Finished Manx square projects...

Finally, I finished a couple of projects using Manx squares I created months ago.  

One square had been completely stitched before I realized the directional fabric I'd used for the back side had not been placed going in the direction that corresponded to the front.  Not exactly an end of the world problem, but it bugged me enough that I just put it aside and contemplated never doing anything else with it.  Until last week.  Watching a tutorial on how to sew an envelope pillow cover, I was inspired to try it.

A super simple, but very effective back to use when you want to be able to remove a pillow cover.

You can't tell from the first photo that the pillow is really too small for our largish blue sofa, which at first seemed to be the obvious place to park it, but it looks kind of cute on the red recliner in the same room:

The only problem is, it's not a practical pillow.  I'm not going to want people sitting against it, smashing all those folds made by hand-stitching every piece of fabric. Since I'm not into having pillows I have to move just to sit in a chair, I'm not sure how long it will take up residence in the red chair, but for now I'm enjoying seeing it finished.  It will probably float around the house for a while looking for its perfect home.

I also finished the project I made with the four coordinating Manx squares I was working on a couple of months ago: 

This, I decided to finish into either a table-topper or a wall hanging.  I added triangles to the back corners where a dowel or even a flat piece of wood can be used to hang it.

Can't see them?  

Here's a closeup of one:

Now, normally, one would only need to put these triangles into the two top corners, but some may recall me mentioning how my Manx squares skew into something less than square by the time I finish making them.  I can trim them down more or less square so they look decent individually, but they are not perfect matches of each other. Well...  imagine sewing together four imperfect squares, and you may understand how my finished project can look more or less wonky depending on how it is hung. Since it was nearly impossible (holding it out at arm's length) to figure out which side would be the best to hang it from, I decided to just sew a triangle into all four corners so I could figure it out later - when I can hang it and stand back to see if there is a better side to hang it from.

Ah!  Another idea just popped into my head!

It is only just now occurring to me as I'm typing that this may actually look better (and less obviously wonky) hanging diagonally.  In which case, I should be able to place a wooden slat (maybe a dowel, or even a sturdy piece of carboard) going across the middle into opposite corners, that can hold this taut as the whole thing hangs from a ring sewn into the top corner.  

Here, I just snapped a picture of it on the diagonal (though I think it looks better held up on light wall):

Oh my goodness!  I like that idea a lot!   I just went from being glad it's finished, but not sure what to do with it, to being downright excited to find a spot for it!

That's all I've got on this blustery Sunday.  Snowflakes are falling, but melting as soon as they hit the ground. We'll see 50's and 60's again next week, but today I am (too soon) feeling in a wintery mood.  Brrrrr...

Bird Pillow...

I have a finish this week!   I don't know how many may remember this Blue Tit Cushion, but I started it on May 2nd, 2019.  Yesterday (May 16th, 2020), I finally finished it:

  
There is just simply no reason for this having languished  unloved in a basket for over a year!  Shortly after beginning it, I kind of cooled on all the color changes, but when I set my mind to it again this week, I had the front finished in just a couple of sittings. And the back in two more sittings.  I kid you not - this little 12-inch pillow does have hours in it, but it wasn't complicated.   

Picky me wants to cringe over the the white squiggles on the wings, but I did it twice and it didn't improve the second time, so I decided to be done with it and call the squiggliness "artistic".   It helps that when I looked at the designer's pillow, her wings have squiggles too.  I am reminded that squiggles are, to some degree, inherent in crochet colorwork. 

And here's a picture of the back - because the back is just as sweet as the front:

