TaDah Moment for Marinke Slump Bag

I've finished a project.  I know, right?  Yes, I seem to start a lot of things but not finish them.  But not this time.  I participated in a Crochet-A-Long with Wink over at her blog, A Creative Being.  Seeing the other people who were participating actual finish their projects really helped.  I added my bag photos after the competition date, but I am not a competitor so I would not have entered anyway.  I do really love the bag design that won tho.  If you missed my introductory post about this bag, you can read it here: 

Here is a link to my bag project on ravelry.

So here is my Marinke Slump Bag.

Yes - I made this.  Can you believe it?  To me, it looks so real.

I love the stitch that looks like knitting - a new stitch for me, easy and will be used again.

I love the cord I made to weave through as a drawstring.  It's made of six strands of bulky acrylic yarn braided together.

I love that my bag has a lining AND that I created the lining pattern and sewed it up myself.

I love that the bag has awesome sturdy handles that are the perfect length and that I made them up and sewed them myself as well.

This was a lot of fun to create.  Now I cannot WAIT to use it out in the world.

Hope you enjoy my creation.  Sher

One more photo before the drawstring was added so you can see the weaving holes.  I created those by crocheting around some metal key ring circles.

CAL with Wink - Marinke Slump Bag

As if I needed another project to start.  But I did.

 

I decided to join in with the Marinke Slump Beach Bag CAL with Wink from A Creative Being Blog.  We are using THIS PATTERN.  It's free!  And, tho. I LOVE the yarn used in the pattern picture, I wasn't able to get that yarn as it was on backorder, so I settled for using some stuff from my stash - good idea, right?

The pattern is easy, repeated rounds using a stitch that looks like crocheted knitting.

I guess it's a good thing I took this to my neighbor's knitting group on Sunday afternoon as I was the only Happy Hooker, aka crochet gal, in the group and at least it LOOKED like I was knitting.

After the knit group, the weather was still lovely out, so I decided to sit in the front yard and continue stitching.  Inside the house was the loud shouting and cheering of World Cup Soccer fans.  My hubby had moved our TV to the back screened porch and the kids and friends and hubby were all cheering along with the games.

I have to admit that I did set down my project every time they got really loud and ran in to see what action I had missed.  We have all been soccer players in this house, so we can appreciate a sport that is less popular in the USA than it is basically everywhere else in the world.  Tho. it seems that during World Cup, even soccer has a lot of fans around here.  All good.

I used a combo of yarn, all dk weight and a 4.0mm hook.  Some of the yarn was knitpicks CotLin and the other was Cotton-ish by Bernat which is a cotton/acrylic blend.  I somewhat followed the color scheme in the photo, but I am using one additional color (orange) and each of my color stripes is 7 rounds.  The color stripes in the pattern use 9 rounds.

I do plan to line the bag and put pockets on the liner.  I'm not sure how I will like the drawstring closure and I love handles, so I may have to make two handles for the bag.  We'll see how it goes.

I planned out the yarn for this project in hopes that I would sit and crochet while my son attended the freshman summer orientation day at his college:  Shippensburg University of PA.  However, I read a book instead - it was a quickie and cute, I'll be sharing that soon.

So while my son and a high school friend who will attending the same university got introduced to their college and registered for their fall classes, I read in an Adirondack chair under a tree on a lovely breezy day - not bad.

TATA for now, Sher

Square Talk

Do you remember THIS POST when I told you I would be following along with A CONVERSATION WITH MOO blog and her weekly crochet squares?  Well, I also told you that I decided to follow along with her un-invited.  I've been a bit worried about that over the past few weeks.  Then, no more squares were posted.  OH MY!  Did I cause her bad luck, make her mad? I wasn't sure.  But, I did hear from her (Terri) today and she's just been busy.  She's got two more squares coming.  WHEW...

I did make a couple of squares on my own in the mean time - what can it hurt right?  The two squares I made plus the two she will post shortly will catch me right up to 6 total squares and put me right in line with the 2nd week in February.  COOL.  Right on track.

Here are my two squares:

This one is called Edwardian Fancy

This one is called Briar Rose 

You can follow along with the squares if you wish.  They are all from the book, 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton.  I'm using cottonish dk yarn in a variety of colors and a size F hook.  The finished squares are about 6 inches.  Follow me on pinterest, I've got a board going just for these squares!

I'm sure there will be more squares yet to come!

Weekly CAL - pretty squares!

A few weeks ago, I took note that Terri over at A Conversation With Moo was posting a weekly square.  She's using the book 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton.  Her squares looked so lovely that I decided I'd follow along.  I wasn't invited, I'm simply butting in!  I hope Terri won't mind.  Maybe if there are people following along with the squares, it will help Terri to stay on track too.

I started a pinterest board for Terri's posts.

AND  I will be posting the squares I make on this blog as well.

