Some happy finishes...

I missed my fellow Yoppers last week.  I had a vertigo attack on Saturday and even after the spinning stopped, it took it out of me for a few days.  Fortunately, by Tuesday I was feeling mostly myself again and I was able to make up for lost time.

Note:  All of my links below open up separate windows so you won't lose this page (I know sometimes I wonder about that when I'm reading someone's blog and I'm hesitant to click - so I thought a mention about it might be worthwhile.)

Had I been feeling well last Sunday, I would have shown my three As Time Goes By squares:

They turned out a little larger than the Don't Fence Me In squares, so I'm thinking I may not block these.  I probably need to make a few more squares in this blanket before I settle on what will be the final size of the squares - and deal with them all in a way that will make them stitch together nicely.

I love these patterns and the videos by Polly Plum.   The videos make the squares a breeze to make.

Also, I had made another set of stitch markers (or progress keepers as knitters use them):

I am really enjoying making these and have some more ideas brewing.  

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And then later this week I finished my Leaping Stripes and Blocks blanket:

I like how it turned out, but I would have liked it more if I hadn't made it quite so wide, so I could have made it longer to fit an adult, or made two baby blankets.   As is, though, it will work well for a child (probably up to a pre-teen age).  Now I need to find a child for it.   ;^)

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And now I'll leave you with a couple of videos (that I found online) of a young man who a dear friend and I had the pleasure of seeing in concert at a small music club in Indy this past week.   Ian Ethan Case's specialty is playing double neck guitars - and we were treated to a number of creations of his on those instruments.  But my favorite song he performed was done on a kalimba.  I think this was the song he performed for us:

As good as the video sounds, in person this song (all of his music) was absolutely mesmerizing.   If you stick with the video (it's only around 8 minutes long) I promise you - it will make you dance.  Right there in your chair.

And if you've never experienced a performance on a double-neck guitar, here you go (about 6 minutes in, though, he pulls out the kalimba again, and then goes back to the guitar.):

It was nearly midnight when the concert ended, but I could have stayed for hours more, I think.  ;)

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How hard can I make this?

Not much crocheting happened this week, but I did (and re-did) enough of a border on my Corner to Corner blanket to decide I didn't care for how the border was going, and decided I needed to put the whole thing aside until I find the inspiration to finish it in a way that I'm going to be happy with.

With that large project put in time-out just before the weekend I didn't think I had anything to show yarn-wise, but then I remembered that I never did show a square I crocheted - back in April, I think.  It's only square #5 for my BAM (Block-A-Month) Blanket:

I remember after I made this block I felt a bit unsettled about it going with the other blocks I had made. This block made me think that I should probably be more intentional (maybe careful?) about just how varied in color I make all the blocks that will go in this blanket.

After finishing the above square it hit me that it would probably be a good idea for every block to have at least one color in common, and it probably should be a bold (or obvious) color.

Looking at what I've completed so far, I'm thinking maybe the gold color would be a good color to put in each square to create cohesiveness.  Unfortunately, that would make this newest square
not fit in.  I don't know...  What do you think?:

I think I'm at a crossroads where I need to make a decision about what will make these squares cohesive, and stick with it.  I hesitate to make another square that doesn't have gold because, well... I may end up with another one I'm not sure of.  On the other hand, making some more without gold, and maybe with completely different combinations of colors, will be the only way I can tell if I can successfully use squares that don't have any one color in common.

I'm open to suggestions.  The only thing I'm pretty decided about is that I plan to use the dark blue yarn to border and/or join all the squares, and then to border the blanket itself.   My original thought was as long as I use the blue or another equally dark color in a square, that dark color could be the anchor, bringing a cohesiveness to all the squares.  Looking at the squares above, though, the thing that stands out to me as being most cohesive is the gold color.

I think I know the answer - at least the answer I'm most comfortable with, but I'm always curious how others see things.  Feel free to comment below with your ideas, thoughts, suggestions.

Does a different layout produce a different sense about how they go together?

I had no idea when I started on this project how complicated I could make it.   I shouldn't be surprised.  I am the queen of overthinking things and making the simple complicated.

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

Another week, another square...

