ETC Design Challenge -- Summer Magic!

Etsy Texas Crafters is having their monthly Design Challenge right now! The theme is Summer Magic! So what magic does Summer hold for you?

I entered three items in the Design Challenge. My Neapolitan Stripe Scarf:

Market Bag in Marshmallow (a brand-new design!):

Partly Sunny Motif Scarf (another brand-new design!):

All of my entries are available for sale at The Lavender Lizard! And there are tons of other great entries! Please stop by the challenge page and vote for your favorite! (The link to the poll is at the bottom of the challenge page.)

Oh, and the top vote-getters will win prizes, one of which I'm donating -- their choice of my 3pack lip balm holders! So please help us decide the winners by voting and look for the August Design Challenge -- Elements! Thanks!

Another Primo Afghan Complete!

I'm just so excited to be finished with this:

It literally took four hours over the course of two evenings (and two Ranger baseball games) to weave in all of the ends of this afghan. It is my least favorite chore of finishing a project.

What's up next? Here's a sneak peek:

Baby Boy Blanket

I confess: I'm a bit of a yarn snob. Not in the "I only use $15 a skein yarn" way, but more like the yarn I use must feel soft. I admit that I avoid anything labelled "acrylic." Usually.

Then I found Cotton Ease by Lion Brand Yarn. It's made of 50% cotton and 50% acrylic, and it feels thick and luxurious, almost velvety. It has the softness of cotton with the durability of acrylic, and I thought it would be perfect for the custom order baby boy blanket a friend of mine requested.

My friend's sister-in-law is expecting her first baby soon, and my friend asked me to make a blanket for a baby shower gift. She left the colors and design up to me. So I hit the Lion Brand Yarn website for inspiration and found a super-cute pattern that I just fell in love with. (Note: you may have to sign into the LYB website to see the pattern.) The only problem was the girly colors they used, but I soon fixed that!

I chose these 6 colors:

From left to right and top to bottom: seaspray, almond, lime, maize, lake, and violet.

I started working the pattern, which is a simple ripple design with double-crochets. After using just the first three colors (seaspray, almond, and lime), I decided these were sweet for a baby boy.

But I was curious about how the rest of the colors would look together, so I made a swatch that included the dark purple and denim blue (violet and lake). I love the way these five colors look together. They are perfect for an older boy. DS3 liked it too, so I promised him his own blanket.

Then I added the gold (maize) to the mix. I'm not sure the gold adds much to the boyish blues. I think I will save it for another project, probably mixing it with purple and reds and browns for an autumn look.

And here's the finished baby blanket:

I just repeated the stripe pattern using seaspray, almond, and lime, and ended with seaspray. Another choice could be to alternate the almond color between the seaspray and lime. (That would "lighten" up the design.) I also made it longer and wider than the pattern called for because I like to think the child will use this for many years to come.

Kinsler Deserves to go to All-Star Game!

Hard to believe, I know, but Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler was left off the American League All-Star Roster.

Please help me vote him in! Thanks!!!

Happy 4th of July!

To celebrate the 4th of July weekend, I have extended my $5 sale at The Lavender Lizard! There are some really great buys -- some items have been marked down 50%!!



Also another selection of items have free shipping (either USPS First Class or First Class International). Those items (some are new listings!) can be found my searching for "julyfreeship" in my shop.



Oh, and check out this super-lovely blog -- oh hello, friend! The Lavender Lizard is featured along with 5 other terrific shops, all of whom are having holiday weekend sales. You'll notice that one of the other shops featured is none other than my good friend Connie/ReFabulous! Her shop is full of recycled/reclaimed goodies. Let's see....I have her pincushions, her rose and lavender sachets, and my latest find -- a gorgeous tote!! (No surprise here, I keep it full of yarn! I've been planning on photographing it, so be sure to check back.) I'm sure you will love Connie's shop as much as I do!

Both the $5 sale and free shipping offer will expire on Sunday, July 5, just in time to get ready for ETC's First Monday Sale!

Have a terrific holiday weekend!