A Post About YARN

It's that time of year again where it is cool in the evenings and there are new TV shows to watch. And also when I can crochet without any major issues from the heat. I went to Michael's this past weekend to get yarn to finish up a blanket I'm making for a lady I go to church with and I also picked up a book so I can start branching out as far as projects are concerned. I usually stay in my "safe zone," focusing on my AMAZING ability to crochet a scarf in no time and making these super easy granny square blankets. While I absolutely adore my "Hodgepodge Blankets," I really do want to challenge myself more. The book I got has a pretty easy sweater pattern and I'm really nervous excited to try it.

While I was there I also bought BEAUTIFUL yarn. I have no idea what I'm going to make with this, but I'm going to have to find a pattern and make SOMETHING, just to see how it is going to work up. I would love to make a throw out of it, but it is pretty lightweight and I'm not sure how the gauge will work, especially since my stitches are so tight. Anyway, you all should expect more frequent yarn posts, now that I'll have my hands on more projects.

I've also finished several books from my Y'all Fest reading list! I've actually read more books this month than I did last month. So many of these Y'all Fest books are fantastic, and I really wish I could manage to write a review that said something intelligent about how amazing these books aren't, but so far I haven't been able to. I'll just say you should all read The Name of the Star, Paranormalcy, and The Vespertine. They were wonderful books, and all are very different from the others, even though they all have elements of the supernatural.

Mittens and MORE

You would think that with all of the snow days we have had I would have 1) updated this blog more frequently, 2) read a book or six, and 3) crocheted.  I spent Saturday trying something new.

After listening to my friend Laura on Twitter talk about knitting mittens I was inspired to try crocheting a pair myself. A quick internet search led me to this pattern for mittens. I think they turned out well for a first attempt. I used left over yarn, which led to somewhat funky stripes, but all in all I feel like I was pretty successful.



I also took the time to work most of my remnant yarn into my Hodgepodge Blanket. This project will undoubtedly be put on hold soon because I am running out of remnant yarn. I have several other projects in the works to finish soon, which will give me more yarn for this project. Now I just need the motivation to FINISH one of those other projects!

Blankets GALORE

I'm not really sure WHEN this became a craft/crochet blog, but apparently that's what it is. The main reason is that the blankets I'm working on right now have most of my attention. Christmas is right around the corner and I'm giving one blanket as a gift. Two of the other blankets are OVERDUE gifts. At this point I have set my Hodgepodge Blanket aside, because for some STUPID reason I decided to start a gift blanket eight weeks before Christmas. In other words: I AM AN IDIOT!!! BUT the person who will receive this blanket will LOVE it, and that is really what matters.

I just started this last weekend, and I'm making really great progress. I'm kind of shocked actually. Although, it's true that the BEGINNING of any project is MUCH easier than the middle. I am now approaching the middle. I realized last night I was finishing up the light blue that I had not bought NEARLY enough yarn, which sucks. So today I laid out all of my yarn, and the blanket and tried to set up a color pattern. I already knew that I planned on alternating blues and naturals, but I needed to decide where my colors were going to work so that I knew how much yarn I need to buy tomorrow. As I laid out my yarn I discovered that I bought way to many colors, but not enough of any of those colors to complete my blanket. Total *head desk* moment. I texted BFF1 and told her it would be LOVELY if she were around to help me sort my colors, then called my cousin Mimi, who came over to help me sort everything out. Long story short we narrowed down my yarn choices and I now have a list of how much more I need of each color. Even though I hated putting down my Hodgepodge Blanket, I am really glad that I decided to do this for my auntie.

All of the crochet I've been doing lately has left me little time to read. And since I have enacted the Book Buying Ban, in which I am not allowing myself to buy a book unless I finish reading a book, I have really wanted to read. I'm currently midway through Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and Frostbite by Richelle Mead. I'm also getting ready to reread Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, because I REALLY want to read Dash and Lily's Book of Dares but can't due to the Book Buying Ban. The worst thing about shopping tomorrow is that I'm going to be right at the bookstore, but will have to ignore all of the pretty shiny books!

Blanket Update!

