Sew I See!

The last FO in this batch is another Grace Fearon doily-- "Luna", which happens to be the name of one of our Eskies.  The thread is DMC Cébélia size 10, "437 Camel".  Another doily practically bursting with texture!  This would be a good one for working each section in a different color-- very clearly delineated bands of patterning.  (I've made a lot of progress whittling away at my stash of whole balls of single-color thread, but there are quite a few partial balls left over from other projects, so I might need to focus on patterns for small doilies and patterns that work well with multiple colors in the same doily.)

"Seraphina", designed by Grace Fearon. Worked in Artiste Mercerized Egyptian Cotton (size 10), "153 Silver Sage". The center/medallion portion of this pattern is gorgeous!

I just can't seem to keep this blog updated on a regular basis!  Occasional entries are better than none, though, and I can keep trying. I finished the "Punkin Patch" quilt top, but decided not to rush the quilting and binding, so I'm holding off on the photos for now. Progress on the "Lotus Moon" afghan came to a halt for a while-- first, because I had a ton of ends to weave in (and got a bit burned out as a result of those), and second, because I didn't want to figure out the color placement for the square motifs.  Eventually I bit the bullet, chose some colors, and crocheted them.  Now I'm back in end-weaving purgatory.  At least there are as many ends (or motifs!) in this batch, and when they're done, I'll be moving on to the triangles, then start joining it all together. As far as finished objects go, there are three newly blocked doilies to share.  I'm starting with "Calpurnia". - - - - - - - "Calpurnia...

I finished the latest WIP doily, but have yet to weave in the ends, block, or photograph it-- so that makes two on the waiting list for blocking. Instead of starting another doily (and there are multiple patterns in the queue!), I decided to focus on an afghan.  It feels like a long time since I last crocheted much in worsted weight, but it didn't take long to get back in the groove. I'm crocheting "Lotus Moon Tiles" , a pattern by Polly Plum. A dive in the stash yielded the following: -- Caron One Pound in "Off White", "Sunflower", "Limeaide", "Grass Green", and "Denim" -- I Love This Yarn! in "Mulberry" and "Hyacinth" -- Stitch Studio Earthtone in "Teal" and "Silver Fox" -- two batches of heathery/tweedy mill ends in purple My in-progress photos aren't the best for color accuracy or tidiness, but at least you can get an idea of the pattern. So far, I...

Last doily of the day! This is "Athena" , also designed by Grace Fearon.  This was a CAL pattern, which means that the pattern comes with a round-by-round photo tutorial-- very helpful if you're more of a visual learner or if you're new to advanced crochet doilies.  Crocheted with Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet (size 10), "Wasabi".  As usual, the color isn't consistent across all my photos.  It's a bright yellow-green/spring green. I had some issues with the overlapping, interwoven section near the center of the doily.  I'm still not completely convinced that I did it just right, but it seems to have worked out okay.  The rest of the pattern, I think I enjoyed crocheting.  Lots of texture-- and that yellow-green was fun to work with, too. 

Another doily! "Icarus" , pattern designed by Grace Fearon. Crocheted in Artiste Mercerized Egyptian Cotton #10, "Antique".  It's a chameleon of a color.  In some lights, it's distinctly pinkish/mauve, but in others, it sees more like a dark ecru or light tan.  I really enjoyed crocheting this one!  I love the starry motif in the center of the doily, and I'm also a fan of the flowers in the border-- and the thick, "rope" frame around each flower. 

"Lorelai" , designed by Grace Fearon. Crocheted in America's Best Country Cotton (size 10), "American Beauty".  (That thread brand was discontinued years ago.  I'm still working through my stash.)  It's less of a true, "Christmas" red than it looks in some photos.  The dark rose-red is closer to the reality. This pattern is available for free-- a good way to sample the designer's pattern-writing style and difficulty level.  This wasn't one of my favorites, for some reason... I'm not sure why (no longer remember, at this point, if I ever knew).  Maybe the thread has something to do with it-- not my favorite brand and not my favorite color for thread crochet, either.  Still, I think it turned out nicely enough (even though I did cheat a bit on Round 21, since I couldn't face crocheting into the back loop of each individual chain). 

Earlier this week I took some photos of the backlog of finished doilies.  I have a hard time getting good photos of doilies, these days, but I think these are at least passable.  I'll give each doily its own blog post, I think... Why not?! "Fiona" is a design by Grace Fearon. I used Artiste Mercerized Egyptian Cotton #10 in  "Boysenberry".  (It's a gorgeous color, by the way! The color seems to vary from photo to photo, but I think the ones that look red-violet are more accurate than the ones that look like a bluer purple.) Beautiful design!