Sew I See!

I finished my Procrastination Afghan today! Actually, I had it all but finished a day or two ago, but it took me that long to get around to weaving in the few loose ends and washing and drying it. I decided to go with a simple edging, after all-- just two rows of single crochet (in blue) down each length of the blanket.  The pattern specified one row, but I like the look of two.  It seemed best not to compete with the simple ripple pattern, so I resisted the urge to try something a little more complex.  I did one other thing that I can't remember if the pattern called for:  I added a row of single crochet to the final ripple.  I felt that would balance the blanket better, since the first ripple was also a little wider than the others-- due to the chain foundation row.  Also, single crochet just feels more stable and finished than double crochet. Here's the finished afghan, lounging on the swing: It turned out that I had plenty of yarn, and I stil...

I was just reading something about the crochet hats worn by Sweden's athletes at the Winter Olympics (which I've written about before, in the blog entry linked), when this statement caught my eye: "Crochet cannot be done by machine." Is this really, truly true? In my quick googling, I've found several people saying the same thing, but I'm still not sure I believe it. If it is true. . . I don't see how anyone can seriously be all snooty about knitting versus crocheting.  I mean, no offense to knitters-- and I might even try my hand at knitting myself, one day, if I get bored with crochet (and my many other crafty interests)-- but really, if a machine can do one of them but not the other. . . Well, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.  ;o) P.S.  I'm beginning to suspect that I have this blog account set up so that I'm not e-mailed about new comments!  I thought I just wasn't getting any comments-- not that unusual-- but a d...

I'm happy to report that the little mistake I made-- and the simple fix I came up with for it-- seem to have worked out perfectly fine.  It didn't set in motion a horrible chain event of problems.  In fact, I doubt I could even find it now, without counting many, many stitches. I think the blanket is probably long enough now that I could just finish the row I'm on and go ahead and start on the edging.  However, I may want just an extra row or two more to make sure it's long enough to stretch out on the couch with.  No sense in stopping short when I already have the yarn (and no specific plans for any leftovers there might be).   I'll be so excited to finish this project.  My first crocheted afghan!  Back when I bought the yarn, I was planning to make a very simple blanket using strips made on a knitting loom.  I mistakenly thought crochet would be too complicated or time-consuming for me.  I'm so glad I finally learned at least t...

I just realized that I haven't updated on my progress on the Procrastination Afghan. Well, I'm still crocheting away at it at least a little almost every day. I like doing a little in bed at night to unwind before going to sleep (with the TV going in the background or the mp3-player providing a soundtrack).  There's something very relaxing about such a repetitive pattern. Though it is very repetitive, so far I haven't found that to be annoying.  (That said, maybe I ought to mention that I'm the kind of person who likes to re-watch, re-read, and re-listen to things perhaps a little more than average.) After making some mistakes from time to time in my counting (or by failing to skip a sc now and then), earlier in the project, I thought I'd finally gotten past that phase.  I'd gone row upon row with no mistake (or at least none that went beyond a few stitches before I noticed them).  But then .  I found a mistake last night back in the previous row....

I know they aren't for everyone, but then again, hardly anything is.   I just finished reading something somewhere (we won't go into specifics, because they don't really matter) that seemed to contain a bit of a jab against granny squares, ripple afghans, and doilies-- which are apparently "old lady projects" that make crochet less than cool. Now, I'm not an old lady-- only thirty-one-- and yet I still happen to think that grannies, ripples, and doilies are all great.  Not only that, but I know I'm not the only non-old-lady to appreciate them.  (What's the problem with old ladies, anyhow?  I hope to be one, someday. (g)) A few thoughts: 1)  Granny squares have had a resurgence in popularity.  (Perhaps the granny square's cool-factor is ebbing somewhat, again, but other motif-based afghans and cushion covers are still popular projects among the crocheters I follow online.) 2)  Ripples have also recently come back into fashion (in certain ...

