Crochet and Knit - no difference to me.. I only have 2 arms, I can only work on one project at a time. But is there really a snobbery out there where the knitters are more of the "better" crafter? Hmmm... I'm on a Facebook group where I would say 75% of the members crochet. They shop at craft stores vs. LYS. When they shop at the LYS, they feel that the workers there look down on them and are not as friendly once they find out they crochet and don't knit. Really? So, knitters out there.. what do you think of folks who crochet? Well, it doesn't help that they make toilet paper covers!
Which brings me to what I've done in the past week. As of the last blog post, I was into my crochet. I started working on the Willow Squares for a future stained glass blanket. I convinced myself to stop at 16 squares because I have other higher-priority projects:
I took out all the MINI Bugga skeins I have and sorted them... yep, I think I'll have enough to make 192 squares! Although, I have a lot of dark ones..
Anyway, I packed that away... Next, while I have the mini's out... how about I finish the Hexagon blanket?
Nah.. didn't feel like it. How about the blanket where my Mom made the circles and I joined them together?
OK... I joined some more and for some reason, there's yellow (my Mom's favorite color) in 90% of the circles so I had to make a few more without yellow. I found a site to show how to join gazillion squares at the same time so I tried it... I only joined a row of 6...
You see how I lined them up and just up to 3 sides for each circle and then, at the end, I'll join the 4th side?
Pretty smart! Well, I went from 48 squares to start with and ended up with 70 squares joined.
And then, I packed it away. Then, the package came! It came exactly 1 week from when I ordered it from UK. With the strong US dollar, it ended up, with shipping, $2.20 a skein of 100 gr (322 yards of DK acrylic). It is very soft and I haven't found anything here that is equivalent to it - for sure not at that price. This is the yarn that Lucy from attic24 uses. She even has her own selection at Wool Warehouse. There are over 80 colors to choose from. I trust Lucy's selections and ordered the Cottage kit for the Ripple Blanket. My intention was not to make the Ripple basket. I just want to test out the yarn and make some granny squares.
Then, as I was chatting with Jennifer via texting, she ordered 2 kits and I ordered another kit.. We are bad for each other, but luckily, this is cheap yarn! The next morning, I started the Ripple blanket.
Then, the phone rang. It was my sister-in-law. Her son's wife is expecting a baby in April. I had already told her I was knitting the baby a blanket. This one...
Baby shower is going to be on March 12. I have 7 weeks. Each square takes at least 1.5 hours and I have another 20 squares to go. So, say, 30 hours. Then, as I'm making the Ripple blanket, I thought, why don't I "borrow" some yarn from the kit and make a baby blanket? I picked out 4 skeins
and made this:
I think I need 12 repeats of the 4 colors.. Each color takes about 20 minutes to complete. So say, 90 minutes for 4 colors, I have completed 1.5.. so 10.5 repeats left and 1.5 hours each repeat...about 16 hours... Yep - faster than the knitted one. Crochet On!!
That means, I will need to place another order from Wool Warehouse! I'd better space it out so I don't get taxed on customs! I didn't on the first package! Or better, so I don't have to explain to Mr. Mapleweave. They are a bit bulky to hide, though...
OK - am I done with my crochet stories and move on to knitting?
I worked on my Monkey Socks. Must knit Monkey socks for the upcoming Year of the Monkey.
I managed to finish a leg and started on carrying down the pattern for the heel. It's a bit hard to photograph until the sock is finished, but here it is...
I also worked on my shawl. I have maybe 3 repeats left (each repeat is 4 rows, but each row is over 310 stitches)...
This week, I will continue to work on the shawl, socks, baby blanket, and oh yes, my Temperature Blanket. I'm now on the second row!
And I found another UK knitter with beautiful crochet blankets. Will be adding her blog to my list on the right. She's Heather from The Patchwork Heart. Jennifer - if you go to the October 23, 2015 post, you will find all sorts of details regarding the Willow block.
Hope those of you are enjoying the snow safely out east. Here in Minnesota, this knitter is not getting enough snow. It's just starting to snow now - maybe we will get 2 inches if we are lucky.