Aren't those heart buttons cute?   I'm so glad I had purchased those many, many months ago.  If I hadn't, it could be weeks or months more before this was finished.  Note to self:  When starting a project, have all the pieces parts.  You never know when something like a pandemic will hit.

~~~~~

And lastly, on a non-YOP note, but since this could benefit interested YOPers, I'd like to link to a post I wrote recently about how to make links in a post that open in new windows.  The short of it is that links that open into new windows (as opposed to opening in the same window as the blog the links appear on) have benefits for folks who read blog posts on a devices like laptops, chromebooks, or personal computers.  The benefit to the blogger is that links that open into new windows are less likely to cause your blog to become lost to the reader while they're checking out your cool links.   If you're curious how to do this simple thing, check out my post. The simple instructions are early in the post; the rest of the post is just an explanation of why it's a helpful thing.

And that's all she wrote!

Starting things...

Recently I seem to be about starting things.  

Hopefully, soon, I'll be about finishing them. 😉

Shortly after posting last week's YOP post I started on this Blue Tit Cushion:

See the legs and the tip of its tail?  This is a fun project and I hope it doesn't take me long to finish it, but honestly...  I've gotten seriously distracted with cross stitch this week.  Last week Jo-Ann Fabrics had a coupon for 40% off everything that was full price and I just couldn't let it go to waste.  So I made a list of several cross stitch projects I'd like to make, surveyed my collection of floss and fabric that was already in my possession, and made a list for some cross stitch supplies to purchase.

I came home with some Aida and Evenweave cloth in natural colors (I only had white and cream in my stash), and some beautiful floss colors.  Finally having everything I needed, on Thursday I got started on this Partridge in a Pear Tree design:

I like the original design (in the little oval picture frame), but see what looks like gray in the wings in the original design?  What appears to be gray in the original is actually two shades of blue - lighter shades than what is used on the head and underbelly.  I liked the gray.  And I didn't want my partridge to have country-blue wings.  So I'm substituting a couple of colors I had in my stash, and so far I think it's working.   I'm committed at this point, so I'm pretty determined to like it.  Hopefully I'll finish it soon.

~~~~~

And finally... feeling a little regretful that I hadn't even picked up my crochet hook since last weekend, I quickly made a little Sun's Out Coaster:

I've been keeping a crocheted coaster on the computer desk, so this will be a fun one to switch to once it heats up.  Wait a minute...  that would be now!   This is the third day in a row it's been in the 80's here.  And it's humid.  Hopefully, we'll get rain today as the weather pattern pushes through and there'll be some cooler air behind that.  I am not ready for 80 degrees in mid-May.  Come Memorial Day we can expect that kind of heat, but I want me some breezy crisp mornings for another week at least!

To see what other YOPers are up to, 

visit our group on Ravelry.

It's elemental, my dear...

I finished my Elements Pillow!   I used the first two video tutorials of the Elements CAL to make the front:

I'm thinking of incorporating the pattern that makes up the center square into my BAMCAL blanket.

The yarns used are:  Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in the colors sea blue, antique teal, and graphite.  This graphite color is my new favorite dark neutral.  It's between a brown and gray and it seems to work with pretty much anything I put up next to it. And the light beige color is Deborah Norville's Everyday yarn in the color, chinchilla.

For the back of my pillow, I used the stitch pattern found in the Twisted Textured Pillow:

The button hole band and button band were made of simple single crochets.

I love this stitch pattern.  A solid, or even striped pillow made using this stitch pattern would be awesome, I'd think.  Made the way this designer did (with all double crochets), the fabric created is very dense - which is great for a pillow, but the fabric curls.  Significantly.  Stretched over a puffy pillow, though, it works beautifully.  

~~~~~

And, I think it was actually a week or so earlier that I finished this simple cowl:

Call me goofy, but I liked the look of the partially closed door 

I accidentally got in this picture, so I left it in.   

Just to give you an "insider's" glimpse...   the door in the picture opens into a little half-bath (powder room) that sits right by the south-facing back door which has 9 small window panes in it.   That's where the light is coming from that's shining on the door above.  This is my back hallway.  It's so small, it hardly seems like a hallway, but technically that's what it is.  My pantry is on the other side of the scarf.  This is a great spot in the the winter to snap a picture of anything on a hanger because so much light comes into this space.

Above is a picture of that hallway taken a little over a year ago from the vantage point of my front door.  The pantry and powder room are on the left as you're looking at the picture.  Can't you just picture the contortions I get into in that narrow space trying to get pictures of hanging scarves?

~~~

Normally,  I try to keep the doors out of the frame, or I crop them out later, but the shot just  above shows how my pictures taken in this spot normally turn out.  Without my explanation above, you'd never guess I was in a skinny little hallway with a scarf hanging between the doors of a powder room and a pantry.  😉

~~~

Back to the scarf...  It seems like I started with a pattern, but then went my own merry way with it.  Basically, it's just all half-double crochets done in the back loop - which creates some texture.  And it's crocheted in the round (as in a spiral) so there's no seam.  I finished it off by winding down to a few single crochets and then a few slip stitches to end it all.  Such a simple crocheted scarf, but done in a multi-striped yarn looks much richer than the stitch pattern would indicate.  The yarn used in this scarf is Lion Brand Unique in the colorway, Harvest.

Super soft, and colorful, I expect it will be super warm for someone next winter.

And that's a wrap for another YOP week.  To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

2018 Yarn Stash-Down:  4.39/100 Skeins

A light week crochet-wise...

Trying to give my wrist a rest, I did a pretty good job of laying off crocheting most of the week, but by Friday I was chomping at the bit to play with yarn.

I think I needed to finish only one of the squares below for my Last Dance blanket:

And now I have just 4 more designs to go!  Or 16 more squares. I'm seeing the end of this project!