Wanting to make another square to go into my Blanket of Squares, I found this Crossed Square pattern in the Moogly CAL 2017 group and got right to making it:

The pattern is easy and very well-written.  After a round or two, the pattern really becomes unnecessary, though.   It did for me, anyway.

So... another square down.  Thirty-one to go!   =^/

Actually, I'm not sure how many squares I'll need for this blanket.  I'm working with a size G (4.25 mm) hook and so far my squares are pretty consistently coming out between 10 - 10 1/2 inches square.  If they're on the small side, I've been able to block them out to 10 1/2 inches.   I may end up putting an "equalizing" border around each square that will add some to that measurement, and depending on what join method I use, I guess there will be some width added there, too.   This is all new to me and I can only guess right now, but I'm thinking that what would be attractive is a blanket that is five squares running horizontal, and seven squares vertical.  That's 35 squares!   Yowza!   I best quit collecting square patterns and get cracking on making them.

In addition to the square above, here is what I've made so far that I plan to put in this blanket:

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

P.S.  I'm experimenting with font size again and would love to get feedback on how this larger font comes through on your computer or reading device.   I love larger fonts, I'm just not sure how well they work for everyone else.  Thanks in advance for any feedback!

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A pair of squares...

This week I got back to making some more squares for my BAMCAL blanket.   That's Block-A-Month Crochet A-Long (just as a reminder since it's been a month since I last posted any squares).

The main square in this Month's BAMCAL was the Kaleidoscope Blossom Square.  Looking at various other samples of this square, I found when the center was worked in a solid color, a snowflake pattern was evident.  So I decided I wanted to play that up.  The colors that I thought would work best for that (in my stash of heathered yarns) were Lion Brand Heartland in Mount Rainier (the light gray) and Willow Wash in Teal Heather (the dark gray is LB Heartland in Great Smokey Mountains):



I have some mixed feelings about this square.  First of all, it was a piece of cake to make.  I found the instructions very clear.  That I liked.  I didn't care, though, for the petals on this square. The way the pattern is written, the petals stick up (away from the rest of the square) and while it's cute, I knew that would bug me eventually, so I tacked the petals down as I was weaving in yarn ends.  I'm not completely satisfied with how that turned out either, though.  The end result is I have a square that I like enough to hang onto to see what I might make out of it, but didn't care for the design enough to try to make it a second time in colors that will go better with the "bright and colorful" vision I have for my BAMCAL Blanket.  I didn't think this one through too well.   But I did learn some things.  So it's all good.  :)

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The second block offered up in the BAMCAL group was the Marigold Mandala Square.   I decided to go with the Marigold idea and this my yarny interpretation:

I love how this one turned out, but the pattern was a challenge. The directions were a bit unorthodox, but fortunately, the designer provided lots of pictures so it was totally doable - if a bit tedious and long to make.

Some ponderings as I work through my second month of blocks...

This Block-A-Month idea, perhaps needs to be thought of more like a Several-Blocks-A-Month (SBAM?), if I'm going to work up enough squares to actually finish a large blanket in a year's time.  Poor color choices on my part, or designs that aren't to my liking, mean I'll probably end up doing a fair number of squares that are from sources other than the 2017 BAMCAL group.  And that's fine.  It seems everyone pretty much does that.  

Like everyone else, I imagine, I spend a fair amount of time each month perusing Ravelry for other square designs, and I'm coming up with quite a collection of miscellaneous square patterns to choose from.  Of course, that's all well and good, and the database of 1000's of patterns is one of the great features of Ravelry.  But I'm thinking the end result is that my final project will not feel so much like an "A-Long", but maybe something more like "Hey, look what I made too!"    

I guess when it comes right down to it, this picking and choosing different squares from various sources to use in my blanket suites me better than me feeling like I have to make the same thing everyone else is making.  But it does raise some questions in my mind.

For example...  if I pull a square from the Moogly CAL, or a weekly Block CAL, (or the Vanna's Choice group makes some beautiful squares!) is it proper to post a picture in the appropriate threads in those groups to share my square? That would be fun, but if I'm not actually joining in their longer "A-Long" is it appropriate to post my pictures there?   I'm curious what others of you do in this regard.  I'd especially love to hear from anyone who is a BAMCAL veteran, or a member of the other "Block CAL" groups on Ravelry.  Do you make yourself  known as a participant in other CAL groups even though you may pick and choose what blocks you make through the year?  Is there a general consensus about who posts pictures where, in the case of people choosing square designs from various places?  Is there a proper etiquette or protocol?  Does anyone really care?   Am I overthinking this?  You don't have to answer that - I overthink everything.   I overthink - therefore I am.    Do my questions even make any sense?    

