Well whaddaya know!

I managed to get today's motif crocheted, shot AND posted today. Before dark, even.

Will wonders never cease?

I did, however, have to employ some photographic trickery to get the pattern to show up properly. Jewel tone variegated yarn makes the "Sunray" pattern virtually disappear, it seems. So that accounts for the regular shot and the second, floating in mid-air and also magically backlit, shot.

Because I'm nothing if not a stickler for clarity.

May 30, 2009




Jan Eaton, I heart your squares.

I have a vague sort of plan for these - the ones from her 200 Crochet Blocks book. They all turn out roughly the same size when I used the same brand of yarn (Bernat Satin), so I'm thinking that by the end of this experiment I might have enough of them to cobble together a pretty interesting "crazy quilt", and still have plenty of other motifs leftover for other uses.

Other totally-as-of-yet-unimagined uses. Which is, of course, half the fun.

This is getting to be a habit...

I swear I had this square finished yesterday. Early, in fact. I could easily have shot it and blogged about it before I went to bed, but I got distracted. Again.

I have, it would appear, a brain roughly the size of a gnat.

Anyway, here's yesterday's "Victorian Lace", done in a yummy new variegated Bernat Satin I picked up the other day.

May 29, 2009


Care to lay any bets on whether or not today's square actually makes it up before midnight?

The 50s...

This square reminds me of the 1950s. Well, maybe "reminds" isn't the correct word because I wasn't born until 1970. So let's just say that it reminds me of my grandparents' house. Lots of brown, lots of green - lodged firmly in the 50s and happy as clams, they were.

Okay, they did also delve briefly into shag carpeting in the 70s, but for the most part it was pretty obvious that their glory days were from the decade of poodle skirts and cabinet televisions.

The lumpy brown couch I was banished to when my sibling and I stayed over and got giggly in the big, comfy double bed we'd started out in was the same shade of brown as the yarn I chose today. And the green in the middle of the square? We have one of the funky, vintage swivel chairs that once lived in my Grandma and Grandpa's pretty little sun room, and it happens to match the green in my square almost exactly.

And all this probably accounts for the pleasure I got from making this square, and the way I couldn't stop looking at it when I was done.

May 28, 2009


There's nothing like a little colour therapy.

Ooops...

I hurried to finish this Baltic Square last night (another beautiful Jan Eaton creation), shot it, then got onto the computer and promptly forgot to blog about it.

The Internets distracted me with all manner of shiny objects, virtual style.

Ah well. Better late than never.

May 27, 2009


If anyone knows why this might be called a "Baltic" square, let me know. I'm curious and couldn't find any answers myself...

The blues

I've been working all day to banish a horrible dream from my head and shake the lingering ickies that have been clinging to me like a bad stink since the moment I threw off my sheets this morning.

It's slowly getting better, but it's almost bedtime I'm reallllly hoping that I won't end up being subjected to a sequel tonight.

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

Or any thoughts, really.

Like, for instance, why is it so impossible to get navy blue yarn to photograph properly? Sometimes it looks black, sometimes it looks gray, sometimes it looks vaguely blue if you squint, but it never, ever looks like it does in real life.

Which is annoying.

Really, today's square is so much prettier in real life when you can actually see the deep navy blue playing off the lovely, soft lavender.

But this photo will just have to do...

May 26, 2009


Okay. Sweet dreams, everyone.

Fingers crossed...

Perspective

Sometimes I think I should start putting a penny into my shots so it's clearer just how big or how small each day's motif is.

I suppose it really doesn't matter, but every once in a while it makes me twitchy knowing that it's impossible to tell if a motif is coaster sized or dinner plate sized.

For what it's worth, today's is kind of large salad plate sized.

Betcha can't tell though...

May 25, 2009


Size shouldn't, but somehow does, matter. In crochet, anyway.

Weekend

Busy outside. Busy inside. Busy with family. Busy, busy, busy.

But never too busy to crochet, of course.

May 23, 2009



May 24, 2009


This weekend's motifs brought to you by Linda P. Schapper's 300 Classic Blocks for Crochet Projects.

Big day, long week, quiet night

I've been hardcore gardening or cleaning all week, it seems. And I'm sore and tired, in that good way you get when you've been working hard and accomplishing a lot.

So an evening with Cary Grant, a fire (it got chilly tonight), My Beloved, and some yarn was a perfectly quiet and cozy way to wrap up the busy week.

May 22, 2009


This is the same blue yarn I used for the Dahlia square. I'm always amazed at the difference taking photographs at night versus during the day makes.

Amazed and annoyed.

P.S. I've not been giving credit where it's due. The last few motifs have been from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans.

Old Vienna

This square (which really is called Old Vienna) was hooked in celebration of my sibling's fabulous European vacation extravaganza, which started on Friday in Vienna. Well, technically it was Saturday when she finally arrived, but the journey began here on Friday.

Apparently there are already hours of footage and hundreds of photographs for us to see upon her return in a week or so. And, hopefully, some Swiss chocolate.

