WIP Wednesday

This week I am crocheting a little more.  I finished my last radiation treatment today.  My oncologist encouraged me to keep as active as I can, so I consider crocheting a therapy for my cancer.  :-)

I started a new Corner to Corner baby blanket, using more yarn from my stash and a pattern from Ravelry.  I have used Simply Soft yarn in Baby Bright Ombre and Snuggly Wuggly yarn in Soft Lilac so far.  I am almost to the point where I will start decreasing, to make a rectangle.  I ended up buying more yarn today, as I ran out of the Simply Soft yarn.  I hope it will blend in.

My other project, Granny's Favorite prayer shawl, is 2/3 done.  I have crocheted 162 squares into 18 rows of 9 squares each.  I have nine more rows to go.   I like how it looks like several nine-patch quilt blocks.

I finished reading Daughter of Twin Oaks by Lauraine Snelling.  I really enjoyed this book, with it's surprising ending.  I also finished another book on my Nook, The Preacher's Bride by Jody Hedlund. It is set in the 1600's, in England, around the time when the Puritans were being persecution by the Royalists.  At the end of the book, the author says the book is inspired by the story of John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrims Progress, and his second wife, Elizabeth.  I received both books for free from Book Bub and read them on my Nook Color.

I am sharing this post at the links on this page.

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Granny's Favorite Prayer Shawl Progress and a New WIP

Eight rows, 72 squares at this point.  I am glad I didn't commit to crocheting one a day or anything like that. 😃 In the last row, I made two two-colored squares.  I may keep doing that once and a while for variety.

My new project is the Eleanor Shrug, a pattern that I originally saw on Ravelry. I am using some yarn I bought at Big Lots a while ago.  I am making this for myself.

I am linking my post to the places listed on this page.


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WIPW~2/4/15

I have added several rows to the Granny's Favorite prayer shawl. Instead of crocheting two or three squares a day, I have been trying to do a row of nine squares.  So now I have 54 of 243 squares done.  I am liking the pattern more each time I add more squares .  After I had three rows done, I realized it looked like a nine patch quilt.

Having just finished a book about the years following the Civil War, I am now reading a book about a family during the Civil War.  I have recently realized how much I like historical fiction.  Daughter of Twin Oaks  is set in Kentucky, at the beginning of the war, where a teenager is thrust into an adult situation of keeping her family along with the beloved horses together and safe. I have just begun this book, but the vivid characters are already pulling me in.

I am linking this post to the sites on this page.

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WIP Wednesday ~ 1/28/15

Happy Hump Day!  I have an update on one project and the start of another.  I wasn't able crochet or blog for a week or two due to some time spent in the hospital.  I had a partial hip replacement as a complication of my cancer.  I am glad to be back to both and am on the road to recovery.

The first project is the prayer shawl I am crocheting using yarn scraps.  There are 20 of almost 250 squares, so I have a ways to go.  It will be twenty-seven by nine squares when finished.

My second project is a Star Blanket.  It is also made with yarn from my stash, using this pattern from Yarnspirations.  It is another blanket for a church mission project.

I have almost finished "The Measure of Katie Calloway."  It is interesting to read about the people of the lumber camps after the Civil War and how the aftermath continues to effect the people of the time.

I will be sharing these projects on my Sharing page.

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WIP Wednesday~1/14/15

I started another prayer shawl with all my left over worsted weight yarns.  This is another stash buster that will probably take a while to complete since each square is only 2 1/4".  I am using a pattern for an afghan called "Granny's Favorite" by Judy Bolin, but I am only going to make it 24" x 61" and the main color will be shades of off-white.  It is from a booklet called "Scrap Wraps" published by Leisure Arts. I have five squares finished.

I am reading a lot of books on my Nook.  The one I have recently started is a book called "The Measure of Katie Calloway" by Serena Miller.  It is a Christian Fiction book about a woman working as a cook in a lumber camp in the 1870s.  I got this book free from Book Bub and am really enjoying it so far

I am linking up with the sites on my Sharing Page and at Ginny's.


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Gingham Baby Blanket

I have fallen way behind on my Granny-a-Day Challenge.  Back in September, I bought a bag of granny squares already made for $3.  All I had to do was stitch them together.  There was probably more than 200.

I started with the white, light blue and dark blue squares, and based my blanket off a pattern in one of my granny square books.  I finished with a border of dc's in a soft fuzzy blue yarn from my yarn stash.

