Turtleheart Crafts!

… doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy crafting! Here are some crochet projects I’ve completed over the summer:

Lacy Crochet dishcloth in Sugar ‘n Cream cotton. Pattern from Dishcloth Boutique.

Lattice Stitch dishcloth from Dishcloth Boutique and matching scrubbie by Suzetta.

Next up, a baby blanket for Warm the World.

This pattern is Beth’s Little Star Afghan; a very easy pattern that worked up quite fast. I think it turned out just adorable. I may add little tassels on each of the star points. I like it so much, I’m thinking of doing another one in yellows and purples.

And don’t think I’ve been neglecting my thread projects, either. Here’s a project I’m still working on:

These flower motifs are for the border of a placemat I’m making for a tea tray. I still have a few more motifs to make before I join them all together and fill in the middle of the placemat. I had to put this project aside for a while, my mind was beginning to boggle from all the varigated threads!

And there’s more to come, but for now I’m done posting. Check back soon.

All the pieces have been made…

… but what’s it going to be? Stay tuned…

I’ve been working on all sorts of afghan squares recently.

This first one is for the Crochetville “63 More Squares” charity afghan. Interested members from C’ville were asked to make seven inch squares and send them to Julie Kay along with a postcard from the member’s home state/country. Julie Kay will assemble the squares and then auction off the afghan to raise money for C’ville. I think its a great idea.

I chose my pattern from the original LA’s “63 Easy-to-Crochet Pattern Stitches” book for my contribution. This is square #25 “Aligned Shells.”

I’ve also been working on granny squares for Warm the World. I decided to start with some of the more obnoxious colored yarn that was sent to us. So far, I’ve gotten a dozen squares made. They work up pretty fast.

Its hard to tell from the photo, but the lighter orange yarn has speckles of green and purple in it. The color-combination actually isn’t turning out too bad. Its bright and cheerful, thats for sure.

Also over the weekend, the Monkey Tribe got together to crochet. Junky Monkey and I gave Cheeky Monkey her first lesson. She was a bit frustrated at first, but she picked up on it really fast. She’s practicing single crochets. Yay! Go Cheeky!

What’s funny is that **all 3 of us** are lefties! So we don’t have to worry about doing the opposite while we’re teaching. That makes things much easier.

Can’t wait til we get together again to work on stuff for Warm the World.

Here is a WIP that has been in progress for some time now. I believe since late last spring.

What are they? Little pumpkins for the October doily in LA’s “A Year of Doilies- Book 4.” I love the doily, its the pumpkins I’m having trouble with.

They look simple enough, but they have a subtle texture effect to them. And they are tiny pieces of work. It took me 2 pumpkins to get them to look they way they’re supposed to look. I need six. So if I’m going to be a perfectionist– and I am, its a family curse– then that means I need to do 3 more.

Methinks this may be a WIP for a long time…

When we were back in IA over the holidays, Firehand’s aunt said something about wishing that she could find a longer scarf, because she likes to wear them a certain way that makes it warmer around her neck. She doubles the scarf and then hangs it from her neck, takes the free ends and slips them through the loop created on the other end and pulls it snug.

So when I heard her talking about this, I thought maybe I could make her a nice scarf that would be long enough for her to easily wear it the way she likes. I found some beautiful soft TLC Amore yarn in a color (Lagoon) that I thought would look nice on her and go with her coat.

But I have been having the darnedest time with this project. I just can’t find a pattern or stitch that looks nice with this soft, variegated yarn!

My first attempt:

Too wide, too chunky, too holey. It really needs to be a skinny scarf, I think. Off to search for skinny scarf patterns…

I frogged it and began again with a new pattern. The scarf morphed into this:

Still too wide. Too thick to loop it like Auntie wants to wear it. Too lumpy. Off I went to search for more patterns yet again…

The scarf has morphed yet a third time. Third time is the charm, right?