Going in circles!

A happy Sunday for me as I have a big finish to add to my list. I am home unable to do much other than cook dinner and do my handwork. My spinal cord is giving me trouble now after having been all healed from my infection in my rib cage. I think I was just too weak and now one of my vertebrae is out of line. This is only painful when you stand or walk so it is good for sitting and getting some of my projects done. An RAK gift is flying its way to a new home so that one will have to wait to be revealed but I have a "TaDah" which I can share...

If you remember my YarnALong project I started at the first of this year, it is now finished along with two granny square pillows to match since I have yarn leftover. I made them different on the two sides so I could choose between the darker or lighter side.

My circle in a square granny blanket is 40 x 65 inches (102 x 165 cm) and made up of 77 squares. It is to throw over my couch and use if we are chilly.

I tried a new edging which I absolutely love and will surely use again in the future. It is a lacy V-stitch with picots. A surface crochet line was added when the edging was finished to give it a special touch.

Stitched with SMC Schachenmayr Bravo Classic - natural tweed, oatmeal heather, camel, light gold, light brown heather, chocolate, demin heather, hunter green and beige
Hook size 4mm

Hope you are having a creative and happy Sunday too!

Heidi

Phew!

That is how I felt last night when I finish the 77th circle in a square block for my afghan...

I will be laying them out this week and starting putting them together. I am going to use a different method to sew them together than I have up to now. Tonight, my quilt group is coming for our monthly meeting so it will have to wait. I am ready for them to come so I will be spending time reading more of The Vineyard. I was not sure I was going to like it but it is very good.

And speaking of very good...that is how my rainbow shawl is coming along. I only work on it in the late afternoon while talking to my mother on Skype. We hold a little yarn bee online. Just look at the yummy colors...even the ball of yarn is a beautiful thing!

Here is the shawl up to today which I am totally loving. It has a long way to grow though. I want this to be nice and big to really wrap up in on a cool summer's eve or a cold winter's night.

I am linking up with Ginny's YarnALong.

Heidi

A reading yarn.....

Wednesday has rolled around again already. I had a productive week. Still trying to fight off this infection in my ribcage so lots of crocheting and reading going on here.

I was talking to my mother and she told me that my little namesake (who is not so little anymore as a mother of two sweet little girls and herself in her 30s...when did that happen?) wanted a cowl after she saw Saskia's. So I decided to make her a fancier one as a RAK gift. She lives in Arizona but wants to have it to wear at work where the A/C is on very high. I made her this lacy cowl from Lion Brand. She does not have it yet as it is still sitting here on my lady in the living room. I need to get it packed up and sent on its way...

Row 8 is almost done now on my circle in a square granny blanket. I just have to add the last row on the blocks. I laid it out to see if I want to make 9 rows total or crochet more to get 11 rows. I am not sure yet.

I spent most of the day yesterday switching back and forth between crochet hook and my book. My rainbow shawl is growing but I will save that for another time. I am going to finish reading Chocolate Wishes by Trisha Ashley (what a great read!) this morning and pulled out The Vineyard as my next read. I am starting to think about gardening while looking out at the snow so wanted a book to take me outside so to speak.

I have another finish to share but I am going to save that for my next post along with the pattern I made up for it. Hope you can stop back for that.....

I am linking to Ginny's YarnALong today.

Heidi

Variegated.....

I like the word variegated to describe life at the moment. *grins*  It is January and I am in project overload already. But being the new year and starting on my new GoodReads book challenge, I am also in reading overload. When I am too busy with my projects, listening to my Kindle audible book The Magic Little Christmas by Julia Williams fits the bill. Don't let the title fool you...it is not only a Christmas read. At times, I really need to hold a book and turn the pages which I am doing now reading Chocolate Wishes by Trisha Ashley. Fun to visit the village of Sticklepond (from her book A Winter's Tale) once again in this book.

My circle in a square grannies are coming along nicely. I have decided on making the blanket 7 squares wide so the first 5 rows are ready and row 6 is half done. I am also working on a new lacy cowl but more about that later.

During our week up at the cottage in September, I had purchased two balls of sock yarn having seen the beautiful shawls made from Noro sock yarn. Noro is very expensive but I found an alternative that was half the price and still had a long continuation of color in the variegation as with the Japanese yarn. I waited to start with this until the new year. I am loving the way it is turning out. It is fun to watch which colors come next. I had a few false starts with the hook size and pattern as I got it right for this yarn.

I will be needing it to keep me warm as winter has arrived here in Holland. We have cold temperatures and snow right now. Maybe having hung the lace coasters as snowballs in the window must have brought me luck since I love the snow. I am inside for the time being though watching the birds looking for crumbs in the snow and doing my handwork as I have an infection in the muscles of my rib cage. I am supposed to take it easy so it is the perfect excuse to read and crochet most of the day away.....

I am linking to Ginny's Yarn Along today.

Heidi

New starts...yarn-a-long

A new year means new starts. Last year, I purchased my yarn ready for two fun crochet projects this year. Both are large so I will see what other crochet things will fit in with them. Jos took me up to Almere to the yarn shop Het Spoeltje for my coffee colored yarns from Bravo Schachenmayr. Hunter green and denim blue are added in for a little extra kick. I have been itching to get started on this.

I am using Teresa's tutorial for a circle in a square granny but adding extra rows. I will always end with the same color as it matches my couch which you can see in the photo. The edging will also be in this color.

I decided to join in with Ginny at SmallThings for her YarnALong this year. I love to read along with all my hobbies and she asks that we post a photo of our current yarn project along with our latest read. My book which I am finishing is The Brontes' Christmas. I will continue my holiday themed reading until January 6th (Three Kings Day). This book is a compilation of Christmas excerpts written by the three Bronte Sisters or pieces written by other authors of their day.

I am also going to start linking to Tami's WIP Wednesday as I am hoping this will help me to get moving on getting some projects done. I am going to start reporting a UFO for this each month with a goal for 2013 to accomplish 13 finishes which is one more than 2012.

Do you have some exciting new projects to start this month?

Heidi