The End of the Never-ending Blanket

If you were a young child in the early 1990s or the parent of such a child, you may know the TV show "Lamb Chop's Play-Along," which aired on PBS from 1992-1997.  My daughter was three years old in 1992, so she was part of the prime demographic for the audience.  The show starred Lamb Chop, of course, and Shari Lewis along with Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse.  Oh my goodness, the goofy skits, the knock-knock jokes, but mostly the closing theme song!  "The Song That Never Ends."  A preschooler can get a lot of fun out of singing that one over and over and driving her mother mad, mad, mad. Lamb Chop was a lot older than she looked though.  I remember seeing Lewis and Lamb Chop on TV during the 1960s, when I was a kid.  According to Wikipedia, Lamb Chop first appeared in 1957.  The point here is that "The Song That Never Ends" has been on my mind lately as I finished up my crochet sampler blanket, which seemed to become the blanket that never ends.  But it did end.

I started making the blanket before I even knew I was making a blanket.  Back in April, I purchased 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans by Jan Eaton.  I thought it would be fun to try a few of the patterns.  Then in June, I showed you my first four squares.  At that point I was thinking about a little lap throw for my daughter.  As things seem to do around here, however, the lap throw got out of hand and turned into this:

Sixty-three squares of crazy.  I think when the daughter saw that I was making a big blanket for her brother, she was determined that hers would be big too.  No sibling rivalry here, folks!  Here's a view from the other side:

Is it perfect?  Goodness no.  Aside from the garish color combinations, let's just say the blanket has character, shall we?  The squares didn't turn out the same size, so there was a fair amount of adding and tweaking.  Still, I had fun doing it and almost each new square became my short-lived favorite.

No two squares are the same pattern.  Here, in alphabetical order, are the patterns I used: Alternate Bobbles, American Beauty, Anemone, Arcadia, Begonia, Big Round, Blocks and Shells, Briar Rose, Bright Flower, Candy Stripe Bobbles, Catherine Wheel, Centered Square, Chocolate Box, Christmas Rose, Coffee and Cream, Colorful Bobbles, Criss Cross, Dahlia, Daisy Chain, Danish Square, Diamond in a Square, Double Stripes, Edwardian Fancy, Four Patch Granny, Four Square, Framed Flower, Fretwork, Fudge, Gothic Square, Granny in the Middle, Granny Stripes, Granny with a Twist, Into the Blue, Italian Cross, Kingcup, Lacy Wheel, Lemon Stripe, Marigold, Nine Patch Granny, Openwork Square, Pastel Delight, Peach Rose, Peony, Primrose Square, Queen Anne's Lace, Saint Petersburg, Seville, Snowflake, Solid Square, Spinner, Square Target, Starflower, Subtle Stripes, Sunray, Sunshine and Showers, Sunshine Lace, Traditional Granny, Tricolor Square, Victorian Lace, Waterlily, Willow, Wisteria, and Zigzag Bobbles.

I think daughter plans to take the blanket back to her apartment next time she visits, but in the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy the color it adds to her room here at home.

Fourteen New Crochet Squares

I have been a hooking fool, ya'll.  Since my last post about my crochet square project, I have made fourteen more squares.  This has become my evening relaxation -- sitting in a comfy chair, watching a movie, and crocheting a new square.  One evening last week, we rented "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" through OnDemand.  That was one of the most enjoyable movies I've watched in a long time.  I liked it so much that I watched it again the next day (and worked on another square!) as I was waiting for the carpet man to stop by for measurements.  Since I watched the movie, I have found myself thinking, "Everything will be all right in the end.  So if it is not all right, it is not yet the end."  Isn't that a comforting philosophy?  How intriguing to think about setting off on such an adventure when one is "elderly and beautiful."  If you have not seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it.  If you have, what did you think of it?

Here are my latest squares from 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans by Jan Eaton.  One is even called Marigold!  Bear in mind, these have not been blocked yet, so they are a little curly and misshapen.

