One of these things just doesn't belong here...

As I was sewing this little pink flower together I realized it's kind of straying a wee bit far from the "square-a-day" plan. It's a little more three-dimensional than I'd envisioned my crochet odyssey projects would be.

It would be very difficult to work into an afghan, for example.

But because I don't have time to make a second, more odyssey-appropriate motif today (I'm already short two for this month), it'll just have to do.

April 30, 2009


It's hard to stay mad at something this cute though, isn't it?


I mean seriously, look how sweet!

No one's perfect...

I had an interview at 3:30pm today. It's been a while since I had to sit in front of a stranger and defend my abilities while looking pleased as punch at the interrogation process. Needless to say my mind wasn't 100% on my yarn while I was crocheting this morning.

Which is why I had to rip portions of this square out three times before getting it right.

Mostly right.

If you look closely, you'll notice that there's one extra row of double crochet at the top of the square (something I didn't notice until I'd already fastened off the yarn). This is somewhat twitch-inducing, but I'm not nearly as twitchy as I would have been if I hadn't caught the mistake in the pattern - one that wasn't my fault.

The top two webbed lace sections would have been way off centre if I hadn't figured out that extra double crochet stitches between the top webby bits were missing in the pattern. But I did. And I added them in. Along with the extra row at the top of the square, for absolutely no good reason.

So I'll call us even, me and the pattern writer.

We all make mistakes.

April 28, 2009


As for the interview? I dunno. We'll just have to wait and see.

Daffy

I stuck my big fat hand in this picture in an attempt to demonstrate that this daffodil has dimension and depth. It's kind of hard to tell when you shoot it straight on - the trumpet disappears.

However, in concentrating on the trumpet, I'm not sure I've captured the rest of the flower particularly well.

You'll have to just trust me when I say that it's a pretty cool pattern. And much, much easier than it would appear.

Unless it appears easy. Then yes, you're right - it is.

April 27, 2009


I don't know why I don't have any real daffodils in my garden. I love them! I'll need to remedy that this fall for sure.

Flower power

I couldn't resist buttoning up yesterday's sunflower.

Look, look, LOOK how cute!! I have no idea what this could eventually turn into or become part of, but I must, must, must use it for something clever.

April 26, 2009



I never in a million years would have thought of the button embellishment all on my own.

Thank goodness for people who are smarter than me.

Digging in the dirt

The garden - not to mention the gloriously unexpected 27C weather today - is giving my crochet habit some stiff competition. I hadn't anticipated how difficult it would be to divide my time between dirt and yarn. I'd forgotten the reckless abandon with which I throw myself at my garden beds and lawn.

Which is why I'm a wee bit late with Friday's motif. And why I'm totally without a motif for Thursday (but I will make up for it - probably tomorrow. I'm too anal not to).

Since the weather lured me out into the backyard to play in the dirt, I thought it only appropriate to make flower motifs from yet another birthday book: Suzann Thompson's Crochet Bouquet ~ Easy Designs for Dozens of Flowers.

And these aren't your grandma's stuffy, doily-esque floral motifs. No, there are some seriously funky flowers in Thompson's book, and some really cute embellishment ideas too.

Take, for example, today's motif: An adorable sunflower that can be left as is (which is what I did - kind of a "before", which means some day soon you can expect the "after"), or embellished with random buttons on the grid, or "seed" part of the flower.

April 25, 2009

It's cute, right? And it will soon be cute as a button...

And then there's yesterday's motif. It's called a "Crazy Eight", and I chose to work the large version and embellish it with a "loopy frill". I could have chosen two kinds of stamens, twirls or a simple outline, but the loopy frill appealed to my sense of whimsy.

April 24, 2009

Plus the loopy frill totally reminded me of the scrunchies of the 80s and 90s.

Cozy. It's all about the cozy.

Fancy on the outside

I'm still reveling in the glow of new crochet book. And despite the fact that I received three that were specifically purchased to help me complete my crochet odyssey, I'm still just focusing on Jan Eaton's.

