Pathways - Block 2 Done

I ended up home from work again today.  Another migraine.  It has been a bad month for them.  This one was more nausea than headache, so I decided to finish the second Pathways block.  Crochet seems to help keep my mind off my stomach.

Pattern:  Pathways by Donna Kay Lacey, July 2012 Block, Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club
Yarn:  Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Clay and Sky
Hook:  2.75 mm

This finishes up the last of the Tinsel Toes blocks that I have in my stash.  Now I have to lay them out and start sewing.  Next up, the Pashmi blocks.  I have three in my stash.

Pathways - Block 1 Done

Yesterday, after finished up the second Suspended Squares block I decided to start on the last set of Tinsel Toes blocks that I currently have in my stash.  This is the July 2012 block by Donna Kay Lacey from The Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club. The colors are Clay and Sky.  Once I figured out the pattern this was pretty easy.  I will confess that I had some trouble with the start, but I have thought of a better way to do it, taking a page from my beading techniques.  You see, you have to make an adjustable loop and then do 12 single crochets around the loop and then cinch it tight.  I just did a slip knot loop on this square, but on the next one I am going to make a separate loop of yarn, and actually loop it around twice, which should allow me to cinch it without getting any weird bumps or discontinuities.

Pattern:  Pathways by Donna Kay Lacey, July 2012 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Clay and Sky
Hook:  2.75 mm

And here is a beauty shot of the Suspended Squares blocks, also by Donna Kay Lacey.

This morning while I was downstairs exercising I noticed a wolf spider on the inside of the window screen (the window was closed).  I stopped and watched him (her? it?) for a while.  It was raining and water was beading on the screen and I watched the spider wash its legs.  It was cool.  A little while later the spider appeared to be looking for a way out, so I opened the window to pop the screen open and the little rascal came inside rather than going outside.  So I had to capture it and release it outside.  Fortunately I had my bug capturing tools close to hand - an old Chinese soup container and a piece of cardboard.  The capture was easy and, after showing the spider to my husband, I released it on the front porch, where it scampered away.

Picture of bug capturing tools, without bugs.

Suspended Squares - Block 2 Done

This has not been a terribly productive week for me.  You know the saying "sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you" well this was one of those weeks where it definitely felt like the bear was getting me.  I got a migraine with visual aura on Tuesday, during my morning telecon.  Let me tell you, it is hard to focus when you are seeing an arc of scintillating diamonds in your right visual field.  The visual aura only lasts about 20 or 30 minutes, and I always take an Excedrin Migraine as soon as I  notice it, but I still get the headache and nausea and the only thing I can do is go home and take a nap.  Which is exactly what I did.  Fortunately I don't get those kind of migraines very often.  I think I've only had 4 now in the last couple of years.  Unfortunately, they really wipe me out.

But, I did manage to work on a few projects.  I knit a few rows on my Gedifra sweater, and a few more rows on my Rose Bud shawl.  I am on the last skein of leftovers on that one.  I ordered some green for the border, but it hasn't arrived yet.  And I finished the second Suspended Squares crochet block.  I really enjoyed this pattern.  It was a bit different from the others that I have done.  I have gained a lot of confidence in my crochet skills, which was the whole point of joining this club to begin with.  I also finally received the August Crochet Block, although they had to send me a replacement shipment as my original shipment never arrived.  I have one more Tinsel Toes block in my stash and then I will start on another fiber.  I will probably do the Pashmi blocks next because I have already made up one set of those.

Pattern:  Suspended Squares by Donna Kay Lacey, May 2012 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Sunup and Sundown
Hook:  2.75 mm

Suspended Squares - Block 1 Done

Well, it seems that I couldn't stay away from the crochet for very long. After I got started on the front upper section of my Gedifra project I decided to take a little break from that and whip up another crochet block.  This is the May 2012 block from The Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club (have you joined yet?).  It was a pretty quick project.  I've never done one this lacy.  Makes me think I can go back and do the Unique Sheep Mystery Crochet Along that I signed up for last year and then didn't tackle because the instructions intimidated me.  Plus I got Marici for the project, which is pure silk.  Silly me.  I should know better than to tackle something new with an unforgiving yarn.  Maybe I'll order some different yarn for the project.  After all, you can never have too much Unique Sheep yarn in your stash.

