It’s not all wine and finished projects in these parts. Trust me there are plenty of half done–half assedly done–things shoved in various corners of my studio. This afghan is not destined for one of those corners (I hope). It is actually coming along quite nicely.  I fell in love with this vintage afghan that Miss Rachel from Smile and Wave picked up at her local thrift. I had been looking around for crochet patterns I could use to make a blanket for my son, but nothing seemed right until that blue number popped up. A commenter on pinterest pointed me to a pattern on ravelry called the Vintage Fan Ripple Stitch Pattern, which turned out to be exactly the same as the original afghan. I went out and bought a bunch of yarn the next day.

I liked all the blues in Rachel’s blanket, so I stuck with that and threw some gray in for good measure. Ravelry came to the rescue again when I ran out of the light blue yarn I was using. The heathered light blue was by Berroco Vintage, which I had in my stash, and when I went back to my local yarn store for more they were all out. After a look on the interwebs, I discovered Berroco didn’t even make that colorway anymore. Luckily there was someone on ravelry who had two skeins of it for sale! I don’t know why the two rows of light blues look different in the photo–trust me they are not. Oh also there are more nerdy crochet details on ravelry. 

The other half done project is not coming along as nicely. The first time I made the Wiksten Tank it was nice, but it was a smidge small.  So I cut a medium this time. Well turns out the first one wasn’t small, it was just that the material I used didn’t have any give to it. The medium is too big everywhere and if I try to take the sides in, the wide set straps make me look, umm, beefy.  I can’t shove it in the corner because this fabric was expensive as hell. So here’s my plan: I’m going to cut this tank apart, cut the small from it (a little lower down), and then add a band of color to the bottom. What do you think? I picked up some navy linen that I think will work. I’m hoping it won’t look hackneyed.

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I am determined to crochet a snowflake this year. Preferably more than one, but after the first hot mess I made, I would settle for just one. I used a Martha Stewart pattern and it was actually quite clear, but my thread was too thin and I couldn’t work with it at all. These linen ones make me want to try again:

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Crocheted snowflakes just look so lovely hanging in a window…

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or strung together to make a garland…

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or crocheted around a bit of wood…

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or crochet together to make a christmas scarf.

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Crochet totally beats out knitting when it comes to making snowflakes (oh I’m totally keeping score). Most of the time crocheters get the short end of the stick (and the shaft at yarn stores—seriously what is the deal?), but those beautiful, delicate snowflakes are all crocheted.

Of course crochet can’t stay classy for very long, oh well.

snowman toilet cozy : :  santa toilet cozy

Sorry I disappeared from the internet last week: school holiday, crazy children, broken camera, blah, blah, blah. The camera will be in the shop for a good two weeks, so you are stuck with my dressed-up-to-look-like-a-polaroid camera phone shots for a while. That’s me up there, trying to look all stylish in my cozy new cowl.

It has been a loooong while since I picked up a crochet hook–10 months to be exact. Needless to say I was rusty. There was a lot of ripping out at first, but then the crochet neurons began firing again and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. The cowl pattern is the chunky circle scarf  from people webs.  Not only is the pattern free, but Lindsi talks you through every bit–lots of people had questions about different steps and she answered them all in the comments section. How awesome is that?

Now I’m dreaming of my next crochet project.  I think Cal’s new shawl pattern is definitely on the list. Or I might try my hand at some amigurumi, but I can’t decide elephant or bear/mouse?  Or something totally different. What do you think?

p.s. taking pictures of yourself is hard. Happy Halloween!

I have been dreaming about crocheting the kids some afghans for a while now (like this one and this one or this one). I knew I should have started in the summertime, but the thought of a big pile of yarn on my lap when it was 100 degrees out just made me gag. It’s cold and of course they need a warm blanket and now I want to make one, but at this point it will be done for next fall. Dammit. Old lady thrift store to the rescue!

Seriously, those old ladies are the bomb. It’s the only thrift store in town that hasn’t been hipsterfied. Things are a little smelly and odd, but they all are priced like second hand goods, not like it’s oooo vintage. This super amazing rainbow afghan was three bucks! But (big but) none of the end were woven in. Do you see all those color changes?!

How could I pass it up? I had been looking at this exact pattern to use for an afghan, because of this beautiful specimen. So last night, I happily sat on the couch with the afghan warm from the dryer and wove those 200 ends in. It’s like the satisfaction of finishing a huge project without having to actually do the huge project.  Thank you whoever made this gorgeous afghan and abandoned it almost done!

p.s. see that little bit of a map up there? the room is (still) slowly coming together–might even get done.

We are headed to the beach tomorrow: the real beach, the ocean beach, the hawaiian beach. I was planning on making this rope bracelet for the trip, but then I spotted this broomstick lace cuff on pintrest and changed my plans.  Kirsty made a nice little tutorial for this beautiful cuff. Mine is pretty sloppy (late night crocheting) and made out of string, but hers looks lovely in a warm gray yarn.

The blog will go on while I’m gone!  I’ve got some stellar guest bloggers lined up for you and I can’t wait for you to meet them all. They will be writting little bits about winter, because I do love winter and will miss it. The wisconsin winter will still be here when I get back, but it probably won’t recognize me with a tan.