Holiday Crochet

Been working on these granny blankets (one huge granny square) -- love making them as they go fast and are quite mindless unless you're changing colors.  I'm thinking after the holidays of finding local charities to donate these granny afghans to. At work we'll be hosting a "Have a Heart: Crafting for Charity" event in February and hope to encourage more folks to do the same. Should be fun!

But right now I'm dealing with Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas holidays, so my mind is filled with little crafty ideas that are quick and cute -- here's one I worked on the other evening:

I have so much ribbony types of yarns from several years ago when I used to have a vendor booth at craft and quilt shows -- lots of glittery, silky types. So I pulled them out and began crocheting tiny circles and granny squares. They could either be tree ornaments or perhaps a bunting. I'll try to post more as I make them. 

The pattern for the circle is taken from Erika Knight's "Simple Crochet," as well as the little granny square. But as I move into the new year, I'd like to try something different. I like the projects that Lucy at Attic24 shares online, as well as her recipe for Artisan No-Knead Bread! 

As I wait for the guests to arrive later this afternoon, I might cruise through Pinterest -- but that's always a dangerous thing.  I might lose track of my timing for the turkey and trimmings!

Summertime Crochet

There's something about a lazy summer afternoon that just simply demands some kind of colorful crochet project! A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have a week's vacation at Cape Cod. The weather was spectacular, and we spent every morning until about 1pm at the beach. Then in the afternoons, I would pull out my new book -- Crochet Motifs -- and begin exploring the possibilities of various patterns. 

I had been working on a granny square afghan for my mother-in-law for about two months, but was looking to take a break from the same pattern. An article in Simply Crochet magazine about mandalas by the fab crochet diva, Wink, intrigued me so I gave it a go!

It was strange to go from working in a square to a circular form. I had a couple of false starts, but then just gave up struggling and let myself trust the pattern, the yarn and the hook -- not too shabby!

A close-up of the mandala.  I'm sure there are mistakes but it still appeals to me --

  a bit like the summer sun!

This was another version, but this time using the pattern by the awesome Erika Knight. I'm beginning to envision a bunting of mandalas strung along the mantlepiece -- similar to how Lucy of Attic 24 described decorating her home with texture and color.

And as if that were not enough, I remembered a colleague of mine talking about doing two large granny squares to make a top.  Ummm, so out came another hook and I decided to work on just one gargantuan granny square for a winter afghan.  That's what you see under the mandala. And here it is at the beginning was it was "petite."

It's almost finished now -- about 3.5 feet square, using two skeins of Red Heart ombre.

  I may keep going using another blend for a border effect; not quite sure yet.

Well the sun is breaking out after a morning of cool rain, so I'm packing up my yarns and hooks and heading out into the back garden -- a good mystery and a glass of chilled chardonnay should help the crocheting along nicely!