Project:  Suspended Squares by Donna Kay Lacey, May 2012 Crochet Block from The Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club
Yarn:  Tinsel Toes in Sundown and Sunup
Hook:  2.75 mm

And here are some beauty shots of the other blocks that I have made recently:

Project:  December Rose by Melinda Miller, December 2011 Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn:  Tinsel Toes in Conifer and December Berry
Hook:  2.75 mm

Project:  Mother's Corsage by Melinda Miller, May 2011 Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn:  Tinsel Toes in Coral Tulip and Tulip Leaf
Hook:  2.75 mm

Gedifra 1376 - Mayra Lacy Sweater

After whipping out a couple of crochet blocks I was at a loss as to what to work on next.  Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of works in progress sitting around, it was just that none of them really appealed to me.  After some thought I pulled out this project which has been hibernating for quite some time.  According to my Ravelry project page I started this project on July 15, 2009.  I did the body in the round, working the single increases and then set it aside when I had to start the cast on increases for the sleeves.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to do the increases.  Fast forward three years.  I ended up doing a knitted cast on.  The other big challenge was the lace chart.  There are both horizontal and vertical repeats.  The horizontal repeats are marked, but the explanation was not that great.  The vertical repeat was not really marked, although they do mention it in the pattern instructions.  I ended up scanning the chart and printing out several copies so I could cut and tape them into a complete chart.

Pattern:  Gedifra 1376 from Moments 0209
Yarn:  Gedifra Mayra
Needles:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

December Rose - Block 2 Done

I almost finished the second block last night and then this morning I woke up early with nausea and hot flashes and crocheting kept my mind off of my stomach.  My blocks came out a little small so I added an extra row of double crochet.  After the last set of blocks I was so worried about running out of yarn, but not only did I do an extra row, I ended up with 2 grams of yarn left over.  Go figure.  If I ever do these blocks again I think I will add extra stitches to rounds 6 and 7.  When I was blocking the rose felt crowded and the block just didn't seem to want lay flat and square.

Pattern:  December Rose by Melinda Miller.  December 2011 Block from The Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club
Yarn:  Tinsel Toes in December Berry and Conifer
Hook:  2.75 mm

December Rose - Block 1 Done

I did another block this afternoon while watching Ginger Rogers, the star of the day on Turner Classic Movies today.  This is the December 2011 Block from The Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club.  This time I remembered to weigh the skeins before I started the block.  I have a full ounce of the red, and 7/8 of an ounce of the blue.  After making this block, I have 1/2 an ounce of the red and 5/8 of an ounce of the blue.  Definitely enough to complete the second block, but not much extra.  I also weighed the first Mother's Corsage block and it weighs exactly 1 ounce.

Pattern:  December Rose by Melinda Miller, December 2011 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn:  Tinsel Toes in December Berry and Conifer
Hook:  2.75 mm

Mother's Corsage - Block 2 Done

So last night I was working away on this block when I ran out of the Tulip Leaf on the last side of the last row.  I have a fair bit of left over Tinsel Toes yarn in my stash so I grabbed the silver from the last Unique Sheep Christmas Shawl and finished out the row.  In this picture the silver is pretty obvious, but when the yarn is dry it blends in better.  I also almost ran out of the Coral Tulip.  I did not weight the yarn before I started, but I will weigh the blocks after they are dry.  This is the first time that I have run out of yarn on one of these blocks.  The colors in this picture are actually pretty garish, the real blocks aren't but I couldn't fix the colors with the software that I currently have.  I even took the pictures in natural light, but I don't think my little camera handles the contrasting colors very well.  I noticed this with the Prairie Posey blocks as well.  Maybe it is time for an upgrade.

Pattern:  Mother's Corsage by Melinda Miller - May 2011 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club
Yarn:  Tinsel Toes in Tulip Leaf and Coral Tulip
Hook:  2.75 mm

Mother's Corsage - Block 1 Done

Well, I couldn't wait for the August block to arrive, so today I did this.  This is the May 2011 Block from The Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month.  It is annoying that my August block has not arrived, if it isn't here by Monday I will have to drop The Unique Sheep a note.  I did, however, get a new Namaste bag, the Harlowe.  More about that later.  And I also worked on my sock.

Pattern:  Mother's Corsage by Melinda Miller
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Tulip Leaf and Coral Tulip
Hook:  2.75 mm

Luxe Crochet Block Throw

I added my latest blocks to my throw.  And no, I am not making a windmill, I just didn't want to put the two pinks close together because they are such different pinks.  Hopefully the next blocks that come will enable me to fill in those  gaps.