Top row: #80 Blocks and Shells, #31 Primrose Square, " 83 Diamond in a Square.
Bottom row: #100 Pastel Delight, #137 Criss Cross, and #113 Wisteria

Left column, top to bottom: #20 Colorful Bobbles, #149 Solid Square, # 87 Peony. Middle column, top to bottom:
#85 Lemon Stripe, #51 Bright Flower, # 78 Briar Rose. Right column: #209 Marigold and # 22 St. Petersburg.

Still Working Through "200 Crochet Blocks"

Now that I finished my oversized crochet baby blanket, it's time for me to get serious about my other crochet project, the 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans sampler throw that I am making for our daughter.  I've completed seven more blocks since my last update.

Top row: #55 Centered Square, #47 Queen Anne's Lace, #88 Edwardian Fancy, # 173 Big Round.
Bottom row: #161 Daisy Chain, # 86 Sunray, # 17 Alternate Bobbles, #28 Christmas Rose, # 38 Dahlia.

I had the most fun making the Alternate Bobbles.  I have never been able to knit bobbles for some reason, and I was pleased to find out how easy they are to make in crochet.  Love that!  I think there may be a crochet bobble scarf in my future.

On a separate, Blogger note: I am quickly running out of free space on Picasa.  In fact, I had to go in and delete some unused photos from my web album in order to upload these pictures.  Anyone have good advice about how you dealt with this?  Do I just have to suck it up and purchase additional space?  I am super cheap, so I hope not.

Aug. 29 post script:
I am trying out Photobucket as a replacement for Picasa, so I am adding in this photo of the Dahlia square to see how it goes.  The square reminds me of commercials I used to see for Outback Steak House's blooming onion.  Photobucket allows you to store photos and then upload them with the url.  So far, this seems like a free solution.

Works in Progress

With this awful hot weather and lack of rain I haven't had a lot of gardening to do lately, so I've been working on some things indoors.

My big, horrible project is painting the last room in the basement.  When I say "room," don't get the idea that we have some kind of lovely finished basement.  Not at all.  We have a basement that serves strictly as a laundry room, storage, and my old darkroom (that I haven't used in years).  A basement with 100-plus-year-old stone and brick walls.  The walls need to be coated occasionally to help prevent the mortar from crumbling.  I have finally, after eighteen years in this house, gotten up the motivation to finish the final section.

The first step was decluttering.  I took apart an entire home gym, hauled it to my car, and had both the Salvation Army and the junk shop reject it.  Luckily, the metal scavengers took it from the curb.  I also emptied the husband's computer accessory closet -- 20-year-old software boxes (many empty), manuals for printers that are long gone, textbooks for software that is several generations outdated.  Then on to the fun part.  


And by fun part, I mean drudgery.  This job involves a LOT of shop vac use, wire brushing, more shop vac, filling small cracks and holes, more shop vac, painting with thick, gunky, stinky waterproofing paint - which seems to be the best thing for solidifying the mortar - and, for good measure, another round with the shop vac.  It is a slow project, partly because I work on it for a day or two and then take a couple of days off, but also because it all has to be brushed on by hand in order to cover the rough, pitted stones.  I don't have the words to describe just how yucky this job is, but I think the brand name of the paint -- UGL -- kind of sums up how I feel about it.

This is what I'm dealing with.

Coming along -- s l o w l y.

To take my mind off the horrors of DryLok, I have also been crocheting more squares from 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans by Jan Eaton.  The three newest squares are  Victorian Lace (#92, two hook difficulty), Kingcup (#95, three hook), and Spinner (#89, two hook).  I'm really liking the brighter colors in the last two squares.

