Sew I See!

Here are another two completed blocks for the on-going sampler afghan ! First, up, "It's Spring in June Somewhere..." : (I'm giving all my blocks names with some reference to spring, since springtime pastels were my inspiration for this sampler.  Technically, June is  considered part of spring, in many parts of the world, but around here, it's usually feeling more like summer by June-- hence that silly name.) Pattern:   June , by Polly Plum (paid pattern, available on Ravelry) I really like the starry look of the overlapping front-post stitches.  Puff stitches still aren't my favorite to make, but I think these turned out well enough.  I like the look  of puff stitches-- particularly when other people are the ones who have to make them. ;o) I made a couple of small changes from the pattern as written, detailed on my Ravelry project page. Next, "Springtime Sun-Catcher" : Pattern:   Sun Catcher , by Julie Yeager (availabl

After completing the ogee-motif afghan (no new photos to share, yet), I pulled the spring-hued afghan back out of temporary storage. It is  fun to work on, though I don't love trying to get all the blocks to the same size.  When I lay them out, it's clear that I've failed in that goal, once or twice.  I hope they'll work together well enough, once joined, but there have been times when I've left off rounds that it now  looks like I could actually have used, after all.  (Oops.) That little difficulty aside, I enjoy making samplers.  There's no risk of getting bored, and you can work with more complicated, involved blocks without worrying about how you'll manage crocheting a whole blanket's worth of them.  All you have to do is make it through this one time, then you're off to the next pattern.  Of course, that also means that you can't ever completely relax-- not in the way that you can when you're making dozens of the same small motif a

What's that in the little glass jar on my sewing table? So colorful... Could it be hard candy? Well, it could  be candy, but it's not. It's a hundred little plastic and metal clips!  In a variety of colors (red, blue, yellow, pink, purple, and green)! Let's pour a few out for a closer look...  (For reference, the larger grid underneath them marks inches.) Ok, very nice-- but what are they for ? They're Embroidex "Sewing Quilting Craft Clips" .  (That's an affiliate link to Amazon.)  If you're a quilter (or someone else who sews), you've likely seen them before, but if not, the brief explanation is that you can use them in place of standard straight pins to hold layers of fabric together for sewing. Here's the bag they came in.  It's resealable and fairly sturdy, but I wanted them in something more permanent, thus the glass jar. These clips are advertised for use in other crafts, too, but so far, I'

The Ogee Afghan is finished-- unless I decide to go back and add a wider border.  That seems unlikely, because I'm not sure what kind of border I'd even add... and I'm kind of tired of working on this afghan, as it is... and the thin border seems to want to flip to the front, so I worry that a wider border would only do so more noticeably... Without further ado, here it is: I'm afraid I can't link the motif pattern, because it turns out the document I originally found via a link on a Ravelry forum was not really meant for the public (or something like that-- still not really clear on the whole story).  In any case, it's no longer available, but there's information about a very similar pattern here: Mystical Lanterns Blanket . Information about the hooks and yarn I used are on the project page on Ravelry, but the pared-down version is that I used worsted-weight acrylic (in a variety of brands), a 4.0mm hook for the motifs, and a 5.0mm hook fo