Here's something I didn't think I could do with granny squares:
I've done this cap twice now - once in the green seen here and I have one done in purples. It's really a lot of fun. What am I saying - most everything we do in knit/crochet is fun.

Did I tell you the fabulous Melissa took up crochet a few months back and is well on the way to being a crochet fiend? I kid you not - her first real project was this vest thing which involved some intricate work. The wonderful Vickie is proud of us.

Yesterday, I finished six things. A scarf that the pattern said should take about four hours to crochet took about 2.5 and then I made six face scrubbies out of cotton just to see if I could read the picture I saw of them. They were fun to make so I kept going until there were five of them...then I went to bed because I didn't think I could explain to Mr. Honey why staying up to crochet face scrubbies was different and somehow not as logical as the other reasons I stay up knitting and crocheting.

The date has been set for the Fourth Annual SIt and Knit - May 14. If you are in the Chicago area and want to sit on the veranda of a beautiful mansion in a park setting, then grab your needles and hooks and come on out. Miss Vickie will be heading up the project this year and it's chemo caps for Loyola Hospital! I am hoping spring will be truly here by then. Last year, it was a little cold so we were in the dining room in the mansion instead of outside. It is so much better outside!

Tonight is knit group and once again we will be at the mall in the Food Court. I feel as if I haven't seen them in a while even though it was just a few weeks ago. I think it's because I was laid up. As much as I love just being able to veg and knit, the human contact thing is rather important. And even though I was in class on Saturday with a group of very inspirational people, sometimes you just need your homies around you.
I will be seeing my homies this evening and I will have my baby sweater project in tow - that's right, I am going to cast on a baby sweater. I haven't made one in - probably years. It's for a small baby so I will have to have another project ready just in case I finish this one off before tonight. Though I don't think I will.

Mr. Honey is hovering which means he wants to use my laptop with the faster connection than his dial-up. We have the same Internet provider and for just $5 more a month, his laptop can be upgraded but he doesn't want that. Go figure.

The (Stash) Terminator

I have once again decided to get on track and make a sincere effort at busting the stash. Despite the recent purchases that add to the stash, I have now decided to be mature and stick to what I said I wanted to do. So, I had this great idea. (Can you tell this is already in trouble?) Since I am working on this ribbed afghan that has a 32 row and 12 row pattern that I would take a skein of yarn and work a 32 or 12 row pattern with the skein (keeping in the pattern, of course.) and then I would take the remaining yarn and start making this crochet wagon wheel granny square that I saw on Knit and Crochet Today. It looked like a pretty big square on the t and v and that would certainly take up some yarn. Besides, it looked really pretty and it would add to my crochet square library (which until now I didn't even know I was building) and it seemed like fun.

So I attempted and finally succeeded at making the wagon wheel granny square. The directions on the show are different than the directions written on the site. One because they never give you row by row on the show - they are always running out of time. I never understood why don't just stick with one thing for the whole time to make sure we really get it. Do they think we are going to have that short of an attention span? It is far more irritating when they rush their guest through something or half explain it and say the rest of the pattern can be found on the website. If I wanted to go the website, that's where I'd be. Oh well. That's another post.

What I ended up doing was printing out the pattern and watching the show at the same time and then really taking a close look at the photograph in order to figure out what they were saying. In the end, the first attempt is a little skewed but I like it and I've already made another one in another color because I am trying to bust a second skein.

I may be on to something. The skein is considerably smaller but there is enough there to taunt me into thinking I've really gained nothing. Of course, I didn't start off with a new skein or I would have a great deal of it left. The natural fiber yarn has something to say. It is housed in it's own place and I can hear it snicker at me that the acrylic yarn has many, many yards to it, making it rather common and because it is common, it will take a great deal of work to get rid of it. While the natural fiber skeins are smaller but oh so much more intense. If I used the natural fiber, I would be done with it by now. I am not sure the natural fiber understands that the case for itself is also the case against itself.

The solution could be to knit one more thing. I am thinking this might be a good time to make baby hats and booties. A simple baby hat with a simple pair of booties. I'm thinking baby stuff because baby stuff is always needed and they would be easy to knit up and make and have ready for the next sale in a couple of weeks.

I need to know when I have officially busted a skein. Is it when there is not enough there to make anything else? Or does it all have to disappear? I tend to think it's when there's not enough to do except use it to seam something or make a pom-pom. Which means I'm down one skein of buttercup or whatever color it is.

One down. 4957 to go - including the naturals.
Victory is imminent.

Instant Classic

I don't know how they did it. Back in the day when knitting and quilting wasn't done for fun - it was done because folks were cold and they needed something to keep them warm because there was no thermostat to turn up.

Back then, they did have granny squares and used them to make the necessary beautiful not just to make a beautiful piece. I admire them as I made this for nothing but love.

I have some of the afghans Mr. Honey's mom made and I see simple patterns with a nice array of colors. She made hers for the recreation but there's something of a functionality to them as well. The one on his chair has the squares arranged randomly and it doesn't matter if two squares of the same color are next to each other.

I love the mosaic feel to this one and at the same time, I like that the next one uses only four colors and will not be quite so rustic. I also agree that using a dark color other than black for the background makes the colors pop in a more dynamic way. All of the M-I-L afghans have a black background and they are handsome but the black makes a blend that doesn't happen with another dark color. Interesting the things you learn.

