My Week in Photos #2

Love is all you need
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Sunrise at Virginia Beach

❤

Bitty crochet!

Sunsets in Manassas 

My Week in Photos #1

I found some great shoes at the thrift store.

Arwen has enjoyed chewing on my garlic plant.

Nordic Shawl progress.

An epic Jenga game with a friend.

Made a new Labbit friend.

Lake George blanket progress.

Roses.

Isaac Mizrahi yarn is now available at Michael's.

I couldn't resist.

It was begging to be knit into a chunky scarf.

Nordic Shawl: Beginnings

After waiting, getting rid of bags of yarn, buying new yarn, and waiting for that to arrive, I've finally been able to start my Nordic Shawl!

Here are the first few rounds.  I'm using yarn that's a bit thinner than what she used, so it's coming out smaller.  It really bothered me at first, but I'll either have a scarf, or just have to add extra rounds.  I've read on Ravelry others who have added rounds, and it seems to work okay in the pattern, no complicated math involved.

And here are my colors.  I'm using Knit Picks Palette in Silver for the main body, the Blossom Heather, Tumeric, Cream, Edamame, Ash, and Pool for the color part.  

My Rose Valley just made some Nordic style wrist warmers, so I think I'll make a matching pair. 

I'm excited to see how this comes out! 

Happy crafting! 

Lake George

I've decided the nature themed afghan is going to be one that represents Lake George.

Lake George is beautiful, my favorite place in the world, in upstate New York, the Adirondack Mountains.  My grandparents had a house on the lake, but we've unfortunately had to sell it.  

So these grannies will remind me of the lake, the mountains, and being out in pure nature.

Here's a stack of 33 grannies I've done so far.

The plan is to do 99, 11 of each color, to make a 10x9 blanket.  

I've got my eye on some green for joining and the border; maybe I can make a ripply one with some of the blues.

I'm really excited about this! 

Around here we have...

...a yummy snuggly squishy wool blend working up on large needles.

I'm thinking it'll come out like this:

Except garter stitch.

...84 squares of my mom's kaleidoscope blanket! 

It's so pretty!  She has some really great color combinations in there.

I want to sneak it for myself!

...a natural/neutral themed blanket.

Mom and I are slowly but surely working through the acrylic stash.

The next one to conquer is cotton.  

I have so many little balls of Sugar 'n Creme and Peaches 'n Creme, I could start a store. 

Also this:

Pip has 8 extra legs!

Happy crafting x o

Some crochet things

Seems like I have a bit of projects going on at the moment, all of them no where near being finished, but does that stop me from making some scrap grannies today?  Nope.  

Granny Iris, regular granny, Granny Iris again, Granny Edna, Granny Florence, and another Edna

Not sure if I mentioned before, the Simply Crochet Granny Square-a-Week app squares I was doing.  I had an afghan in mind, but seeing my mom make granny squares for her own blanket inspired me to do 9 grannies and make a pillow.

For the back it's going to be one big granny square.  I should be finished it, but I'm using Red Heart Super Saver and it's really rough and is taking me forever.  The scrap grannies I made today were made using Lion Brand Wool-Ease and I made 6 with no problem.  My leftover RHSS might be heading to the thrift store.  Acrylic yarn doesn't have to feel like it's made of wound up plastic bags!

My mom made her first granny square!   She's been making a lot more,

and I believe it has turned from a pastel shaded lapghan to a kaleidoscope blanket.  It's coming along really nicely.

The first few rounds and colours I'm using to make Winkie's Beach Bag.  She had a crochet-a-long going on with it, check it out HERE.

A Blythe sweater, (my first intarsia !!!), with the unfinished flag of Brazil for the World Cup.  I wish I had finished this earlier, but I believe when I was finishing this up Brazil was being slammed by Germany in the semis.  Now I need to hurry up and make some Liverpool ones before August 16 when their season starts!

My current line up of my granny daughter blanket.  I bought two Pound of Loves in black so the joining will all be the same color, and am doing a pattern of variegated, solid, variegated.  Here is what I had already completely, but there's two different blacks and it really started to bother me:

And when I was looking for that I found my blanket made out of hexagons!  

Crosses fingers some of these will be FOs this year!

Sewing!

My current mood has been:

And I've been obeying it!  I just knit a Blythe sweater, and yesterday I decided to pull out my sewing machine.  I thought it was broken, but all it was was a messed up bobbin.  Turns out it wasn't winded properly.  

After a quick fix, I dove into my "rainbow stash."  I have 8 or so baggies with fabric scraps according to their color.  I know I got the inspiration from crazy mom quilts, though I have no idea where that post is, especially since I've had these baggies since...2009?  

I decided to freeform sew them, then cut them down later and make a rainbow scrap quilt.  I never knew just how hard it is to freeform; to just pick up scraps and sew them together willy nilly and see what you come up with.  The green one isn't that freeform-y, but if I was doing a different project I know I wouldn't put those together, but for this scrappy-ness, it works. 

For example, I had no idea I had fabric with hippos!

This yellow was the first, and I call this one actual freeform.  It probably isn't, but it's freeform for me.  The different shades, the different patterns, aghh! I don't know why it isn't bothering me as much as I thought it would.  (Though looking at this picture the scrap on the bottom left looks out of place...)

I took some close-ups of this beautiful fabric I have with jolly folks frolicking, but as I uploaded it I realized it wasn't as sweet as I thought.  For example, is this fellow's head facing the wrong way?

"What did you say about my red horse?!  I heard you, don't make me come back."

And the couple is cute, but is that guy on the right drunk?

Yanke...*hiccup*...doodle dangey...*burp*

Oh well, I love it regardless.  I have new needles now, so I'm going to get working.

Happy Fourth!