My Latest Projects, Cont.

Well, we all managed to survive the first week of school (and for me, the first time my sons were all at different campuses -- nervewracking!). I had very little time for crocheting this past week, but I realized it's been months since I blogged about my latest projects.

I'm working on a blanket for a special little girl. (Shhhhh - it's a surprise.) It's made in a waddle stitch (single crochet, chain 1, double crochet) pattern in alternating stripes of solid Orchid and a variegated yarn called Melonberry. Both colors are Red Heart Super Saver. I'm in love with the Melonberry palette: shades of pink, lavender, yellow, tan, and orange. Trust me, the picture does not do it justice! I think I'll be using Melonberry for something else real soon!




I'm working on a smaller blanket for a baby boy due to appear in October. It's a green and ivory striped blanket made with Eco-Ways from Red Heart. This is the first time I've used Eco-Ways, which is 30% polyester made from recycled plastic. So my green blanket is actually "green" too!
How cool is that!

I had an opportunity to create a custom beanie for a 4-year-old boy recently too. This was the photo his mom posted:

I guess he likes it! When I sent the beanie I included two angel ornaments:

The reason why is best told in Connie's words.

My Latest Projects

I'm happy to report that I have completed another afghan in the long-running and ever-growing list of blankets for the primos!

Plus the next one for the primos is almost complete; just 10 more rows to go.

In the meantime, I have started a baby blanket for a dear friend who is due in November (yay for Scorpios!). It's made with super-soft, super-plushy Buttercup yarn by Red Heart. I chose the white-multi color since I'm not sure of the baby's gender yet.

I also made a flower scarf for a gift using 2 colors of Loops and Threads (Michaels own brand) Impeccable Yarn, an ombre called Holland and a solid named Soft Fern:

And I liked the combo so much (reminds me of a fruit salad) I made a long, skinny scarf that will be listed at The Lavender Lizard.

The Latest WIPs

I was finally able to wrestle DS3's birthday blanket away from him to shoot a photo. He sleeps with it every night.

I used the five colors of yarn that I chose last year when I was working on a baby blanket for a friend's nephew. Originally, I thought I would make this in a ripple pattern (see below) but then I decided to make an oversized variation of a granny square. DS3 and I both love how it turned out!

This is the next primo blanket, a griddle stitch (alternating sc and dc) in purple, green, and yellow stripes. It reminds me of pansies!

I also recently finished a top (for me!) in a soft bamboo-blend yarn. I hope to post photos soon!

Four Down, Seven To Go

Here's the afghan I completed this week (#2 for the primos, if you're keeping count):

If you think I'm counting incorrectly, there was a change (and a few additions). Afghan #1 went to the first primo; afghan #2 was kept by my mom for herself (her excuse was that it matched her bedroom perfectly); afghan #3 was for my sister; and this just-completed one is afghan #4 for the second primo. So although the original plan was to make seven afghans for the primos (cousins), somehow four more were added to the list (two for Mom, one each for my two sisters).

That makes the score: four down and seven to go. Sounds daunting, but on the upside, #5 is already started, and #6 is a repeat of #4 with a different color scheme (which went very quickly)!

These projects are all temporarily on hold while I complete a quick entry for the Etsy Texas Crafters February Design Challenge. Sneak peek -- I'm combining these two very different yarns:

Stay tuned for a pic of the finished project and a link to the Design Challenge!

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:

WIPs and UFOs

My home is full of WIPs and UFOs. Before you get the wrong idea, WIPs are works in progress and UFOs are unfinished objects. Sounds like they are the same thing, but really UFOs are WIPs that have been tossed in a drawer and left untouched for a period of time. I admit I just looooove to start new projects, sometimes before the current ones are complete.

So to that end, I decided to finally finish some loooooong standing projects. I can't tell you how many years ago I started this cross-stitch sampler, but the magazine with the pattern on the cover is from 1988.

It sat unfinished for many, many, many years. I finally finished it recently, but I made a design change (gone are the teddies!). Now I just have to frame it! Yay!

I also finished Afghan 1 for los primos (the cousins). My mother asked me to make 7 afghans for her 1st cousins (children of her father's brother). Out of the 21(!) children born to my great-grandparents, only my grandfather and my great-uncle Nat lived to adulthood. Both of them died in 2001, and they are greatly missed by their children and grandchildren.

So Afghan 1 is finally ready:

Afghan 2 is almost complete (it looks finished here, but trust me, the side with all of the yarn ends looks horrible! If you know anything about me, you know I hate to work in the ends.):

I did manage to complete this great dinosaur skull shirt for DS3's birthday! It only took a couple of days to crochet, and a couple more days to sew it on the shirt. The pattern is by Regina Rioux Gonzalez and was published in the March/April 2009 issue of Crochet Today!

I have 2 more WIPs that I started yesterday (please don't ask why; I just don't know). Both are scarves -- one is made of cotton yarn, and the other is an acrylic/bamboo blend that I just couldn't resist. They will both be listed at The Lavender Lizard when they are completed (which, hopefully, is soon!).