Apparently, March is National Crochet Month and National Craft Month. Busy month! P.S.  I kind of hate all that "National This 'n' That Month" stuff.  It just seems so pointless.  It might have made sense once upon a time, when few things had "national months", but these days, everything has an official national month, it seems.  Either that or there are lots of bogus national months being falsely advertised here, there, and everywhere. Why must there be a special month for every possible cause and/or interest?  If something is near and dear to your heart, you don't really need an excuse to revel in it (if it's a good something), raise awareness about it (whether it's a hobby, an industry, or a disease), and just generally pester other people with it.  ;o) Then again, maybe I'm just being grumpy. . .

You've probably already heard about this, if you follow any crochet blogs, but I want to document it on my own little blog, since it's the kind of thing that might be fun to remember in ten or twenty years (assuming I back up my entries and they even exist that far into the future).  When we watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, I took a good look at the Swedish athletes marching into the stadium.  When you're married to a Swede, you're obligated to take a certain interest in these things.  ;o)  I was curious to see what they'd be wearing and whether or not I could detect a certain Scandinavian or Swedish "look" in them.  Actually one of the star athletes does remind me a little of one of my husband's cousins, but that's neither here nor there, because what immediately caught my eye was their hats.  They wore crocheted hats in stripes of turquoise/sky blue, yellow, white, and black. Honestly, they're quite plain, these hat...

So.  I've fallen into the same bad habit as so many crocheters (and knitters) before me-- putting aside one project to work on another.  I don't want to start a collection of UFOs (unfinished objects, to those unfamiliar with yarnese), but maybe it's impossible to avoid. At least I still have only a mild case of UFOs.  The lovely, colorful hexagon afghan has been set aside-- temporarily.  I'll eventually have to look at it again, figure out a thing or two about changing colors (and whether or not you're supposed to turn your work as you make each motif), but rather than tackle those questions, I've allowed myself to be sidetracked. First, there were a bunch of granny squares I made as I learned to crochet.  The problem was, they weren't very nice.  They were all of one type of variegated yarn, and I've come to realize that (in my opinion, at least), granny squares really need to be either multiple colors or a solid color.  Besides the yucky effect ...

So I've been up since the middle of the night, thanks to some back pain, and I found myself in front of the computer, trying to take my mind off the discomfort.  What better time to browse some free crochet patterns, right?  (I've found so many things I'd like to try!  If I ever do them all, I'll be buried under a mountain of crochet-- swimming through an ocean of afghans, throws, scarves, wraps, and doilies.  That sounds kind of fun, actually. . .) Anyway, after looking through a certain number of patterns from the same company, you start to recognize the models.  One in particular stood out to me this morning-- a blond, blue-eyed Ms. Crochet Model.  As I found her in pattern after pattern, a story began to emerge (with a little help from my sleep-deprived brain). . . Ms. Crochet Model lead a lonely life. Sure, she could crochet a mean afghan. . . . . . (better make that several afghans [of varying temperaments]). . . . . . but how many afgha...

My mother found some vintage-y acrylic yarns at a yard sale and thought I might like them.  (Answer:  Yes, I would!)  I'm sure I'll find a use for it, and in the meantime, I love looking at the old wrappers. The colors and fonts! (Mainly the fonts...) They're all either "Orlon" or "Acrilon".  Do modern acrylic yarns go by such retrolicious names?  I think not.  And it's marked as "mothproof"!  I've never noticed that on the new acrylic yarns I've bought.   Some of the Sayelle brand yarn is labeled "FOR SWEATERS, AFGHANS & FASHION ACCESSORIES".  (Only under penalty of law dare ye use it for anything else .  Sincerely, the Yarn Patrol.) I'm not sure how old this yarn really is, but some of it's old enough to stand out and feel interestingly different. (TG&Y?  Haven't thought about that place in a while...) - - - - - - I'd come across "Orlon" before, back on one of those pages of f...