TEDtalks; Crochet Pillow

Crochet pillow front, unstuffed

I've been listening to TEDtalks and working on a crochet pillow. 
The pillow pattern is from a vintage (1978 is vintage right?) book, of which most of the patterns are pretty hideous by any decades' standards.  "Fantasy coat" anybody?  But the pillow pattern is great, and I finished it up last night.  It looks bad on my couch.

Note:  Though I got through it ok, but the pattern is definitely not written in modern terms and there was enough 'you fill in the blanks of where to put this stitch' to get annoying.  I like my crochet patterns Precise with a capital 'P'!

Book: Design Crochet, 1978.  Edited by Mark Dittrick (the first 'crochet dude' maybe?)

Crochet pillow done

Crochet pillow backed with brown linen

I love TEDtalks! All the 'Ancient Clues' ones were really good.. mapping the genomes of early forms of humans and finding genetic markers in our own DNA. Neanderthal lovin! 

I also liked a talk on the 'Head Games' series about the power of smiling. Someone studied baseball cards from the 40s or 50s (I think it was) and compared how much the player was smiling vs. how long they lived. Those with the biggest smiles lived the longest!

Crochet pillow looks great on mid-century chair!

I'm still plugging away on my afghan sampler.  Must..finish....

How bout a photo of a mum?

Crocheted Rug

Crocheted rug

Last night I parked it on the couch, turned on the netflix, and crocheted a rug!  The pattern I used is sort of granny square.  I am happy with the way it turned out.  I've wanted to crocheted a rug for years and can't believe I've finally gotten around to it!

But first, a little background..

When I was a girl my mom, who is a super crafty lady, crocheted several rugs for the house.  Two of them were on my bedroom floor for years and, as these things go, I have managed to hang on to one of them.  I keep it in my spare bedroom, and I really treasure it.  It's held up well over the years.

Crocheted Rug,
Stitched up by my mom when I was a young one!

The vogue of crocheting fabric rugs has definitely waned.  Once, you were able to buy rolls of cut fabric for this purpose, but I've never seen any for sale. 

I used to work at a fabric store with this kind older lady.  She was sweet and gave me several rolls of fabric and I've been lugging them around for years with the intent of crocheting them up.

 

Pre-cut fabric rolls for crocheting rugs

For now I've got my rug in front of the fireplace.  I didn't make it with a particular spot in mind, but it makes a nice hearth rug.

The Yoko seal of approval

Afghan sampler, inner rectangle completed

Yesterday I finished and blocked the inner rectangle of my afghan.  I've added a mini border to define the rectangle, and then I'll be adding my remaining squares around the outside.  I've been stitching along with Blair at Wisecraft, and you can visit her blog to see pictures of the sampler afghan, or to stitch along yourself!

I hit the hook hard the past few weeks, and it's rough on the wrists and fingers.  I think I'll take a break and before finishing this one up!

 

 

Afghan stitch along, squares finished!

Granny sampler stitch along blocks!

 

This week I finished up all the blocks for my afghan stitch along!

I've been following along with Blair at Wisecraft for months, doing a granny square a week, and I started joining them together last night!  For my main color, I originally wanted a grey, but instead chose a salmon rust color (eek!).  I hope I'm going to like it, so far it looks good but I haven't joined many blocks.  The salmon color is versatile as it looks a bit like spring and a bit like fall, which I like.

The afghan has a defined inner rectangular border which I am crocheting now, and then an outer border as well.  I may end up doing the outer border in a grey background, not sure.

 

 

Working on new patterns; Case of the disappearing post; total misc.

There hasn't been much to share in the sewing department this week.  I've been working on a few original sewing patterns, but they are all in pieces.  It's been long hours at the sewing machine with little yet to show for my time. 

To take a break I've been crocheting. 

I made this block to go in my granny square sampler afghan.  It's not part of Blair's blocks, but what the hell, I'll fit it in somewhere!

I thumbed through some of my crochet patterns last night and pulled out about 10 that I'd like to start sooner than later.  This time last year I was crocheting on average 6 hours a day-- either until my wrists and fingers forfeited, or the lower half of my body fell completely asleep.

Among other things, crocheting gives me a great opportunity to cull my netflix queue, which somehow always hovers at 500 titles.




Speaking of, if you notice a lack of a movie monday post today, it's because I have an unsolved and unpleasant case on my hands.  The case of the disappearing post.
 
I'd been adding movies all week to a draft post, but when I opened the post this morning to add the recently devoured Doctor Zhivago (2002), I watched in dismay as the draft failed to load properly and somehow erased itself in the process. 

So... I don't have the heart to redo the post, but it included several awful 1970s English vampire films, an Elvis civil war drama, and a history of the banjo documentary.  A real loss to the world I think that post will be. ;)

In desperate need of some white paint the other night, I finally tried out the tube squeezer my husband got me at xmas.  Takes some elbow grease, but works like a charm!

Granny sampler afghan stitch along

I spread out all my blocks through week 4 of Wisecraft's granny sampler stitch along, and thought I'd share.  Week 5 is posted, but haven't been able to crochet them yet. 

I like the way the blocks look together, and can't wait to get to some of the really challenging grannies!

Granny square afghan sampler stitch along, week 3 and cats

I finished week 3 of WiseCraft's afghan stitch along.  I can't wait to see it finished!  The beige yarn is really working on me!  I might start using this more as my dominant color...




Frida girl! 

Granny sampler afghan stitch along, week 2

Just finished up week two of wisecraft's afghan stitch along.  I made about 14 of these little tonal squares, and like the results. 

I am busting some serious stash!  If you'd like to join in the fun, follow the link.  :)

Granny Sampler Afghan Stitch Along/ Weaving in crochet ends

So I made this cute pillow last week for my Stitch-Love-Project blog.  I always visit the blog/website of the designer of my latest project, and have found some wonderful blogs this way.  WiseCraft is no exception!

-and I'm just in time to join an afghan sampler stitch along!  I can't wait to finish it!

Above are the first three blocks done- ends woven in and all!  When doing grannies, it's good practice to weave in the ends after each block is finished, otherwise it gets really overwhelming at the end of the project.








My tips for weaving in ends: 
1. When you've finished off a round, leave a tail of about 5-6 inches long.
 
2. On the next round, crochet over the knot and the tail of the round before.  **Don't carry the tail along the space between the stitches, as it will be seen.  Just stitch over the tail with about 3-4 stitches.  This hides the knot.

3. When the square is completed, thread a tail with a yarn needle, and weave it into the stitches nearby of the same color as the tail

4. Weave carefully thru the yarn ply, in a zigzag pattern, thoroughly (this will help hold the tail secure) ending in the middle of a cluster of stitches (so tail won't show thru a space if it loosens)

5. After all the tails are woven, gently pull the square both ways to loosen the tails.

**As the afghan is used and folded and washed, it will stretch.  This step of gently pulling the block before cutting the tails ensures that they have enough slack to limit their coming unwoven later on as the afghan stretches

6. Clip the tails, leaving about 1/2 inch

After all the blocks are stitched together, tails can be clipped all the way.

Cement Head

Me and my husband picked up this life sized cement head at a peddler's mall several years ago.  She weighs about 40 pounds, but we love her anyways!

She's modelling a hat I crocheted a few weeks ago.  I used a big hook and only one ball of yarn; it worked up really quick!

You can get the pattern here.  (you have to sign up, but it's free).

I love her face