Sew I See!

I've finished the first three blocks for the Stardust Melodies CAL (which I mentioned in a recent blog post ). These are smaller than the typical 12" blocks (mine in heavy worsted/aran are coming out as about 9" squares), and they are one color each, so they work up fairly quickly.  Since Polly's releasing a new pattern twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays, I believe), this CAL won't last all that long.  (It ends August 17th.) I'll try my best to keep up, but I haven't yet decided how big I want my afghan to be, and I'll likely want to make multiples of at least some of the blocks to "size up" the finished blanket, so even if I do keep up, I may not be finishing my afghan immediately after the CAL wrap-up.  There's no hurry, of course, but I do want to finish this project in a reasonable time frame.  No more hibernating projects, please! So, the first few blocks! A lot of participants are changing up the patterns slightly to avoid v

First, a couple of sets of finished objects! I recently came across this (free) pot-holder pattern ( "Double-Thick Diagonally-Crocheted Potholder" ), which is perfect for mindless crocheting. I wanted to use up what cotton yarn I had in-stash (which turned out to be Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton!), so I had limited color choices.  It's kind of an autumn palette, but I'm not enough of a seasonal decorator to bother about that.  They'll be used year-round. I ended up with seven of them before my yarn ran out.  Two have gone to another home, but that leaves more than enough for us. ;o) It's an easy pattern-- particularly after you get past the crocheting into the chain part.  The only possibly tricky bit is deciding when to seam it closed.  I found that I tended to want to close them up earlier than I should, so once or twice I had to rip out a seam and add another round or two.  If you close them too soon, they might be slightly rectangu

One of my favorite crochet designers, Polly Plum, has a new crochet along (CAL) starting in a few days.  The Stardust Melodies CAL  will include 24 textured crochet blocks, which will be revealed as the CAL proceeds.  (So it's a bit of a mystery, though there have been some sneak-peek photos of some of the blocks.) Twelve of the blocks (the simpler ones, from what I understand) will be free.  For the other half, there's a coupon code that will take 50% off the ebook price.  (See the link above for more information.  That 50%-off code is only good until the start of the CAL, May 18th, so if you want to take advantage of it, don't wait too long!) I've enjoyed Polly's past patterns a lot (though solid-color blocks are a bit of a departure from the extremely colorful designs she's been known for), and I feel confident recommending this CAL.  There are plenty of helpful people in her groups on Ravelry and  Facebook, if you run into any sort of trouble.  (That'