This afghan is huge. It is 9x9 and the squares are 7 inches each. That should go on a bed just fine. It's not going on my bed, we already have a hand crocheted cover from one of the M-I-L's best friends. This will go up for sale in the shop. Can't wait to see how this prices out: 3 skeins of one pound and about 15 different colors. This will be exciting. Believe it or not, I don't think it will price out to $100.

A nifty instant classic heirloom for someone.

Stash Buster Update

Another chance. Everyday is another chance to get it right. To try and get it right. So it is today that I have another chance to do the things I know I need to do and to do them the way I know I need to do them.

My resolution was to bust the stash and I am glad to say there are two skeins that are gone and another that is about to disappear. But as I have previously stated, I am really surprised at how little yarn has disappeared in the making of a granny square afghan.

After all, they say crochet takes up more yarn than knitting so I expected the yarn to vanish into thin air, or at least into thin squares. When that wasn't happening, at least to my expectations, I decided to use just a few colors over and over. That didn't work either, so I narrowed it down to just one skein. I would do this one skein at a time. I choose a white skein of Red Heart (I have a very limited supply of Red Heart from the beginning of my knitting resurgence.) I used this skein in every square until it ran out. That one little skein, not even a complete skein had to make it into at least a dozen squares. That's a lot. This stash busting thing is going to take a bit of work.
In the meantime, I started another stash busting afghan, this one a ribbed afghan and I used the white yarn in that one, too. 2 x4 rib for more than 40 rows and I still have gotten rid of it completely. There is still a small bit of that white yarn left. Today I am back to working on the afghan so I should be able to finish it off and select another color to kill.

Let me say this - the afghan is only half done. What you see in the photo is 9x5. It looks full but it isn't. There are 4 more strips to go. I want to make it a square 9x9. Only fitting to make squares square - I mean, come on.

Let me say this, too. Taking a photo of an item you're working on, gives you a different perspective. There are things I like about the eclectic look of the afghan and things I'd rather not repeat and won't repeat for the next one I have in mind but each square is a jewel; a little splash of color and I like them. I like making the squares, too. They are fast, can be modified in subtle and bold ways and look like an instant classic. No wonder they are back in fashion.

They're retro cool!

Vicki Rules!

I truly believe the greatest blessing you can get out of a group situation is to connect with someone as a friend. Someone you would be glad to hang out with outside of the group. For as much as we need the company of others - sometimes you just want the company of someone. Some one.

Lucky me - I'd be happy to hang out one on one with everyone in my knitting group (well, everyone I know. I haven't met all 120 of them.) I'd especially be thrilled to hang out with Miss Vicki because Miss Vicki crochets.

I do not know when this crochet bug bit me but we all know it was recently and I was really happy because I made my round crochet motifs and I was as happy as a clam...

but I wanted to make a granny square and last Wednesday night Miss Vicki showed me how. Yes, I've made these since Wednesday night...and this isn't all of them. I am not bragging, I want that to be known, I just cannot believe how easy this has turned out to be .

I have tried fiddling with the design to put a unique spin on it but that hasn't worked out yet, though I am confident I may come up with something if the attention span doesn't run out. Bit this is so much fun! I cannot believe I had learned something which has eluded me for years.

Miss Vicki doesn't read the blog, so she doesn't know I've gone granny square manic. Hopefully I will have something more to show her than a bunch of squares the next time I see her.

This is a testament to her teaching skill. She was very patient with me as I questioned almost everything and my brain went into lock down and she cheered me on when I finally got it. All these squares are not perfect - but they are perfectly cute and that's going to be close enough for me.

Thanks Miss Vicki for hanging out with the group and teaching me how to do something fun!

Because I'm Not Obsessed Enough

Yes, it's crochet! Go ahead, oooh and awwww. I was watching episodes of Knit and Crochet Today and Needlearts Studio I have saved on my DVR and they made granny squares (and circles) look pretty easy.

Now, let me say the reason I gave up crochet, which I used to like better than knitting, was because I couldn't get the hang of a granny square. They used to befuddle me. I didn't get how come other folks were getting a square while I was getting a cup. For whatever reason, my brain couldn't understand the instructions and so I gave up crochet. That, and because my ends were always wonky which is still a problem. But with age comes wisdom and so I picked up the crochet hook and decided to give it another shot. Not surprising, the solution was quite simple.

In the first round, make the stitches in the circle and not in the weave.

That was the entire solution to the problem and I made a couple of sample squares that I pulled out and made again and then made these...and of course I purchased a book of crochet motifs. Because what I really need is an excuse to go out and fill in my crochet hook inventory with the missing hooks of the set.

What is really touching about getting this down is that my late mother-in-law loved crochet more than she love knitting. Part of what she left behind is her inventory of crochet hooks including a beautiful wooden one. Joe gave me those crochet hooks and now I can use them for more than just making a trim. She also left behind a huge bunch of small circle motifs and I can now make more of them and also connect them and make them into a blanket or more likely a table runner that we can take from house to house during our Nana Christmas celebration and a little bit of her will go on and when I go north, it can go to her eldest granddaughter and so on and so on. Not that I have anything against male grandchildren, I just kinda know how my M-I-L would think and I want to do what I am sure she would do.

I'm really grateful I tried it again. I don't care what anyone says, I don't think God is in the details, I think God is the detail and whatever and however we conceive Him to be, trust is always rewarded on a timetable we don't always understand. I need to trust more because look what happens.