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Tuesday's Tallies/ GAD 2012/WIP

With school starting this week  and some personal issues, I have not done a lot of crocheting.  I am combining a couple of posts into one.  I have ten squares of my Granny's Corners project, and I still have scraps of pink yarn left to use.  I may even get a 4 square X 4 square group that I can crochet around.  I guess we will see...


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Stitches Midwest 2012

When I first heard of Stitches Midwest a year ago, I was actually up in the area where it was held, on the weekend when it was held, but I decided not to go at the last minute.  This year, I promised myself I would go, and I did.

This is a show/expo hosted by Knitting Universe, with several events and classes as well as a large market place.  I decided to only go to the market place for my first experience.  Next year I may decide to participate in a class.  There was plenty to do and see.  There were thousands of yards of yarn, hundreds of books and patterns, kits galore, wool  drop spindles, knitting needles, and other items too numerous to mention. There were "yarn tastings," demonstrations of techniques/gadgets  and appearances by some crochet celeb's~ Drew Emborsky, aka The Crochet Dude, and Kristin Ohmdahl.  There were also representatives from some charity organizations.

Project Linus is one of those groups.  They had an area as part of their booth where people could sit and crochet a granny square that would be added to other granny squares to make blankets.  The colors are red, white and blue, and the blankets that are made go to children that have lost a loved one who was in the military.

Ladies at the Project Linus booth, with a blanket and squares behind them.

I made sat down and made a square, in the Filet Starburst Pattern that I have been using lately.

I also learned a needle felting technique, and made a flower.  When I finished, I realized that the color of the flower would go perfectly on the purse that I had brought with me.

What a great experience!  I can't wait to go again next year.

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Granny Square Sundress

Another Granny-a-Day project, with 20 squares in the bodice, and granny stripes in the skirt.  The original pattern called for short sleeves, but I did my usual accomodations with the yarn I had.  Still haven't decided if I will gift it or donate it.

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Spearmint Candy Cardigan

Front

Although this little jacket started out with a completely  different pattern, I really like the end result.  I had some medium sized balls of scrap yarn, left over from other projects. One was a pink baby sport weight yarn and the other was Bernat Baby Jacquards in Spearmint Candy Print.  It looked like enough yarn to make the pattern I selected, but when I ran out of yarn, I had none left for the sleeves.  So I decided to make the whole thing out of granny squares, and had enough yarn, with a small ball of sport weight white, to make the baby sweater with short sleeves.  Luckily, I had started with the 3 month size. :)

Back

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A Granny Square Shawl~Updated

I finished the second granny square shawl this past week.  It consists of 40 squares of different sizes, some from my BH & G Crocheting and Knitting book, some traditional squares, some from a book of designs I found online, and some I designed myself.  This is another shawl that will be given to my Prayer Shawl Ministry at church, and will be added to the other shawl and blanket I have done with my squares from the Granny-A-Day 2012 project.  I have about 30 squares still to catch up, having made 110 squares.  Next is a baby blanket of granny squares.

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Left side

Right side

Granny-A-Day 2012 Update

After I finished my baby blanket (in March), I got way behind on my Granny-a-Day 2012 project.  Recently, I have picked it up again.  I found that I had enough squares to put together a prayer shawl with some squares I had done last year (for another project that didn't get sent) as well as the finished squares from this year.  It is amazing that even with all the different colors combined, it actually looks like it goes together!

I added a couple more squares in the prayer shawl, and have started a third project.

Four Square

Square Motif

Square Motif Variation

Circle Motif

Star Motif Variation

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One a Day and Granny a Day

#8--Raspberry

#9--Turquoise

#10--Bright yellow

All joined

I decided to combine two posts into one.  I am crocheting a granny square each day for 2012, and planning on getting several baby blankets and prayer shawls from my efforts.  These squares are my Tuesday Tally for Carole's One a Day, and the latest squares for Ali's Granny a Day project.  The squares may not be square now, but they will be when I block them, after the blanket/shawl is finished.  Which do you think it should be~a baby blanket or a shawl?

Gingham Granny Baby Blanket

This is the finished project!  The pattern is adapted from The Great Granny Crochet Book published in 1984.     I changed the size, colors and border.  I really like how the yellow makes the pattern come out, and wanted the border to be more uniform with the rest of the design.  Now I have to get back to finishing that knitting project!