~~~~~

And then I worked a few more rounds on my pillow top (again, using the Elements pattern):

It's interesting to see this change with each round.  

And that's basically it.  Because I had to buy a few more skeins of yarn to finish up the pillow above, my stash reduction progress took a hit. But overall, there's still a loss.  Of .11 skeins.  😏   It's going to be mighty slow going at this rate.  But still it's progress.  Most of the yarn I bought will get worked into the pillow, so I'll probably show some sudden progress in a few weeks.

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

2018 Yarn Stash-Down:  .11/100 Skeins

Some de-stashing projects...

With the bitter cold, and no real outside commitments this week I stayed home and had plenty of time to crochet.  It felt like quite an indulgence.  That said, I'm very happy to see temps rising again into the double digits - maybe up to the high 40's by next weekend!

The first thing I accomplished (crochet-wise) was finishing the Openwork Scarf.

Sometime back I had purchased (online) a bunch of skeins of Premier Everyday yarn in the color Violet Heather, but when I received it I was disappointed to not be able to detect any heathering in it.  To make a good thing out of a disappointment, I rolled several skeins with Woolike fingering yarn in the color mauve and it created this sort of marled effect when crocheted up:

I like it in this scarf!  I have one more skein wound up with the same mauve yarn that I need to find a use for, but I'd like to try mixing it with some other colors, too.   Kind of a fun thing to do, and a way to use more stash - which I'm on a mission to do.

~~~~~

And then I made a color block scarf - made of half double crochet stitches into the back loop of every stitch.  This stitch pattern gives a ridged, "washboard" effect.   Washed and dried, this scarf (made mainly with Vanna's Choice yarn) came out soft and squishy:

Wrapped twice, it makes a snug cowl around the neck.  💜

~~~~~~

And lastly, I continued working on a pillow for the Cushion/Pillow CAL in the Our Happy CAL Place on Ravelry.  I'm using the first two weeks of the Elements pattern to, hopefully, make a pillow that will be the right size for a couch.  This design is surprisingly easy to do:

I also did some crocheting on more squares for my Last Dance blanket, but I'm holding off taking pictures until they are finished.  Honestly, I'm not sure how much crocheting I'll manage this week as I have an owie in my right wrist.  I think I've developed a ganglion cyst, and it's painful, so I'm going to try wearing a brace to minimize my wrist movement and maybe it will go away on its own.  Wouldn't that be dandy?  Anyway, I don't think I can crochet while wearing a wrist brace, so I may just have my squares to show next week.

I hope you have a good week.  To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

