High praise

I absolutely can't get enough of Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks book. Seriously, it's like crack.

Okay, I've never actually done crack, but I have done a lot of chocolate. So let's just say that Jan Eaton's book is like chocolate. The absolute very best kind that you want to keep eating until you're sick - and even at that you only take the smallest possible break from the gorging.

I'm lured in by the colours, really. The patterns themselves are simple and straightforward - and in some cases similar both to each other and to patterns I've seen in other books by other people - but the way she presents each square, linking them to others that she feels they pair well with, is magical.

It's eye candy. The whole book from beginning to end. Even when I opt not to use her colour suggestions and go with my own, I'm still always pleased with the results.

Magic, I tell you.

And that's where Sunday and Monday's squares came from. And probably today's too, but it's still hidden within the pages waiting to be chosen.

June 28, 2009



June 29, 2009


Magic.

Friday and Saturday. On Sunday

Saturday:

- Kitten play
- Breakfast
- Mediate scuffles between kitten and grown-up cat
- Kitten play
- Strawberry hunting (at farm #1)
- Strawberry hunting (at farm #2)
- Dinner foraging (at grocery store)
- Kitten play
- Lunch
- Kitten play
- Gardening
- Kitten play
- Crochet
- Kitten play
- Dinner
- Kitten play
- Crochet
- Mary Tyler Moore, 2 episodes from Season 3
- Crochet
- Part of really bad Michael Jackson biopic
- Sleeeeep.

Sunday:

- Kitten play
- Breakfast
- Strawberry jam making
- Mass
- Foraging (at grocery store for items forgotten there yesterday)
- Lunch
- Kitten play
- Strawberry bread making
- Kitten play
- Crochet
- Confessions of a Shopaholic (not worth the eye strain)
- Kitten play
- Dinner
- Garden inspection

See? Not so much time for crochet. Too much kitten and strawberry action, I'm afraid. But I did make up for Friday and Saturday's missing motifs in between playing with Dibley.

Sadly, neither motif photographed as nicely as I'd like. Pastels end up so washed out, which irritates me no end. Although apparently not enough for me to come up with a solution.

In real life the blue is a lovely robin's egg and the green is a deep mint.

Trust me. Strawberry & kittens lovers almost never lie.

Friday June 26, 2009



Saturday June 27, 2009


I really wish I hadn't used up ALL the strawberries. A daiquiri would go down ever so nicely right about now...

A strange kind of day

Because yesterday it was exactly 6 months until Christmas (and I'll find any excuse to celebrate virtually anything I possibly can), I decided to work on a square with a Christmas motif.

But it's a bit of a laborious pattern, and I quickly realized I might not have the time (or patience) to get it done in time for photography and blogging. But I kept plugging along, a backup plan in mind should time run too short.

And then, while flipping mindlessly through the channels after dinner, My Beloved stopped on CNN. Its "BREAKING NEWS" banner screamed from the top of the screen as they reported the strange news that Michael Jackson had just died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest.

And it blew us both away, leaving us sitting on the couch utterly gobsmacked, mouths agape, chins on the floor, feeling the 80s slip further away with each passing second.

All good intentions for a happy little Christmas square flew right out the window.

So instead, I quickly whipped up this deep pink shell sampler while sitting in bed later in the evening. I decided not to worry about not getting it photographed and posted, opting to cuddle up between my old kitty and My Beloved and go to sleep.

June 25, 2009


Life is too short not to cuddle while you can.

Come again soon!

Because My Beloved is working late and I'm bored (and also because I'm a needy attention whore who's curious like a cat), I was checking out the blog's stat counter this evening to see who came from where, and just exactly how they got here.

To my surprise, the location from which I get the third greatest number of hits (behind the US and Canada) is The Republic of Moldova. It's a pretty little principality nestled between Romania and the Ukraine in central Europe. And someone there likes to crochet. Or at the very least likes to read about it.

Which tickles me immensely.

And so, for whoever it is out there in Moldova regularly checking out this Canadian girl's strange little daily adventures in yarn, this square's for you:

June 24, 2009


Thanks for stopping by!

Not gaining ground...

...but not losing any either!

I was going to try to make up for lost hooking today, but only managed to complete this briar rose square, another design from Jan Eaton's fabulous tome. There was just too much kitten wrangling going on to attempt much more that this, I'm afraid.

He likes yarn. And my older cat's tail. And hidden dusty places. And just generally tearing up the joint.

And I'm in love.

June 23, 2009


And since you asked so nicely, Shinny...

Dibley, 8.5 weeks.

So behind...

Ugh, seriously, I think I'm 6 squares behind now. Apparently spring, garden chores and a new kitten will do that to a well-meaning crocheter.

But I did manage to hook one of Jan Eaton's larger squares (from her 200 blocks book) tonight, so there's still hope.

I will catch up. I will. I will.


And now I'm off to kitten wrangle and call it a night.

Friday!!!

...and only one more sleep until kitten comes home! YAY!!!

But since this blog is about a crochet odyssey and not about my expanding home zoo, I shall attempt to reign myself in and talk yarn.

Variegated blue yarn, to be exact, which seems to work fairly well with this pattern. And that's not something I can say about all variegated yarn (browsing through the archives will prove this. In spades.). I think the structural simplicity of the pattern is what makes the changing colours work.

Blue. Did you know I have no idea if my new kitten is pink or blue? There seems to be some confusion which will need to be cleared up at the vet tomorrow. And I'm sure kitten will be happy because it will mean an end to people staring at his/her nether regions.

June 19, 2009


Yarn and kittens. Could life be sweeter?

Can hardly concentrate

I'm so excited about the new furry addition to the family coming home on Saturday morning that I can hardly concentrate on (or talk about) anything else.