But no pressure...

May 21, 2009


I know you're having fun and all, but come home soon!

Dahlia

One of the true joys of being a grown-up and having a little bit of dirt to call my own is that I can plant whatever I want in it.

I do, on occasion, run my ideas by My Beloved, of course.

But then again, sometimes I don't. And that's how my dahlia garden came to be.

I wanted one. Badly. I adore dahlias, but up until this year I didn't have enough room for them in any of the existing beds in our little yard. The untimely death of a newly planted Eastern Redbud tree last season left me with a nice little round patch of sodless yard that I immediately claimed for a dahlia bed.

In my head, of course. Quietly. Stealthily.

I simply announced one day that that's what it was going to become. Left very little room for discussion and ignored the grumbling (My Beloved hates obstacles around which he has to mow).

And planted.

The dahlia's are just starting to poke up from the ground and it'll be weeks before I see any colour, but they're there. I have my dahlia garden.

May 20, 2009


And while I'm waiting, a yarny dahlia bloom.

A different kind of Granny Square...

I freely admit that I chose this pattern because I thought it would be fast and easy to hook while I watched the finale of Dancing With the Stars last night (which requires me to look more than listen, unlike most television shows).

It was easy (although the row endings alternated, which required a bit more concentration than I was interested in providing), but it wasn't particularly quick. Which is why I'm posting Tuesday's motif on Wednesday morning. I just finished tucking in all the dangling yarn ends a few minutes ago, a task I left until today because I was too tired to do it after all the ballroom dancing excitement ended at 11:00pm last night.

Sigh. So very many things in this post point so clearly to my advancing age...

May 19, 2009


And now onto today's motif, which I will have completed and posted before tomorrow morning. Honest. I can stay awake. I can. I can.

Happy Victoria Day!

I'm using the colours of the Union Jack as my inspiration on this day that honours the birthday of the lovely and late Queen Victoria here in Canada (and also, oddly, the current reigning queen's birthday, even though her actual date of birth is April 21st).

Actually, it was my Mom's idea. She suggested I do a square that somehow paid homage to the queen who is responsible for this, the first long holiday weekend of the season.

Her other suggestion was a floral motif because I spent six hours in the garden today moving dirt, planting seeds and finally, finally getting my tomato seedlings in the ground.

And so I combined the two ideas. A white popcorn square, and two flowers, one in red and one in navy blue.

Long live the Queen!

May 18, 2009







And all together now...


There. Not only have I honoured the queen(s), I've also made up for lost crocheting. Clever girl.

If I do two tomorrow, I think I'll be all caught up...

A little quiet long weekend catch-up

May 16, 2009




There, I'm nearly caught up! Of course, I've lost track of just how many I'm behind, but I think I only need two more motifs to make up the missing days from late April and early May.

Which, by no coincidence, is when I started being able to work in the garden with earnest...

A new source!

I found a fabulous UK import at Chapters last night; the first issue of a brand new Crochet magazine (apparently UK's ONLY dedicated crochet magazine), called Inside Crochet.

There are very few dedicated crochet magazines available anywhere, as far as I can tell. Well, at least there aren't many available to me through my local bookstore, anyway. So a new find? VERY exciting.

And I dove right in.

Yup. Today's flowery motif comes from Inside Crochet. It's one of 8 needed to form the yolk of a really cute little cardigan. One I'd probably wear and make were it not for the 8 flowery motifs that make up its yolk.

It's just a little much.

But as a single motif - or a bunch joined in an afghan - I think it's really pretty.

May 15, 2009


Ahhh. Truly, there's nothing like brand new crochet fodder. Annnnd I'm spent.

Extremes

From the sublime...

May 12, 2009



...to the ridiculous.

May 13, 2009


Ugly yarn, bad pattern, unsatisfying crochet experience.

Retirement

My Beloved and I have a plan. We're going to win the lottery, buy a farm (there's some beautiful farmland just minutes from our house - rich, green rolling hills tucked under the Niagara Escarpment), and retire to a life of verdant pastures, homemade pickles, hand spun yarn, and peaceful solitude.

And crochet. Of course.

For me, anyway. My Beloved will busy himself with guitar playing, comic book reading and vegetable growing.

We need to win the lottery because our vision of farm life isn't meant to be one of hard manual labour. We figure we've done enough mental plowing over the last several years and are owed a pass from the universe, which we'd like to see come to us in the form of a hobby farm and a hefty, lottery-fueled bank account to sustain our rural lifestyle well into our golden years.

It's not too much to ask, right? It's totally not.

And 6/49 is $26 million on Wednesday...

May 11, 2009


...and on that farm she had some yarn, e-i-e-i-o!

Pink frenzy

I love the apparent haphazardness of this motif. It's mathematically sound, and yet it looks vaguely crazed - like it's vibrating with some sort of reckless, barely contained energy.

There's something very appealing about this kind of restrained chaos to me today.