It's kind of like when you have a bag of assorted cookies and get hooked on one particular kind and have to eat the whole row before starting on another variety.

Mmmmm. Cookies.

Anyway, today's Square is called Edwardian Fancy, which kind of makes me think of Mr. Darcy and ample bosoms and fainting spells. Even though I'm not entirely sure they all fit into the Edwardian period.

I've long since forgotten when the historical periods started and stopped. Too focused on my own these last 6 years, I suppose.

Wah wah wah.

Anyway, without further ado and talk of periods and cookies, I give you the Edwardian Fancy.

April 22, 2009

Fancy that!

Coffee & Cream

Smell that? It's new square smell. Fresh out of one of my brand new birthday books. Mmmmmmm, new crochet book. How happy am I today?

Wheeeeeeeee!

What I love about this book (Jan Eaton's, 200 Crochet blocks for blankets, throws and afghans) is that not only is it filled with really gorgeous squares (seriously, I salivated my way through it in bed last night and had a terrible time choosing which one to try first today), but it also shows you what squares work best in combination with each other. And how you can collect them all into some really stunning blankets.

Coffee & Cream is probably one of the plainer squares, but I was sucked in by the lovely, earthy colours.

And plus I think I was thirsty at the time...

April 21, 2009

Thank you SO much for this book, Kathy! Clearly I'm loving it.


And now, a little housekeeping:

Carla, the bib pattern can be found in the May/June 2009 issue of Crochet Today. Good luck! It's such a fun little project!

Shinny, I'll totally teach you to crochet - come visit! As for the cake, my sister made it for me. It's the chocolate sour cream cake in Joy of Cooking. She put dulce de leche in between the layers and frosted it with thick chocolate icing. Mmmmmm!

I couldn't be more excited...

It's my birthday. And believe me, getting older is not the exciting part. Far from it.

What has me all a-twitter are the crochet books I opened after a delicious dinner of Chinese takeout and two helpings of homemade chocolate cake with caramel filling (okay, that part has me twittering a little too).

Crochet books. Oh, so many yummy crochet books!

I wish I'd started crocheting 20 years ago. I know I don't have enough life left to crochet everything I want to crochet. Even at just 39, I know there is not enough time.

But I sure can give it the old college try.

And I will.

Just watch me.

April 20, 2009

In the meantime, an old favourite pattern (and by old favourite I mean rerun).

It was a cold, rainy day today. And I'm fighting an epic battle with my relentlessly ticking biological clock. And losing badly. So a comfortable, cozy old crochet friend was just the company I needed today, and I greedily indulged myself in its solace as is wholly appropriate on one's very last 30-something birthday.

Catching up...

I had a wee bit of a love affair with Patons variegated Astra today.

Clearly.

I decided to catch up on the motif I missed the week before last and the one I missed yesterday, and once I started hooking with those lovely vivid pinks and yellows twirling in and out of my fingers, I just couldn't stop.

But at least the patterns are all different.

You've gotta give me that.

April 19, 2009

I thought this was going to be a disaster as I was making it - the flower part in the middle was an alarmingly messy tangle of octopus legs for quite some time - but it turned out quite nicely if I do say so myself.

April 18, 2009

This simple little diamond is a "building block" that can, according to Melody Griffith's pattern, be used for a number of things.

But not for proposing.

April 7, 2009

S is for "Sandy", who actually hates variegated yarn and probably would have prefered that I made his letter in another colour. S is also for "serves you right for napping while I'm crocheting".

Ooops I did it again!

I couldn't resist. This was just such a fun little pattern!

I promise I'll stop the back-to-back reruns.

Soon.

April 17, 2009

At least I have a set now.

One step away

This is the story of a really funky little motif that turned into a cutie-pie cotton bib in one quick round.

I wish I could say I invented it, but alas, I did not. I found the pattern in the May/June 2009 issue of Crochet Today and thought I'd use it for today's motif.

I know it's kind of cheating in a way. It's not just a motif - it's an actual thing. But I thought that since it was so close to being just a simple motif I had to include it.

