10-20-2016

Well, I finally had a chance to open the box from lovecrochet.com. I remember thinking it was a little big when it arrived (as I quickly moved it to the closet to keep it from attracting attention, LOL!) As it turns out, they sent me twice as much yarn as I ordered (at least). Sigh. I just sent them an email asking if I should send the extra back or donate it.

10-21-2016

I got a very nice note from Pauline at LoveCrafts and she said to put the extra yarn to good use. Call me crazy, but I just ordered some more yarn in brown and green so I can finish multiple blankets with this yarn that I’ll probably donate to Project Linus. (Or maybe I’ll donate the packs to the local group that knits and crochets for charity.)

10-26-2016

CAL started today! I got the four Circle Square blocks done (in Mustard), and now I just have to do two triangles. They really, really need to be blocked.

I also received the second order with the three additional background colors. The green is ugly (sigh) but the two browns are nice.

10-27-2016

I finished the two Circle Triangles this morning. They weren’t hard, but I find it a little annoying that the pattern doesn’t include stitch counts for the sides. (Facebook admin has promised to get the info for this part and include it in future parts. One or two people in the Fb group were being negative and complaining a lot. I wish they wouldn’t do that since it is not appreciative and it takes away from the fun for the rest of us.)

My Circle Triangle stitch counts per side

• Row 8: 33 dc
• Row 7: 29 dc
• Row 6: 25 dc
• Row 5: 21 dc
• Row 4: 17 dc
• Row 3: 13 dc

I’ve woven in ends on the Circle Squares (I do this as I go) but still need to do them on the Circle Triangles and then block all 6 pieces. (Picture added.)

11-01-2016

Yup, I’m officially crazy -- I started on the second blanket today with light brown (Soft Fudge) as the background color (and the Steel & Stitch main 5 colors, like this gray one). C said she preferred the light brown. I will make a new project for the second blanket.

11-05-2016

Finished all 10 Flower Squares for both blankets today. Wow, this Mandarin Orange is bright! I never would have thought to put it next to the Mustard from last week. Hmmmm…

11-09-2016

I started on the Blood Orange colored Arrow Squares when they were released today (and added a picture of the first one). I really like this motif! Good thing, now that I’m doing two background colors, I have 7 more to do and 4 triangles. :)

I also love this Paintbox Aran yarn. It is nice and soft -- much less scratchy than Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice that I’ve used for a couple other blankets, but it was convenient being able to run out to the local craft store when I needed more. Hopefully I’ll have enough background color -- my tension is loose and I accidentally made five of the first week’s squares, but I think I’ll be fine if I don’t use it in the border. It is strange going back and forth between the Whispers from the Past CAL, which uses Stylecraft Special DK, and this project’s aran; the DK feels so thin and the aran feels so fluffy when I do that.

This is the last time I’ll do so many CALs at the same time -- I’ve got this one and Whispers (with three blankets between them), plus the Amazing Grace Mandala, plus the Whispers Around the Bases I started (not to mention three existing smaller WIPs) and it’s too much on top of work & family stuff. I think a new personal rule will be no more than two simulaneous CALs, ideally one, because I feel pressured to keep up and crochet should be totally relaxing and not tempt me to neglect things that should be higher priority. I do like working on things together on Facebook though! It really adds to the fun and lately it’s been a nice distraction from distressing politics.

11-12-2016

I finished the Arrow Squares in this Slate Grey background colorway. Now on to the brown.

11-16-2016

I added a picture of my first Stocking Stitch Square, which is the Part 4 pattern released today. I’m not thrilled with this motif (it took me two hours to do this one square). I’m going to try the second one without cutting off and starting new yarn for each row and we’ll see how that goes. The Tomato Red is a pretty color.

11-17-2016

I finished the 5 Stocking Stitch Squares from Part 4 this evening. Someone in the FB group (Gloria) posted how she did it without cutting off and this made all the difference! I made #2 and #3 with my own experimental methods to avoid cutting off and they’re usable but not as nice as Gloria’s approach. This square was a challenge but I enjoyed learning something new since I’ve never worked into the third loop before. (There’s a lot of whining on the Facebook group though which is unfortunate.)

Gloria’s instructions:

If you do not want to cut your yarn this is what I did.Row 2: ch 5,hdc in same space,hdc in 4 hump st etc.End:ss in beg ch3(6 hdc+2ch sp each side.Row 3:slip st in ch2 space,ch4 instead of 5 because slip st counts for one st. hdc in same space. hdc in 6 hump stitch etc.(8 hdc + 2 ch each side.End:ss in beg ch3.Row 4:slip st in ch2 space,ch4,2dc in same space,dc in 8 hump st etc.(12dc 2ch each side.End 1dc in ch space,ss in beg ch3

11-23-2016

I’ve started the Cable Squares in Red Wine which were released today. I made bunches of mistakes but I think it’ll be fine, probably I’ll be the only one who’ll notice. This is my first time doing cables and I like it. There’s a Holiday Cables Throw CAL about to start and I MUST RESIST! LOL! (But I did add it to my queue.)

(More whining on the Facebook group. I do try to help people who are stuck because I’ve gotten a lot of assistance there. I wish the designers and/or admins were more involved. I guess Helen Shrimpton is spoiling me in her Whispers CAL that I’m doing now too; she’s always right there with feedback and help when you need her.)

11-25-2016

I have finished the 4 Cable Squares and 2 Cable Triangles in the gray background. I can’t believe next week is the last part of this CAL!

11-28-2016

I’m not going to have enough gray for joining but I’ll have plenty of the bright colors for borders. I think I might just go to Michael’s or check my stash for a gray that’s close enough for the join. The border picture on the original post in the LoveCrochet blog shows stocking stitch for the borders in gray, mustard, blood orange, and red wine. (The white background one is just one row of granny stitch.) I think I had enough of stocking stitch in week 5! I may go with seed stitch and use all the bright colors and I’ll definitely skip the tassels. But that’s putting the cart before the horse -- I haven’t even finished week 5 in my second colorway yet.
…
I just checked and Vanna’s Choice Silver Grey is a perfect match for the Paintbox Slate Grey. I have a small ball of that left-over from the Spice of Life blanket, so I should be good for joining!

12-05-2016

All done with 22 squares and 16 triangles! I’ve added a picture of the stack of them. Now the joining begins, or at least it will once they’ve all dried from blocking.

I was going to do the Flat Slip Stitch join Gloria did (on the back though) since I prefer to crochet rather than sew, but I don’t have a surface that’s big enough to work on. Instead, I may just whip stitch or mattress stitch them together in (diagonal) rows. Maybe I’ll do a hybrid and Flat Slip Stitch the joined rows together.

I’m also thinking I may go crazy and do the stocking stitch border on this gray blanket. I really do like the look of the stocking stitch and it will be slower, but I’m not in any rush. I will do the brown one first, but I’ll need to put both on hold to do a couple of small projects for Christmas presents for the girls, which is OK because I’m enjoying this and not desperate to have it finished.

(Note: I added 2 skeins of the Vanna’s Choice Silver Grey to a recent order of other yarns just so I wouldn’t have to worry about not having enough for this project and so that I can make a pillow to match using the extra block I made accidentally. I would have ordered more Paintbox Aran but it is out of stock.)

02-06-2017

Finally got around to sewing this together today. It took me 6 hours! I used the Flat Surface Slip Stitch Join.

Finally on to the border. (I want to have this done to gift to Paul when I see him on the 16th.)

02-09-2017

All done! I will give this a final steam blocking before wrapping it up to give to Paul a week from today.