Blocks so far:
January 2011: Cameo Flower by Melinda Miller
August 2011: Tangled Threads by Melinda Miller
April 2011: Blooming Beauty by Melinda Miller
March 2012: Prairie Posey by Margaret MacInnis

I did take a shot of the two Prairie Posey blocks together before I sewed them into place.

Prairie Posey - Block 2 Done

Block 2 done and blocking.  This catches me up on the Luxe Crochet blocks, unless, of course, the August block that went out this past Monday uses Luxe yarn.  I'll go ahead and wind the yarn for the Tinsel Toes blocks that are next in my queue but I probably won't start them until after the August blocks arrive.  In the meantime I think I will work on the latest socks from the Knitterati Sock club.

Pattern:  Prairie Posey by Margaret MacInnis, The Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month Club, March 2012
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Zinnia and Iris
Hook:  2.75 mm

Prairie Posey - Block 1 Done

This is the first of the 2012 blocks that I have made, and the first by a designer other than Melinda Miller.  I did find this block a little bit challenging.  I learned some new techniques, and I will admit that I did fudge things here and there, but overall I am very pleased with how it came out.  The nice thing about finishing this block is that it means I can add a picture to my Ravelry project page.  For some reason projects without pictures makes me sad.

Pattern:  Prairie Posey by Margaret MacInnis, March 2012 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn:  Luxe in Zinnia and Iris
Hook:  2..75 mm

Knitterati Mystery 4 - Finished

I am continuing to work my way through my unfinished projects.  This is the latest mystery knit from the Knitterati Sock Club by Janel Laidman.  Knit in Zen Yarn Garden Squooshy, in the January 2012 Art Walk Sock Club yarn - Calla.  I used almost the entire skein, which in my mind makes this a perfect project.  I really hate having left over yarn.  I won't throw it away, but I don't know what else to do with it.  I know that a lot of folks are making the hexapuffs for the Beekeepers Quilt, but for some reason that just doesn't appeal to me.  Although while I was searching for the link I found a crocheted version, the Hexapuff Lap Quilt, that I find more appealing.  I just need to figure out a better way of joining the hexapuffs than tying them at the corners.  For some reason that just bugs me.

Project:  Knitterati Mystery 4, by Janel Laidman
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Squooshy, 420 yards/115 g
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Whippoorwill Shawl - Finished!

I spent all day yesterday working on this, but I finished it.  Fortunately they were running Marilyn Monroe movies on TCM all day (summer under the stars).  She was such an amazing woman, smart, talented and with that luminous beauty and that incredible combination of innocence and sensuality.  There will never be another like her.  Today is the 50th anniversary of her death, she was only 36.  I always wonder if she would have kept her iconic status if we had seen her age, if we had seen her humanity.

I used my ultra fine super long blocking wires from in-spin-knit-y to block the shawl.  It made getting that nice wavy edge super easy.  I simply threaded the wires through that last row of eyelets and only had to use one pin at the peak of each wave.

Pattern:  Whippoorwill by Carina Spencer
Yarn:  madelinetosh tosh sock, 367.4 yards (335.9m) of Robin's Egg and 209.4 yards (191.4m) of Baltic, total yardage 576.8 (527.3 m)
Needle:  US 6 (4mm)

Whippoorwill Shawl - Section 2 Done

I have decided to try and get this project finished this weekend.  Mostly I just want to get it done.  I think between work and knit-alongs and clubs I just feel generally over-committed.  On the bright side, it was nice waking up this morning with no nausea or migraine.

Project:  Camp Loopy 2012 Project 3 - Whippoorwill by Carina Spencer
Yarn: madelinetosh tosh sock in Robin's Egg and Baltic
Needle:  US 6 (4mm)

Whippoorwill Shawl - Section 1 Done

This is my third Camp Loopy 2012 project.  500 yards, at least 2 colors, and a pattern I haven't done before.  The yarn is madelinetosh tosh sock in Robin's Egg and Baltic.  An easy knit, which has been okay this week as I've had a migraine for the last three days.  I think (hope) that it is finally going away, it actually caused me to miss work.  The pattern is Whippoorwill by Carina Spencer, needle size is US 6 (4.0 mm).