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!

Celebrating Christmas...

Popping in on Christmas evening to report a very happy holiday weekend celebrating Christmas. Two wonderful services at church this weekend, and then family celebrations -  Christmas Eve with just our boys, and Christmas Day with some of our extended family.

I was able to finish all of the linen-stitch scarves I planned to make as Christmas gifts, and all I can say is I'm really glad I got some still shots of just the scarves (before I wrapped them):

Because... this is what I got when I tried to take a picture of the scarves being modeled:

"Seriously, guys...  Can I not get a good picture of you modeling your new scarves?"

Apparently, not.

Though they did humor me (I guess) for just a minute when I asked for a serious pose:

Sigh.


I'm happy to report that the scarves were a hit.  While these three can be real goobs at times, they are also pretty terrific sons.  :)

Wishes for happiness to you and yours during this Christmas season.  

Merry Christmas!  

And peace to all. 

First snow...

I've been down sick most of this week with a bad cold - which meant plenty of crocheting time (in between drug-induced naps).

I think it was Wednesday when we saw our first snow of the winter season.  (Or it could have been Tuesday, really...  I can't remember...  the past week is all melded together in the fog of my murky memory).    But whatever day it was, even with a foggy, sick head I was able to appreciate how pretty was this first snow, and I decided to poke my nose outside and snap some pictures:

Poking my nose out the back door:

And then out the front:

to the left

 

and to the right

And then pulling my nose back into the warm house and closing the door, as I turned around it occurred to me to snap a picture of what it looks like when someone is coming into my house:

At the time it seemed like a funny thing to do, but seeing the picture, now I think it's kind of neat. And I'm curious if any of you might like to do the same.  Wouldn't it be fun to step inside each other's front (or back) doors and just take a peek inside?  :)

Speaking of peeks, here are two little snapshots of  the Linen-Stitch Scarves I nearly finished this week (they're finished except for weaving in some yarn ends):

A gray and black striped scarf 

and a blue, gray and black striped scarf

One more to go!  Hopefully, next week (say, that's Christmas Day!) I'll have some modeled shots of these scarves.  That is if I have them all finished.  Note to self:  Take pictures before wrapping them - just in case I forget to round up the models, or in case the recipients decide to be bashful.

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

Trendy Fringe...

Getting started a bit late, I'm happy to say I finished the first of the three scarves I decided to make for Christmas gifts.

Unfortunately, though... I have a problem.  See...  when I asked my husband if he thought it would make a good gift for a guy he said, "Oooh, yeah!  That would look really good with my dark gray coat."

Uuuuuhhhh...   Hmmmm...  Well...   Shoot.  As nice as it was to hear that he liked the scarf enough that he'd like to wear it, I really wasn't making it for him (he already has a scarf I made, so don't feel badly for him).

But he did really seem to like this one, and he especially liked the red in it.  So how I could I say no?  I did some quick calculating in my head and decided that I could probably make 4 scarves before Christmas.  So I told him he could have it if he wanted it.

Then he told me "But you don't have to put all that "trim" on it for me".  I saw a window of opportunity (i.e. a chance to possibly talk him out of this scarf in particular) and I told him that was fringe and it's one of the wonderful things about using this yarn. It makes a great self-fringe and I don't have to weave all those ends in.   I told him the fringe stays. And then I told him that fringe is trendy right now (thinking the word "trendy" might just turn him ever so slightly away from wanting to wear this scarf).

 

And then he said, "Cool!  You mean I'll be trendy?"

I replied with a straight face and only the slightest hint of sarcasm, "Yes...  You'll be one trendy, hip guy wearing this scarf."

Then, as if he didn't believe me (and as if it was some consolation for me, or maybe a consolation for him having to wear a trendy, fringed scarf) he said, "Ah well... I'd be proud to wear a scarf you made."

Now, I'm pretty sure this last bit wasn't meant to sound patronizing, but somehow it did.  I told him I didn't want him wearing a scarf I've made for my benefit. I know reading these words, much of the nuance of this conversation is lost, but it was one of those awkward moments where you feel like someone is trying to make you feel good about something you've done and all you can think of is that now your work is added to.

And yet, what person doesn't feel the pleasure when someone wants to wear the thing they've just made.

Sigh.

So, I don't know...   Of course I'd love for him to have the scarf if he'd really enjoy wearing it.  But I don't need any favors here.  Then there's the bigger problem.  The person I was making this for loves red.  And yes, I told the mister that (though, I think he was maybe only half listening).  At least I think the other fella still loves red.  But I don't think he'll be all that excited to get a scarf with red in it and see another scarf I've made using red.  He and the mister are sometimes together and well, if they're both wearing matchy-matchy scarves that could be embarrassing.

Maybe I should go ask this other person what his favorite color is. Nonchalant-like.  Like...  "I'm just suddenly interested in your favorite color, not that I'm considering making anything for you in that color.  So don't go getting any ideas.  That's right - I just suddenly want to know what your favorite color is."

Maybe I'll find out his current favorite color is blue.  Or green.  Or just gray!  Gee...  wouldn't that make things easy!  Okay...  I've got an update before this was published:  I did ask, and while he mentioned red first, he also said he liked olive green and blue.  :)   Hmmm...   I see possibilities here...

So off I go now to feverishly knit (correction - crochet) three more scarves (the second one is about half finished so I do feel good about that).  I think fellow Yopper, Sanda, (AKA Sam) and I are having our own personal CAL for the next couple of weeks with these linen-stitch scarves.   Anyone else can feel free to join us if they like.  :)

I may or may not show my finished scarves between now and Christmas, but we'll see.  My scarf saga may have a new twist by next week.

Until then, I'll probably just be knitting dishcloths when I need a break from crocheting scarves.

I'm loving this variegated yarn (Lily's Sugar n' Cream in the color Mistletoe, and this stitch pattern.  Though, to get the look above, I put a 4-knit-stitch border on each side and a half-inch or so border on the top and bottom.

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I hope you're enjoying this blessed Christmas season.  To see what other YOPPERS are up to, visit our group on Ravelry!

A week of starts...

It's been a week of starts.   Early in the week I decided to try making a Lagniappe Shawl and this is just a peeky peek at the beginnings of that:

And then I was inspired, for some reason, to knit a Slip Stitch Striped dishcloth:

Still working on my tension...   :^/   I decided to make another one in red and be all set for Christmas. And hopefully improve my tension issues.

And then late in the week I remembered that I was to host a CAL today in the Our Happy CAL Place on Ravelry.  Fortunately, this week's theme is Quick & Easy.  I thought about several different projects, but when this Christmas Holly Embellishment crossed my computer screen, I decided it fit the bill:

I'm  little embarrassed showing such  a large close-up of this project as the leaves are all wrong. See... when I pieced this together, I didn't realize I had the leaves upside down 'till I finished and compared mine to the original.  In the original, the "vein" running down the center of the leaves is prominent, but it's totally lost in my leaves above.  Ah well...  it was super quick and super easy.  And if you don't look too close, it's kind cute and perfectly acceptable for tying onto a gift package on Christmas day.

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And then yesterday I got the great idea to crochet some more  Linen Stitch Scarves for Christmas gifts. I'm hoping to make three (in different colors), with the first one I started being black and gray with an accent of red:

So that's this past week in crochet!  To see what other Yoppers are up to visit our group on Ravelry.