Here is Terri's Week 1 post and here is Terri's Week 2 post.

Here are my squares.

I'm excited about this- I hope to learn a few new techniques, and maybe even weave in my ends as I go!

Just a note about these squares: I'm using a dk weight yarn and an F sized hook.  The finished squares are 6inches.

Ripple Blanket TA DAH! 5 weeks and it's done!

Thank you Melissa!

I love it that thanks to the Crochet-A-Long I joined 5 weeks ago, I have a beautiful new ripple blanket to share and enjoy.

If you haven't been following my ripply progress, check out the other posts about it HERE or HERE and HERE and also HERE.

I love it that the ends were so easy to weave in as I went along and for the most part I did so.  That made the blanket finish all the more rewarding.  Yesterday I took off the final few snips of woven ends.

My proposed blanket had 96 rows, but when I got to row 96, I just knew the blanket wasn't done.  I continued rippling along til I got to row 122.

There were 5 repeats of every color.  Colors were worked for two rows and each bright color had 2 rows of a lovely camel brown between them.

I'm very happy with the outcome.  The blanket is all acrylic yarn, so I finished just in time that I can still enjoy the blanket's warmth, but not be overwhelmed by it being too hot.

I love the stares I get from dog-walkers trotting up the sidewalk by my house while I hang my blanket in all sorts of outdoor arrangements taking full advantage of the outdoor light.  Yesterday we actually had a little outdoor light - the sun came out and the weather was warm and breezy.

Youngest child and I headed out for a 2 hour jaunt to the west by car yesterday to tour a college campus.  When I got out of the car I left my coat behind and was practically sweating in a light sweater.  The sun was bright and warm.  About 30 mins later when we went back outside with the tour guide I swear the temperature had dropped 10 degrees, the sun had disappeared, rain clouds threatened and the wind whipped up something whoa!  I had to run back to my car for an umbrella and jacket - and thank goodness I did.  By the end of the tour, the rain was pretty steady and the temperature had continued to drop.

By the time we got home, hubby was just arriving home from work and set right to work on a fire in the fireplace.  Youngest son turned on Snow White the Huntress (not impressed) for a last movie night before the end of his spring break.

This morning started early - with him leaving for school at 7am and me heading off to running group.  Seriously I have a love hate relationship with this never-ending cold weather.  I love the fires, love running in cold weather, love wearing sweaters and other long and covering clothes, love the feeling of being inside covered up by a new blanket on the couch feeling warm and happy, but I do miss the sun and the flowers, the bright lights blazing through the windows making sunny spots on the carpet, and college tours in warm and beauteous weather with lots of kids outside enjoying the day.

Well -this is the end of my ripply story.  Up next, working on a pattern, but it's also a birthday gift, so it has to be hush hush for a bit longer.  Did you see my newest free pattern on ravelry?  If not CLICK HERE.  I have a 3-part photo tutorial on the blog and the pdf is available as a free download on ravelry.

Happy Hooks! Sher

Ripple Along Progress on a Snow Spring Day

This week on the ripple blanket, I made WAY more progress than I'd realized.  I'm up to 98 rows now - that's 2 rows beyond my initial blanket proposal.  I was supposed to have hooked on 20 rows this week and I managed a whopping 32!

This week I'm supposed to add 16 - my final week on the blanket.  However, I am definitely feeling like at LEAST another 30 belong.

This morning is the first day of spring break for #3 son.  Each of his college brothers have already come and gone with their spring holiday.  #1 son (aka #2 child) just headed back to college this week with one of our cars.  He was thrilled.  He's going to be renting a house near his school and won't be living here this summer so the car will help.  He is BORROWING the car, long-term.  Hmmm...

#3 son is in high school and the school district break usually coincides with Easter week.  Since #3 son works at a local bakery and holidays are big times at bakeries, he's needed in the kitchen many hours this week to bake the scones, biscotti, cookies, breads, and other yummy things that people like to purchase for their holiday meals.  We do plan to fit in a few college visits while he's off from school.

We were going to visit a local college in the city this morning, BUT... I don't really fancy traipsing around campus in the weather the day has brought, so we've decided to stay home.

My internal alarm clock is set to "EARLY," so there was no sleeping in today.  And I'm glad.  I looked out the dining room windows this morning to see a soft coating of SNOW! And... it's still coming down.  We're only supposed to get 3 or 4 inches.  It looks so pretty.

I got to look at this whilst making the morning's coffee.

I LOVE the way the snow paints EVERY branch and twig on the trees outside my kitchen window.  I know I'm supposed to be craving spring.  I do love spring. I love living in a part of the world where I get FOUR REAL and DISTINCT WEATHER SEASONS!  But honestly, snow means I'm further away from the dreaded humidity ( I DONT like humidity ) and further away from shorts-wearing weather (regardless of the fact that I've been running all thru the winter season 3 times per week, I've not got the figure to show for it!)  Snow means cuddle up with a crochet hook and sit by the fire (Dear Hubby had one going all day and night yesterday - and a fresh load of wood is still stacked outside the front door).  Snow means lots of good things, especially when there's just enough snow to look pretty on the grass and trees but remain clear on the roadways.

