do over

Much to my dismay, I have to take out the baby blanket. I really was hoping it would all work out OK, but it didn't. I'll probably use the same pattern, but make it shorter. It's far too long and not wide enough. If I had more yarn, it probably wouldn't be a big deal, but it IS rather chunky and would be more cumbersome if made wider. Hmmmm...oh well, it could be worse. I could be taking out an entire full-sized blanket. (who else has 'been there, done that'???)

but, before I go ahead with that chore, I think I'll start on crocheting another rag rug. It's amazing how close it looks to a braided rug! I experimented once and was quite pleased with the outcome. It adds a touch of 'home' to this apartment...

baby blanket

I think I may have messed up the baby blanket. It looked like I was starting to come in a little at one end and had to recount. Sure enough, I was two stitches short. I was, like, AARGH! I don't ever do that. I mean, it's not like I've never done it, it's just not the 'norm.' I also think I might have to take it out, because it looks longer than I intended -- double AARGH! Oh, it'll come out great in the end, but in the meantime, I've begun pulling my hair out...especially now that the baby I'm making it for arrived three weeks early! Chug-chug.

...now, if I can get the dog to stop trying to eat the yarn...life will be great!

I was just thinking that it would be great if there was a yarn warehouse around Maine. I mean, for folks like me who really cannot afford the ever growing yarn prices in the regular stores. It would be great! Sometimes, if I catch it, A.C.Moore has a wonderful yarn sale. I grab it when I can, but the reality of it is....yarn is getting more expensive and we're getting less in each skein. It used to be that you could get the variegated at 6 oz. Now, it's 5 oz! The regular Red Heart is now only giving you 7 oz. instead of 8 oz! Not good. grrrrr

project in progress 2

This is another I'm plugging diligently along with. It's a lovely combination of country blue and blue/rose/tan variegated. I wish you could see it in person because the photo does not do it justice. It's about half done and a nice simple pattern to work.

in progress 1

This is a the little mint/sage green baby blanket I'm working on. You can't really see the puffs, but I thought it broke up the other stitches nicely. I also added a bit of flare by crocheting in the front loops only on the single crochet (sc) rows.

The same thing happened with this pattern as a lot of others recently. I start with a pattern I find in a book or online and I make major changes, especially if I don't like the way the original pattern comes out. I suppose that makes it "all my own" at that point, huh?! ;)

unexpected trips

I'd just finished teaching when I got a call from my father telling me that my sister had mixed her dates up for departing to Ohio. For the last week or two, she's been telling us it was Wednesday (today) that she'd be leaving....instead....it was yesterday! She'd missed her bus and I had to drive her down to Boston. I'm just thankful that it only rained hard once during the trip down. We had NO traffic until we hit Boston, which is almost unheard of. But...she made it with time to spare and I've got the headache that reminds me to at least grab something with caffeine in it before I embark on road trips lasting more than and hour and a half.

This is a big granny square that I did out of leftover yarn scraps. The picture doesn't do it justice, really..but, I thought it was a nice color combination.

I'm now working on a sage and mint green baby afgahn for a friend who's due the end of June. I meant to get started on that a while ago...thankfully, baby blankets take a LOT less time to get done.

Just finished the increase/decrease afgahn and I hope that the photo isn't too big. It was the first time I'd used this particular color scheme with this pattern. I rather like it, though.

Projects

I decided to set up this blog because I noticed that there are many others out there who crochet! I've been doing it for years and to think that there's a whole network out there for just that is a little overwhelming yet exciting.

I've been working on blankets for the Peabody House here in Portland, ME that aren't "due" until December. This will be my third year donating these to their AIDS clients. It's not much, but I feel like I'm really contributing in a tangible way. One day, I'd love to meet them all! Knowing me, I'd get really attached!

Once I learn how to post a photo properly, I'll include some pix of the blankets.

I found this really easy pattern that ironically took me ages to get the hang of and laugh about now because it IS so easy. One of those "DUH!" moments. You work in a triangle increasing with each row and once you get to the size you think you'd like it to be, you start decreasing...closing in to complete a square. It really is a lovely looking pattern. Mostly all triple crochet.

working out the kinks

I tried to get a photo up in my profile and it looks like it ended up being a post. (sigh) Oh well...it's there if anyone's interested. Although, a few years old..friends say I haven't changed much. It was for a photo shoot for a CD I was trying to get out at the time.

I'll get the swing of things eventually, in the meantime, I'm going to get going on posting more...er...educational things. ;)

There's so many things that I'd love to do with this blog that I haven't done using LJ. It seems that LJ is a bit restricted and is harder to get more info and start discussions. I'm hoping I can do that here, besides just get out some things from ....this rusty mind!

I love to crochet (and knit when I feel so inclined, though to me, it seems more...um...'unchallenging'), sing, write poetry, read....oh, there's so many! I'll enjoy taking time to get thoughts out about them and see what others (hopefully, it's interesting enough for others to read) think!

time is short right now, but the day is not over.... :)