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

I've got a plan! Again.

The response to my squares last week was interesting. I was intrigued that anyone liked (even, more intriguing to me was that a couple of people preferred) the square I disliked the most.

In the end, though, while I appreciated the kind comments and suggestions, and though I liked a couple of the color combinations I had worked up last week, I knew I wouldn't be satisfied working with those sweet colors for a year's worth of blocks. So I went back to Ravelry and looked at more examples of finished blankets made with various types of blocks. I concluded that what excites me most is not the carefully selected and perfectly tended color schemes (as beautiful as they are to behold), but rather, my heart always does a little flippity-flip over the really colorful blankets -- blankets that are crafted with bright, often riotous, sometimes dissonant colors.  They don't just make my heart happy, they fascinate me.  I need to study these blankets some more (to understand better how and why the really spectacular ones work), but I've decided this kind of colorful blanket is what I truly want to create in my first BAM CAL (that's Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long, in case I haven't mentioned it before).  Even if mine doesn't turn out spectacular, I want to try my hand at making one.

I think, in my heart of hearts, what I really want is to make a true "scrapghan", but I don't have enough scraps to actually do that so back to my stash I went.

In my previous searching through finished blankets, it occurred to me (or maybe I actually saw) that Lion Brand Heartland yarn would make a nice looking blanket - with its slightly heathered look in a good number of different colorways.  I had some skeins of Heartland in my stash and with a sale at Jo-Ann's (plus another discount coupon =^)  I pulled together some colors that I thought might work:

Hmmm...   Well, that's a start to some interesting color combinations, but honestly...  I don't think I care for the construction and design of this square much.  It's flimsy and floppier than I think I'd like to have in this blanket, but I'll keep it in case it comes in handy.

Then I made this:

Oooh...  Oooh yeah. 

First off, I love the design of this square (it's called Floral Dimension).  While I was going for something of a fall mum effect with these colors, I'm hopeful that some other (non-autumn) colors will work alongside this square (in a "scrappy" sort of way).  If I end up with a year's worth of autumny colored squares I can't imagine being unhappy, but I'm holding out hope here at the beginning that I can work in more colors - colors that aren't (at first glance) natural companions of the colors above.

So!  Rather than an actual color scheme, I guess I have a yarn theme for my blocks.  Using the Heartland yarns as my inspiration, I will plan to use various colors of heathered worsted weight acrylic yarn to make my BAM CAL squares this year.  And we'll just see how varied the different squares actually get - and we'll see if they actually go together.  I definitely feel like I can play with these (and more) colors for the next 12 months.

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And for some instant gratification, yesterday I decided to whip up these little Crocheted Stars:

Mine are made with Paton's Grace 100% cotton and a size F crochet hook, so they turned out really small (2 1/5 inches from point to point). The pattern was offered up in Our Happy CAL Place for last week's CAL Challenge and what a happy, easy challenge it was.   :)  

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

Starts and restarts...

Yep, starting, stopping, restarting...  that was my week last week.

I lost track of how many times I ripped back my Moroccan Tile Afghan before I finally figured out the pattern.   It's not that it's hard (once I got it down), but I found the edges tricky (until I got it solidly in my head how they are to be handled).  They are handled differently depending on whether you're working a "grout" row as opposed to a "tile" row, and then they are handled differently depending on where the tiles land (each row has the dots staggered from the row below).  Then add to that, I decided to do my color changes differently than the pattern directed, and that changed how the edges are done all over again.   The video tutorial was immensely helpful, but it did take watching it a couple of times before I nailed the edges.  And even now, I have to concentrate a bit as I approach them (though it gets better and better with each row).

I know I'm probably causing someone to be hesitant about giving this pattern a go, but let me encourage you...  it really isn't a difficult pattern.  And the video tutorial makes it a great pattern.