If only to prove that sometimes something really cool is just one step away from a plain old square or funky little motif.

Sometimes we are that close to genius.

April 16, 2009

This worked up really quickly too! I did it in just over an hour and a half, and that includes time during which I was distracted by Ace of Cakes and the pilot episode of King of Queens.

Catz

Okay I know it's a little silly, but clearly Chloe seems to like my blog, so I told her keeper (my sibling) that I'd dedicate today's square to her. I mean come on, look at the concentration with which she's pondering my group square photo from the other day!

So for Chloe - simple, wide-eyed Chloe - here's one of the 12 required squares for a rather pretty summer beach tote pattern that I found in the premiere issue of Simply Creative Crochet (fall 2003).

Chloe never goes to the beach. Chloe is afraid of the front door and pretty much anything that moves. But at the very least, she'd look very lovely next to this tote, her shiny black fur standing out in stark contrast to the light summer pastels.

Even if she and the tote never left the safety of my sibling's house.

April 15, 2009

Oh Chloe...

True love and flowers

This motif, which I planned early this morning and didn't get to until late this evening, was clearly divinely inspired. A flower on the day My Beloved surprised me with an early birthday present of an amazing potting table he made himself!

With the help of my sneaky sibling who gave him the use of her garage, he created a gorgeous and incredibly functional table that will be the absolute perfect addition to our backyard - and will make spring planting and seasonal re-potting so much easier and neater.

I can't believe I bought all his trickery and deception. I can't believe he managed to keep this a secret for so long. I can't believe he did such an amazing job with the table.

And I can't believe how lucky I am to have someone who loves me this much.

April 14, 2009

"When can I keep you?", he used to ask me when we were dating. Now. Forever. Forever and ever.

Happy Belated Easter!

This WAS going to be a really cute Easter motif - a block pattern complete with a little basket filled with flowers. But Easter Sunday turned out to be the last in a long line of busy days, and at the end of it all I had in me was this double crochet square.

Which, I might add, looks an awful lot like the Harmony Square I did back in January. Different book, but, I suspect, same pattern.

But it was easy so I ran with it...

Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009



Today, with a good night's sleep under my belt, I attempted this flower-framed filet mesh square. Kind of pretty. But also kind of messy. I want to like it, but it's just not my favourite...

Maybe if I'd used a heavier weight yarn the chain crochet bits wouldn't look quite so sloppy.

I dunno.

April 13, 2009

Whatever. At least it's not a rerun.

The saga

In a fit of spring fever (not to mention bargain fever), I purchased a whole bunch of Dahlia bulbs online a month or so ago. I absolutely love Dahlias, but have never actually had any in my gardens before. When I found a $25 coupon in a seed/gardening catalogue, I totally couldn't resist.

My plan is to enlarge and then fill up the little garden that was accidentally created when our brand new Eastern Redbud tree died last summer. We pulled out the remains and returned it to the nursery for store credit, and all that's left is the grassless spot where we planted it last Earth Day.

Sadness.

So that little spot, which doesn't seem to want to grow a tree, will now become my Dahlia garden. hopefully it'll be more successful at growing flowers than it was at keeping a tree alive.

That's a very long way of introducing today's motif which is, of course, a Dahlia hexagon.

April 11, 2009

The growing season is so close I can nearly taste it! And in the meantime, yarn.

100th post!

Well, this calls for a celebration!

And so, here's a group shot (minus a few motifs/squares that have been re-purposed and/or given away)...


And now for today's motif, I give you a spring-green trefoil square which, in addition to a long nap and a long walk, is my only accomplishment on this sunny Good Friday.

April 10, 2009

And now, off to the couch. Ahhhhhhh!

The best of both worlds

It's a busy time of year for people with both Jewish and Catholic family traditions. For example, today I crocheted this quilted square in Lenten hues while my Passover brownies were baking away in the oven (and smelling divine, if I do say so myself).

I like having a toe in both worlds. It's really interesting to learn about where My Beloved came from, and it's comforting to be absorbed in the rituals of my own religion during holy week.

