Sew I See!

  Ha! (Found here ... from The Onion .)

I think I have nearly half as many squares as I need to finish the Circle of Friends Baby Afghan! I had fifteen squares when I took these photos, yesterday afternoon. I now have seventeen... and I think I'm going to stop when I've made thirty-five squares.  (That'll be 5 squares by 7 squares... which, considering that the motifs are about 7 inches square, I think is about right.  I don't want to make it too big and unwieldy for a young child.) I'm eager to finish those remaining eighteen motifs so I can see it all put together! Here are a few beauty shots: ...And here's a boring one to show the color combinations of the first seventeen squares: (Some of the squares look quite a bit smaller than the rest, in this photo, but I think that's exaggerated by the slight angle of the view... They're closer in size in real life... and I think that they'll work out fine when I start crocheting them together.) As much as I'm enjoying this...

Had you told me when I was a teenager that I would someday crochet a tissue box cover, I probably wouldn't have believed you... or I'd have been mortified at my (imagined) future state of mind.  (g)  Yet there it is.  I have made one of those "little old lady" tissue box cozies. I saw the pattern on a blog or two-- then my husband caught a cold, and our unadorned tissues came under my eye.  Well, it was inevitable, really, that I should take a break from my current pet project (the Circle of Friends afghan) to make a tissue cover.  It's a simple and very quick project.  An experienced, speedy crocheter could whip it up in an afternoon.  The rest of us might stretch it out over a day or two of easy, pleasant crocheting.  Mine's not the prettiest I've seen.  I really prefer the ones in rainbow colors... but since this one will probably be living in our bedroom, I decided to go with the colors that tend to harmonize best with our bedclothes...

Time for a couple of progress photos! First, a detail photo of the first Circle of Friends motif I made... And here's a (rather blurry) photo of all the squares I had made as of yesterday afternoon.  (I finished one more last night, though, so I'm up to six!) (The one in the upper left-hand corner is the second one I made.  It's my least favorite, so far-- too "circus-y" for my tastes-- but I think it'll be fine when they're all mixed and matched together.) I'm going to make all the squares before I begin connecting them, so there's plenty of time to arrange them just so.  ...And also plenty of time to agonize over the final placement.  ;o) ...I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out.  I think it's going to be very bright and cheery, indeed! One thing I noticed is that my squares measure about 7 inches instead of the 8 inches mentioned in the pattern.  I'm not sure why.  I'm using worsted weight ya...

 I've made some decisions regarding the baby blanket. I ended up choosing Priscilla Hewitt's Circle of Friends Square.  It's not overtly floral (in my opinion, at least), but it has texture and plenty of room to play around with color combinations.  Also, it's not too holey (something I wanted to avoid in this blanket).  Yesterday evening, I picked out a boxful of colorful yarns from my stash.  I don't know yet if I'll use every one of those colors, but it's possible.  I did end up going for a rainbow approach-- but I won't be using them in rainbow order, necessarily-- just scrambled up together every which way.  I didn't have a chance to try out the motif until this morning (early, because one of the dogs woke us up around five, and I didn't figure I'd be able to get back to sleep).  I have to say, I'm impressed!  This pattern is pretty easy, but it looks more complicated than it is, with those rings of raised, puffy stitches.  I ...

One of my sisters, C., is expecting a baby (the first great-grandchild in our family) in May.  This is, of course, the perfect excuse for me to crochet a baby blanket, and the idea's been floating around in the back of my mind since I first heard the news. She and my brother-in-law have decided to let the baby's gender be a surprise, so I'm going to try for something gender-neutral.  I'd like this blanket to be something that could be used through the toddler stage and on up, as long as it holds together, and I suspect that a little boy might not want a blankie with flowers all over it.  So overtly floral motifs are out-- as are too-pink, girly-girl color combos.  For that matter, army colors are a no-go, as well, in case it's a girl-- not that I'd really have wanted to make a camo-themed baby afghan, anyway. (g)  There's the standard yellow or green that everyone uses when it's unknown whether the baby will be a boy or girl.  Or several pastel hues,...

I know I said I was going to take some photos of the completed flower garden hexagon... and technically, there is a photo of it toward the end of this post... but it's probably not the type you're expecting. See, what happened is this:  I "finished" the afghan, right?  I mean, sure, there were hundreds of ends still to be woven in and trimmed, but as far as crocheting went-- done!  I had every intention of pulling out the afghan when cool weather came and happily weaving in ends while sitting in front of the TV on cozy evenings at home. That was my intention. What actually happened?  Well, the blanket got covered up by a couple of things that needed still need mending, and out of sight = out of mind.  Then December popped up out of nowhere, and I spent evenings either working on Christmas gifts or debating whether or not I had time to make this or that Christmas gift.  Fast-forward to 2011.  I pulled out the afghan and saw that (much to my d...