Crochet · cross stitch · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · Uncategorized · yarn

Hello December


Can you believe December is here?  This year has really flown by.  Except for this last month.  But only because I have had my Yarny Advent Calendar for about a month now and have been dying to dive into it!

advent calendar

This is my first time getting a yarny advent calendar.  This year is actually the first time I have heard of these types of advent calendars and just had to try it out.  I love AJHC Wools yarns, so of course I had to purchase her kit.  I actually purchased this over the summer and it was delivered to my local yarn shop last month.  It’s been a long month and I will not lie…I peeked at box#1 days before December 1.  I didn’t actually open the box.  My hubby did.  But I did beg to peek at it.  I couldn’t wait until December 1 to get started.  The kit has 24 micro skeins, all new colors just for the advent.  And finally December 1 came and I finally was able to get started around noon that day.

day 1 of advent calendar

Oh my gosh!!!  Just look at that skein of pastel goodness!! I enjoyed my self care time, knitting 19 rows of the shawl beginning.  Aaaahhhh.  But it went by so quick.  Waiting until the next day to see the next skein and add more knitting is such a long wait!  Here is my where I am at, after Day 5 this morning.

advent knitting day 5

It’s so beautiful!!  I am loving the colors of the yarns and seeing how they blend each day.  How did I ever miss out on this wonderful idea? Have you purchased a yarny advent calendar before?

I have also been working on my granny squares for the Natures Walk Blanket.  I have one more square to crochet up and 11 more to block.

blocking squares

I have enough of these very cool blocking pins from Knitters Pride to block 6 squares at a time.  So I have been switching them out every night.  I was very disappointed the first day I removed pins.  My squares, that were stretched to 6 1/2″, shrunk back to the 6 1/4″ they started at.  I could literally see the block shrink when I removed the pins.  Ugh.  All the work I have done, to be undone.  I thought I was doing something wrong, but I am told by a friend that some yarns have yarn memory.  She said to be sure that all of my blocks are the same size and to continue blocking them.  All of my blocks are between 6 1/4″ and 6 1/2″.  So I am hoping they will all line up ok once I start stitching them together.  Which will be pretty soon!!  I am so excited!  Here are my squares so far:

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The stack on the left has been blocked and lay so flat now.  I can see how blocking helps the stitches lay flat even though they are not blocking to size.  The mauve ones on top look wavy, but they have buds on them that have some dimension to them.  They actually do lay flat except for the buds.

And lastly, I have been keeping up with the 2019 Mystery Sampler from Linen and Threads.  I am on the last border and it is fabulous!!

2019 mystery sampler border

I am hoping to finish this by the end of December.  I’d show you the whole piece now, but the frame that it is on has become a bit wonky and a piece of it broke, so I don’t want to unroll it until I have to.  I don’t remember the name of this frame type.  The rods at the top and bottom are split and have little nails all the way across that you put your fabric into.  I can say I am not a fan of this style and this one will have to go in the garbage when I am done with it. It did serve it’s purpose this year, I suppose.

So that is what I have been up to for now.  I don’t remember what else I have worked on, but I think I have shared my main projects.  What have you been crafting on lately?

For now I will leave you with one of my favorite fall  photos I took on October 28, and then 2 weeks later, our first snow fall of 9″.

fall trees and pool reflection

I love the beautiful reflection of the trees in the pool.

first snow

 

 

Crochet · cross stitch · mystery sampler · yarn

I Am Now A Crocheter!


It is a beautiful fall day outside.  I am sitting in my craft room with my New laptop, looking at all the beautiful colors and watching the leaves blow off the trees.  The last couple of months have been busy with so many things; weekend trips, yarn shop hopping, a wonderful visit from my mother in law (it was way too short) unpacking boxes and finding places for things, internet issues and my Surface tablet decided to stop working 😦  But  I still found time to create 🙂  So I am doing my first blog post on my laptop, so please excuse any typo’s.  The keyboard is pretty flat and I am not used to that at all, especially with long nails.  I’m not very techy, so I am still learning how to use this thing.  Hubby has already received several “help desk” calls from me this morning.  So onto the fun stuff.

I can confidently say that I am now a crocheter.  I have crocheted off and on since I was 11, but I am not very good at it.  While I have made some crochet items, they had issues.  Especially in keeping my sides straight.  And I have never been able to crochet a granny square.  Until now!!  It all started with this pumpkin.

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A few weeks ago I took a class to make this pumpkin.  It’s not very big.  As you can see in the photo, it is sitting on top of a candle stick.  I thought I would get it done in class, but no.  I had gotten the tiny circle that is the bottom and one strip up the side.  I was very frustrated in class and had no idea what I was doing.  A couple of days later, I whipped this thing up like I had been crocheting all my life!  I can’t explain it, other than the one who tried teaching me when I was 11 was working through me.  I can’t tell you how excited I was to have done this.  So then I had to pull out the new CAL patterns from Cherry Heart,  ( I have such a weakness for her patterns) Nature’s Walk Blanket.

natures walk blanket cal

I fell in love with the look of this blanket the first time I saw it over the summer.  I had printed out the first few patterns and ordered some yarn through my local yarn shop.  I thought since I crocheted a pumpkin, maybe I can crochet a granny square.  So last week I pulled out the patterns, read through the intro and pulled out my yarn and hook and began crocheting the gauge block.  With some tips from the sweet gals in the Black Sheep Wool group, I was able to crochet my very first ever, granny square!!!

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It’s not perfect, and I know where I made some mistakes.  I was so geeked and proud of myself for making a square I didn’t even realize it had hearts in it until someone pointed it out to me.  Duh!  I may just use this pattern for some of my squares.  It is so cute! My gauge was close enough and I was confident that I could get started on the first part.  And boy did I!

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I stitched up all 8 of the Gates squares and the first Berries square in a week.  I am over the moon!!  They still need blocking.  Hubby made me this nice box to put my squares on to block them.  He doesn’t usually do things like this, so it is even more special that he did this for me ❤

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Last night I started crocheting a square from the most current pattern, the Star.

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I’m not going to lie.  This one was a bit difficult.  One of my points is a little off, but I do know what I did wrong.  I will finish this one out and then get back to the berries and make 7 more of those.  I am loving this CAL and am looking forward to having a beautiful blanket of granny squares out of these colors:

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I’m using Berroco’s Comfort DK. I was able to get 5 of the gates squares out of a skein.  This CAL is free from Sandra of Cherry Heart along with Black Sheep Wools.  I believe you can still get in on it if you are interested.  You can get more information at the Cherry Heart Blog

I also finished cross stitching  the Sunflower Pillow I was working on.  It turned out beautifully and the recipient was quite happy with it.

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I also stitched the July thru October sections on the 2019 Mystery Sampler, so I am all caught up on that and can’t wait to see what the last 2 border sections look like. This is also free through Linen and Threads.

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And I started stitching on a little Baby Princess Tiana from Les Petites Croix De Lucie.

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She is so adorable!!! My favorite princess, too 😉  But she is a lot of work!  Lots of crazy backstitching. She was the first of 9 little Princess Babies. I believe the 6th one just came out.

So that is what I have been up to the last few months. What new project are you working on or what project have you finished?