Getting my Unfinished Objects completed

I'm busy getting my UFOs completed so I'll have time to do the CAL next month.

Here's a less colourful version of the spiral blanket on the back of the sofa, I've turned the circular spirals into hexagons this time. I don't know why I was so bothered about the border .... you can't see it!

MTM and other acronyms

I sometimes refer to my ever-loving, ever-supportive and wonderful other half as DH (standing for Darling Husband).

Yesterday, I had my nose stuck in this book, Freeform Crochet and beyond by Renate Kirkpatrick. I love it, it's gots lots of instructions and inspiring pics and ideas for creating freeform items. DH picked up on the title and incredulously proceeded to take the micky in the merciless manner which is his forte.

"Freeform Crochet and beyond ..." he says "... whatever is the 'beyond' bit, what comes next?! Extreme Crochet? White-water Crocheting? How Crochet Won the Cold War?" and so on, not what Ms Kirkpatrick intended, I suspect!

Of course, he made me laugh as he always does, one of the first things that attracted me to him was how funny he is. I shall be using a different acronym for DH in the future, it's MTM (standing for Micky Taking Monster).

I was looking at the book because I have a pile of tension squares and experimental motifs where I was playing around with ideas or trying new stitches out. For example, MTM gave me a set of tunisian crochet hooks with an instructional book for one of my Christmas present (which he gleaned from my Amazon Wish List). You can see bottom right of the photo my experiment with making a tunisian crochet circle. For the last several months, every time I've been making such little pieces of try out crochet, I've been making them in a restricted colour pallet so that eventually they can become a blanket or a throw that will go over one of the chairs in my lounge. I've got quite a few now so I'm thinking about how to start putting them together and this book is my inspiration.

So, I'll add that to my list of WIPs (Work In Progress) items:

• Freeform blanket/throw
• Spiral blanket in lounge colours. This time I've shaped the spiral circles into hexagonals and the border is causing me a right old headache; gotta frog it back and rethink it
• Square babette style blanket (again for the lounge, I have LOTS of chairs!)
• Lace weight stole (may become a shawl, depends on how far the yarn goes)
• Four-ply summer weight cowl
• Small cross-body bag to carry return Lovefilm DVDs to the postbox when walking Missy so I don't drop them every time I get a treat out of my pocket for her. She has to be rewarded for crossing the road, staying calm when she sees another dog and after any kind of emission from her rear end (so quite frequently)
• Short row cushion cover needs a zip and an inner pad making to measure
• Recycled plarn shopping bag

Plus I found a lovely new yarn store in Oakham, a town where we do our banking, it's been open a year down a street I don't use very often, I had to support such enterprise and bought two lots of new sock yarn (and a button for the bag WIP) from its delightful proprietor, Julie.

So I've got enough to keep me busy for months, I hope you are happy with your crafting or whatever you do to keep busy in your spare time.

Rainbow spiral blanket (or afghan) finished

My rainbow spiral blanket is finished! 

I had to undo the first border I did, as you can see below, the original edging is all curling up on itself. As I was working it, I was telling myself not to worry, that blocking would soon straighten it out but by the penultimate row, it was clear that nothing short of steamrollering it would make it lay flat. 

This time, I worked up a design on a small scale rather than just "diving in", the swatch I made laid flat and so here is a close up of the new border it as it was being blocked. On the previous version I'd gone round the post of the row underneath to give some interest. This time I just used a double crochet (UK terminology) spike stitch into an intermediary black row.

Here's another photo of the blanket being blocked on my dining room floor laid out on towels.

If you're interested in me writing up the pattern explaining how I did it, contact me through my Ravelry account (SoozJewels) or leave a comment below. If there's demand, I'd be happy to do so!

Rainbow spiral crochet blanket update ... nearly finished!

You may remember my rainbow spiral crochet blanket. Well, all the motifs are all made, they've even been stitched together. I've turned them into squares instead of hexagons. I'm still going to do a hexagon version (because I've already worked out how to do that and don't want to waste the knowledge) in a different colour-way. All I have to do is the edging, as you can see from the photograph. I have started. There are three colours in the border, same as the spiral and the edging colours change according to the spiral closest to it. 

Today I have had so many things keeping me from making beads (which is my proper work really). Very cold again, icy steps, not as bad as last time but I have developed a tickly cough and cold. I just had a cold at the same time as my leg got hurt (DH bought it home from his office). I thought there was some kind of immunity that you build up, when you've had a cold, you don't catch another one for three months (or something). Well, anyway, this is obviously a different bug. Every time I go outside in the cold air, it makes the cough worse.

On top of that, my little dog, Missy isn't very well at the moment. She's very prone to stomach upsets. She got me up in the night to let her out to go eat grass (which she does when she's feeling off). And then she had to go out again to be sick (how lovely!) I wanted to keep an eye on her and it's too cold in the studio for her to go out beadmaking with me. Then there was a bit of mess she made in the lounge to be cleaned up (I will spare you the details!). She's feeling better now, after this afternoon's walk, it seemed to give her an appetite, she's eaten her dinner and looking much happier in front of the fire. 

If I'm honest, all I wanted to do was get on with finishing this blanket's edging, it's sooooo nearly finished! DH was at a training course in Birmingham which meant him leaving the house at a really early hour and he won't be home til late tonight. I can't really sit and crochet today whilst he's working hard at something he REALLY didn't want to go and do. I make money from beadmaking so even though I enjoy that very much, I don't feel guilty when I'm making beads (I'm "working"!) but crochet is just a lovely self-indulgence. So today I have been catching up with the housework so I don't feel guilty about enjoying myself (I definitely don't enjoy housework!) Spent the weekend glossing up the bookcases in the dining room so I am a bit behind with everything.

Tonight is another matter, dinner is all ready, just the pasta to put on when DH gets home, fire blazing away in the grate, dog happy. I will be crocheting ALL evening - happy happy happy! 

Spiral rainbow crochet blanket (or afghans as some people call them)

Being stuck with my leg on a cushion for the past week has meant I've had time to get started on a new project. It's going to be a rainbow blanket made up of these crocheted spiral circles each made with three different colours. The above photograph shows the colours that I've picked, I need quite a few more than the ones in the pic!

These colourful circles are going to be turned into hexagons using a couple of rows of shaping in black and then sewn altogether. Piled up like this, I thought they looked like colourful pancakes, DH thinks they look more like poppadoms, he was about to start cooking a fish curry at the time so I guess the imagery is understandable.

I've started a project for it in my Ravelry account, I'll be adding the yarn and colours I've used in there when I get a chance and I'll also write it up as a free pattern. For now, I've been sitting normally for too long and my shin is complaining so I'm going to put my leg up and get going on crocheting some more.

When I started on this, the weather was really grey and dreary and I was fed up of sitting still, the colours really helped lift my mood, I hope these pics do the same for you!