I'm waiting a bit to go out and shovel the walks.  Since school is out this week, I don't have to worry about clearing the pavement right away for the neighborhood kiddies to pass my house on the way to school.  Do you like to shovel snow?  I do.  I have a pretty good lot of walks to shovel and I do my elderly neighbor's walks as well.  I love shoveling - the noise, the crunch under my boots, the lift and toss, the feel of the muscles that only get used for this specific activity...

I brought some spring indoors this week - I snipped a bunch of forsythia branches before they bloomed.  The bush outside is brown as can be, but the ones I brought into the house have popped a bright yellow bunch of little blooms.  Inside the house it looks like spring, but outside - definitely still wintery.

After a spot of housework and hanging up some laundry (inside, of course), crossing of a few things from the never-ending TO DO list, I'm sure I'll find a bit more time to bond with my trusty hook.

Here's hoping a hooky week for you!

Ripplin' the Irish

A bit of Baileys in the coffee for St. Paddy's Day

"You've a fine steady hand, Lass!"

For crochet of course.  After a week off from my ripple blanket, I finished off the evenings with as many ripply  rows as I could fit.  Week 1 I managed to hook up my quota - Week 2 I traveled to New Orleans (photo post coming) - Week 3, I made my quota and a few more.  Find the previous posts about this ripple project HERE, HERE and HERE.

The blanket is now up to 66 rows.  I'm liking it.  But, with only 36 more rows on the proposal, I think I need to extend my original plan.  I could easily double the current size of this blanket - maybe even make it bigger.  So, I will stick with my original plan to hook on 20 more rows this week and 16 rows next... I will either add more weeks to my plan or crochet more rows in Weeks 4 & 5.  Either way, I think I might like to add a border to the blanket tho. the ripple doesn't really require one, it has a nice ripply edge and straight sides.  I'll leave that for a later decision.

Yesterday was St. Paddy's Day.  We put on a bit of Irish for the occasion.  I do have some Irish in my background - probably a lot more Scot but definitely some Irish.  I've never been to Ireland but it's fun to transport it back here for a festive day each March.

I dug some green clothes out of the closet for the day, searched out the claddagh ring my sister brought me back from a trip to Ireland and retired at the end of the night in some green flannel jammies and rainbow socks.

Unlike last year at this time when I was enjoying a sunny weekend in short sleeve shirts and sunglasses, the weather was brisk and windy and cold.  The Saturday morning running group found the perfect window of time for our run - 7:30am gave us just about the only time of the day that wasn't raining, sleeting or snowing.  It remained cold for Sunday which gave us the chance to enjoy an all day fire and a relaxing day.  I did find time for a jaunt around the neighborhood with the dog and my hubby who was taking his "puttin' on the Irish" very seriously.

I spent much of the lazy Sunday afternoon rippling rows between household duties, computer work, lesson planning and hanging out with the boys.

Yes boyS - plural.  Middle boy had his spring break from college this past week.  He left early Sunday morning to head back to the western part of the state.  Big boy's spring break is this week and after a bit of confusion with the Mega Bus boarding location, managed to transport himself into town Saturday night.  Little boy will have spring break the following week.

Strange way the weeks worked out, and only a very small window of time when all three were home together.

It was fun to have a fuller house and more people around the table for a few days.

After a quick bite at a local Irish pub for a sandwich, a few beers and a festive band strumming some lively Irish tunes, we rounded out the weekend with an annual watch of our favorite classic Irish tale, The Quiet Man.  Big boy watched the show with us - and hopefully enjoyed it.  He hadn't seen it before and he had to deal with two parents quoting all the lines before they came.  Of course the movie watching lent a bit more time for a last few rows of rippling before retiring for the night.

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill all the way to your door. 

Onwards to spring for you - and off to do a spot of grocery shop and cake baking...hubby turns 49 today!

Ripple Along - Week 2

If you've been tuned into my blog for a few weeks, you know that I'm participating in the Ripple A Long crochet group organized by Melissa at One Crafty Mumma.  

Here are my previous posts about the project:  This and then this one.

Week 2 has just ended.  According to my self-proposed schedule, I was to have finished 30 rows in week 1 - which I did.  I figured ZERO rows week 2 since I spent the week in New Orleans - FUN.  I was right on par with that assumption as well.  Week 3 has me hooking on another 30 rows.  I've completed just 4 of those 30 but I feel pretty confident I can keep on track this week.

Here is my progress at the beginning of week 3.