Such a slacker!

Yes, when it comes to blogging, I have become a slacker. I guess that's because I'm enjoying reading and crafting. Anything to do with computers has taken a back seat.

I finished Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield this week. It was pretty good, not as good as her first, The Thirteenth Tale, but better than her second, Once Upon a River... in my opinion!

My circle in a square adventure continues.

I saw a book on Amazon that called this pattern the umbrella granny square.

I guess it looks like the top of an open umbrella, but circle in a square works fine for me.

I finished Jennifer's scarf while subbing on Friday. I found the crochet linen stitch very relaxing, but I did have to watch my stitch count.

During yesterday's Tollway Tatters meeting, I finished the brown button ornament and started the cream button ornament. Both were finished and hanging on the tree by mid-afternoon.

A couple of weeks ago, I started the brown Glenway Hills Cowl by Jaala Spiro. I put too much twist in the brown one, so it doesn't look at all like the original. The yarn is Milkshake Sport, Peanut Butter Shake, from Bare Naked Wools by KnitSpot. Unfortunately, the yarn has sold out. It was wonderful to knit with.

I wanted to see the pattern more easily, so I decided to knit the cowl in I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby. Since it's a worsted weight, it came out slightly larger, which is fine for me. I didn't add any twist this time. I added one row to each border, and I reduced the number of seed stitch rows. I can see that I still need to work on my tension, which was quite a bit looser by the time I reached the bind off edge. I did not use the suggested bind off, which I now think was a mistake.

Luckily for me, the people I give my knit and crochet pieces to don't see the mistakes that I see!

 

Bullseye!

Granddaughter Sophia is taking archery lessons, and last night during her second lesson she shot a bullseye! I'm very excited for her!

I finally finished my Boomerang scarf in Plymouth Yakima. I started it in late November, but allowed myself to be distracted by crocheted beanies and an afghan. I love the yarn, and I think I'll be keeping this one for myself.

My circle in a square grannies are next to my chair. I've been trying to make one a day.

Some days I make two or more, and other days I don't make any. I think I have 30 now.

We've been having some absolutely gorgeous sunrises. This one was this morning. Sometimes I get a good picture, and other days they turn out blah. Today the picture looks exactly like the sky did!

I love Anne Hanson's patterns, but I seem to collect them rather than knit them. This was one I couldn't resist. It's called Woodstacking. The yarn is Dorset DK from Bare Naked Wools by Knitspot. It's 100% Dorset wool, and it was wonderful to work with. This is another one that I think I will keep for myself!

Backwards?

Sometimes technology baffles me. For example, It used to be that I could select several photos and they would show up on my blog in the order I selected them. That hasn't been true for a while. Tonight, my pictures posted in reverse order. I can (and have) selected photos one at a time so that they appear in the correct order, but I don't always feel like taking that bit of extra time. Oh, well. I guess I'll just describe them in reverse order!

I approached my granny squares a little differently today. I crocheted as many centers as I could from one ball. I'm not sure this is a good approach for me. I finished the centers for four grannies, but only completed one. I think I prefer finishing an entire granny square before moving on to another!

Mom will love this button ornament! Red is her favorite color. I may have to have a tree filled with red button ornaments for next Christmas.

Yesterday I was able to complete four granny squares. These were completed one at a time, which seems to be a much more productive method for me.

Sunshine yellow was yesterday's button choice. Isn't it a cheerful color?

Keepin' busy

There was no school Monday, so Mom and I were able to unwind while Dave went to work. By Tuesday morning we were back to our normal routines.

Except for blogging... I have no idea why I find it hard to remember to blog these days!

My Monday button ornament looked so cheerful, perfect for the beautiful spring weather we're experiencing.

I also finished three more circle in square granny squares.

Tuesday's button ornament was a very cheerful pink.

Crochet Club met on Tuesday, so with extra crochet time I finished three more granny squares.

After dinner Tuesday night, I automatically picked up my crochet hook and before I knew it I had two more squares completed. I already have 18 finished squares. I haven't decided which color to use to join them all together. Maybe I'll get inspiration as I finish more squares!

Beautiful weekend

We had a beautiful weekend, and Easter Sunday was glorious... the perfect day for spending time with family!

It was also a weekend filled with cleaning and crafting. There's something about beautiful spring days the give me the energy to spruce up the house.

Of course I allowed myself lots of reward time for crafting!

Rigo asked if I could make something for his six month old sister. He liked the idea of a snuggle blanket, so I crocheted one in waffle stitch, using up pinks and yellow from hats I made for the high school girls.

Tonya really liked this Sweet Dijon color from I Love This Yarn. I've moved on from hats, so it took me several days to complete this one. Tonya has admired the hats from the beginning, but has been hesitant to ask for one. I think she just hadn't seen a color that appealed to her until now.

I still have a lot of leftover yarn from the hats, so I've started working up circle in a square grannies. They're really quite easy to make, and I can crochet one in about a half hour. They're about 5 1/2", so this will be a blanket that works up quickly.

I'm back on track with button ornaments. I have all I need for next Christmas, but I want to have plenty of extras on hand to give away!

There's a surprise in the works for our high school secretary, Jennifer. I won't post progress pictures, just in case she happens to read my blog. She knows what I'm making, but the color and pattern will be a surprise. So, you'll just have to wait until it's finished and given to her. 

This week is supposed to be beautiful, which means lots of time in the sunshine!

Three weeks

 

I really didn't think I could crochet an afghan in a week, and I was right. It took me about three weeks. I love the way it turned out!

We took another hat picture on Tuesday. This time we're only missing six people... much better!

On to the next project!

Two more

 

Just when I thought I was done, I received two more hat requests. This one is for Max.

This is a second one for Kole, our middle school science teacher. Kole has a green and gold one, but he also wanted one in grey. I was happy to comply!

This morning we had a group photo taken. I can see that three of the girls are not wearing their hats. I'm guessing they didn't want to mess up their hair! Only about half of the kids showed up for the picture. A before school picture must have been a little too much. ;-)