2018 Yarn Stash-Down:  2.53/100 Skeins

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.

~~~~

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.

Making space for creativity...

It's been a good week in a lot of respects.   I'm (sort of) reading The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin.   I say sort of reading it because, well...I keep carrying it around with me and laying it down and sometimes days go by before I think about it again (out of sight, out of mind).   But I went looking for it and found it just so I could show it to you.

I recently finished reading though Secret #2, which is Honoring Your Inspirations.  A good deal of material in that section deals with making and maintaining space in which to be creative.   Whether that space is a large studio, a spare bedroom, or a corner of a desk, we need to make room for creativity. And we need to create habits for keeping those spaces orderly and ready to work in.  In doing that, we honor our inspirations and creativity.  Sounds good, doesn't it?

Now, I'm going to back up a moment (literally) and show you where I actually found this book a few minutes ago...

Go ahead and laugh.  I certainly did.  The irony of wanting to tell you about progress I'm making on making space for creativity and finding this book in the middle of a pile of "stuff" compelled me to take a picture and write this post.  By the way, the only thing I changed before snapping the picture was to remove a notepad that was laying on top of the book.  A notepad I was using to make a list of items I'm gathering to donate to the local thrift shop.

Believe it or not, this space was cleaned and purged just a few days ago, and the items sitting here that are obviously not in their right places are actually testaments to my creative pursuits:

What looks like folded fabric to the left of the book is a stack of adult and child-sized Bible-times costumes I made before we moved into our present house - nearly 18 years ago (the last time any of it was actually used was for a Bible-times VBS program - approximately 19 years ago).  

The folded piece of beige material is a little tunic I made for my then 6 year-old middle son more than 21 years ago!  He turns 27 next month.  With my youngest turning 21 in the fall, I finally decided it's probably safe to get rid of it - to get rid of all the costumes - I mean, seriously...  I don't envision the need (or desire) to ever again wear a shapeless tunic that I crafted out of a bed sheet two decades ago.   And I don't think my husband is going to miss his either...   They need to move closer to their final resting places (I'm thinking a closet at church where such costumes may, on occasion, come in handy for one reason or another).  Yeah, I think that's what I had in mind when they somehow landed here on my newly cleaned off desk space, and haven't been moved since.  

The rest of the items?   

Well, the box under the book holds (among other things) buttons.  I had it out because I was in search of buttons a couple of days ago to finish my pillow project.  The pen next to the iron must have fallen off the notepad when I remove it from on top of the book that started this post. 

The iron?  It needed to be put somewhere quickly yesterday as I was heading out the door right after I used it.  You see, I wanted to get the blanket I had just finished pinned out and steamed so it could have the whole day to dry.  And the little book the iron is sitting on is a library discard which holds a bunch of miniature pictures of famous pieces of art that I had gotten out to see what I might do with the pictures (make refrigerator magnets?  gift tags? cards?)  I don't know.  I never did figure it out so it's still there, serving as an iron trivet.

I could go on, but you get the picture.  By the way...lest you're tempted to feel bad because your "creative space" looks worse than this, don't.  This is just what I'm willing to show you.  Consider it merely exhibit A for how to NOT "honor one's inspirations."  I will forgo showing exhibits B, C, D, and...   That's right.  This little desk area is not the only corner surface room where I stash and dash until the items accumulate to the point where trying to call it my creative space is farcical.  We all know it's nearly impossible to have inspiration in a mess like this.

While the above picture (and this post) might not give the impression that this book (12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women) is helping me any, what you can't see is the trash bag of stuff that got thrown away.  Or the box that is being filled up to take to the thrift store.  And frankly, once the items in the above picture are put back in their places I do have a nice little work area there for some creative pursuits.  I obviously need to work on the habit of putting away, but weeding out what was becoming just too much stuff was begun with inspiration gleaned in the first two chapters of the above book.  So Yes! I recommend the book.  It's not going to work magic, but if you enjoy reading about how other women create, get control of their spaces, draw inspiration, etc... you may find this an interesting read.

And actually, I do think clearing out some stuff brought clarity and some motivation to finish the two projects pictured below.

First up is my button-front pillow - created using the Corner to Corner crochet stitch pattern.  I'm liking the blues and greens.

The yarn is Red Heart Boutique Treasures in the color, Mosaic.  It's a roving, self-striping yarn made with 70% acrylic, 30% wool.  I have mixed feelings about the yarn - it's not the easiest to work with - wanting to pull right apart sometimes, and wanting to cling to itself other times.  The combination of fibers feels wonderfully soft as a pillow, but I'm pretty sure it would be scratchy as a scarf or anything else worn close to the skin.  It's a pretty yarn, but there are probably few things I'd actually make with it in the end.  I like my pillow, but I let's just say, I won't be stocking up on this yarn.

And now....drumroll, please...  

I finished the Arrowhead Blanket  (pattern here) I started last year!  Started on April 18th, to be exact - and today is March 13th.  I can't tell you how happy I am that I finished it before a whole year passed.  There is no good reason why this took so long.  It's not a hard stitch pattern - at all.  I'm thinking I just grew tired of the beiges and kept looking for infusions of color in other projects.  Seeing the picture below makes me wish I had a den. It strikes me as blanket meant for a den.

After a blocking and then machine washing and drying, it came out super soft.  And I love it.  While the pictures show this in totally neutral tones, it actually has a bit of a yellow tint to it (at least it does in my house's lighting).  It's beyond me why my couch's yellow undertone comes through in a picture, but similar tones completely disappear from the blanket in the very same shot.

I find the arrow shapes fascinating, both for their visual appeal, and because of the texture they provide.  And while the front of this blanket is its whole point (pun totally intended), the back's not bad either.  I don't think I've ever before made a blanket that has two different sides and I find it fun to have two different looks in one afghan:

As an update in 2018, I thought it would be fun to mention that this blanket was given to my father-in-law, and later (when my father in law died in March of 2018) it was given to an aunt and uncle who live in Colorado.  You just never when you let something go, where it will end up.  😊

And with those two WIPs finished up, I am freely moving back into and onto finishing my next project.  While the last two blankets I've made may become gifts, next on the hook is a blanket just for me.  A pretty sea-blue, soft-as-a-cloud, spring-weight blanket to drape over the living room couch.  It's a dream to crochet.  Maybe next week I'll provide a progress picture...

To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our weekly thread on Ravelry.  It's a friendly and creative bunch!