Afghan Finished!

In 2012, and a little bit into 2013, I was crocheting many, many afghans for presents--thirteen afghans to be exact.

Needless to say, I was slightly burned out from crocheting.

But sometime during late August I got the bug again. Too bad the pattern I wanted to use was totally confusing and wrong. Trust me, I tried to make the pattern work about eight times.

So I gave up on that pattern and looked for a new pattern.

I came across this one, Red Heart's Kaleidoscope pattern. . But I had to make a few changes as I had already purchased a variety of blue yarn. So instead of ten colors of yarn, I had five shades of blue to use.

This afghan was the result.

Yesterday, I crocheted the border while I was watching Warm Bodies. 

It didn't end up quite as large as stated, but it could be because the stitches are still tight and not stretched out.

I have plenty of yarn to make another afghan, but I think I'll make a couple other changes to this pattern.

Well, guess I'll have to quit goofing off and get down to writing!

Later, Peeps!

Monday Morning Lagnaippe

I totally regret not making time to go for a walk on the weekend. The weather was a balmy 60 + degrees, but I had other 'stuff' to take care of, so I didn't walk.

This morning, it's 23 degrees with the wind blowing about 25 mph. . . from the North. Yeah, this is my penance for not walking when the weather was WONDERFUL!

 . . . and maybe because I goofed off last week and didn't walk a few days that I could have walked.

Oh, well, when the sun finally comes up, I'll bundle up in layers and take a walk. Afterwards, I'll stand in the shower for 20 minutes just to warm up.

At least I have a plan!

I've almost finished my afghan. It's taken forever for me to work on it. I think it has something to do with the 13 afghans I crocheted for the previous Christmas's presents. This afghan has been a PITA from the beginning. I had purchased yarn to use for one pattern, but I never could make sense out of the pattern, so I had to look for another pattern. Found one, bought more yarn and this is what I have finished piecing together. 

I couldn't decide which color to use as a border, so I decided to do a quick section of each color. I think I'll opt for the off white. Originally, I wanted to do the dark blue, but it didn't give me the finished look that I wanted. 

Yes, I have plenty of yarn to make you one, too. Just send $250 to my PayPal account, wait about two months and I'll take care of you! 

I'll probably crochet the border while watching Judge Judy this afternoon!

Today I plan to finish Blake Snyder's beat sheet for DRAGON. Oh, I still have my elemental series to figure out, but I thought if I could break down on of my stories, then I would have a greater understanding of this tool. 

Blake Snyder wrote the Save the Cat screenwriting books. Yes, I know I'm not writing a screenplay, but I need a tool to help focus my mind as I tend to jump all over the place and leap on tangent threads like a kitty eating catnip.

Theses books break down familiar movies into different genres, which helps you understand the core theme into the story. Blake developed what he calls his "beat sheet". This is basically a synopsis for what has to happen in certain time increments of a movie. It's sort of a combination of the three-act play and Vogler's Writer's Journey. 

What I discovered are some plot holes, which is a good thing! Now, I have to figure out how the characters go from point D to point H without it sounding stupid, plus amping up the tension. 

This is on my list of things to do today. 

I hope y'all had a good weekend, but now it's time to focus on healthy eating--especially me, since I made pizza for dinner last night. The crust was too thin, but when hubby put the pizza together (I make all the separate parts, while he builds it), he didn't go cheap on the cheese! 

I really don't want to weigh myself this morning, but I need to face that harsh reality!

Well, the sun is up enough for me to get my walking clothes on and brave the cold wind.

Later, Peeps!

New Afghan Started

Cooler weather is starting and I've returned to the one thing I love to do while watching the hubs and kidlet play video games or we watch TV.

Crocheting.

I've actually picked up a hook after ten months recovering from my last crocheting frenzy of 15 afghans (4 patterns).

The one I wanted to start was so confusing in the pattern instruction that I gave up after about six tries. I found another pattern, bought more yarn to be on the safe side, and started crocheting this weekend at the kidlet's swim meet.

I made 9 of these:

Looks like a snowflake, doesn't it?

Now, I have to make 36 more with the colors on the inside rotating in four different color patterns, before I crochet them together.

I think it'll be a good sized afghan in soothing winter colors.

That's it for today. We're having all our siding ripped off the house and I don't know how much writing I'll be getting done. They were right outside my computer window yesterday and it was BAD!

I'll post the project when they are through, complete with pictorial.

Later, Peeps!

My Mom

and I have a standing lunch date on Tuesdays.

Most of the time, I pick up a little something and we eat in.

My mom is 91 years old.

Here's my mom.

I hope to look so good at 91.

 

Sorry for the blurry picture, I was leaning backwards over a bed. And yes, I made her wear this shawl that I made her a few years ago.

 

It's a very simple, loose pattern of double crochet, chain two. She wanted something for her shoulders when she reads and my afghans are too heavy.

 

Here's an afghan I made her a few years ago.

 

I won't be making one of these for a long time, not because it's hard, but because it's cumbersome when it starts to get big. 

 Later, Peeps!

Cobblestone Afghan

I finished another afghan the other night. This one is called Cobblestone. I crocheted it with I Love This Yarn colors Ivory and Antique Teal. I think this afghan took about three weeks, but I didn't pay attention when I actually started it.

Cobblestone Afghan

close up of Cobblestone Afghan

 

Afghans

I've had a few people express an interest in the afghans that I've crocheted. So far, there are four styles that I've crocheted, the fourth style is still in progress, so I'll post the generic picture if I find one on the Internet.

When I decided to crochet afghans for family members, I had only a couple of prerequisites.

1) easy to pick up and put down
2) must be done in panels or strips

For the most part, I crochet while I watch my daughter at swim practice and at swim meets. Large afghans become ungainly after awhile and HOT in a natatorium.

All but one of these patterns are from this book.
Available on AMAZON

Angels All Around

This is probably my all time favorite afghan. I've made this over 9 of these in the past few years. The fun part of this afghan is that only two of the sides have the same pattern--the angel wings. I have made a few changes to the original pattern, but for the most part I follow the guide. If you purchase the book and want to know the changes, then email me at my contact address and I'll give you the info.

 

 

Rose Garden

This is another beautiful afghan, but it's from a different source, a small booklet featuring 12 Dazzleaire patterns. This booklet is currently unavailable.

The picture on the bottom of the booklet is my Rose Garden afghan. I didn't like the pale pink around the flowers, so I made them 'real' flowers with the green leaves. I've made this afghan at least 4 or 5 times, 3 of them this last year, using different yarn colors: Mixed berry (pictured), Mulberry (a purple color), and Navy. Light Sage is the leaf color and Ivory the background color. Crocheting 30 flowers wrecked havoc on my wrist. Next time I make it, I'll work on 10 at a time and finish each square before starting the next batch.

 

 

 

Veranda

I started crocheting Veranda, because I was bored with the other two patterns and wanted to do something different. The seven strips seemed to take forever, but once they were done, the afghan was finished in a few days. 

Sorry, tried to enlarge, but I can't make it work!

 

Cobblestone (in progress) 

Image borrowed from Internet. I'll take my own when I'm finished with the project. My colors are Ivory and Antique Teal. 

The center panel strip of Veranda and Cobblestone are a little different. The cobblestone pattern I'm making is with ecru and teal blue.  

 

I'll post them under a new page link when I have better pics--ie. after I finish making them!

 

I've also crocheted numerous baby afghans, scarves, hats, etc. but never bothered to take a picture. I'll try to keep track of my projects and post them.  

 

Later, Peeps!