of that color.  And I repeated the process explained in this paragraph with the third color.  When I made the final row I was going to crochet I also did this so that I'd have a raised stitch to join into at the end, thus making a smooth edge.

• Doing the above created a raised stitch in the last row of a color where, when I was ending the row, I could easily add the new color; but by otherwise crocheting in the round without joining rows  with a slip stitch and chaining up one every new row, I prevented the creation of any noticeable seam through the whole of the scarf.   Another tip I found online is to really tighten up that slip stitch and the chain one when beginning a row that way (again, this is the traditional way to crochet in the round).   Making those tight stitches isn't very easy to do with a chunky yarn and a fat crochet hook, but when I needed to make them I made those two stitches (the slip stitch and single crochet) as tightly as I could.

And that's it!  When I was done I had a three-colored cowl that looked essentially seamless.  And now I can't wait to give this cowl pattern another go - either in more chunky yarn, or I might give a worsted weight yarn a go the next time.

And now, if you'd like to see what other crocheters and knitters are working on check out this week's Year of Projects Thread on Ravelry.   If those links don't work for you, you can join Ravelry today.  It's free and it's easy!  And it's the best database resource around for yarnies all over the world.