WIP Wednesday: Still Mashing

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Happy Wednesday! I’ve been busy! Time for some show and tell.

The Hook

See that? Eep! That was me on Monday. Actually crocheting! I follow Heather of The Patchwork Heart on Instagram. She invited her followers to join her for afternoon tea and crochet using the hashtag “acuppaandhookywiththepatchworkheart.” That was just the nudge I needed. I cleaned the pretty tote holding my afghan yarn of all the detritus that had collected in it, brewed a cup of tea, snuggled under my quilt, and got to work. Ziva felt the need to supervise.

Oh! Speaking of Heather, I must show you something! When I was learning basic granny squares, all the instructions said to keep the right side of the work facing me and not to turn my work. My “squares” didn’t come out square, though. There was a bit of a pinwheel effect. Subtle, but bothersome. Well, Heather has a way to fix that. In her tutorial, she suggests just the opposite: turning one’s work each round. Since each round is going the opposite direction, it eliminates the pinwheeling. I decided to try it.

The difference is amazing! The square on the left is done the traditional way and the one on the right is done Heather’s way. Both are unblocked. I’m sold!

The Book

Originally, I wasn’t going to put anything here. Then this appeared in my Facebook news feed:

Yes! Yes it is. So, I’m heading back to Hogwarts. I’m starting, of course, at the beginning.

It’ll be good to go back.

The Needles

It’s still a Monster Mash at my place. Hugo and Bea (orange and striped pink) are all knitted and are just waiting for stuffing. Petunia (speckled) needs her legs. The stripey gray body is a bit of a Franken-monster which I can’t expound on yet. I should be able to talk about it next week.

That about does it for this week. What are you working on it reading? Let me know in the comments. Better yet, come join us over at the Yarn Along.

See you there!

~Janet

WIP Wednesday: One Less Rabbit

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Myrtle2911

Happy Wednesday to you! I have to admit to being a little pleased with myself for managing to post here three weeks in a row. It takes a bit of forethought, which isn’t exactly my forte. On with the show (and tell)!

The Hook

Once again, knitting projects have consumed my crafting time, so no progress has been made on my afghan. I really should be getting a couple of squares done each week if I have any hope of using it next winter. How some crocheters can knock out an afghan in a weekweek — in DK yarn no less! — is beyond my comprehension.

I have to admit that I’ve been eyeballing all the fun colors in my stash and have been getting the itch to start another afghan. Maybe a smaller one? I mean, just look a those!

That reminds me. I don’t think I ever said what I did with those flowers. I need to get a better picture of the garland before I show it off.

The Book

I made it through the chapter in Embracing The Body that I mentioned last week. I really had nothing to be frightened of. Tara is a beautiful guide. However, the subject of sexuality/sensuality (which, btw, are two different things) tends to be a “hot button” issue, with me at times, and with the Church at large. So much so, that I immediately seem to balk when the subject comes up…which, of course, in a book about embracing our bodies, it is bound to do. Tara handles it beautifully and makes some great points that I’ll be taking with me long after I turn the last dog-eared page. I’ll let you discover them for yourselves, though. Seriously. Get this book!

The Needles

As you can see, I’ve made tremendous progress on my Milo! I am loving that cable! I chose the bigger twist over the other cables in the pattern because 1) I thought it would be more visible on that dark blue yarn, and 2) I’m actually pretty phobic about cables and will usually avoid them like the plague. With only one cross every 8 rows, I though it was doable.

I got started on my February Lady Sweater. It’s just rows of garter stitch at this point, so it’s pretty mindless. After looking at pages and pages of project photos, though, I’m starting to get a little nervous that it’s going to wind up being a very unflattering mass on me. The yarn I’m using is 80% cotton and 20% merino, which I’m afraid might stretch out badly while being worn. I shall just keep plugging along at this point, though, and we shall see.

I did manage to get one project done done this week (one less rabbit), my purple baby hat for CLICK for Babies. I made it with worsted yarn because that’s what I had, but I prefer DK or lighter for infants. I’ll pick up some DK this week. The pattern can be found here. It’s really easy to modify and has become my go-to baby hat. I tweek it by adding the twisted stitches every 4th row. This hat is also 48 stitches vs 68 and knit on US-7s due to the thicker yarn.

That about does it for me. As usual, I’ll be linking up with the Yarn Along over at Small Things.

Have a great Wednesday!

~Janet

WIP Wednesday: Hello Again!

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Myrtle2911

Yikes! I haven’t written anything in well over a month! My schedule drastically changed in April, and the two days where I do the most posting have been back to back 12-hour shifts. I’ve barely had time to eat and sleep. The internet connection at this case has been a bit dodgy, so posting from work hasn’t really worked. Ah well, I’m back now. Hopefully a few of you are still here.

Time for a brief update and the link-up at Small Things.

The Hook

I did manage to make a tiny bit of progress on my Magnum Opus in April.

The Books

If you remember, my Lenten practice was making my own bread. Well, all that bread baking caused me to reminisce about a book I loved reading as a child, Heidi by Johanna Spyri. That probably seems like an odd connection. In the book, Heidi’s diet on the Alm consisted of bread, cheese, and milk. Ever since I first read the book, it has always made me want to eat bread, cheese, and milk. My grandma was the same way, and I’ve heard others say the same thing. So, while I was eating a cheese sandwich on homemade bread, I suddenly got the urge to read Heidi. I guess the association goes both ways. I just picked up the book, started randomly readinreading, and found myself in Chapter 13. My favorite!

The other book in my stack is Embracing The Body, by my friend Tara Owens. You may remember me mentioning it a few times. Tara and I havent been able to connect for our interview yet, but there is a great interview on Tanya Marlow’s blog! Really. It’s fantastic! As is the book!

The Needles

Among the many things on my needles are this Baktus for a friend’s birthday:

and this adorable sweater for a soon-to-arrive little girl:

I’m knitting it out of a luscious merino/cashmere/silk yarn. So soft! The designer also designed the Beyond Puerpurium cardigan I’ve made a couple times.

I just finished a blanket for this same little girl the other day. Here’s a sneak peek:

And that about does it for me this week, and hey presto! It’s still Wednesday here. Hope you all have a blessed night.

~Janet

Slender Threads

Tag Archives: afghan