Wonky WIPS, Baby Gifts, and a Humongous Haul!

Hello again all!

I'm so excited and grateful for your interest in my crochet adventures. I’ve had a particularly yarny month, so here goes!

As for works in progress, I’m still slogging through my Granny Stripe wrap. The yarn I’m using is Bernat Pop in the Pop Art colorway. I’m working with a 6mm hook. 

I’m sad to see how little progress I’ve made on this project. I wouldn't have thought it would be difficult and need repeated frogging, but is has been. I’ve frogged it at least three times attempting to make the ends square. I watched and rewatched two different videos: How to Crochet Granny Stripes by Fiber Flux and Super Easy Crochet: Granny Stripe Blanket/Scarf by Blossom Crochet but my row ends were still coming out wonky. In desperation, I scoured the internet for a written pattern. I found clearly written instructions in a blog post by Luakrug entitled Crochet Granny Stripe Afghan Tutorial Rewrite and finally learned the trick! It’s a dead simple, yet tricky, trick. Once the foundation chain and a row of double crochets is finished, each odd row of the granny stitch pattern - row 1, row 3, row 5, etc. - begins and ends with two double crochets. Then each even row - row 2, row 4, row 6, etc- begins and ends with one double crochet. Ah-hah! Now I understand. The trick is remembering what I did at the beginning of the row I’m just finishing, and seeing the difference between one stitch and two. Maybe my eyes are worse than I realized! I’m still not completely sure I’m getting it right, but I figure I’ll have the trick mastered by the time I’m finished with the wrap!

Another work in progress is all those neon hexes I’m blocking and joining. I must confess I’m getting bored with blocking. Who knew it would be such a tedious chore? Each one must be hand washed, then partially dried by rolling in a towel, and then pinned out to dry completely. The pinning takes me forever!

I have well over half of my hexes still to block, but I’ve joined two in Red Heart Black, to decide whether I want that much contrast in the finished blanket. My other joining option is Red Heart Bright Yellow. (I bought way too much yellow!) It would blend fine, but do I want blend or do I want bang? I can’t decide. What do you think? Please comment below!

Next, here's my attempt at the Crovontuli shawl from a free Ravelry.com pattern by The Yarner. I haven’t done it right and I’m still deciding whether or not to frog it and start over. As you can see from the photos in the pattern, I’ve put too many points on it. It’s going to come out an entirely different shape than the pattern intends.

The yarn I’m using is Lion Brand Landscapes in Boardwalk. This is probably the most unique yarn I’ve used so far on my stitching journey. It is worsted weight, 100% acrylic, but it’s a single ply roving yarn with a shiny finish and captivating gradients from one hue to the next. It is breathtakingly beautiful, but its roving texture makes frogging a knotty chore, if not an impossibility. Sad to say, if I do decide to start again instead of just forging ahead mistakes and all, I’ve probably wasted most of my first skein. Lesson learned.

As if I needed another project, (I have four others in various stages of progress/neglect/abandonment I haven’t even shown you!)  I’ve started a cover for one of my mom’s neck pillows adapted from a pattern I found on the JPF Crochet Club website designed by Julie A. Bolduc. Mom uses neck pillows constantly, but the covers they come with are flimsy and come apart in the wash. I have three naked memory foam neck pillows now, so I plan to crochet new covers for them. I don’t have much to show yet; I’m just a few rows in. But I thought someone might enjoy and benefit from the pattern. I’m using a 3.25 mm hook and Lion Brand Mandala in the Thunderbird colorway.

The only finished object I have to show you isn’t mine, but it’s very special.

This is the baby blanket Mom just finished for her newest great-great grandchild, coming in November. Mom has used the Granny Stripe pattern, Premier Yarns Sweet Rolls in the Birthday Cake Pop colorway, and a 5.5 mm hook. Our family cherishes all the gifts she’s crocheted for each of her five grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and six great-great grandchildren! Thank you, Grandma, we love you!

I went on a yarn buying spree last weekend! My excuse was the opening of a Tuesday Morning store in my neighborhood. I had heard from Hannah, on her Cozy Cottage Crochet Youtube podcast, that I could find beautiful yarns there for very reasonable prices. Boy was she right! I loaded up at Tuesday Morning, and then I couldn't stop. I had to check Michael's because I'd heard rumors of their Expanded Caron Cakes line. I picked up some beauties there, and, since I had to grocery shop at Walmart, I couldn't ignore the pull of their yarn aisle. The gorgeous Mandala yarn cakes just lept into my arms!

On the left in this picture is Caron Big Cakes in the colorway Plum Pudding. Big Cakes are worsted (4) weight, 100% acrylic. You get 603 yd/551 m in 10.5 oz/300 gr.  Plum Pudding's delicious autumnal color changes consist of a deep teal, a denim blue, a warm cranberry red, a cool raspberry red and a greenish brown.

In the center is Caron Tea Cakes in the colorway Spiced Cider. Tea Cakes are chunky (6) weight, 80% acrylic, 20% wool. You get 204 yd/186 m in 8.5 oz/240 gr. Spiced Cider's cozy wintery color changes consist of heathered shades of denim blue, mossy green, dusty raspberry, and smoky rust.

On the right in this picture is Lion Brand Mandala. I found several of their gorgeous colorways at my local Walmart. Each one is stunning. But after some deliberation I chose the colorway Thunderbird. Mandala is sport (3) weight, 100% acrylic. You get 590 yds/540 m in 150 gr. Thunderbird's vivid cheery color changes consist of cantaloupe, rust, brownish gray, teal, and bright green.

From Tuesday Morning:

Rozetti Polaris in the gradient colorway, Helios, is a light sport weight yarn from Turkey. Fiber content is 65% acrylic, 31% wool, 4% soft payette (a blend of acrylic and polyester). Its gradient runs from a pinky lavender to a soft gray and Helios is adorned with sparkling pink sequins! What a lovely spring shawl it will make! You get 191 yds/175 m in 1.76 oz/50 gr. I found Rozetti Polaris at yarn.com and amazon.com,

Premier Yarns DIY Gradient Yarn consists of five 72 yd skeins of worsted weight acrylic yarn shaded from dark to light. I chose the colorway Watery. I found DIY Gradient at yarnsupply.com and Walmart.

Cotton Sparkle by Euro Yarns in the colorway Navy is aran weight yarn from Italy. Fiber content is 90% cotton, 6% polyamide, 4% polyester in a rich navy blue with with metallic silver splotches.  You get 3.52 oz/100 gr in 218 yds/200 m. Unfortunately, Euro Yarns Cotton Sparkle is difficult to find online.

Lotus Yarns Mimi Plus in color 27 is fingering weight. Fiber content is 37% mink, 33% viscose, 18% cashmere and 12% wool. You get 300 m in 50 gr. Unfortunately, this lovely yarn is also difficult to locate online.

Lamb's Pride 100% superwash wool from Brown Sheep Co. Inc. is worsted weight. You get 200 yds/183 m in 3.5 oz/100 gr. I found the colorways Stonewashed Denim- a heather gray- Plum Crazy- a heather purple-  and Raspberry Punch- a tri-tone marl of red, coral, and fuchsia. This yarn is available on Etsy.

It would seem, dear readers, that I have done far more shopping this month than crocheting! Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

Thanks for reading.
Hook on!