I also began working on the shawlette I am making with the Alpandina yarn I received from the yarn swap I wrote about in June.  I still have a little ways to go before I get into the lace portion, but I like it so far.  The yarn feels fabulously soft. I am going a bit slow on this because every once in a while my center line gets off by a stitch and it has to be unworked.  I don't notice the problem for a while, so this usually involves taking out one to two complete rows. Confession:  I lack the confidence to undo my knitting mistakes if it's more than a couple of stitches, so I have to wait for my daughter to come home for a visit.  I'm sure she thinks I am incompetent, but she kindly fixes things so that I can continue.

Looks a little like a stingray.

Four Square

Remember playing four square as a kid?  Or two square?  I don't actually have to remember that far back because we have a two square court painted on our driveway.  Our son used to love to play two square and would draw a chalk court onto the blacktop.  One day I suggested he paint one instead.  I guess that's a little atypical for the average home, but it provided lots of fun times, and we even repainted it after the driveway was recoated.  A couple of weeks ago, the son (now 20) and I played a rousing game of two square.  You won't be surprised to hear that I lost.  I mean, how hard is it for a 6'3" strong young guy to beat his middle-aged mother?  Not very.

The four square I'm writing about today, though, has nothing to do with asphalt and a rubber playground ball.  I want to show you the first four squares I have crocheted from the 200 Crochet Blocks book by Jan Eaton that I told you about in April.

They're pretty wonky because I haven't blocked them yet.

In 200 Crochet Blocks, Eaton developed a difficulty ranking system for the different blocks.  One hook is a beginner block, two hooks means some experience required, and three hooks is designated as challenging.  Two of the blocks I crocheted are very simple, one-hook-rated patterns -- the Openwork Square (#10 of the 200) and the Traditional Granny (#18).  The other two were a little more complicated.  Italian Cross (#24) is a two-hook pattern, and it taught me the puff stitch, which is really fun.  And Waterlily (#16), a three-hooker, is my first three-dimensional square.

Italian Cross puff stitches

Waterlily

I still have a ways to go on the quality of my crochet -- tension, even stitches, etc. -- but it's fun to learn new stitches and techniques.  I plan to eventually have enough squares to put together a throw for my daughter.  She is a fabulous knitter, but luckily she doesn't crochet, so maybe she will be a tiny bit impressed with a little blanket of squares.  After all, if I can't wow the kids with my playground two-square skills anymore, I'll have to take what little glory I can.

Crochet Plans of Mice and Men, or What Michael's Knew

A couple of weeks ago, I checked out a wonderful crochet book from our local library -- 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix and Match by Jan Eaton.  I figuratively drooled over it for a while and tried out a square that was too hard for my meager skills.  After returning it today, I realized I really wanted my very own personal copy.  It is available on Amazon for $16.47 and Wal-Mart's web site for $16.46.  But I had a 40% off coupon from Michael's stashed in a drawer.  (You Michael's regulars probably know where this is going.)

a few of the 200 squares in Eaton's book

I have become a little obsessed with learning to crochet squares.  Never mind that all I've managed to make is one partial granny square of three and a half rounds.  I've seen funky granny square slippers on Ravelry, and I'm determined to make some for myself.  (And won't they look great once I've walked around and collected dog hair on them?)

So today, I headed off to Michael's where I picked out three colors of cheap, on-sale ($1.99 per skein) yarn for the granny square slippers.  And, happy day, they had a copy of Eaton's 200 Blocks book.  Full price at $24.95, but I had that coupon.  I happily handed the cashier my 40% off coupon.

"Coupons aren't good on books or magazines," she said.  Well, of course not.  That would be too good of a deal.  I thought about Amazon's $8 savings (not counting shipping), but I had the book in my hand.  I wanted the darn book.  So I let the cashier ring it up.

No doubt, this is what Michael's counts on: avid crochet book desire and a lack of reading the coupon's fine print.  By the time someone reaches the cashier, she's already bought that book as far as her heart is concerned.

I'm happy to have the book, and I'm just going to forget about the $8 I could have saved.  But I think I'm going to shop at Hobby Lobby for a while.