After all, there's nothing like a little bit of tightly wound, packed, and sealed inner turmoil to make you feel completely crazy by 11:00pm on a Sunday night.

Kind of like a floppy pink star.

May 10, 2009


Fortunately crazy makes you tired too. Zzzzzzzz...

Mmmm. Cheese.

I really wish I'd noticed that there was a full moon before I crocheted today's motif. I would have endeavored to do a moon theme of some sort. At the very least I'd have made sure I picked a round motif.

But instead, here's a green picot thingy.

May 9, 2009


Well, they say the moon is made of green cheese, right? There. Done.

Mother's Day slipsters

My Mother-in-law must have known I've been struggling with the cold - getting uncharacteristically chilled in the evenings all winter long no matter what I'm wearing or how close to the fire I'm sitting.

I'm wondering if it's a thyroid issue. Because that's what I do. I sit and wonder about what form the next calamity that befalls me is going to take. A thyroid problem is the disaster d'jour.

Anyway, when we were at the in-laws last weekend for a First Communion bash, she quietly slipped a hand made shawl around my shoulders and said it was for me. No reason. Just because.

And even though it's May, I've already used it. Twice.

So in the spirit of Mother's Day, and domestic arts appreciation, and reciprocity, I'm making her a pair of crocheted slippers. Or slipsters, as My Beloved (who has a penchant for nonsense words) calls them.

And this is one of two little purple flowers that will adorn the top of each slipper...

May 8, 2009


This flower is made differently than any I've ever made before. You can't really tell, but it's a long strand of joined petals that are wound together to form a flower. Ingenious!

They call me mellow yellow

Okay, no one calls me that.

No one ever has, and no one ever will. The only time I'm even remotely close to mellow is when I drink Shiraz on an empty stomach or when I'm fast asleep. The rest of the time I'm about as far from mellow as a person can be without needing medication for the complete absence of mellow-osity.

But this motif is yellow and the quiet evening stroll I took with My Beloved has me feeling about as mellow as I can possible feel while also being sober and conscious, so I thought the title worked.

May 7, 2009


I envy the mellow-minded among us. I do. If I knew how, I'd join your ranks in a heartbeat.

In the meantime I'll just continue to keep lots of Shiraz on hand.

Three months in the making...

On February 3rd, I made one little yellow star. Just one of dozens and dozens needed to complete an afghan pattern I found in an old issue of Crochet Today! magazine.

I offhandedly mentioned that I thought it might make a nice baby blanket, and someone challenged me to do it.

I can rarely resist a challenge (I'm too stubborn to admit I can't do whatever it is I've been dared to do), and so today I completed the star blankie. It'll be winging its way to a sweet little preemie named Willow tomorrow. A gift from her Auntie; the one who challenged me in the first place, and who deserves endless credit for throwing down the yarny gauntlet.

So today, I give you 80 motifs all strung together in one star-studded little baby blankie.

May 6, 2009


Thanks for the inspiration, Lori!

Supah Stah!

I've now started writing this three times. I can't seem to think of a clever way to say that I really, really like this star!

So I'm just going to come out and say that I really, really like this star!

It's from the same book as the minty little circle from yesterday, and I just think it's such an incredibly cool design, particularly the sideways stitching on the points of the star.

I can totally see it done in two or three colours - maybe in sunflower shades (which I'm now, of course, going to have to try).

Oooh and what a cool afghan it would make...

May 4, 2009


It's appropriate that I made a star today, the only day of the year when you can say: May the 4th be with you.

Hee hee heeeeee! That just never gets old...

Going Green

Today we moved what felt like an acre's worth of sod to make room for a new shade garden. In fact, the whole reason for the garden is the shade and its less-than-helpful effect on the health of the surrounding grass.

But I'm secretly happy that the variegated willow and the dogwood are doing so well that they've killed the grass around them. First because it's great that they're thriving, and secondly because it means I get to plant more flowers. This time in the shade-loving family.

And I'm all about dirt these days.

But I'm still about crochet too, and this little mint green circle is from my fourth and final birthday book, 300 Classic Blocks for Crochet Projects, by Linda P. Schapper.

It's pattern #43 in the double crochet and chains section of the book (another book with nameless patterns). The thing is though, it looks very, very familiar (I'm sure I've used a very similar pattern in the past, although I'm too lazy to actually verify this fact).

But it's green and round, and in a gardening/circle-of-life kind of way, it feels appropriate for today.

May 3, 2009


And now I'm off to research shade-loving perennials!

ZZzzzzzzzz

A happy, sunny, busy, kind-of-tiring-but-in-a-good-way day ended with this...

May 2, 2009


And that's all I have to say about that.

Okay, is it just me...

...or does this motif look a little, uh, dirty?

I think it's the colour combination, but I'm seeing cat butt and/or one half of a pastie set. Seriously. Look. Look.

This is reminding me of the infamous variegated yarn panty liner incident of a couple of months ago.

How is it that I can turn perfectly good yarn so very, very bad?

May 1, 2009


I'm blushing.