I spent most of my weekend working through my "To Do" list, and amazingly was able to get through most of it. One item I did not have on my list was to work on my "Hodgepodge Blanket," but since I was able to get everything else done, I devoted a lot of time to my blanket. I was able to finish working the rainbow yarn into my blanket and five new colors into it too. I now have a grey, a jewel tones variegated, a steel blue, a brown, a hunter green, a light grey, a blue variegated, all worked into the blanket and have started working a small amount of cream yarn into it as well. In all honesty this blanket should be horribly ugly, what with all of the random bits of yarn and no color pattern. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised that I am able to just let this go and not worry about the pattern at all. Last Christmas I made my mom a blanket to give to one of my aunties, and my mom now has about ten skeins of yarn that I refused to use because I didn't think they worked with my pattern. The saddest part is that none of the skeins are the same, so my mother basically has useless yarn. I'm sure at some point we will find a use for that yarn, we are always doing projects. The point is that I tend to be OCD about my yarn projects. I've even been known to carry a project into a store in order to compare how I think the yarn I am buying will work with the rest of my project.

Moving on! I am really proud of myself for just letting this blanket go. It has turned into a great stress outlet for me. I sit and watch TV or listen to music and lose myself in the yarn. When I run out of a color I grab a random ball of yarn out of my "leftovers" bag and keep working. So, without further ado....HERE it is!

I have completed nineteen rounds on this blanket and am just now starting on the twentieth round. I'm not sure how large this blanket will end up being. I may make it large enough to cover my bed, which is a full sized bed. Everything depends on how much yarn I have and when I feel like stopping. It is both strange and liberating to have no plan for this. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but I can truly relax when I work on this project because I have nothing to worry about. It is LOVELY! 

Here is a close up of the blanket where you can see the stitches and the colors that I am using. The only one missing is the cream colored yarn I am currently using. Most of the yarn is chunky or worsted weight yarn. I don't imagine that I will use anything smaller than worsted weight yarn in this project, simply because I'm using a larger needle and even if I'm not super concerned with how the pattern goes, I do prefer a certain look to my work. I prefer tight stitches, which usually causes problems for my mum (who almost breaks down when she looks at anything I've done) but that's what I like. I usually use the smallest needle available for the yarn I am working with. I'm currently using a "K" needle and I can only think of one project that I've ever used a needle that large on, and it was a scarf made of a very chunky yarn.

Now that I have spotlighted my work, I should probably do paperwork and read some more from Zombies vs. Unicorn. What I'll most likely do it make random updates on Twitter and talk to BFF1 on IM. I have no attention span OR dedication! Happy Monday folks!

New Project

Something I haven't really talked about on here very much is my penchant for crocheting. Yarn work is really in right now! I knit some too, but not as much. I generally have a difficult time completing projects and knitting just takes WAY too long. So, I currently am working on a baby blanket for Baby Neville and a blanket that I gave my mother for Christmas last year. Yes, I did in fact give her an unfinished blanket, which remains unfinished almost a year later. With two projects underway and my annual winter scarf looming on the horizon, I did the thing any sane human would do...started a new project.






While putting two new bookshelves in my room and sorting through all my books (more on that later) I found THIS giant bunch of yarn. The giant bag o' yarn reminded me that I have REALLY wanted to make a "hodgepodge blanket" for myself. Quick fact...in the almost ten years since I started crocheting I have only ever made myself scarves. All of my other projects have been given away. There have even been times I have given someone a project that I originally intended to keep for myself. Not that I mind that, homemade projects are fabulous and they mean a lot to the person who receives them...at least they mean a lot to the people who have received them from me. But at some point there has to be something you do for yourself. And this messed up hodgepodge blanket is going to be mine!

Since there hasn't been a lot of reading going on recently I thought I would update with something else! My new blanket. I think that on each Monday I am going to update with this blanket. And if I haven't worked on it because I have been working on other stuff, then I may post pictures of THOSE projects as well! So here is Picture Number One!

This was taken with my phone in low light, so the color isn't great. The idea is to expand on a simple "granny square" and keep going until you have a blanket the size you want. I am using up all of my scrap yarn, with no real color pattern or concerns. I'm just working yarn into a pattern. That is my aim, and you can all see the progress as I go along. Next week I'll get my actual camera out and take a GOOD picture for your enjoyment!