crochet : sophie's universe

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon a CAL (crochet-a-long) on Instagram.  It was so gorgeous (check it out here and you'll see what I mean), I knew I wanted to join in.  But I also had this Rainbow Ripple blanket in progress, and the 12" granny blanket for 2015, how could I possibly start another blanket project? 

So I made a little deal with myself: finish the ripple and start the new blanket.  

I finished it with just one added round of rose red, and justified the small size by deciding it would be the perfect lap blanket to keep warm at the ice rink.

And I began the gorgeous Sophie's Universe after a trip to the store for some new yarn, of course! {wink}

It was love at first sight.  Dedri does an amazing job of writing the pattern, including detailed instructions and photographs to help you along.

The design is amazingly detailed, and the pattern contains a genius combination of stitches.  Clusters and popcorns, and surface front-post stitches create gorgeous texture and dimension.

I look forward to picking up my crochet hook every chance I get to work on it.  

It's never too late to join in.  The crochet-a-long runs for 20 weeks, so even if you start now, you'll still have a gorgeous blanket finished before the end of the year. 

granny blanket : suggestion square

It was a whirl-wind of a weekend, and I barely squeezed in this week's square (finishing the last round and blocking this morning).

WEEK TEN || Suggestion Square

by Sharon Maher

This was a quick and easy square to hook up (just what I needed this weekend).  The least favorite part is all the ends that need weaving in at the end.  But I love the effect of all the color changes, so it's worth it.

granny blanket : princess

Good Monday Morning!

Time for another square for our blanket.

WEEK NINE || Princess

by Melinda Miller

I'm a big fan of the popcorn stitch and flowers with dimension.  This square has both.  

I've been thinking about the join I want to use for my blanket, and haven't decided yet.  I have edged each square in gray (had to go back and frog the last round on two of them to replace them with grey). 

I was thinking about a join-as-you-go.  That way I can see my blanket taking shape through the year, and won't be left with the overwhelming (and boring) task of joining all the squares at once.  

Does anyone have a joining method you like?

ps.  I started a new blanket project over the weekend, and I can't wait to share it with you on Wednesday!

on my hook : hanger and sachet

Over the weekend I worked on a covered crochet hanger and sachet.  

It is the February project of Linda's Flower Yarn-A-Long.

I had never covered a hanger before, but have always admired the beautiful ones on Pinterest and Instagram.  It was a fun little project and I love how it turned out.

Linda's design is filled with beautiful details like these stripes,

this floral collar,

 but my favorite part is the cute little lavender scented sachet:

Thank you, Linda, for sharing your beautiful pattern with us.

granny blanket: odyssey

Happy Monday!

It's school vacation week around here, and I am looking forward to a week's worth of crochet projects.  I've got lots to work on like this ripple blanket

And these fingerless mitts

And a new project I started yesterday (because when you have too many projects in progress {PIP's} it makes perfect sense to start a new one, right?!)

Here's the real reason I'm writing this post today: it's week #8 in the 12 Inch Granny Blanket Project

WEEK 8 || Odyssey

by Letitia Sheriff

This was a fun one to hook up.  I really liked the round of treble cross stitches: something I had never done before.  Of course, after that round I noticed that my square was going to be too large for my blanket, so I had to alter round 14 and omit round 15 altogether.

Rework of Round 14: 3sc in each corner space.  Work the following, one stitch per each stitch along each side:

2sc, 1hdc, 3dc, 4hdc, 13sc, 4hdc, 3dc, 1hdc, 2sc ending with 2sc in corner space.