And, of course, when brownies are a part of the mix? Well, how can you go wrong?

April 9, 2006

I secretly wish I was tiny enough to crawl under this cozy square and drift off to sleep. Ooh, while I'm secretly wishing, I'd also like to be small enough to live inside a brownie so I could dig my way in and eat my way out. Aw yeahhhh!

Bon Voyage! COME BACK SOON!!!

The very best reason in the world for missing a day of crochet is having faraway friends visiting.

I'll make up for lost motif-ing soon, but in the meantime I'm so happy I was able to spend time with people who mean so much to me.

So for Grapey1969 and her peeps, a purple circle - and another plea to please move to Canada!

April 8, 2009

This is also for Rachel, who wanted more jewel tones. You're welcome!

Now I know my A, B....

C is for cold. Stupid, miserable, life-sucking, I've had MORE than enough of you, cold.

So yeah, the snowflake thing didn't work. It's been snowing on and off since early afternoon when the frigid rain changed over to snow, and the last time I peeked out the window there was a blanket of white covering the grass. The beautiful, just barely starting to green up, grass.

Siiiiigh.

But I know, I know. This is April in Canada, and it's not unusual to see snow in April. It happens almost every year.

But it somehow never gets any easier.

April 6, 2009

Fortunately C is also for cookies, which have a remarkable way of making snowy April days a little easier to take.

This is really Sunday's motif...

This is my attempt to appease the gods of snow. I thought perhaps if I made a snowflake (a pattern from the Nov/Dec '08 issue of Crochet Today), they'd be less inclined to dump the predicted 6 - 12cm allegedly headed our way today.

I didn't use crochet thread so my snowflake is larger than it should be. And I was making this while I watched Grease in bed last night, and I've just noticed that I seem to have left off one of the picots around the edging (which means I probably shouldn't crochet late in bed while I'm watching musicals).

But all in all I like this little snowflake.

April 5, 2009

I certainly like it a lot better than I like the real thing - especially a few days before Easter...

Saturday night for old people

I did this quick little motif while we were watching a pretty bad Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road movie this evening. It was one of those so bad it's gone all the way back 'round to being good kind of bad movies. Totally cozy and perfect for a chilly Saturday night at home.

And now I'm tired and can't think of anything more to say about the movie or the motif.

April 4, 2009

We're off on the road to Morocco...!

All wet

Okay, it's been raining ALL. DAY. It's worse now than it was in the morning, and it was torrential then.

That's it. I'm giving up crochet to start work on an ark.

In the meantime, here's a flower motif that, when done all in white, somehow reminds me of a Lily. Even though it really doesn't look much like a Lily, I suppose.

I guess it's the white. Or maybe the subliminal influence of the Easter lilies I have on my dining room table.

April 3, 2009

Lilies are sneaky like that.

So what if it's 8 months early?

I've been looking at this Christmas Rose Square pattern in the Reader's Digest sourcebook for weeks, and finally decided to give it a try tonight.

Love, love, love it! Possibly mostly because it's a Christmas rose and so naturally it conjures up images of all things seasonally cozy and sweet to me - Bing Crosby, hot chocolate, gingerbread cookies, twinkling lights, crackling fires and Christmas carols.

I know I've been desperate for Spring for months now, but it doesn't mean I still don't miss Christmas a little bit every now and then.

April 2, 2009

I'm going to try this again soon using two different colours so the "rose" in the center really pops.

And no, I'm totally not using that as an excuse to stay in Christmasland a little while longer. Really. I swear.

In the pink

So the heinous Heart Learning Network now claim that they will, in fact, refund our money.

Whether they follow through or not remains to be seen, but at least My Beloved was able to actually speak with someone and get a written confirmation that they would indeed honour our refund.

I'm entirely too pessimistic to call this case closed, but at least we're further ahead than yesterday. Hopefully.

And so to celebrate, a pink flower in a funky frame, courtesy of the Reader's Digest Sourcebook (which, by the way, I'm currently adoring), crocheted in Village Yarn Caribbean Cotton.

April 1, 2009

Pretty in pink.