Posted by ann

The large center square and the two smaller six-round squares are seamed together. The panel on the right with the four, four-round squares needs two two-rounders and then that will be ready for seaming too.

I just re-read that last sentence. whew! I don’t know how else I could have written it though.

Anyway, I am loving this project! The crochet is easy and the colors are fabulous and exciting to work with. I am using Knitting Notions yarn and it is wonderful. Oh, and I also ordered the pattern for Lotus Blossom – in addition to all this color, there will soon be lace!

Posted by ann

Here is a finished 12 round square. It is the center block of Babette. The pattern calls for a few of these bigger squares. I finished this one at the Spinning Guild meeting last night.

Our meeting was a covered dish dinner along with an auction. Everyone brought in items for donation (I took the opportunity to de-stash – God did that feel good!) But I did not come home empty handed – check out my loot:

These beauties were spun by another guild member, Gunther. He has won first place prizes at MSWF for his spinning. There are a couple of skeins of each. Do you remember the fabulous grab bag present I scored at the Guild’s holiday party? Well, Emma is Gunther’s granddaughter. There must be a spinning gene in that family! I am thinking of combining Gunther’s and Emma’s into a Hap Shawl, wouldn’t that be cool?

and this little cutie was donated by Sharon. She found him at a garage sale. I am going to fill him with knitting and spinning necessities and keep him close by.

color!

Posted by ann

things near my knitting chair

Please note the absence of any Lopi Lite and the fabulous color! I was excited to discover yesterday that I had in my possession the required crochet hook for the Babette Blanket. I was certain that this project would have to wait until I ran to the store – what joy, I could jump right in!

You can see that I started with the four round squares. Luckily, I didn’t get too far before I had the idea to work my way from the inside out, following the pattern schematic and seaming the sections as I proceed. This blanket consists of different size squares that are all seamed together into larger rectangular sections which are then seamed together log cabin style to complete the blanket. Although I have made color substitutions, I am following the color chart. I think it will be less overwhelming and confusing to seam it as I go along rather than trying to keep track of all of these squares at the end of the project when it comes time to put it together. So I have started a 12 round center square.

Thank you for your input regarding the Bee Shawl/Lotus Blossom Shawl dilemma. I love the Lotus Blossom, but could do without those bobbles hanging from the bottom edge. I wonder how it would look to simply leave them out? Would I replace them with something else? I am going to poke around on Ravelry to see if anyone else has made modifications.

what to do when Granny’s side panel won’t fit ….

Posted by ann

some tips for making and seaming in the side/bottom band …….. this was a bit difficult for me since I had trouble ‘reading’ my crocheting. The pattern says to repeat three rows 43 times for a total of 137 rows. I think I got pretty close to the mark, but wasn’t sure. Once you are done with the band, you are instructed to single crochet along both edges. This will give them a neater edge which is what you want since those edges will show on the right side of the finished bag.

Here’s what I did:

Work the band until you’ve got it as close as you think you’ll need. Remember, this band needs to go down both short sides and along the bottom edge of the side panels. like this
When you work the side edges of the band, work them in the direction of the crochet – start where you started the band and end where you ended.
Only work one side to begin with.
Now go about attaching this side to the first granny square side panel. Remember to begin seaming it at the beginning edge of the panel …. this way when you get to the end, if you have too much, you can easily rip, and likewise if you have too little you can add more.
Then proceed to do the single crochet edge for the other side (this has a wrong side/right side which you will be able to tell by the raised ridge where it joins).
Now seam the other side to the second of the granny square side panels.

now comes the part where I need to break out the sewing machine and work a lining. I have a stash of fabric from some time spent flirting with quilting and home decorating – I will have to go through it and see if there is anything I can use. I also read the directions a bit last night and it turns out they call for a zipper too. Gah!! Zippers are my sewing Mt. Everest. stay tuned for further gnashing of the teeth.

on to the pig of the day