But I did manage to settle myself down long enough to crochet this purple circle-in-a-square from 300 Classic Blocks for Crochet Projects. I almost stopped when it was just a circle (it was very pleasing at that point) but half-finished things bother me so I went all the way.

And lo and behold, it's pretty nice this way too.

June 18, 2009


The kitten's name is Dibley.

Observation deck

This looks a little like a Ferris wheel to me.

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

June 17, 2009


P.S. I used self-striping yarn. I'm not THAT sloppy with my colour changes...

Now I'm short three...

I really had no idea it would be this hard to keep up during spring. I had no idea the lure of the garden (as well as the occasional drudgery of its accompanying tasks) would have such an adverse effect on my ability to crochet a square a day.

Add to that a few commissioned crochet projects I've been trying to complete and preparation for bringing home a new kitten this coming weekend, and I'm totally behind the 8 ball.

But I'll make it up. I will.

Let's just hope the kitten doesn't like yarn.

Oy...

June 15, 2009


At least I was able to make time for this!

Still stuck in the 70s...

Look! Another decal-esque motif, but this time with little bobbles between the petals.

Can't get enough of the 70s...

June 13, 2009


And on that note, I'm off to watch Donnie & Marie while I sew rainbow patches on my jeans.

Flashback

Today's motif totally looks like a bathtub decal, circa 1973 or so.

I remember my Mom putting a garden of the rubbery little flowers on the bottom our denim-blue tub (which was right beside the denim-blue toilet - God love an era that dyed bathroom fixtures psychedelic colours just for fun) to prevent slips.

The decals echoed the huge purple and white flowers on the shower curtain and window coverings, which in turn matched the flowery blue and white towels in our 1973 bathroom.

I kid you not.

Oh my sweet Lord, I miss the 70s in the absolute worst way.

Being able to recreate a tiny little reminder of that magical (and flowery) decade while sitting on my couch all the way over here in 2009 is utterly priceless.

June 11, 2009


The hairstyles of the 70s. Yeah, those were priceless too.

Close but no cigar

I'm not sure what happened here. The pattern is correct, the hook is the right size, the tension is fine, but something's still clearly very wrong because this is supposed to be laying flat, not all puffed up in the middle.

I secretly kind of like the fact that it's dimensional, but I'm not really sure what to do with a partially puffy flower.

June 10, 2009


Maybe I should look for a partially puffy gardener to give it to.

As luck would have it, I missed yesterday so I can kill two birds with one stone today. First, I can make up the missing motif, and secondly I can redeem myself by demonstrating that I can crochet un-puffy motifs when I put my mind to it.

June 9, 2009


My only mistake here was taking the photo at night. Mint green washes out very easily at dusk, apparently. But at least it's laying flat.

I've been hooking...

...I just haven't been blogging about it.

Here, I can prove it:

June 6, 2009



June 7, 2009



June 8, 2009



See? Told you.

Moment to moment

Sometimes I'm amazed at the way a pattern magically transforms itself into a really beautiful little piece of art right before my eyes. And my fingers.

Maybe I'm a simpleton, but I don't always pay close enough attention to a pattern to truly "get" how it's going to go from the words and abbreviations on the page to the completed motif I see pictured in the book.

I don't always ready ahead, is what I'm trying to say. So each new round generates an "ah-ha!" moment as I sloooowly discover the way the block is being built.

Which is exactly what happened with this little star motif.

I knew what it was going to look like before I started - I chose the pattern based on the picture in the book, after all. And yet somehow it still seemed to spin and tumble from my fingers in a way that surprised and delighted me at every turn.

This is also the way I watch movies. I'm only critical after the fact, dissecting plot lines, critiquing performances, giving thumbs up or down on my way out of the theatre. While I'm watching the movie, I'm very much in the moment - not thinking too much about what might happen next, no matter how obvious the next twist might be.

But I don't think in the moment is always a bad place to be. I think entirely too much (and not always constructively), so when I find activities that keep me good and rooted in the present, enjoying each tick of the clock without anticipating the next, I fall into them like a great fluffy bed. And relax.

June 5, 2009


Now if only I could find a job where I'm paid to sit around watching movies and crocheting...

I can explain...

I missed a day. And I still haven't fully caught up from the last time I missed a few days. As a matter of fact, I'm now short two squares.

But at least I'm keeping track, right?

Knowing you have a problem is half the battle, they always say. My problem is two missing squares, and I promise to rectify the situation. Soon. Well, sooner or later, anyway.

My excuse, because of course I do have one, is that I've been trying to finish up a special order (a crocheted monkey for a little birthday girl), and I used my hooking time yesterday for that instead of a square.

See? Totally legitimate.

The good news is that the monkey is finally completed. But, uh the lamb who's next in the queue needs my attention now.

There's always something.

Thank goodness...


June 4, 2009


At least there was time for this flowery green square today between all my monkeying around.

A busy day...

...so a simple square.

It's always so cozy to sneak back to a familiar pattern like the granny square. I don't have to think about anything except what colours I want to use.

And sometimes the less thinking, the better.

Seriously. This is a lesson I've learned in spades.

June 2, 2009


Nothing wrong with relying on a little granny square help every now and then. Nothing at all.

Triumphant return

In honour of my Sibling's return from a fabulous 14-day European vacation yesterday (because if the hour of home video we watched last night is any indication, it was an incredible trip indeed!), I give you Lady Catherine, from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks.

Really, it should be Catherine with a "K", but we'll forgive Ms. Eaton for not knowing the correct spelling of my sister's name.

Everyone makes mistakes.

May 31, 2009


Welcome home, Lady K! oxox


Because no one came home from anywhere special today and it was just a very ordinary (and party rainy) Monday, I also give you this simple purple square.

June 1, 2009


Mondays are just kind of like that, aren't they?