Here's a picture today after I transitioned to the second set of colors:

It's going to be so fun watching the colors change on this as it grows.

The next project that saw a number of do-overs were my first blocks in the 2017 BAM CAL on Ravelry.  I thought I had figured out my colors finally and it would be smooth sailing.

Well...   my idea of going "colorfully vintage" turned out to be a bust.  Using Stylecraft Special DK yarn, I decided to start with some dusty pink and rose colors, gold, silver, and parchment.  I found I was rather underwhelmed by the colors:

Actually...  underwhelmed is an understatement.  My overall feeling as I looked at my finished square was "Blech.  What  a dingy looky square."   I didn't even want to show it here, but hey - this YOP thing is as much about the processes of learning as it is about finished projects - for me, anyway.   So there you have my first block - in all its underwhelming lack of glory.  I felt a bit lost when I finished it, as I knew I couldn't spend the year working with these colors.  But I was so sure of them last week.

So I had a re-think about it all.  For some reason I was stuck on wanting to use the parchment color (that's the dingy "off-white" color in the picture above), so I came up with a completely different color scheme using it:

Now, if I was making a blanket for a guy, this color scheme isn't exactly bad, but it doesn't excite me enough to spend a year making similarly colored blocks.   Offering no inspiration, this square was a bust as well.  But something interesting that I learned is that dark and bright colors kind of lift the parchment color from dingy to well...  not so much.  That is valuable to know - especially since I bought a bunch of skeins of this yarn.

At this point I didn't know what to do. But I did realize it was time for another re-think about colors. I love the idea of vintage, but I don't want "dingy".  I also love the idea of something vibrant and colorful, but I'm not sure I'm ready to make something really raucous.  What to do?  What to do?

And then... a bit of serendipity happened.   A book I had put on hold weeks ago at the library came in. The book is Modern Crochet Mandalas by the Editors of Interweave.  It's a brand new book and I am the first one to check it out.  I was so excited!

I knew inside the book were going to be some wonderful mandala patterns and was almost giddy as I started to flip through it.  My brain needed a break from my crocheted blocks.   And then something unexpected happened as I was browsing the pictures.   It occurred to me that the beautiful color combinations that looked fascinating in the mandala patterns would surely look just as wonderful in a "granny" square type block.  What a rich collection of pictures and patterns to peruse.  Whether I make any of the mandalas or not, the pictures were very helpful to me in seeing color combinations I hadn't thought of before.   The hardest part was narrowing down and figuring out what colors I could pull from my stash to replicate some of the combinations.

I decided to give these colors a try:

Whoa...   much, much better.  These colors satisfy my desire for colors (and the opportunity to possibly make red tones predominant - which I kinda like the idea of), but the pale blue left me a little unsure.  It looks better in the picture, but in real life this color, Duck Egg, is kind of "dusty".  If I had no other light blue to use, this one was workable, but after looking through my stash again, I decided to change the Duck Egg to Sherbet and the bright Green (which is another brand of yarn) to the softer Stylecraft Lime, and change the dusty Pale Rose to a bright and clear Fondant. and this is what I got:

Interesting... (and yes, it's a totally different pattern.)  The end result is softer in some ways, crisper in others.  But overall, while I don't dislike it, my sense is that it is just "too sweet".   I don't mind the idea of making one large girly, even overly sweet blanket, but I don't think I want to make a year's worth of squares in these tones.  So I'm rethinking my colors all over again.

So... I love the idea of vintage, but I don't want "dingy".  I want colorful, but raucous kind of scares me.  I tend to be pretty predictable and yet I want something completely unpredictable in this blanket.  This is tough. And I had no idea I could be so fickle!

I'm not sure what I'm going to end up with as my color palette for my year's worth of blanket squares, but I'm not giving up easily.  I have some more ideas brewing, but for now I think I need to give it a rest.

I hope it's not a year spent just trying out different combinations of colors, but you know...  there could be worse things.   While I have a rudimentary understanding of color theory, I could certainly use some real practice putting color combinations together.  The end result could end up being a raucous looking blanket after all.  And something about that kinda makes me smile - even if a little nervously.

Hmmm...  that smile may be a clue how to proceed...  Tune in here, I guess, to see what I come up with next!  :)

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